From: Godfrey de Shipbrook <jlee@smylex.UUCP>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Eulogy for Axel Bandit
Date: Sat,  9 Jan 93 19:18:18 EST
Organization: Shipbrook Software  (Tampa, FL)

Greetings from Godfrey!  Sorry this is a little long...

Lord Ian of Gloucester writes:

> I am not surprised at Axel the Bandit's reception or his reaction to it.

Nor am I, but probably for a different reason.  All of Axel's prior 
articles seemed to contain the underlying (and sometimes blatant) 
statement `I shall do whatever I want to, even though I know it is
contrary to the aims and traditions of the SCA.'

Bearing that in mind, I have a hard time believing that he was simply
standing around out of the way and was immediately set upon by that
scourge of fun everywhere, the dreaded (insert diminished 7th chord
here, sforzando-piano with crescendo) *Authenticity Police*.

We shall probably never know the full story, for truly every tale has
two sides.  Yet the tale he told does not fit with what I have personally
experienced in the Society.  I have seen groups where any new face is
immediately welcomed.  Unfortunately, I have seen groups where newcomers
were immediately ignored.  Yet I have never encountered one where someone
wearing an attempt at period clothing (even just a T-tunic over jeans and 
sneakers) was roundly castigated while minding his own business, as our
erstwhile former poster claimed.

Certainly, from his writings, it appears that he went into the situation 
expecting exactly what he reported; such attitudes are ultimately self-
fulfilling prophecies, even if the incidents are more perceived than real.


> The SCA used to recruit heavily, was tolerant of newcomers, and bent over
> backwards to help new members.

It still is, at least where I am.  Recently, I heard one peer complain
that the Barony of Wyvernwood recruited *too* heavily.  I suppose it's a
regional thing; your mileage may vary.


> The problem is partially that the recruiting function has become
> officialized.  If you expect someone else to be doing it, you don't
> want to get in the way, or at least you don't want someone telling
> you that you are unauthorized.

I suspect that this, too, is a regional difference.  Here, it's quite
common for non-hospitallers to take newcomers under their wings and
teach them about the SCA.


> Listen to people on the net talking about newbies giving reporters the
> wrong impression and you will see this rearing its ugly head.

It's not just newbies.  To me, it only makes sense to let reporters 
talk to the people who can give them accurate information.  This is
not necessarily limited to newbies-versus-oldbies, either; some of the 
things I've heard experienced members tell people about the SCA would
make you shudder!


> The SCA was once primarily scruffy, blue jeaned people with velour
> custumes, now you need a degree in history for anyone to talk to you.

Am I reading the wrong newsgroup?  I've never encountered this in the SCA
with which I am familiar...


> Sort of like the problem with rock and roll.

Which problem is this?


> I had a vicious argument about 15 years ago with my seneschale about
> the discouragement of a member just because he was a wee bit (OK a lot)
> weirder than the rest of us.

Is it fair to take the actions of your seneschale and project them onto
the entire SCA?  Yes, there are people who want only `their kind' in the
SCA, but fortunately most SCAdians are tolerant of those who follow a
different Dream.


> Since then I have seen some of the more laid back members become
> authenticity nuts

Apart from the pejorative that you use, what's wrong with that?  I
used to be `laid back,' as you say it: a simple T-tunic and moccasins
were my typical garb; the music I sang was as often as not completely
unperiod; my calligraphy was learnt from Speedball manuals, rather than
by perusing primary sources.  Authenticity mattered not one whit to me.

Then I discovered that authenticity was not a Bad Thing.  I researched
my garb, and felt better wearing it when it was as authentic as my
finances and meagre skills could make it.  It is only reluctantly, and
then only by request, that I sing filk and other out-of-period music at
events these days; the period stuff, to me, is much more beautiful to
sing.  My skill (and, I will admit, my pride) in calligraphy has gone
up immeasurably since I began studying extant or facsimile examples to
learn the techniques; likewise with my fencing.

Yet I am not a member of the `Authenticity Police'; yes, it's true I'd
be happier if more people were interested in doing things authentically,
but if someone wants to do something differently, I say nothing.  It's
not my place to condemn, and I know I wouldn't have appreciated it when
I was younger.  A love for authenticity is something one must find for
oneself; it cannot be thrust upon someone.


> and byzantine politics mavens.

Ecch!  I am in wholehearted agreement with this one.  I know that some
people find joy in nasty politics, but this is an attitude that I do not
(and hopefully shall never) share.


> Chill Out!!  The SCA is rapidly becoming a Yuppie DAR.

Perception is everything, I suppose...


> If you want to be intellectual
> there is the Academy and other academic organizations that will critique
> your research.  If you want to have a party in the grand arthurian style
> the SCA should be the place to go.

Here again, we truly differ.  The SCA is big enough (and hopefully, we
its members are all *mature* enough) that *BOTH* views can peacefully
coexist within the same Society.  Was it not you, some few paragraphs
earlier, who disapproved of your seneschale trying to discourage a
member who was different?  Fie, Lord Ian!  Is that not like unto the pot
who stated that the kettle had an albedo of zero?


> I say Romance before Research and style over substance, because the
> SCA cannot compete in either research or substance.

If those who find delight in research and substance have no right to
tell you that you should be more authentic, what right have you to
tell them that *they* have no place in the SCA?  Intolerance, Lord Ian,
can occur in both camps, and it is just as heinous wherever it occurs.


> I mourn for the good old days when it was more important to have fun
> than tell people to put on the appropriate clothes.

And I mourn for the days when those who called for tolerance were 
themselves tolerant.

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Net:  Jeff Lee / jlee@smylex.uucp / jlee%smylex.uucp@tscs.tscs.com     |
| SCA:  Lord Godfrey de Shipbrook / Wyvernwood, Trimaris                 |
|       Per pale azure and argent, a clarion counterchanged or and gules |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    "The only thing that helps me maintain my slender grip on reality
    is the friendship I share with my collection of singing potatoes."
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca