Let The Countdown Begin!

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

yeah, well. the world has been a hole filled with @$$-holes and i needed some escape. i need faire, now. my favorite demon (public school and it's minions, "teachers") has been slinging it's filthy self all over my youngest, and it's only going down hill.

Damn, Rapier!  Look at the entertainment you're getting on the publics dollar! (J/K)  Been down the same road, my brother... and these leftist pinkos are teaching our kids.

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

Totally off topic, but as my wife is a Campbell and I am a Irish immigrant, would it be out of line/strange for me to wear Campbell attire?

I mean, we Irish where just running around naked back then and I would rather not do that for everyone sake  

Nay, lad... wearing yer wife's tartan wouldn't be outta line.  You marry a Scot, you ARE a Scot.  Black Watch is both a universal tartan and a Campbell tartan.

[Hospitaller]

yeah, well. the world has been a hole filled with @$$-holes and i needed some escape. i need faire, now. my favorite demon (public school and it's minions, "teachers") has been slinging it's filthy self all over my youngest, and it's only going down hill.

Damn, Rapier!  Look at the entertainment you're getting on the publics dollar! (J/K)  Been down the same road, my brother... and these leftist pinkos are teaching our kids.

Ooooooohhhhh....as I was raised by a primary grade teacher, with an Aunt as a middle school teacher, and living with a high school English teacher, I cannot resist a quick retort. Not starting a flamewar, and hope everyone understands the point of view, but will make a few statements of FACT:

While just as with every profession no doubt there are bad teachers (and I am really sorry if Rapier is dealing with one of those), the vast majority of them are doing their very best under the toughest of conditions to give our children a good education. Most of them are more on the conservative side vs. being leftie radicals. 99% of our school problems are being caused by idiots who call themselves "Education Experts". These are the people who have never taught a day in their lives and yet seem to have all the answers. They are the folks who make policy for everything from the Federal gov all the way down through the State Education boards and then to the local Administrators. Without choice, the teachers are locked into teaching crap to their students....that is when they are not spending all their time teaching to the "test". All classroom control has been taken out of their hands and they live in conditions every day which you and I would not stand for in our own workaday lives.

I could go on, but knowing it is not necessary in this case, as this is just a gentle but firm reminder to aim our indignation of the state of our public school system at the proper folks, and no at the good people who are not given a choice of doing it right.

[Rani Zemirah]

So, what have the young Master's instructors been up to?  I had read elsewhere that there had been some sort of confrontation, but there were no details...  

Totally off topic, but as my wife is a Campbell and I am a Irish immigrant, would it be out of line/strange for me to wear Campbell attire?

I mean, we Irish where just running around naked back then and I would rather not do that for everyone sake  

Nay, lad... wearing yer wife's tartan wouldn't be outta line.  You marry a Scot, you ARE a Scot.  Black Watch is both a universal tartan and a Campbell tartan.

Crash, how could you possibly think that ANYthing would be off topic in THIS thread?!?    

(oh, and from the sound of things... nekid might just fit right in this year!  LOL) 

[Mouse]

I hear if you use woad to dye clothing peeing into the washer helps the color take better

[Breandan]

Historical and technical correction- Caesar described the Cruithne (a.k.a. Picti as he called them, or Picts, who were a Brythonic/Goidelic hybrid culture in Alba/Scotland) as tattooing themselves the colour of woad, not with woad. It's since been proven that woad is an astringent and burns itself out of the skin when applied via tattooing (and I feel sorry for the people who volunteered for the experiment, left scars on them), and bog bodies that have been recovered with remnant tattooing indicate a copper and soot based ink. It settles into an almost azure colour once the ink is in the skin.

And for the record, I don't need to slather the woad on, already got it inked in
I don't do things half-arsed

[Rani Zemirah]

So you don't want that big blue hand print across your face, then? 

I always wondered if that was from the wives who were left behind to deal with the homestead as their men went off seeking glory in battle...   

(and you realize that bragging about ink means you have to show it off in person, right?) 


Mouse, urine has ammonia, which can be a natural mordant (dye "setter"), depending on the substance your dye is derived from... but woad itself doesn't really need a mordant to set it's color, and it doesn't run or bleed much after it's "cured". 

[crashbot]

Totally off topic, but as my wife is a Campbell and I am a Irish immigrant, would it be out of line/strange for me to wear Campbell attire?

I mean, we Irish where just running around naked back then and I would rather not do that for everyone sake  

Nay, lad... wearing yer wife's tartan wouldn't be outta line.  You marry a Scot, you ARE a Scot.  Black Watch is both a universal tartan and a Campbell tartan.

Well thats cool then. She has started to take interest in her heritage as of late and was excited when I brought it up. Her grandparents were "off the boat" and her father was really into the heritage. She said it would have made him proud for us to take interest.  I have plenty of Irish history of my own family to play with, but it's fun to get into something a little different. I guess we are all Gaels, cut from the same cloth so to speak.

I remember a burly Lcpl from 3 Scots that used to kick the football around with us when their patrols would come through our neighborood. I always liked them better than the Para's or Royal Marines. Funny thing is, I met that same Lcpl, years later when he was a significantly higher rank and close to retirement and I was in the US Army. Small world I guess.


Interesting about the woad, didnt know that obviously.

I guess if I see nekid people running around, I'll know who they are.  

[Rapier Half-Wit]

yeah, well. the world has been a hole filled with @$$-holes and i needed some escape. i need faire, now. my favorite demon (public school and it's minions, "teachers") has been slinging it's filthy self all over my youngest, and it's only going down hill.

Damn, Rapier!  Look at the entertainment you're getting on the publics dollar! (J/K)  Been down the same road, my brother... and these leftist pinkos are teaching our kids.

Ooooooohhhhh....as I was raised by a primary grade teacher, with an Aunt as a middle school teacher, and living with a high school English teacher, I cannot resist a quick retort. Not starting a flamewar, and hope everyone understands the point of view, but will make a few statements of FACT:

While just as with every profession no doubt there are bad teachers (and I am really sorry if Rapier is dealing with one of those), the vast majority of them are doing their very best under the toughest of conditions to give our children a good education. Most of them are more on the conservative side vs. being leftie radicals. 99% of our school problems are being caused by idiots who call themselves "Education Experts". These are the people who have never taught a day in their lives and yet seem to have all the answers. They are the folks who make policy for everything from the Federal gov all the way down through the State Education boards and then to the local Administrators. Without choice, the teachers are locked into teaching crap to their students....that is when they are not spending all their time teaching to the "test". All classroom control has been taken out of their hands and they live in conditions every day which you and I would not stand for in our own workaday lives.

I could go on, but knowing it is not necessary in this case, as this is just a gentle but firm reminder to aim our indignation of the state of our public school system at the proper folks, and no at the good people who are not given a choice of doing it right.

My 6 year old is in kindergarden. He's a (untested) genious. He's also in the autism spectrum (also untested). His "teacher" is a 24 year old blond barbie, newly married, 8 1/2 months pregnant, with a 6 figure earning husband. Got the picture? He has become emotionally attached to her and she has been telling him that he's a bad boy and that bad boys go to jail without their mommy's and that everything is his fault and that he's failing school. Got the picture?

Add to that, the prinicipal is an older version of the teacher. She flatly refuses to move my son to another teacher, citing "space" reasons. My sons teacher has had several other students moved from her class for very similar reasons, one of those kids was like my son.

Add to that, I've just found out that this 24 year old kindergarten teacher earns $45k/year. The state of Texas is laying off thousands of teachers across the state. A great demonstration that those in charge of our educational system don't know how to make a good decision.

What's wrong with this picture? (and we haven't even addressed the statement from Fraser, which I personally agree with.)

[Rani Zemirah]

He is indeed extremely smart, and very advanced for his age!  I didn't notice anything that would indicate autism, but since we were only around him for a single weekend, I suppose it could have gone unnoticed.  I do know that he forms rather strong attachments, though, and is easily influenced once he does.  It is absolutely NOT acceptable for a teacher, of any age or grade level, to tell a student anything like that, and she most definitely needs to be prevented from harming any more children!

I hope you're taking this to the school board!!!  And I'm sure you've already done a good amount of yelling... 

[Rapier Half-Wit]

We are Rani. I'm crafting the letter to the superintendant as I type this to you. I'm about to rain hell and destruction on these B*****s. I know their language and I'm about as subtle as a bull in an operating room. Little Miss Barbie messed with my kid. The principal is covering for her. I have no qualms about "upsetting the apple cart".

[Rani Zemirah]

Awesome!  And tell little man for me that I said he's a very GOOD boy, and he's smart and strong, also... and Scally and I can hardly wait to see him at Faire this year!!!  We miss you all... every day! 

*lots and lots of hugs*

[Rapier Half-Wit]

And Hospitaller (and anyone else here easily offended), think of the kids first (not your aunt and your cousin and your best friends next door neighbors vet) when you consider standing up in defense of public education (I didn't mention any specific teachers or librarians or your favorite lunch lady). The kids aren't getting the best that could be offered to them. I'm not easily offended; it takes a 2x4. So unless you've got the skin of a rhinoceros and the attitude of a pissed off parent...

Are we faire yet?

[Merlin the Elder]

My son, the teacher, will certainly stand up for the public school education he received. That said, he/we ran into some problems as he was being educated, too. But blanket statements are rarely accurate. For a lot of people—my son included—teaching is a vocation. For others—like your son's idiot teacher—teaching is a paycheck.

I do think of the kids first. You can bet on that. The reason that so many bad teachers are still around is because not enough parents are doing what you are doing—going to the board.

I would also urge you to have him tested now if you even suspect autism. This needs to be addressed as early as possible. You aren't going to find a teacher in the average school, public or private, that is properly trained for autistic children.

I hope you are successful in dealing with the situation.

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

Isn't everyone glad i started this thread, two years ago?   We all get to pop off and vent as we see fit as long as there are no personal attacks and we keep it semi clean... Sir Martin give us a wee bit of leeway when it comes to topics.

Hospitaller... I know there REALLY good teachers out there and they are doing there damnedest to make sure or kids are taught properly but, like Rapier, i've had my run ins with a few individuals but mainly the administration.  They didn't like me as a student and they liked me less as parent who was hot under the collar.  Both of my kids have Irene (sp) syndrome, which require a tad of understanding of how they perceive things and the Cy-Fair school district is a little short on understanding. One argument, with a vice principal, got to the point of him screaming at me " I'm a former Marine, I'll whip your weed puller!", where as i laughed at him and said "I'm a former Green Beret and a decorated combat veteran to boot... bring it on!"  My wife and another VP jumped in between us before it went any farther.  

Rapier... calm down, brother... our fellow rennies didn't mean to ruffle your feathers.  We know that there are some problems with the way our kids are being taught... our education system needs a update. (and she should be on maternity leave until the hormones stop bouncing around)

Breandan... any more blue tattoos and we'll have to call you Papa Smurf.  


Yeah, i could use Faire right about now, myself.