Blatant product placement or product review rating scheme?

Recently my trusty old craft knife crapped out on me, it is an often used and little mentioned hobby tool and as such a replacement was definitely in order. While out foraging for sustenance with Ella, I took the opportunity to duck into a local model Railway shop. Looking through their racks of exquisite hobby tools, I came across a knife that really caught my eye.

Being a tradesman who was raised by a tradesman I have a huge appreciation for quality tools, and a defining mark of such tools is depth of thought in design. One of the failings of my previous knife was the placement of the threads to haft the blade at the spot where it meets the handle. Although initially this design seems perfectly logical, during use the slight variations of force applied by the fingers fall directly upon the haft and slowly loosen the threads. Not only is this frustrating, I can see it becoming dangerous. I already have enough scars on my hands from work I don't need them from my leisure, skateboarding and road hockey aside.

Oddly enough one of the best priced knives was designed with this in mind. The threads that tighten the blade are (likely via Gond's will or some type of threaded shaft) accessed at the aft end of the handle. Glorious.

It comes with quite the little quiver of blades too. Curved, point, offset (for scoring, which is on the task list) and a saw blade, which I might take fishing.

And the best part?

$6 Canadian.

That's value.

Zona Soft Grip Knife Set, you get my first 5 out of a possible 5 on a 5sided die. Comfy, solid, good leverage, scandalous price, multiple blade options and a sturdy vial to house them, I am more than impressed.

Ignorant movie reviews, Hobby Synergy and further excuses?

Our world gets smaller everyday, interconnections between people and things seemingly far apart are revealed to us almost daily now. This fascinating quirk of human experience seems to exist on all scales, and yesterday a film did so for me. The dice of girlfriend/boyfriend movie selection fell as 6s right at my feet and I raised them victoriously and selected "Centurion", it seemed perfect, it was about the failed Roman conquest of Scotland, and it had Dominic West from the Wire in it !!!! Not only was I entertained, but I realised that this film overlapped into my hobby world in two ways.

Obviously I am a historical wargamer who prefers the ancient setting, but aside from that most of my hobby time of late has been spent planning a new D&D campaign. That's where this movie really shines. The historical accuracy of this film wasn't at all a motivating factor in my renting it, but I was actually surprised by how well this film did within its budget. They didn't just give a passing notice to the right hats and armour, they also had them hanging their swords and Pugios the right way, and don't worry you get to see them use both. In all honesty I get the feeling that this movie changed around an expensive table in a meeting somewhere, and there were aspects that seemed to be out of key with the quality of the cast. However the cast was astounding, Pilums in the air for Liam Cunningham as Brick, he played the part of a blooded veteran soldier to the narrow hilt of a Pompeii Gladius, his apology mid-film alone was leveling. I look forward to seeing him stab other people in future films.

Aside from the historical shopping list of cost vs realism this film was an ideal example of a well run D&D campaign. No really, bear with me. Apart from any use of magic and fantastical beasts this movie was a well tuned gaming group 2 years and 8 or so levels in. The brutal trek back from enemy lines was perfect in tone and pacing, Les Stroud would be proud. It's far too rare now to see a violent movie that attempts tension without relying solely on startling you. It's not the type of movie that is going to change film, but it doesn't embarrass itself, and remains a very satisfying action movie. You just may have to consider its gore, as the frequent and well fought swordplay often lead to realistic results.

Good movie, expect a HUGE increase in D&D posts from here on in, as well as the usual FoG craptacularism. But I can't really post D&D related home brewed content until I drop the first adventure on my hapless friends. (Que maniacal villain laugh)