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Hi! I'm Zorikh. I started this site on 9/21/98
Yes, once again we have run out of space and started a NEW JOURNAL PAGE! Don't worry, the old entries can still be seen at the second journal page and the original journal page. This is all part of the continuing effort to make your exploration of this site more efficient.
One fascinating thing I've noticed is how people have found this page through keywords in search engines. Click on this link to see for yourself:
7/27/01: Sorry it's been so long, sports fans. Let's try to catch up:
Having spent a few years doing and learning about stage combat, I noticed that there was really no regular place for stage combat people to just go and work out, play, practice, learn, and share. There are schools and classes that can be attended here in NY, but they are usullay limited-time workshops that cost a few hundred dollars. I had been working with a group of students from Long Island called "Corybantics" (They're the folks who did the "Scarlet Pimpernell" scene at the Faux-Real Unplugged show), and also with some friends of mine who have formed the "Little Gem" theater company, and they all wanted a regular stage combat workshop. So I started one. Last Sunday we had our first unaffilliated stage combat workshop/gathering. I have also started a YAHOO! club for stage combat in NYC.
On Saturday July 14 MRFL and I went to see the G3 show, featuring Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and John Petrucci. It was pretty much the ultimate experience of instrumental rock guitar virtuosity. Steve Vai is a silly man. He and his bass player, Billy Sheehan, must be the inspiration for Edge and Christian of the WWF.
7/12/01: Lots o' stuff has happenned since my last update, so here we go:
First off, there's a meeting about activities to save Charas/El Bohio. See my Save Charas page for more info.
Last Sunday MRFL and I went to the Celtic Fling at the fairgrounds of the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. That was a very silly blast. There was lots of good music. There was Enter the Haggis, Bad Haggis, The Rogues, Brenga Astur (from Spain!), Ceól Néamh, Charlie Zahm, and Harmony Hill. There were also The Tartan Terrors, Canadian group that mixes music, dance, and comedy; the Duo of Woo, a stage combat comedy team; and the Irish Bawdy Balladeers, a trio of saucy lasses. There were also Highland Games, a sheep herding demonstration, and highland dance competition. The grand finale had all the pipers, a couple of Bodrons, a fiddle, a drum kit, an electric guitar, a bass, and more jamming together on "Amazing Grace" and the fastest version of "Scotland the Brave" segued with "Hava Nagila" you ever heard! The whole show was being videotaped for a documentary for cable TV. Watch for it!
On Saturdy we went to the Big Apple Comic Convention. I was scheduled to give a little lecture on drawing comics as part of Graig Weich's regular "How to draw comics" class. I'd say it went very well. I covered basically laying out a comic panel considering that readers want to read from top left to bottom right. Graig then did his anatomy class with a model. David Prowse was there, and I got him to sign a copy of the Marvel Comics Star Wars adaptation treasury edition (cool!)! A friend of mine Andrew Smerek, who played Porthos in the Biggs-Rosati "Three Musketeers" I toured with last year turned up there. He has built a type of prop lightsaber out of hardware parts.
On the Fourth of July I went down to the Willamsburg Waterfront to see the Fireworks. While there I met an old friend form the glory days of Gallagher's Ship's Mast named Rolf. He was collecting signatures for a protest against the proposed power generators on the Waterfront. He invited me to a party that was happening at his studio/work space in the old Eberhard Faber Pencil factory (whilw researching this I found a fascinating website about pencils, another about collecting pencils, and a testimonial from a pencil including a useful introduction by Milton Friedman and afterword by Donald J. Boudreaux). The party was a blast. There was live music, including a saxophone combo that played one song for about 45 minutes and did not bore for a second! The view of the Macy's Grucci fireworks show over the East River with the Manhattan skyline was perfect.
That Tuesday I saw Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard perform at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in The Bronx. They played their big hits and thrilled the crowd. Honestly, Jerry Lee is looking old. He's starting to get the stoop and beltline of an old man. He can still play that piano, and his band can still play, but they are all looking a little stiff. Little Richard had a young and energetic band with 2 drummers, 2 basses, 2 guitars, 2 saxaphones, and a mini-trumpet/backup singer. He seems to have leg braces under his pants, but he did get up and do his step & strut almost every song. At one point he asked for all the fat people to get up on stage. He then played the "oo-ee baby" part of "Sea Cruise" and the chorus from "old Time Rock & Roll" so they could dance. That was fun. Then this old lady who had needed help getting onto the stage did a tap dance as the band played. That's when His Majesty announced that he is 68 years old.
6/26/01: Charas/El Bohio, the place where many of the shows I've been in have rehearsed and a valuable resource for the local residential and creative community, is in big trouble. The years-long fight to stay in existence has just gotten some bad news. For the complete story, go to my Save Charas page.
6/23/01: Last night (ok, let's get real, just a few hours ago. It's now 3:34 AM)
I went to the Ex-Husbands' first farewell tour show in New York at the Rodeo Bar. The show rocked, but I don't think the audience quite got it at the end.
The first set was mostly original stuff: hard driving, heavy country music without apologies.
6/18/01: A week ago MRFL and I spent an amazing couple of days at Reading's World War II Weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum. It was fantastic! there were re-enactors playing Americans, Germans, English, Polish, Russian, French, and Japanese. There were airplanes, lots of 'em: B-17's, Mustangs, Thunderbolts, an Avenger, a Dauntless, Piper Cubs, a Percival Provost, C-47's, The plane that played the "Memphis Belle," and a replive Japanese Val and Kate. The Pilot of the "Memphis Belle, the Navigator of the "Enola Gay," and the Pilot of the other Atomic bomb plane were all there. Actors playing Genreals Patton and McArthur were there. Many of the planes flew. There was a great swing band that played period music. There were lots of vehicles, encampments, and even a small French town (there was a mock-=up of an officer's club, a "dream house" on 1943, and even a radio station doing a mock broadcast from 1943. There wer three Nissei, two from the 442nd Combat Team and one from the top-secret intelligence division in the Pacific who gave a talk. There was a Navaho code talker and his wife who gave a talk. There was even a Japanese sneak attack. It was all pretty intense. I can't wait to get the pictures developed!
On Friday I saw Sleepy LaBeef at the Rodeo Bar. It was rare that he would be playing twice in the same place in two weeks.
5/31/01: IT'S OVER! That's right, my turn as the Fighting Champion of Ostgardr is now officially over. On Sunday, at the Huntington Renaissance Faire of the Universalist Unitarian Fellowship of Huntington, I turned my championship regalia over to Lord Cazimir. My Lady turned her garland and purse as Ostgardr's Queen of Love and Beauty over to his lady, Aefa. I've said it before, but it's true: It has been an interesting year. As Ostgardr Champion, I fought with the Viceroy at Pennsic, attended their excellencies at events, recruited the Dark Horde as Baronial escorts, broke my leg, and at Pennsic attended on her highness Princess Isabella of York.
Also on the weekend I came in second in the Viceroy's Jewels tourney (won by Sir Stephan, with the Lady's Chivalry award going to Victor). Saturday was a washout at the faire, so MRFL and I went to see "A Knight's Tale." I thought it was good fun, and the classic rock music soundtrack did what a music soundtrack is supposeed to do: emphasize the feeling and meaning of the scene.
5/25/2001: Last Saturday MRFL, a friend of hers, and I went out to Gettysburg, Pa. We saw the Military Park Museum, the Gettysburg Cyclorama, and walked aroung the "High Water Mark" on the cemetary ridge. It's a pretty revelatory experience to know that you are standing on the exact spot where so much blood and carnage occurred. There are monuments for the locations of almost every unit that was there and exactly what they did. There is even a monument on the exact spot where General Armistead was fatally wounded. Some spots are so chock full of monuments that they look like monument parks. There are some other monuments, however, that seem to be sort of in the middle of nowhere because that's where a specific thing happened.
We had lunch at the Dobbin House Tavern, a building that was built in 1776 and restaurant that recreates the atmosphere of a colonial tavern. I also got a Union army kepi (Billy Yank hat) at a re-enactor supply shop.
On sunday we went to see "Shrek". It is THE MOVIE OF THE YEAR! It is the perfect anti-disney movie! That being said, go see it! (Here's more info on "Shrek")
Footnote: While I was researching the websites for this entry I found out that there are plans for the visitor center and Cyclorama museum. Click here to see what they are. And Click here for an opposing point of view and here for an editorial about the Cyclorama.
5/15/2001: I PASSED! That's right, I am now certified to have basic proficiency in stage broadsword by the Society of American Fight Directors! The scene went great and was well recieved by the audience. Instructor Michael Chin said I "Did good for an SCA guy."
Next up: learning to drive and passing the series 7 exam.
5/10/2001: Well, this is it, the moment we've all been waiting for! I'm going for my Society of American Fight Directors certification in stage broadsword! The test will be a performance of the sword fight between Talbot and La Pucelle (Joan of Arc) from William Shakespeare's Henry VI pt. 1. I will be playing Talbot. This will be done as part of a series of certification test performances by about two dozen actors and actresses in various fighting forms. The forms tested this weekend will be: unarmed, rapier & dagger, broadsword, quarterstaff, and knife. The scenes presented will include everything from selections from Shakespeare, "I Hate Hamlet," Indiana Jones, The X-Men, James Bond, "The Odd Couple," and, in honor of Mother's Day, "The Glass Menagerie." So come on down and support your favorite swordfighting downtown actor! The testing will be at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway, Ground Floor Theater, starting at 2PM. And get there early because I'm going to be the 2nd act on stage.
5/3/2001: Tonight is the big night of the Georgeson Shareholder Communications talent show! For those of you who don't know, this is the company I work for as an account specialist in the PMC toplist department. For those of you who want to see the show (yes, I will be performing), it is at Club B52's, on 27 Park Place, at 7:30m PM, tickets $10.
5/1/2001: Those fantastic weekends just keep on coming! This time MRFL and I went shopping for clothes, went to Carnegie Hall, and saw an Off-Broadway show.
The clothes shopping was with a friend of mine, Jim Wilkinson (known as "Big Red"," "red Dog", Big Jim," etc.), who needed costumes for the dancers in a western music show he's directing at a Six Flags amusement park in Upstate New York, near Albany. We first went to Western Spirit and Buffalo Chips, two western boutiques that are really serving tourists and New Yorkers with money to burn on custom or handmade wwestern clothes, accessories and art. Fortunately the folks at western Spirit were able to tell us about another shop called Whiskey Dust, on Hudson St. Bet. 10th and 11th. That place was small and cramped, but we were able to find western shirts from an outfitters catalogue that perfedtly fit what Jim was going for. They also have some cool books there, lots of hats, and stuff for rent. There was a poster there for a Native American blues festival/concert happening this Friday that I want to go to.
We found Stretch Jeans at the Canal Jean Co., but oddly, the same model and color of jean was not available for both men and women. We had to get Levi's Silver Tab for the men and Levi's 517 for the Women.
The concert at Carnwegie hall was of a mass by Mozart, another mass by Schubeert, and Carmina Burana by Orff. An old friend of mine, Dillon McCartney, was the tenor soloist. Many people may be familiar with Carmina Burana from the soundtrack to "Excalibur" and trailers for many other films. The movement "O Fortuna" is used often to give a sense of majesty, drama, excitement medievalness, magic, etc. In concert it is even more exciting. The complete work is a bunch of poems written by renegade monks in the 12th century set to music by composer Carl Orff in the 1930's Dillon sang the movement about a swan complaining that in the morning he was swimming on a lake and now he had been roasted and was being served for dinner.
After the concert we went to eat with my mother, an old friend of hers, Dillon and his family, and assorted friends and supporters, at a restaurant called "Cafe Tocci." This was really a place for opera lovers. There was a piano and open mike for opera singers. Everyone who sang was very good. There was some tension as certain people(singers mostly) tried to shush the people who were talking amongst themselves. Dillon, being very good, and the only tenor in the place, got a great response when he sang.
On Sunday we went to see this year's version of "Funbox" by the Faux-Real theater Co., this time known as "funboc Times Square Full Sensory Entertainment"
4/26/2001: I had another wonderful weekend with My Queen of Love and Beauty and Reason For Living.
This past weekend was our first anniversary of the start of this phase of our relationship. We went back to the restaurant where it all began, the King George Inn in Allantown Pa. We had a wonderful dinner together as we discussed the past year and other things. Later we went to a comic book shop in a local mall and plyed the "Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace" pinball machine at the arcade next door.
The next day we went to have a look at the festivities at Reading, Pa.'s annual "Go Fly a Kite" day. Lots of kites in the air, from the beautiful to the bizarre. Then we went to a minor league baseball game of the Reading Phillies against the Bowie Baysox. The R-Phils got pasted, 8-0. One of the Baysox' home runs even bounced off the head of the R-Phils' mascot, Quack the Duck, who was swimming in the right field swimming pool! The afternoon was rather fun despite all this. The ballpark was small and homey, with every seat a great seat. There were silly competitions between every inning, including the "dance with a tire" and the "sumo race." The hot dogs and pretzels were very good and affordable, and the ice cream was served in miniature collector's batting helmets. I even picked myself up a retro-style R-Phils ballcap.
Oh, yeah, one thing I forgot to mention in my last entry: I went to the Daily News Golden Gloves boxing tournament at Madiosn Square Garden to see an old friend of mine, Joan "li'l beef" Martinez, box in the 119 lb women's division. She's tough as nails, and looked good in the ring, but had the disadvantage of being up against a 2-time runner-up and having a propensity to bleed. The ref stopped the fight in the secnd round because of the bleeding and she was rather pissed about that, but she did get her silver and ruby gloves for being there.
4/17/2001: Sorry I haven't made any new entries here in a while. I've been busy updating the serial adventures of Z Lequidre and the Amazing Grendel Conspiracy by Allain Atienza, studying for the Series 7 exam, spending time with MRFL, and doing a workshop on Stage Broadsword with The New York Fight Ensemble, among other things. I've gone shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond for pillows and a new shower curtain. I saw "Enemy at the Gates" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou." I've paid my income tax. I'm also back to fighting at the Tuesday night practices with the local Society for Creative Anachronism.
3/17/2001: I seem to be recovering from some sort of rash or hives that I developed last Saturday. Aside from that, It was another wonderful weekend with MRLF. On Friday night we joined my friends Allain, Ivy, Danny and my mom for dancing at Jack's Joint.
On Satuday we went to the Big Apple Comic Convention. I met and got pictures with such comic book luminaries as Gene Colan, Don MacGregor, Mike Gold, John Ostrander, Mike Grell, and Dave Cockrum. A fellow allumni from SVA, Graig Weich, teaches a workshop on drawing comics. I spoke with him about my Creating Comics on-line tutorial. He said he would allow me to use a few minutes at the end of his session to teach a little about comics that he doesn't cover in his lesson.
Afterwards, My Queen of Love and Beauty (MQoL&B) and I stopped at the Terrapin Gallery. There was an exhibit by artist Veerakeat Tongpaiboon. I had gotten on the mailing list for this gallery when I had signed the guest book at an exhibit by James Michalopoulos in New Orleans. There is a similarity in the style of the two artists, and I wanted to share the work with MRFL. I had no idea that the gallery itself would be such a spectacular apartment! The gallery is run by a couple with a small baby and two cats. They say they had spent about 3 years getting the space into the shape it's in. The floor has a scale model of the Yangtse river complete with fish! The people were very nice and I reccomend a visit to their gallery if you ever get a chance.
The next day we were both pretty tired so we just relaxed and watched the European version of "Legend" with the Jerry Goldsmith score. We aggreed that the music in this version added more to the movie than the Amerian version's Tangerene Dream score. There were also a few other elements that added to the movie.
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