Pennsic-ideas-msg - 6/13/04 Useful ideas for Pennsic. NOTE: See also the files: BP-Thingie-msg, Pennsic-gifts-msg, P-storage-msg, P-stories-msg, P-tale-MWIFO-art, Enchnted-Grd-msg, camp-kitchens-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Pennsic Beginner's Guide Oh boy, this is a biggy. First, be a prepared camper. do basic camping thigns like waterproof your tent before you leave and make sure you have all your tent stakes. Brign food that will survive 100 degree heat in a melting cooler. Keep food simple. Keep clothes simple. Brign any medication you take, or might need. Nearest hospital is almost an hour away. A first aid kit is handy. A fire exstinguisher is a good idea, (See Baron Dur's postings in previous Digests about why this is required equipment) Brign a set of clothes for each person in your camp that you keep wrapped in plastic to save it from water so you have dry clothes if your tent goes under. IT WILL RAIN. It wil probably storm, it may even tornado, hail, flood, or hurricane. Emergency food in water proof contaienrs will give you something to eat while drying out your camp and making a run to town to replace camp fatalities. Locate your camp carefully. Avoid runoff patterns, find shelter, the lee of a hill, a line of trees. Stake your tent firmly. If it gets windy (it will) dissasemble any unstable items like dining flies and banners. This is better than having them collapse on top of you (or your neighbors.) Secure anything that might fly. Tents fly very well. Bring plastic bags to put your garbage in. Bring your own drinking water. There's nothing harmful in the Pennsic water, but, about half the gentles attending find they get traveler's diarrhea and other complaints. Bring your own water for cooking and drinking. I go through about a gallon a day at Pennsic. It's HOT. Drink lots of water. Soda is not as good as water to replenish lost water. Beer is BAD. Alcohol increase dehydration, reduces common sense, and makes you feel good while getting heat stroke or hypothermia. Fruit juices help replace electrolytes. Gatorade helps replace electrolytes, if you can stand the taste. Be aware that you can overdose on electrolytes, water should be your basic drink, supplemented by Gatorade and fruit juices. Heat illness is very common. Ever seen a field of five hudnred prostrate people? I have. Bring a hat, and sun screen if you're the least bit suceptible to sunburn. Wear loose, light clothes. The roads are stony and hilly, so a pair of sturdy shoes or sandals is a must. It deosn't matter where you are at Pennsic, any where you want to go is uphill. This will be hard on your car. At least one car dies every year at Pennsic. You will also walk a long way at Pennsic. It's about a mile around the lake. The lake is not for swimming, there are swimming holes in the creek. One is nude, the other is clothed. The nude one's easier to find, but really, there is another option is you're shy. Don't even try to do everything. READ the schedule and figure out what you want to do. There's four times more than you could do no matter how hard you tried. Brign warm sleeping gear. It gets cold at night. Brign a variety of weights of clothes to accomodate changing temperatures. Bring an experienced person who can tell you who those people in furs are, and yes, that's an open camp, but no, that's not one, and the heralds are over there and the chirurgeons are up the road from that. DO YOU NEED AN ESCORT AT PENNSIC? Well, I never have. But I've heard a couple of stories. Iv'e been going to Pennsic since Pensic 8. On one occassion I was subjected to rude language (I do not appreciate people I've been gracious to calling me, "wench") On the other hand, sexual morals are a good deal loser at Pennsic than elsewhere. It's very much like Carnival in the amount of drinking and screwing that goes on. So, if you mix alcohol and socializing, be sure of your company, and make your limits clear, because when you're in a fuddled state of mind is not a good time to decided that you only want to be frieds with the lord who's been eagerly nimbling your neck for the last hour. I suspect that there are a number of cases of post coitus regret by sober and dismayed persons rather than any outright cases of involuntary intimacy. And should you find that you are accosted by a person who won' take "no" as answer, Scream. You will be promptly rescued by a pack of chivalrous men and women who are highly offended at the notion of any one daring to comprise their ideal of the Dream. I took part in such rescue once. The "victim" turned out to be policeman who didn't know he needed rescuing. It was rather amusing, but before we knew what was happening people were literally up in arms. Go back thorugh previous postings for more info. Pennsic has been frequently and thoroughly discussed. In addition to Lord Dur's postings on fire safety, I have posted info on how to to survive Pennsic with babies, and so has Marian Greenleaf, and there have been numerous other contributions on various subjects, not to mention plenty of war stories and debates about how to run the land grab. Yours in service, awilda halfdane sgj%ctj.uucp at wb3ffv.ampr.org Bright hills, Atlantia Baltimore, MD From: Martin Ellis To: Charles Jacob Cohen 03-May-90 12:18am Subject: Re: Pennsic - a new person needs help From Gavin Kilkenny greetings; Send a SASE to Sedalia MacNare 51 Roxbury Rd. Garden City NY 11530. She is Pennsic Autocrat this year and can give you an awful lot of info. Between the two of us we've got 24 years of going to Pennsic. From: L6PJDU%IRISHMVS.BITNET at MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Cathy Lindsay 239-5262, 219) Date: 30 Apr 90 13:57:00 GMT Organization: Society for Creative Anachronism Newsgroups: rec.org.sca I've read with great interest the postings on eating at Pennsic. But for anyone who's going for the first time, there is one more bit of information they may want to know: there is another way. Unlike many camping events or standard campgrounds, Pennsic has *restaurants*. Last Pennsic there was a wonderful middle eastern establishment which had great food for reasonable prices. There were also other worthy establishments purveying things like meat pies, roasted chicken, and even breakfast! Additionally, there is the Coopers' store, with lots of mundane supplies: ice, milk, fruit, sandwiches (tho with the interesting food available, why bother?), and some camping and personal supplies. Last Pennsic, (my third), there was no cooking at Baroness Megan's encampment. The Baroness isn't interested in spending her time cooking, and Claus the Toymaker spent his time making toys and dealing with his apprentice, Geimle. Then there was me -- I was with child and in no mood to cook either. For breakfast we usually bought donuts and milk from the aforementioned store (or occasionally splurged for breakfast at a food merchants). Lunch was quite often brought to us -- there are also roving food merchants in the merchants area (as I understand it they are not allowed to sell their food elsewhere). Dinner was at one of the fine dining establishments - last war, usually the middle eastern merchants (who, BTW, run a middle eastern restaurant mundanely in town, which may account for the high quality of their food. Wish I could remember their name!). Anyway, there is quite a variety of food options available at Pennsic, if you can afford them. If money is tight, you may opt to eat very simply in the day and then enjoy a good dinner at a food merchant. This is a decent compromise, and keeps expenses down. Katherine of Constantinople Cathy Lindsay Shire of Whitewaters, MK Notre Dame, IN From: ddfr at tank.uchicago.edu (david director friedman) Date: 3 May 90 02:19:20 GMT Organization: University of Chicago Newsgroups: rec.org.sca On the subject of Pennsic food, the following has been our strategy for some years. I. Bring lots of period nibbles. That includes ready-to-eat things that keep made from period recipes (hais, hulwa, khushkhanaj, current cakes (actually 17th c.), etc.) and also bought things that are ready-to-eat and were eaten in period (bread, cheese, sausage, dried fruit, some fresh fruit). One can live pretty well on a selection of the above. II. During the nine days we are at Pennsic, we cook one or two dinners and invite the encampment to share. These are period meals that use ingredients that keep and are not a lot of work. There is no particular reason why period dishes should be any more work than out of period ones, and we have a very large base of period recipes to select from. The real work is in cooking anything and cleaning up afterwards. Doing a cooked meal every day would eat up too much of our time. III. Two or three other people or couples in the encampment do II, so we end up with cooked meals about every other day. IV. When bored with I and II or III is not available, eat at one of the restaurants. This year we will have an infant with us, as will Dain and Euthemia, so Allah alone knows how things will work out. I forgot V. Give a class on something concerning cooking or al-Islam, and have Joshua ibn-Eleazar show up and feed me yummy rampart bread from his translation of the Andalusian cookbook. also VI. Get invited out to dinner at least once. and VII. Go into the Coopers' store to drink a diet coke and eat an icecream sandwich. The Coopers' store is my personal disenchanted ground--the one place at Pennsic where I assume I am being out of persona. David (Cariadoc) From: mjc at nl.cs.cmu.edu (Monica Cellio) Date: 9 May 90 17:50:36 GMT Organization: Carnegie Mellon University Newsgroups: rec.org.sca >Is Pitsburg the closest airport? Pittsburgh is the closest airport, but it's close to an hour's drive so don't plan on taking a cab. There are shuttle services of some sort available. The Pennsic information in the June newsletters contains a number to call for more information on this. Pennsic itself does not sponsor a shuttle, and you will call down the wrath of the autocrat and/or the Coopers if you call the site from the airport and ask to have someone pick you up. (There are ~6000 people at Pennsic. There is one incoming phone line.) >What kind of site fee should I exspect? I *think* the weekend rate this year is $20 for members, $30 otherwise. This covers Friday (the 17th) through Monday. Each additional day is, I think, $4 this year. I pasted the camera-ready Pennsic info directly into the June Pikestaff and sent it off to the printer last week, so I actually don't have the info on hand to quote. Sorry. I can post more in a week. If you're coming out for the land grab. plan to spend around $65 for site fees. The Coopers do not take checks or plastic; bring cash or travellers' checks. >Any suggestions of things I might need to bring that I wouldn't >have thought of coming from California? Clothing for wet and/or cold weather, as well as for very warm weather. Daytime temperatures are in the 90s; nighttime temperatures are highly variable and *can* get down into the 30s, though ~50s is more common. Plan for serious rain; it'll happen at least once during the week. Ellisif Flakkingskvinne From: Simon Of The Beautiful Waters To: Various 15-May-90 10:53am Subject: see above Brianna Arielle Durand writeth: > I have a couple of questions for the veteran Pennsic attendees. Is > Pitsburg the closest airport? Yes. Not exactly *close*, but at least closEST. > What kind of site fee should I exspect? Reasonable. If memory serves, it was something like $35 for me (non-member) to get in, the Saturday evening before the War, and camp thru the Monday morning after the War. > Is there a shuttle from the airport to the site? No. However, thou mayst be able to make arrangements to have someone drive down to pick thee up. It would help if thou couldst find someone with a van, pickup, or station wagon, who could take several people in one trip. > Also- Any suggestions of things I might need to bring that I wouldn't > have thought of coming from California? It getteth *COLD* at night. Bring warm jammies (or a warm lover, tho it shouldn't be too hard to find one there). Also, it almost ALWAYS raineth at least once, and heavily, so make sure thou bringst a waterproof container for at least one complete set of clothes, and if thou canst get hold of a period (or at least so-looking) umbrella, it may help. -=*=- Pennsic Footwear 12 Jun 92 From: cat at fgssu1.fgs.slb.COM ("Rather B. Fishing") Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Organization: The Internet Aryk> My main piece of Pennsic advice: Aryk> Wool Socks. Lots of 'em. Very good advice. I bring lots of socks too, both cotton and wool. I might also add that I bring extra walking shoes, because I typically will get one to two pairs soaking wet. Back in the days when I was penniless college student, I didn't have spare shoes, and as a consequence got more blisters than I would have normally if I had had dry shoes to wear. Twcs Subj: Pennsic -- First Time Advice Date: 15 Jun 92 From: whheydt at pbhya.PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA Liz Stokes (Ilaine de Cameron) writes: > oroboros at whocares.nmsu.edu (The Wyrm Ouroboros) writes: >> >>This will be my first Pennsic. I will be going with others who have been >>there before, but I'm giving a question to the .net -- >> >>What is best for me to bring, suppies-wise? > > If you are like the rest of us, you will find your car filling fast >with camping necessities and SCA luxuries. This I agree with. Gears expands to exceed all available space. >Ice in the cooler melts, and you can't keep meat more than a couple days >safely. This I have to disagree about. At Beltane last year, we were quite successful at packing meat for a 10 day event. I ordered the meat in advance from our butcher and had him freeze it--he being able to freeze it more quickly and colder than I could. We took one ice-chest with the frozen meat packed with dry ice. It was only neccesay to open that chest once a day--to take out the meat to be thawed for use that day (and--it helped keep the food that was only on ice chilled as well). It was only the last couple of days of this event that meat was already thawed--and that is within the limits you gave for keeping meat under camp conditions. Net result: We lost no meat to spoilage. --Hal Hal Ravn, Province of the Mists, West Kingdom Wilson H. Heydt, Jr., Albany, CA 94706, 510/524-8321 (home) Pennsic -- First Time Advice 15 Jun 92 From: schuldy at progress.COM (Mark Schuldenfrei) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Organization: Progress Software Corp. My example: I brought a wooden cloths drying rack, and it was really handy for handwashing and drying cloths, and dishes. Tibor -- Mark Schuldenfrei (schuldy at progress.com) Pennsic -- First Time Advice 17 Jun 92 From: erd at kumiss.UUCP (Ethan Dicks) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Organization: Not an Organization In article <1992Jun12.225027.21743 at nmsu.edu> oroboros at whocares.nmsu.edu (The Wyrm Ouroboros) writes: > >This will be my first Pennsic. I will be going with others who have been >there before, but I'm giving a question to the .net -- > >What is best for me to bring, suppies-wise? I am planning on being there from >the Second Saturday (the 10th?) until the end of the War; roughly 9 days. What >food should I bring, what drinks? What amounts?? Recommended supplies: one or two coolers, your own band-aids and aspirin, any prescription medication you might need for the entire time, extra socks, dry clothes (to leave in your car), sun block, a dry tent, a warm sleeping bag or other bedding, more than one can opener. Recommended food: any food you can stand which does not require elaborate preperation or refrigeration. Produce is available from the Coopers' store and there is a Giant Eagle supermarket (open 24 hours) within a 20 minute drive. I usually cook lots of canned food or oriental food with noodles. Fresh chili and clam chowder (from canned seafood and dried soup starter) are also good. I also cook a potato soup on the Saturday before the battle because a sack of potatoes, a bunch of celery and a gallon of milk will feed lots of hungry, tired, freshly arrived potentially vegitarian campers who have just spent all day driving to the war just to wait in line at the troll! Recommended beverages: bring enough for a few days and consider either going into town or sending someone into town. In Pennsylvania, wine and liquor are sold through a state store distribution system. The prices are better there than in many states (like Ohio). Beer is sold by the case at warehouse type stores. There are many beer stores within 30 minutes of the War. For myself and the parties I throw, I can usually count on going through at least three cases of beer and a case-and-a-half of Jolt. Try and find Jolt in your area... it can be difficult to find otherwise. Enjoy, Eadred Aethellystan Saxon at Large Pennsic (Bart's Pennsic thingy) 19 Jun 92 From: aryk at gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (a.j.s. nusbacher) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Organization: University of Toronto -- Hart House Two things to add to the Pennsic comments (you might want to add these to your list, Schuldy): 1. Every time you use a wooden bowl, trencher-board, cutting board, etc., give it a good rub with ordinary table salt. This serves to scrub tiny food particles out of the wood grain, and make the surface inhospitable to living things. I am told that the City of Toronto has mandated that restaurants use wooden cutting boards because salting works, as opposed to plastic cutting boards, in which critters can live. 2. If I'd known this word last year, I would not have left Pennsic a day early in physical misery: Imodium. Imodium is a friendly little over-the counter tablet that is the diametrical opposite of a laxative. It was handed down by God to help those afflicted with the Botch of Egypt (lower GI infections). Oh, and did I mention wool--that magical fabric that stays warm even when it's soaking wet? It breathes, and it's period! Never travel without it, myself. I keep a pair of wool socks in the glovebox of my car up in the parking lot. Because I am an old Pennsic hand, I keep the socks in a ziploc bag, just in case the water rises above the level of my car. Aryk From: corun at access.digex.com (Corun MacAnndra) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: pennsic questions Date: 15 Mar 1993 16:14:24 -0500 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA In article <1993Mar14.231135.8967 at pellns.alleg.edu> asheffie at carr106.alleg.edu (Ann Sheffield) writes: > >1. Is there something like a "day pass" to Pennsic for people who want to >see what it's all about, but who don't need land? If such a thing exists, >whom should I contact to get one? No, M'lady, there is no day pass. The best you can hope for is to pay your fee for the last four or five days of the event. These are when the main action takes place anyway. The battles, the courts, the parties (well, those tend to go on all the time). Of course shopping is always available, and the closer to the end of the event you get, the more price slashing occurs. Merchants would rather take home money than merchandise that didn't sell. >2. If this works out, what activities do you recommend for a bewildered >person blundering around on her own (or possibily accompanied by an >equally bewildered friend dragged along for moral support)? Shopping, battles, shopping, courts, shopping, parties, shopping, dancing, shopping, eating, shopping. A tour of the site to see the various encampments is always nice. The larger groups have been getting more creative, like Trimaris for example. I wish the gypsy wagon from Canada would return. Then there's always shopping. >3. What SCAdian customs should I know about to avoid offending anyone? >Right now, I wouldn't know how to tell a king from a beggar (apart from >the M.P. Holy Grail test, which I suspect is unreliable). Don't call the Tuchux Lord or Lady. They are dogs and wenches. Don't take a camera to the classic swimming hole. Don't try to sneak into Horde camp. ;-) Don't call a king by yelling "Yo! Sparky!" Don't do sheep impressions around Scots or Vikings. Things to have are, a hat of some kind, a fan, a mug or goblet that you can tie to your belt, a knife, comfortable walking shoes (preferably period looking, but it's Pennsic, and nobody's going to yell, so comfort is more important), a cloak (even though it NEVER rains at Pennsic), lots of money in case you might do some shopping (did I mention there was shopping?), something to carry your loot in. That's about all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure someone else here will come up with something. In service, Corun =========================================================================== Corun MacAnndra | Nothing's perfect. Dark Horde by birth | I've seen it, and it is. Moritu by choice | T. Koenig From: cozzlab at garnet.berkeley.edu () Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: camping at Pennsic Date: 21 Apr 1993 20:19:44 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley In article <9304202135.AA04063 at milo.UUCP> garwood at milo.UUCP (Bert Garwood) writes: > >Then you gotta hope someone from your group has been to Pennsic at least >once, so they might have a clue what mght be a good site. (tough for a >year-old shire full of newbies) Not to mention that opinions differ on what is a good site. The prestigious sites, the ones that old-timers have been camping on for years, are the hilly and wooded bits near the lake. Then there's a gigantic cleared space which used to grow corn and now grows pavilions. Naturally, there are no trees there, and they call it the Serengeti and scorn it. But if you camp on the Serengeti (as I did last year), you will not meet up with all the mosquitoes that hang around the lake and that the old-timers complain about. Do bring sunshades. Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin Dorothy J. Heydt Mists/Mists/West UC Berkeley Argent, a cross forme'e sable cozzlab at garnet.berkeley.edu Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: sclark at epas.utoronto.ca (Susan Clark) Subject: Re: Serengeti hints.... Organization: University of Toronto - EPAS Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1993 18:45:34 GMT Greetings... Thanks to everyone for the advice so far (never would have thought of earplugs...) And to Dorothea: Last Pennsic was not normal. Trust me. The year before the plains of the Serengeti were a vista of dried grass and dust. Last year was heaven weather-wise for those of us accustomed to hot, humid, but often overdryj(except for the big downpour which islways during Court or a mahor battle) Pennsics. Regards Nicolaa/Susan sclark at epas.utoronto.ca From: cozzlab at garnet.berkeley.edu () Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Serengeti hints.... Date: 9 Aug 1993 17:25:11 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley In article <1993Aug9.004819.23926 at epas.toronto.edu>, Susan Clark wrote: > So, can any Pennsic veterans still on the net offer any advice? >(Besides the obvious "stay out of your tent at midday"?) > >Hoping it's not too dusty, I camped on the Serengeti last year (my first and only Pennsic), and did not find dust a problem. The Serengeti itself is covered with lush grass; it's only the roads that are bare earth and I found mud more of a problem than dust. Make a sunshade if you can. In the West, where we camp a lot, most house- holds have sunshades anywhere from middling-large to humongous; the wind blows through them and it's nice. If you set up a sunshade _over_your_ tent_, your tent will stay cool too. Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin Dorothy J. Heydt Mists/Mists/West UC Berkeley Argent, a cross forme'e sable cozzlab at garnet.berkeley.edu Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: dillon at world.std.com (John T Dillon) Subject: Re: Serengeti hints.... Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1993 23:10:08 GMT Camping on the Serengetii is actually quite easy as long as you plan on bringing your own shade. Nylon tents become ovens after 10:00, but a simple cloth cover at least a foot over the tent can drop the internal temperature by as much as 20 degrees. Plastic works, but is warmer than natural fabrics. Plan on building any supports that previously you relied on trees for. The 84 lumber yard is a good cheap source for wood poles and supports. Keep lots of water around and drink copious quantities. If you feel a headache coming on, go shopping, wander the barn, or head into the wooded areas where it will be cooler. If you must stay in the Serengetti at mid-day, stay in the shade and make the best of it. John McGuire Every year I camped where I had parked the previous year. Last year I parked beyond the second hill... Hmmmm.... From: cozzlab at garnet.berkeley.edu () Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Serengeti hints.... Date: 12 Aug 1993 16:01:33 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley In article , John T Dillon wrote: [much good advice] > >Plan on building any supports that previously you relied on trees for. >The 84 lumber yard is a good cheap source for wood poles and supports. If the 84 lumber yard is anywhere near the Pennsic site, plan on hitting it up for lumber early--if you're coming early--or else bringing your own. Last year John Theophilus decided to go and get us some lumber and building a little table for the Western encampment. (This was, like, Tuesday of the last week.) He came back with the most apalling collection of scrap. The lumber yard was sold out of everything better. He made the table anyway, and it worked fine, but it _looked_ as ugly as sin. *Sigh* I wish I were going this year. I have just figured out one of the major things I liked about Pennsic--it was a week of real vacation, in which there was almost nothing I had to do. (Except compose songs for my Prince, and perform at his command.) A week of rest. *Sigh* Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin Dorothy J. Heydt Mists/Mists/West UC Berkeley Argent, a cross forme'e sable cozzlab at garnet.berkeley.edu Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: mittle at watson.ibm.com (Arval d'Espas Nord) Subject: Re: Return from Pennsic Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 19:04:06 GMT Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research > Is the date of Pennsic fixed? The two weeks leading up to the 3rd Saturday of August. That definition is given in East Kingdom law. =========================================================================== Arval d'Espas Nord mittle at watson.ibm.com Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: sclark at epas.utoronto.ca (Susan Clark) Subject: Re: Return from Pennsic Organization: University of Toronto - EPAS Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 21:16:34 GMT Greetings.... Pennsic is a movable feast--sort of. The third Saturday of August will fall in the main weekend. That's how they figure it. Regards Nicolaa/Susan sclark at epas.utoronto.ca Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Return from Pennsic From: schuldy at zariski.harvard.edu (Mark Schuldenfrei) Date: 25 Aug 93 22:41:39 EDT Organization: My own little corner. Dorothea asked: Is the date of Pennsic fixed? Is there some algorithm by which you can infallibly tell when it's going to be next year and the year after that? From East Kingdom Law Part VII.C.1: The Pennsic War is hereby scheduled for the third weekend of August. The third weekend is hereby defined as the one containing the third Saturday in August. Tibor -- Mark Schuldenfrei (schuldy at math.harvard.edu) From: erd at kumiss.cmhnet.org (Ethan Dicks) Subject: Re: Pennsic Troll Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Date: 28 Aug 93 23:35:58 EDT Organization: Not an Organization David Salley (salley at niktow.canisius.edu) wrote: : Bertram writes: : > Does anyone have any clue as to why people showing up on Saturday : > afternoon, August 21st, were turned away and not allowed to stay : > on site? Not long ago once the Troll Booth closed people were : > allowed to come in free. One of the reasons for the change was explained to me by Dave Cooper. He said that the last couple of years had seen an increasing number of locals (mostly teenagers) coming after Troll was closed (for free) to party Sunday night. Last year, especially, they had a real problem with this. The solution that the Coopers choose was to limit access to the site to only those who had paid admission to be on site. Also, the repeated notification that people who have not paid are trespassing falls apart if you let people in without paying. If the gate is letting anyone through, how can you tell the unauthorized minors from anyone else? In addition, if you aren't processed by Troll, you don't have a signed waiver on file . Eadred Aethellystan Saxon at Large From: powers at cis.ohio-state.edu (william thomas powers) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Pennsic Activities Date: 23 Jun 1995 19:17:01 -0400 Organization: The Ohio State University, Department of Computer and Information Science As I look over the list of all the things I wanted done before Pennsic, (made before I started working days, nights and weekends on my job), I came across the following. Suggestions for Pennsic Activities I have found that the fastest way to meet people doing the things I'm interested in is to work on a project at an event. Like moths to a flame like minded people will congregate to your work area. Folk will hunt down other folk and drag them over to meet you and while you may not get as much accomplished; you will make friends; learn other methods; share tips; share documentation on your project, etc. So my suggestion for Pennsic is: Bring something to do! Bring a craft project to work on and share. Make a virtue of necessity! Pennsic is a great place to do a project "all by hand". I try to make something at each Pennsic that I will use in the SCA; then each time I use it, I remember the Pennsic I made it at. I have no Pennsic photos; but I have my Pennsic XX pen-annular broach, my Pennsic XX roasting fork; a pattern welded billet from Pennsic XXI, the niello used to decorate a pommel was Pennsic XXII; bodkin points and more pattern welded steel from last Pennsic...and so on. As more and more people realize that Pennsic is what *we* make it; things start happening. Last Pennsic there were two "sheep to shawls" held; a household that has an early period focus hosted an Early Period A & S contest; folk interested in crossbows had a get together; knife/swordmakers had a get together; and probably many more that I did not participate in or hear of! At previous Pennsics there have been pole lathes, an iron smelting furnace, niello making, silver & bronze casting, pattern welded steel making, blister steel making, spinning; all done on people's own initiative! Not part of a formal "class" but just people doing things that they were interested in usually in their own camps. Stop thinking "thats really neat and I hope they do XXX at next Pennsic" and start thinking "how can *we* do XXX at next Pennsic?" And when you get to Pennsic, start asking people you meet if they have heard of any activities being put on privatly that involve areas you are interested in. (Note: some activities are *private* and by invitation only; please respect a courteous refusal.) If you decide to host an activity; let other folk know about it and any restrictions you are putting on it. (Somethings you just can't do with a large group.) Good methods of publicizing something are to ask if you may post a note at the A & S point or leave information with merchants who deal with items related to the activity. willelm the smith; who was involved in most of the above activities; brings a forge and pattern welded steel supplies, casting supplies, wood working tools, etc and wonders how anyone could survive without them! From: root at epee.ultranet.com (root) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Virgin Pennsic-goer Date: 27 Apr 1995 02:57:18 -0400 Organization: Privateer Systems Victoria Gilliam (z009341b at bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us) had to say: : KATHLEEN GORMAN (KNGORMAN at ARTSPAS.watstar.uwaterloo.ca) wrote: : : Meadhbhni writes: : : > Make sure you bring along a good selection of clothes--both warm : : >and cool weather. The days may get hot (2yrs ago it got up to 100!) But : : >the nights are very cool. : : But remember that cool and hot are relative to what you're used to. : : (For instance, I expect to see people in shorts this week if it gets as : : high as the 60 degrees they've predicted.) Greetings: One thing you should be aware of that no one EVER remembers to tell newbie's is this: Cooper's is in a Rain Shadow. Subsequently, it can (and often does) get very "dewey" at night. My first Pennsic, I didn't know this and wasn't prepared. The cloting in my backpack soaked up a great deal of moisture just sitting in the tent. If you are camped on the Sarengetti (sp?) you should be okay up to a point - it still gets dewey but it's hot as hell during the day and things dry off. My fix for this was to pack the clothing inside sealed plastic bags individually and to also bring extra tarps for ground-cloths and a rain shield for the tent top to provide an extra level of protection. This worked *very* well last Pennsic. Another helpful: Bring a Shower Bag (portable shower), three bedsheets and about 40' of nylon rope. If you are in any of the single areas, generally up in the hills, there are plenty of trees close enough together to rig up privacy curtains and the shower. An added touch is to get a plastic pulley so that raising and lowering the waterbag is easier. Just my hard-learned hints. Chris Chris Faubert root at epee.ultranet.com (204.213.66.45) Subject: Pennsic hints Date: Wed, 20 May 98 10:07:29 MST From: "Bernard J. Theiss" To: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" About hints for Pennsic. We've found that a canopy or tarp securely added over the top of a modern tent creates its own shade and also improves the life of the tent. Of course white is best. Beware of trapping rain; the weight may break the ridge poles. See you at Cooper's! From: David Corson Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Pennsic suggestion Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 14:49:46 GMT For those of you attending Pennsic this year - a request from the lady that gets to answer the outside telephone line.... Please leave a copy of your pre-registration form with whomever might need to contact you on site --- it has all of the information to make finding you easier!! Check with the booth across from the Cooper's store on a daily basis - we only post most messages - if we have to come looking for you it is an emergency!! So, check to see if you, or someone in your camp, has a message on the list.... Also, please let thoseh who might want to contact you know that we have ONE incomming line - and no way to page you in your tent. If they can give us your 20th Centruy name, SCA Name and Camp site - along with a 3 line message - we will do our best to get the message to you as quickly as possible...... Thanks in advance - Hope we all have a safe war....... Elaina of Oaklawn - telephone answer lady for PW 27.... From: "Kelly Williams" Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Pennsic Date: 17 Jul 1998 16:19:42 GMT > 7. Bring a camera and plenty of film (the disposable cameras work pretty > well too) Here's a suggestion for those people who bring disposable cameras. Write your name on them. If I had a dollar for every camera that wound up at security/lost and found and could not be identified by the owner, I'd be rich. To: trimaris-temp at egroups.com From: pdruss at aol.com Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 11:03:18 EST Subject: [MedEnc] pennsic search engine New! Alexander's Pennsic War Page now has its own search engine and database _dedicated_ to Pennsic War and related topics. http://www.pennsic.net Tamara Edited by Mark S. Harris Pennsic-ideas-msg