Brett Hull Night

So last night was Brett Hull night, when the Blues retired Brett's number 16 for all time. I missed the very beginning of the ceremony because I had to work late (my supervisor called literally as I was walking to the door), but I was there for all of the important parts. Brett gave a good speech, and it was just as good a ceremony as when they retired Al MacInnis' number at the end of last season. Actually, it was pretty much the same ceremony. It was cool that Bobby Hull was there, and he enjoyed himself razzing the local fans about how he played for CHICAGO, which always drew a chorus of boos, which just made him laugh. I'll bet the Hulls have had some interesting family gatherings while Brett was playing here.

After a great ceremony, I got to watch a horrible game. That may have been the worst hockey performance I have ever seen (by St. Louis; Detroit played well), including the minor league and high school games I have seen in my life. Seriously depressing. The Blues couldn't even pass, and they were always out of synch, almost never having anybody in proper position the entire 60 minutes. I actually left after the second period, as I just couldn't take it anymore. Still, the retirement ceremony was great, and even though Brett Hull is somewhat of a jerk, his performance on the ice was deserving of this honor, so I am glad I was there.

By the Sword

By the Sword by Richard Cohen, 2003, Modern Library

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the seminal modern work on the history of fencing. This book is not really about how to fence, but about its history and many of the colorful characters that have taken up steel over the millenium. For not being an experienced author, Mr. Cohen does an admirable job of covering the subject in a thorough, and thoroughly readable, manner. The stories in here touch on many subjects, from the samurai of Japan to ancient duelling practices, to modern Olympic fencing champions.

One should note, however, that while all of these subjects are included in the book, this book is really about fencing, and not swordsmanship (or swordsmen) in general. The book's subtitle is "A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions." This isn't completely accurate, however, as the gladiators get a page or so, the musketeers get one chapter, and samurai get a few paragraphs and one good story about Miyamoto Musashi. Swashbuckling gets a chapter on swordfighting in movies, but most of the book is about fencing in the modern sense. As an experienced fencing champion, obviously the author knows much about this subject, but I must admit that I was expecting a more broad-based discussion of swordfighting over the years, which isn't what this book is really about. I must also note that the book is rather long, and especially towards the end there is just too much detail for a gneralist to take on all of the travails of fencing over the last 50 years. I just don't care enough, I guess.

That aside, the first half of the book is marvelous, touching on such disparate topics as medieval dueling practices, ancient Japanese codes of honor, and why what you see of swordfighting in movies is pretty much all wrong. I really enjoyed the discussions of how different swordfighting techniques evolved over the years, and how each European country tended to develop its own unique styles, even favoring special weapons designed for those styles. If more swordfighting was discussed in schools, the boys at least would likely show more of an interest in history. Pretty much everybody at least knew something of dueling a few hundred years ago, and this book has helped me to understand why that was and how it played into overall society. So, in the end this is a good book, but it is somewhat too long and too exculsively focused on fencing in the end.

In This RPG

Can't ... stop ... laughing ...

Home, Sweet Home

Well, I made it safely back to St. Louis today. I had to spend an hour getting 6 inches of sleet off of my car, and the entire neighborhood was out at the grocery store when I stopped by on my way home, but I made it and I am now here and in no mood to leave. Because I was arriving so late in the afternoon I ended up cancelling my evening plans, so I have found myself with nothing to do. But wait! Is that a hockey game on TV? It is! Must watch...

Stuck in Seattle

Well, at this point I am supposed to be at my own home in St. Louis, but instead I am in Seattle, at the airport Hilton, since American Airlines cancelled my flight. I don't blame them, as calls home to my parents and my brother confirmed that the situation is really quite bad back in the Lou. So, even though I am stuck in Seattle, the weather is good and I'm not flirting with death trying to drive on icy roads. So, yeah, stuck without a car at the hotel, so I'm blogging on a Friday night. I should also mention that I am missing my Firm's holiday party tonight, but sometimes there just isn't anything you can do about it. I am in a pretty good mood, overall, which is a nice change from the past when a situation like this would have stressed me out like crazy. Instead, I was nice and relaxed the entire way. And props to my American Express travel assistant for booking me on a first class seat tomorrow to get home, which should make the flight smooth, at least.