Last weekend I went to the 37th Annual Minnesota Renaissance Festival. This was my second year there. My main goal this year was to find a staff/walking stick similar to the ones I had seen all over the place last year. I also was thinking about picking up a sword, axe, mace or some sort of medieval weapon. One of the first shops I went into sold broomsticks and what they called, "hiking sticks", that actually looked more like a wizard staff then just a regular walking stick. The one I picked out cost $90 but I think it was well worth it.
It's kinda hard to take pictures of the whole thing since it's so tall. It's around 5 feet tall, made of wood, hand carved and some suede grips. The merchant also carved my initials into it right when I purchased it. The orb on the top is really cool because it reflects light in an interesting way. If you look at the picture, towards the top of the orb you see a white line going across it. That is what I'm talking about. It looks a lot cooler in real life, trust me. When you move the staff around the line of light moves as well. I'm not sure what that orb is, but I think it's either crystal or glass, I don't think plastic would do that.
I looked around for a sword or some other weapon but the ones I saw were too expensive. You'd have to pay upwards of $150 even for a small short sword, which isn't even real. For that price I could get several similar swords on Budk or other retailers. In case you haven't seen the sword I do have, see below.
I got that sword for Xmas from my girlfriend's sister. It's designed by Kit Rae and it is called Kilgorin II - Sword of Darkness. I love Kit Rae's sword designs and I hope to own them all someday.
In gaming news I picked up Halo 3 on launch day even though I wasn't planning on it. I played through the first level with my friend James, but we haven't had the chance to play it again since. I've also been extremely addicted to MS Saga: A New Dawn, which I rented from Gamefly and just purchased at buy.com. It didn't get that many good reviews but I love it since I'm a big Gundam fan. It's basically like a Final Fantasy game, except set in the Gundam universe. There are 39 playable Mobile Suits and you also have the ability to change the color of your Mobile Suits as well as customize the parts, armor and weapons. I'll record some gameplay footage at a later date.
If you're wondering what is happening with that little project I hinted at in the video below, I'm still working on it. I was waiting for TGS to come and go before I finish the project. With any luck, the project will be completed by the end of October at the latest. Stay tuned for that!
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