Leitmotif-Ancient Rhyme-Lord of the Rings

“Three Rings for the Elven-Kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for the Mortal Men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,

In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.” 

Crusoe the Complete Series

Crusoe was a series that ran for 13 episodes during the 2008-09 TV season. Crusoe is loosely derived from the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Crusoe like MacGyver has come up with many ingenious inventions to make is life a bit more convenient and to keep the bad guys away from the tree house that he has built way into the jungle. He lives there with his companion Friday and dog. The series is actually a story within a story whereas both Crusoe and Friday have frequent flash backs to their past that often intersect the present.

The 13 episodes include many adventures and a few romances:

Disk One

Rum and Gunpowder (2 parts)

Sacrifice

The Mutineers

Disk Two

High Water

Long Pig

Bad Blood

Heroes and Villains

The Name of the Game

Disk Three

Smoke and Mirrors

The Hunting Party

The Traveler
The Return

Revell's 1/72 Sopwith Triplane

Revell's #04187 1/72 scale model aircraft is modeled after a British WWI aircraft that was first introduced in France in 1917.

The box indicates that this model is for a skill level 3 modeler, which according to the literature on the box means the kit has 100 or more parts and is geared for an advanced modeler. However, with only two spree and approximately 25 parts this model could be built by any modeler with some kit experience.

The parts are well formed and the instructions, with its illustrations and building symbols are straight forward and easy to understand. The only down side to this particular model is if you want to depict the aircraft in an authentic livery you will need twelve colors of paint.

Included in the kit is a pilot figure. Figures are always a plus when trying to create a realistic prototype or scene. There is also a set of decals that identifies the aircraft as one belonging to the Royal air force.

Quote #3 from The Black Arrow

“I had four black arrows under my belt,
four for the grief’s that I have felt,

Four for the number of ill mine that have oppressed me now and then.

One is gone; one is well sped;

Old Applegard is dead.

One is for Master Bennet Hatch that burned Brimstone, walls and thatch.

One is for Sir Oliver Oates that cut Sir Harry Shelton’s throat.

Sir Daniel, you will have the fourth, we think it’s fair sport.

You shall each have your own part, a black arrow in each of your black hearts

Get to your knees to pray: You are dead thieves’, by yea and nay!

Jon Amend-All of Green Wood, and his jolly fellowship.

‘Item, we have more arrows and good hemp cord for others of your following’ “

Prologue-John Amand-All, The Black Arrow-A Tale of Two Roses, Robert Louis Stevenson

Quote #2 from The Black Arrow

As talking of one Sir Daniel; one of which that had changed sides during these troubles, often to increase his fortune.

"For indeed, he is one that goes to bed Lancaster and gets up York."

Prologue-John Amand-All, The Black Arrow-A Tale of Two Roses, Robert Louis Stevenso

Main Street Heritage Models- Mercer’s Dry Goods

Main Street Heritage Models manufacturers many fine quality HO and O scale structures cast in resin. Mercer’s Dry Goods, Main Street Heritage Models Kit #101 measures 1 5/8 wide, by 4 ½ deep, by 2 7/8” high. This HO scale model depicts a board and batten structure and is equipped with a lean-to that is connected at the rear of this model. As you can see from the instructions the kits build is a straight forward affair.

Cards for the Pirates of the Spanish Main Card Game

All together there are 110 cards included with this game. The major card types are displayed below with a short description:

58 Adventure Cards

Adventure cards describe some situation that the player is confronted with and lists any fame that may have been obtained from this situation. An adventure card is picked after the player chooses an action to perform on their turn. Adventure cards also assign "fame" to a ship. 

9 Ship Cards

The nine cards are laid out in what is referred to as “ship-row”.

9 Pirate Cards

Depending on the number of players each player is dealt a number of pirate cards. These cards are kept hidden from the other players.

24 Movement Cards

Movement cards indicate how a ship or ships are to move through “ship-row”.

Previous Post on this Topic

Ship Mentioned in the Black Arrow

The Good Hope was a stout boat, decked in the bows and amidships, but was open in the stern. She carried one mast, and was rigged between a felucca and a lugger.

The Black Arrow-A Tale of Two Roses, Robert Louis Stevenson

Quote #1 from The Black Arrow-A Tale of Two Roses

The Black Arrow-A Tale of Two Roses, by Robert Louis Stevenson is a story that depicts fictional battles and skirmishes fought during the Wars of the Roses.

“It is the ruin of this kind land,” a woman said. “If the barons live at war, plough folk must eat roots.”

Prologue-John Amand-All, The Black Arrow-A Tale of Two Roses, Robert Louis Stevenson

Attributes for my Reaper Walking Fish

Walking Fish

The walking fish is a Reaper 25mm miniature.  When the extraterrestrials encountered the squids they also encountered a certain species of fish that schooled very closely with the squid, so they seized a few of these fish along with the squid. They believed that since the fish and squid co-existed that they must be allies, but this is far from the truth. In nature this species of fish actually feeds on the squid. However the extraterrestrials didn’t know that at the time of the abductions nor are they aware of the situation even now.

The fish, like the squid were genetically and physically modified to withstand short periods out the water and always accompany the squid on their missions. The fish are thought to be less intelligent than the squid and put in supportive roles. The extraterrestrials still do not understand why so many of the squid never return from their missions and the fish sent along with them are no longer heard of again. They don’t realize, the first chance the walking fish get to chomp down one of their favorite foods the fish gobble up the squid. While digesting the squid the fish’s metabolisms change and they go wild and head back to their own kind and become leaders among their peers.

The walking fish, like the squid men get a 2 for movement and for 1.5 for intelligence. 

NECA/WizKids Pirates of the Spanish Main Card Game

The Spanish Main Card Game contains a total of 110 cards and includes the following types of cards: 58 Adventure, 9 ship, 9 Pirate, 24 Movement, and 9 cargo hold cards. Like the art on Pirates of the Spanish Main ship game cards the art one these cards is beautiful. These cards are about the size of a credit card.

The games cards will need to be set up before you  play, depicted by a diagram included in the eight paneled rules pamphlet. The game is for 2 to 4 players and reportedly takes up to thirty minutes to play.

Playing the game requires that a player performs one of the following actions:

1. Play a Movement Card
2. Repair Ships
3. Accuse a Player
4. Pass

After performing one of the actions the player executes the active adventure card. Each of the 58 adventure cards includes a description of the adventure and the number of fame points a ship earns.

The 58 adventure cards are of the following categories:

Ancient Relics (2)

Native Alliance (2)

Island Discovery (2)

Parley (2)

Neptune’s Favor (4)

Treasure Map (6)

Legendary Treasure (2)

Mermaids (4)

Secret Charts (3)

Cursed Treasure (2)

Storm Ahead (2)

Maelstrom (5)

Ghost Ship (2)

Volcano (2)

Kraken (2)

Cursed Waters (2)

Cursed Ship (1)

Mutiny (1)

English/Spanish/Dutch Attack (2)

English/Spanish/Dutch Loot (2)

My Summer 2015 Reading List

I have completed my reading of my last novel from my spring selection and am working on my reading list for the summer. Before downloading any more epubs onto my device I want finish reading those that remain unread.

My summer 2015 reading list is as follows:

1. Bohemians of the Latin Quarter, Henri Murger
2. Poor Jack, Frederick Marryat
3. The Arabian Nights, Muhsin Mahdi
4. The Blazing World, Margaret Cavendish
5. The Missing Merchantman, Harry Collingwood 
6. The Troll in the Garden and other Stories, Willa Cather
   
    A collection of short stories by Willa Cather, which depict life in Nebraska, Kansas, and Montana, for the most part. Interesting frontier characters and a few cosmopolitans thrown in for a change of pace. 

Novels with Military Themes

Title	Author	Conflict/Year(s)
Blockaded Runners	Jules Verne	American Civil War 1861-1865
Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun	Harry Collingwood	A Story of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905
Forward March	Kirk Munroe	Spanish American War 1898
The Black Arrow-A Tale of Two Roses	Robert Louis Stevenson	The War of Roses 1455–1485
The Battle of Dorking	George Tomkyns Chesney	A fictional battle between Germany and the British purported to have been fought on British soil. 1871

In a Slump but Still…

As we approach the start of the third quarter of this year I am still in somewhat of slump. Having lost a good chunk of my income because of a provision in the Affordable Care Act my energies are being spent earning enough to pay the bills. There has been very little left for the non-essentials, however little, there may be, there will be something left to spend frivolously on my hobby desires in the upcoming quarter.

In the mean time I do have plenty to work on. Boxes and boxes of stuff to keep me busy until the end of my days, no doubt. Lately, I have had a spark of enthusiasm and a hankering to get back to some painting. I have few pieces that need to be completed; there are games, videos and readings to be reviewed, so I will continue to make posts, however not on par as month’s pasts. Just to keep my hand in, I should be able to make at least fifteen posts per month.