TBoF Fall Shoot 2008

As always, just click on the title for the full set of pictures at their "natural" quality -- I only posted selected pictures on this entry but there's a lot more really good ones on my website. I also have all of the pictures here on my Webshots site.

Attendance was really light this time around for various reasons but it was quite a fun event. I enjoyed not being backed up and being able to go from target to target. Of course, it does help when I shoot reasonably well too! I took my Chek-Mate Crusader T/D longbow (as of yet un-named but it should be "named" shortly) -- a nice 64", 48 lbs @ 28" reflex-deflex longbow that's just all-around comfortable to shoot. Usually I'll compete in the traditional class, which is recurve and/or non-plant (bamboo is a grass) arrows but this time I felt like mixing things up. I broke a handful of my previous records:

Total Score: 405 Previous High: 400
Minimum Number of Misses per Round: 1 Previous Low: 3
Total Misses Overall: 8 Previous Total: 11
Maximum Score in Single Round: 150 Previous High: 140
Number of Arrows Lost/Broken: 0 Previous Low: 2

So yeah, I shot really well overall, even if I wasn't able to pull ahead of my other half like I sometimes do with either of my recurves or Sparrowhawk!

Once I get around to it, I plan to start posting some reviews for the various bows I shoot. Of course, there's always a nice salt shaker full of salt to take with my reviews with because what works (or doesn't work) for me may completely back-fire on someone else.

Vehicular SN-2 Sucks

As much as I hate all the hassles of dealing with dingleberries who don't understand the concept of a space cushion in traffic and the woefully inefficient system of dealing with such entities, the one nice thing is that I get to drive vehicles I otherwise wouldn't get to drive. Admittedly part of it was because there was a shortage of small vehicles similar to a Honda Civic -- my choices seemed to be limited to van (which reeks of the horrors of being a mommy), SUV (also something that has the chained to a family vibe), some other horrendous family oriented vehicle (pinkish station wagon or full-sized car), or a truck. Being driven by balls I wish I had and not wishing to emit family vibes, I went for the truck. Plus it's great for hauling back any 3D targets I might win or otherwise get my paws on this weekend!

Notice Anything Different?

More details later on, suffice to say I'm feeling good about making some meat!

Tree-Slayers Inc

Yet another painful blow to some poor tree with Sparrowhawk at about 23 yards. Thank goodness I didn't have a 100% pass-through or the arrow probably would've gone to the next county! I did get one really sappy arrow though and the tree "bled" profusely after we removed the arrow. I'm surprised that tree hasn't fallen over yet with so many arrows hitting it!

Not bad for some old wooden shafts I dug up, fletched, and put points on -- 20 yards, first time shooting those arrows. I think I have some hope of having my IKAC scores posted after having them "disqualified" for shooting carbon or aluminum arrows! Now for an SCA name...

Bass Fishin' After a Liquid Afternoon

Despite a rather stormy afternoon and being more than a bit tender from what can only be described as an epic feat that combined capoiera, bike racing, hap ki do, and gymnastics, I was still able to catch 3 bass at Orange Lake on Friday. My boyfriend's brother-in-law invited us to go fishing in his airboat and of course, we accepted. One thing I realized about some of the bait (rubber worms) we used was that it reminded me a lot of the following foods: Shiritaki noodles (the ultimate in low carb, low calorie pasta), gummi critters, and jellyfish tentacles. I think I still prefer to shoot at fish with a bow, but there's something inherently amusing about casting and watching the bait skim at the top of the water and seeing fish attack the bait.

Whatsit... Or Not?

It all started when my stomach began to talk to me after experimenting with minimal carb noodles in an attempt to satisfy that craving for Asian noodles and not add anymore un-needed pudge on top of what academia likes to add. One thing I like about shooting Gator Bowmen is that it has a nice little brick bathroom, not a porto-potty or an outhouse, but a real bathroom with a (mostly) functioning toilet. Sure, flushing the toilet might take anywhere from 2-10 tries, depending on what went in, but at least it's clean and provides somewhere to go besides amidst saw palmettoes and various Rhus species. Anyway, I walk in and notice something brown in the toilet. Great. There's whats-it in the toilet, either because someone was too lazy to flush or because they gave up. Given the low water level normal for this toilet, I was a bit surprised that it didn't reek and that there were some slight rustling sounds. I investigate and realize that the pile of "whats-it" was a cute little snake that somehow fell in and can't get out. I don't want to get bitten given the high infection rate of even a non-toxic bite and I know most snakes will emit some really pungent musk when scared and this one was pretty darn scared. So I get the plunger and try to "fish" it out with little success and finally get it out, only to have it wrap around the flushy part of the toilet. I don't want to leave it there because it'll probably fall back into the toilet, plus I don't see any obvious ways out for it, so I pause and think. I also take a nice little picture of it. Then I see the trash can's empty and with a bit of fumbling around, I finally get the snake into the trash can and (gently) dump it outside and make sure that it doesn't need any medical attention. It stares at me for a moment and looks confused, but it slithers off and minds its own business after reorienting itself.


Can you find the deer below?

First Ever Bowstring

I made my first ever bowstring today even though the string wasn't for my own bow. It was for a friend's bow-fishing setup. It wasn't as hard as I thought and it was actually oddly soothing aside from a few moments here and there where my friend had to coach me through.

Howard Hill Classic Shoot

As always, click on the title for the bulk of the pictures. Here are some of the "highlights" below. I shot pretty poorly at this shoot -- apparently things are as close as they appear to be or even closer than they look! Nonetheless, it was a real fun shoot, embarrassing performance and intense heat aside. I would've liked to have shot a full second round to see if I could've gotten a more respectable score than what I had, at least break 300 points over 40 targets, but oh well, at least I finally got to go to the Howard Hill Classic shoot. It also felt good walking somewhere with more variation in the topography than a pancake.

Trophy From 2007 Dec 29

This came from the second deer I killed. My boyfriend had given it to a neighbor of his who specialized in preserving various animal parts and turning them into works of art and other useful items. If I can get myself a buck, I think I may have his whole head taxidermied, but more likely than not, I'll just keep the antlers as a trophy.


Here's various random pictures some groups I've been getting with Sparrowhawk of late:

I Didn't Do These

A friend of mine did these shots with his Howard Hill-style longbow. I think the bow infused him with the spirit of Howard Hill every now and then. Sometimes though, it also infused him with the spirit of his obscure cousin, Down Hill. I tried to emulate the neuter shot on the hyena, but apparently it was a tad closer than I thought it was!

Not Shabby for 30 Yards Exhausted...

If I can do this or better at 40 yards consistently, I'd be ecstatic but heck, this is pretty darned good for 30 yards! I did get some new shafts recently -- Gold Tip Traditional 3555 with 145 grain points and 5" shield-cut fletching. They do spine a tad weak for Sparrowhawk, but for shooting IKAC and Royal Rounds, I prefer to spine my arrows a bit weaker than I would for 3D/Hunting because it's a whole lot easier to adjust for a weak spine early when I'm still feeling energetic than adjusting for a strong spine when I'm tired. These would spine ever so slightly weak for Tehanu when I'm fresh but they'd become a bit stiff pretty early in the IKAC / Royal Rounds.

Tractor Fun and Dunheasa Series FAQ 4/n

Click on the title for some amusing pictures for fun :)

Who knows how many more installments of FAQs I'm going to be doing... Might as well be doing this while my stomach is rebelling against me yet again and my brain has also decided to go on strike.

Q: What's with the fascination with para-ketones?
A: Well... there was a bit of an inside joke between me and a friend about parakeets and organic synthesis. It kinda started because my neighbor/landlord in S. Pasadena had this really neurotic little conure (the parrot equivalent of a Pomeranian with the small stature and disproportionately loud and shrill calls) who seemed to be a lot nicer to females than males. Around the same time, my friend and I were also taking organic chemistry and we were going through tons and tons of nomenclature stuff. This included phenolic groups and how to refer to the various configurations a pair of constituents can be named -- ortho-, meta-, and para-. Long story short, it just sounded really, really funny to think about para-ketones.

Q: Will there ever be anymore Geekster concerts now that the three of them have embraced their Tuatha roots?
A: No clue. Maybe, maybe not.

Q: Are there going to be more potty jokes in future installments?
A: Most likely. Especially if Killer Parakeet returns and/or if I decide to focus on Dr. Castro and Dr. Pichardo.

Q: Will we ever find out more about Captain Greywolf?
A: Maybe, maybe not. After all, her adventures are still continuing as I type.

Fixture

I seem to have become the FGSO (Forestry Grad Student Organization) fixture. I really need to get out of the habit of being Frodo Baggins because there's just too many One Rings that need to be dumped into Mount Doom. I should be more like Ged/Sparrowhawk, well, at least pre-The Farthest Shore. Ok, so being treasurer of FGSO probably doesn't hurt as much as losing all of my powers to keep Cob of Havnor from destroying the balance with his use of Pelnish Lore to open the door between life and death and stay in a quasi-immortal state.

Here's the old crew that's left me of all people to continue the mischief started by the president who somehow pulled me into FGSO in the first place...

Viaje al Sur

A few of my pictures from Kissimmee and Orlando survived -- our main destination was Medieval Times in Kissimmee, FL but we made a handful of stops, including Bass Pro, the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum in Orlando, and generally wandering around.

Cleaning Out the Camera Again

Now if I could shoot that well with my compound at 20 yards and if I hit about 2 inches lower with Sorondil-Telcontar!

That's one lucky deer!

Haven't Done This in a While

It's been ages since I last did a full 300 round. I finally got my draw weight checked and apparently I took off a lot more weight than I thought. I thought I took out about 4-5 lbs but turned out I took out 8 lbs. Apparently 2.5 turns = 10 lbs so go figure, although I have to admit, 60+ shots with a back-tension release does get pretty tiring! For me, 50 lbs with a caliper release feels a whole lot better than 42 lbs with a back-tension release, but I do like my wrist and I am looking into a release that fits my hand a lot better. I'm trying experiments on myself again, hence my quasi-return to the back-tension release. Let's see what comes of it. For someone rusty though, 285/300 with 25/60 in the X and 1 that completely missed the target (I blame the cell phone for that one) isn't too shabby when my best score was something like 290/300 with 33/60 in the X and no misses.

Ricochet and FAQ 3/n

Somebody's arrow ricocheted. Can you find it?

Interesting place for a carbon arrow to break...

And on to the FAQ 3/n
Q: What will be the next class that'll inspire more stories in this series?
A: No clue. Maybe Ecosystems of Florida or forest mensuration or one of the various simulations or statistics classes I've taken.

Q: What's up with that "Mierda Santa" chapter?
A: Possible foreshadowing of things that may yet be or another "scenery" chapter. I haven't fully decided yet. I just thought showing some of Captain Greywolf's eating preferences was amusing.

Q: What are some of the inside jokes in the story?
A: Far too many of them to list. Ivan himself is a bit of an inside joke among my friends because he was based on a combination of the now defunct Moldovan boy-band, O-Zone, and the various critters I've run into over the years in the Caltech Ballroom Dance Club. I do poke a bit of fun at myself with my eating habits (mostly ones my friends call out) and the kind of characters I have a tendency to hang out with. There's also a few professors I do make fun of throughout the series, including my research adviser over the years and the various denizens of the biology and chemistry departments at Caltech.

Q: Why did the Crossroads get so muddy in the end?
A: Tarathorn cast a water spell in self-defense to get an enraged Vincent (in tiger form) away from her and she conjured a lot more water than she realized.

Q: What powers does someone have over another if they knew their target's True Name?
A: Depends on the situation. A Tuatha or other highly powerful being with either serious magical training (like Galka or Ivan) or innate skill (like Tarathorn) or both (like Iliiryana) with that knowledge can do quite a bit of stuff, mostly nasty things. Most creatures just see the True Name as another name and unlike in Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea series, most people aren't too secretive about their True Names. The probability of something awful happening by revealing one's True Name is generally next to nil. Of course, things may change with someone like Iliiryana on the loose...

Q: Is Vincent's transformation and the subsequent stuff that occurs afterwards any indication of potential situations?
A: I take the Fifth there.

Crunch!!

A bit of compound fun from today... Suffice to say, I might have to start stocking back up on arrows again!