Natural costumes for fencers: Pirate, Zorro, musketeer, a Star Wars character with a light saber
(Lazy person: "I'm going as a fencer.")

Adult fencers: Pass out Three Musketeers bars

--Swordfish

A report from an American in the field:
 >We dominated in the saber events, took 2nd in both foil team events (should have won the men, losing to Canada; Venezuela beat the women, could have gone either way), took 3rd in both epee team events.<

--Swordfish

 even tho we have science fiction in which nazis supposedly had (or were on the verge of) advanced technology (refer to the 10-year-old thriller novel The Day After Tomorrow by Allan Folsom), in reality hitler actually stymied innovation because european jews are responsible for many science and technology innovations, and would've created more had many of them not been exterminated in the holocaust.

happy halloween and safe trick or treating!

--Swordfish

The liberal messages arrive late and aren't too intrusive in this fairly enjoyable "Young Adult" science fiction novel from Britain.

Read at least the first two chapters before deciding whether to continue, as it is the second chapter that is the better indication of what most of the story is like.

Though it is the third book in a series and I haven't read the first two, it's not difficult to follow the story because the author weaves in exposition well. But the novel doesn't stand on its own; it ends abruptly on more than one cliffhanger. This, plus the liberal themes and a couple implausible coincidences, mar the end of the novel.

With regard to coincidences, if one is to put them into one's story, one should do it at the beginning not the end.

The McGuffin in "Infernal Devices" is a book called the Tin Book.
For those of you who don't know, McGuffin is a term coined by Alfred Hitchcock and refers to a plot device that has no specific meaning other than to advance the story.

An example is the briefcase in the Quentin Tarantino movie "Pulp Fiction."

In "Infernal Devices" several characters are after the Tin Book; this drives the action of the story.

The Tin Book may actually be more than a McGuffin, though. It may be the "doomsday device" in a common irritating liberal story theme -- the item that is supposedly "too powerful for anyone to have." Examples in fiction include the magic ring from "Lord of the Rings," and the "power to shape reality" in the movie and book "Sphere" by Michael Critchton. (The movie "Sphere" stars Dustin Hoffman, Samuel Jackson, and Sharon Stone.)

An example in real life are liberals who don't want anyone, including America, to have nuclear weapons.

Back to the novel: The main character is teenage girl Wren. Both she and her dad Tom are liberal.
Wren's mom Hester, on the other hand, is conservative.
Judging by the treatment of the characters, the author himself is liberal: The characterization of the liberals is better; Hester is not as sympathetic nor as well-drawn. Hester is more of a comic book character, a conservative created by someone who doesn't understand conservatives.

Besides the "too powerful for anyone to have" theme mentioned above, there's also the equally irritating and liberal theme of moral equivalence. This is when the hero is sorely tempted to kill the villain but a supporting character says, "Don't do it! Then you'll be no better than him!" Sometimes the villain himself says it: "Go ahead! Kill me!" He might then say either, "You are just like me!" or "You don't have the guts!" Or both.

An example of this is the 2005 Jet Li movie "Unleashed," co-starring Morgan Freeman and Bob Hoskins.

Those who aren't too politically aware, though, will not notice these liberal themes.
Then perhaps only the plot coincidences and cliffhangers will be annoying.

--Swordfish

“Darkhenge” is a literate “Young Adult” fantasy novel from Britain. Though it can be characterized as a “pagan fantasy,” (and therefore not pro-Christian) I did not find it offensive to Christian sensibilities.

“It Came From Outer Space”
Pro: Some poetic dialogue courtesy of science fiction legend Ray Bradbury.

Good use of 3D (so I hear).

Classic 1950s sci fi. A must-see for film buffs.

Protagonist John Putnam carries around a pistol and pulls it out from time to time.

A couple “babes” (Barbara Rush and Kathleen Hughes).

Con: Politically liberal (as is its writer, Ray Bradbury)

Irritating theme: People will hate the unknown, and try to destroy it if given half the chance.

They show the aliens and they look silly rather than “monstrous.”

Illogical plot: The protagonist’s instincts – that the aliens are friendly – are proven right, even though the aliens themselves don’t make any goodwill gestures. On the contrary, they kidnap several townspeople.

Barbara Rush screams too much.

 “Empowering leaders” who give employees room to think and behave independently are often perceived as superior to “directive leaders” who give specific orders. But it’s not necessarily so.

In certain business environments — including fast-moving entrepreneurial fields — the directive leadership style can be more effective. So says a study by two management researchers.

“The empowering style of leadership has been oversold regarding new ventures with heterogeneous teams in dynamic environments,” says Dr. Keith M. Hmieleski...

the rest of the article at
 http://www.reliableplant.com/article.asp?pagetitle='Empowering%20leaders'%20not%20always%20best%20for%20the%20business&articleid=3017

I haven't really seen the current women's saber fencing. Those of you who have, I hear Korfanty's women rush forward with their hands back and then finish with a strong lunge; is that true?

And are Korfanty's students good at adapting to their opponents, or do they most just overwhelm them with speed and aggression?

--Swordfish

"Baby Got Book" (parody of "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot)
 
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3269248597999808799&q=genre%3Acomedy

--Swordfish

 A fencer I know says the fencing community needs more christianity:

"When Christians get together, they do a whole lot of things that make it hard for people to form cliques, "pick on" people, and act judgmentally. I'm not saying it doesn't happen in churches, because it sure does, but Christian pastors, it they are competent, have a whole "bag of tricks" to minimize that kind of behavior. For instance, when Christians get together to do something or have a meeting, they usually pray first, and often, individually, by name, for one another. It is kind of hard to have a fight with someone who has just prayed for you, by name, about a specific problem that you might be having at the moment. (At least, you can't fight for the duration of the meeting.)

At [another social group I belong to], we cannot have Christian prayer anymore, but we do have a "moment of silence" at the beginning of the meeting."

Hello. Swordfish here. Just read this about "diversity" at Princeton:

 David Jia <http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/staff.php?uid=384 >, Online Staff
Writer
9/22/2006

Princeton University became the second Ivy League school to drop their
early admission program on Monday in favor of one single process in
admitting all undergraduate applicants. The new policy will go into
effect for undergraduate class of 2012. Their decision follows Harvard,
who dropped their early action policy last week.

According to university spokesperson Cass Cliatt, minority and financial
disadvantaged students who are "usually left out of the [application]
process" will have fairer opportunities under the new policy.

Princeton's significant amount of financial resources has resulted in 40
percent of their student population consisting of minorities, according
to College Board. Despite their "groundbreaking financial aid policy"
that allows many "students to graduate debt-free," Cliatt said,
Princeton still wishes to "further diversify" the undergraduates
enrolled each year.

Career counseling center assistant Cathy Henderson-Stein believes that
this change is significant not only because of the "healthy choice" in
being able to compare financial packages before making a decision, but
also because "people pay attention to what Princeton does." Though
Harvard and Princeton both urge other elite universities to follow suit
with the single application policy, Henderson-Stein thinks it may take
years before most universities adopt the policy.

In contrast to Harvard's early action policy, Princeton's early decision
program is binding, meaning if students who are admitted in from the
November admissions are required to attend the school.

Princeton is not using the two-to-three year trial period that Harvard
is currently using. Princeton has had an early decision policy since 1996.

 I hear that Venezuela has more Miss Universe Pageant titles than any other nation.


happy Columbus day,
Swordfish

 

--Swordfish