Chicago Swordplay Guild on Fox News
http://www.sydcomebak.com/csg/fox_news/fox_news.swf

This was a nice little spotlight on Fox with Greg Mele, Jesse Kulla and David Peck of the Chicago Swordplay Guild. The anchorman is pretty cheesey, and the constant references to Kindom of Heaven were a little silly, but it provided a nice contrast to the CSG's professional manner, showing their seriousness and dedication to recreating historical sword arts.

These three did a really nice job of putting WMA in a positive light despite a very short spot and an anchorman who's primary objective was to put on an entertaining show.
... Because if it isn't mainstream it must be characterized and stereotyped... I would have expected more professionalism from them. My mistake.
I like how they attempted to show the full range of potential blows with the practice drills. I thought that was a pretty nifty way of informing the public about the longsword visually, rather than verbally.

The anchorman's attitude was not appreciated, but Greg took it well in stride.

In any case, good on them!
Alex Oster wrote:
... Because if it isn't mainstream it must be characterized and stereotyped... I would have expected more professionalism from them. My mistake.


Hey, I expect no less from Fox news. :)

But honestly, like I mentioned earlier, I kind of liked that there was the clear contrast between how the anchorman was acting and how the CSG guys were acting. I think it put them into the right context, that they aren't a bunch of wackos or guys who watch Lord of the Rings too much even though that's what people expect out of WMA. And having the anchorman, almost trying to force that stereotype on them, really drove home that they don't belong in that stereotype.
And guys, never forget that WE are the childish minority in this oh-so mature and cultivated MTVMCDONALDSHIPHOP-society of today....
Bill Grandy wrote:
Alex Oster wrote:
... Because if it isn't mainstream it must be characterized and stereotyped... I would have expected more professionalism from them. My mistake.


Hey, I expect no less from Fox news. :)

But honestly, like I mentioned earlier, I kind of liked that there was the clear contrast between how the anchorman was acting and how the CSG guys were acting. I think it put them into the right context, that they aren't a bunch of wackos or guys who watch Lord of the Rings too much even though that's what people expect out of WMA. And having the anchorman, almost trying to force that stereotype on them, really drove home that they don't belong in that stereotype.


Absolutely! I was pretty impressed how calm they stayed when the reporter started screaming "IRON DOOOOOOR, Live by the sword DIEEEEE by the sword!!!".(maybe Ringeck or Fiore would have kicked him out of the school at this point ;)) Despite the reporter's various attempts to turn this demonstration into a kid's show they managed to deliver a lot of important information to the public.
Is anyone else having issues with the video? I can hear the audio but no video.

Alex

Edited: In the mean time, I listened to the whole thing. I see what you mean about the reporter being silly. I agree that it gave a good contrast to how the instructor was behaving. It was also nice to notice the reporter's comment about how the light the sword was.


Last edited by Alexander Ren on Wed 03 May, 2006 11:05 am; edited 1 time in total
David Peck is the man who got me started! First thing I ever bought was the 12th Century Saxon Spear in 2003, then the Saxon Parrying Dagger in 2004 and the summer of 2005 I went GONZO!

I am very grateful to David Peck, I've bought a number of things from him at the store they have at the Bristol Renaissance Faire.


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The fellas from the Chicago Guild were great and the reporter was the definition of "total choad". I was embarassed for him! I have had very similar expiriences(sp) over the years here with local news. They came out with an angle already in thier heads and damn it thats how it was going to go. The guild handled the whole thing in a very proffesional manner.
Alexander Ren wrote:
Is anyone else having issues with the video? I can hear the audio but no video.

Alex

Edited: In the mean time, I listened to the whole thing. I see what you mean about the reporter being silly. I agree that it gave a good contrast to how the instructor was behaving. It was also nice to notice the reporter's comment about how the light the sword was.


Me too. I've got audio but no video is coming up...

"Live by the sword, die by the sword!!" Man, you'd think the newscasters were at a Spamalot audition or something! The guys from the Guild played it cool though. We shouldn't be surprised about the Kingdom of Heaven references. Oh well, it's clearly within the nature of modern society to fear (or in this case, mock) something unknown or "unusual."
Honestly, I felt that it wasn't really much mockery, at least nothing that wasn't well intentioned. Sure, it's corny, but at least they portrayed the CSG guys in a positive light. It wasn't like they had some sort of angle on spotlighting weirdos or something, they genuinely wanted to show something that was going on in the community. And let's face it, the anchorman's job isn't to do an in depth show on WMA, his job is to keep a morning show lively and not let the pace drop. Could have been far worse.

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