tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373348572024-03-07T11:45:16.224-07:00Wolf HawkwindA place to see what's going on with my writing life, and my actual life, possibly. We're all friends here, so come over and say hello.Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-39120629774185301512013-04-08T22:27:00.003-06:002013-04-08T22:27:57.829-06:00The Unicomp Ultra Classic Keyboard:<br />
<b>Preamble: </b><br />
<br />
First of all, here is where my experience level is at right this minute in terms of mechanical keyboards:<br />
<br />
I have owned a Das Keyboard (Cherry MX Blue switches for a year or so. I have more recently purchased another Das Keyboard, this one with MX Brown switches. I use this one quite a bit, as it is on my work computer. Finally, I have a smaller keyboard that I have been using with my laptop. It probably only has 20 or 25 thousand words typed on it thus far, but I've quite enjoyed it. It is a Cooler Master CM Storm Quickfire with Cherry MX Black key switches.<br />
<br />
For those of you who come into this article without any prior knowledge about mechanical keyboards, here is a short primer. All keyboards use some type of switch beneath each key. When the key is pressed, it completes the circuit on that switch and sends the signal to the computer. Most of the keyboards today use the "Rubber Dome" or "Scissors" switch type, If you're squinting at your keyboard right now, trying to determine what kind you have, here's a rule of thumb for you. If you have a normal sized, full stroke (full sized keys that go down something like 4 millimeters before stopping), and the keyboard doesn't make any real noise when the key is pressed gently, it's most likely a rubber dome or membrane keyboard. These use a rubber membrane that has impressed domes on it to function as resistance to a key press. The contact is below, and is activated when the dome deflects enough to allow the contacts to touch. If you are typing on a low profile keyboard or a laptop keyboard, it's likely that you're using the scissors type switch. This system also uses a rubber membrane, but the way the switch is constructed, it allows for a shorter key that actuates over a much smaller range of movement.<br />
<br />
Mechanical key switches, on the other hand, usually use an actual spring to provide the resistance. There are some key designs that use a combination of two springs, actually, although these are not terribly common. The bulk of the mechanical keyboards you'll see on the market today use key switches from a company called Cherry. They make a variety of different switch models, usually denoted by the color of the switch top (which is beneath the key, and can be seen if you remove the key cap. As noted above, I have experience with multiple different Cherry MX key switches. You'll likely be able to glean much about their characteristics as you read this article, as they're often used as grist for comparison and contrast to the keyboard in question.<br />
<br />
All right, back to the show.<br />
<br />
<b>The Buckling Spring Keyboard Mystique:</b><br />
<br />
After hearing the endless enthusiasm for the IBM "M" keyboard, I felt as if I had to try one. I had certainly used these keyboards in the past, as I learned in a computer lab that had some actual 5150 model IBMs back in the old days. The thing is, I couldn't really remember much about them. I was a kid, and I didn't think much about the keyboard at that time, one way or another. One might have been louder than the next, or stiffer, but that was as far as it went. I wasn't even a touch typist at that time. Hey, I was like twelve or thirteen, okay? I was probably thinking about something else. Like football practice, or rock music. I hadn't even grasped all the different ways I could be a dork yet.<br />
<br />
Thus, I determined that I'd need to try a collapsing spring keyboard again. In the interest of science, of course. For the sake of full study and the ability to proclaim without fear of hesitation that I had experience with all the dominant types of keyboards out there today. Well, most of them. Okay, some of them, anyhow. A few of those bad boys are really expensive. Some of the others aren't even made anymore, and need to be hot-rodded just to make them work with a modern computer.<br />
<br />
I had a few different choices when it came to acquiring the keyboard that would be used for my testing. First, I could go and comb through old computer stores, Goodwill Industry type places and yard sales looking for a gem that could be had for a few bucks. People are always selling off old stuff that to them could hardly be more outmoded. Other weirdos will think the stuff is the cat's whiskers. There's some sort of saying about that, I believe.<br />
<br />
I decided that I was too lazy to go combing through old computer stuff until I found a hidden gem. I work in computers, and sometimes I just don't have the heart to fiddle around and dig through mountains of crap after hours. This was one of those times.<br />
<br />
I could also look on Ebay. The problem there is that others have discovered that the "M" keyboards are great, and they tend to fetch a fairly high price amongst the cognoscenti. I wasn't really interested in paying something like eighty or a hundred bucks for a keyboard from the early 90s, especially when I'd need some sort of adapter to get it to function with a lot of my equipment, which doesn't even have PS/2 ports. Thus, the Ebay route seemed like a no-go.<br />
<br />
What else could I do? Worried that I had hit a dead end, and that I would have to be satisfied with only the three kick ass keyboards I already had. Fearful, I went to Google for help.<br />
<br />
It didn't take long to discover that there was a modern alternative. I found that a company called Unicomp was there to help. They were a small company that catered to the boutique market of keyboard snobs and people who needed their old IBM keyboards repaired. I was intrigued, and went into research mode. I will relate what I found, because I like to type and to share my dorky learning with others. Here goes.<br />
<br />
The Story of the IBM Model "M" keyboard and its modern antecedents, as told by someone who kinda knows the details from reading about it on the Internet and stuff:<br />
<br />
Long ago, when it became clear that there would have to be solid technology created for computer keyboards, IBM set to work on the task. They'd need a key switch that would be rugged, useful, and allow typists to enter data as easily as they typed on the IBM typewriter, which was the world business standard at that time.<br />
<br />
Enter an engineer named Richard Hunter Harris, who designed the first buckling spring keyboard in 1971, for which IBM applied and was given the patents. Later, in '77, the historical antecedent of the "M" keyboard came out, this time with an upgraded version of the buckling spring switch. This was the keyboard model "F", and is, if anything, an even more impressive piece of equipment than the "M". The "F", though, was created so long ago that it doesn't quite have the layout of keys a modern computer user would want. That was to come together on the "M", starting in '83. The glory days for the "M" would end up being a solid ten years. That, in case you're wondering, is an almost unimaginable length of time for a computer peripheral.<br />
<br />
IBM began as the primary manufacturer of the "M" model keyboard. As time went on, they began subcontracting work out as demand got high and they had to make due with a limited amount of production capacity. This is very common in industrial situations. If you look back at stuff that happened in World War II, you'll see that car companies were making guns and tanks and airplanes. Sewing machine companies were making...something that I can't dredge up at the moment, but wasn't sewing machines. Anyway, big companies spin off work to subcontractors all the time.<br />
<br />
The primary subcontractor that made the "M" keyboard for IBM was called Lexmark. You might know them for their printers today. Anyway, Lexmark shopped the work out to others around the world, as well. There were a lot of models over about ten years, and they were made in different shapes, colors and layouts. The unifying factor, though, was the switch technology and the high level of quality built in. That was an IBM must. They didn't screw around. They expected everything with the IBM logo to be a serious business tool that would last under stringent conditions.<br />
<br />
From the time when the IBM "M" keyboard made its debut to the mid 90s when it was phased out, the computing business changed a great deal. Computers were much more expensive in the 80s and early 90s, devices that were not going to be in every home or within reach of every rundown jerk on the street. Especially the business-biased machines that IBM made were considered something that was a major investment. These things had to be built to last and built to perform in the hands of workers who would really put them through their paces.<br />
<br />
In the earlier days of computing, everything happened through the keyboard. That was the primary input mechanism, and the interface was usually the command line or some text-heavy interface within a program. If you had a computer in the 80s, there was no mouse to distract you, no pretty pictures to gaze at, no big, full featured Internet to browse through. You sat down, launched a program, and it was likely that you'd be typing. Thus, the research and development behind the keyboards was more in-depth, and the keyboard itself was allocated a larger amount of money in terms of tooling costs.<br />
<br />
Other things changed as the time when on, as well. For one thing, computers became much less expensive, in terms of relative cost versus the value of a dollar. In trying to make computers more affordable, corners were often cut. Going to a cheaper, simpler keyboard technology allowed companies to shave costs. As computers found their way into homes and other less stringent environments, the necessity for the "best" also decreased. The level of use a computer would see with one or two people playing with it at home was not at all the same as they would see when you had two or three shifts of data entry technicians pounding on the keyboard for years.<br />
<br />
Finally, the pace at which computers became obsolete suddenly became much more precipitous. With computers being "kinda old" after a few years and "wow, that's a relic" after five, the values of the computer manufacturers were bound to change. The longevity of many of the peripherals was no longer a big concern. Thus, we saw the "throw away" culture of computers rise, and the monolithic build qualities of some of the earlier designs abandoned for something cheaper, more fragile, and more geared toward "good enough."<br />
<br />
Lexmark, who was sort of running the show and had fully spun off from IBM during the run of the "M" keyboard, had rights to the patents involved in manufacturing the hardware. Unicomp had been one of the subcontractors during the "M" years, and some enterprising soul had decided that there would be a market for this stuff in the years ahead.<br />
<br />
The Unicomp company ended up acquiring the tooling and patent rights to build new "M" keyboards in a few different form factors. They could also manufacture replacement parts for old keyboards, which, since they were sturdy and well loved, might spur their owners to actually, gasp, try to fix them. In this world of throw away stuff, we find that people sometimes like to have things feel, sound, and perform like they're accustomed to. As the keyboards morphed from being the hulking tanks of the old days into the uncommunicative plastic mush boxes of today, they missed something.<br />
<br />
There is tangible, psychological element to tools, no matter what they are. Many will suffice for the job, but there are some that are just better suited to it. Some tools simply have those hallmarks, those small nods to the person who wields them, that make us feel better. One of the faults of the modern day, perhaps, is that we become more wrapped up in whatever is new, whatever is slick and small and convenient. In those preoccupations, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that, in the end, the device has to cater to us as organic beings. <br />
<br />
As an aside, the ability to be repaired is one of the really neat things about mechanical keyboards. Every key is a little mechanism on its own, and can be repaired on its own. Thus, if your "J" key dies, you can, if you so desire, take the keyboard apart and replace the switch under the "J". Pop the key back on top of the new switch, and you're cooking with gas again. That is not possible with some other types of keyboard switch technologies. Certain types of damage to a rubber dome keyboard are fatal, as the rubber membrane is shared beneath all the keys. I've seen keyboards of this kind end up shorting across multiple contact points, so that when you press a key, it might initiate three or even five or six key presses that you didn't intend. This type of issue is generally not going to bother you with a mechanical switch keyboard, as long as you can get parts.<br />
<br />
At the end of the long and winding road, what I found was that, with some nods to modernity, you could get a copy of the old "M" keyboard, brand new and at a reasonable price, from Unicomp. After a day or two of consideration, I did so. We only go this way once, and I am an avid typist, so I figured what the hell. The worst that would happen is that I wouldn't like the keyboard much. From my prior experience with my other mechanicals, I figured that would be an unlikely outcome.<br />
<br />
<b>The ordering process:</b><br />
<br />
Unicomp's website is not super fancy. There are no twirling javascript active elements. There are no prominent videos. It is not rendered with all the great graphical acumen of a professional, CSS heavy web page to the stars. No, it feels very 2002. Plenty of pictures, easy enough to navigate, but nothing to knock your socks off or impress the people who are looking for a gaming keyboard.<br />
<br />
I believe Unicomp knows that the gamers are not their market. These keyboards are being sold to those people that like to sit down and type a lot of words. Thousands of words at a time. All day. Like me.<br />
<br />
In the world of mechanical keyboards, Unicomp's are very plain, very simple. They aren't the cheapest keyboards, but they're fairly value-conscious, especially when you consider that they are actually made here in this country, and that the company is based in Lexington Kentucky.<br />
<br />
The ordering process was fairly simple and I was pleased to see that their system sends out order confirmations and shipping confirmations when these things are registered. The shipping confirmation comes with a tracking number, which is always fun for us as we look to see where our new present is at that moment and think about when we'll be able to unwrap it.<br />
<br />
The package arrived on time, and was in good condition. There were two boxes, an outer shipping box and the keyboard box itself. The box was in pristine condition, so it appears that it did not fall into the hands of an angry eight year old at any time along the way. That's always nice. The inner box wasn't really anchored, so that it could move a bit inside the bigger box, but that has not proved to be an issue. It should be mentioned that the boxes here are simple, brown boxes. There's no fancy press kit, no heavily printed and glossy box to look at. If these are elements that you feel are necessary, they can be provided by other keyboard companies. Unicomp is clearly a small shop, and my guess would be that they deemed it a waste of money for them to try to compete with big oversees firms in terms of packaging.<br />
<br />
The keyboard arrived in good condition, with only the control key having fallen off in transit. This type of keyboard has two piece key caps, so the outer, and normally visible key cap is easily put on and taken off. There was no harm done by having the key fall off in the box. It should be noted that, in most cases, all the key caps for this style of keyboard are interchangeable. This allows them to be duded up with colorful keys, or for the typist to experiment with different key cap colors until the look of the keyboard suits him.<br />
<br />
<b>At First Blush:</b><br />
<br />
This is not like the Das Keyboard, which is designed to look classy, expensive, and more or less like the Darth Vader equivalent of a keyboard. (To my way of thinking. Others have said that they thought the Das was ugly. Go figure.) The Unicomp is very unassuming. People would not look at it and have any strong emotion. It looks like a keyboard. Maybe a slightly bulky and old fashioned keyboard, at that.<br />
<br />
I chose to buy the black keyboard with the gray key caps, as this matches my gear better. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the old beige plastic, and was happy enough as that color gradually fell into disuse. Black is cooler. Clearly.<br />
<br />
Upon hoisting the keyboard out of the box, the first thing that struck me was the sheer mass of the device. This is a heavy keyboard, well over three pounds. I'm told that it isn't quite a solid feeling as the original, as it doesn't have a metal backplane, but boy, it is a far different thing from the feather light keyboards you'll often encounter today.<br />
<br />
In terms of aesthetics, this is not a beauty queen. If you look hard at the plastic, you can see little whorls and places where it was injection molded. There are somewhat uneven gaps around some of the keys, where the chassis is not perfectly aligned with the keys. Not to the extent that it looks sloppy, but compared to the Das or the Cooler Master, it is not quite as well finished. That being said, the matte plastic on the Unicomp will be far less likely to attract dust than the high gloss on the Das models. With the added material, the keyboard feels very substantial, like it will last the duration, regardless of what sort of abuse you dish out. This may be a purely mental construct, of course, as I'm certain the other mechanicals I have are perfectly sturdy. It's just that you rarely encounter something so...substantial in computers anymore.<br />
<br />
<b>Key Spacing: </b><br />
<br />
When you go from keyboard to keyboard, there is always a learning curve. Each layout, key spacing, and key shape will require you to slightly alter the way you reach for the keys. If I had to quickly convey the spacing of the Unicomp, I would call it neutral and forgiving.<br />
<br />
You'll notice, if you type on one of these boards, that their key caps are slightly smaller than a lot of other keys in the modern era. Even the full sized, full stroke keyboards have keys that are larger and closer together than these. This layout has palpably smaller key crowns, though they are dished slightly, allowing the registration of your fingers in place on the home row and on other keys. The additional space between the keys, to me, allows fewer inadvertent key presses, as well as less likelihood of getting your finger "in the danger zone", where you become aware that you're on the verge of another key, and have to slow down, re-position your hands, or otherwise take your attention away from what you're typing to make an adjustment.<br />
<br />
I can't tell you how other hand shapes will feel, but for a guy with large, blocky hands, this slight additional space between keys is a real help. For guitarists, think of the spacing of a vinyl string classical guitar, rather than a steel string. It's sort of like that. Friendly. The reaches are no further, but you're more likely to be able to do your work without running afoul of the other keys. Nice.<br />
<br />
<b>Typing Dynamics and Effort: </b><br />
<br />
These collapsing spring keyboards do not have the lightest action in the world. In fact, they are somewhat heavy, if you're used to the light action of either a rubber dome keyboard or, let's say, the MX Brown switch. I would say that the typing effort is a bit heavier than the MX Black switch, which is the heaviest of the Cherry switches that is in common circulation. As I have strong hands, and I'm a fairly forceful typist, this is not a problem for me. Just as with any new keyboard, you have to spend a few thousand words getting used to the action before you can make a perfect judgement, but a few thousand words is easy enough for me to whip off.<br />
<br />
The "click" part of the key travel is fairly close to the top of the travel. When I stop and click a single key, it feels like it just barely begins to depress when the auditory and sensory cue comes, and the key engages. For me, I tend to bottom out keys when I get going, but I suppose that you could bias your typing inputs in a way that would minimize this.<br />
<br />
In terms of tactile feel, this keyboard is very satisfying and communicative. There is no wondering whether or not the switch gave. You know. Every time. That is, for most typists, a real help. If you're familiar with the MX Blue switch, imagine what that would feel like, with a significantly higher spring tension. Think, let's say, of an additional thirty or forty percent resistance. The tactile bump and then reset of the key is not as clear as on the MX Blue, but the keys seem as if, by virtue of their higher spring tension, they might reset for the next key press faster. Some very vast typists say that they are able to "get ahead" of some keyboards, but not the collapsing spring model. I don't know that I can get ahead of any of them. I aspire to, but it has not seemed to happen.<br />
<br />
In terms of speed I seem to achieve, I have not scientifically tested that element, but it's possible that I might be slightly faster with the Cherry switch keyboards, but that's up for debate. I can certainly clatter along quite well with the Ultra Classic, and do it for an extended period of time. In the first night I had the keyboard, I probably typed something along the line of 8,500 words. This is after work and dinner.<br />
<br />
<b>Sound:</b><br />
<br />
This is clearly in the clicky/tactile subset of mechanical keyboards. That being said, it is not, to my way of thinking, absurdly loud. I would say that it was probably similar in volume to the MX Blue, and probably a bit more intrusive than the MX Brown and Black. The quality and timber of the sound is an interesting combination.<br />
<br />
It is of a lower pitch than the MX Blue switch. The sound of key bottoming out is not a strong component of the total noise on this model. If you are a hard typist, you'll make about the same amount of noise as a less forceful typist. This is not the case on the MX Browns and the MX Blacks. Thus the sound of the switch engaging is most of what you hear.<br />
<br />
In terms of the quality of the sound, I would say that the Blue switches have the most high frequency component to them of all the keyboards I have currently. Think of that as almost a "ping" sound. The sound of the Unicomp has an element of this noise, but it is a lower pitched and more muffled noise. While still a loud keyboard, the metallic sound is probably somewhat less. That said, it is still going to be a distraction in a quiet room, or where there are people who are sensitive to noise. Not, perhaps, the best for the bedroom computer.<br />
<br />
Contrasting it to the MX Brown and Black, I would say that the two quieter MX switches are more of a "clack" than a "click". They have lower pitch noises, especially the Black switch. If you are a hard typist, it is likely that you'll make almost as much noise with the Brown and Black switch as you do with the buckling spring Unicomp, to clarify. If you type gently on those aforementioned switches, however, you can decrease the noise output considerably.<br />
<br />
<b>Fatigue:</b><br />
<br />
As with any switch that requires a higher level of input pressure to actuate, there is a chance that you'll get fatigued when you begin to type long passages on the Unicomp Ultra Classic. My sense, though, is that it would only take a few days for you to become used to this additional input required.<br />
<br />
As with anything of this kind, each person's mileage will vary. If your preference is for a very light key action, I would say that the MX Brown or Blue would suit your purposes better. If you would rather have a linear switch that was non clicky, for gaming, let's say, the Black switch would be the better choice. For linear action with a light touch, there is another Cherry switch, the MX Red, which is available to fill that niche. I have no experience with that type right now, so I can't offer any opinions on it.<br />
<br />
Let me go a step further and say that this is NOT a gaming keyboard. I think that anyone who tried gaming on it would find themselves displeased. The action of the keys is far more appropriate for typing than it would be for gaming. If you like a fairly heavy key press but want the responsiveness of a mechanical, I would seek out a keyboard with the MX Black switches.<br />
<br />
For the neophyte to the game of mechanical switch keyboards, I would have to recommend the MX Brown switches, which are smooth, light, and of reasonable noise level. They would allow creditable gaming, I believe, but are also fine for typing, and light enough that almost any typist could get along with them. The primary negative to light typing action is that you sometimes get inadvertant key presses when your technique gets sloppy, or if you rest you fingers on the keys a bit too hard. That will not be an issue with the buckling spring keyboards, like the Unicomp. They require a mindful press of the keys. You don't type by accident.<br />
<br />
The buckling spring keyboards are certainly great typing tools, but some will find their action to be too stiff for their liking. Especially if you're typing at a less than perfect angle, you might find yourself to get tired before you might otherwise.<br />
<br />
<b>Wrap Up:</b><br />
<br />
In the end, every mechanical keyboard I've yet tried has significantly improved my sense of satisfaction when typing. Compared to the the lesser keyboards you are likely to find on the run of the mill computer, they are just better, more accurate, and more communicative of what's happening underneath your fingers.<br />
<br />
Are they necessary? No. Are they important for the people who are not likely to type more than a few lines during the course of the average day? No. Do they have idiosyncratic elements, like excess sound production or heavier key action that might take some getting used to? I've already said as much.<br />
<br />
Getting back to brass tacks with the Unicomp, I will say this. The keyboard's design was well thought out and executed, way back in the days when computers were, in a lot of ways, a whole different animal. All of the touches that were put there then are still present now, and for the right kind of typist, they are very helpful when working.<br />
<br />
For a person who is interested in great tactile feel, the sound of yesteryear as each key as pressed, and the benefits of slightly loosened spacing between keys, these are a good choice. When you add in the fact that they appear to be built for the long haul, and are a product of the US, that sweetens the pot a little. This is not a glamour keyboard that you get to impress your gamer friends, or one that has any special gizmos like a USB hub or backlighting. It's a plain keyboard, where all the attention was put toward making it the best typing weapon you could have with this particular technology. For people with nostalgia for the great 'boards of yesteryear, or for the die-hard typists among you, I say give one a try. They are available in beige or black, with PS/2 or USB connections. Mine is the USB, as I find this to be a far more convenient connection type in most cases.<br />
<br />
<b>Bonus Round: </b><br />
<br />
What is a buckling spring keyboard? Well, it is exactly what it sounds like, actually. Inside each key switch, there is a small coil spring that is biased in one direction. When the coil spring is depressed a certain amount, the spring buckles to the side. Thus, buckling spring. When the spring buckles, it creates a tactile change in the way the resistance is felt in the typist's fingertip. It also engages the switch by moving a hammer mechanism in contact with a membrane where the circuit is connected. When the connection is made, that sends the signal that a key has been pressed to the computer. And that's how it works.<br />
<br />
<b>Sources: </b><br />
<br />
Many thanks to the great Internet sources that I used to glean this information. Of special note is Deskthority.net, where the real keyboard gurus are. If anything that I've been talking about sounds interesting to you, you can get tons more information at the Deskthority website. I also watched many great videos, read tons of reviews at various online retailers, and looked at a whole platoon of blogs that featured articles on various keyboard types, and the impressions people had of them.<br />
<br />
In the end, I haven't just spat out what anyone else has been saying, I promise. I actually own all the keyboards that I mention, and really have put a lot of words through all of them. Thanks for reading, and happy keyboarding. Please make a comment or shoot me an email of you have any questions.<br />
Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-2237389148454028612013-02-18T15:44:00.001-07:002013-02-18T15:44:54.974-07:00Keyboard Snobbery for Beginners:<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8962454665452242"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, you’re a writer. Or, at least, you’re a big time typist. A thousand words is nothing for you. Smoke rises from the keyboard when you’re on a streak. Here’s my question to you: do you have a weapon of choice? Are there some keyboards that make your hands happy, while other seem bent on making it more difficult to get the words down?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For most typists, they’ll have a preferred type of keyboard. The key spacing, the dynamics, even the sound will play into this. For me, being a computer pro by day, I have probably touched more keyboards that most people do in a lifetime. It’s not unusual for me to be at a dozen computers in the space of a day, many of them having very different keyboard types. I can adapt to most anything. Sure, there are keyboards that I actively loathe, but I’m okay with most of them. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But when you’re putting down thousands of words, even hundreds of thousands, okay isn’t enough. You have to have a keyboard that’s easy on your body and just gets out of the way when you really have the thoughts flowing. The worst thing is to be pulled out of the narrative flow of what you’re writing by the mechanics of putting the words down on the page. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can imagine that some of you are sneering already. “Yeah, whatever,” you say. “I type while lying on the bed, on my laptop, with the cat sitting on my head. I am situationally invariant.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If so, great. Good for you. Most of us aren’t so lucky as to be able to type while riding a unicycle and fending off escaped circus animals during an intense conference call. We need a little help from our equipment.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One caveat. No keyboard can make you better than you are. Only the lousy carpenter blames his tools. That said, there are certainly keyboards that can make it tougher to be productive. Here are a few reasons why:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1) Cramped keyboard spacing. There’s a reason why a lot of keyboard flubs are called “fat fingering”. If, in point of fact, you have large fingers, the little keyboards of the world are not your friends. I have owned a netbook with a tiny keyboard. I have struggled against it manfully, but there’s no way that I can slam through my typing projects like I could with a larger keyboard.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2) Odd key placement. This often goes along with the cramped keyboard spacing, primarily on mini keyboards or on laptops. The designers start to move keys around or make normally large keys shrink. Sure, there’s only so much real estate on any given machine, but when the delete, backspace, enter, or other frequently used keys are not where your hand thinks they should be, things aren’t pretty. It’s a sinking feeling when you’ve accidentally hit a key combination that just deleted your whole document. When that starts to happen a lot, some of us begin to use lamentable language and throw things. No one wins in that circumstance.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3) Poor typing dynamics: Keyboards with stiff action, lack of tactile feedback, or sticky keys can be a drag. Keyboards which have light action, but will either double up letters when you don’t intend to or fail to type letters when you’re sure that you engaged the key properly can also be a problem. For many of us who learned on full sized desktop keyboards, it takes a while to get used to the short keystroke pattern of a laptop keyboard. There’s a great variation in the quality of the keyboards on laptops today. Some of them are quite good, while others are fairly useless. In this world of the Internet consumer, it is possible that the bulk of the users who have these machines are unaware of any shortcoming. I would suppose that over half of the computer users out there today are not touch typists, and enter very little data. If any of you are reading this article and shrugging, you may go. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4) Lack of longevity or perceived flimsiness: The $5 keyboards that come with computers can have a fairly short life cycle. That said, they’re pretty cheap. In the days of yore, though, it was not uncommon to have the keyboard far outlast the computer it came with. I have a keyboard that came with an HP desktop that I bought in 2000, and it is still going strong. It’s ugly, beaten up, and may be a health hazard, but it still works like a charm. If you’re, well, a forceful typist, the sense of being flimsy can be fairly serious. If, when you’re typing, you feel the keyboard flexing beneath your fingers, squeaking in pain, or otherwise giving you the sense that you’re about to break it, that can be a distraction. A certain individual I know that may be in excess of 6’ 7” and type at great speed and with great force may, indeed, have broken the space bars of every keyboard he came across for quite some time. I try not to “type angry”, but I still like a sense of solidity to the keyboard. Although I love my current laptop, when I’m typing on it, I feel as if it isn’t quite sturdy enough for me to do it over the long haul.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of which brings us to something that I found out about myself a short time ago. I am a keyboard snob. Much like pianists that won’t play on anything but a Steinway, I prefer a really high quality keyboard. I enjoy typing more, can do it faster, and can do it longer, when the keyboard is playing along with me.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are the best keyboards? Well, there’s a certain level of disagreement on that score, but there are certain ‘boards that universally get the nod from the snobs.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The original “typist’s dream” computer keyboard was the IBM “M” series keyboards. There are people who are still paying top dollar for keyboards that may be up to twenty or more years old, just because they loved them so much. What made them good? A number of things. To begin with, IBM products of the day were built to a very high standard. They were expensive, and they felt that way, and they lasted forever. The “M” keyboard was no different. The parts quality was very high. All the switches for the keys were mechanical, and they had both tactile and auditory cues when the keys were depressed. The keyboards were also large, with great spacing and intelligently thought-out features. Finally, they were heavy and didn’t move around on the desk. They were designed by the world leader in typewriters, for a command line interface world. What was the downside? They were loud. If you had a whole room full of typists at work, it could grow to the level of cacophony.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the computer age wore on, and it became clear that computers were, at best, five year devices before they became hopelessly obsolete, the manufacturers decreased the quality of many of the peripherals. They also found that, in many cases, the home user didn’t require the same level of quality and longevity as the business or industrial user. After several years of this, the norm became the cheapest possible keyboard and mouse. (I should mention that, paradoxically, I am not much of a mouse nerd. As long as it tracks and clicks, I’m happy. I don’t even really care which hand I use.)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At first, most of us didn’t really notice. We’d slap in the new keyboard (hey, this one’s wireless! Neat!), and we wouldn’t think much about it. We’d adapt to the new keystroke, the new spacing, whatever. Then...we’d be going along, and have to really type for a while. That was the point where there was...just something wrong. “Wow,” we’d think. “I thought I was a better typist than this. I’m really dorking it up here.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe we were out of practice. After all, we only typed a half million words last year. It could be rust. Or...It could be the fact that the tools we were using had grown less and less apt to their intended purpose.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For me, the breakpoint came when I bought a new keyboard and mouse set from a reputable manufacturer, and found it to be almost unusable. I would grow more and more angry every time I would have to use the computer for anything other than web browsing. Finally, I hooked up a cheap wired unit, just to get reasonable functionality out of the system. I went online and looked around. What could I get that would be, for all intents and purposes, the last word in keyboards?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I found was that the serious typists liked keyboards with mechanical keys. I was intrigued. I researched the issue. I read reviews. What I found was that there were three basic types of keyboard switches. The first was the mechanical, where a spring was displaced and a contact made as the key was depressed. These could be tweaked to have the most accurate, predictable, and consistent performance. The switches could be manufactured to have the amount of stiffness, tactile feel, and auditory click that the situation required. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next type, the most common today, uses pliable dome over the top of the actual switch. These are quiet and smooth, but have no real tactile cue that the key has been depressed. They can also be inconsistent in the level of travel required to actuate different keys on the same keyboard, as well as the required force to do so. Finally, they tend to wear out more quickly. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The third type of keyboard is the scissors-actuation type. These are primarily used in compact or thin keyboards, as well as laptops. The primary difficulty with these keyboard is that they tend to lack tactile “feel”, and can be somewhat fragile. Because most of the keyboards of this type are designed for “partial stroke” keyboards, they tend to require a different typing dynamic to be successful. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are good and bad iterations of all of the types of keyboards listed above. That being said, the favorite type of the serious typing snob is certainly the mechanical switch keyboard. When I was done with my research, that’s what I decided to buy. “This is stupid,” I thought. “I’m spending way too much money of this damn thing, and I’ll probably be sorry.” With all that in mind, I plunked down long green and awaited the arrival of my new DasKeyboard, with MX Cherry Blue keyswitches.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took delivery of the keyboard and hooked it up. It looked like Darth Vader. Moment of truth time. I put my hands upon it and started to type. It was loud and clicky and fast and awesome. All fears and concerns evaporated from my mind. I was sold. I was a keyboard snob. Life was good.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since then, I’ve bought a second DasKeyboard for my work computer, this time with the somewhat quieter keys (MX Cherry Brown). If anything, it might even be better. Every time I type on either of these keyboards, I am a happy person. Do I still make mistakes? Of course. I didn’t ever say that I was a perfect typist. What I don’t do is fight with the keyboard. It’s a willing and helpful participant in the process.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As with anything where there’s a limited, and frankly obsessive element to the inquiry, others will look at you oddly if you begin to become a keyboard snob. That said, the payoff is for those who type all the time, who are big time typists that can actually see a slight easment in the difficulty of their daily tasks and maybe even a little joy at the ability of the keyboard to handle their rapid spates of typing.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then there’s the gamers. Ah, the gamers.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s a whole segment of the gaming population that uses their keyboards as killing tools. Not literally, of course, but their success or failure in game terms is dictated by their keyboards’ ability to instantly and accurately register every move, shot, and macro key. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For them, especially for the competitive gamer, having a great keyboard is a must. For them, there are specific requirements that may be totally different from a standard typist, but the quality of the key actuation is still very important. Most gamers user the WASD keys to move or aim, as well as the function keys to switch tasks or weapons. In many cases, these keys may be color or texture-identified on a pure gaming keyboard. There may also be things like a Windows key lock-out, which will keep the gamer from being kicked out of the game for an errant key press. In terms of key actuation, there’s certainly a lot of overlap between what will be a good key switch for typing and gaming, but the gamers seem to prefer the linear switches, rather than the tactile switches. Even a keyboard that is primarily noted for typing dynamics will likely be better than a mushy membrane-type board for anything crucial. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now comes the really dorky part of the whole thing. Not only are there mechanical key switches, there are several different types of switches.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pretty much the only game in town when it comes to mechanical keyboard switches is the Cherry brand. Cherry has been building these switches since the mid 80s, and is really good at doing so. Here’s a rundown of the types of keys that you’re likely to see:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cherry MX Blue: This is the pure typist’s switch. It is fairly light actuation, and has both tactile and auditory cues that the switch has been actuated. It’s loud, in other words. It sounds like an old-style keyboard. For those of us that are in our own environment, and for which noise is not an issue, they are the e-ticket ride. For times when excess noise would be a bad thing, they are going to be a poor choice. This was my first foray into mechanical keyboards, Just listening to them brings back memories of the past. They have that great feel like the old keyboards, such as the IBM “M”. For some, they may take a bit of getting used to, as the light activation and the fairly high level of noise can throw you off. Give them a week, though, and I bet you’ll find that they are a wonderful dance partner.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cherry MX Brown: These are sometimes marketed as “silent”, but that is not an apt description of them. While much quieter than the Blue switches, they are still louder than most of your membrane style keyboards, especially if you type vigorously. The Brown switch doesn’t have a click upon actuation, but does have a tactile cue, in that resistance changes after the switch activates. These are going to probably be slightly more friendly in terms of sound level, and are appropriate for group areas like work offices. I have a model of this type, and find it to be a great tool for typing. I would not hesitate to recommend it. The Brown switch type may be more friendly and familiar to the first time mechanical switch typist, or to anyone who doesn’t like much noise to come from their keyboard. In general, I would describe the Brown switch as “buttery smooth”. It has light activation pressure, and a very nice feel. The others who I’ve had try it out immediately commented on how nice the keyboard felt. This type of keyboard could certainly spoil you.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cherry MX Black: Unlike the Brown and Blue switches, these have linear resistance, with no tactile cue that the key has actuated. The linear keys don’t have to be pressed more than half way down to actuate, however, and so these keys are thought of to be the best choice for gaming, where quick actuation is the most important thing. The black switches are not “clicky” either, so concerns over excess noise should not be an issue. I have recently taken delivery of a keyboard that uses these switches. It should be noted that there is no such thing as a silent mechanical keyboard. Some are quieter than others, but none of them are going to be something you’ll want to type with right next to a sleeping baby. I would say that the Black switches are maybe a very small amount quieter than the Browns, but that may very well be due to the acoustic elements of the two keyboard enclosures, rather than the keys themselves. The noise on the Browns and the Blacks is due to the key “bottoming out”, so if you can tune your key activation to exactly the amount of pressure to push the key 2mm down and actuate it without actually bottoming the key out, you can type much more quietly. That being said, when I’m going quickly, I tend to type vigorously, and end up making more noise.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Black switches are somewhat stiff, so if you’re a really light typist, you may not like them as well as the lighter switches, such as the Browns. For me, though, I don’t mind the higher pressure required. I found that I quickly adapted to the Black switches, and liked them very much. I’ve tried my hand at gaming with this keyboard. I found that it worked just fine, but I don’t think that my skill level is high enough or the games I was playing sensitive enough to twitch speed that it made a lot of difference.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cherry MX Red: The Red switch is almost exactly like the Black, the difference being that the Red switches have lighter touch pressure to actuated. If you like a very light touch, this will be a good switch to try. Of late, many of the mechanical gaming keyboards have been using this switch. As I do not require a really light key actuation (I rip phone books, bend nails, and so on), I have not felt moved to try this switch type, but it may be just the thing for some people. It may be, as my keyboard delirium deepens, necessary for me to try this type of keyboard as well, but I have thus far managed to avoid buying yet another keyboard, simply to satisfy my curiosity. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It should be noted that just because a keyboard is marketed for gamers, that doesn’t mean that it would not do well for normal typing tasks. Any of the switches listed here would probably provide a more than adequate typing experience. In terms of which one would be your favorite, that is a taste issue, and the answer won’t be the same for everyone. There will certainly be typists who prefer membrane keyboards, or the chicklet-style keys on their laptop. Maybe you’re not a keyboard snob at all, and that’s okay, too. It’s probably nothing to be proud of.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The great thing about this small realm of inquiry is that you can really delve into it without spending a lot of money, in the galactic sense. Most of these keyboard list at prices between $79 and $130. Yes, that’s an absurd amount in a world filled with $5 keyboards, but think of this: which of our other obsessive oddities can we provide with “the best” for less than $130? Not many, I would submit. The “Rolls Royce” of keyboards can be had for somewhere in that range. I tend to be permissive with myself in terms of my strange fixations, especially if indulging them costs less than a day’s pay. In this case, your money gets you a keyboard that will likely last you for many years, and give you (if you enjoy such things) hundreds or even thousands of happy hours poking away at the keyboard. When you consider that the input devices we choose are our primary way of communicating with our computers, and that our computers are at the center of our little worlds for thousands of hours per year, I think that a good case can be made to choose a keyboard (and mouse) that really feels comfortable.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then again, it is also my belief that, if there is any one thing that human beings excel at, it is justifying their own illogical behavior, so take all that with a grain of salt.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are a few links that you might be interested in, if you want more information.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_Electronics">Cherry Key Switches</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.mechanicalkeyboardguide.com/reviews/">Mechanical Keyboard Reviews</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feedback:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s your favorite keyboard? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What about it makes it special?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make a comment and join the conversation.</span></b>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-1468298620770229052013-01-30T18:24:00.000-07:002013-01-30T18:24:31.605-07:00The Next Big Thing!<span id="internal-source-marker_0.34354560473002493"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was asked to do this blog post by my friend <a href="http://chantemccoy.com/">Chanté McCoy</a>. She and I have appeared in the Crimson Pact anthologies together, and she’s a great writer. Not only that, but she will not tolerate moping, being a wallflower, or otherwise failing to have fun. She has, upon occasion, been known to make me go dancing, drink alcohol, and watch scary movies. For those things, I am thankful and honored.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, on to business. My version of “The Next Big Thing.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right now, I’m working on the sequel story to <a href="http://thecrimsonpact.com/Failed_Crusade.pdf">“The Failed Crusade”</a> which launched the Crimson Pact anthologies and served as the origin story for some concepts that have been the bedrock of that series. When <a href="http://paulgenesse.com/default2.asp">Paul Genesse</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/barbarajwebb/info">Barbara Webb</a> first started talking about The Crimson Pact idea, my brain just started sizzling. I loved it. I didn’t know what it would be, but I wanted in. Big time. Paul and I brainstormed the story, and I started banging on the keyboard with abandon. The story came together. Barbara and Paul helped make it cooler. In the end, it became the seed of something that’s kept us going for quite a while.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I hope this story will serve as a capstone to the whole series, there’s, ahem, a little pressure to make it awesome.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Working Title of your Book (Okay, Story):</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bearers of the Testament</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where did you get the idea?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, working in a library for almost ten years may have had something to do with it. The idea that there was some great power in books kept coming back to me. It could be the author thing...</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyway, I got this voice in my head, talking about how the power in a book wasn’t in the words or the meaning, but in the way it affected people, the lives it changed. I went with that, and ended up with this story. I also wanted to write a story wherein the fate of the characters from The Failed Crusade would be shared. Finally, the image of a blasted plain covered in ash, with little cyclones rising, ash devils, if you will, kept coming to my mind. Those things pushed together and got me into the story.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Genre:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dark Fantasy</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Actors to play the parts:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeah, I never do that. Brain doesn't work that way with my own stories.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Give a One Sentence Synopsis of Your Story:</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A ragged group of pilgrims take the last remaining copy of their holy book deep into demon territory, hoping that they can summon their deities and turn the tide before all is lost.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Self-Publishing route, or Agency:</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If it turns out well enough, you’ll see it in Crimson Pact v.5, so...</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What would you compare it to?</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ohh...I’m bad at these, too. It’s sort of biblical, I suppose. There’s certainly the classic “take the magic thing to the special place” plot going on there. I think a lot about <a href="http://www.mithgar.com/">Dennis McKiernan’s</a> books, like Dragondoom, and how to do that on a much more limited scale, while I’m writing this one. Finally, I take a little page from the modern Battlestar Galactica show, in that I try to always have the worst possible thing happen during the try/fail cycles. That’s a convoluted and half-assed answer, but that’s all I’ve got.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other Info:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you haven’t read any of the Crimson Pact stuff, there is a place <a href="http://thecrimsonpact.com/Failed_Crusade.pdf">HERE</a> that you can check out The Failed Crusade for free. If you like it, there are a few books that happen to have stuff like that inside. Those are available <a href="http://thecrimsonpact.com/store.html">HERE</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SY6A76?tag=ideatrash-20">HERE</a>, if you’re interested. I have stories in all of them, and a novella in the 4th one. Be on the lookout for Crimson Pact 5 this Spring.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-49922455862875245852012-02-08T09:37:00.003-07:002012-02-08T10:07:57.126-07:00Death to the Iron King!Once upon a time, there were two callow college students, who each had dreams of writing books. Fate saw fit to put these two in a room together, one's bass guitar amplifier cheek by jowl with the other's collection of Al'Quadim roleplaying books and Clan of Xymox records.<br /><br />The years passed, and though these two adventurers in the realm of writing found themselves separated for a few years, the tides of time chose to once more put them in close proximity. Thus, it was chosen by the skeins of fate that they would end up working closely with one another.<br /><br />Putting aside the fairy tale linguistics, Paul Genesse and I have have been writer friends and alpha readers for a lot of years. In that time, Paul has shown himself to be about as dedicated to the craft as anyone can possibly be. He's taught me so much about what it takes to succeed in a business that can be cruel and difficult. I like to think I may have helped him out here and there, too.<br /><br />This week, the fruition of a project that has borne the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune at last hits the shelves, both actual and digital. I'm honored that I was able to be a part of it, along with our august and talented friend Brad Beaulieu. Let me explain further:<br /><br />Paul began publishing the Iron Dragon Series with a small publishing house. He released The Golden Cord, and followed it with The Dragon Hunters. Both books were very successful, The Golden Cord being the best-selling fantasy book for the house. Sadly, the exigencies of a shrinking publishing market and a weak economy caused the publisher to cut their whole fantasy line.<br /><br />Paul's series, of which two out of five had been released, was orphaned. Misery and woe. Paul picked himself up, dusted himself off, and started pounding the pavement, looking for a new publisher. The thing is, no one wants to pick up an orphaned series.<br /><br />There was a time when it appeared the fans of the Iron Dragon series would never know what happened to Drake and company, or if the evil plans of the Iron Dragon would come to fruition, allowing him to dominate A'leron forever.<br /><br />But there was hope, even in the darkest of hours. Authors, now more than ever, are in control of their own destiny. They can seek other publishing models and still get their work out to their fans. By using electronic publishing and the CreateSpace model, Paul's books are once more seeing the light of day.<br /><br />So, after all of that, I want to encourage, if not enjoin you to follow the links below and experience the heroic action of the Iron Dragon Series. Having helped edit all of these books, I can say that they are fast-paced, hard hitting stories with all the wonder, heart, and grit that fantasy fans desire. The newest, and just-released, is part three of the series, The Secret Empire. I really think that this one is Paul's best yet, rife with furious action, staggering betrayals, and the highest stakes possible, leading up to a finale that will knock your socks off.<br /><br />To explore The Secret Empire, follow the links below:<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Empire-Iron-Dragon-ebook/dp/B006V5Q3PY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1328718177&sr=8-2">The Secret Empire Ebook</a><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Empire-Book-Three-Dragon/dp/0985003804/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1328718177&sr=8-3">The Secret Empire Print Version<br /></a><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="https://www.createspace.com/3759937">The Secret Empire Createspace page</a> (Paul gets a better cut of the profits on this one)<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=paul+genesse+iron+dragon&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Apaul+genesse+iron+dragon&ajr=0">The whole series on Amazon</a>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-40007786080426536332012-02-07T18:54:00.005-07:002012-02-07T19:18:48.967-07:00What's Goin' On?So,<br /><br />I've been fairly remiss in posting stuff to this blog for a time. That said, there's been quite a bit to speak about. First, let's get the less wonderful stuff out of the way.<br /><br />My post about World Con late this summer saw me feeling poorly. Here are the reasons for this, insofar as they have been determined.<br /><br />1) My Gall Bladder was going haywire. (It had to be removed.)<br />2) I had contracted a bacterium that was attacking my stomach with ruthless abandon. (I had to take a serious dose of antibiotics, with acid reducers that are still necessary.)<br />3) The top two caused my ability to eat to be severely curtailed.<br />4) I find myself below the body weight at which I graduated high school. My clothes appear as if I have been borrowing from an older sibling. That's the awesome part of things, by the way.<br /><br />Now, onto writing news:<br /><br />1) The Crimson Pact Anthologies have been doin' all right for themselves. Having a rather vested interest in the whole project, this is a happy thing for me. To remind anyone who may have forgotten, I co-wrote the origin story, "The Failed Crusade" with Paul Genesse, and have had two other stories featured in the anthologies, as well. ("Red Test" and "Red Bandanna Boys")<br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://thecrimsonpact.com">HERE IS THE LINK</a> to the website for the anthologies, if you're interested.<br /><br />2) The publisher for CP, Steven Saus, invited me to be a part of a Christmas-themed speculative fiction anthology that would raise money for Heifer International. It so happened that I had an evil story about a bad Santa that fit the bill. Thus, "Spec the Halls" featured one of mine. The name of the story was "Kicked in the Teeth Again", and will forever jaundice your eye when you look at a department store Santa.<br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://specthehalls.com/">CLICK HERE</a> to check out Spec the Halls.<br /><br />3) Not content to just work on fiction, I've also gotten a poem published in Pens On Fire. My poem, "This Misspent Requiem", was featured in the January issue of that publication.<br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://pensonfire.com/ptracy.html">POEM</a> can be read by clicking on the link.<br /><br />4) I've also been working on new stories for the upcoming 3rd and 4th volumes of the Crimson Pact. I have two stories submitted to the editor already, and should be submitting another one within the next few weeks. More on that as the information is available.<br /><br />5) As if all that were not enough, I've also been working with Paul Genesse to get his newest book in the Iron Dragon Series ready for publication. Since Paul and I were in college together and are close friends, we've been talking about these books for a decade or more, and seeing the most recent one come to fruition has been quite a thing. It is called "The Secret Empire" and you'll be hearing a lot more about it tomorrow, as the big media blitz will take place at that time. Suffice it to say, though, that I have insider knowledge about this, the third in his series, and I have to say that it's going to kick some major butt. Fans of epic fantasy are going to get their surfeit of fighting, deadly terrain, evil plots, difficult sacrifices, and staggering betrayals in this rip-snorter of a story.<br /><br />For more info, please check out <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://paulgenesse.com/default2.asp">Paul's Website</a>.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />PatrickPatrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-52539113430601895822011-09-29T14:36:00.003-06:002011-09-29T14:56:04.185-06:00The Crimson Pact, Volume Two is out!<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thecrimsonpact.com"><img src="http://thecrimsonpact.com/images/250_cover_vol2.png" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The new Crimson Pact anthology is out and available at all the finest online retailers. This anthology is even weightier than the previous one, at over 150,000 words. Many of the authors from volume one are represented here, often writing sequels to their earlier stories. Again, we're proud to have Larry Correia, New York Times Bestseller (multiple times), amongst our authors.<br /><br />My story, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Red Bandanna Boys</span>, is also featured. I'm pretty proud of this tale, and hope you folks dig it. In an alternate earth, demons have caused World War One to rage for 37 years. The characters in the story find themselves in the wreckage of the Russian Empire, struggling against a powerful demon who rules their slum. Though the Red Bandanna Boys are only homeless street kids, they never quit fighting!<br /><br />Here's an excerpt:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Nevsky and Carver stood in the back of the wagon, shoveling fish guts and other remainders of a day of butchering into the Blue Nile. This was how their day of work ended, with the hardest and stinkiest task of all. The crocodiles knew this spot well, and hundreds of them rose out of the darkness of the twilight waters to gulp down on the best bits. Scavenger birds circled the shoreline, snapping up anything they could get. Wild dogs prowled the upper bank, mean enough to kill if you weren’t careful. The place smelled of rot and shit, and no one lived nearby for a good reason. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For a few hundred meters, the thick vegetation that crowded the river bank had been hacked away, leaving open land where every edible remainder was dumped.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> On the opposite bank, the trees and tall bushes were green and dense, mysterious as the surface</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> of the moon.<br /><br />Carver, like most of the boys, had never left the city, never seen anything beyond its sweltering streets and the arid industrial areas beyond. </span><span style="font-style: italic;">When there was enough light, he would sometimes stand in the cart, looking out there into the old land, the real Nubia. He would wonder what things could have been like for him, had he lived in better times. Mostly, though, he would shovel, awaiting the time he could lay his tired body down and rest.</span><br /><br />*****<br /><br />To find out more, go to <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://thecrimsonpact.com/store.html">The Crimson Pact Website</a>, where volume one and two are both available, in addition to special editions of each, which feature author commentaries about the writing process and their experiences with the anthology. A print version of Volume One is also available from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/amazon.com">Amazon.com</a>.<br /><br />Amazon, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/bn.com">Barnes and Nobe</a>l, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goodreads.com">Goodreads</a>, and other online e-book sellers also feature the anthologies, though I recommend buying from our website, as you get all the formats downloaded for one low price, as well as allowing the authors to get a better cut of the profits.<br /><br />Don't let the demons overrun the universe! Swear the Crimson Pact!<br /></div></div>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-80859375303079435002011-08-28T17:41:00.003-06:002011-08-28T18:54:31.544-06:00WorldCon Wrap-UpI had a great time at WorldCon in Reno (Renovation, as they called it) this year. It was my first WorldCon, and marked the attainment of my "Triple Crown" of World speculative fiction conventions, as I'd already been to World Fantasy multiple times, and to World Horror once. <div>
<br /></div><div>Why am I a week late in posting this info? Well, all was not sunshine and roses, and I ended up coming home a pretty sick puppy. I'll talk about that later on in the article.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>First, let's talk about the good stuff.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I resolved to drive to Reno, as it's a fairly simple thing to point your car west and just go. Western Utah and Northern Nevada are pretty barren, though, and so I decided to arm myself with some audiobooks for the journey. Yeah. Alone for @530 miles? I knew I'd need them.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I went ahead and put the first five audiobooks for the Oz series on a CD, as I'd heard about the coolness of the series, but had only known about the first one, as in the movie with Judy Garland and so forth.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Okay, so the Wizard of Oz is a pretty fun little book. It's for kids, and so it's somewhat repetitive, and it's old, but it's still pretty neat. I finished it and got a few chapters into "The Land of Oz" by the time I arrived at the Peppermill in Reno.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>It had been a while since I was last in a casino, and so there were a few moments of culture shock. Seeing people light a cigarette indoors and not be immediately tackled, escorted from the premises, or perhaps vaporized with lasers was odd. The Peppermill is frickin' dark on the casino floor, too. Like you've just stepped into a weird purple cave filled with chiming, muttering machines. And, unlike the old days, there's none of the sound of change actually falling into a catch bin. No, there's just an odd electronic analogue of that sound. It seems that you now redeem a ticket at various machines around the hotel, rather than getting your tokens changed for actual money. Anyhow...</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I got to Reno Wednesday in the afternoon, perhaps around 4:30 or thereabouts. I checked in and got my stuff up to the room. Which was nice, by the way. Pretty swanky. And...what happened to cheap rooms in casinos? I guess those days are over. I won't dwell on that.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I managed to fart around until it was too late to actually go over to the convention hall and check in, so I decided to, instead, go and find their weight room and get me some exercise. I did so. It was good. I found that I could stack their triceps pushdown machine for ten reps (that's 200 lbs).</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Life was good. I continued from there by walking around. That walking around resulted it me being vaguely lost for a little while, and turned out to yield the cardio portion of my workout by sending me on about a forty minute tour of the slightly seedy neighborhood nearby. I found a variety of things, including something that touted itself to be a European Fitness Center. Perhaps European fitness is somewhat different from the other sorts of fitness. I'm sure I couldn't tell the difference.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>That night, I found that I had more than enough road food to get along, and made liberal use of the in-room coffee maker. Being unused to watching television without some specific goal in mind, I found that it took me a while to figure out what I would do with myself. In the end, I ended up watching a show about tough guys from various military arms competing to be the biggest badass. After that, there was a show about guys who made big and ludicrous firearms in the Deep South. I was really congested. I then went to bed.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Thursday was a big day at the convention. Most of my friends were arriving that day, and I was pumped to see what the Con would have in store. Sadly, I ended up at more than a few panels that I either didn't care about, or that I hadn't read the right foundational material to "get". This happens some times.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I was able to watch a cool panel that featured Eric James Stone, short story writer extrordinare, about religion and science fiction. That was pretty neat, and gave me hope that the panel discussion scene wouldn't be a total bust. (which it wasn't)</div><div>
<br /></div><div>The exhibit hall was...frighteningly huge. Like, my hometown would have fit in there with room for a few of the nearby towns to spare. The art show and the dealer's room crouched in a corner of the giant space, though they were, in reality, pretty damn big.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I met Brad Beaulieu, Paul Genesse, and his wife Tammy a bit later. I had lunch with them at the hotel, and then we went to see Brad read from his book, Winds of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span"> Khalakovo, along with Courteny Schafer and Katy Stauber, who are also Night Shade Books authors with books out. All of the readings presented intriguing works, and I look for these three authors to be forces to be reckoned with in the future.</span></em></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span">
<br /></span></em></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span">From there, we eventually ended up at the Night Bazaar party in the Atlantis, put on by the selfsame three that were just mentioned. I had been enlisted to provide paltry entertainment in the form of an ersatz strongman show during the party. I did so. The surprise of the night: Brad Beaulieu ended up ripping a yellowpages in half in front of everyone. It was a shocker. We always did think that Brad had a few superpowers up his sleeve, and now we know that's true.</span></em></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span">
<br /></span></em></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><i style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; ">Larry Correia and his posse appeared, and they were quite intrigued with the nail bending portion of the show. Many of them gave it a try, and Larry has the distinction of being the only other writer in residence who could put any kind of kink in a 60D nail. It was a fun party, and quite a hand workout, as I probably bent over twenty nails in all the traditional grips. I also broke out the Captains of Crush grippers, which were fun for all. Larry almost closed the #2 grippers a few times, and acquitted himself well. I can't easily go into all the cool people who were around at the party, but there were many, and I bent nails for most of them. The entertainment also featured the eating of candy-coated insects and </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">crustaceans</span><i style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; "> of various kinds, of which I did not partake. I did find that I like Stella Artois beer, though.</i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span">
<br /></span></em></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">On Friday, I went to see some good panels, including one called Urbane Fantasy vs. Urban Fantasy, which featured Gail Carriger, who writes the Parasol Protectorate books, which I've quite enjoyed.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">That night, I went to dinner and drinks with Chante' McCoy, Christine McMillan, Paul G., and his wife Tammy. We nerded out about writing and the Crimson Pact project, as Chante' is one of the writers, as well. Later, there was more drinking and some dancing as well. We were able to see a short set by Rachel Bloom, who was up for a Hugo for a song she wrote, the title of which I will not share at this time, as it is a little salty for this blog. A fun night.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">Saturday featured some good hang-out time with Chante', Christine, Paul, and others. I sat down to a big dinner with Brad, Paul, and Gregory Wilson. I had a big steak. Herein began the "not so good" portion of our show.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">After dinner, we went to the Hugo Awards Banquet. I was no sooner seated then I began to feel really poorly. I had to excuse myself. I did not get better after walking it off. I felt bad. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">I went back to my hotel room and tried to wait it out, but started getting really concerned that something serious was going on with me. I was having a hard time breathing, sudden sweats, heart palpitations...not having any fun.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">I called Paul (a cardiac nurse) to come and check me out. He assured me that I was okay, and that my heart sounded fine. The festivities, though, were over.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">The drive home the next day was, well, really long and pretty darned miserable. I made it, though, and was in the house by 9:30 PM. I had to go to work the next day, which wasn't too cool, but what can you do?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">In the end, I came home with a lot of good memories, and a pretty ugly case of the stomach-in-revolt blues. I hoping that I feel a hundred percent pretty soon, but as we speak, it's not quite there.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">Hope you are all well, and thanks for reading this ludicrously long post.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">Patrick</span></div>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-3967847616552617852011-08-18T09:42:00.001-06:002011-08-18T09:44:00.535-06:00Promo Video for Crimson Pact v.2 and Red Bandanna BoysFolks: Check this out. Justin Swapp was nice enough to create videos like this for several of the new stories for the forthcoming Crimson Pact Volume 2. I think he did a great job.
<br />
<br /><iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EHHdPnIo75w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-30085127363210622602011-08-16T12:35:00.003-06:002011-08-16T12:40:36.897-06:00Yep, it's me again; Renovation upcomingWell, here we have our remiss blogger once more straggling back in after being absent for a goodly chunk of time, and having failed to do what he said he would, in regard to keeping up at least a semi-constant stream of updates.
<br />
<br />I will not offer any excuses. I will only begin telling you what's the what with me, and hoping that there are some people out there that have not entirely lost patience with this little journal and moved on to other, more interesting things, like watching paint dry.
<br />
<br />I'm off to Reno for the Renovation edition of WorldCon tomorrow. It should be great. I'm going to be hanging out with my friends, including such august personages as Paul Genesse, Brad Bealieu, and Larry Correia. I'll be having fun, and very likely hitting the bar. I need it. Things have been tense.
<br />
<br />I have a story coming out in the second Crimson Pact anthology called "Red Bandanna Boys", but I'll be blathering on about that at a later date. For the time being, just know that, yes, I'm still alive, and yes, I'm still writing. There are stories in the works. I've just finished a rather big poem that's horribly ambitious and possibly overblown. We'll see what happens when I send it out to someone.
<br />
<br />Take Care,
<br />
<br />PatrickPatrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-227154761051811312011-05-30T10:15:00.003-06:002011-05-30T10:20:26.255-06:00"No Tusks" reading with Paul GenesseFor quite some time now, my friend Paul Genesse and I have been talking about doing a reading together. We've known each other since '93, were college room mates, and have done enough goofing around to know that a joint reading would be hilarious.<br /><br />He invited me to help him read his story "No Tusks" at the CONduit convention in SLC this year. I voiced some of the characters, while he did the narration and the main character. Below is the video. Hope you like it.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/24400613?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="640" height="390" frameborder="0"></iframe>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-57270341621892860592011-05-24T18:47:00.003-06:002011-05-24T19:03:09.983-06:00Have You Seen Me?Yeah, so...I've been missing for a while. Like, face on the milk carton missing. I just noted that it has been two months to the day since my last post. Bad, bad blogger. For shame.<br /><br />I have to admit that almost all my writing effort has been in the non-fiction vein over the last little while. I've been cuckoo for my new venture <a href="http://www.cavemangym.wordpress.com">The Caveman Gym</a>. In fact, I actually have even had a guest post at my friend Josh's website, The World's Strongest Librarian. <a href="http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/11212/a-long-time-lifters-first-experience-with-kettlebells/">Click on this sentence to read it.</a><br /><br />I've:<br /><br /><ul><li>Had a birthday</li><li>Visited with my mom for the first time since the Reagan Era</li><li>Hit some of my workout goals</li><li>Shot video</li><li>Done lots of dumb ass stunts, many caught on said videos</li><li>Gotten so tired I almost called in sick from work a few times</li><li>Gotten over it</li><li>Attempted unsuccessfully to do it all over again</li><li>Really gotten back into playing guitar</li><li>Built up a full 80 posts over at Caveman Gym, soon to be more</li><li>Been frustrated by the rain</li><li>Built shelves</li><li>Fertilized the lawn and killed the dandelions (ish)<br /></li><li>Wrestled with my friend Chris and skinned my knee and elbow</li><li>Concocted more stunts I'm hoping to show you</li><li>And...oh yeah, not really had much success writing any fiction</li></ul><br />It'll come back, I know it. I just have to make the time and put my butt in the chair with fingers on the keyboard. It's not as if my typing mojo has gotten weak. I almost always find myself writing at least a few thousand words a day. Just not the fiction words.<br /><br />As for old business, it appears that The Crimson Pact is doing fairly well, and the reviews seem to be overwhelmingly positive. I have to get a wiggle on finishing my submissions for the next anthology, or I'll miss it.<br /><br />Finally, I'm going to be at <a href="http://conduit.sfcon.org/">ConDuit in SLC</a> this weekend. I think it'll be fun. I'll get a chance to catch up with my writer friends, who are hopefully getting more "actual" writing done than I am.<br /><br />Peace,<br /><br />PatrickPatrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-45602510867014261162011-03-24T14:30:00.005-06:002011-03-24T14:58:46.737-06:00Swear the Crimson Pact!<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://thecrimsonpact.com/images/250_cover_vol1.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Watch this video to see what it's all about:</span><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5CDjyoweWZQ" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe><br /><br /></div><br />Some time ago, my friend Paul and I wrote a story called <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Failed Crusade.</span> It was going to be the origin story for an e-anthology of stories about the brave inhabitants of many worlds struggling against a demonic incursion. Sadly, the anthology never got off the ground.<br /><br />The story, though, was pretty darned good, and so Paul was not satisfied to let the matter die. The original anthology may have fizzled, but it was still a viable project. He pitched the idea to his friend Steven Saus, and Steven was into it. Some months and a heck of a lot of work later, the e-book anthology has become a reality. It features 26 stories by a group a fine authors, including Larry Correia, a New York Times Bestselling Author and all around cool guy. (He wrote <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Monster Hunter International</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Monster Hunter Vendetta</span>, and the soon-to-be-released <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hard Magic</span>. Check his site out <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/">HERE</a></span>.)<br /><br />Back to the business at hand: <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Crimson Pact</span>. It is now out, and available for all formats of e-reader, as well as reading directly from your computer screen via .pdf format. It is going for $5, which is a fair price for an e-book that goes over 130k words. Two of my stories are featured, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Failed Crusade</span>, and <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Red Test</span>. Those, however, are in no way the only attractions. Paul Genesse, the editor, is a fine editor and a choosy guy. He only took the best stuff.<br /><br />If you choose to buy <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Crimson Pact</span> from our website(the button furthest to the left), the authors will get the best level of compensation, and you will get a file including all the formats in which the book has been created, so that's the way to go. If, however, you find it more convenient to buy direct from the online retailer that supports your particular device (Amazon for the Kindle, Barnes and Nobel for the Nook, etc), links are on the top and bottom of the page. These links will route you to the appropriate website. The e-book will also respond to searches at the appropriate sites, if you're a rugged individualist and don't wish to follow the button links.<br /><br />At long last...here's the link:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://thecrimsonpact.com/store.html">The Crimson Pact, Volume One</a></span><br /></div><br />Please support the hard work and good writing that has gone into this anthology. Provided that we are able to sell a reasonable number of these e-books, we will be able to continue and have further volumes.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />PatrickPatrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-28847493438578146912011-03-14T18:16:00.002-06:002011-03-14T18:20:43.544-06:00The Winds of Khalakovo, By Brad BeaulieuHey, Folks:<br /><br />I just finished a great novel by my friend Brad. It's called The Winds of Khalakovo, and it is his debut novel. Not that you'd know it, because he's really honed his craft and put together a fine novel. It's available <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Winds-Khalakovo-Bradley-P-Beaulieu/dp/1597802182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300148142&sr=8-1"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HERE</span></a>, and I recommend that you buy it. Buy two and give one to a friend. Seriously.<br /><br />Here's what I said in my review:<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Winds of Khalakovo is a beautiful, poignant, and powerful story. Nothing is easy for the characters. The consequences of their actions and the prices they must pay as the story unfolds are profound. With a rich tapestry of culture behind the tale, the sense of reality remains vivid all the way through. With subtlety and forethought, the author builds up hopes and expectations, only to confound them as plans fail and new revelations are learned.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />Spoiler Alert:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />We begin with Nikandr, a headstrong prince who lives with the secret that he is doomed, an incurable sickness gnawing away at him. He is one of the Landed, a czarist-Russian tinged culture who controls the islands with their Windships. The Aramahn, Turkish-influenced nomads who can call upon elemental spirits, aid them in their control of the winds and waters. The Maharraht, however, are a rebel sect of the Aramahn who want to destroy the Landed. Agents of the Maharraht are nearer to Nikandr than he imagines...<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />When the Grand Duke is killed by an elemental spirit and the Maharraht are implicated, a divisive investigation begins, revealing that the fabric that separates the material world from the elemental is torn, and that problems far graver than any rearrangement of society are afoot. Everything leads back to one troubled boy, the key to either healing the tear in reality or ripping it asunder.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />Nikandr and the other characters must go beyond all they imagine themselves capable of to try and save Anuskaya.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />End of Spoilers:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />I highly recommend Brad's book. I think it is a fresh, compelling, and intoxicating new fantasy, one that will appeal readers of all stripes.</span></span>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-79688780844653224142011-02-01T17:34:00.002-07:002011-02-01T17:46:30.544-07:00I still write stuff sometimesYes, it's true. Of late, I've been writing primarily non-fiction, to support my new Caveman Gym website, but I don't want to give the impression that I have given up on the fiction stuff that I have been known to churn out from time to time. <br /><br />Proof of this comes in the form of two submissions being, er, submitted yesterday. One has already been accepted (Viva!), and one I will not hear about for a while. I find that it is often the case that I take on just a few too many things, and I am unable to move forward on all fronts with equal efficiency. In some cases, I end up paralyzing myself with too many goals, and don't seem to get anything at all accomplished. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.<br /><br />Let's delve into specifics. I've been attempting to populate a new website and spread the word about said website. I've been working out with some serious goals in mind. I've been shooting video. I've been working full time. Now and then, I like to talk to friends, eat, and sleep. This cuts into both my writing and my laying about time. Anyway...<br /><br />As usual, I have several too many stories started, and several that are knocking about on my hard disks to no purpose, which need to be submitted. I intend to begin swimming toward the surface in this regard, such that at least some of my actionable stories are off in a slush pile somewhere, or busily being rejected by editors, or happily making their way toward publication. Yes, that's an awful sentence. I like it somehow. This being MY blog, it stays. <br /><br />I am otherwise well. Included within the wellness is the news that I am on the verge of equaling my ancient personal record of 500 pounds on the trap bar deadlift. I got 495 this morning, should you choose to care. 505 is about all the weight that will fit on the implement, and I will soon fit said weight and hoist it up. Happy days, huh?<br /><br />Alas, it has been a wintry winter here in SLC. I have gotten far too few chances to shoot my bows. I don't think it's healthy to take the wooden models out when its frigid, and in point of fact, my problem of "too many goals" has also stood in the way. This to, as they say, shall pass.<br /><br />Hope you're all well, and take care.Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-26796457968754046162011-01-07T11:46:00.002-07:002011-01-07T11:51:16.027-07:00The Caveman Gym Is BornGreetings, Friends.<br /><br />Over the past year or so, you may have noticed that I'm just as likely to post info about my strange and possibly dangerous enthusiasm for strongman stuff as I am to talk about writing. It's not that I'm writing less, it's just that I'm finding a great amount of pleasure in the strongman stuff. <br /><br />That said, this is my Writing Journal, and I don't necessarily want to inflict all this He-Man stuff on those of you who don't dig it. Thus, I've created a spot just for my strength pursuits. The big text below is click-able, and will take you there.<br /><br /><a href="http://cavemangym.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Behold The Caveman Gym!</span></a><br /><br />Anyway, that's one of the things I've been up to. Cheers, and Happy New Year.Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-27611686585840034332010-11-29T17:07:00.001-07:002010-11-29T17:08:34.221-07:00Pointless Subdivisions, Internet Cults, and Self IdentificationIn my years of prowling the badlands of the 'Net, I've found that people will identify with a particular thing, and then go about defending that thing with unparalleled vigor, even to the point of drawing the ire of everyone to which they come in contact. This behavior pattern seems to be the same regardless of the subject matter, or whether more than five people in all the world care about the argument. It could be a favored band, type of music, diet, exercise regime, anything.<br /><br />Here is how you're likely to encounter this phenomenon:<br /><br />"This is the thing that I (use/like/do/listen to/subscribe to): It is right, all other ways are wrong, and anyone who doesn't agree with me is a no-nothing !@#%!%."<br /><br />In person, these individuals may be more circumspect in their assertion of their correctness, but on the 'Net, where one needn't be nice, or even engage in conduct generally becoming of a mammal, things can get ugly.<br /><br />The sad thing is, the more obscure the issue, the more that these individuals distance themselves from those who might "dig" what they're talking about. It seems that the internecine violence and trash-talk grows more intense with the level of not-caring that is present in the average person. For instance, there are bloody religious wars about which plain text editor people like to use in Linux (.5% of the populace cares). There are terrible flame wars about which Black Metal bands are "true to the ethos" or "appropriately cold sounding" (most people are horrified within the first ten seconds). I don't even need to go deeply into actual religion, politics, or philosophy to illustrate this point, I shouldn't think.<br /><br />Now, the most recent spate of this behavior that I've been seeing is in regards to the methods in which people choose to exercise. Specifically, the "style" of resistance training they choose to do. The power lifters give the Bronx Cheer to those who do arm curls. The Olympic Weightlifters lament the useless brawn of the power lifters. The bodybuilders shake their heads at the lack of aesthetic beauty and symmetry in a strength athlete. The guys slinging kettlebells are sure they've found "the way". The strongmen flipping tractor tires talk about "functional strength".<br /><br />All of them are right, if what they're doing is meeting their goals and giving them peace of mind. All of them are wrong if they think that the answer that works for them will work for everyone. Everyone's body is different, everyone's goals lie in a trajectory only they understand. You don't like arm curls, and think they're a waste of gym time? Great. Don't do 'em. For others, maybe putting beef on their biceps is exactly what they want. Are they wrong? We don't get to make that choice. We should be happy that people are enjoying hoisting a weight, no matter why or how they choose to do it.<br /><br />The same goes for music, or diet, or any of the thousand things that people champion on the 'Net. Hey, don't get me wrong. I think we should all be free to talk about what we like, what we do, what works for us. Someone looking for a new way of thinking or acting might read what we say and be swayed toward something that will be come "it" for them. We have the obligation, though, to put our ideas and beliefs forward in a positive way, with reasoned arguments in their favor. Regardless of what some people would have you believe, it IS our responsibility to act well on the 'Net. Flaming someone who thinks differently from you is NOT acceptable behavior.<br /><br />I think this all comes down to wanting to belong, to self-identification. We are in a big world, with a great deal of information coming at us every day. We want to have a set of touchstones, our articles of faith, with which we can protect ourselves and cut the world down into edible segments. It's the remnants of the cave-folk from which we sprung. We decide what we believe, and that makes it easier. We fashion an "us" and a "them". It's a dangerous path, though. We shut too much out, we reduce things to the point of absurdity. We act as the agents of our own stultification.<br /><br />If you find yourself on the verge of a cranky rant about some fine point of an obscure topic, think about it for a moment. If you were about to say, "Only wimps and poseurs would use the Smith Machine to squat," or, "real Black Metal sounds like Transylvanian Hunger," maybe you should step back, count to ten, and just be happy that someone else actually has an opinion about the topic you hold dear.<br /><br />On that note, my own cranky rant is now concluded.Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-9314943445440586562010-11-20T11:31:00.002-07:002010-11-20T11:35:37.784-07:00Build Ludicrous Strength with Cinderblocks!You say you don't have enough money to join a gym. You don't have the time to do the workouts you've heard of. You don't have any space in your house to store big exercise equipment. You get bored with the lifts you've been doing, and they don't appear to be doing all you hoped they would. Perhaps you've been working out, but noticed that, even with increases in your lifting totals, you're not feeling an increase in functional strength.<br /><br />If you find any of the statements above cover issues you've been grappling with, I've got good news. There's a single, simple lifting implement you can buy for less than five dollars, and it'll give you a great, dynamic, scalable workout. What is it? A cinderblock.<br /><br />Yep, that's right. You won't need to go to a sports store. Think more along the lines of a home improvement warehouse.<br /><br />Why a cinderblock? Well, for one thing, they're fairly heavy, and this weight can be multiplied when they're held in a way that provides negative leverage. Second, they can be held in a variety of ways, since they're essentially an enclosed "H" pattern. Their inexpensive nature has already been mentioned. Finally, they don't need special care. They're all-weather. They can be treated roughly. They can be replaced if they get worn or broken.<br /><br />What do you need? At least one cinderblock, sturdy gloves to protect your hands, protective shoes, and a flat place outside. That's right. Outside. Where we don't go nearly enough anymore. It might be hot, or cold, or somehow inclement. Go with it. It makes you feel more primal if you're hoisting something heavy in the snow.<br /><br />What can you do with a cinderblock? Just about anything you can do with a dumbbell or kettlebell. In hand, they can be used for all manner of moves, both single and double handed. They can also be used as blocks to raise you off the ground, for instance to stand on while doing high pulls. Modified pushups using one or three cinderblocks can yield excellent results, as well. If you have some sort of bar, you can even rig a 'block on each side and have an ersatz barbell. If you want to get really junk yard dog, have your bar be a simple cut section of 1/2 inch rebar. Or the axle from an old Dodge Dart. That'll give you some street cred.<br /><br />Finally, when simple weight lifting moves are getting easy, cinderblocks can be made even more challenging by throwing and catching them in a variety of ways. This forces your body to not only accelerate the implement suddenly (generally recruiting all the stabilizing and skeletal muscles of the body in a dynamic, positive contraction), but you must catch and thus decelerate the implement, which will require you to key all the opposing muscle groups in a negative repetition. In both cases, the body will encounter significantly higher loading than you might guess, considering the modest weight of the cinderblock itself. Oh, and it's pretty darned fun, too.<br /><br />Tell me about the benefit, you say. Okay. Number one, cinderblocks will challenge your grip, wrist, and forearm strength much more than the equivalent lifts with dumbbells. This is because you're going to have to lift them with either a pinch, flat hand, or hook grip, none of which are as easy as holding a narrow-gauge iron bar. Because of a cinderblocks's shape, the leverage will also scale more aggressively as it swings from one orientation to another, thus giving the illusion of being heavier than it really is.<br /><br />Because cinderblocks can be used for dynamic, full-body movements, the workout can be finished quite quickly. Aggressively lift a cinderblock for fifteen minutes, and you'll feel it. Not just in your muscles, but in your cardiovascular system. Challenge yourself to take short breaks and to move the 'block steadily, and you'll find that you're huffing and puffing before long.<br /><br />So: with a cinderblock workout, you've got total body recruitment in most exercies, short, intense workouts, cardiovascular upside, and strong upside in functional strength. If you routinely sling cinderblocks, any weird item you'll have to hoist in daily life will probably seem pretty easy.<br /><br />Some warnings and caveats: Cinderblocks are, by their nature, hard to hang on to. You'll drop them from time to time. Keep your safety gear on at all times, and keep your wits about you. 'Blocks are also, well, evil. They are essentially designed to break toes and create abrasions to skin. You may have to progress slowly, working up to the more challenging movements. You'll certainly have to bail on a lift now and then, so it doesn't end up clobbering you. For this reason, DON'T use them in a furnished part of your house. This is a great way to force yourself to learn how to spackle, or repair that nice coffee table you like so much. If you have to do 'block work indoors, do it in a garage or unfinished basement room (make sure you won't hit the ceiling with overhead lifts). Also, any time you're working on a hard surface, like concrete, remember that you will crack your 'block if you drop it very often. Find a patch of grass, or at least put down some of that gym matting for your floor. Can you hurt yourself with a cinderblock. Yes. The same is true of any heavy object. If you're somewhat circumspect, however, they are not dangerous. Just challenging.<br /><br />Should you start throwing cinderblocks if you haven't arisen from the couch in several years? Not before you do a little background work, and see a doctor to make sure you're in good health. If you've been working out in other ways, though, doing a quick 'block workout a few times a week can yield great benefits. If you want to see what it's all about, check out the first in my video series about 'block workouts, below. If you want to know more about this and other strength stunts, please visit my listing at http://www.youtube.com (search for thorwulfx1).<br /><br />Happy hoisting!<br /><br /><object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lMSlC_jUcQk?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lMSlC_jUcQk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="640"></embed></object>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-31963949727742049742010-11-09T13:56:00.002-07:002010-11-09T13:59:38.594-07:00The Wonders of Air Travel; The Writin' LifeAs promised, I'm going to go over some of the joyous things that happened on my air travel adventures. First of all, when Paul G. and I got to the airport, they cleverly kept changing the gate at which we were supposed to be waiting. Big fun.<br /><br />When we were finally allowed to get on the plane (I'd rather get IN the plane, thank you), we ended up hanging around for a long, long time. There was some repair work that had been done to the plane, and it required there to be signatures and so on. Those signatures took longer than the first continental congress to come in, I swear. I was ready to get out before we started moving toward the runway.<br /><br />The plane in question was one of the spiffy (not) MD-90 commuter jets. I have, to anyone who would listen, sung the suck of the MD-88 and MD-90 airplanes. Now, I have nothing against the plane itself. I'm sure it's a perfectly nice aircraft. But when the airlines get done with them, putting about 1/3 too many seats in, they become cattle cars, and I find them deviously uncomfortable.<br /><br />So, a few deviously uncomfortable hours later, we arrived in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Upon disembarking (I don't de-plane, it's a religious conviction), Paul G. looked back and said the following: "We're gonna have to run!".<br /><br />And run we did. Paul G. was on the cross country team, the basketball team, and was an 800 meter runner. I played football, wrestled, and threw the shot put. There are reasons for these choices. They stem from basic morphology. Now, I could run a 5:45 mile back in my prime. Wearing a backpack, fifty pounds heavier, after having been squashed into an airplane like a sardine for three hours, eighteen years later...well, let's say I cannot run a 5:45 mile. Or anything approximating it.<br /><br />With two minutes until the doors closed for good, we were the better part of a half mile away from our gate. Someone yelled, "You can make it!" to us. This was true in Paul's case. As for me, I ended up out of breath, sweating, and at the wrong gate. Despite Paul's best efforts, they would not hold the plane, and we were thus separated. I urge you, gentle readers, to refrain from making judgments on Paul for this. It was unclear when the next open seat would be, and if there would be two on the same plane. <br /><br />I found myself speaking to a very apologetic gate agent, while I began to regain my breath. I'm afraid that there was some kind of allergen or pollutant in the air at the airport, as I was coughing for the rest of the day, as was Paul. I ended up on a later flight, on an even smaller plane, a CRJ-something or another. This one found me in a seat at the very back of the plane, about nine inches from one of the engines. I could, without exaggeration, look directly into the turbine as it spun. Good fun. <br /><br />When, at last, I got to Columbus, I took a cab to the hotel. My reasoning skills had by then departed, and I inadvertently tipped the driver ten bucks (50% tip, thanks). Ugh. At least everything else would run smoothly...<br /><br />Or so I thought, until the morning of the flight back, when I noticed that my flight was scheduled for Tuesday. It was Sunday. Oops. I threw myself on the mercies of the Delta people, and ended up having to pay upwards of $300 extra for the privilege of going on substandard jets, in tight conditions, and generally being miserable for the rest of the day.<br /><br />Upon arriving in Detroit, where my connection was, I was only about ten minutes in advance of final boarding for my plane to SLC. Of course, I was in C terminal, gate 23, and the gate I needed to get to was as far as humanly possible from there, at A 78. Yeah, 78. I had to run. Again. I had to go to the bathroom with every fiber of my being. I was not able to do so. I love air travel.<br /><br />To top everything off, the plane I was on for the final leg, an Airbus A330, had a servo motor that kept firing, making an awful grinding noise, right under my seat. And it was another hour before I was able to finally visit the restroom. So that's the story.<br /><br />On to other things: I've finally got my zombie epic (20K words), "All These Violent Heirlooms" finished. It's with my writer buddy, Julie Frost, getting marked up now. As soon as it's ready, which will likely include being cut in half and sent as two installments, it'll go off to Tales of the Zombie War. I'm looking forward to finally having that one in the public eye (provided that they accept...). <br /><br />On a side note to that, I just learned that I have the fifth most popular story in the history of the site, with "Those Who Fall in Silence" having enjoyed well over 4,000 hits thus far.<br /><br />I've also completed rough work on another story, "Hunting Season Again", which I'll need to find a market for in the coming days.<br /><br />That's about it for now. Look for a video sometime soon, as I have yet to share a good number of my videos, and plan to post some new ones as soon as the weather is nice enough to get a good image of some of my new foolish stunts.<br /><br />Hope you're well, and take care!Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-51034132277346669142010-11-01T19:23:00.002-06:002010-11-01T19:31:32.713-06:00World Fantasy 2010Had a great time at WF this year. Roomed with my friends Paul Genesse and Brad Beaulieu. Hung out with too many awesome people to easily recount, including my friends Ken and Kelly Swails. Brad B.'s book, Winds of Kahalakovo (sp?), is coming out on April 1st (no joke). He, Kelly, and Paul did a joint reading from the book, and I think it's going to be beautiful, action packed, and generally going to kick major ass. Pick it up, if you know what's good for you.<div><br /></div><div>Went to many great panels and readings, including one on Icelandic lit, which was very informative. Dug the readings I went to, including a big battle-royale reading by a bunch of the Black Gate writers. That was fun, and kept me out of noisy parties all evening.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm pretty charged up about the whole thing. Only downside to the whole trip was the travel part, wherein it all turned pear shaped. I'll recount that episode on another day, probably, except for the part the Paul G. and I swore would never be spoken of again.</div><div><br /></div><div>In any case, I'll end here with another video, this one of my "Serenity Bend", where I get all Zen-like as I squash a nail, or something. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hope you're well, and you dig the video.</div><br /><br /><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l36crhkSzBg?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l36crhkSzBg?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed> </object>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-82097496254295020682010-10-18T18:36:00.004-06:002010-10-18T18:39:39.432-06:00Destroying tools, part twoOkay, so I hated this wrench. It's the crappiest crescent wrench I've ever used. I took my revenge, snapping it in half. Check out the pic below. It gave way really easily. Not much of a feat, but it made me feel good. Take care, folks.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMb6w87G-wukpR6sLe2mFjZ4aiiWIJIVWX2p-Eg2hKSJJIsq9AqXCOUqDuIkvwnC8-Ha2A2MwLPC_XiSjpHuXcwp33Jh1Fd6YwV2cCxwssBPGCZlQZcBELB8pLnMu-te6obYEWrQ/s1600/revengonwrench.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMb6w87G-wukpR6sLe2mFjZ4aiiWIJIVWX2p-Eg2hKSJJIsq9AqXCOUqDuIkvwnC8-Ha2A2MwLPC_XiSjpHuXcwp33Jh1Fd6YwV2cCxwssBPGCZlQZcBELB8pLnMu-te6obYEWrQ/s320/revengonwrench.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529550007955299138" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-2773243990841905092010-10-18T16:40:00.002-06:002010-10-18T16:45:05.294-06:00You, too, can bend a nail!Hey, Folks. I've been busy posting more videos, and these include a series that gives you the basics of bending nails (or any short steel), in case you're inclined to take up the hobby. The video below is the first of four instructional posts, and there's also one of me just bending a whole passel of nails to the groovy sounds of Bolt Thrower's "K Machine". That one might scare your co-workers or the family pet, so watch the volume. If the video below doesn't suggest the others in the series, you can see all my videos by going to YouTube and typing in thorwulfx1 into the search. <br /><br />Happy viewing!<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rFdNWpOthB0?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rFdNWpOthB0?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-47359365669557333532010-10-11T12:38:00.002-06:002010-10-11T12:42:17.214-06:00Footage of the events, as they happen!Hey, Folks.<br /><br />I'm up on Youtube! Of course, I'm shooting. Hope you enjoy the video below, as I sure enjoyed making it, except for a few "learning" moments with the video editing software. The footage was shot with the help of my friend Chris, as well as simply by aiming the camera and leaning it against something. I have a little Kodak "Play" camera, and it's working pretty well, I think.<br /><br />Anyway, that's the news for now!<br /><br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5cIzkIFKd58?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5cIzkIFKd58?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-70069836397530206102010-09-27T19:04:00.002-06:002010-09-27T19:08:39.250-06:00I Am In Love, and Other Observations<span style="font-weight: bold;">Rhapsodizing:</span><br /><br />My first one had wheels. Cams, really. The Bowtech Black Knight 2, a compound bow featuring a formidable 80# draw weight, IBO rating of 353 feet per second, and an exacting nature that has been illuminated in some of my earlier posts. Compound bows are fantastical devices of great efficiency and power. I would, without reservation, recommend them to hunters and sharpshooters who want to diversify into something beyond rifles and pistols. You'll find that, once well set up, a compound bow will probably out shoot any pistol you have, as well as offering terminal performance that exceeds all but the ultra-magnums, which are in no way easy to shoot in their own right. <br /><br />As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Black Knight 2, while admittedly applying just about as much energy on target as is available, features fearsome levels of penetration. A 1250 page phone book was fully pierced by an arrow at 20 yards, with sufficient additional energy to push 6 to 8 inches into the target bag behind the book. That's plenty of power to take down anything on the continent, if you're a hunting enthusiast. Moose and bear included. If you put the arrow where it needs to be, something that a compound bow does not make unduly difficult, the animal will quickly succumb to its wounds. Think in terms of pistol ranges, however, with a 40 or 50 yard shot being at the edges of most people's ability to safely attempt. This is not to say the bows cannot shoot further, this is a limitation of the archer and his ability to practice at extended range. Professional archers routinely shoot at 90 or more yards with great precision. For most of us, though, we tend to find it hard to get a safe location where we can attempt such distances.<br /><br />The following question comes to mind: Why would anyone want to shoot any type of bow outside a compound? For many, those I might term "functional archers", they may find their alpha and omega in the compound bow. They are the most powerful, quietest, most accurate bows (for the layman) in existence. For many people who have shot firearms, especially long guns, they may find that the learning curve is fairly painless. If you can take a good stance, draw the bow to its stop, aim and hold steady, it's likely that your shot will hit very nearly where you're aiming. Compound bows are built in such a way as to make good accuracy an expectation, rather than a hard-won goal.<br /><br />That, perhaps, is very much the answer to the question referred to above. The skill required to shoot adequately to the purposes of deer season can be honed, at least by the shooter with some aptitude, over the course of a few months of consistent shooting. Of course, this isn't the end of the road, as there are always greater levels of marksmanship and consistency to be reached, but the ability to hit the vitals of a large mammal at 15 to 40 yards is often fruit that hangs low on the vine with a good compound bow.<br /><br />This last statement cannot, in most cases, be proven true with bows that lack the technical aids of sights, release aids, stabilizers, and sophisticated arrow rests. Traditional bows, as they are frequently called. It would be a foolish and unsupportable argument to make, were I to attempt to convince you that traditional bows, essentially bent sticks of wood or some elastic material, were superior in technical terms to a compound bow. They are not. They cannot store as much energy, or transfer it to the arrow as efficiently. They are far more reliant upon the flawed perceptions and spacial relationships of the human eye. They are in no way as simple to learn (to shoot--maintenance and tuning of a compound can be quite complex).<br /><br />However, when we thought of bows as children, when we read of the great exploits of archers in the days of yore, or when we envisioned bold heroes shooting down their enemies in our favorite fantasy novels, we did not picture the sophisticated machinery of a compound bow, did we? We pictured the graceful line of a "D" shaped longbow, or the sinuous outline of a recurve. We imagined the hard-won skill of an archer being the work of years, attributable to thousands of arrows shot and the keen honing of her abilities to account for distance, arc, windage, and angle of the terrain.<br /><br />For some of us, this greater level of difficulty and involvement are in no way a deterrent. They are very much an element we rejoice in, for the road is longer and more fraught with obstacles along the way. We can be more involved with the success or failure of each shot. When we hit the gold center of the target, it means more. We can trace a line back down thousands of years of human experience, knowing that the gentle thrum of the bow, followed by the almost inaudible whisper of the arrow and then the solid thunk of the impact on target are a point of commonality between us and our ancient forebears. We are participating in and extending the allure and wonder of archery.<br /><br />I've found, over the course of my admittedly short history of bow shooting, that I tend more toward traditional bows than compounds. If asked today to do some functional task with a bow, I would fall back to the compound, but for the joy of shooting, I just feel more of an affinity to the simpler mechanism of a traditional bow. While I rarely shoot more than 30 to 40 times with the Black Knight, I have been known to shoot literally hundreds of times through a day with my traditional bows. Some of that, perhaps, is attributable to the stern draw of the BK2, but that's not the whole story. There is something else at play that keeps me out there, shooting and retrieving arrows after I should probably have gone in.<br /><br />Okay, that's enough rhapsodizing for now. Let's get down to the news I wanted to convey for this week.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Love, Loss, and the Whole Affair:</span><br /><br />I am, after some false starts and difficulties, the proud owner of a longbow. That last requires explanation, I suppose, so I'll start from the beginning and take you through the whole affair.<br /><br />After having experienced the unalloyed joy of the PSE Snake recurve, then the beauty and surprising authority of the PSE Blackhawk wooden recurve, I took stock of my experiences thus far. I had a compound. I had two recurves, which a large percentage of "traditional" bows resemble. I did not, however, have a longbow of any sort. Advice given to me by a sage archer indicated that a bow that was longer would be more forgiving, and produce less string pinch on the fingers than its shorter counterpart. This launched me into a fact-finding frenzy wherein I scoured the 'Net to see what was out there, how people liked the offerings, and what I'd have to spend to get something of my own. I'd unwittingly built my brickwork in such a way as to trap myself into a mode of thinking that would result in my purchasing a longbow. I should fight against these unseen stratagems, but they are, in their early stages, well, unseen. Drats. Onward, then.<br /><br />I was knocking around at Cabela's outfitters several weeks ago, and I happened to go by the "Bargain Cave" area of the store, where they have a variety of close-outs, factory seconds, returns, and other marked-down products. There, leaning against the wall behind another bow rack filled with interesting but not immediately purchase-worthy bows, was a PSE Sequoia longbow, 55# at 68". It was long, it was tall, it was gorgeous. It was also marked down about $40. The danger part was in the "as is, no return" mark on the price tag. That, and the lack of string or arrow pass protective "bear hair" stick on material. <br /><br />I was throw into mental turmoil by this discovery. It was one of the leading candidates on my list of possibilities for purchase. Early competition came from the Fred Bear Montana Longbow, but I was underwhelmed with its appearance in person, as well as wondering if a paltry increase of 4 inches in length above my recurves would provide the requisite difference in "feel".<br /><br />So, the Sequoia. I agonized for several minutes, looking it over as thoroughly as I could under the circumstances. It seemed sound. I purchased a string to fit the bow, and had the techs set up a knocking point for me. Using the indoor range, any reservations I may have had were erased, as I was able to put every arrow suitable to the purpose of longbow shooting into their bull's eye. I was smitten, and utterly lost, it seemed.<br /><br />I arrived at home and faced the understandable consternation that comes from witnessing a person in the grips of bow madness. I strung the bow to show how prettily it made the "D" shape. I was making inroads into explaining myself. I then pulled the bow back to anchor, just as a demonstration. I noticed a bit of a creaking noise. Brow furrowed, I pulled once more, of course letting the bow down easily, as one must. More crackling. I examined the bow, finding that there was a tiny sliver of fiberglass sticking up. "Well," I thought. "Perhaps that's nothign fatal. I could just dab a bit of epoxy on that spot. We'll just..."<br /><br />I pulled the bow once more. This time, the crackling came with rather more volume. My heart plummeted as I saw that nearly a half an inch of fiberglass had begun to lift on the lower limb of the bow.<br /><br />After a frenzied call and much worry and consternation, I brought the bow back the next day. To their great credit, Cabela's allowed me to return it and gave me a full refund. I was warned, however, that Bargain Cave items don't guarantee any of that. I imagine there may be a "fool me twice" clause in their records. I resolved at that moment to buy only things that couldn't harbor unseen flaws from that area in the future.<br /><br />So, that evening, I sat at home, the proud owner of a bow stringer, a Flemish twist string, and a bow slip case for a bow I no longer possessed. Not, as you can imagine, an ideal turn of events. Accouterments are fine things, of course, but they are nothing without their primary implement.<br /><br />Approximately a week of agonizing followed. At last, I decided to give PSE and the Sequoia another chance. After all, I didn't know what had happened to that other bow before I'd taken possession of it. It could have been abused, dry-fired, or otherwise compromised. That production run could have been plagued with issues. Who knows? I elected to buy the next bow directly from PSE, however, as I didn't have any desire to get a middle man involved. If the bow blew up immediately, I was going to be able to talk directly with the manufacturer.<br /><br />Search as I might, there were no Sequoias available above 50# anywhere, so I went with that weight. My rationale for going with a higher weight than my recurve was that longbows are rarely quite as efficient in producing cast versus weight, and that they tend to need slightly less spine stiffness in their arrows. Thus, a higher draw longbow would probably work with the arrows that its lighter recurve compatriot prefers. In theory.<br /><br />The Sequoia took its darned sweet time coming. Holy moley. Weeks. I pined away and continued to have quiet bouts of fear that the second bow would be afflicted with the same problems as the first. I had time to second and third-guess myself. <br /><br />The bow came, however, and theories were then exposed to the observable facts. First, all of the positive things I'd observed about the first bow were still in evidence. It was light, pointable, and could be made to hit the target without massive difficulties. Honestly, the difference in feel between 55# and 50# were not terribly obvious to me. Both of them, despite their modest draw weight, threw an arrow with obvious power, depositing them in the target with a satisfying thud.<br /><br />My first impressions were that the bow was very quiet upon loose, and responded best to a smooth, deliberate approach. The speed I employed to draw to anchor generally slowed, compared to the recurve, which seemed happy enough with coming back to anchor as quickly as I chose. The 50# in the longbow feels more than five pounds more than the Blackhawk recurve's 45#, having a decidedly "man's bow" aura about it. This extends, to some degree, to the grip and hand shock qualitatives.<br /><br />With the arrows I'd been using for the Blackhawk (GT Pro Hunter 55/75s at full length with a 100 grain tip), there was a bit of extra handshock, and the bow shot somewhat to the left, indicating an excess of spine. With the Cabela's Stalker Extremes and 125 grain tips, the handshock decreased and the bow shot straighter. <br /><br />I initially tried split fingers, but quickly settled upon the three-fingers-under method as being more suitable to the bow. (As a note, I've gone back to three fingers with everything but the Snake as of now.) The handgrip initially came with a buckskin-type wrap of black leather. While this was pretty enough, the wrap wrinkled under my palm and caused me to get a blister on my first day out. I removed the wrap, only to find that very tenacious glue had been used to hold it on. I had quite a time getting it off, but it has, at last, been vanquished.<br /><br />As for commentary in terms of hand shock, with an arrow that runs somewhat over 400 grains, the quality is, to me, pleasing. It should be mentioned that I have quite rugged hands and wrists, and have been known to be somewhat recoil-insensitive. The best way for me to describe the handshock of the Sequoia is to say it is like a big cam lobe turning and allowing a heavy pushrod to come to its rest. To me, it feels very reassuring in the hand. I don't know of any earthly reason for a wrapped handle, as there is a slim arrow shelf on this bow. The tapered handle, with differing hand placements, should be fine, just being wood. This should particularly be the case, if you're able to hold the bow with the webbing between your thumb and forefinger, as has often been recommended.<br /><br />I installed some string dampeners that are humorously dubbed "Beaver Balls". All kidding aside, they're small bits of beaver pelt that one wraps around the string and secures by sliding them between filaments therein. They only further dampen the bow, allowing it to be even quieter. The Sequoia makes no more than a low mutter as it propels the arrow, provided that I don't twist or otherwise interfere with the string with a clumsy release.<br /><br />Power-wise, arrows from the Blackhawk and Sequoia seem to penetrate a broadhead target (with broadheads) about the same distance. I would say that their energy may be roughly commensurate. With a heavier arrow, it is possible that the Sequoia may be able to confer slightly more, but I believe that the Blackhawk may have the edge in efficiency. With that, the sound of the arrow arriving at the target is decidedly different with the Sequoia. It seems, for lack of a better description, to just have a more powerful, authoritative sound. <br /><br />Accuracy is, and will always be, something that is produced by the synergy of the archer and the bow. Generalizations are difficult to make, I think. That said, I will attempt to confer some useful information. With the Sequioa, it is easier to hit the dead center of the target, whether it be a gold area on the paper, or the middle of a milk jug. That said, it is also easier to have a lapse in form and have the arrow go significantly astray. The Sequoia is harder on my draw hand, and I've had mildly sore fingers after some extended shoots. I already mentioned the blister on my bow hand, though it has now become a callous.<br /><br />I have been shooting the Sequoia nearly every day now, and though I have also interspersed shooting with my other bows, it has become the one I use the most. I am in no way less enthused about the Blackhawk or the Snake than I was, but the Sequoia...there's something about it. <br /><br />I should, before I close up this long rumination, say a few things about the Sequoia and how it compares to other longbows. In today's market, longbows can come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The "modern longbow" is often, in fact, a flatbow, with the limbs being flat on the face and belly, exhibiting a rectangular structure. <br /><br />Another term you may see is "American Longbow", which indicates a cross-pollination between standard English Longbows and the flat bow, which many Native American tribes used in antiquity. In addition, the modern or American longbow will usually have a slim arrow rest. They can also have "reflexed" limbs or a "deflexed" grip that does not flex in the hand. Reflexed limbs, when unstrung, flex slightly away from the handle. Not so much as to be recurved, but perhaps a total of several degrees of reflex between the two limbs. The Sequoia does this, by the way. Deflexed handles are somewhat forward of the limbs, and are said to reduce hand shock somewhat. Most modern longbows are flat, have an arrow shelf, and are built with some moderate reflex/deflex. Sequoia is, by all these terms, a modern longbow. That said, it still produces the classic "D" shape when braced, and has many of the classic advantages of a longbow. With its bamboo and fiberglass-backed limbs, though, it produces more power at its draw weight than a classic longbow would do.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Talking in Definitions:</span><br /><br />What, then, is a classic longbow? The most essential answer to that would be a single piece of wood, most frequently yew, in which the back of the bow would be flat, and made from the outer ring of "sap wood", while the belly of the bow would be round in profile, using the heart wood. The bow would be straight as a pole or slightly curved toward the string's curvature (referred to as "following the string" or "taking set"), and would feature no arrow shelf, allowing either right or left-handed people to shoot the same bow, by shooting off of their bow hand knuckle. At most, a handle of wrapped cord, fabric, or rawhide would be provided. The handle would be essentially round. In the most archaic versions of a longbow, it would "work through the grip", which means that the grip itself would flex slightly as one drew back the string. Later versions strengthened the grip area sufficiently to prevent this flex. <br /><br />Classic longbows could be made from laminations, if good yew wood were not available, though. Woods that were frequently used included lancewood, hickory, and several others. The very heavy longbows that were used in warfare were mostly made with laminations of yew, often from the Spanish or Italian mountains. These conformed to the longbow shape, but were generally referred to as War Bows. As testament to the rigors that humans are willing to embark upon when called to defend their country, these war bows featured very high draw weights, sometimes upward of 150#. While but few of us today, with our video game fingers and noodle like arms, could manage to draw such mighty bows, the little folk of years gone by twisted, contorted, and sometimes literally altered their frames to do so. It's said that the muscle and joint structures of an archer from the 15th century are clearly marked by the difficulties of his trade.<br /><br />In today's age, if you want to get a bow that conforms to a classic longbow's ideals, you'll want to look at bows marked "English Longbow", or perhaps one of the sort marked "Primitive Bows". I have yet to go that far back into history, but that doesn't mean that I won't. If I do, you'll surely hear about it on Wolf Hawkwind. After this intolerably long blog, then, I'll just leave you with this. Longbows, modern or not, have a certain magic. I've felt that magic, and I am in love.Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-44634347330959704472010-09-15T11:34:00.001-06:002010-09-15T11:36:49.717-06:00Range Report 9/15/10Hey, folks:<br /><br />Here's the latest archery news from this quadrant.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Night Gallery:</span><br /><br />I'm pleased to say that the new orientation of my target backstop, now itself being backstopped by the garage, is working out swimmingly. I can shoot from a variety of angles and distances, up to about 22 yards, with no problems, and without putting any innocent bystanders in danger.<br /><br />As a bonus, the change puts the backstop on the east end of the backyard, which allows for late afternoon shooting without facing the sun. Also, this is the "light" end of the yard at night, with some residual illumination from a nearby street lamp. Thus, my night gallery* hi jinx are easier to pull off. I just put my little battery powered lamp on the patio table, and I have all the light I could need, even on a cloudy night. It's pretty swell, considering that, at least two days per week, it's dark by the time I come home from work, and I might still need to scratch "that itch".<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Heavy Arrows:</span><br /><br />I read more about arrow weight vs. draw weight in the various nooks and crannies of the Internet, and found that my arrows were not necessarily overly heavy for the draw weight/length of my recurve, the sweet 'lil PSE Blackhawk. To test, I tried using a heavy (nearly 600 grain) Easton 2317 aluminum arrow at @30 overall length. Now, this is a bit short and a lot too stiff for the bow in question, but I wanted to feel what the difference would be in terms of shooting dynamics. The structure of the Blackhawk recurve's arrow shelf is such that it gives you about two inches of effective overdraw, as the hollow of the handle is well forward of the back of the arrow shelf. This allowed me, with care, to shoot the 2317s, which had been prepared for a compound bow. <br /><br />I found out a few things. One, a heavier arrow does, indeed make a recurve shoot somewhat more smoothly. While the arrows I normally use, which are a few hundred grains lighter, don't produce any untoward hand shock or loud noise, the heavier arrows made the release nearly "dead in the hand" and quieted the bow even further. Downside? The big Eastons shoot way to the left, as they've got too much spine stiffness.<br /><br />My second experiment, and the goofier one, was to fill one of my Gold Tip carbons, which are more or less correctly spined for the bow, with sand, to see how that turned out. I did. According to the rough accuracy of a food scale, the weight went from 30 grams (around 460 grains) to 64 grams (around 1,000 grains). The arrow shot fine, hit the target with a heck of a wallop, but moved pretty darned slowly. Obviously, the elevation aiming point changed.<br /><br />In the end, I shot the weighted and unweighted arrows cheek by jowel, and found that there wasn't enough difference to fiddle with all of them, trying to get the right amount of sand in each one. Anyway, I wonder how healthy that would have been for the arrows, over the long haul. <br /><br />Because I'm still interested in a little more weight, I've ordered 145 grain bullet points for the Gold Tip arrows, just to see how that goes. It would add 45 grains to the front of the arrow, and it's possible that it will push them close to being underspined for the recurve, but we'll see. On the other hand, they might be the very thing for the longbow that I have on order (more on that in a moment).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lean Angles, Draw Hand and Alternate Shooting Stances:</span><br /><br />I noticed that, for a few shooting sessions with my Blackhawk, I was having some problems with shooting to the right, which was a new one. It turned out that I was canting the bow too much, a bleed-over from the best angle for the Snake, which is more over-spined with the Cabela's Stalker Extreme arrows I'm using. I straightened up, and hey, the arrows flew a true course. Wonder of wonders.<br /><br />I've gone back to a split finger draw with the Blackhawk. After a few light hearted shots without any draw hand protection one day, I found that the split finger felt more natural with that bow. I've been using it since, and find it to cause less asymmetrical force on the string, as well as being comfortable and repeatable. I'm not closing the book on three-fingers-under, but for my recurves, split fingers seems to be the very thing.<br /><br />Shooting from alternate stances has been something that I've been interested in of late. I have tried, in small measure, a variety of different ways of shooting. These include stooping or squatting, kneeling, and even sitting down. I can do all of these with pretty decent results with the Snake, but I've practiced less with the Blackhawk. <br /><br />I did quite a bit of practice yesterday. Here are my findings. From a double-knee kneeling posture, I'm possibly more accurate than standing up. It's very natural. I don't really have to change anything, and I'm still far enough from the ground to use my normal bow lean without worrying about hitting the ground (with a 60 inch bow). Kneeling with one knee (left) up, is not too bad, but not quite as natural as double knee. I think it might "open" my effective stance a little more than I'm used to. Still, it's certainly not bad. Seated position makes me lean the Blackhawk too far, and the aim point is such that I have to aim several inches to the left of my target. Offset aiming in two vectors is tough for my little brain to work out sometimes, so I feel like that one's sort of a no-go. As to stooping, as long as the shot isn't really long, it works just fine.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Going Lefty and Snap Shooting:</span><br /><br />I've been having great fun shooting the Snake bow left handed. I find that, if I'm deliberate, I can get really good results. Due to the change in flight dynamics (something of a mystery to me), I can hold the bow nearly straight up and down, and get good flight from the left handed stance. Go figure. Anyway, that takes one thing out of the loop in terms of things to remember. I may, at some point, get a bow with now arrow shelf, so that I can trade back and forth with a heavier bow than the Snake. As it stands, it's my trick bow.<br /><br />I read about short bows and snap shooting online, and was interested to see if I could do it. I'd been trying snap shooting (not pulling the string back all the way, using a floating aiming point and just "eyeballing" where the arrow will go) while pretending a milk jug was a fish, but I hadn't tried it while shooting at a standard target.<br /><br />Well, I tried it with the Blackhawk last night. From ten yards away, I'm pretty darned good at it, it turns out. The thing that really surprised me is the power retained while not pulling the bow back more than about 20 or 22 inches (a guess). It still thuds into the target with pretty good power. I would venture a guess that, with practice, one could get nearly as good from 7 to 10 yards at snap shooting as they are when shooting conventionally. Great fun, and lets you know what the cultures whose bows wouldn't pull back to the chin/mouth/ear anchor had to contend with. I should mention that, to my knowledge, most archaic cultures that used shorter bows had this constraint. It's do-able, though. Just like anything, it takes practice with the bow in question. If you're to be a real archery student, I think you'll find it worth a go.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Waiting for My Longbow:</span><br /><br />I purchased a PSE Sequoia longbow (55#) a few weeks ago from Cabela's "Bargain Cave", after having been smitten and altogether put beyond the reach of reason by its beauty and sweet shooting. However, someone had obviously mistreated the bow before I took possession of it, as it began to de-laminate upon the first test draw when I got it home. I took the bow back, and though they didn't have to, as it was an "as is" purchase, Cabela's did allow me to return the bow for a refund. <br /><br />I was so bummed out. In reality, I was in the dumps about the whole thing. I had liked that bow, big time. Should I trust the make/model again, or should I look for my entertainment elsewhere? On the night of Labor Day, I made up my mind. I would order another one, this time from PSE directly. So I did. I am still waiting for the bow, as there was an inventory issue, it seems. There were no 55# bows available, so I ordered a 50# instead. I just got confirmation that it shipped today, so I hope that it will appear at my house by Friday or Saturday. Expect a detailed report. Man, I hope this one holds together and shoots like the other one. I've got a Flemish Twist string (nock point installed and everything), a bow case, a stringer, some string silencers, and a Bear Hair rest for this bow. It had better do me right. I think it will, though, because my experience with my other two PSE bows has been so positive.<br /><br />All right, that's enough for now. Hope everyone's well. <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">* Note: Night Gallery is what my cousin Bob dubbed my archery practice in the dark.</span>Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37334857.post-63252280841513695252010-09-13T17:56:00.003-06:002010-09-13T18:05:22.263-06:00New *Contributed* Story at NBNS!Hey Folks,<br /><br />Big News (well, big for me, anyway)!<br /><br />My friend Kelly Swails has kindly, and to my great benefit, chosen to let me feature one of her stories at my Nasty, Brutish, and Short flash fiction website. It's a short blast of sweet, sweet cannibalism, just like you folks have been asking for. I'm both proud and pleased to have it associated with my little site.<br /><br />Great thing is...she wrote it in second person. It's a story about YOU, and how you crave the flesh of the living. What could be better? I don't know. Maybe a donut. Naw. It would take a fricken' BACON DONUT to be better than that.<br /><br />I suggest you stop what you're doing, right this second, and <a href="http://nbns.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/the-last-breakfast/">Read Kelly's Story.</a> (The linky deal just now was where you wanted to click. Yeah. You. Go back. Finish reading my blather in a few minutes, when you're done with Kelly's stuff.)<br /><br />If you want to know more about Kelly, <a href="http://www.kellyswails.com/">Here's Her Official Website</a>, and <a href="http://kelly-swails.livejournal.com/">Here's Her Blog</a>. <br /><br />Okay, I'm done bossing you around now. As you were.Patrick M. Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366666601869757080noreply@blogger.com0