I call him Grassback, but you can post any photo

[Birma]

That's a cracker Henry As you say, it would be great to catch up with the little chap now and show him the pic.

[Dr. Harout]

Henry, you might post that shot in a Japanese photo forum... who knows, maybe he's a shooter too.

[Birma]

Something suitably eclectic from the weekend - Jousting


Show-down by Birm, on Flickr

Rather predictably the White Knight won. The safety ropes were a real pain for pictures. Couldn't help thinking that that new SEl 55-210 would have come in handy as well. Took some nice quick video clips as well but the 'wind noise' was dreadful on the in-built mic.

[bakubo]

Jousting! You Brits have all the fun!

Back in the 1980s in California a co-worker of mine was a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism and he told me they sometimes had get togethers where they all dressed up in medieval costumes. I don't know if they had jousting too. Maybe so.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_fo ... nachronism

[Birma]

The SCA would fit right in . The people putting on the show made up for their lack in numbers by their enthusiasm and daring. (Jousting is of course a special once a year event on Public Holidays - you can't just go down to the park and catch a Joust on any Sunday afternoon .)

[David Kilpatrick]

I don't see any problem with the rope barriers. Everything we know about jousts points to wooden barriers and the lists being set up like any modern sports event! Even at basic level they had ropes, and they had to mark out safe places for the punters. So a modern rope barrier is really not all that out of place.

I was talking to an archer in chain mail in town on Friday, didn't have my camera. I thought his butts should be 220 yards but he said he shot from 170 yards. I live just between the butts and the ropewalk (modern names - The Butts, and Abbotsford Grove). I'm fairly sure the ropewalk is 220 yards. One rope length should have been about right for a jousting list too.

David

[Birma]

I don't see any problem with the rope barriers. Everything we know about jousts points to wooden barriers and the lists being set up like any modern sports event! Even at basic level they had ropes, and they had to mark out safe places for the punters. So a modern rope barrier is really not all that out of place.

I hadn't thought of it like that. Perhaps the barriers are not so bad after all .

[Greg Beetham]

Wow how cool is that, jousting in this day and age, good one Birma.
Greg

[bakubo]

In Japan skiers who die are set aside until all skiing is done:



In Hawaii surfers who die are set aside until all surfing is done:



The first one is a scanned negative from 1993.

[Birma]

Very sensible approach Henry, no need to waste valuable skiing / surfing time

[Greg Beetham]

At least in Hawaii they have thoughtfully put a couple of traffic cones in the way so people don’t trip over the dead body, the Japanese method looks a little haphazard perhaps, but of course that could actually be the designated area and thus not highly trafficked, hmm looks like it was early in the day, there is only one body there so far…
Greg

[bakubo]

At least in Hawaii they have thoughtfully put a couple of traffic cones in the way so people don’t trip over the dead body, the Japanese method looks a little haphazard perhaps, but of course that could actually be the designated area and thus not highly trafficked, hmm looks like it was early in the day, there is only one body there so far…

Yeah, by the end of the day in both places the bodies are usually stacked 6 feet high. It is news they don't want you to know.

[Dusty]

In Japan skiers who die are set aside until all skiing is done:

In Hawaii surfers who die are set aside until all surfing is done:

My Dad knew an old German immigrant who woke up about 2 am to find his elderly wife had died in bed next to him. "What did you do?" he asked.

"I went back to sleep", he replied, "no use disturbing everyone at that time of the night".

Seems sensible.

Dusty

[KevinBarrett]

I posted some zoo pictures here earlier, and this weekend I went to a different kind of zoo, the Dallas World Aquarium. As mentioned, it is an aquarium first, but it's also got a seven story high free-flight tropical jungle area with tamarins and toucans and ant-eaters and bunches more...even a couple of manatees! I shot most of it, but this one was my favorite, a small child awed by an arched tunnel through the aquarium.

See the rest here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevin_barr ... 578508161/

[bakubo]

Kevin, great low angle shot!

Doing a big of exercise at the beach.