After a long, long drought I'm finally back to work -
It's been 3 years since I finished my contract job with the Oregonian. Since then, I've only done freelance graphics and web work here and there and made a few bucks playing music. Mighty lean times...

A couple weeks ago, I spotted an ad on Craigslist for a graphic designer that made me sit up and take notice, as it seemed made for me. I've applied for dozens of design and web jobs, but it's really hard to compete with kids fresh out of college who'll work for next to nothing, especially in today's job market.

It was from a jewelry company here in town called Metal Arts, that does Celtic and NW Coast and Native jewelry, as well as corporate and organizational award pieces. They wanted someone to do graphic design, illustration work and publications, as well as design, update and maintain their web site. The real kicker was that they also wanted this person to be one of their jewelry designers, so they would have to know jewelry production, as well as being familiar with Celtic and Native design.

I didn't expect hardly anyone else to be able to hit all those points. Yeah, unemployed designers - both print and web - are pretty thick on the ground here in "Creativesville", and there's some jewelry folks about, and a few people that know something about Celtic and Native motifs. But it would be pretty rare to find someone who did all these things.

So, I sent them a resumé and updated my website at http://bobwoods.org to tailor it for them. They called me earlier this week to come in and interview. I came in with my design portfolio, but what clinched it was when I pulled out Liadan's coronet, some fibulas and the silver harp from my peerage necklace, along with pictures of several other commissioned pieces and my shop.

They gave me a test piece to see if I could do better than what they were using in their catalog. They've been using simple flat-shaded illustrations of jewelry, serviceable but not great. I told them I could do photorealistic illustrations, so they gave me a photocopy of a photocopy of a pencil sketch done by the original designer, and I gave them back something pretty close to a photograph. Thankfully, I've been keeping my Photoshop skills up to snuff all this time.

This is a piece for the Portland Golf Club, it'll be about 1 inch tall, in gold. My instructions were to find a way to save gold from the earlier version. So, I did it with piercework in the center, and moved the letters to the edge to connect them for the casting. Below are the "before" drawing and the "after" illustration done with no scans (other than the stone), no 3D, no photography - completely by hand in Illustrator and Photoshop. Click on it (and then again) to see the high-res version.



So, I start tomorrow at 8. Looking forward to this...

It's been a few years since we've had a veggie garden. I've been tempted to put one in again for several years, but this year we finally did it. I built 2 raised beds and filled them with a mixture of topsoil, compost from our yard and composted steer manure. I've had several gardens over the last 35 years, and raised beds always seem the most productive and easy to maintain.

We planted tomatoes, lettuce, corn, bok choy, soybeans, cucumbers, cantaloupe, squash, basil, spinach, carrots, beans, and peppers. We also planted pole beans and sunflowers in beds next to the garage.

If we have good results, I'll add more beds next year. We have room for a dozen 4'x8' beds on our side lawn. Next thing to come will likely be chickens...

( Pictures and descriptions after the jump. )

A couple days ago, I was contacted by Nadezhda, our kingdom seneschal. She had a request from "Tournaments Illuminated" for An Tir's entry into the "Kingdom News" items that have been running for the last year or so in TI. Each article is an introduction to a kingdom for residents of all the other kingdoms.

It was a "rush, rush" article, the article was already a week past deadline, and the next issue is being finished in the next week. So this is what I sent, along with 2 photos, one of TRMs Vic and Inga's coronation, and one of the longboat that Stormcrow built for the "An Tir Navy."

Oh, and by the way - feel free to snag the userpic on this article - that's what I made it for...

---

The name “An Tir” is Irish Gaelic for “the land” - which is the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. Originally a principality of the West, in 1982 An Tir became a Kingdom in its own right, and now has 3 principalities of its own. Most of our populace lives in or near the I-5 corridor, commonly referred to as “downtown” An Tir. We are a geographically large kingdom - the drive from our easternmost branch in Saskatchewan to our southernmost branch in Oregon takes about 26 hours.

Culturally, An Tir has always had a high proportion of early period personas. Early on, it was populated and ruled largely by those of the Norse persuasion, but in recent years has tended towards even earlier periods, with many Scythian personas, or later period Lansquenet and 14th-15th Century northern European personas. It's not unusual to see a Mongol yurt next to a Norse A-frame tent and a French bell or a Italian renaissance pavilion. 

It's easy to forget what century you're in almost any time of the day at one of our events, especially at night around the leaping flames of a campfire, voices raised in song or swearing oaths. Extemporaneous skaldic poetry from someone whose shadow is thrown tall against the trees, with a horn full of homemade mead raised high. The warmth on your front and the cold on your back, as your eyes follow the sparks swirling up from the fire into a sky blazing with stars.

Yes, it rains a lot near the coast and gets very cold inland in the winter, but still gets plenty hot in the summer - it means a shift from “feast season” to “tourney season” and back happens every year. It also means we are blessed with some of the most beautiful sites to hold our events at, in wooded green valleys with snow-capped mountains peeking over the surrounding hills.

We hold our Crown tournaments in May and September, with coronations in July and in January. In some of our recent tournaments, over 100 fighters have fought for their inspirations and the honor of winning the Lion Throne. After many hours, only the strongest and bravest have the will and endurance to soldier on to a final round that may be fought under a blazing sunset, or under torchlight as the snow flies.

As a people, we extend our hospitality to all who may visit. Our artisans and craftsmen are among the finest anywhere in the known world. Our fighters are feared and admired by all who might contest with them. 

Bios-
Bob Woods lives in Portland, OR and is the harper for the celtic band Widdershins. He is also a silversmith, web designer and webmaster of currentmiddleages.org, which hosts many SCA-related sites.

Conchobar Clarsair is a 12th century Irish harper who has played for the pleasure of many Crowns. He now resides in the Barony of Three Mountains in An Tir with his lady Liadan, their cats, and many musical instruments.

1. You can only answer YES or NO!
2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages you or comments and asks!
3. Copy/paste this into your notes/journal, delete my answers, type in your own, and tag friends to do the same! If you want to do it, fine, otherwise, don’t bother.
( Read more... )

'Bout fucking time...

Here's something I did over a year ago, written with both anger and humor, before better meds, before market crashes, before there was hope again -

---

(from FreeCascadia blog)
A Modest Proposal (In the spirit of Jonathan Swift)
So, say Bush, Cheney and cronies manage to make it to the end of their term without being impeached or killing us all. A miracle, if it happens. Should they look forward to living the rest of their lives in taxpayer-funded splendor?

If they can’t look forward to either a blissful retirement or an extended incarceration at Club Fed, perhaps they would prefer a privatized version of it, self-instituted because they find it necessary to imprison themselves out of fear of the public.

I propose that in lieu of impeachment, the now-Democratic White House and Congress revoke the perks of retirement, including Secret Service protection and pensions for these scumbags.

Note - to all of those who wonder whether I’m crossing the line of legality here, advocating harm to an ex-president, I am most emphatically not. In fact, quite the opposite.

I wish that Bush and Cheney live long, if unhappy, lives - cowering in terror in their personal bunkers, hiding from the world they so thoroughly fucked over.

With plenty of time to reflect on the thousands of American soldiers killed, millions of Iraqis killed or displaced and billions of people being devastated by global warming, lousy trade policies, outsourcing, skyrocketing energy prices, job insecurity, etc, ad nauseum.

---

All that aside, let's hope that today's optimism turns into tomorrow's progress, that we can turn away from the cynical, self-serving greed and corruption of the last 8 years to rebuild a democracy devastated, to rebuild an economy raped, and to rebuild the dreams of the people - who have been deprived of their hopes, their homes, their life savings - all so that those few on the top of the heap could have even more.

The Reign of Error is over.

President Obama (sounds so good to say that ;-)
Damn good speech today.

Yes.
We.
Did!

published 8 years ago this week...

Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'
JANUARY 17, 2001 | from The Onion

WASHINGTON, DC–Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that "our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over."

President-elect Bush vows that "together, we can put the triumphs of the recent past behind us."

"My fellow Americans," Bush said, "at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us."

Bush swore to do "everything in [his] power" to undo the damage wrought by Clinton's two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.

During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.

"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"

On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.

Wall Street responded strongly to the Bush speech, with the Dow Jones industrial fluctuating wildly before closing at an 18-month low. The NASDAQ composite index, rattled by a gloomy outlook for tech stocks in 2001, also fell sharply, losing 4.4 percent of its total value between 3 p.m. and the closing bell.
( Read more... )

That picture above is the first rush of trucks going north on I-5, there's 3 state police cars at the front of the line. After the initial backlog of trucks pass, it'll be open to the public again.

Come on down! The floodgates (OK, my bad ;-) are open!

Edit, 10 minutes later: And here they come southbound...


Edit 2, 12:40: They've opened it for cars now, as well!

We've always fed our feathered friends and did double duty, amusing our cats by putting the bird feeder just outside the window they like to sit in. But sometimes too much of a good thing makes the kitties crazy.

Ever since the weather gods decided to repeatedly dump all this white shit on us, the birds have been flocking to our feeders like never before. Cut off from foraging on the ground, the little feathered vacuums have been draining our big feeder in a day or less, instead of the normal 3 to 5 days. Responding to the laws of supply and demand, we went out and got more feeders, going from 2 seed feeders to 3, and adding 2 suet feeders, it helps the little guys to keep their body temperature up in the frigid wind. And of course, more seed and suet to fill the feeders.

All though this, our feline overlords have been glued to the windows, running from one to another, so as to not miss any of the action, ogling the yummy crunchy things just out of reach on the other side of the glass. After a week of overstimulation, I fear the cats are approaching nervous exhaustion.

Aoife (the big, aggressive one) has taken to sitting just out of view of the big feeder, but has started to twitch when 15 or more birds, in a game of musical perches, vie for the 9 available. The twittering fights they have can be heard clearly inside. Emer (the little, timid one) has headed upstairs to hang out on (or under) our bed, so as to not see or hear the ravening flock.

We spread some seed on the snow's crust this morning and then watched as 50 or 60 birds, like a flock of feathered locusts, descended from the trees and ate all before them. We loves our birdies and our kitties, but I think the latter are now afraid of the former...

( Pictures behind the cut )

My apprentice Eala and I spent the week rehearsing and recording the basic tracks for our upcoming CD. She came in Monday afternoon and we spent all of Tuesday and Wednesday rehearsing things repeatedly and writing down the details of our musical arrangements.

Then Thursday and Friday were spent getting the base tracks recorded for 10 songs. We were at the home studio of Emryn, who had graciously offered us the use of his studio and production talents after a bardic competition at 12th Night a couple years ago. I'll be going into the studio several times over the next month to do backing tracks, do a couple instrumentals, play some other instruments, have Diana record some fiddle tracks, and start the mixdown.

We're pretty happy with what we've got so far. Gotta design the cover and stuff real soon, too. Our goal is to have it done by the end of the year, with a CD release at 12th Night.

p.s. - Widdershins' next gig (our 4th) is at the Living Room pub in Oregon City this Friday, the 21st, at 9:30 pm.

Just got back from Seattle and the Dusty Strings Harp Symposium, it's an event I look forward to every year. 3 days of classes and concerts with some of the best harp players and teachers in the world.

This year's teachers were Sue Richards, Ray Pool, Laura Zaerr, Harper Tasche, Gráinne Hambly from Ireland, and Erik Ask-Upmark from Sweden. Several of them are/were national champions in harp and other instruments. Lots of good classes, and concerts every evening. Since I've moved much more into playing with other folks and less as a solo performer, the classes on accompanying were just what I needed. I haven't taken lessons since the last symposium I went to 2 years ago, so I've had to figure out how to play accompaniment on my own and of course, had many gaps in my knowledge that needed to be filled in.

I couldn't afford to go last year, but managed to scrape together the money for this year. My apprentice Eala (Liz) graciously let me stay at her place for the weekend. I sent in my reservation, and got a call back a couple days later with an offer that I couldn't refuse. Every year, I've helped everyone (from 65-90 attendees) in and out of the 15 feet below street-level store with their heavy harps. Ones the size of mine weigh 40-45 pounds and are pretty awkward on the stairs. I'm tall and strong enough to be able to carry 2 at a time up the stairs, so Dusty usually asks me for for help with this, they call us the "harp monkeys". Usually they give me t-shirts or extra concert tickets and an invite to the "afters" party at the owner's house for the teachers and staff. This year, they offered me free admission to the whole shebang, saving me $225. Woohoo!

One thing I really enjoy is the party at Ray and Sue's house after the last concert is over and I carry out the harps. We socialize for a while, but one by one we drift into the living room, which is full of musical instruments. From harps and hammer dulcimers to guitars, mandolins, banjos, fiddles, flutes, whistles, hand drums, piano, and an old theater pump organ. Even the coffee table is a giant tongue drum, with a couple of mallets to play it. Liz met me at the party, she really enjoys the chance to sing.

In addition to the teachers, we had several more first-rate players in the room - Billy Jackson (of Ossian fame) arrived straight from SeaTac, having just flown in from Scotland to start a tour with Gráinne. Seamus Gagne brought his fiddle (not his spiff red harp), Beth Kollé and staff members Molly and Davy. Also playing banjo and guitar was my fellow harp monkey Andrew, who had I had performed with after Mischka's memorial at September Crown. Most of the folks are accomplished multi-instrumentalists, so people just pick up a nearby instrument and play.

In a little while what's happening is as good as anything I've ever heard in any recording, and it's so amazing to just be a part of it. And this goes on for a least a couple more hours. This year, I felt I could finally hold my own on both harp and bodhran which is a real kick, considering who was playing. It's like the ultimate Celtic jam session...

Today, I spent a few hours rehearsing with Liz in preparation for recording of our first CD next month. We finalized the song list and refined some of the arrangements we've been working on. Hopefully, we'll have it done and ready for sale at 12th Night.

Oh, and Widdershins' second gig is coming up this Saturday, November 1st at the Living Room pub in Oregon City at 9 pm. Come on down and see us!

No, not the TV show - us!

That is, our band, Widdershins.

After the break-up of the rock band project last spring, I asked Mary, the lead singer who sang for years in a Celtic trad band if she'd like to try doing that again. So we recruited pixellateddryad (fiddle player) and a guitarist and a djembe player. We practiced for several months, and now our first real gig is coming up this weekend right down the street at a neighborhood bar.

So if you'd like to do something way more fun than watching your 401K crash and burn, come over and see us. No cover charge, if you're strapped for cash.

Kay's Bar
corner of Bybee and Milwaukie here in Westmoreland
9:30 PM Saturday (tomorrow)

Smoke Free and no cover charge.

Band website at http://widdershinsband.com - music and photos...

Probably would have scored even higher if we hadn't seriously cut back on traveling to events this year...

The Queen's Champion

You are really involved in the SCA. You probably have some really cool garb. You put a lot of work into playing the game and making sure its fun for others too. For a lot of folks an event wouldn't be the same without you. You probably have a tendancy to over do it sometimes. You may need help knowing when to say "No" or when to stop sewing and go to bed.

Quickly! Before the monkeys come:
Take The hardcore SCA Test

Rules: Post 3 things you've done that you believe nobody else on your F-list has done. Indulge in remorse if someone calls you out on a listed item.

1. I met Richard Nixon in the Oval Office. (White House, 1970)
2. I was at the largest mass arrest in U.S. history. (Seabrook, NH, 1977)
3. I have been to a place that no longer exists. (north side of the crater rim, Mt. St. Helens, 1979)

And one more for good measure (Sam was with me this time) -
4. We were in London during Princess Diana's funeral. (1997)

Just got off the phone with my apprentice yatahina, who just got home from the hospital. She had stopped to see Mischka on the way back from the Grand Thing event down here. She spent awhile with him before sunset, then his closest family were there to send him on. He passed peacefully and quickly...

I spent much of the weekend thinking of Mischka, and the memories I will always have of him. Seeing him and Kiri in the processional for the Crown tourney. Talking to him in the flickering light in the Kremlin. Standing across an anvil from him trying to keep up with his pace, alternating hammer blows on a piece he was forge-welding. Both of us getting rousted by the constables twice while providing music for the dancers way late at night at September Crown a couple years ago.

We all have our memories, and will miss him so. Kiri, we are hoping you can find some solace in finding out how fondly we all remember him.

Good journey, my friend.

Well, I had a great deal of fun last night. I went over to Angela's house and met up with a bunch of friends for one of our irregular music get togethers. We do this every couple months, and it's always fun.

This time in particular, I wanted to work on some tunes with Alec (Heather Alexander in a previous life) for an upcoming show at the "Faire in the Grove" SCA event, which will be April 26th at Pacific U. in Forest Grove. I've known Heather/Alec for 15 years or so, and we've played a tune or two together over the years, sometimes at pagan festivals, SF cons or SCA events - never really a planned thing, just jamming with a friend.

I had the chance to play with him for better than 3 hours last night and goddess, it was major fun. We had more than a few of those magical moments where we were "in the zone", where nobody thinks about what the next note is, just plays and it all sounds great. My friend Diana was on fiddle and Alec switched between fiddle and guitar, while I played either harp or bodhran. I brought the full electric harp rig this time.

We played lots of Celtic tunes, several of Alec's that we all knew, a couple of sea chanteys and I pulled out the "middle easternish" tuning (a Bb scale, but with an added F# - basically, the hijaz maqam minus the microtonal adjustments) and we did a very cool jam on that. Alec did a couple tunes from his next album, including a really nice song about a selkie. Alec's voice seems to be finally settled down, he sometimes does Heather's tunes in the same key as she did, just an octave lower. Other songs he has to pick a different key because they contain notes out of his new range, which is smaller than hers.

I thought we were all gonna die laughing when Alec started playing "Turkey in the Straw" on the fiddle while singing the lyrics to "March of Cambreadth" to it. Yeah, it scans to that too...

I'll be going out to Alec and Kore's farm (Fae Hollow) soon to see if we can work up a whole set for the Faire. On the day of the Faire itself besides playing with Alec, I'll be doing a couple sets with Eala, and probably some tunes with Angela and Diana, and maybe stay for some bardic stuff in the evening, so it'll be a busy day.

Just came back in from taking a shot of the last lunar eclipse for a couple years. Surprisingly. in the middle of February, no clouds! Absolutely beautiful, and fairly warm tonight...

The shot's a little noisy, lots of signal-boosting gain and long exposure.
8 seconds at f3.5, 432 mm equivalent telephoto, Canon S2 IS digital camera.

The next gig for Painted Hags is next Saturday, January 5th at Satyricon in Portland.

We're headlining this time, so we'll probably be on stage about 9 PM. All ages welcome, there's both a bar and a non-alcohol side of the place, with the stage in the back.

Anyway, if you'd like to go, tickets are $8 presale, $10 at the door. I've got a bunch of tickets, so let me know if you want some - I'll be doing presale before we turn any remaining tickets back in to the venue.

Well, we had our first real gig this weekend at Satyricon. Lots of fun, we played well and had the biggest audience of the night. Here's a few shots:

Here we all are, playing away.
From left to right: Derek and Brandon on guitars, Mary singing, Jeff in the back on drums, me on harp, and Josh on bass.


Mary's singin' and we're rockin'



Time for a harp solo - first harper with a mosh pit!

Painted Hags are playing this Sunday night at Satyricon.
At 9 pm, we take the stage - so come out and hear us!
Tickets are $8 presale, or $10 at the door, email me and I can
have them hold tickets for you at the door for the presale price.