Why Isn't Rugby Union More Popular in the US?

There is a big push right now to get more Rugby in High Schools in Illinois.

HS Rugby makes all the sense in the world to me, low cost, high action and impact, something to keep American footballers in condition off season, better tackling technique for American footballers, better for teaching TEAMWORK are just a few things that spring to mind.

So why isn't Rugby Union more popular in Illinois, or for that matter in the USA?

Too complicated? It really isn't any more complicated than NFL football or NCAA basketball. People don't understand it because they didn't grow up with it, but I really don't see why they couldn't grow up with it.

Too violent? My brother, who played college football for Drake and plays Rugby for the Chicago Griffins said that studies have been done that show that the more equipment you wear the more likely you are to get injured. In Rugby there are no weapons out there, just mano-a-mano. Is there a chance for injury, yes, but I don't think it is really any greater than American football.

Bad Reputation? College Rugby in America has a well deserved reputation for rude, vulgar and even criminal behavior off the field. I never participated in that and it wasn't very evident at Illinois when I was there, but it does happen and some of the college players take some pride in the rep. I think the more comepetitive the team the less that sort of thing happens, but as long as it happens the game will suffer. The question is, is this the main reason the sport isn't more popular.

We already have American football, why do we need another kind of football? I can see the validity of this argument. I don't really see any parallel. None of the really popular sports in the USA are similar to each other at all.

There's no money in it. This is the biggest reason I see. Until 1996 all Rugby Union players, worldwide could NOT be paid to play Rugby.

There is a thing called Rugby League which to my mind is an evil bastardization implemented by greedy people who just wanted to get paid. League has been around since the 1800s and has become more like American football, too much for my tastes.

That's further evidence for this last argument. League and American football, both children of Rugby Union, made changes that were designed to help them make money. So not only is Union not starting from a base of youngsters dreaming of getting rich playing Union, the money making elements in the game aren't there. I hope some of them never get made and that society comes to appreciate the Union game for what it is, but that may be an empty hope.

Why do you think Rugby Union isn't more popular in the USA? You can just vote on the poll and/or you can leave a comment.

Cigars for Christmas (Late but Highly Anticipated)

I got my cigars today!

I regularly go to a forum called EDCF (Every Day Carry Forum). The forum focuses on the stuff you carry with you everyday. Some of it is survivalist stuff (you know, stuff you gotta have with you for when the balloon goes up), but a lot of it is just regular everyday stuff that folks that want to be prepared carry.

As an Eagle Scout, I am fairly dedicated to the Boy Scout Motto of: Be Prepared.

Anyways, there was a thread on this forum about what your favorite cigars are. One of the guys participating is from Holland. He was touting the merits of Dutch cigars and offered to send some to anybody who wanted to learn of the majesty of cigars from the Low Countries.

I thought it was a great offer so I asked for some back in November. They finally came today.

I am not complaining at all. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when he is carrying free cigars.

He sent nine cigars (9!) in a VCR tape case. They were also in a Ziploc bag (which was opened, presumably by Customs). Very very generous and now I owe him something, most likely a favorable review of the products of Holland (although some of them may actually be from Cuba (shh)).

I'm really looking forward to trying them and reporting on my experience. My main posts will be on the EDCF, but I'll copy them here.

New Year's Resolutions

Well, the poll is closed and nobody voted. I did, but that doesn't count.

I went looking for my last year's resolutions and I could have sworn that I had made a resolution to swim 100 miles (that's just about one mile twice a week, but I never got my schedule so I could actually go swimming for an hour at a time) but I guess I didn't.

Here are my resolutions for the last two years and the new ones for this year:

2006

• Get paid to publish Reach Out Didn't happen
• Complete Level 1 of Rosetta Stone Greek Not quite
• Communicate with extended family once a week Still need to work on this
• Write another book Guya Principal, see post on this blog
• Christmas Story Book on CD Nope
  

2007

• Publish Reach Out - Edit - Submit to publisher - Sign contract Didn't even do the editing
• Publish Guya Principal - Edit - Submit to publisher - Sign contract Some editing, that's all
• Complete Level 1 of Rosetta Stone Greek Still nope
• Communicate with extended family once a week I hope their not too disappointed in me

So why do I do it? Why do I keep making resolutions when I can't seem to keep them? It feels SO good when you do make them (I did once, back in 99 or so) and besids, it gives your Jiminy Cricket one more bullet for his guilt gun.

Here are the ones for 2008:

• Make >$1000 Writing
• Communicate with extended family once a week
• Submit 12 Novel Queries
• Complete Level 1 of Rosetta Stone Greek
• Swim 100 miles

TRP After a Trial

On New Year's Day we finally got a chance to play Traders, Raiders and Pirates.

I think everybody enjoyed the game after wrapping their brains around the idea of it.

Here are the rules we played under and some comments from a friend who really knows his wargames.

Traders, Raiders and Pirates
Game Rules

Traders, Raiders and Pirates (TRP) is a pirate board game for two to seven players in which you get to design your ship, build a fleet; you get to decide if you want to be a loyal trader of your chosen nation or if you want to go free-lance and become a pirate. You can make treaties and you can make war. You can even become a Pirate Prince, Princess or a Royal Governor!

I. Object of the Game – To make money! Seriously, the object of TRP is to make as much money as you can, by trading, stealing, fighting, cheating and capturing prizes. The first player to become a Royal Governor or a Pirate Prince(ss) wins.

II. Equipment
A. Map
B. Ship counters
C. Ship logs
D. Ship log markers (3 for each ship)
E. Treasure marker
F. 6 six sided dice (d6 means six sided dice hereafter called dice)
G. Checkered tablecloth for a map board
H. Poker chips to keep track of money
I. Model ships (Lego, wood or cardboard)

III. Set Up
A. ORDER OF PLAY –
1. All players roll a single die (d6) with the highest roller going first throughout the game.
2. The other players take turns in a clockwise direction.
3. This order of players never changes no matter how may ships a player has or doesn’t have (see Capture).
B. CHOSE A NATION - Each player chooses a nation to belong to, or chooses to be a pirate; they then chose a home port to start at.
1. Spanish (Green) ports are Santa Claus and San Jose.
2. French (Red) ports are Saint Franc and Monique.
3. British (Blue) ports are Porkport (on Pork Island) and Chickenton (on Chicken Island)
4. The pirate port is Tortuga on Tortuga Island.
C. MAP
1. Place the map on a good, big table.
2. In order of play each player places their home island. Tortuga is always exactly in the middle.
3. Once all home ports are placed then in order of play each player places the other island port of their nation from 12 to 18 squares from their home port.
a. Measure from the ports with no regard for the other island spaces
b. No islands may touch each other
c. Islands from the same nation must be east and west of each other (not north and south of each other).
D. BUILD A SHIP
1. Traders and Pirates each get $30 to build a ship (you cannot start the game as a Raider).
2. Each Class of ship (size of the ship that determines how many guns and how much cargo a ship can carry) cost $6.
a. Class can never be changed.
b. Circle your class on your ship’s log
3. Each level of Speed or Gun cost $1.
4. You do not have to spend all your BoG, but it is recommended.
5. Name your ship and put the name and yours on your ship’s log. Circle your nationality.
6. Place markers on your Speed and Guns.
7. Any poker chips of money you have get placed on the “Gold” block of your log.
E. CARGO
1. Place your Cargo counters on the port you load them on.
a. This will assure you remember from what port you last sailed.
b. You cannot sell your Cargo at this port, but you can trade your Cargo for repairs.

IV. Phases and Keeping Track
A. Play occurs in four “Phases,” Move, Fight, Move, Business. Any of these phases can be skipped.
1. MOVE. A player moves into position. Both move phases can only add up to the total of a ships movement points.
2. FIGHT. Players can fire on one or more ships, but each gun can only fire once per turn.
3. MOVE2. A player can close after a battle, move on to conduct business, or retreat.
4. BUSINESS. This includes capturing a prize ship, exchanging pay or bribes, conducting repairs (while in port), selling cargo, picking up new cargo, building a new ship, looking for treasure, or buying a port (and winning the game).
B. KEEPING TRACK
1. CARGO
a. Cargo can be stolen in battle,
b. given up as a bribe,
c. traded with other ships,
d. traded for repairs in any of your nations ports,
e. or sold in a port other than the one in which it was acquired.
f. Circle the maximum amount of Cargo your ship can carry and keep track of how much is actually carried with your counter.
2. SPEED
a. Can be lost in battle and regained or increased in port.
b. Circle the level of Speed you have purchased and keep track of damage with your counter.
3. BoG
a. Can be stolen in battle,
b. given up as a bribe,
c. earned by selling cargo
d. used to pay for improvements in your ship
e. and used to buy a new ship or port.
f. Keep track of how many BoG a ship has by placing poker chips in the “Gold” block.
4. GUNS
a. Can be lost as battle damage or gained by buying more in port.
b. Circle the number of Guns you have purchased and keep track of damage with your counter.

V. Movement
A. The total number of points your ship can move is the points of speed you have at the beginning of your turn. The total number of points you move in both movement phases can only add up to this number.
B. The wind in the Caribbean during the game blows from East to West.
C. Changing direction costs one movement point regardless of the ship’s relation to the wind.
D. Movement costs are dependant on the ship’s relation to the wind.
1. Moving diagonally into the Northeast or Southeast square costs 2 movement points.
2. Moving into the North, South or West squares costs 1 movement points.
3. Moving into the Northwest or Southwest squares cost ½ a movement point.
E. A ship cannot move over or through another ship or a land square.

VI. Battle
A. After the initial movement, a ship may fire one of all of its guns on any ship directly in line with their broadsides. Each gun may only be fired once per turn.
B. The player rolls a die for each gun fired. If the roll is less than the distance between the ships then a hit is scored.
C. Hits cost a BoG, a point of speed or the removal of a gun. All costs are taken before return fire is given.
D. A defending ship may return fire.
1. Return fire is done with any remaining guns.
2. Fire may only be returned if the defender’s broadsides are pointed at the attacker (therefore it behooves the attacker to rake the bow or stern).
E. When a ship’s speed goes to zero it will sink if the attacker does not take it as a prize.
1. When a ship sinks all her BoG, guns and cargo sink away.
2. A Trader whose ship sinks will get one replacement ship back in their home port. The player builds a new ship with $24.
3. Pirates who sink do not get a replacement ship.
F. An attacker may fire on more than one ship during their turn, but each gun may fire only once per turn.

VII. Capture
A. An attacker may choose to take a prize of a ship that is sinking.
1. The attacker must move adjacent to the sinking ship.
2. The attacker chooses the number of speed points to transfer from the attacking ship to the sinking ship in the form of a prize crew. The attacker must move at least one speed point to the sinking ship to keep it afloat.
B. A defender may strike her colors, or surrender. The defending captain states that he surrenders.
1. A defender may not fire or escape after striking.
2. The attacker need not move adjacent to the striking ship, unless the attacking captain wishes to transfer guns, cargo, speed (crew) or BoG. The attacker may also provide a captain for the struck ship (thus taking the other player out of the game).
C. A captured ship may be left to be captained by the original player, who now must obey commands of the owning player. The captured ship also becomes aligned to the new owner (becoming pirate for instance).
D. A captured ship takes their turn when the capturing ship does.
E. The captured captain, if left in command may escape control of the capturing captain (commodore) on the next turn.
F. A Trader does not get a replacement if their ship is taken as a prize.

VIII. Plunder
A. A Pirate or Raider who brings a ship to 0 Speed may come alongside and Plunder the ship of BoG, Guns or Cargo.
B. After Plundering a ship the attacker lets it sink without taking her as a prize.
C. Ships sunk after being Plundered are still eligible for replacement if they are Traders who have not yet replaced a ship.

IX. Business
A. SELLING
1. When a ship enters port the captain may sell the ship’s cargo.
a. Traders receive 1 BoG for each ton of cargo brought to port.
i. Cargo may only be sold in a port other than the one in which it was loaded.
ii. A Trader that enters port will sell their cargo and receive a new load of cargo to transport to their other national port.
b. Pirates sell their cargo on the black-market and therefore roll one die for each ton of cargo.
i. A roll of 2, 3, 4, or 5 returns that many BoG.
ii. A roll of 1 or 6 means the pirate cannot find a buyer for the loot. The pirate looses the loot if they cannot sell it.
c. Raiders may sell cargo they take in a raid at Tortuga on the black market just like a pirate.
B. REPAIR
1. A captain may repair battle damage in one of their nation’s ports.
2. The captain may use BoG earned in that turn or trade Cargo for repairs.
3. Repairing 1 point of Speed or 1 gun each cost $1 BoG.
C. BUILD A SHIP
a. A captain with 7 or more BoG may build an additional ship in port.
b. The new ship will be placed on the board after the original ship leaves port on the next turn.
D. IMPROVEMENTS
1. Speed and Guns may be improved while in port.
a. The cost of improvements will be equal to the total cost as if you were taking that level as building.
i. Example 1: If you want to improve from 3 guns to 4 then it will cost $4.
ii. Example 2: If you want to improve from 4 guns to 6 it will cost $6.
b. You may not improve a ship above 6 in either speed or guns.
E. BRIBES
1. A defending captain may pay bribes to an attacker to keep from being attacked.
2. Bribes may be in guns, cargo or BoG.
3. You may bribe your way out of being a Pirate. It cost $30 for each ship to change from Pirate to Trader or Raider and all your ships must convert at the same time.
F. BARTER
1. Any ships may barter with each other. Bartering is trading.
2. Bartering with a Pirate if you are a Raider or Trader is illegal and will get your status changed into Pirate.

X. Treasure
A. The treasure is hidden on Tortuga Island.
B. Ships may search for the treasure by coming adjacent to an island square and rolling three dice (3d6).
1. If the player rolls three ones then they have found the treasure.
C. The treasure is worth 100 BoG.
D. You may not search the same square for treasure two turns in a row.
E. The treasure may be taken to a port and used to buy the port and win the game.
F. The treasure may be taken in battle or offered as a bribe, just like any other cargo.
G. If the treasure has been found and is in the possession of a ship then another ship will not “find” it on Tortuga.
H. If a ship with the treasure is sunk and the treasure isn’t Plundered from her, it returns to be hidden on Tortuga.

XI. Changing Your Status
A. Becoming a Pirate
1. You may change from a Trader or a Raider into a Pirate at anytime by simply doing something illegal (like attacking a ship from a friendly nation or selling cargo in Tortuga if you are a trader).
2. Mark a big, black "X" Through your nationality and circle "Pirate" on your ship's log.
3. If any of your ships become Pirates voluntarily then all of your ships are Pirates.
4. Involuntarily becoming a Pirate when captured.
B. Becoming a Raider
1. If your nation is at war, you may become a Raider if you are a Trader.
2. Put an "R" near your national designation on your Ship's Log.
3. If you have more than one ship, you may have any combination of Raiders and Traders.
4. Raiders sell cargo at Tortuga just like Pirates
5. Raiders may attack either Pirates or ships from the nation with which you are at war.
6. Raiders get one replacement ship for a destroyed ship, just like Traders.
7. Raiders may take cargo themselves from a home port to a home port, but why would they?
C. Becoming a Trader
1. Raiders may return to Trader status at any time.
2. Pirates may never change back into either a Trader or a Raider. Once a Pirate, always a Pirate except when you aren't.
a. You may return to Trader or Raider status from Pirate status if your ship had been captured and you were kept on as captain. If you escape control of the Pirates you may return to your former status.
b. You may pay a $30 bribe for each and every ship to return to Trader status.
i. All ships must convert at the same time.
ii. The money goes to the current Governor (who doesn't really exist so all the money is just taken from the players coffers).

XII. War and Alliances
A. War
1. At the end of each complete turn (all players have taken a turn) the first player rolls two dice (2d6) to determine the war status.
a. England is 1, France is 2, Spain is 3.
2. If there is no war and 1, 2 or 3 are rolled with a 1, 2, or 3 then those two nations are at war.
3. If a 4, 5 or 6 are rolled on either of the dice then there is no war. If doubles are rolled with any number, there is no war.
4. If a war already exists then it will end when a double is rolled. Any other combination of numbers means nothing.
· Example 1: If there is no war and a 1 and 2 are rolled then England and France are at war until a double is rolled.
· Example 2: War exists between France and Spain and a 1 and a 2 are rolled, nothing happens.
B. Alliances
1. Alliances may be made between any two friendly nations.
2. Alliances may be any sort of deal between the two colonies as long as they are not illegal.

XIII. Buying a Port or Winning the Game
A. A player intending to buy a port must bring the first ship into port and announce the intention to buy the port.
B. Each ship is brought into port and leaves all the BoG.
D. A Pirate or a Raider may enter the port and steal the BoG there during the process.
E. Once $100 are in port the player (as a Trader or Raider) has bought their Governorship and wins the game.
F. A pirate follows the same rules in the port of Tortuga. When the port is bought, the pirate becomes a Pirate Prince(ss) and wins the game.

These are the comments that MMC made:

1. Movement point cost to change “heading” with the wind should be 0.

2. Smaller islands…maybe add a few that are not ports as well, just obstacles. Make a random island location generator. Make the islands with wavy/curved shoreline drawn onto the “squared” pattern for better visual playability. Maybe even draw mountains or ground features to make them more pleasing to the eye. Cut them out of “green” poster board.

3. Allow a ship in port to be fired upon, but at an increased difficulty to be hit, maybe from adjacent range and with a roll of six to hit only.

4. Allow trade from any nationality port to any nationality port. Cargo would have a chance at having more value if taken to a more distant port. So, when cargo is delivered, roll to determine 1-3 gold pieces per cargo for a “near” port, 3-5 for a “medium” port, and 5-7 for a “distant” port. Trade to an enemy (at war with) port is not allowed.

5. Make up movement point ‘compass” that can be placed on map for the players quick and easy reference.

6. Ports should generate 1-3 (or something random) cargo each turn. When cargo is picked up, it would be actually removed from the port and placed upon the ship. Sometimes a port would have an abundance of cargo; sometimes it would have a dearth of cargo. This would cause the trade ships to race to a particular port that had cargo available. Cargo delivered and turned into gold would be removed at the port, and not added to the ports available cargo.

7. Make a very visible COLOR marker to distinguish each player’s ship(s) for easier game play recognition. Maybe place a colored die adjacent to each ship on the board.

8. Half the gun range, from a six squares (needing a roll of six to hit) to three squares (needing a roll of six to hit).

9. Reduce the variety of ship classes to four; ship-of-the-line, frigate, sloop, brig.

10. Change the term “guns” to “gun batteries”, sounds like you have more guns then.

11. I think you’ll need a playability rule so that no one blocks a port with their ship in it. Maybe you can only remain in port for one turn. This would keep a player with multiple ships from blocking a port that had an abundance of cargo available.

Traders, Raiders and Pirates

When we saw Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest I got an itch to play a pirate game. I found Sea Rats! It looked interesting but I wanted the ability to build my own ship and work with wind.

I have since looked at several other games and for Christmas we bought all the Pirates movies and Pirates the game. None of the games I've seen take wind into account. That means no tacking, wearing or gaining the weather gauge. You might as well be playing a WWII naval battle.

The result is that I wrote my own rules. I combined several rules I have seen from pirate and other games. I call the game Traders, Raiders and Pirates (TRP). The rules are here in this post.

These rules have not been play tested, but you are welcome to try and let me know how they worked. I'm still trying to figure out what to do for a map board and ship models (may use the cardboard models that come from the Pirate game).

[EDIT: The original rules have been removed from this post and replaced by new rules on the following post]

Poll - Organizer

Our last poll, "What Should We Call the Day After Thanksgiving?" only got two votes (one of them mine) so I'll just have to call it Retail Friday from now on.

Our new poll is about organizers.

How do you organize your day; how do you plan your life?

I use a Palm based PDA (Palm TX) and I'm quite happy with it. For Christmas, I'm going to get a keyboard for it and an FM transmitter. The FM transmitter will let me use my TX as an MP3 player in the car.

I actually use my PDA everyday. I use it for work in several ways. I use it to organize my daily personal schedule, to do list and contacts. I also use it for writing and I have songs on it.

I recently purchased for my eldest Propette a Franklin day planner. She uses it constantly.

Mrs. Prop (my wife) uses loose paper on a writing pad for her planning.

Mrs. Prop (my mom) uses a pocket calendar (last I checked).

What do you use?

What is an FRG?

I have become involved in the Family Readiness Group for the Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 108th Sustainment Brigade. This is the unit from which I retired in May.

A portion of the Headquarters of the 108th Sustainment Brigade has been mobilized and will very shortly be deployed to Iraq. That is really why I volunteered to help out. I felt a little guilty that it would have been me to go if I had stayed in a few more months. Also I know that my family got no support while I was deployed in Afghanistan. I wanted to correct that.

In fact, when I volunteered to help in anyway they needed, they volunteered me as the Group Leader (a rather intense job with orders and a letter of appointment). I'll do my best and anyone I know that wants to help will be welcomed warmly.

But, what is an FRG (Family Readiness Group) and what do they do?

Well, in theory, every unit should always have an FRG. it should be the official support for families of service members, both in the Regular Army and in the Reserves (the Army Reserves and the National Guard are both, and collectively, refered to as the Reserves). In practice it is more common to see an FRG started up for a unit deploying and not continuing much after they get back.

In units based in rural communities I have seen a very close knit family organization, but that was because most of the members of the unit were literally family.

In units without this natural support it can be very important for the FRG to function well.

FRGs provide a clearing house for information for service families. They also provide a source of mental and spiritual support. We have monthly informational and social meetings planned for the year that the unit will be deployed. We are also building a "Phone Tree" so that each family will get a call at least once a month from someone who has information and is ready to provide support (or at least get a request for support started in the right direction).

Deployments can be as hard, or harder on families as on the service members themselves. Support an FRG if you can. For more information about the HHC, 108 SB FRG, drop me a line at innerprop@sbcglobal.net.

An FRG in action.

Santa Claus this year is letting his reindeer have a rest, arriving at his appointed rounds in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Here, he stops at Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane, Wash. Operation Spokane Heroes hosted the holiday party for Families of deployed servicemembers, who met Santa, rode a carousel and had pizza. (Photo by Airman 1st Class Jocelyn A. Ford)

Love is Higher than the Faet

Part Two of the Courtship of Princess Gelachien

Prince Audie went home to the kingdom of Slojia after Princess Gelachien of Ontia refused to let him court her. When he arrived at the castle his father, King Trordar could see right away that Gelachien had sent him away. Trordar was very very angry.

He had lost the Battle of the Whombae River to Gelachien and was forced to sign the Treaty of the Great Bridge. A few years later he lost Southern Slojia to Prince Lang’s father who made himself King Lagan I. After that he lost the western shore of the Thirae River to Feren’s father, King Ferris I. This last insult was too much for Trordar and he decided to take revenge.

Trordar called for his generals and started to make plans to attack Ontia. Audie spoke up and reminded him that the Treaty of the Great Bridge did not allow him to attack Ontia.

“We must get revenge against this Princess!” Trordar roared. “She’s not even a real princess; they just made her princess to make me lose Ontia.” He slammed his great fist on the table and sat down to think.

“West Iurnia! That’s it. If it’s Prince Feren that she wants then we will make his kingdom pay. Make plans to invade West Iurnia.”

Meanwhile, Princess Gelachien waited for a reply from Feren. She had invited him to a picnic so that she could tell him that she was sorry for testing him and to try to start courting him. She would walk back and forth on top of the walls of her castle in the capital city of Liitownyn. Sometimes she would walk with her wizard, Shorfly or sometimes with the Prime Minister, Melbur.

One cloudy day she was walking with Melbur. The ocean breeze blew her long dark hair in her eyes and she wiped it away.

“Why hasn’t he answered me Melbur?” She asked the old Prime Minister.

“I don’t know highness. I know you angered him with your test, but I would have thought that he would have calmed down by now. Maybe he isn’t the kind of man you want after all if he gets this angry and doesn’t forgive.”

“Maybe your right Melbur, but if he isn’t the one then who? Audie, Trev, Lang?”

“Well you did say that you liked the way Trev played piano.”

“Yes and he did tell such funny stories, but he was so short.”

“And you said that he was greedy.”

“Yes, but maybe he wouldn’t be so bad. He could buy me nice jewelry.” She laughed a little and spun around. Maybe Prince Trev wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe she could send him an invitation.

Just then Shorfly ran up the stairs and called to them. “Your highness, I have just received word that the army of Slojia and King Trordar is on the march.”

“Trordar is going to attack Ontia? Why?” Gelachien asked.

“No, Princess. He is attacking West Iurnia. He means to make Prince Feren pay for being chosen by you.”

“Oh dear. That’s why Feren hasn’t replied to my invitation. How strong is the army of Slojia?”

Melbur said, “They’re very strong. They’re much stronger than anything King Ferris can put together.”

“Then we must help them.” Gelachien said.

“But how princess?” Shorfly asked. “We can’t attack Slojia because of the Treaty of the Great Bridge. We can’t get to West Iurnia without crossing Slojia.”

“Yes we can. We could sail south past Slojia and Southern Slojia, but then we would have to sail again north into Oolpao Bay. No one has ever sailed that far without putting in to shore at some point. Surely they would see our ships and wait for us at any port we might try to put into.” Melbur said.

“There is another way.” Gelachien said. “We can go over the mountains.”

“Go over the Ianduid Mountains? But that would mean that we would have to either go over Mount Faet or go around north of it. That would mean going into Urth land. That is far too dangerous.” Shorfly said.

“But it is possible.” Gelachien smiled.

“Yes, it’s possible, but it would take too long. We could never march our army over the mountains and get to West Iurnia in time to help.” Melbur said.

“We’ll only take the cavalry. Assemble the troops; we’ll leave first thing in the morning.” She ran to the steps with her dress flowing behind her.

In the morning Princess Gelachien rode out in front of her cavalry on a great white horse in shiny steel armor encrusted with pink quartz, emeralds and diamonds.

“I have sent a message by crow to King Ferris and Prince Feren that you are coming to help.” Shorfly said when he walked up to see them off.

“Good.” Gelachien said.

“If you don’t mind my saying so highness, that is very fancy armor you are wearing. Don’t you think it’s a bit much?”

Gelachien smiled. “The jewels can be removed. If we run into any Urts maybe we can pay them off.” She laughed, threw a cloak over her armor and was off.

The horse soldiers of Ontia were not very many, but they were very good. They rode west from Liitownyn on good roads leading off to the mountains rising in front of the new sun.

They rode all day through fields of wheat and corn. By nightfall they just reached the foothills of the Ianduid mountain range. They made camp and slept a good night under a star-filled sky. They woke before dawn and ate their breakfast cold in the saddle.

The second day brought them up into the forests that covered the mountains like a blanket. It was quiet and cool under the trees while the sun dappled down. The road was steep but well marked. They made good time and rode until after dark.

Quietly they made camp, putting up tents and starting fires. Their supper was light and quick. Before going to bed Gelachien met with her General, Skor over a map.

“General Skor, we are here, right?” The princess pointed to a place on the map. The General came around the table and looked closely.

“Yes. Tomorrow we will turn southeast and follow the ridge. Does your highness wish to pass Mount Oeng on the North or South side?”

“We must pass to the north. If we passed to the south we would be too close to Slojia.”

“As you wish highness. I know a good road just here.” He showed her on the map.

“Good. We must go as fast as we can. We can’t waste any time.”

General Skor said nothing.

“What is bothering you General?” Gelachien asked.

“How will we get around Mount Faet? Both the North Slope and the south slope are impossible to pass. The only road goes far to the south and right into Slojia. We could try to find a road to the north, but that would take us into Urth. Who knows what trouble we will find there and how long it will take?”

Gelachien placed her hand on his thick strong hand. “We will find a way General. We must.”

The meeting ended and they all went to sleep. They woke in the morning before sunrise again. They again ate a cold breakfast as they rode their horses along the ridge of the mountains.

High up on the mountain ridge they were in pine forests that rose thick and green all around them. They smell was strong and sweet.

Just before the sun set on them again they caught their first sight of the great mountain Faet. It looked like just a small white cone above the green pines. General Skor rode up beside the princess.

“Tomorrow we will reach the mountain.” He said. “Do you have a plan highness?”

“If we can’t go around it we will have to go over it.” She said with her eyes up and her lips tight.

“Over it highness? Do you have magic that you are not telling me about?” He asked.

“We will see tomorrow General. I will not let a mountain stand in my way.” She looked him straight in the eye and he could ask her no more questions.

They made camp. It was so late that they didn’t have time to cook dinner. They ate it cold. Everyone felt that time was running away from them. They were all eager to reach West Iurnia, but no one was as eager as Gelachien herself. She sat up all night in her tent. She barely slept.

They left as soon as it was light. They kept traveling through pine forests. Sometimes they would go over the top of a smaller mountain and the peak would be bare of trees. The grassy spots on the tops of the mountains were called balds. Whenever they rode into one they could see Mount Faet growing ahead of them. The closer they got the taller steeper and rockier it got. It looked like it would fill up the sky and they would never get around it.

Princess Gelachien never looked up at it. She rode hard, looking always ahead at the road. Everyone was afraid to talk to her and she rode in silence.

Before night fell they came to a fork in the road. To their right was a wide, clear path. It led down into Slojia and around the mountain. To the left was a thin, over-grown path barely wide enough for one horse to pass. It led into Urth and presumably around the mountain. To the side of that trail was a worn sign that showed a skull and bones warning travelers. Not one of the troopers knew of anyone who had traveled the northern path. They had never even heard of anyone using that path.

There was no path that led right up to the mountain. Princess Gelachien looked over the trees at the giant mountain right in front of them. They all looked up also. They could see the wind whipping snow off the rocky peak. They could hear the wind screaming and rocks falling in the wind. They could feel the cold air falling from the great height and they could smell the snow.

The trees were thinner here. Gelachien took a deep breath and spurred her horse straight on. She weaved her way past a few trees before General Skor caught her.

“Your highness. Perhaps we should wait and try in the morning. It is late and we wont be able to get very far tonight anyway.”

“We must move on General. Prince Feren needs us.”

“Yes highness, but perhaps we can send scouts ahead to find the best path. The troops are tired and need a hot meal tonight. We make every effort in the morning, but please let them rest tonight.” He placed his large hand on hers. She sighed again and nodded.

General Skor took volunteers to send forward to be scouts. The rest set up camp and made a small supper. Gelachien went to her tent and stared at the map.

Later the General brought her a plate of stew and told her that they scouts had come back with news that there was no way over the mountain. She ignored the food. “General, there must be a way over this mountain.”

“There is a saying highness. ‘The Faet is cloaked in white because she is a bride who has never known the touch of a man.’”

Gelachien smiled. “That is a good warning that comes a little late to help us get to Feren.”

“Well, the warning is late because I only learned it recently. One of our troopers told me and he told me something else about this mountain. She isn’t really a mountain.”

“Isn’t really a mountain? What do you mean?”

“She is a wizardess bride whose groom left her at the altar.”

“No. She was enchanted?”

“Yes. The story is that she fell in love with a great hunter named Noki here in the mountains. He loved her as well, but he didn’t want to leave his forests and mountains. She swore that she would stay with him in his mountains if he would agree to marry her. He did agree and they were to be married here among the pines, but at the last minute he became frightened and leapt into the sky. He became the star Noki that we can see right above the peak of the mountain. Faet became very angry and very sad. She had sworn to live in his mountains so here she had to stay. She became the mountain and is ever after reaching for the star so she can at last be with her love.”

“That is very sad. Does it help us?” Gelachien asked.

“I don’t know.” The General said. The princess smiled at him.

“Thank you. Maybe that will help me think of something. Good night General.”

He left her in her tent alone. He slept little that night and in the morning, before the sun rose, he went to look for her in her tent. She was not there.

Quickly he got his horse and began to ride, but before he got too deep into the woods he met the princess riding back toward camp.

“Are you alright your highness?” He asked her.

“Yes. I was just leaving a wedding present for the bride.” She smiled and showed her armor to him. All of the jewels had been removed.

“Do you think she will accept your present and let us pass?” He asked as they rode back.

“I hope so. Get the men ready incase she does.”

They packed up as quickly as they could. Midway through packing a deep, low rumbling began.

“What’s that?” Some of the men asked, but no one knew for sure.

It grew louder and soon the ground was shaking like an earthquake. The birds flew off and the animals ran. The horses were scared and had to be held by the men. The trees shook and snow slipped down off the mountain. When the quake stopped they all looked up and what they saw surprised and pleased them.

The mountain looked like it was leaning to the left and there on the right was a clear flat path for them to follow.

“She has decided to let us pass!” The General shouted. “Quickly now, we must ride.”

They threw what was left of their gear in their bags and rode faster than they ever had before.

The path was broad enough for them all to ride shoulder to shoulder. They left no one behind. When they were halfway across they heard the rumbling again.

“It’s starting again!”

“She’s shifting back!”

“Ride, ride as fast as you can!” They shouted and they did. They all rode as fast as they could. By the time the mountain shifted back to the way she was standing before they had all made it clear to the other side.

They waited on the path on the other side of Mount Faet to let their horses rest.

“Well, you did it highness. Now we will surely make it to West Iurnia in time.”

“Well, Faet understands love.” Gelachien sighed and waved to the mountain. “We ride again as soon as the horses are rested.”

And they did.

We Don't Want No More Black Friday

Just about a week ago we had what is rapidly becoming known as Black Friday. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the USA. Thanksgiving in the US is the fourth Thursday of November and typically employers give the Friday following off as well. I heard on a local radio station (WLIT in Chicago, FM 93.9) that 78% of Americans do not have to work that day.

I don’t like the term Black Friday. To me “black” indicates bad or dark and worrisome. That’s not a feeling I want to engender on the first day of the Christmas season, the day when I start putting up decorations and start tolerating the Christmas decorations that have already been in stores since before Halloween.

The current usage is supposed to be positive and is as follows from About.com:

“The origin of Black Friday comes from the shift to profitability during the
holiday season. Black Friday was when retailers went from being unprofitable, or
"in the red," to being profitable, or "in the black", at a time when accounting
records were kept by hand and red indicated loss and black profit.”

According to Wikipedia, the phrase is older and originally refered to the traffic snars created between the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and increased number of shoppers on Friday. That makes more sense to me.

Let's look at all the "Black" days in history. Black Monday was a stockmarket crash in 1987. Black Tuesday in 1929 was the start of the Great Depression. It was actually preceded by Black Thursday the week before and then a Black Monday. England has had several Black Mondays and a Black Wednesday. Scotland and Lebanon have Black Saturdays. Black Sunday was the beginning of the Dust Bowl in 1935.

So you see, “Black” has dark, forbidding overtones and an ominous history.

I want to find a new phrase for the day after Thanksgiving. Won’t you help me? Please respond to this week’s poll.

Thanks.

Poll #1 Results - What You Want Illini6 to Be

The results are in. I have a few points I want to make after I give you the raw data.

Here it is in popularity order:

Military and Deployment Issues = 9 (69%)
Inner Prop's Inner Thoughts = 6 (46%)
Inner Prop's Family Life = 6 (46%)
Anthropology = 6 (46%)
Inner Prop Writing Exclusively = 5 (38%)
Rugby = 5 (38%)
Scouting = 5 (38%)
ConCultures and ConLangs = 4 (30%)
Exercise Log and Discussion = 4 (30%)

Thirteen people voted, with the last one sneaking in a vote for Anthropology on the last day. Not one topic got no votes at all.

I need to say that I have created a blog specifically for family issues of the Inner Prop. It is called Flowers of Mundelein. So that is out of the running.

I reserve the right, as the blog owner to lock in a subject. Since the original purpose of this blog was and is to share my writing I am going to continue to do that. I think it didn't get more votes because it said "Exclusively." Next time I will watch my wording better.

Clearly the voters want Military and Deployment issues discussed here. I will certainly do that.

The next top vote-getters were Anthropology and Inner Prop's Inner Thoughts. I will keep those and try to expand my Anthropology and Archaeology discussions.

I will also keep Rugby and Scouting in, but limit the discussion of them.

I will go ahead and drop Exercise discussion (never really started that) and Conlang / ConCultures off the blog for the most part. I'll keep ConLang / ConCulture in if it partains to a specific story, but not on its own.

With this list in mind I propose a new schedule (that I will try to stick with):

Monday is Fiction Day
Tuesday is Guest Star Day
Wednesday is Anything Can Happen Day
Thursday is Anthropology Day
Friday is Military / Deployement Day.

Joke Attempt Number 1

I wrote a joke and I thought I would throw it against the wall here to see if it would stick.

Molly and Peggy were gossiping over the backyard fence.

"I heard your Pat was out drinking last night and really tied one on," Peggy said.

Molly rolled her eyes, "Let me tell you. I told him that if he was going to stay out he had to call me, so he was at the Blue Shamrock and tried to find a phone."

"They have pay toilets there, don't they?"

"Yes and Pat walked into one thinking it was a pay phone."

"Oh, no."

"Oh yes, and that ain't the worst of it."

"It gets worse?"

"He tried to reverse the charges."

Another Link in the Chain

I've added another link in my "Prop Friends" link section on the right side of the blog.

This one is to CSM Medina's website. The CSM is the Command Sergeant Major for the portion of my old unit (108th Sustainment Brigade) that's being deployed to Iraq.

He is keeping a daily log and has loads of photos up there. It should be a great site for first hand knowledge about what it is like for soldiers in Iraq in the coming months.

That's him in the photo here. I guess he was in the last triathalon here in Chicago. I don't mind the swimming and biking, but I hate running. That's one of the best parts about being retired, no more running.

3000 Visit Illini6!

This past week Illini6 received our 3000th visitor! This is terrific. I firmly believe that the more we get visitors the more people will share and the more visitors we will get.

I want everybody everywhere to read Illin6 so I’m glad you came and I hope you brought a friend.

The map is from Sitemeter and it shows just where in the world the last 100 visitors were sitting with their computers when they decided to virtually visit Illini6.

We’ve had visitors from:
All over the US including Alaska, Hawaii and Canada (I know it’s not part of the US, I’m just kidding please don’t be offended)
Korea, Japan and China;
Auckland, New Zealand, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia
Germany, Ireland and England;
Argentina, Chile and Brazil;
And even from Cape Verde in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

If I missed anybody, my apologizes.

So where you from, do you come here often? Before you look around and read lots of stuff, why don’t you leave a quick comment and let us know where you are and why you came.

Thanks everybody!

Fiction Monday Update

I did NOT get any writing done this past, long weekend. I need to edit a mystery story I'm working on called "The Pizza Delivery Boy." When I get it done, I'm going to submit it to some high paying magazines.

I have a short story called "Lest Too Light Winning Makes the Prize Light" submitted to an e-zine called AlienQ. The story is a SF story modeled after Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World and William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

The story is set in a future where dozens of artificial worlds have been built in the solar system and many of them have genetically engineered people in them. The protagonist is a Major from a world that uses genetic engineering to divide people into castes. He is sent with his Regiment to provide military aid to a world populated by people who have engineered themselves so that they can fly.

I guess that Cthulhu Kitty was a good luck charm afterall. I'm being published in a Christmas cat anthology. Whortleberry Press is doing the anthology called Cats Around the Christmas Tree and my story was accepted. If you go there now you can order a copy in time for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everybody Everywhere!

We had Thanksgiving here in the Prop estate with my in-laws yesterday.

I had to wait until it happened, but I am happy to report that the folks from the 108th Sustainment Brigade who are deploying to Iraq soon have a pass for the holidays. I think they are home for the most part.

When I was deployed to Afghanistan I was LUCKY enough to get a two week leave at Christmas time. I was in Afghanistan for Thanksgiving and so was Major John.

I got to thinking about all those service members who are not home for the holidays.

Sometimes it can be hard, but if the service members are inside their bases on a holiday it can be quite festive.

This is a photo from last Thanksgiving in Iraq.

There is a tradition in the military that during holidays the higher ranking members serve the common soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.

Notice the two star general serving.

And if that isn't a high enough rank try this from Bahgdad in '03:

I was very thankful to be the ranking officer serving my family this year and I am thankful for all those who Serve so that I may serve.

Happy Thanksgiving!

WKRP Turkey Drop Payoff

DO NOT Watch this video until you have watched the one below.

This is the ultimate Thanksgiving quote of all time, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

WKRP Turkey Drop

Oh the humanity!

Christmas has Rudolph, Frosty, George Bailey, Christmas Story and Scrooge; Easter has Peter Cottontail but this is all we have for Thanksgiving. I think it stacks up with those other greats.

I'm going to have a very special post tomorrow hopefully. So Happy Thanksgiving Eve.

Boys of St. Leonard's

This is a mystery series idea.

St. Leonard of Noblac is the patron saint against burglars and robbers (St. Nicholas of Myra, later became St. Nicholas or Santa Claus is also a patron against criminals or for the innocent). St. Leonard's is the very expensive and exclusive Catholic dorm at the University of North Central Illinois.

A black college student, Clovis O'Malley, on an academic scholarship finds that his roommate is an old football rival. The other boy, Nicholas Noblac, was known as "The Widowmaker" because of his ferocious hits in blocking and ball carrying (as a full back).

The Widowmaker contracted AIDS while giving CPR to someone. The victim and his lover are putting the boy through school because he doesn't play football anymore and lost his scholarship. He is an Eagle Scout and an "All American Boy."

The boys do detective work to earn a few extra bucks. They complement each others' abilities.

Clovis is a natural genius and slightly sheltered, but being African-American he sees things from that perspective. His father was a cop, but also worked as a security guard and a truck driver. He was a strict RC. His father was an Irish cop in Chicago and his mother was from Haiti. His mother was a stay at home mom and quite strict. Her parents were a nurse and a very successful studio musician for Chess Records in Chicago. Their grandparents were all born slaves and moved north during or right after the Civil War.

Nicholas was reared by his grandfather, as his parents were killed when he was about ten. His grandfather was lenient and he was left to fend for himself most of the time. He is smart, but has more street smarts and is a little harder, while being nearly a saint (not tempted by any vice).

Inner Prop's Original Fiction found on Illini 6

This is a description of the original fiction you will find on this blog. See the links section on the sidebar for links to the stories and all the chapters.

The novels only have four sample chapters each.

Seekretya - My 2010 NaNoWriMo winner.  I only posted one chapter because I think it really needs a lot of work.  This is a fantasy novel set in the magical land of Seekretya.  It includes young human heroes, young love, mature love, magic, magical people, wars, kidnaping, escapes, flying machines, dragons and steam trains.

Guya Principal - This is a novel I wrote and completed in November 2006 for the NaNoWriMo. It is a comedy, sci-fi, fantasy story about a giant blob of dark matter that becomes self-aware and decides to remake itself in the image of the Earth, with parts of the Earth for good measure.

"Epiphany" - A non-SF, non-Fantasy, non-Mystery, non-Horror short story.

"Surf's Down" - A mystery short story from the The Larch and The Ash universe. I wanted to write a complete story with the main character from those novels. Try her out.

"Princess Gelachien Decides to Marry" - One of a triple short story set in the Fantasy universe of Ontia. This story stands alone, but fits tightly into the trilogy.

"Love is Higher than the Faet" - Part Two of the Courtship of Princess Gelachien.

"Bellwether's Asteroid" - Major John's favorite. This is a horror short story in the H. P. Lovecraft vein. It is a little long and so probably not readily publishable by normal standards. I like it a lot too.

"Pseudo-Football" - A comedy SF short story. This was written as part of a contest. I didn't win, but the challenge was to write about aliens and football. Europeans will recognize that the football to which I'm refering here is soccer. This is in a Douglas Adams sort of style.

"At the Front Gate" - A short story I did for an Erma Bombeck contest. It isn't strictly fiction as it is based on some real life events, but they were slightly fictionalized. I didn't win this contest either, not even honorable mention. This isn't sour grapes, but I never found Erma Bombeck funny either.

Reach Out - My 2005 NaNoWriMo novel. This too is complete. It is a YA space opera.

"Won't Get Fooled Again" - A short story that was originally written for a contest (I didn't win). It is a horror story set in the "Bellwether's Asteroid" universe.

"Empire Beyond Mars" - This is an attempt to write a space opera serial. I only completed part of one episode.

"Faun-O-Matic" - This was a contest story that did win. It is a sci-fi story.

"Wreck of the Vasco da Gamma" - On the way home from Afghanistan I challenged my friends to a writing contest based on the brand of cigars we were smoking. I was the only one who completed this sci-fi story EDIT: I have been reminded that Major John of Miserable Donuts did also complete his story, maybe we can encourage him to post it here.(including a space chantey). I wrote it entirely on the plane.

"Release the Super-Strong Crazed Genetically-Engineered Sloths!" - A comedy SF story I started writing. At the time I was asking the readers what they wanted to see as a regular serial. This didn't get any votes that I remember. It was based on suggestions from a random writing suggestion web site called Seventh Sanctum.

The Larch - This is an excerpt from a mystery book I started. The original idea was for it to be a comedy, but as I read it I felt that it was more interesting and weird than funny. The murder weapon is a tree (the titular Larch) and the main sleuth is a transsexual police detective on the Chicago Police Department. The same sleuth also appears in "Surf's Down" with her ex-wife and in The Ash. The idea for the title came from the Monty Python sketch, How to Recognize Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way.

The Ash - The planned sequel to The Larch. I was having trouble with some of the mechanics of The Larch and thought that I could figure them out by writing "Surf's Down" and starting The Ash. In this book our heroine has left the CPD after solving the Larch case. She meets a very interesting multimillionare who lives on a beautiful river barge. There is no love interest in this story, but has she found a partner for her mystery solving future?

The Barfight on Simplicity Genoid - This was for a contest on Mirable Visu. I lost. I love the crew, I love the feel of the story, I want to write another story with them but I don't know where they go next.

Renovations and a Bouquet

I'm making a few more improvements in this blog. I'm going to put a section on the side with links for all the short stories and novel excerpts on the blog so they are easier to find.

I have also started a blog called Flowers of Mundelein. This new blog will be specifically and solely about family issues for me and the propettes. I've also put the link on the sidebar with the other links.

This should be more than enough for the folks who said they want to see more family material on this blog. Because it will be on that blog, it will not be here. I think this blog will be busy enough.

That's me on the far right in the blue btw.