I apologize for all the ranting I've been doing lately. I've been having difficulty finding a new job, and acclimating to a new lifestyle rather forcefully, so I haven't had much time to paint. But I promise, soon I'll have new things for you all to ogle and nitpick, I swear it! However, today, I need to vent about something rather dear to my heart...
As none but a few of my dedicated followers know, I am a devotee of the European style of swordplay. I personally have studied the actual martial art for two and a half years straight, as well as 8 years of historical studies before that. Commonly called fencing, but nothing like the sport played nowadays, my style of swordsmanship was developed by the masters, going back through Cabijos and Rhodes, as well as the Greco brothers, and several other renowned swordsman from the 17th and 16th centuries. We do not prance about waving play swords, nor do we roll and tumble like acrobats, as the Olympics or the movies would have you believe. A historical fencer with blade in hand is a tuned lethal machine, capable of besting many other fighting styles, save for other swordsmen, whom we had much in common. Look closely at Chinese longsword fighting, or samurai katana combat, and you will see INTENSE similarities with European long sword, rapier, and saber styles. So saying one is better than the other is false and insulting. That is point one. We are not athletes, we are martial artists who have developed lethal skills with live weaponry.
Point two is this: If you are going to use a sword, knife, or dagger, or even any bladed weapon... LEARN EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. For God's sake, would you walk onto a range with a rifle and shoot it like a pistol? NO!!! Similarly, you inspire a dreadful amount of disrespect and contempt when you call a gladius, one of the most feared weapons of the Roman Empire, and a recognised symbol of Bronze Age imperial doctrine, a dagger. A dagger is a weapon used to stab, an assassin's blade. A gladius is the ideal sword for Roman Legion formations. The difference is astounding, and it shows to anyone that you don't give a damn about history or the symbol you claim to care so much about when you can't even name it properly, much less wield it in any sort of manner even vaguely approaching efficient.
My last point is for all the 'scholars' out there, who say stupid things about history that make absolutely no sense, and then have the gall to claim you have proof, when 500 years of historical evidence refutes everything you say. My point is thus: STOP. Please. I beg you. Stop making up facts. Stop claiming you read it in a book about a guy who read a book that said it. Stop claiming utterly retarded ideals like knives being used strategically in combat situations, or longbows being unable to penetrate two barn walls with a point blank shot, or any other number of silly ideas that you had playing video games or drinking beer. Go out, and actually read the word for word translations of 15th century manuscripts detailing combat. Look at 17th century dueling transcripts. Actually shoot a longbow, made in the traditional fashion. ACTUALLY STUDY AT THE FEET OF A MAN WHO HAS DEVOTED HIS ENTIRE LIFE TO THE STUDY OF THE HISTORY AND APPLICATION OF MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE WEAPONRY. That is what I wish to say. Do those things, and then actually make an informed opinion, instead of listening to sources that seem to want to do nothing more than cloud the waters with the opinions of men who do not know a single thing about armed combat, or history in general. This also applies to other topics as well. DO NOT weigh in on topics that you have no fucking idea about, or where the only information you have comes from people who have no training, experience, or even any backing other than biased personal opinion to validate their arguments. To do so insults the topic you weigh in on, and it insults the people you are conversing with, and most of all, it insults yourself. Please heed my warning.
I hope something good comes from this, but I know nothing will. Please forward this to someone you know who is in need of a good pick me up, if only to prove that there are others out there who are as disgusted as they are. I also want everyone to understand that these are simply the prime examples I could find off the top of my head. If I wanted to include every single instance of idiocy, I would be seven pages in before getting halfway through. I wish you all the best, and regular painting threads will resume soon. Thank you...
Good night, and Good luck.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
No Heroes Left in Man
I know I normally focus on models and little army men and such, but unfortunately, events have unfolded that drag me from my hobby to the real world. I think all my readers, if I still have any, all can see the problems, in the news and television, from the internet to the radio.
Mankind is in dire straits.
Around the world, people fight and die in droves, overlooked and forgotten. Syria, where 6000 died for freedom, ignored and repressed by brutal autocracy. Egypt, where the birth place of Moses has simply traded one man for a panel of arm-chair generals with aspirations of glory far beyond their means. Europe, land of plenty, is crippled by debt and infighting. Even America, the shinning jewel of the West, is beset by traitors and fools.
I don't mean traitors in the traditional sense, as these men clamour for the glory of the country. However, they have betrayed the ideals that our nation stands for. Freedom, tolerance, justice for all. No, these men would rather freedom burned, tolerance shattered, and justice raped than to see our country fall from a place of power. I think everyone sees where this is going...
Our government sits idle, as our debt grows and our people starve. Democrats squawk like crows and vultures over the near-corpse of social services that will fail to provide any service in a few years, instead of being the protectors of individual rights they once were. Republican fat cats lord up their wealth and life styles, while their glorious family values wither on the vine. Politicians on both side of the fence squabble and peck at each other, goaded by their own leaders into rabble rousing and partisanship, so that those leaders can look better.
However, the blame is not solely with the government. The Occupy movement, the largest protest in years, is little more than an excuse for rioting and hooliganism. Where are the Salt Marches, the Million Man Marches, the I Have A Dreams? As much as those actions of the past are lauded as examples of heroism, they are not mimicked, or built upon. Instead, we have bricks and firebombs thrown at buildings, and people assaulting each other in the streets.
Speaking of heroes, I have a bit of rile to throw towards our troops. No one can deny their sacrifices, and their courage, let me get that out of the way first. However, our troops seem to look more to Full Metal Jacket, and Apocalypse Now for guidance in how to act in war. No more do we have heroic acts, like the stand of the 101st at Bastogne, or the Battle of Belleau Woods. Now, we simply have names of shame and pain, like Abu Ghraib, and Chechnya. No more heroes like John Paul Jones, General Patton, Joan of Arc. Just ranks of faceless teens sent to fight and die and kill, supposedly in America's, or whatever country is on the international good list today's, name.
As tragic as it is to say this, I see a reckoning coming. The End Times are upon us. I don't mean this in the fire and brimstone fashion. That might happen, it might not, but that's not what I fear. No, what I fear, and what I can see, is a reckoning of darkness and fear. The next Dark Age, where wealth and paranoia drive mankind far more brutally than freedom and liberty. It's not that hard to imagine, it's already started. The wealth and power, being held by a small few, while the rest wallow in muck and back-breaking labor. This is the end of our glorious civilization, where either the whips must be snatched from those on high, or the beatings will continue. That is what I fear the most. Will we have any heroes willing to make such a stand? Will we? Can you look inside yourself and become it? Are there truly no heroes left in man?
Good night, and from the bottom of my heart, Good Luck.
Regular model postings may, or may not continue as (not) scheduled...
Mankind is in dire straits.
Around the world, people fight and die in droves, overlooked and forgotten. Syria, where 6000 died for freedom, ignored and repressed by brutal autocracy. Egypt, where the birth place of Moses has simply traded one man for a panel of arm-chair generals with aspirations of glory far beyond their means. Europe, land of plenty, is crippled by debt and infighting. Even America, the shinning jewel of the West, is beset by traitors and fools.
I don't mean traitors in the traditional sense, as these men clamour for the glory of the country. However, they have betrayed the ideals that our nation stands for. Freedom, tolerance, justice for all. No, these men would rather freedom burned, tolerance shattered, and justice raped than to see our country fall from a place of power. I think everyone sees where this is going...
Our government sits idle, as our debt grows and our people starve. Democrats squawk like crows and vultures over the near-corpse of social services that will fail to provide any service in a few years, instead of being the protectors of individual rights they once were. Republican fat cats lord up their wealth and life styles, while their glorious family values wither on the vine. Politicians on both side of the fence squabble and peck at each other, goaded by their own leaders into rabble rousing and partisanship, so that those leaders can look better.
However, the blame is not solely with the government. The Occupy movement, the largest protest in years, is little more than an excuse for rioting and hooliganism. Where are the Salt Marches, the Million Man Marches, the I Have A Dreams? As much as those actions of the past are lauded as examples of heroism, they are not mimicked, or built upon. Instead, we have bricks and firebombs thrown at buildings, and people assaulting each other in the streets.
Speaking of heroes, I have a bit of rile to throw towards our troops. No one can deny their sacrifices, and their courage, let me get that out of the way first. However, our troops seem to look more to Full Metal Jacket, and Apocalypse Now for guidance in how to act in war. No more do we have heroic acts, like the stand of the 101st at Bastogne, or the Battle of Belleau Woods. Now, we simply have names of shame and pain, like Abu Ghraib, and Chechnya. No more heroes like John Paul Jones, General Patton, Joan of Arc. Just ranks of faceless teens sent to fight and die and kill, supposedly in America's, or whatever country is on the international good list today's, name.
As tragic as it is to say this, I see a reckoning coming. The End Times are upon us. I don't mean this in the fire and brimstone fashion. That might happen, it might not, but that's not what I fear. No, what I fear, and what I can see, is a reckoning of darkness and fear. The next Dark Age, where wealth and paranoia drive mankind far more brutally than freedom and liberty. It's not that hard to imagine, it's already started. The wealth and power, being held by a small few, while the rest wallow in muck and back-breaking labor. This is the end of our glorious civilization, where either the whips must be snatched from those on high, or the beatings will continue. That is what I fear the most. Will we have any heroes willing to make such a stand? Will we? Can you look inside yourself and become it? Are there truly no heroes left in man?
Good night, and from the bottom of my heart, Good Luck.
Regular model postings may, or may not continue as (not) scheduled...
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