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Barwickian

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  3. What Are You Listening To Right Now?

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

     

    Who's in it besides Burdon?

     

    Burdon wasn't in the line-up I saw - he left for the States, where he formed Eric Burdon's Animals (aka The New Animals), in the mid-60s.

     

    The only original member of the current British version band is drummer John Steel, though the keyboard player is Mickey Gallagher, who replaced Alan Price when he left in '65 (in the '80s Gallagher was with Ian Dury & The Blockheads).

     

    Vocals and rhythm guitar is Peter Barton, late of Mindbender, and lead guitarist is John Williamson, late of Titanic.

  7. What Are You Listening To Right Now?

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

     

    Indeed. Do you also like the Incredible String Band? Steeleye Span? Nick Drake? Sandy Denny? Lindisfarne? Richard (and Linda) Thompson? etc (my folk-rock geekness is showing :D )

     

    I'm not that keen on the Incredible String Band, but all the others, yes. I've a good collection of Steeleye, what's available of Nick Drake, some of Sandy's solo stuff (obviously, have a good selection of her stuff with Fairport), a couple of Lindisfarne tracks and plenty of Richard (and Linda) Thompson.

     

    Thompson is my guitar god. It took me years to learn how to play 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, and even then I have to strum it (with the lead line) - he finger-picks just way too fast for me.

     

    KBW? That's a bit surprising, do you like it?

     

    Yeah, I love it - in its place. Actually, my fiancee's nicked the CD to take to Kenya with her - she loves it too. Who can argue with lyrics like: I've got a tongue that's ten inches long, and I've learned to breathe through my ears

     

    as for Eric Bogle his "And the Band Played Walzing Matilda" is a top emotional war-song and covered by at least two artists I'm aware of: The Pogues and John Williamson (an Aussie country singer-songwriter)

     

    I first heard it through the Pogues, but IMO the absolute best version is by June Tabor, from her 1976 album Airs & Graces. She has a beautiful, emotive contralto voice, and sings it a capella. It sends shivers down the spine - I kid you not.

     

    Oh, and I ought to add: now playing, Eliza Carthy, The Miller and the Lass. (Yes, she's Martin Carthy's daughter).

  8. What Are You Listening To Right Now?

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

     

    Which version? I'm assuming it is the one from Unhalfbricking?

     

    The very same - although I also have other versions - from the album of the same name three or four years ago, and from The Cropredy Box. I love Fairport.

     

    I got the album this is on recetly, and your post has made me start to listen to it. :thumbup:

     

    I've got a fair bit of Bert Jansch, but no Pentangle album - that track's from the three-volume CD set The New Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock, which is a must-buy if you can ever find a copy.

     

    Track listing and CD info here

     

    Glad I've met someone who shares my interest in British Folk-Rock. :celebrate

     

    We folkies have to stick together. ;)

     

    Pity all my Eric Bogle stuff's on vinyl - can't burn that. I have managed to burn the Kevin Bloody Wilson, though. :D

  12. Miscellaneous Historical Data

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Miscellaneous Historical Data

     

    Some weights and measures derived from a pre-WW2 edition of Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopaedia:

     

    Note: the British Imperial bushel dates from the Weights & Measures Act 1824. It is slightly larger than American bushels, which are derived from the 15th century Winchester bushel, and are therefore more authentically medieval. I give both figures.

     

    For those unfamiliar with the British Imperial system, a bushel is a measure of dry volume equivalent to eight gallons. It isn't quite the same in the American system (it's about 9.3 US gallons; unlike the Imperial system the US wet quart and dry quart are different).

     

    The Imperial bushel equates to 36.37 litres, the American one to 35.24 litres. One pound (lb) is 454 grammes in both the US and British Imperial systems.

     

    [b]                        Imperial        American
Item                     bushel          bushel[/b]
Cherries [*]              72lb            70lb
Plums [*]                 72lb            70lb
Pears [*]                 72lb            70lb
Beans                     66lb            64lb
Salt                      65lb            63lb
Apples [*]                64lb            62lb
Gooseberries [*]          64lb            62lb
Lentils                   63lb            61lb
Peas                      63lb            61lb
Maize                     60lb            58lb
Wheat                     60lb            58lb
Onions                    57lb            55lb
Currants                  56lb            54lb
Potatoes                  56lb            54lb
Barley                    55lb            53lb
Rye                       54lb            52lb
Raspberries [*]           48lb            47lb
Swedes                    45lb            44lb
Turnips                   45lb            44lb
Carrots                   40lb            39lb
Parsnips                  40lb            39lb
Oats                      40lb            39lb
Green peas                32lb            31lb

     

    [*] The Children's Encyclopaedia gives these weights in pecks (1/4 bushel). There is sometimes a discrepancy between weights given in pecks and weights given in bushels - it notes potatoes as 56lb/bushel and 14lb/peck, which is fine, but turnips as 12lb/peck and 45lb/bushel. Obviously some rounding off has been done somewhere, so where an option is given (potatoes, onions and turnips), I've favoured the weight per bushel.

     

    The Children's Encyclopaedia is chock full of bits of information useless to all but obsessive roleplayers. So if you're an obsessive roleplayer, read on...

     

    Strength of Ice

    1.5 inches thick will support a man

    4 inches will support a horseman

    10 inches will support a crowd

    18 inches will support a railway train

     

    Weight of timber (lb/cubic foot)

    (note: whether this is seasoned or unseasoned weight is not specified.)

     

    Alder                   33
Ash                     46
Beech                   46
Birch                   40
Horse Chestnut          35
Spanish Chestnut        41
English Elm             43
Silver Fir              30
Hazel                   39
Hornbeam                45
Larch                   38
Lime                    28
Maple                   42
Oak                     53
Scots Pine              32
Poplar                  30
Norway Spruce           30
Sycamore                41
Willow                  33

     

    Hay & Straw Weight

    36lb of straw is one truss

    56lb of old hay is one truss

    60lb of new hay is one truss

    36 trusses is one load

     

    Wool weight

    7lb is one clove

    14lb is one stone

    182lb is one wey

    364lb is one sack

    4386lb is one last

     

    20lb is one score

    12 score is one pack

     

    Velocity of water

    3 ft/sec will move fine clay

    6 ft/sec will move fine sand

    8 ft/sec will move coarse sand

    12 ft/sec will move gravel as large as one inch diameter

    36 ft/sec will move stones as large as hens' eggs

  13. "Neat" Pictures

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: "Neat" Pictures

     

    No, no, leave it up. It's nice to know the work is spreading - it's on a 'hidden' area of my website because it goes with an as-yet-unfinished scenario.

     

    The text that goes with it is at http://www.minarsas.demon.co.uk/harn/scenarios

     

    Chris has also done some speculative reconstruction of how some of the towns and villages in north-west Nottinghamshire may have looked int he medieval period, which you can find on his website at http://www.aedificium.org

  15. orichalcum

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: orichalcum

     

    Many English placenames seem designed to confuse visiting Americans. Keith's already mentioned Gloucestershire (it's "GLOSS-ter-shire), but here are some of my other favourites:

     

    Belvoir ("Beaver")

    Towcester ("Toaster")

    Alnwick ("Annick")

    Shrewsbury ("Shroh-zbry")

    Slaithwaite ("Slowitt", with short "ow", as in a cry of pain)

     

    And the people of Southwell, Notts, can't decide whether it should be pronounced "south-well" or "suthull"...

     

    Then there's the local pronunciations, of which the most famous is probably Birmingham, whose inhabitants call it "brummagum", hence their name, Brummies.

  16. orichalcum

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: orichalcum

     

    el-EC-trum. It's a Latin word - a mixture of gold and silver, I believe.

     

    Don't know about undying Persian wizards, by lich is an Old English (ie, Anglo-Saxon) word for corpse. You still find it used in the lich-gate of English chuches, or in dialect such as Yorkshire's Lyke Wake Walk, which follows an old burial trail.

     

    Vorpal is a word Carroll made up to fit the rhythm and feel of the poem (Twas brillig and the slithey toves did gyre and gimbol in the mire...).

  18. Pulsar Worlds-What would they be like?

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Pulsar Worlds-What would they be like?

     

    Well' date=' those are my thoughts. I hope you found some of it useful. :)[/quote']

     

    Wow. Just... wow!

     

    I'm not sure I'd develop those ideas as a game world, but they could form the basis of a hard SF novel to rival Mission of Gravity or Flight of the Dragonfly.

     

    Edit: I ought to add the obligatory "You must spread some reputation, etc, etc, etc".

  19. ChView datafile: galactic co-ordinates

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: ChView datafile: galactic co-ordinates

     

    1) Use Winzip to unpack the link above. If you've not heard of ChView, it's available at http://members.nova.org/~sol/chview/

     

    2) Sol lies above the galactic plane. There are several estimates of how far above the galactic plane it lies, but 50ly is a reasonable average. The reason for not including this in the formulae is just to make the maths a little easier: if Sol lies at 0,0,0 it cuts a step out of calculating distances between it and any other star.

     

    Furthermore, using Sol at 0,0,50 may be more precise, but its also more unconventional... most people using 3D maps use the 0,0,0 method.

  20. ChView datafile: galactic co-ordinates

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    I've prepared a ChView datafile of stars within 150ly of Sol which, unlike the datafile on the ChView website, uses galactic co-ordinates rather than equatorial co-ordinates.

     

    The equations used to convert the co-ordinates were found on Nyrath's 3D starmapping site. I elected not to go for the "ultimate anal" option of setting Sol 50ly above the galactic plane.

     

    Ben Lin, one of the creators of ChView, has given me permission to distribute the datafile, provided it carries the copyright of him, Jo Grant and myself.

     

    You lot are the first to benefit from his permission.

     

    Enjoy!

  22. The prescient Mr Staplehurst

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Remember Graham Staplehurst's wonderful MERP/RM/Fantasy Hero campaign book Robin Hood: A Giant Outlaw Campaign?

     

    Well, back in 1987, Staplehurst gave game stats for the lynx as a creature native to medieval England. Conventional wisdom had it that the beast died out in England sometime around the transition from the neolithic to the Bronze Age (around 2000BC).

     

    The latest evidence, carbon dating of lynx bones found an a cave in Craven, Yorkshire, suggests Staplehurst may well have had it close: the bones are dated to c 500AD...

     

    Full story: http://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/newsview.php4?ContentID=2796

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