SC - What is "period"?--off topic

[Laura C. Minnick]

Jeff Gedney wrote:

> Actually the Term "Western Culture" has usually been interpreted to mean
> "European Culture", so cultures which existed within the boundaries of
> Europe during the SCA period are usually considered the "Central Axis" of
> the SCA. 

Guess it is where you live then. If you were totally ignorant of
anything medieval and looked just to An Tir for understanding, I'm
afraid that you would think the medieval world was nearly all Celts,
Norse, Mongols, and Tudor/Elizabethan folks. There are pockets here and
there of 'Central Axis' stuff, such as La Maisnie (and my own efforts at
evangelism for 14th-15th c stuff) but by and large, folks here seem to
be uninterested in anything but the fringe cultures, be it
geographically, or timewise. Pull Lord Jay Random off the line to the
privies and he is likely dressed in an amalgamation of wool felt and
poly cottons with knotwork trim and Ughs on his feet, and he will tell
you that one parent was Celt and one parent was Viking and he was
kidnapped by Mongol traders as a child and ended up in Byzantium and
that's where he bought the slave girl/belly dancer who he's been married
to for five years... Ask him a question about something Arthurian or
even about the War of the Roses and he won't know what you're talking
about, unless it has been made into a movie recently... I'd like to know
where these mythical lands are where Vikings are unusual and this
'Central Axis' is where people play. 

Sorry if I'm sounding really cynical, but well- maybe I am. I got told
recently that "14th-15th c. stuff has been done to death and there's
nothing left to learn there and everyone is bored with it and besides
cotehardies look stupid." (Only if they're pooly fitted, IMHO). If there
is nothing new under the sun, why do I keep finding new and interesting
things to keep me occupied?

Grump. I'm going back to bed. I obviously haven't finished sleeping off
the weekend yet.

'Lainie