[Nfb-krafters-korner] (no subject)

[David Andrews]

Depending on the context, SCA has a bunch of meanings.  In this case 
I think it is the Society for creative Anachronism -- groups that 
reenact medieval stuff.

In broadcasting it is a subsidiary Communications Authorization, the 
sub-carrier signals that radio reading and other auxiliary services 
use, and in music it is a genre of electronic dance music I think.

Dave

At 10:08 AM 7/26/2010, you wrote:
>Can one of you explain what a sca is, please.  Is this a religious 
>group, craft group, a group that holds a craft fair, I have no 
>idea?  What does crafts have to do with fencing. I thought fencing was a sport?
>
>Terry Powers
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jewel S. [mailto:herekittykat2 at gmail.com]
>Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2010 11:26 AM
>To: List for blind crafters and artists
>Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] (no subject)
>
>I'll kinda stick my big nose in here. I was a member of the SCA for 
>5 years. I have been considering if I would be capable of returning 
>to the group. After I lost my vision, I found it very hard to 
>participate, as very few people were willing to show me around and 
>even if I learned the layout of a site, it'd be different the next 
>time based on tent set-up. The only site I can count on being fairly 
>similar every year is Pennsic, but...that's at the same time of year 
>as the National Convention, which I plan on attending next year. 
>Can't do both...way too costly. I have considered doing an 
>every-other-year schedule between the two.
>
>When I was in the SCA, though, I was an illuminator. A pretty good 
>one, if I do say so myself, and my Award of Arms and other awards 
>given because of my work as a scribe agree with my assessment of my 
>talent. After the injury that took my site, I was lost...scribing 
>was my whole life in the SCA! Most of my Scadian friends are 
>scribes, and I spent most of my time at events working on scrolls, 
>seeing that scrolls were ready for court, doing last-minute scrolls, 
>or displaying my work in competitions.
>
>Now, I know there are other crafts I could do in the SCA, like 
>basketweaving, garb-making, woodcarving, and even embroidery (though 
>it wouldn't be the same for me, who did freehand embroidery based on 
>how I thought it would best represent fur, feathers, clothing, 
>etc)...but it is hard for me to imagine the SCA without scribing.
>
> >From my experience, the SCA is a hard place for a blind person to fit
>in. Most of the attendees are not disabled, though there are some 
>people using motorized scooters. I have not seen a single blind 
>person in the SCA in the five years I participated. The layout of 
>sites is absolutely a nightmare for the blind person. Tents are 
>placed according to size and space, not in any special layout, 
>except for the vendors, ropes and stakes are sticking out everywhere 
>with only an orange tie to warn peple, and travel to activities may 
>be across a field, a field and a road, through the woods, or any 
>combination of landscape.
>
>If my health improved, I would love to return to fencing (I gave it 
>up after trying because of chronic pain and fatigue), but the 
>problem with a blind SCA fencer is that the combat area is rarely 
>flat, often has holes that fighters can twist ankles or fall over, 
>and fencing is done in a 3-D fashion, not the back-and-forth of 
>Olympic fighting.
>When I tried it before, I found I couldn't really wear my glasses 
>under the fencing mask, so I was very impaired in my vision before, 
>but I also often fell over holes in the ground, rocks, and lost 
>sight of my opponent, who may have retreated quite a distance.
>
>Now, I'm not saying the SCA can't become a place that blind 
>participants would be welcome. I am only saying that it will be a 
>difficult road for anyone trying it now. They have silent heralds 
>(deaf interpreters) who are rarely used in Atlantia (the kingdom I 
>live in), but I have yet to see any accommodations for blind 
>participants. Some of the indoor sites (like schools for University) 
>did not even have Braille to mark the doors and I was scolded for 
>standing at the schedule book for too long (I was using my handheld 
>CCTV to copy my schedule, given to me in small-type print, onto 
>another paper with a 20/20 pen since, at the time, I had enough 
>vision to see that).
>
>That is just my experience with the SCA. I would love to hear about 
>your experience, Terrence, and anyone else who has tried the SCA.
>
>~Jewel
>
>On 7/24/10, Marianne Denning <mdenning at cinci.rr.com> wrote:
> > Terrence, what is your role in SCA?  I have been interested in SCA for
> > many years but have never pursued it.
> >
> > Marianne Denning
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Terrence van Ettinger" <terrencevane at gmail.com>
> > To: <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 10:50 AM
> > Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] (no subject)
> >
> >
> >> Hello, all,
> >> Just thought I'd go ahead and give you all a bit of an intro, having
> >> just come on board last night.  I do a couple different crafts,
> >> mostly things I've taken up in the SCA over the past 3 years, some of
> >> which I practice fairly regularly, others I sort of dabble in.  My 2
> >> most frequent craft types are kumihimo braiding and lucet, though I
> >> am trying to pick up inkle
> >>
> >> weaving more consistently.  I also have a coiled basket that I've
> >> been working on sporadically for some time now, and occasionally do a
> >> bit of leather work.  I think I've leaned toward the cord-making
> >> methods so much because of their portability.  For a while, I was a
> >> woodturner, before I moved to take my current job, but that didn't
> >> work out for a number of reasons.  I have also dabbled a bit in 
> Origami, but it's been a while.
> >> It's something I mean to pick up again at some point though and learn
> >> a few more designs.  I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone and
> >> perhaps picking up some new ideas.  And if anyone has questions about
> >> anything I've mentioned, I'll be more than happy to explain/answer
> >> anything.
> >>
> >> Terrence
> >>
> >> Twitter: www.twitter.com/terrencevane Kingdoms Live Code: bgc5a6

                         David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
Follow me on Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920