The First Longbows were Difficult to Master, Namely Due to their Estimated Drawforce of 80-200 lbf

Much excitement this week!! And more to come, too, as mid-semester break looms at the end of the week! Papers must be written, tests taken, and all semblance and sanity lost as it is thrown haphazardly to the winds!!
MARRCA is definitely keeping to its word of branching out this year, and I’m more than proud to announce that the bud that was once the idea of doing archery is now developing very nicely!! With not a little help from Sam, our extremely talented smithy, and her roommate Lindsay, I have assisted in this cultivation! We’re now aiming for having at least one practice a week since we located a range that is not far off; the gentleman running it (the amusing Chuck of an earlier entry, for any avid readers that may or may not exist!) has been outstandingly helpful… his digital range is amazing, but I’m still torn between feeling like an idiot and awesome when Chuck’s various customers walk by, notice a bunch of girls actually doing archery, and stop to watch for a bit. (At least Chuck offers advice, tips, or tells one something random when he’s watching rather than chuckling and moving on!) We shot for over an hour (I think, as I am awful with time), and there was never a low point, not even when the board kept falling asleep while we were taking aim.
On Saturday the MARRCA fun continued! We took our annual trip down to the Ohio Renaissance Festival!! This is always a blast, as many club members suit up in roughly period garb and carry one of the wasters around, causing not a few of the vendors and workers to drool with envy! The full tale of the adventure is long, filled with silliness, and fraught with battles between savings accounts and high priced boots, shinies, and other things of immeasurable prettiness… I would be happy to recount more of it for those interested, but I unfortunately must cut it short for now, since I really should be looking into writing my paper on Tai Chi Chuan Yang style and getting my reading for Friday done since I’m booked Thursday night with archery, Stammtisch, and what will prove an outstanding National Colloquium film. (Do the Right Thing is the film, and I’m looking forward to it, if one could not note!!)

German Word: This edition’s German word is actually a phrase! Ich weiss nicht (ish vice nisht) simply means ‘I don’t know.’ Because, honestly, ich weiss nicht.

Pictures! Some shots of us at the archery range and at the Renaissance Festival! Both were ten times more fun than they appear.








Yay group shot-ish! Our president is the bold fellow in the kilt. =)


Last year’s president, Susan, joined us as part of an after-graduation visit!


MARRCA is a very serious club. We don’t laugh. Ever.


He may look all innocent in this picture, but this knight does an excellent King Arthur impression when followed by a Patsy clacking together coconuts found in England. African or European…? You make the call.


We may or may not have been contemplating how to distract the knights so that we could ‘borrow’ some armor.


And seeing as how MARRCA is such a serious club, it should come as no surprise that we would never be found testing out the possible uses and durability of padded combat items originally intended for small youths.


No, we would never be caught doing such a thing. Unthinkable.