Swords, Cloaks and Late Night Happenings.

Currently in Earphones: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Soundtrack.

Man, this weekend was packed.

First off, got up in the wee hours of the morning Saturday to head to UC Santa Cruz for the Tourney. We piled into Bishop's car and raced down, listening to our newest incarnation of the "Beer For Bishop" compilation that's taking our friends by storm, and singing our lungs out all the way (aside from the occasional nap).

Arrived at the UC and unpacked. It was a small tourney in one of their indoor multipurpose courts, nice and comfy. Now, I had never fenced Epee in any sort of tournament before, so I was prepared to get my ass handed to me. TC counseled me as such, and also said "You can be the thorn. As long as you can get some points off on them, it's all good. Just be a nusiance. Come to think of it, we should totally get you a coat of arms!" Well, first match off the bout (to five points) my opponent got a point, 0-1 his favor. Then 1-1, then 1-2, then 2-2. Then all of a sudden it was 3-2, then 4-2, then 5-2! Bout! I'd won! TC was very impressed, as was I. And that was my victory for the day. Everything else was the other fencer whipping the heck outta me. But I got some good pointers from Mr. Ryan Curtis, one of the Cal Poly crew and an excellent Epeeist. My only regret was having my pools include more lefty-fencers than righties.

Things went very swimmingly afterward. Toes fenced both Saber and Foil, and to our surprise not only did well in pools, but knocked out at least 2 D.E.s in each. He even managed to best Bishop, not an easy feat, which was rather bittersweet. On one hand, Bishop had taught Toes well enough to best him, and on the other, he had been beaten.

But the real kudos goes to Preston, who amazed us all.

So there we were, the second round of D.E.s for Saber, and Preston was up against a USFA C Ranked Fencer from Berkeley (for those of you who don't know, A rank fencers are top of the heap). It was a match to 10 touches, and Preston was getting nailed. It was 8 points to Preston's 1 point, and things were looking grim. Ryan, Patrick, TC and some assorted Davis fencers were on the sidelines yelling encouragement, and TC says at this point "Preston! Do something DIFFERENT!!!"

Preston then pauses, cocks his head to the side and thinks for a moment, and then Ryan shouts "BEGGARMAN!" Now, the Cal Poly people have also heard Beer for Bishop, and know as well as all of us that Beggarman is a song with a very fast tempo. We almost see the dawning comprehension bloom in Preston as the judge says "Ready, Fence!" He immediately starts hopping about "like a leprechaun on meth," as he so eloquently retold, and totally throws the Berkeley fencer off guard, landing a neat clean point.

There's a collected vibe of "Cool! It Worked!" that runs through the air, and Preston jigs it up for a point or two more and starts to gain the upper hand. Patrick then shouts "HEART OF THE OCEAN!" in much the same vein: a song with a slow tempo. At the "Ready, Fence!" the Berkeley fencer immediately tenses up, waiting for the fast and furious. It never comes. Preston calmly advances forward in tempo and clunks him upside the head.

This goes on until they are tied: it's 8-8 and the excitement is buzzing. The entire Salle is watching the match, it seems. Preston is mixing it up like mad and we're right there along with it. The other fencer and his coach are grinding their teeth in frusteration. Then it's 8-9, Preston's favor. Then Preston relaxes just enough to get careless. Now it's 9-9, La Belle: Match Point. Tension is thick in the air. We all hold our breath as we hear the familiar "Ready, Fence!" and Preston and the other charge full on at each other. The sound of blades keen through the air as they swing, and our hearts stop for the nanosecond between the time we hear the box go off and we look at the indicator lights. One Light. A Clean Hit.....Preston's Point.

The Davis/Cal Poly Crowd goes absolutely apeshit. Cheering, hooting, howling, and much back slapping and congratulations ensue as he gets unhooked from the strip. As the Berkeley fencer consulted with his coach, we could almost here them saying "What the hell is a Beggarman?!?!?" An amazing match. Though Preston didn't manage to win the following bout afterwards, it remains the high point of the day. We didn't go away empty handed though; through a technicality we won 3rd place Team Saber. We didn't have any girls at all show up, which was sad in itself, but it also disqualified us from any team scoring (That is, the collective points of all who fence advanced Foil/Saber/Epee). However, there were only two groups who qualified to win Team Saber, and since we placed highest after them, we won third by default. The trophy is on our mantle; Preston earned the right to keep it.

So After staying up for 20 hours on Saturday for all the Tourney related activities, I hobbled through Sunday and most of Monday in recovery. Monday night, though, was a total blast. The great Aljay held a Halloween party at his place (conveniently located on the same street that Anja resides) and we all went out trick-or-treating. Of course, being a bunch of college kids, we devised a new way of making it more legitimate. We had Mike, one of the more musically talented in our party, bring his accordion, and he taught us a very catchy song that he and others had devised earlier. It's a crazy little ditty, and it goes something like this...

"Please give us some Candy,
Starving college students need food!
Please give us some Candy,
Our Stomachs will surely thank you!

Please give us some Candy,
Boy, that would surely be keen,
And we hope that you may have
a Fantastic Halloween!"

Needless to say, we brought a smile to many a face, and tons of extra candy from all the appreciative people as we went door-to-door caroling, as it were. It brought smiles to our faces to hear family after family go "This has been the highlight of our evening!" We even had one house where a husband and wife answered the door, and just before we were about to break into song, the woman said "Wait! I just put our 8 month old to sleep..." ::we all deflate:: "...but I'm gonna go get him up, he should see this!" ::we all resume:: A kind soul even gave us $20 with the admonishment "Go get yourselves a pizza!" We all agreed it was Mikes, what with carrying his accordion around. In any case, we had a blast, and were totally making plans for next year: we'll have more instruments the next time (I on my fiddle, of course)! It was the best Halloween I've had in ages.

Of the time I got to spend with my dear Anja, I will only say this: Although I may be lacking for sleep because of it, the time I spend with her has been the best. The only thing I wish to be able to happen now is for us to fall asleep in each other's arms without care for the next day. I cannot say this enough: I care for her more than I can put in words. I am hers.

But soft, I have homework to do!

Enough, More Later.
- James