Van de organisatie van Amsterdam – Dakar Challenge kregen we het bericht door dat er een vette party op de planning staat: Het Boerenbenefiet.

Ga je ook mee?
Op zondag 8 November zullen we ook op de party aanwezig zijn. Aan onze sponsoren bieden we een gratis meerijplek aan vanaf Utrecht (interesse? mail dan even naar de Afriki All Stars). Voor 5 Euro feesten voor het goede doel! Zie onderstaande flyer en bericht voor meer info! Lokatie is in Heelweg, diep in de Achterhoek.

Ja, ja, donders belangriek! Met Jelmer in de driver’s seat, die zijn roots in de Achterhoek heeft, wordt in samenwerking met 3FM het Boerenbenefiet georganiseerd. Een sublieme gig voor het verzamelen van donaties.
Omdat Jelmer (van 3FM) zijn eerste stappen heeft gezet in de Achterhoek, de Radstake ieder jaar Serious Request steunt en de Amsterdam Dakar Challenge altijd kan rekenen op een groot aantal teams uit de Achterhoek was de plek al snel afgetikt. De Radstake had voor het Boerenbenefiet nog een plek op zondag 8 november.

Op dat moment sturen de eerste teams hun barrels richting de Sahara. Het Boerenbenefiet staat volledig in het licht van muziek, fun en ophalen van donaties voor bestrijding van malaria.

Hier in het kort waarom jij naar het Boerenbenefiet wilt komen:

• Dakar Plein, de parking voor de Amsterdam Dakar teams, een full pull tussen de barrels, de echte Le Dakar teams, plus je kunt je hier ter plekke inschrijven voor de volgende vertrekdatum
• Achterhoek Podium, hier kun je o.a. de volgende bands terugvinden; Mooi Wark, BZB, De Richards, Plork en Aannemers en AC/Dixi optreden
• Amsterdam Podium, waar de bands Rigby, Hudson 5 (Chris Zegers) en Blizzard optreden

De entree is 5 euro en gaat volledig naar het goede doel. Kun jij het tempo niet meer bijhouden, geef dan een rondje weg want van ieder biertje gaat 50 cent naar het goede doel. Er is ook een melkkar (geschonken door LTO) en een ‘benefrietkraam’ voor de vette hap waarvan de opbrengsten naar het goede doel gaan. Er is plek voor 5.000 man, zorg dat jij er een van bent!

“Web 2.0 describes a participatory, bottom-up, decentralized world full of individual expression where people have direct access to one another and enjoy an unprecedented ability to organize, meet, and coordinate without centralized control or traditional hierarchies.”

Ben Rigby’s “Mobilizing Generation 2.0: A Practical Guide to Using Web2.0 Technologies to Recruit, Organize and Engage Youth,” is a helpful guide to understanding the power of online tools, such as blogs, social networking sites, and virtual worlds, to influence real-world campaign development. Even though I thought I was already fairly well versed in these areas, I found the overview of each medium to be very informative and gathered some new perspectives. Of particular interest to me was Rigby’s final chapter on virtual worlds. According to him, “virtual worlds will undergo explosive growth in the next generation, in the same way that the first modern PC did over little less than a human generation.”

Years ago, when the internet first started to become a part of people’s everyday lives, which was back in 1996 for me, there were emerging communication vehicles such as ICQ, message boards, and chat rooms. Interaction in these environments was mostly anonymous because the communication was entirely text-based. Very quickly, message boards and chat programs started integrating avatars, which gave users the ability to create graphical representations of themselves. I find that communication mediums that allow for customization tend to be more social in nature.

Obama must have realized that this platform was important because he placed ads in video games, including the extremely popular “Guitar Hero” and “Madden 09.” Even more interestingly, these ads only appeared in targeted states. They targeted 10 states that allowed early voting, to help expand the reach of VoteforChange.com, so that more people could use the tool to find their early vote location. This is a prime example of the crossover potential of online to offline action.

Not only are virtual worlds excellent places to target the youth market, they are also excellent opportunities to conduct research. These virtual worlds allow for complete environmental control and, according to research, participants tend to be more truthful in virtual settings. These factors would make an ideal setting to conduct focus groups. As Rigby suggests, the technology is only at the beginning of its potential and it is exciting to imagine where it could lead.

Barry Lee Hands’ career as a firearms engraver began at the tender age of seventeen. Thirty years later, Hands is one of the most respected custom firearm engravers in the world. Earlier this year, he earned the Firearms Engravers Guild of America’s “Best Engraved Rifle” and “Engravers Choice Award of Merit”. An expert on the history of engraving, Hands has penned articles for such prestigious publications as The Double Gun Journal, Shooting Sportsman, Gunmaker and Engraver. He was generous enough to sit down with F.M. ALLEN for this two-part interview and share his thoughts on the ancient art of gunmaking, the pursuit of the elusive “hunt of a lifetime” and what motivates a man to spend so much money on a gun.

FMA: How long does it take you to make a custom rifle from start to finish and how much of that time is spent on the custom engraving?

Hands: A bespoke custom rifle from my shop requires three years. This is from the taking of the clients order with specifications until delivery. There are a number of things that must be done, such as ordering barrels and selecting a stock blank and other parts. Most of these are kept in inventory and the parts become a bespoke rifle when the barrel is fitted to the action and chambered for the selected cartridge. Once everything is ready to go the labor time involved to actually build the rifle is six or seven weeks. That gives us an American classic stocked action with quarter ribs, sights, and/or scope bases as the client specifies, usually on a Mauser, Hagn, or Dakota action. Then it goes to finishing and engraving as has been directed by the client in the original order.

Some projects can be completed sooner as we keep in inventory some almost completed “in the white” projects for those clients which are in need of a custom rifle for the field on short notice. These are in the popular calibers such as .458 Winchester magnum, .416 Rigby, .375 Holland & Holland, .300 Winchester magnum, 7×57, .270 Winchester, and .30-06. These can often be finished in three months or less.

I use only the very best workmen; mostly members of the American Custom Gunmakers Guild. Current project lineups include expert workmanship by men such as Jerry Fisher, Lee Helgeland and Gary Goudy. It takes time to do the very best work.

My engraving adds another 150 to 200 hours, as each example is a unique design.

Hands' Award Winning Work on a Jerry Fisher 7x57.

What single piece of your work are you most proud of?

I recently engraved a piece Jerry Fisher built on a Hagn Action barreled in 7×57. It won “Best Engraved Rifle” and “Engravers Choice Award of Merit” at the Firearms Engravers Guild of America, American Custom Gunmakers Guild exhibition this year. It featured all sculpted fully relieved Arabesque ornament with fully sculpted game scenes. The only gold was on the safety. It is very unusual to win these awards without a lot of gold, and I was humbled to be so honored by my peers. Jerry Fisher and I planned to build a rifle that looked like it could have been built 80 years ago, or today, and it came off really well.

What led to rifle engraving becoming an art form and who were some early pioneers in the craft?

I have spent quite a bit of time and research reflecting upon that question, actually. I’ll only share a few of my thoughts for the sake of brevity.

The highest and most valued form of treasure throughout history has been ornamented weapons. When we look to literature for examples of the value placed on engraved weapons– there are many. In Book VI of the Iliad, Homer describes how Adrestos, defeated in battle, pleads for his life at the point of Menelaos’ spear. Adrestos offers a tempting ransom of “gold and smithied iron” from the treasures in his father’s palace. In addition Homer describes Hector carrying a spear eleven cubits long, having a bronze point, with a “ring of gold on the shaft”.

Achilles is described as godlike, and appropriately, wears armor fashioned by a God, Hephaestus. Homer goes into great detail describing the shield and the chasing, repose, and engraving wrought by this God, which was very ambitious work. The infinite detail, as described by Homer, would have made this a fine piece to examine, but unfortunately this work is lost to us.

The tradition of high value continued throughout history. In Michelangelo’s day the Pope could commission three sculptures by the great artist for the price of a single suit of Negroli armor.

King Louis XIV kept many fine weapons by makers such as Frenel and Froumont, and even after the revolution Napoleon Bonaparte continued the tradition with weapons by Boutet, working in the empire style which I believe influenced greatly the renowned Australian-American engraver Lynton S. M. McKenzie.

In the United States a man by the name of L.D. Nimschke was the preeminent engraver of the second half of the nineteenth century. He did a number of Spencers and Sharps rifles, some Winchesters, and a lot of handguns–an estimated five thousand firearms in all. Also at that time there were Conrad, John, and George of the Ulrich family, three generations who engraved for Winchester for most of one hundred years. The influence of these four men, especially on lever gun and model 21 engraving, can still be seen.

After 1900 there were a number of lesser names and generally the quality of the work slipped, with one noticeable exception, Rudoph J. Kornbrath, who was active from just prior to World War I until his death in 1937. His fine and detailed Germanic and Arabesque creations have had a huge impact on present day American engraving.

Man's obsession with beautiful weapons goes back a long way.

How did you become interested in guns and engraving?

My mother was an art instructor and I spent many hours as a child learning to use chisels and files in jewelry applications and other artwork.

I was lucky my mother liked to shoot, as my father had been with the First Marines in the Second World War and although he was a hunter–he lost his taste for it after returning from Pelelieu and Okinawa.

As she was of Montana extraction, my mother taught me to operate a model 61 .22 repeater from prone position when I was six and I was given my first deer rifle at 14 or so.

Having read all of Jack O’Connor’s books, which were gifts from my grandfather, I kept my weapons clean and well maintained as I had read it was the proper thing to do.

Shortly after high school I was offered a position and training as an engraver at a jewelry company, which I accepted and learned the basics.

Later, I worked with Steve Huff who was trained in Europe to engrave by Rene Delcour. Dan Goodwin was also one of my coworkers. Steve and Dan had engraved guns for Colt and other companies. It was through them that I met Jerry Fisher and Monte Mandarino, who are my colleagues and associates still.

During these years I also worked as an Elk guide in the fall for many seasons, giving me opportunity to form my own opinions on rifles, cartridge selection, and rifle hunting.

In 1991, I went independent as a firearms engraver and it is a fascinating and enjoyable career.

Click here for Part II of our conversation with Barry.

This is the second part of our conversation with legendary firearms engraver Barry Lee Hands.

FMA: If you’re going on a Big 5 trip in Africa and you can only pack one rifle, what are you taking?

Hands: Because of good performance, reasonable recoil, and ease of ammunition availability in bolt rifles– the .458 Winchester would be my first choice. Followed closely by the .416 Rigby. There are many good cartridges to choose from, but these are among my favorites. There are premium loads available for them from soft nose for thin skin to solids for the big boys.

If I was feeling a bit more romantic, I might bring a .470, or even a 450-400 double rifle as they are a joy to handle. Of course one must remember the most important consideration in action selection in dangerous game hunting is familiarity with operation. Don’t choose a weapon with which you are unfamiliar; stick with the tried and true.

If you have the most experience with bolt actions, go with a bolt in one of the large calibers.

If you don’t have a lot of bolt gun experience and came into hunting through wing and clay and break a couple of hundred clay targets each week with a double, then by all means bring a double. You want your gun handling to be second nature, when flawless operation in an instant is required.

The Buffalo Jump, by Barry Lee Hands.

What do you feel is the greatest thrill a rifle hunter can experience?

I have found that going on a long-planned trip while carrying a bespoke rifle properly fit by a competent maker with the options and features chosen through the sportsman’s personal experience tempered by the advice of the maker. Then taking a good or excellent example of the hunters chosen quarry with the guidance and companionship of a good professional hunter and his crew that can provide a full and well-rounded experience, the elusive “hunt of a lifetime” that we all seek.

Mine so far was when I took a 57″ kudu and 8.25″ mountain reedbuck in Songimvelo, South Africa.

The wonderful thing is the scenario can be replayed again and again each season, as the hunters adventure may be born anew with each hunt.

Barry and His 57 inch Kudu Taken in South Africa.

Talk about some reasons that motivate a man to spend $30,000 on a rifle from one of the great gunmakers?

The short answer is: if you have to ask, you shouldn’t do it.

There are many functional weapons that are not built to the highest standards, for the person who is not so particular. However, as we discussed before, there is a historical component in all of this and a tradition of best quality arms going back thousands of years.

Underlying that is something even more basic, that I believe inspired all of these men through history.

A life well lived should be a saga, populated with and lived by great men and women, involved in great adventures, travels, and deeds. It is difficult not to see that when hunting adventures come into this story; the very best in weapons and accoutrements round out the scene.

Another aspect is that as seasons grow shorter and limits smaller, we are left with more time and resources with which to plan and choose equipment- whether it is clothing, knives, or the fine firearm of our choice. Of course, we wish to take with us the very best and the preparation and selection of equipment in itself becomes a larger part of the enjoyment of the anticipated days in the field.

If you couldn’t earn a living making and engraving beautiful rifles, what would you be doing?

The field of fine firearms and engraving is very strong right now and I enjoy it a lot.

When I was younger and guiding elk hunters for an outfitter and reading a lot of Capstick, I wanted to head to Africa to hunt full time, as a professional. Presently, I am almost fifty years of age and think I have passed my window of opportunity for that sort of a life.

If I was looking for another thing to do, well, I know a little cove near Pangandaran in West Java that has a couple shacks and a nice little dive shop….now that could be a good place to spend a couple of seasons.
…

For Part I of our conversation with Barry, click here. To view more of his beautiful work, visit his website.

Okay so we’re in the famous Margaret River wine growing district…we HAVE to do some wine tasting and the best way to do it was on a tour. Now Rod doesn’t drink wine so we had to find one that included breweries…lucky they have those in Margaret River too.

The weather is still a bit rainy so we had to find one that included lunch…indoors. Value for money, local knowledge, any freebies, anything different….tall order..no not really this is Margaret River and they are heaps of tours. Information centre absolutely a waste of time….they don’t want to appear biased. Darn. Found two.  One didn’t answer the phone at all. So we tried no 2 (the one that was a little more expensive but sounded very interesting….yep as usual…we were well looked after.

Nel McLeod..our host an guide for the day is a local born and bred(though he moved away for some years)family history is entwined in the local history and as he drives we walks you through his childhood..the families and the hisotry of the area.

Now it was a wine tour so there are not many pic…sorry.

Hmm I’m not a white drinker but I did try a few looking for a nice Chardonnay for Trace….

We met some very interesting characters….and tried some very very interesting wines….I needed lunch…

Lunch was at a brewery…thank goodness….Rod got to try some local produce…and food helped.

Nope this was an after lunch chocolate factory, then an olive grove with beautiful dakkas and oils to sample…also time for a coffee. Then a stop at a deer farm to try venison products…oh and a couple more wineries along the way.

Our tour ended with a drive over to the entrance of the Margaret River..Neil told us about the surfing evenys held there annually

I want to tell you about our very first stop…and it was not a winery or brewery but an absolutely very very special part of our day. We went to visit Marlene Rigby at the farm where she and the late Paul Rigby live.

Do you remember Rigby the cartoonist..you know the big cartoons they were in most of the papers.

This is Marlene in Pauls workroom….just as he left it. Another very very talented man, a man with great insight into our society and human beings and their patterns of behaviour. Marlene gave us touchy personal insights into his life and his work and we came away so grateful that we were able to go and spend some time at his home and view some of his early and later works.

Now an update on Margaret and the Pod.  Travelling east they spent a couple of nights at Hyden, Margaret bought a little electric heater so when she is in caravan parks she can warm up the Pod of an evening…and she was also able to get an onsite ensuite site…so she has been more comfortable and is feeling a lot better. Tomorrow she heads off down to Esperance.

Hope ypu are all keeping well…enjoying that lovely warm weather and taking care of each other.

I neeed to go to bed so….I’ll chat later… .

Hey Mum this reminded me of the ones Auntie Doreen and Uncle Nev have at Tony’s…sending them a hug.

Wat een parade van leuke liedjes maakt het Nederlandse Rigby! Vol energie een catchy deuntje dat ook van buiten Nederland kan zijn. Ook al zegt het liedje van wel: dit moet helemaal niet gaan! Gewoon, lekker blijven.

With the end of the year coming up, there’s a whole pile of partying coming up.  Each residence will be having a catered ‘House Dinner’ and many still have their largest party of the year coming up.  STU Info has the full schedule:

Holy Cross House

• House Dinner:  April 2nd at 6pm in the HCH Conference Room
• Major Party:  Toga-cue (Annual BBQ and Toga party) will be taking place April 3rd with a kegger to follow at Nicky Zee’s

Vanier Hall

• House Dinner:  April 1st at 7:30. The theme is beach / summer.
• Major Party:  ??? (email stu.info.editor@gmail.com with any info)

Harrington Hall

• House Dinner: April 2nd, March 26th, April 7 at 7pm  followed by social in second floor lounge.
• Major Party: April 6th Day, on April 6.

Rigby Hall

• House Dinner: April 2nd, 6:00 pm  at Pizza Delight Prospect.
• Major Party:  April 7th Day, on April 7.
• other: there is a Rigby Hall / Alumni pubcrawl this Friday beginning 4:30 at Buckets.  T-shirts can be picked up in JDH, for times contact Desiree Dawson.  Dezzy_141@hotmail.com

Chatham Hall

• House Dinner:  ???  (email stu.info.editor@gmail.com with any info)
• Major Party:    ???    (email stu.info.editor@gmail.com with any info)

STUSU Welcome Week Chair: Charlton, Ashley su_wwchair@stu.ca

Welcome Week Coordinator:   Gallant, Duncan ——-

Residence Head Welcome Week Leaders:

Harrington: Bremner, Julia – hcsyh@stu.ca

Holy Cross: Price, Kate – hdgtt@stu.ca

Vanier: Thompson, Jana – hbzpr@stu.ca

Chatham: Brauen, Kara & Farrar, Jillian hbxhl@stu.ca, hcfnd@stu.ca

Rigby: Bain, Lacey – hcvzb@stu.ca

1. The Beatles vs LCD Soundsystem vs The Kinks – The Brits Are Playing At My House.

2. The Beatles Vs. Green Day – Rigby Stew.

3. The Beatles Vs. The Beach Boys – Within You, God Only Knows.

(Quite Psychedelic)

4. The Beatles Vs. The Black Eyed Peas Vs. Ludacris

(Quite gangsta)

5. The Beatles Vs. Daft Punk (feat. Sol Messiah)

This post can also be found on arts blog Moo.

When DCRA first started this online project to reach students, we met Georgetown’s Assistant Director for Off-Campus Student Life Ray Danieli. Ray has been a champion of thisshouldbeillegal.com and is a major reason we are getting dozens of inspection requests and many applications from landlords to become licensed every week.

We are approaching 15,000 unique views to our site and more than half of those visiting our using our landlord search application. We encourage EVERYONE, student or not, to use this information to learn your rights, understand the rules. Please contact us at anytime to get answers to your questions or call 202-442-9557 to schedule an inspection if you have issues with your apartment or home. And do an inspection yourself from time to time, even if your property is licensed.

Back to Ray. One of the reasons this campaign exists is because of the tragic death of Georgetown student Daniel Rigby in a house fire – a fire that may have been prevented had the property been inspected.  Ray and others helped us to spread the word that DC will help, we just need you to contact us. DCRA is now going to inspect all rental properties whether we ever receive a complaint – a huge improvement for us lead by Director Linda Argo. While proactive inspections will minimize these tragic circumstances, we still need all of your eyes and ears out there in your and your friends rental properties.

The memory of Mr. Rigby continues to live on through his foundation Friends of Rigby Foundation and the Rigby Run.

The foundation is holding two events over the next few months and we ask everyone to please visit the sites and volunteer in anyway you can. Here are the details:

Rigby Weekend
Date/Time:    4/4/2009 @ TBA
Location:    Georgetown University and Thunder Grill @ Union Station
Price:    TBA
Notes:    Run will take place on Saturday mid-afternoon with the Ball following that night. More info to be posted shortly.

3rd Annual St. Patricks Day Party
Date/Time:    3/14/2009 @ 8pm-12am
Location:    Rosie OGradys, NYC
Price:    $80 – Buy Tickets Now
Notes:    Tickets are $80 in advance, $100 at the door.

Open bar, food, dj and dancing are included. The St. Patrick’s event is an open party. Please feel free to pass this along as all are welcome.

Please support these events and if anyone reading has other events we can highlight, volunteer for or sponsor, please let us know. We are mandated, but also dedicated to provide safe housing for everyone in the District and we will do anything to spread the word as far and wide as possible. Also a hat tip to Dave at the blog whyihatedc for mentioning our efforts in his recent post. Dave went to school with Mr. Rigby.

Micklewood Scud
/                 \

Rigby                     Alfie

Like Dad’s family, Rigby also has relatives in the UK. If you can remember back to my header photo post, which has been surprisingly popular, I originally used a photo of Rigby’s 9GG, Micklewood Scud. This generated a response from an individual (Margaret) in England, who also owns a springer descended from this great spaniel. She was kind enough to share a short bio on her pup, Alfie (aka Tricky Treacle). Those of you who know Rigby will see some similarities in temperament (minus the calm in the house bit). For your enjoyment, here is the copy of Alfie’s bio supplied by Margaret, complete with descendancy:

Alfie’s parents belonged to local farmers and although neither of them were Field Trial winners or champions they were both working gundogs. His mum was black and white and his dad a much lighter liver and white. He’s got lots of Badgercourt in him, and looks like a real throw-back to Badgercourts Druid and Colleen.

This photo of Alfie was taken about 18 months ago around the time of his 3^rd birthday. He’s liver and white, as you can see; the liver parts of his coat become a gingery-auburn in the spring/summer changing to a dark-chocolatey colour in the winter.

We live in the Fens, a large area of land reclaimed from the sea (a bit like Holland) in the east of England. We live on the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border so there’s lots of bird life around here – although mainly not to be shot at – swans overwintering from Siberia on the Ouse Washes, Canada geese, ducks, herons, even the odd cormorant. We also have pheasants and partridges.

Although I don’t go shooting you can clearly see Alfie’s gundog genes – he loves retrieving and is a brilliant retriever both over land and water. He’s also very useful when you’re doing laundry – anything dropped will be retrieved and brought to you.

He loves long muddy walks, or days spent at the beach. A walk is not a walk without a swim, and his favourite game at the moment is Frisbee. But he’s also quite happy to veg out in front of the tv, and especially enjoys cookery programmes! I think this may be because he learned to open the oven at a young age, and on one memorable occasion devoured ¾ of a chicken that was cooling in the oven. Sadly I haven’t come home to find my dinner cooked yet but I’m hoping that’s something he’ll learn… He’s got a great personality – enthusiastic and athletic, very keen to learn new things but generally calm in the house and very affectionate.

Alfie like Rigby is a descendant of Micklewood Scud, I would suspect as they’re both 9xGGpuppies that Alfie’s ancestor must have come from one of Scud’s last matings in the UK while presumably Rigby’s ancestor must have come from an early mating in the States (I don’t know when Ludlovian Socks was born but Pinehawk Sark was born in 1956, when Scud was 7, which would suggest that Socks was born shortly before Scud was exported) The line from Scud to Alfie is as follows (I’ve marked S or D for Sire or Dam) I’ve just given the direct line rather than the pairings:

Micklewood Scud EFC (S)

Ludlovian Socks (S)

Pinehawk Sark EFC (S)

Parkmaple Dainty (D)

Parkmaple Busy (D)

Parkmaple Bramble (S)

Parkmaple (S)

Gorsty Gester EFC (S)

Read Head Riley EFC (S)

Black Face Riley (S)

Great Grani Grace (D)

Tricky Treacle (Alfie)

Alfie’s also related to Scud by a few more generations (as was my previous spaniel Ben) via the Don of Bronton / Farway Tina and Sallie line.

To compare descendancy, I’ve included three of Rigby’s lines, two from his pa (Strong Signal ‘Signal’) and one from his ma (Sporty Spice ‘Spice’):

Signal & Spice

Line 1 (Signal)

Line 2 (Signal)

Line 3 (Spice)

A closer look at the line through Spice indicates Alfie and Rigby are even closer related. Welcome Alfie as one of our official Clan spaniels!

Will be updating the photo periodically.  The current photo is of Mickelwood Scud (NFC FTCH), Rigby’s 9gg Grandpa.  He is a legendary springer, winning multiple championships 1951-1952.  Spaniel Journal did a nice bronze replica of him.  You can read his short bio here.