SCA in a Parade: An Experience

Yesterday, being Labor Day, there was a parade in my town with various organizations, schools, groups, and other people in the parade to entertain the locals. When I was in high school I walked in the parade with the group I was in then. Being in the SCA now I found out they march every year to promote the organization, help recruit, and just kind of show off. We also have a demonstration after the parade for people to come and see what we are about. I decided to march in the parade with the group.

Anyone who wants to march is allowed. There are armored combat fighters who stop every once in while to battle each other to applause and cheers. I didn’t actually count but we had 5-6 fighters. They are in full gear like when they really fight, because they are hitting almost as hard as during actual combat. The only difference here is that all the shots are arm, shoulder, and body since no one is going to die and leg shots are not allowed so everyone can still walk.

We also had one archer, one of the comedic actors, one boffer fighter in full gear, one boffer carrying a sword only, a few children in garb, one gentleman in garb and several ladies in garb. The gentleman and one of the ladies in garb had pamphlets to hand out to those who seemed interested in what we were wearing or did while we marched. We also had a banner to show off who we were. It was a generic SCA banner that did say Society for Creative Anachronism. I helped carry the banner by choice. I had decided previously I wasn’t going to try and fight and walk.

It was hot and miserable; even in short sleeves and thin material. It wasn’t a light color, unfortunately, but I don’t own many in light colors yet. Of course most people were wearing long sleeves so they weren’t any better off than me. We try to keep up with the cars in front of us, which was the group in front of us. We did ok for a while, but when we got up to where they announced each group, somehow they got ahead of us by a lot. And we ended up very spread out as well from the fighters stopping to fight. The announcers also said anachronism wrong. I think we should tell them how to pronounce it prior. Some people applauded as we walked. Probably those that know what we are about already. At one point I heard a bunch of little kids point at the fighters and say “Look Knights”. I had to laugh since not all fighters are.

At the end we all were hot, sweaty, and grateful for the water that had been hidden in the wagon which was pulled along by someone. We all drank to cool off and were sprayed with water bottles as well. Then we made the short trek back to where the demo location was going to be a little later. It was a fun experience I will definitely do again. Unfortunately there are not any pictures yet but once I have some, I will post them.

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With Independence Day today, I thought a nod to the undertones in movies to this was appropriate. It wouldn’t seem like there would be that many but in fact there are some everyone when you start to look at things in different ways. Many of them are about getting out from tyranny but even that is independence.

BBC’s Robin Hood, one of my weekly posts, is definitely about independence from the evil Sheriff who is abusing his power while the king is away. In other versions it is Prince John who has this role and the Sheriff is just a helper. But Robin and is gang are always trying to thwart the bad person and gain independence for the people from the evil being done.

Movies such as Elizabeth, Krull, and Princess Bride have elements of this as well. Elizabeth may be the ruler of England but she is just a woman. And in the time period she lived, woman were considered inferior so she was not thought to be able to rule properly without a husband. Elizabeth is trying to get her independence from the Lords who want to rule the country for her. Krull has a prince who must save his girl from the evil creature that wants her for himself. The destruction of this creature will also set the entire world free from the vile minions he uses to get his way. Princess Bride is about gaining independence from Prince Humperdink who wants to use the Princess to start a war.

And there are games like Dungeons and Dragons where the gaming group many times is freeing people from this evil Lord or that Dragon who wants slaves to do their every whim. Not all adventures are like this but the majority are. Of course if you have players who like to be the bad guy you will be the one doing this.

Many entertainment forms are about independence in one way or another. They might be subtle but they are there. Some movies are specifically about this while others just have the elements of it.

As the summer moves on, it seems that fantasy fans are missing out this year.  What is a fantasy fan to do?

summer-movies.mp3