Tag: Jedi Order

Event Debrief: 29 June 2017

In 2017, I was very glad to be invited back to the Frazier International History Museum for a second set of summer camp presentations.

Like last year, I would give a short talk on survival needs in the Galaxy, teach cordage with raffia, and then have Q&A time. This time around, however, I would present on different days to smaller groups. For this first session, my audience were 8-10 younglings in 4th-6th grade.
A year’s worth of research and refinements meant that I had a more detailed persona (Silo the on-the-run Jedi washout), and the event was highly successful thanks largely to my commitment to the First Person approach.
Continue reading “Event Debrief: 29 June 2017”

Event debrief: 21 January 2017

Venue: Louisville, KY – The Rally to Move Forward
This was a ‘sister event’ for the Women’s March in Washington, held on post-Trump’s-inauguration day.12117above
Myself and 3,000 other attendees braved the early morning chill to hear some inspiring speeches and music from local activists, groups, and politicians, and hobnob with other like-minded folks. Continue reading “Event debrief: 21 January 2017”

Event Debrief: 20 July 2016

As they (probably) say on Kamino, when it rains it pours! That’s right, my first two public GFFA reenacting events were back-to-back!

Venue: Frazier International History Museum‘s ‘Jedi, Wizards, and Time Lords!’ summer camp
72016
Compared to the day before, this event was Much more to my liking. I debuted my basic (then-unnamed) Agricultural Corps persona, and presented (in First Person!) to two groups of about 15 campers each. I gave a 15-20 minute talk on contents of a basic survival kit (i.e. Dave Canterbury’s ‘10 Cs’, translated into GFFA terms), taught the reverse-ply cordage-making technique with raffia palm fibers, and then had a few minutes for Q&A.
Continue reading “Event Debrief: 20 July 2016”

Event debrief: 19 July 2016

This is another feature that will be rolling out this year, which I’ve termed ‘debriefs’. These will be ‘after-action reports’ in which I break down public events I’ve attended in the name of ‘GFFA reenacting’. The first several will require a bit of backtracking, but we’ll get caught up quickly.

Venue: MCPL:
71916-1 Continue reading “Event debrief: 19 July 2016”

Differentiating the Jedi persona

This post is a follow up to my earlier musings on the trade-off between public recognizability and authenticity. After some careful consideration, I finally made some decisions that allow me to have my cake and eat it too, while also helping to better distinguish my Jedi persona as being based in the Imperial era.
darktimesjedi_plain Continue reading “Differentiating the Jedi persona”

Downsides to Research: Accuracy vs Recognition

As part of the research that yielded my Service Corps insignia patch, I came upon a detail that has led me to a dilemma.
In Part 2 of Daniel Wallace’s The Jedi Path, the various paths that a Jedi initiate may take are outlined: whether to go on to become a Padawan apprentice, to ‘wash out’ and join the Service Corps, or to leave the Order entirely and rejoin the ‘civilian’ galactic community.
In addition to the text, this is illustrated visually:
initiate_paths
From this depiction, it appears that the Service Corps (center bottom) is differentiated by use of less layers of clothing (forgoing the tabards in favor of a tunic only?). My question is: How representative or stylized is this image?.…The token AgriCorps guy with the Mohawk also looks to be going with a simple tunic-only outfit.
The Jedi Path, as an in-universe textbook, is supposedly dated to 115 BBY… BUT, the comic series Act on Instinct—set during the Clone Wars—depicts a young AgriCorps member, Sanya, who does appear to wear tabards:
Sanya
In fact, her outfit looks like a regular Prequel Jedi, just in navy blue, and with wrapped forearms. Additionally, this character would be about the same age as Silo, and so might be seen as the closest analogue to my persona?
However… Continue reading “Downsides to Research: Accuracy vs Recognition”

Building the Jedi Persona: 4.1 – Canteens

As promised earlier, I’ll begin with a quick writeup on the mysterious canteen which DK has put to triple use as a GFFA prop-base.
canteen-plasticDimensions: approximately 6 x 8 x 2 inches.
Capacity: approximately 1250 milliliters, which is about 250 more than most of my other canteens (my WW2 Russians, US, and UK are all just a hair over or under a liter), which is pretty nice. However, getting this maximum capacity involves getting any air out of the top section next to the spout. I wonder if–based on the similar shape of my vintage icepack–this canteen was meant for cold weather use?, as the top section might allow for extra expansion during freezing?
My canteens are both clearly marked ‘US’ in a recessed area (on the other side of the props), and ‘1 US 1993 H.T.P.’ on the bottom. Continue reading “Building the Jedi Persona: 4.1 – Canteens”

Research Pays Off: Jedi Service Corps Embroidery

Back last spring when I was first putting my AgriCorps Jedi persona together, I wanted some way to help indicate (besides the bucket hat, folding trowel, and complete lack of lightsaber) that Silo wasn’t another run-of-the-mill Knight that most people picture when they think ‘Jedi’. What I really wanted was some kind of patch that I could sew onto my outfit or field gear to help designate my membership in the Agricultural Corps.
Since I didn’t know of any existing symbols used by the various branches of the Service Corps (what’s the plural of corps? It can’t be corpses?), I opted to use a mid-90s Girl Scout ‘Plant Culture’ merit badge, since—to my eyes—it looked like a pair of non-human hands growing a plant with the Jedi consitor sato technique.
plant culture GS
However, recent subsequent research has yielded a great development—the various branches of the Service Corps did, in fact, have their own insignia after all!: Continue reading “Research Pays Off: Jedi Service Corps Embroidery”

Building the ‘Outer Persona’: Backpack

If you want to get some authentic ‘woods time’ in your GFFA pursuits,  you’re eventually going to need something to haul your gear around. I’ve had this trusty 1950 pack (made, as far as I can tell, by Bergan’s of Norway?) for seven years now, and I’ve been tweaking it here and there almost since I bought it.DSC05127I thought it would be a good idea to share all the various mods and justifications I’ve made over the years to make it roughly fit the GFFA commoner’s ‘aesthetic’. Continue reading “Building the ‘Outer Persona’: Backpack”

Building the Jedi Persona – 4: Hard Kit

agribeltkit1The assembling of appropriate items of ‘hard kit’ is the point at which we move from only having a outfit to truly having a cohesive Kit. Using pieces of gear that are what they are (in the list below, only the comlink is a prop) makes a kit functional and brings it into the realm of living history. Let’s see what I mean: Continue reading “Building the Jedi Persona – 4: Hard Kit”