I have this thing about lists, it gets me organized and a bit focused about accomplishing things on them in general. I have not had one concerning this kind of stuff and it shows. So, I decided to put one together. There are three major points looking forward that have things I need to get done during and/or for. So I am trying to break it down that way and I plan to come back and do check marks or color coding or something when I get things done and make some additional notes of it. May even do a few blogs of somethings with photos as progress occurs. Do keep in mind it is my list, for my feeble mind so some of these are like well duh – go do it and it would be done, but sometimes I just got to do things my way. Anyway, this is the current list I am working from for Gulf Wars – though I will likely increase it as it time goes along for the next few weeks and I think of other things.6
Nov
Battle of the Thirty
I arrived at Pennsic on Friday night at around 10:30 or 11:00. Quickly, I got my stuff out of the car, a got a general lay of the land, and ended up asleep before to much longer. Saturday I spent the day getting a lay of the land and at least trying to figure out where things where in general. There was so much to take in after I got home I am still not sure I caught it all. However, on Sunday evening I was treated to a great spectacle – The Battle of the Thirty.
Show on Spike that a friend was telling me about, the episode explained I thought was kind of bad from the get go. Basic premise, pick two famous warrior classes from history, gather information on weapons, armor, etc, and then run a computer model simulation to see who would have won in a contest of arms. I had my doubts when I heard about the show and now that I am finally watching an episode I am in even more doubt about the true measure of any outcome. The current episode I am watching is pitting the William Wallace era Scottish warrior against the Shaka Zulu warrior, and more specifically those two leaders pitted against one another.
It occurs to me that today I am engaged in what is probably one of the most expensive hobbies a person can have. I realize this after fighting on the ground Saturday and thinking about how many cool bits or updates to armour I have that I would like to make part of one of my two kits (like the used Salet Helm, a mere $300) but especially when I think of today and know that I have both the vet and the farrier coming out to deal with Angel and Jack this afternoon.
As I continue my discussion of answers to common questions that I get in regards to the who, where, and how of jousting, I am going to turn to the International Jousting Association. The IJA, as it is often referred to is just what is sounds like. It is an international organization of like minded jousters from around the world. The membership numbers are much smaller then that of the SCA (see my previous post in this series for more information). It is also, especially when compared to the SCA, much harder to become a member. 
