I hope that you will enjoy the storyboard created from the pictures taken at the ceremony today.
Despite some technical issues, including one sim crash, it was a very lovely proceeding. I wish you both many blessings. And welcome to the family, Azul!
If the slideshow/storyboard does not play fully for you, please click the picture and you will be taken to my Koinup site.
Schedule of Events
August 29th
Loch Avie's Cocktail Party
Late supper in town (possibly)
August 30th
Book discussion: Favorite books that enrich or inform your life in Caledon
Theatre: Taming of the Shrew
Afternoon Tea - Stratford Tea Leaves
CaleCon Dinner and Dance
August 31st
Posing and Animation workshop
Radio Riel Interviews
Chocolate Symposium
Dinner and Pub Crawl
Finally - this poem by James Hogg seemed to be appropriate to the occasion of celebrating both Caledon and the Anniversary of the Firth.
Caledonia
Caledonia! thou land of the mountain and rock,
Of the ocean, the mist, and the wind-
Thou land of the torrent, the pine, and the oak,
Of the roebuck, the hart, and the hind;
Though bare are thy cliffs, and though barren thy glens,
Though bleak thy dun islands appear,
Yet kind are the hearts, and undaunted the clans,
That roam on these mountains so drear!
A foe from abroad, or a tyrant at home,
Could never thy ardour restrain;
The marshall'd array of imperial Rome
Essay'd thy proud spirit in vain!
Firm seat of religion, of valour, of truth,
Of genius unshackled and free,
The muses have left all the vales of the south,
My loved Caledonia, for thee!
Sweet land of the bay and wild-winding deeps
Where loveliness slumbers at even,
While far in the depth of the blue water sleeps
A calm little motionless heaven!
Thou land of the valley, the moor, and the hill,
Of the storm and the proud rolling wave-
Yes, thou art the land of fair liberty still,
And the land of my forefathers' grave!
James Hogg
The Second Annual Snowflake Ball
Now Winter Nights Enlarge
by: Thomas Campion (1617)
Now winter nights enlarge
The number of their hours,
And clouds their storms discharge
Upon the airy towers.
Let now the chimneys blaze,
And cups o’erflow with wine;
Let well-tuned words amaze
With harmony divine.
Now yellow waxen lights
Shall wait on honey love,
While youthful revels, masques, and courtly sights
Sleep’s leaden spells remove.
This time doth well dispense
With lovers’ long discourse;
Much speech hath some defence,
Though beauty no remorse.
All do not all things well;
Some measures comely tread,
Some knotted riddles tell,
Some poems smoothly read.
The summer hath his joys
And winter his delights;
Though love and all his pleasures are but toys,
They shorten tedious nights.
Dear friends, Colonel Exrex Somme and his lovely lady, Callipygian Christensen
On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet.
~George Gordon, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
There is very little about owning Loch Avie that makes me happier, than to find that the land is well-loved and well-used by many.
Just this week I experienced a very heart-warming day. When I popped into the house late in the evening, I found that there were 5 others in the Loch at the same time. 2 couples and one of my dear Loch Avie Academy of Arms students, Malachi Fouroux.
Edmond Spenser (1552-1599)
from Amoretti: Sonnet 67
Like as a huntsman after weary chase,
Seeing the game from him escap'd away,
Sits down to rest him in some shady place,
With panting hounds beguiled of their prey:
So after long pursuit and vain assay,
When I all weary had the chase forsook,
The gentle deer return'd the self-same way,
Thinking to quench her thirst at the next brook.
There she beholding me with milder look,
Sought not to fly, but fearless still did bide:
Till I in hand her yet half trembling took,
And with her own goodwill her firmly tied.
Strange thing, me seem'd, to see a beast so wild,
So goodly won, with her own will beguil'd.
A collection of poems by by Ralph Goldstein.
-- THE EPEEMAN --
The Epeeman, the Epeeman, in frayed and tattered gear
Can lick his weight in wildcats and can drink his weight in beer
And for the foil and sabreman he hasn't any fear
For he's a late edition of the dashing Musketeer.His jacket's a wreck from many a peck of the sharpened pointe d'arret
His pants are torn, his nerves are worn and ears been ripped away;
But should you care to question him, you'll surely hear him say:
"I'm an Epeeman and I guess by damn I'll always be that way."He'll drop his elbow out a bit and wait for your attack
But then he'll swiftly parry and he'll nail you going back,
But when he's got his point in line and thinks he's guarded well,
He never seems to see the touch that creeps around his bell.At times he'll answer any feint. At other times he won't.
The time that he should answer is the one time that he don't.
He'll parry almost anything between his head and toes,
But still a simple stop-thrust is the best defense he knows.You'll always find an Epeeman where the lovely ladies are,
Boasting of the fights he's had, and showing off his scar.
And see the lovely ladies as they hang on every word
For he can tell the tallest tales that you have ever heard!The woe befell the Epeeman, he met the March of Time.
They wired him up for sound effect, with flashing light and chime
For now it’s just a battery that determines right from wrong,
And every touch is heralded by the chiming of the gong.-- THE FOILSMAN --
The Foilsman likes to dance around on swiftly moving feet.
He spends long hours practicing to beat a quick retreat.
He lunges fifty times a day and sweats his youth away,
Until at last he wises up and learns to fence Epee.
-- THE SABREMAN --
The Sabreman, the Sabreman, is a thrilling sight to see.
He twirls his weapon 'round his head and hacks away with glee.
His savage heart is filled with joy to hear the steel at play,
But someday he'll be civilized and learn to fence Epee.
-- THE WOMEN --
And what about the women now
They're fencing mainly foil
They're getting tougher all the time
You've seen how hard they toil.
"That day will come," I hear them say
"With all the weapons we will play"
You can be sure the best of them
In time will fence Epee.
September 9 - 15.
Multiple events in multiple sims!
It was not so long ago that Lady Primbroke contacted my cousin, Duchess Carntaigh, and me to inquire whether we might be interested in hearing her idea for a fall event series. Knowing Christine as we do, Gabrielle and I immediately said that we would love to hear her thoughts. That evening, I set out a bottle of my best Perrier Jouët Grand Brut, and some Uisge Beatha Reserve for us as we enjoyed the evening, each others' company, and began to brainstorm about the festival.
We were shortly joined by Sheriff Fuzzball Ortega and Lord Primbroke.
On August 11th, Her Grace Gabrielle Riel, The Duchess of Carntaigh, graciously hosted a ball in honor of her court. It was a grand affair, which was well attended by many Caledonians as well as guests from other lands.
Another view of Lady Kate's exquisite Tsarina Gown by Shenlei
