The parking lot battle was a video of me training with another combatant (the photo being of yours truly in armor).

Anyway, in the more hardcore circles (mainly any SCA group) medieval fairs are considered the low tier and a chance to have a little bit of fun. Heavy fighters (those who wear armor) shine at "Wars" that occur four or five times a year at various places in the US, with the last (and the first one) I went to being Great Western War in central California.

Here is a bit of video of one of the larger skirmishes that took place...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLi6Sxul3sU&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLF289EF9ADD70DC8C[/youtube]

The main attraction was a very basic, open field, "us vs. them" (with West vs. East companies / groups going at it) format but there are variations such as the "Battle over Hector's Body," a capture the flag motif...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCPVP0ZYL1M[/youtube]

One on one or "Crown Tournaments" are also common, with the result being the crowning of a new king and prince. As fighters, the winners usually excel at this style of fighting and are usually just great folks in general (Miles the last prince of the West and I swallowed quite a bit of rum and brandy together, and he is known as a really, really nice guy). Here is a video of him in a tournament doing his part to point out weaknesses in the armor of other fighters.

Note: Turn the sound of the video off, the music is horrible.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WS8tOeEHpY&feature=relmfu[/youtube]

The largest war of the year (Pennsic) can draw well over a thousand fighters and then battles such as this occur...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AnkgsgMD0M&feature=related[/youtube]

These were just highlights from last year; Great Western War has yet to occur, though Pennsic and Estralia have both already happened (two of the larger wars of the season) and there is a good chance I'lll be going to GWW in October.

So there you go, a very brief introduction to the world of medieval / SCA combat.

It was like that, but in a field instead of a parking lot. And more well-lit.

Actually, someone recorded one of the battles from the 2009 medieval fair in Norman.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8qoJMa8prw[/youtube]

[img]http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/7008/imag1582f.jpg[/img]

[quote="Flack"]Later in the day there were guys beating the snot out of each other with taped-up weapons [...] [/quote]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cQBecxq42o&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

The town I live in was founded by Czechs traveling down Route 66 many years ago. In the fall we have the annual Czech Festival, which consists of the Czech Parade, the Czech Arts and Crafts, the traveling Czech Midway, and of course lots and lots of Czech Food, which somehow includes giant turkey legs. I don't know if giant turkeys are native to Czechoslovakia or not, but if not, people here don't seem to mind.

And it's in the fall, so nobody gets hit by lightning.

The festival in Sterling is all about the shows. Haven't been there in years but it was a pretty good time. The turkey legs and beer are worth going all by themselves.



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-si5Ptz38[/youtube]

(True story, by the way.)

The last Medieval fair I went to was with Robb & Vitriola back in the day. I naturally got a giant turkey leg as fast as possible and sat down to enjoy it.

Just as I sank my first bite into it, a terrible [i]crack[/i] rang out only dozens of feet from us. Our hearts sank as that was quickly followed by the wails of ambulances...

A midway juggler had been struck by lightning.

I haven't been able to eat a giant turkey leg since(*).













(*) Because I haven't been to a fair since then. Man, I'd kill everyone in this room for a giant turkey leg.

They did have giant turkey legs at the medieval fair, and they have them at the fair as well. I don't know if they have them at the Fair restaurant, but I hope so. I will make it a priority to go there sometime this week and find out.

EDIT: Weeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllll ... I might not go.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/46/1641131/restaurant/Oklahoma-City/Original-Edmond/The-Fair-Edmond

Are there giant turkey legs?

Normally I would agree that one cannot purchase a pizza on a stick all willy-nilly any time of the year, but a new restaurant just opened up called "The Fair" which only serves food that you can buy at the state fair. They specialize in corn dogs and funnel cakes and, if it's truly authentic, watered down beer.

I hear they are not doing great. Dropping 2,000 calories in a six-pack of deep-fried Oreos is easily justified if you only do it once a year, but once that kind of thing is available year round ... well it's bad for humanity, really.

If a guy was going to try to find pizza on a stick and it wasn't fair season, that would be the place.

Pizza on a stick sounds intriguing, but Christ, I gotta take this summer off from terrible foods. Just ONE summer out of my life. I can eat like a stuck wereboar the rest of my summers, if I can just work hard for one of them and maintain.

OK, I'll make you a deal, me. I'll allow myself one "pizza on a stick" in Oklahoma (or equivalent -- I assume the pizza on a stick is only at the medieval fair) as long as I am in reasonably decent shape when I get there.

The "equivalent" is really the key part here, Flack. I feel that Oklahoma is a lush, green and beautiful state. It reminds me of the place I grew up in. (Er, the burb I grew up in, not the city that was near it.) I feel that you can get [i]any food on any stick if you try hard enough in Oklahoma.[/i]

We shall TEST that information in a few months.

Yesterday I attended our local annual Medieval Fair. It's the biggest one in Oklahoma, and one of the largest free ones. A brief review and a bunch of pictures can be seen [url=http://www.robohara.com/?p=4369]here[/url].

Later in the day there were guys beating the snot out of each other with taped-up weapons, live jousting, and "human chess" (think Battle Chess).

There were lots of hot chicks prancing around in skimpy medieval outfits. There were also lots of ugly and fat chicks prancing around in skimpy medieval outfits.