cellio: (B5)
Monica ([personal profile] cellio) wrote2008-01-19 09:21 pm
Entry tags:

welcome to the galaxy-wide web

A long time ago, I published a set of instructions for building a yurt (aka ger), the Mongolian temporary dwelling. I had built one for SCA use, building on knowledge from others, and collected what I'd learned as the next contribution. I'm sure there've been plenty of works since then that should have deprecated my little article, but it's floating around out there so I get inquiries from time to time.

The letter from the middle-school class in Myanmar asking if I thought using bamboo would work was the most unusual query I'd gotten until the one from the fellow in Scotland considering a housing change who wanted to know if it would stand up to force-11 winds. But tonight I got something even better.

This was a request for permission to adapt my article. You see (the writer says), in Star Wars there's this (race? nation?) called the Mandalorians, who have many parallels to the Mongols, and he wants to publish a manual for building a vheh'yaim, which is something like a yurt.

The sender's web site refers to a Second Life Mandalorian community. (Also something called Star Wars Galaxies, which I infer is another online community. And also Wookiepedia, but the obvious URLs don't turn anything up.) I wonder if there are also Star Wars re-enactors who actually build stuff the way the SCA and Klingon and Civ War folks do.

The world-wide web: it's not just for Earth any more. :-)

(I said yes, and in the time it took me to compose this entry he wrote back to say that it's theoretical now, but he won't be surprised if that changes.)

[identity profile] byronhaverford.livejournal.com 2008-01-20 06:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I just can't do it. I can't post it all by itself. Below is the first draft comment... I was too scared that someone (anyone) might take me seriously (which would hurt my geek-feelings), or that you (Monica) might think I was teasing you, when I fact, I /do/ think this is cool.

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That is SOOOOO COOOOOL! Maybe you'll get to be in the next movie. If you get to meet 6 of 9, can I be there?
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I'm reminded of the first gift Cara bought me, when we were first dating. It was a coffee mug with the Enterprise (NCC 1701) on it, seemingly alone. But when you filled it with a hot liquid, an opaque bit of paint would turn translucent, such that the nearby Bird of Prey would "decloak". Very insightful gift from the jock girlfriend, right? So, as I'm unwrapping it, she feels the need to explain what it is (you know, in case I don't recognise the picture): "I got you a Star Wars mug." It's been a running joke ever since. I must say, her geek cred is WAY up since marrying me.