How the Muppets are inspiring me at Battle of the Nations

I just saw the newest Muppet movie.

I am sitting on a Lufthansa 747 in cramped economy class on my way to Poland to fight in the Battle of the Nations, the world championships of medieval armored combat, and the first movie they showed on the in-flight entertainment was the newest Muppet Movie, and it affected me as no other movie has.

I suppose I have been getting a little emotional lately. I have a beautiful woman whom I love and who loves me, I have found  new sport I love in Brazilian jiu jitsu/submission grappling, I have found some new friends and creative objectives with my video work, and now I have embarked on the craziest, riskiest, most personally and culturally significant thing I have ever done with the Battle of the Nations. And this was the perfect time to see the new Muppet Movie.

This movie was about two brothers, one who wants to find where he belongs, and one who has to decide where he belongs. through the course of helping the Muppets put on a show to save their old studio, they each come to terms with their desires.

But also this movie is about how it feels to do what you love to do and be appreciated for it. In the film, the Muppets have all disbanded and gone onto success or failure in their various carer paths, but come together to raise the ten million dollars they need to buy back their studio from the evil rich oil baron who wants to tear it down to get at the oil underneath it.

First off, let me say that the movie hooked me early on by bringing out beloved muppet characters and cultural references rom the 1970's and '80's. The "'80's Robot" was particularly amusing. There were also many moments of "lampshade hanging," to get through ridiculous plot devices and film techniques characteristic of Muppet movies. There wee also lots of obligatory celebrity cameos. Since I already cared about these characters, and had familiarity with the jokes, I was emotionally vulnerable to their cares and passions, and the irreverent humor kept it fresh and entertaining.

Now the current journey I am on is a remarkable confluence of elements of my life, and there had ben significant episodes along the way. I have been doing medieval armored combat for 25 years with the Society for Creative Anachronism. I have won a few tournaments and awards, I have travelled to several events, and have had life-changing events occur as a part of my SCA life, but recently I had been less and less involved. Certain relationships (and their ups and downs) and the natural tide of social forces within the organization have taken some of the thrill out of the game for me. I do not have much realistic hope of accomplishing much more than I already have. I was also developing career paths and objectives that the SCA was taking me away from.

Then I met Maria. When I tad her about he SCA she was interested, and after king o her first few evens, and Pennsic, she was hooked. Now she is making it a big pat o her life, and that is giving my SC inerest a new lease n life. I shot a documentary at the last Pennsic War (a follow-up of one with which I was involved 20 years ago) and found out a lot more about the SCA and why people are part of it than I never knew before. Thus I gained a new appreciation for it.

At the same time as this was going on, I was getting more involved with BJJ. I had gotten into grappling through  relationship (that didn't work out) but used what that relationship had started to make a movie. Through this movie I got more involved in the world of competitions and training, and noe I make videos for East Coast United BJJ while training there, and am a sponsored competitor at ACOM Sports tournaments. I have found a whole new bunch of people who like me for who and what I am without the baggage of the past (however many) years of my life. I have broken out of several comfort zoned and done things I always wanted to do.

I have also gotten opportunities to be a part of the world of pro wrestling and discover new levels of fitness through my friendship with G.A West, who had been part of my grappling movie (see how it's starting to come together?). He was part of the new Pennsic War documentary.

I don't actually recall when I found out about the Battle of the Nations, or why I thought it might be something I would like to do, but I do know that once I looked at my resources and realized it was possible if I simply dedicated myself to it, then it was full steam ahead, no turning back! I went out to the training camp in Springfield Il. in February and surprised a lot of people with my courage, toughness, heart, brains, and lack of "quit," and I made it onto the third 5-man team a the Battle of the Nations.

I may have surprised myself a little, but really, I did not think that quitting was an options. I came there to fight, so I was willing to take what it took to fight!.

Now I m going to represent my nation in an international competition with the best and the toughest in a particularly rough and tough sport from around the world. From what I have ben hearing from people following myself and the team, there are people who appreciate this, people who are following this, and people who hope we do well. They want someone to cheer for, to make them feel proud to be American, to make them feel like there is someone willing to dedicate their time and energy and risk their body in the name of their country.

Why can't that person be me? Why shouldn't that person be me?  I have the love and support of a wonderful person of my preferred gender; I am reaching new levels of aggression, strength, testosterone, and badassery through bjj; and somehow my sword fighting has gotten stronger too. Dammit, if I can make other people feel good by challenging myself on the biggest arena of my martial art of greatest experience while I am peaking at multiple aspects of my life, dammit I'll do it!

And it doesn't matter whether I win or lose, I have already won something by committing this much so far. I am on a freakin' airplane to Poland! And so long as I leave it all out on the field, no one will be able to say that I didn't do my nation proud!

At the end of the Muppet movie, the Muppets do not reach their goal of raising the money to save their studio, but they did put on a successful, entertaining show for a packed house and national TV audience, won the charts of the nation, and exited the theater to the sound of thunderous applause from crowds that filled the streets. The brother who was looking for his place to belong found it with the Muppets (he was a muppet, after all), and the other brother chose life with his long-term girlfriend, and she came to terms with his relationship with his brother.

And I cried, even more than I did at "Role Models.`I started envisioning myself at the Battle of the Nations. Over the course of the movie I had found myself visualizing the fights and my performance and attitude in them in anticipation of the day (I believe this is called "psyching myself up"). This put me in a frame of mind to equate the action on the screen with the experience of the coming event. I could practically feel myself sharing the mount with my teammates, entering the arena to the cheer of the crowd, being saluted for our efforts by our fans, friends and loved ones. And the tears came streaming down my face.

Am I ready for this? You bet I am!

Help me Represent the US at the Battle of the Nations

So yes, I made the team! In a few short weeks I will be heading out with the rest of Team USA to compete in the international medieval armored combat world champioships known as the Battle of the Nations.

This is a very big deal. Thsi is the first time there has been an American team at this event. this event is going to be twice as bick as it was last year. There is international coverage. I (and many of my teammates) will be fighting with steel for the first time. Russia is the defending champion, and is looking forward to meeting us.

This is easily the most daring, challengin, risky thing I have ever done, but I won;t spend a whole lot of space here talking about it.

But I will say that the risks and challenges are mental, physical, emotional, and financial. Therefore, I have opened up a new Indiegogo campaign to help defray the cost. In this campaign I describe the event and what it means to me n great detail both in text and video. Please check it out. There are many valuable "perks" offered to contributors, and every little bit helps, so please contribute at a level that represents a fair balance between how much you believe in this, and me, and how much you can afford.

Captain Zorikh's Battle of the Nations Indiegogo Campaign

The story of what's been delaying Retun to Pennsic

So here's the story: My first delay was in getting the video tapes converted to digital media. I had to wait until the money came in to do that. The money came from a new job I acquired. This proved to be a double-edged sword. The job got me money, but took my time.

I also came to discover that my computer has a hard time using Adobe Premiere when there are too many files being drawn from and when the project is too long. I got the idea that a laptop would resolve some of these issues, being as it would have a new OS, more memory, and be portable, allowing me to edit when away from home.

Santa Clause bequeathed me with a spanking new MacBook Pro, which then put me in the dilemma of wither learning a Mac-compatible editing program like Final Cut, or using Windows on a Mac so I could continue editing with Premiere. I chose the latter.

At first I was told to use Parallels to install Windows, so I bought the program and installed Windows, then Premier, then noticed that Premiere was running a little wonky. Someone then said the boot Camp was the way to go to install Windows on a Mac.

The trouble is that the latest version of Boot Camp only works with Windows 7, and I only had windows XP. So a friend provided me with a copy of Windows 7.

But when using Boot Camp, one should back up one’s files. The external hard drive I was using did not have enough space to hold all the files on my new MacBook, so I was burning disks to open up the space. Then one day the external hard drive failed.

The troubleshooting guides led me to research file recovery companies. After recovering form the cardiac event that the prices they were charging gave me, I head from a friend that it’s possible tat you don’t need “file recovery,” it could just be a simple hardware problem.

It turned out that the USB jack had broken off of the circuit board, the disk itself was fine, so the company that sold me the HD provided me with a dock. But the HD would not fit into the dock. They said they would provide me with a new casement, but forgot to get it to me until I called them a week or so later. Again, the HD did not fit, but I figured out that I needed to detach the little circuit board on which the USB input jack had been attached, and then everything fit just fine.

Then it seemed that I could no longer simply move the files from my MacBook to my HD, so I had to burn disks. It took me a while to figure out how to burn disks on a MacBook. In fact, I wound up using an XP program and doing the work in windows through Parallels. Then it looked like the disks were blank after burning.

Both of these things turned out to be false alarms. I figured out how to move the files, and that the disks were not really blank. In any event, I finally got all my files backed up and was ready to run Boot Camp and install Windows 7.

What followed was a continuation of the Kafka-esque nightmare that has been plaguing me. I shall spare you the minute details, but merely say that it involved having to burn and re-burn disks, load drivers onto one thing and then another, a search for some internet access that would not stall out during a download process, and two late nights at the Apple store.

Now it looks like I may have to plunk down about $300 one way or another; either to buy a new copy of Windows 7 so I can load it onto my MacBook so I can continue editing in Adobe Premiere, or to buy a copy of Final Cut, render what I have done in Premiere already, and learn how to use Final Cut as I go.

And I hope to have something to screen by the end of the month.

Battle of the Nations!

In the coming weeks I will be giving more details, but for now, let;s just say that I am in training to try out for Team USA at the Battle of the NAtions.

The Battle of the Nations in an international medieval combat & vculture competition and festival. It has been going on for several years in Eastern Europe, and is run by a Russian company, as I understand. This year it will be held on April 29 - May 4 near Warsaw, Poland. For the first time ever, there will be a team of Americans going over.

There will be a national practice in Springfield IUllinois in a couple of weeks, and I will be there, doing the best I can to prove that I have the "stuff" to be part of this team.

As I said. more details will be forthcoming, but for now, you can see more about the team at http://www.usaknights.org, you can see more about the event at http://battleofthenations.com.ua (click on the tiny British flag in the upper left-hand corner for English), and you can see video of the event here...

Dream reminder of high school reunion

Today is an anniversary reunion of my class at Stuyvesant High School. I have never been much of one for reunions before, especially when they are at posh clubs and cost over $100. But this time I was reading all the posts on the Facebook group, and actually getting a little interested. Unfortunately, by income level right now is too prohibitively low to buy a ticket, but a fellow alum offered to pick up a couple of tickets for those of us in my condition

Since accepting the offer, however, Life has gotten in the way of my remembering. I shot a documentary at the Pennsic War, got a new job, performed in the Faux-Real Theater's Oedipus Rex, and have been dealing with trying to get the money owed me by my last job. Earlier this week, however, a Facebook post reminded me.

But what with all the excitement around the NY Comic Con and reprising my role from last year in today's encore performance of "Oedipus Rex" on Roosevelt Island, it slipped my mind again. Then this morning my alarm clock went off (way too early), so I re-set it for two hours later and went back to bed.

This time I found myself in a classroom-type situation, filling out a form as a couple of women sat at the front of the room behind a table. They were advisers of some sort, and we were going over what we did in high school. Then I would go to the end of the table and take a photo of an arrangement. The arrangement included a book with a picture and short piece of text highlighting the alumna's high school career, a book mark with a picture and another bit of text, and some object that fit in somehow (memory getting hazy). There were only about 3 or four alums in the room, including me.

While I was taking the picture for myself, another female adviser, one who was sitting at a desk beyond the opposite end of the table, said to one of the alums, a fellow I knew from my homeroom back at Stuyvesant, "It says here you were present at two homicides in high school and didn't report wither one of them."

"I thought that was taken care of," he replied, in the kind of voice one would expect from someone who got caught in a bad situation that wasn't really his fault, he had to pay a high price for, and now had thought he had finally put behind him.

I said "Come on, that was 25 years ago. Give the guy a break!" As the adviser and the alum argued, I looked down at the book and saw that his page talked about how his life had gone bad. It included a quote form him?:" Yes, I had some chances, but IO blew it." I decided not to include this in the picture.

The bookmark was much more positive, highlighting his good points and not mentioning the homicides.

Then I woke up and remebered that tonight was the night of my high school graduating class reunion.

Before I go on...

I still miss my cat, Tommi.

Clinically Bereaved

Not to beat a horse or anything, but I am amazed by how bereaved I am right now.

Is there such a thing as "clinically bereaved?" If so that's me.

At any notice or thought of something that relates to Tommi, the cat that of mine who died on Monday morning, any instinctive reaction that came through living with that cat for 14 years, just makes me sad. I start crying, moaning even. Then I take a deep breath and move on. then something else will come up and I start crying and moaning again.

Lots of people I have known have died in the past two years. Friends, relatives, and friends of friends, but none of them , in fact no death of anyone I have known, has affected me quite so deeply as this.

Could it be the fact that we have shared such close contact for so long? Could it be that she never did a thing that I didn't like (that's not true, but nothing that really mattered, in the end)? could it be that no matter how my relationships with various people changed, she was always true to me?

The label in the box I buried her in says "The Truest Cat." That is true. In every way she was as true as a cat can get. Her walk, her leaping and climbing, her scratching and chewing of inappropriate objects, her stealing and attempted stealing of any chicken I ever tried to eat, her kneading and suckling on my sweaters, her dragging of socks and long underwear into the hallway (presumably as prey), her head-rubs on my shoulder when sitting next to me, her choosing of the spot right in front of the computer monitor to sit when I was working, her knocking of things off the table, her waiting for me outside the kitchen door, her "cat-loaf" pose and her "decadent kitty" pose and her sleeping by my head in the colder months, and her perfect, perfect kitty-cat face and perfectly soft fur, not too long, not too short, not too soft, not too stiff. She was never anything other than what she was: a cat. THE Tommi-cat.

She had great cat genes: that fur, that face, her little white pudsies and the crazy white ring around her tail. It is a shame that contemporary ethics and pet-population issues forced me to get her "fixed." I would have loved to have seen her create offspring, perhaps to keep with me as she grew old and to have with me now.

The emotional outpouring from me did not start initially upon finding her lifeless body by the door when I got out of bed Monday morning. My neighbor, who knew the cat, started crying instantly when I told her. But as the reality sunk in, seeing her little body lying still on the floor as I started to make arrangements and figure out what to do, that's when it came in. When I had to step over her body to go to the bathroom, and when I saw her still there when I came back, when I looked at the water dish, which I had been used to filling every day, her food dish, her litter box, the spot on the printer where she would always sit in her cat-loaf position, the emotions stated coming up. And now, when I thought to pick something up off the floor because the cat might step all over it, and I realized she was never going to step on anything again, and I will never have to chase her into my room again, and I will never have to change her litter box and clean her water dish again, I get very, very sad.