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tafeanornAs I write this, it is actually Saturday morning with the wind gusting outside, blowing around the trash from the late-running party that took place 20 feet from my window well into the night and morning. I was able to sleep through parts of it only by turning up my iPod and sleeping with my headphones on. And I thought sci-fi cons had loud parties with lots of booze . . .
But anyway, back to Thursday . . .
“The Early Italian Commune” was still in my head and quickly percolating into a board game design as I wandered over to a demonstration on Medieval Dress and Textiles. At first, I was disappointed as I was expecting it to be something that it was not. When I read the word “dress” I was expecting clothing and costuming, but there was none of that.
Instead, it concentrated on the textiles. There were exhibits on embroidery and weaving, and I was so taken by the weaving demo that I don’t remember what else was there. The woman had a working hand loom, of the sort that village women would have used to make cloth. I took many pictures and even some video of her used the loom. Actually seeing it and seeing how it functioned was fascinating, grounding the complexity of early-modern looms in their more basic ancestors.
It was dinner time at this point so I got a sandwich at Subway in the student union building (Bernhard) and then went to my evening session, “The Irish Sea in the Viking Age”. The first lecture, “Hitting Your Head on an Axe: The Impact of Weapons on Social Discourse” wound up being a discussion of changes in Irish weapon technology from the pre-medieval period through the end of the Viking Age. Although the author had promised in his introduction that these technology changes would bring about cultural changes as well, his paper failed to present those changes.
The two other lectures (one was canceled) were about monasteries, Rushen Abbey on the Isle of Mann and Clonmacnois in Ireland. The Manx one was simply a recounting of the history of the abbey (weak, but interesting since I knew nothing about it) and the other was a detailed analysis of the symbols engraved on stone crosses delineating a semi-public cemetery within the monastery grounds.
On my way back to my room, I passed through two large receptions with open bars. They were crammed with people (I’ve heard that there are 3000 attendees) and very load. I got drinks at each one and tried to find ways to talk to people, but this sort of activity has never been a forté of mine. Combined with that is the feeling that I am an outsider or a poseur. It makes it really difficult to engage with someone . . . So after an hour of trying and failing, I went back to my room and went to bed.
But anyway, back to Thursday . . .
“The Early Italian Commune” was still in my head and quickly percolating into a board game design as I wandered over to a demonstration on Medieval Dress and Textiles. At first, I was disappointed as I was expecting it to be something that it was not. When I read the word “dress” I was expecting clothing and costuming, but there was none of that.
Instead, it concentrated on the textiles. There were exhibits on embroidery and weaving, and I was so taken by the weaving demo that I don’t remember what else was there. The woman had a working hand loom, of the sort that village women would have used to make cloth. I took many pictures and even some video of her used the loom. Actually seeing it and seeing how it functioned was fascinating, grounding the complexity of early-modern looms in their more basic ancestors.
It was dinner time at this point so I got a sandwich at Subway in the student union building (Bernhard) and then went to my evening session, “The Irish Sea in the Viking Age”. The first lecture, “Hitting Your Head on an Axe: The Impact of Weapons on Social Discourse” wound up being a discussion of changes in Irish weapon technology from the pre-medieval period through the end of the Viking Age. Although the author had promised in his introduction that these technology changes would bring about cultural changes as well, his paper failed to present those changes.
The two other lectures (one was canceled) were about monasteries, Rushen Abbey on the Isle of Mann and Clonmacnois in Ireland. The Manx one was simply a recounting of the history of the abbey (weak, but interesting since I knew nothing about it) and the other was a detailed analysis of the symbols engraved on stone crosses delineating a semi-public cemetery within the monastery grounds.
On my way back to my room, I passed through two large receptions with open bars. They were crammed with people (I’ve heard that there are 3000 attendees) and very load. I got drinks at each one and tried to find ways to talk to people, but this sort of activity has never been a forté of mine. Combined with that is the feeling that I am an outsider or a poseur. It makes it really difficult to engage with someone . . . So after an hour of trying and failing, I went back to my room and went to bed.
