PhillyChimp

GFS reunion last night, not a lot to say.

I will say, however, that Alex has gone completely feral. There is no other way to put it. Wow.

Check it out.

~NYCGorilla

Now this, my friends, is the proper way to construct a taco.

http://www.collegehumor.com/movies/1621428/

~NYCGorilla

Killing pixels, of course. This site might take you back:

The sounds of Warcraft II.

Wow. Good times.

This ad for Carlton Draught is the greatest beer ad.... EVER!

Suburban Lemur and I were having a conversation yesterday about the largest employers in Philadelphia. He was under the impression that UPenn was the largest non-government employer in the city. I thought otherwise, maintaining that there were one or two larger according to a Planning Commission document I had seen earlier.

It turns out that Suburban Lemur was correct. Upenn is the largest non-government employer in the city.

Here is the top 10:

Federal Government: 32,000
City of Philadelphia (General Fund and Self Supporting Depts): 26,580
Philadelphia School District (including professional and support staff): 22,500
University of Pennsylvania: 14,300
Jefferson Health System: 14,300
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: 11,100
SEPTA: 8,500
UPenn Health System: 8,300
Temple university: 7,000
Tenet Health System: 7,000

Interestingly, if you consolidate UPenn with the health system, it jumps to No. 3 with 22,600. This puts it ahead of the school district, which was another one of SL's assertions.

For the full list, just log onto the PCPC website at www.philaplanning.org

Cheers,

PhillyChimp

An interesting opportunity presented itself yesterday. On the invitation of a friend from college, I went down to a nearby park to participate in a Dagorhir battle. My friend once said that among all LARPs Dagorhir does the best job of striking a balance between realism and safety, and I see no reason to disagree. When I got to the park there were about twenty-five people milling around or trickling in, with an array of weapons ranging from all sorts of swords, cleavers, daggers, maces, and flails to more exotic items such as javelins, arrows, and rocks (a hunk of foam covered with a sock). And of course shields in all shapes and sizes. The weapons are mostly made of fiberglass cores with foam padding, and shields are made of foam or padded wood. All of the equipment is then covered with colored cloth to look neat and surprisingly like what it actually represents, and various designs are often drawn on the cloth. Armor is allowed, and there are rules for how much of an advantage it conveys, but all types of armor are equal. So while your own personal, handmade, “Godly Plate of the Whale” might look neat, it still breaks after it takes a direct hit, and it’s damn heavy. (My friend remarked that he thinks the most overpowered rig is that of a legionnaire, with a tower shield, leather armor that is light but covers everything, a sword, and a pair of javelins.) More or less all of the equipment is handmade by its owner. As a first-timer, I borrowed gear from my friend, in the form of a mace, a punch shield, a tunic, and a pair of leather bracers. (Sorry, no pictures!)

Battles are monthly gatherings when an entire chapter turns out. I was with the Taurendor chapter. There were warm-up fights, then a massive free for all in which each fighter had three lives. The order in which we died for the last time was recorded, and we were divided into two sides based on it (first to die to one team, second to the other, third to the first, etc). Then we had our teams, and began to fight out a series of scenarios, although I could only stay for the first one, which was raiding a mountaintop outpost. Once you had twenty-five guys on the field running at each other in groups, it was very impressive. Besides having various sorts of armor (including some insane helmets), each fighter put considerable effort into wearing generally “period” clothing – tunics, face paint, chain mail, leggings, etc, etc. When battle was joined, there was all of the shouting orders and roaring at each other that you would expect of American males pretending it’s 1291.

And yet the strategic elements were obvious and easy to start to pick up on. When fighting with sword and shield against a berserker, get your shield up and charge. When facing a shield wall, attempt to flank it. Do not ever allow yourself to be flanked. If the enemy is surrounding you, charge the weakest point of their line, hoping to break through before their stronger fighters or greater numbers rush in behind you. When one of your men is wounded in one leg and immobile but still able to fight, use them as a stationary defensive position – you can either push the enemy towards them or stand with them and wait for the enemy to come to you. And when circling you want to turn around so that the sun is in the enemy’s eyes, not yours.

Then there’s the culture. Oh the culture. Where to begin. The short of it is that while I’m sure LARPers are much more normal than people assume they are, when you get them all together to fight a battle, they go nuts. Nerdy teenage boy nuts, although many of them were in their twenties and some might have been thirty. (It’s fun for all ages!) At first, with the very cool looking gear, I was thinking I should get into it. Make myself some badass armor, build more upper body strength (the gear is light, but being hit again and again makes your arms tired), and become the meanest fighter Taurendor has ever seen! Then I was like….wait. No way. If I ever actually had the spare time to make myself armor, I would instead get a job, or a girlfriend, or if those were covered (at this point I must be some fabulously successful early retiree), volunteer for something really worth the time, such as the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild and Gazela.

And for all that young guys posturing and being tough and so on is funny, it’s not a culture I fit into easily. I don’t plan to go back.

But man, hitting stuff. That’s a good time.

Fweek? Fweek! Fwagah? Fwagah! Fweek, fweek, fwagah, fweek.

W00t.

~NYCGorilla

A good man:

http://www.break.com/articles/newsmonkey.html

~NYCGorilla

Who says that higher apes are more intelligent?

Hello, internet.

Announcement:


Feed-Demon is the coolest thing ever! That is all! Klingon Empire out.

Thought I'd start this out on the correct note: Belgium Witbier. Amazing stuff.
See: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/48/
Oddly enough, grades improving this semester. Back to studying.

~NYCGorilla

Ok. It has all become clear. Roy Williams of the Dallas Cowbows has denfinately sold his soul to the devil.

For those who missed it, the steelers ran one of the cooooolest plays ever during the third quarter against cleveland. Tommy Maddox handed off to Duce Staley who then gave the ball to Antwaan Randle El on a reverse who then turned downfield and threw a 51 yard TD reception to Hines Ward, making this play a reverse flea flicker. Bill Cowher, the football gods smile upon thee and thine absurdly large chin.

~PhillyChimp

Feel free to throw rotten fruit and/or pick insects out of the fur of your neighbor. Don't worry, its hygenic. Also, check back regularly for thoughts and observations produced by some seriously under developed minds.

~Phillychimp