News: Mummified Nuns found in Brazilian Monastery

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7266609.stm

Here's an article about how a hunt for termites lead to the discovery of mummified nuns in the wall of a mission built in 1774.

News: Remains of Sea Monster

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7264856.stm

Remains of The Monster, a jurasic age sea creature, have been found on an arctic island. The creature measured around 15m from nose to tail with 3m flippers.

Miniatures: Brandon's Helms Deep

These are pictures of my eldest son Brandon's Helms Deep project. It is a work that has been in progress for a number of years off and on. Brandon hand cut the foamcore for the walls, including the curves and odd angled towers. He has a dedicated terrain board in progress as well as the inner structures and the deeping wall. The miniatures depicted are Brandon's too. We believe the cat, Digit, may have been paid some tuna by Sauron to infiltrate the defenses.

Miniatures: Caleb's Ship and a Dwarf crewed Pinace

My middle son Caleb has an interest in the age of fighting sail. These pics are of the ship and tower he built when he was about 15 (several years ago now). I have also included a dwarf crewed Pinace that I scratch built. The third ship is a resin Sloop from Flagship Games. These pics represent a game of Pirates that we played to test out Caleb's ship.

News: Ancient Burial Site

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,536402,00.html

Here's an interesting article about an ancient burial site near Colchester. The peope burried there are desribed as the Elite of their society from the Celt/Roman transitional period. The author of the article speculates that it might be the first material evidence of the existance of Druids.

Movies: Seraphim Falls

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479537/


I watched Seraphim Falls the other night and really enjoyed it. I thought both Brosnan and Neeson did an excellent job of portraying their respective characters with a brooding/internally charged hollowness caused by the war. The scenery and cinnematography were awesome as well.

News: Beelzebufo or "frog from hell".

Here's an article about the fossil of a giant frog found in Madagascar. Beelzebufo would have been about 9lbs. and measured 16in. long.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7251666.stm

Miniatures: Chinatown

These Tong gunmen took part in a pulp game I ran a few years ago. They were produced by Stone Circle games for their Chinatown line.

Non-Fiction: Band of Brothers

Just recently started reading Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters. This is Winter's personal account of how he came to be in Easy Company and his experiences in the war. He tries to share some of the stories that have not been told elsewhere, and tries to pass on the recollections that others have shared with him. This is a great read so far!

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Band-Brothers-Memoirs-Winters/dp/B000GIW42S/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203474272&sr=8-1

Fiction: Laura Lippman

Just finished Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman. Her protagonist is Tess Monaghan an out of work reporter turned investigator. What I liked about the book is that Tess is not the best of detectives, she gets a lot wrong and struggles with what to do. This is not best of the mystery genre, but it's good enough for me to want to read more and ultimately that's what counts.

Miniatures: Old West Buildings work in progress

Here is a bank, a livery stable and a framed structure for 28mm Old West gaming. The bank is finished, but the others are in progress. The bank and stable are made using pressed cardboard boxes/buildings purchased at a local hobby store. Using these as a foundation I then adding cork or balsa as an outer surface. I also have a hotel, jail, 2 stores and a tailor shop in various stages of construction.

Initial Installment

This blog is meant to be a humble collection of my random musings and varied distractions. As such, the type of continuity that many have come to rely upon may indeed be lacking.