Polling Night.

.....Last night was the Baronial Polling. It was a strange night. Not so much in a foo-filled way (at least for me), but not exactly something I'd want to repeat on a regular basis though.

.....I had spam'ed the list with reminders about the Business Meeting starting at 6PM alongside the Polling. It was advertised by THL Angharad, and was listed in The Crier as well. But people still didn't read the 'fine print' and the meeting itself started lightly attended and grew as the evening progress. I think that if I had to do this over again I would indeed advocate starting the whole process at least at 6:30. It is the time people are used to seeing the Business Meeting start, and at least several had to rush over from work.

.....Although, really, I think that if I had to do it over again I'd actually advocate that the Polling be held on a night all its own. Conflicting with the Business Meeting was more of a disruption than I thought it would be. Rolling through the reports in thirty minutes was not very satisfying and certainly left me with the feeling that we were forgetting much.

.....Thankfully, the officers were all prepared with shortened reports, or the standard 'Read It In The Flames'. It felt good to mean that statement again as THL Rycheza is back on board as the Chronicler. It is going to take a little time to sort out subscriptions, format, printing, etc. But I think that Rycheza was a fantastic answer to our issue. Plus, she has good ideas on getting more articles and features into The Flames to actually READ, something I'm looking forward to seeing. :-)

.....Their Excellencies of Blatha An Oir were in attendance as one of the official representatives to the polling. I'm sure our Business Meeting looked pretty chaotic to them. :-) Sir Fiach was also in attendance as the Crown's Representative. He seemed to have a good time with the whole thing. And showed off some nasty bruises he obtained at Crown.

.....I really missed not having Isketol at the meeting! He was unwell and at home, where I am glad he stayed. But I'd forgotten how much it takes to get all the forms straightened out, the receipts collected, the checks written and recorded. And that's the easy part of the Exchequer's job. It was always the Doomsday Report I hated to do the most. Ack! I spent at least a half hour after the Business Meeting proper getting everything financial squared away. I gave the check-book back to Mistress Gwen for delivery and signatures from Isketol. And I realized just this morning I should have sent the Check Advance Forms and receipts back with her as well. Oh, well, I'll get them to Isketol this weekend.

.....Most of the checks could probably have waited. But not the Last Chance ones! We need to pay for the hay and the food this weekend. Where did all the time go? I can't believe it is already mid-September!

.....Lots of questions on heraldry. Once again it was made clear that people have been craving names and devices to be submitted for a while now. THL Anne and THL Oliver are going to join me on Heraldry Night. Marquessa Laurellen is going to help with sketching services. I'm still hopeful of talking to THL Alis about her sketching devices as well. Maybe even a few other stunt-heralds as well. It should be a good night here later in September.

.....About 7:15 I finally made it over to the food table. It was mostly picked clean already. :-) SCA Participants never pass an opportunity for good food. And we have some excellent cooks in Dragon's Laire. :-) I think that Lady Adelheide had an excellent idea when she suggested a German theme. Next month, of course, we get pumpkin. :-) All kinds of orange food and pumpkin food. :-) And His Excellency Cedric is the organizer. :-)

.....I finally sat down and filled out my polling form. I was pretty brain dead by this time, so the form was pretty short and to-the-point and without a lot of details on it. That's what e-mail is for anyway I think.

.....Lots of people in attendance for the Social though. I was pleasantly impressed. Until I found out that Marquessa Laurellen was dealing with foo herself outside. I stuck my head out the door to check on her and she actually seemed to be in her element and talking up a storm. So I left her alone and just checked up on her a couple of times. I know I hate being interrupted when I'm on a roll and she seemed to be working hard at getting a point across, so I stayed out of it.

.....I quietly started picking up items at this point as it was starting to get close to 8PM. Wish I had been more subtle about it as Madrun immediately stopped relaxing and got up to start picking up stuff as well. People were getting tired by this time though, so things cleaned up in fairly short order. By 8:10PM we were all out the door and headed away from the Hall.

.....I did not get a lot in the way of questions about my position on anything in the Barony. I think that people have either made up their minds about whom they want, or else are not concerned (in a good way) about who is selected. I think that is a good position in which to be. Although I myself would have liked to have had more questions come my way. They were good brain food. Gave me things to think about as far as possibilities in improvements. Or other things where I've been doing it one way for so long that I hadn't thought about a different, and
possibly better, way of doing things.

.....Lots of new members in attendance, as well as members whom we haven't seen in a long time. The newer crowd is rather exciting as they all seem to want to really get involved and do things. I had several conversations with a couple of nice ladies who want to do something on the June Faire Board of Directors. We've emphasized how difficult a job it will be and they do not seem phased. Although in my conversations with them I've also always emphasized how rewarding a job it can be as well. I don't think I'm the only one who has explained it this way
either.

.....Relaxing Friday planned, yeah. Must contemplate the 'to-do' list and narrow it down to a handful of things that CAN be accomplished in two days. I will miss TBT on Saturday, especially our morning Starbucks run. But we'll still have Sunday. Must allow for some 'fun time' in that list as well. Hmmm, when to fit that in... :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

Tymothy Of Dover Is A Musical God!

.....Last night at the Business Meeting Tymothy handed me several CD's of music he'd put together from a cassette tape I had given to him. It was a cassette of harp and hammered dulcimer music recorded in 1980 by Phillip and Pam Boulding of Magical Strings (before they were even married). It is one of my favorite tapes of pseudo Celtic music and I've played it many thousands of times over the years since my mother bought it for me at the first Northwest Folklife Festival we attended in 1980.

.....The Bouldings have recorded many albums since then, and I like their recent music. But when you play them side-by-side you really notice a difference. The more recent music is polished and technically brilliant, but it is missing the simplicity and joy that really shines in the tape from 1980. 'Glass Horse' is unpolished and is just the two of them having fun.

.....The Bouldings are really great people to listen to and learn from. They live on a farm in Olalla and Phillip travels the Sound and teaches harp and hammered dulcimer. They are constantly doing concerts and have a regular summer camp on their property (which reminds me that I should REALLY check it out again with a recent eye and see if it is big enough for an event).

.....But like I said, 'Glass Horse' is a thirty year old tape that has been played with abandon. It clicks and hisses and whines and is stretched in places. I handed the tape to Tymothy thinking that if he could get the music to just be, recognizable, that I would be happy.

.....I popped the music CD into the car's player this morning on the way to work and was absolutely astounded at what emanated from the speakers! It was FANTASTIC! The hissing and background noises were gone. It sounded like it had been recorded for the CD. I was astounded and spent at least twenty minutes in the parking garage listening to as much as I could before I had to run to my desk. If anything it sounded even better than it had when I first heard the tape some thirty years ago.

.....Tymothy? I bow in your general direction and pronounce you a 'musical god'. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

Polyamory On Trial.

.....This was on 'The Wild Hunt' RSS Feed and was an interesting read...

[the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Canada is about to hear a case that will decide if the practice of polygamy should be considered a criminal act (as it currently is). There’s been an affidavit filed in support of decriminalizing multiple-marriage from a local Wiccan priest, and the family behind the case is a polyamorous triad. The defense is taking a “Muslims and Mormons” angle, arguing that the evils of polygamy outweigh the free expression of the families involved. Now, The Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association (CPAA) is requesting that the government reveal if they think polyamory falls under their definition polygamy.

“The CPAA brought forward the motion Chief Justice Robert Bauman will consider on Sept 8. It was heard as part of a court reference to examine the constitutional validity of Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada. Section 293 bans polygamy. The CPAA wants to know if polyamorists will be caught under Section 293 should it be determined that the section is constitutional. CPAA lawyer John Ince told Bauman the attorneys general for Canada and BC have not delineated what their thinking is on the polyamorists. That, he said, makes it hard for him to prepare a case.”

Ince points out that polyamory isn’t the same as polygamy, as it isn’t patriarchal, isn’t intergenerationally normalized, and isn’t restricted by gender pairing or sexual orientation. The looming case has provoked some to wonder if polyamory is the “new gay”, making legal rights for poly families the next big social campaign after gay marriage. The biggest hurdle will be convincing the public that there’s a difference between the abusive compelled polygamous marriages often found in Fundamentalist Mormon off-shoots and polyamory. As I’ve been saying since 2006, our communities, which openly welcomes and celebrates so many polyamorous relationships (30% of poly families identify as Pagan according to one survey), needs to be ready for when this issue becomes the next culture-war battle.

“…this is an issue that will continue to gain steam as time goes by. Eventually polyamory will reach a “tipping point” and garner widespread national attention. Are our leaders and organizations ready for questions regarding polyamory? Eventually hostile questions will come, and they will cite this Salon.com article, and we shouldn’t be found wanting for a clear, empathetic, and inclusive answer.”

I’d say this court case is the “tipping point” I was talking about in 2007. Even if the courts rule that polygamy should remain criminal this won’t be the end of the issue. We see here the beginnings of a movement that will argue that polyamory shouldn’t fall under the same legal restrictions of polygamy, and we might even see a ruling where the criminal code is upheld but that clarifications of the definitions essentially decriminalize the practice of polyamory. Once decriminalization is achieved, legal recognition is the logical next step. You can also be sure that a victory in Canada will embolden activists in the United States and other countries. By 2012 expect “poly rights” to be in the popular vernacular if not in the court rooms.]

.....I'm not sure I agree with the argument that polyamory is going to become 'the new gay'. I think the prejudices against homosexuality are different than those against polyamory. But the bottom line for me is that it can't be denied that the social structure of the world is changing fast and it is interesting to watch the process. Of course there are plenty of people who are fearful of any change and those who want change merely for the sake of change. I guess the best one can do is be open minded and non-judgmental. A hard thing to do in a blue collar county. :-)

.....A.