St Andrew's Day Party

Join in the Caber Toss and Hammer Throw to be held outside the city wall and then finish the evening up with a dance at The Clarendon in New Babbage.

Whisky and haggis for all as well as IRN BRU for the teetotallers.

Recent Additions to Pearse'd & Cut

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am proud to announce some recent additions to the range of merchandise available from my stores around the Steamlands.

First is the range of kilts and tartan skirts has had the New Babbage tartans added to it: Both the official Dress & Hunting tartans as well as two unofficial ones.


For the tinies I have released a version of my inventor's toolbelt with apron and goggles.



And finally I have added a 19th century fencing uniform. Based on the portrait of noted Swordmaster Captain Alfred Hutton. The foil is scripted for En Garde! A ladies version has been requested and will be available soon.

Four new tartans to the range

After much procrastination I have added 4 new tartans to my range of kilts.

The first two are the two Official Babbage tartans - the Dress and the Hunting tartans.

The second 2 are two unofficial Dress tartans that were two I came up with myself.


Official Dress Tartan

Official Hunting Tartan


Unofficial Dress Tartan


Unofficial Dress Tartan

Available from the New Babbage shop as well as Caledon Victoria City, Steelhead, Steeltopia and Edison Hypatia.

Alba gu brath

Friday was the night I had been looking forward to for many months, when myself and the the Duchess of Loch Avie jointly presented the St. Andrew's Day festival for Caledon.

Sadly I was unable to make the Caber toss due to timezone differences (and having been up rather late the night before). But I had managed to twist Professor Avalanche's arm into coming up with a Hammer Throw to compliment it.


Hammer throwing.

However once potential throwers realised if you skittered the hammer along the ice it didn't register until it hit the ground at the end, the game soon devolved into a version of curling.


Next saw the Champions' Tournament. Acting as Champion for the Duchy of Carntaigh, I was defeated in the first round by the eventual winner of the Day, Miss Alex Fitzsimmons. I redeemed myself in the massed combat by making three kills before being finally eliminated.

Once darkness arrived out came the music and I set along a many and varied set of Scottish tunes for a great céilidh.


An assortment of Scottish delights including Scottish tablet, IRN BRU, deep fried Mars bars, Scotch eggs and uisge-beatha.


Revellers in kilts and tartan


More flinging


Even Steelhead's Sheriff Ortega found himself bekilted.


Even the wild haggis found themselves drawn to the festivities.


Some stray sheep wandered into the clearing wondering what all the noise was about


And then strange things like cats with buttered toast strapped to their backs started appearing.

I had a great night and it was my great pleasure to be able to co-host this wonderful event.

Slainte Mhath!

Tartan Delights from Pearse'd & Cut

In addition to our recent expansion of the available tartan range in out mens kilts, we have received requests for a companion piece for the ladies.

So just in time for St Andrew's Day, Pearse'd & Cut is proud to announce it's ladies Bustled Tartan Skirt. Based on the design commissioned by the Duchess of Loch Avie, this skirt also comes with a matching sash. Ideal for Balls and Country Dances.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20VictoriaCity/53/55/23

St Andrew's Day Celebration

This will be a full day of festivities in Loch Avie.

The sim will be filled with the sounds of Celtic music for your enjoyment, and will be decorated for the occasion.
Come learn about St. Andrew and his connections to Scotland and see his Eastern and Western Icons
Please feel free to come at your own time and pace to try the haggis, scotch eggs, Uisge Beatha, and other Scottish delicacies.
You may also try your hand at the Caber Toss, Hammer Throw, or Academy of Arms Weapons System (Claymore, Battle Axe, Short Sword) at your leisure during the day.
Enjoy the sim with it's water, scenic views, water horse, and by that time....maybe a little snow.

• Caber tossing contest at 1pm SLT (near the pub)
  
• Hammer throwing contest at 3pm SLT (near Nellie's inlet)
  
• Academy of Arms Tournament for Duchal Champions 6pm SLT (sky arena)
  
• Cielidh 7:30pm SLT (Near the Keep)
  
  
• If you are a piper and would care to join in a piping contest please IM, Duchess Loch Avie directly. With enough interest we will hold a Bagpipe concert/contest during the day.
  

A little information about St. Andrew
Saint Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland, and St. Andrew's Day is celebrated by Scots around the world on the 30th November. The flag of Scotland is the Cross of St. Andrew, and this is widely displayed as a symbol of national identity.

The "Order of Saint Andrew" or the "Most Ancient Order of the Thistle" is an order of Knighthood which is restricted to the King or Queen and sixteen others. It was established by James VII of Scotland in 1687.

Very little is really known about St. Andrew himself. He was thought to have been a fisherman in Galilee (now part of Israel), along with his elder brother Simon Peter (Saint Peter). Both became followers (apostles) of Jesus Christ, founder of the Christian religion.

St. Andrew is said to have been responsible for spreading the tenets of the Christian religion though Asia Minor and Greece. Tradition suggests that St. Andrew was put to death by the Romans in Patras, Southern Greece by being pinned to a cross (crucified). The diagonal shape of this cross is said to be the basis for the Cross of St. Andrew which appears on the Scottish Flag.

St. Andrews bones were entombed, and around 300 years later were moved by Emperor Constantine (the Great) to his new capital Constantinople (now Istambul in Turkey). Legend suggests that a Greek Monk (although others describe him as an Irish assistant of St. Columba) called St. Rule (or St. Regulus) was warned in a dream that St. Andrews remains were to be moved and was directed by an angel to take those of the remains which he could to the "ends of the earth" for safe-keeping. St. Rule dutifully followed these directions, removing a tooth, an arm bone, a kneecap and some fingers from St. Andrew's tomb and transporting these as far away as he could. Scotland was close to the extremities of the know world at that time and it was here that St. Rule was shipwrecked with his precious cargo.

St. Rule is said to have come ashore at a Pictish settlement on the East Coast of Scotland and this later became St. Andrews. Thus the association of St. Andrew with Scotland was said to have begun.

Perhaps more likely than the tale of St. Rule's journey is that Acca, the Bishop of Hexham, who was a reknown collector of relics, brought the relics of St. Andrew to St. Andrews in 733. There certainly seems to have been a religious centre at St. Andrews at that time, either founded by St. Rule in the 6th century or by a Pictish King, Ungus, who reigned from 731 - 761.

Whichever tale is true, the relics were placed in a specially constructed chapel. This chapel was replaced by the Cathedral of St. Andrews in 1160, and St. Andrews became the religious capital of Scotland and a great centre for Medieval pilgrims who came to view the relics.

There are other legends of how St. Andrew and his remains became associated with Scotland, but there is little evidence for any of these, including the legend of St. Rule. The names still exist in Scotland today, including St. Rules Tower, which remains today amongst the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral.

It is not known what happened to the relics of St. Andrew which were stored in St. Andrews Cathedral, although it is most likely that these were destroyed during the Scottish Reformation. The Protestant cause, propounded by Knox, Wishart and others, won out over Roman Catholism during the Reformation and the "idolatry of catholism", that is the Saints, relics, decoration of churches, were expunged during the process of converting the Roman Catholic churches of Scotland to the harsh simplicity of Knox's brand of Calvanism.

The place where these relics were kept within the Cathedral at St. Andrews is now marked by a plaque, amongst the ruins, for visitors to see.

The larger part of St. Andrew's remains were stolen from Constantinople in 1210 and are now to be found in Amalfi in Southern Italy. In 1879 the Archbishop of Amalfi sent a small piece of the Saint's shoulder blade to the re-established Roman Catholic community in Scotland.

In 1969, Gordon Gray, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland was in Rome to be appointed the first Scottish Cardinal since the Reformation. Pope Paul VI gave him further relics of St. Andrew with the words "Saint Peter gives you his brother". These are now displayed in a reliquary in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh.

New releases from Pearse'd & Cut

After much pestering from various people Pearse'd & Cut is proud to announce the release of eight additional tartans to our existing kilt range, just in time for the St. Andrew's Day celebrations.

A selected sampling of the now eleven tartans


Kerr


The Black Watch


Royal Stewart


Caledon

The full range stand at present as Black Watch, Caledon, Chattan, Ferguson, Gordon, Kerr, MacAlister, MacDonald of the Isles, MacPhearson, Priest and Royal Stewart.

Gaels gone Wilde

Saturday night saw the last day of the Harvest Festival with the Highland Fling in Loch Avie. It was an all day even but sadly my time zone prevented my earlier attendance. Further delays occurred when I discovered that the playlist I had put together for the night had not saved as I thought. My good intentions of getting in world a little earlier were taken up by rebuilding the playlist.

I did manage to get in to compete in the open tournament for the Loch Avie Academy of Arms, having watched some spirited competition as I arrived. I took myself out of the first round, having lagged enough to have walked off the edge of the area (and started plummeting to earth) so I didn't think it fair to rejoin after others had already culled the numbers. I competed in the second round though and made it to the final 5 before being cut down.

Sadly I was so busy trying to stave off my attackers I forgot to take photos.

Then I had a mad dash to get Baron Wulfenbach's kilt finished, which I did just as the music handover from the Antiquity Ball went ahead. A rather mad half hour there :-)



Baron Wulfenbach's kilt is the purple one in the centre. To the left is one of the kilts commissioned by Her Grace of Loch Avie for Caln Belambi


Lots of tartans and swinging hips as the crowd enjoys a Scottish themed music selection.


I believe there were about 30 people or so in the sky that night

There was dancing with cabers, haggises, and assorted merriment. I ended up playing for an extra hour past the scheduled time. Great fun was had by all I think.

Tentacles, Squamous, Elder Things, Kilts and "Broadly Offensive"

Miss Violet Schnabel had put together a lovely setting for the Lovecraft Ball, run by the Dark Victorian group. I managed to track down a couple of songs from the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (I need to get a copy of Shoggoth on the Roof) and started with those. On to some more familiar music with tracks ranging from Marilyn Manson, Sisters of Mercy, Inkubus Sukubus, VNV Nation, Mesh, Siouxsie and a variety of other things. Ensuing chat over the evening covered many strange things and may have proved that, apart from the assorted SAN(ity) jokes, that most Caledonians are in fact quite mad. Though Miss Schnabel's cousin Phineas may just be inebriated.


"Cthulhu Grove"


The glowing and amorphous Yog Sothoth (also known as Professor Avalanche)


The Great Race of Yith, with butterflies (normally known as Fuschia)


And I shall call him... Minithulhu.


Eldritch Emilly


Cthulhu in da House!

Later in the evening (and after a quick nap) My Dearest and I helped Her Grace of Loch Avie celebrate the completion of her Manor, Taigh Ròis (Gaelic for "House of the Rose").


The dance floor full of elegant ladies and charming gentlemen.

I danced with several ladies during the evening and witnessed the dubious charge the Vulgarian Ambassador, Barken Roff, made about Caledon being Vulgarian ancestral lands. I've heard this kind of waffle before and am soundly of the opinion that whether or not a country may have occupied a territory in the past, relinquishing that control centuries in the past forfeits your rights to claim it. Of course should the Vulgarians try to make good on their claim by force, Caledon's military defences will be ready and waiting for them.

Once Roff had stalked out in a huff, the evening continued pleasantly.

Finally the evening finished with the performance of Tartan For a Day, which saw the winner of an auction some time back allowed to perform as one of the troup of Little Eva and the Tartans.


Lots of tarting.. er tartan and very little else.


Joining the dance.


Lady Elytis after realising she was overdressed for the occasion.


Lady Whup Ass and Dr. Figaro get jiggy wit' it.


And at some point in the evening comparisons were made of the Tartans with the Mousketeers. Which of course produced Tartan ears.

A fun evening all round :-)

One more sleep...

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY.



The chapel is decorated. My outfit is done. The music is organised. The reception is organised.

In the time since I have come to know this amazing woman she has slowly found a very special place in my life and in my heart.

It's been a rather hectic week with me being away for the weekend, then trying to get the Cavorite Flying Vehicle finished for the Steampunk Expo (which it's only in display readiness - still some bugs to work on) and then getting my outfit finished for Friday.

But this weekend will be worth it.

Update of sorts

I've been so busy procrastinating it's a wonder I've had time to do anything.

While out and about earlier in the week I had bumped into a rather diminutive Professor Avalanche who seemed to have forgotten the rules about putting natural fibres into hot water.


Shrank in the wash

Friday saw The Duchess of Loch Avie hosting a Tournament in conjunction with the Torvaldland sim.

There had been a kissing booth set up as a further part of the ubiquitous RFL charity. While Miss Paris's ability to raise L$40,000 for a single kiss was impressive, Professor Avalanche's efforts with Mr. Margulis were the funniest.


Alfonso and Erasmus snog

Later that evening the Torvaldlanders put on an arena combat display.


Seated Guests. (photo by Gabrielle Riel)


The Tournament begins (photo by Gabrielle Riel)

There was supposed to be an open entry for the Battle Royale finale, but sadly axes for the non-Torvaldlanders had been forgotten.

From there Miss McAllister and I headed off to the Steelhead dance where they were having a Monty Python theme. It's still funny no matter how often you hear it :-)


Saturday morning the Militia was in attendance for the briefing on the invasion of Neualtenburg

Briefing the Troops


The cunning strategy revealed


The Caledon Air Corps get their orders

Saturday saw the final Caledon Ball for the season. And it had been almost a month since the last one had been cut so tragically short.


Dressed for the Ball

This night was the SL DJ debut of Red Caliber who did an excellent job. He ended up confirming what has now been decided as a requirement for Radio Riel DJs by having the sim crash. We're looking at working out how to crash the sim for Miss Figaro's debut :-)

Sunday I managed to get Miss Tombola aside and we took some pictures of our Girl Genius inspired AVs.


Agatha Heterodyne: Girl Genius


Krosp I, Emperor of Cats


Krosp and his Loyal Subject Agatha (well she feeds him)

I was quite happy with the photos. Well have to get a few more people to do AVs and do a whole cast shot. Lord Bardhaven would make a great stand in for Klaus :-)

And lastly I'd like to mention the work by Madcow Cosmos. I first encountered this talented gentleman over a month ago and since then we've discussed Avatar building on a couple of occasions.


Giant mechanical dragon.


Steampunk Godzilla thing


Bone dragon AV