Greg Gagnon's Personal Page

This will eventually have all sorts of things, including hobbies and such. Unfortunately, work came first. What a surprise. ;-)

Here are a couple of links just to get started:

Society for Creative Anachronism
Books
DVD
Organizations

The Society For Creative Anachronism

A medieval reenactment organization with the first emphasis on the ambience of a chivalric-based society.

Books

Books are an integral part of my life. I can not conceive of being without them, nor would I want to do so. Here are some of the things I am currently reading for pleasure.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) (Hardcover)
I confess, I need to know. I need to know if Dumbledore is really dead. I need to know if Snape is a bad guy, or just hates Harry because of his father. I need to know if/who important is going to die. I need to know what happens. I don't need to know badly enough to have been following the fan sites, but I do need to know badly enough to pre-order. Although I waited until the third was finished before starting the series, I made up for it quickly. Since we happened to be in Reading when the 6th came out, we have both an American and a UK edition. I only hope she does a better job with this epic than was done with Star Wars.



The Matador Series - Steve Perry
This series started in 1985, and I started reading them then, in my first tour in Germany. At the time I was new in the Army, in the SCA, and generally young. If you are interested in seeing some of what came of that visit my SCA Persona page at http://www.macquaid.org/way.

The first book The Man Who Never Missed was outstanding and includes martial arts, philosophy, and sex, always a good combination. It describes the personal journey of someone, Emile Antoon Khadaji, with the vision, the skills, and the courage to stand up against an oppressive monolith. I was shocked by the arrival of Matadora, but devoured it.  I wanted to know more of the story and this tale followed one of his associates as she searched for meaning following the events of the previous book. I was very unhappy with the ending of Matadora, not becoause it was irrational, but because it meant another book was coming that I couldn't yet buy. You are fortunately spared the anguish of waiting. When The Macchiavelli Interface arrived I read it immediately. It was as good as I expected and I was happy to re-read the others to get the full story arc.

There are several more books that followed, filling out the story line of the othe Matador's and significant characters in the other books.  The 97th Step is Pen's story. The Albino Knife tells of Emile's daughter (surprise). Black Steel is one of Sleel's adventures. Brother Death tells the story of Bork. The Omega Cage is a little of Juete's story. The Musashi Flex reveals the story of the developer of Sumito. There is still room for a description of the founding of the Brotherhood of the Shroud, which I hope will be forthcoming. Unfortunately, The Musashi Flex is the only one of these magnificent books still in print.



The Lens Of The World Series - R.A. MacAvoy
Another favorite series of mine that I am revisiting is R.A. MacAvoy's Lens of the World series. It starts with Lens of the World, our introduction to Nazhuret. His development and education are the focus of this book. His story continues with King of the Dead and conclude, sort of, in Belly of the Wolf. His story includes the action I require in an entertainment read, with philosophy and a medieval fantasy theme in the mix. Unfortunately this series is also out of print, except for a trade-paperback version of Lens of the World.


The Kundalini Equation - Steven Barnes
Sorry, this is not a series, but it IS out of print. Am I that old? (No comments out there)
This is a great book about the possibilities of the mind, martial arts, and meditation.

Comments
If you have read several of these books you will find that there are things they have in common. They all deal with the potential of the trained, determined, human (mue) body, mind, and spirit. I believe that the human being is capable of so much more than they usually do. In so many arenas our capabilities are almost unlimited, but we need to reach out for them.


DVD

I don't get to spend as much time watching movies as I used to, but I do enjoy it when I have time. I don't want too much real life in my movies, there is plenty of that already. I like action movies, musicals, comedies, or martial arts.

300
What can I say about a comic book adaptation of the heroic battle that made democracy possible? I find it interesting that the Spartans, an autocratic, slave-owning, authoritarian group, are made to sound like the Scots of Braveheart. At any moment they could have given out that cry "Freedom!", but it would not be too historically correct. Fortunately, this is a comic book and accuracy is not what I expect from it. What I did expect was what I got: visually strong, stylized action on a base of truth. The movement is great, the images are strong, and the story is believable, if not 100% accurate. I also find it interesting that there are people who attribute a political message to this. This is thoroughly worth getting and I am holding out for the 2 disk edition. This is one I will get again in HD, once the format wars are over, but it is available now in both Blu-Ray and a combo Standard/HD-DVD. If you want more of the story, there is the History Channel Special. For the inspiration there is the original The 300 Spartans. To round out the selection are the wide screaan and full screen single-disk versions.


The Karate Kid
This is a long time favorite that I can share with my kids. The stories are good, and the action is decent. I just found out about the 4 volume set after having watched the first again and come to look for the others.



Organizations

The Patriot Guard Riders http://www.patriotguard.org/
The Patriot Guard Riders provide motorcycle escorts for military funerals and bodies returning from overseas. I don't get to ride much, but when I do, this is where I do it. Any bike welcome (mine is a Honda ST1100).

Disabled American Veterans http://www.dav.org/
No surprise what this is. I barely qualify, but want to support their cause. 

Veterans of Foreign Wars http://www.vfw.org/
As above.

The Grand Lodge of Texas, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons http://www.grandlodgeoftexas.org/
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