Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

There is a new television show coming to Comedy Central on Thursday nights at 10pm. It is called “Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire” and it is a comedy that pokes fun at the whole genre of epic fantasy. The premiere of this show will air at 10PM April 9th.

So what is it? It is a new genre of television: Fantasy comedy; and it is spurred on by the stunning popularity of Lord of the Rings, Fantasy Gaming, Online Gaming, Dungeons and Dragons and all of these epic fantasy things that have come into the mainstream over the past decade.

I have watched an advanced copy of the one hour premiere of the show and I will give you my thoughts and opinion on it. But first you have got to read some excerpts of what Comedy Central says about the show:

“NEW YORK, NY, March 23, 2009 — From the time of the long ago past arrives “Krod Mandoon and The Flaming Sword of Fire,” COMEDY CENTRAL’s epic new half-hour, live-action series that chronicles the adventures of Krod Mandoon(Sean Maguire) and his hopelessly futile band of warriors as they take on the evil Chancellor Dongalor (Matt Lucas). Marking the all-comedy network’s first foray into fantasy-comedy, the groundbreaking series premieres on Thursday, April 9 at 10:00 p.m. marked by a special one-hour episode with limited commercial interruptions.

“Krod Mandoon and The Flaming Sword of Fire” is an outrageous, character-driven workplace comedy set in an ancient realm. Narrated by Chris Parnell (”30 Rock”), the series follows reluctant hero, Krod Mandoon (Maguire, “Meet the Spartans”), a thin-skinned and underconfident freedom fighter, who is the last great hope in the struggle against the evil ruler, Chancellor Dongalor (Lucas, “Little Britain USA”). To help fight the good fight, Krod has assembled a band of loyal, but remarkably ineffective freedom fighters: Aneka (India de Beaufort, “Run, Fatboy, Run”), the beautiful Pagan warrioress whose weapon of choice is sex; Zezelryck (Kevin Hart, “Fool’s Gold”), the young warlock whose greatest magical gift is spinning B.S.; Loquasto (Steve Speirs, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”), Krod’s oafish half human/half swine servant; and Bruce (Marques Ray, “Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out”), who’s fierce and proud. Together, they must overcome a myriad of evil obstacles in their quest to save the world, including name-calling, hired assassins and a bisexual Cyclops (or biclops).

Viewers are introduced to Krod Mandoon and his band of freedom fighters during the epic hour-long series premiere, in which Krod, the son of a blacksmith and a stay-at-home mom, is revealed to be “The Golden One,” the last great hope in the rebellion against the cruel Meconian Empire and the wicked Chancellor Dongalor. Dongalor has not only imprisoned Krod’s mentor, the great General Arcadius, but is also in possession of the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, the Eye of Gulga Grymna, which he plans to wield over his subjects in his quest to rule the world, if only he can figure out how to unleash its awesome power. When Krod and his gang set out to rescue Arcadius, viewers will quickly learn that his newly-recruited band of semi-skilled warriors have clearly padded their resumes and that for Krod to succeed in thwarting Dongalor’s evil plans, he must grow thicker skin, overcome his germaphobia and work through his own sexual hang-ups with his Pagan girlfriend, Aneka.”

My thoughts on the show

I watched the hour premiere and enjoyed it. It was a funny and silly romp through the cliches of epic fantasy. I would call it good clean fun but its not! It comes on at ten oclock on the Comedy Channel so you know you are in for some ribald and bawdy comedy.

I have videos! Want to learn more? I have written more and have resources and more videos about the show on my fantasy guide website here: All About Krod Mandoon

- The official Krod Mandoon Website - Where you can find lots more stuff including more videos.

Here is the latest project on my website. It is a tutorial with a video on how to carve some miniature wooden daggers with the attractive Kriss style wavy blade. In the picture above you can see the example Kriss that I use to make the miniatures which range from 6 inches to about 1 1/2 inches. The large one could be used as a letter opener or just something to keep on your desk. And the smaller ones would be perfect for a necklace. This is a fun project that doesn’t take many tools and if you use balsa wood you can make one in a jiffy. My website has the full tutorial and a template you can download and print. How to carve a Kriss style ornamental dagger

A blacksmiths forge is something that is on my list of must haves. I have this vision in my mind of making some really nice medieval armor and weapons on my very own forge. With this in mind I always keep my eyes open for opportunities. Yesterday a friend told me about an article in last months Popular Mechanics about making a forge.  You might want to check it out.

This article is freely available at their online site and it comes with the plans. Interesting enough the magazine had published the plans in 1941 and the plans have been updated. Blacksmithing 101 and How to make a forge . This article is great, it shows the forge they made and gives you solid advice on buying coal, getting the parts and the basics of blacksmithing. The article says that it is believed that there are more blacksmiths in America today than there was in the 1800’s, which is kind of interesting.

As far as my own forge goes, my friend says he might make one this summer; If he does, I am going to help him with it and I will post you plenty of pictures and information about it.

Here is my latest project. It is a tiny castle built right inside a lightbulb. It also has a fire breathing dragon flying over the castle and the large tower has a light that lights up. This is done with the use of a little secret switch that is activated by moving a magnet near the bulb. Its a neat and fun little project and I have complete tutorials and videos on how to hollow out the bulb, make the diorama and add the magic light. Make a castle and dragon diorama inside a lightbulb

I am very much into medieval Europe and have a complete fascination with the period and the place, castles, weapons, chivalry and the whole area. But lately, I have been getting exposed to some wonderful stuff about the same period of time in Asia and in particular in Japan. It’s, of course a fascinating place and period of time and the parallels between Medieval Japan and Medieval Europe are striking when it comes to many things such as castles and swords.

Well anyway, with my upcoming trip to Japan I have been learning a lot about the country, customs and of course the castles and the swords. And when I get back I will have a lot of great stuff for you, and I may even post to my blog while I am there. 

But I want to share with you a few of the things I am experiencing with the help of some wonderful people.

Somebody mailed me an issue of a magazine called “Okinawa Living” particularly because it has a great article about a castle called “Shuri Castle” which was originally built around 1453 and is considered to be the crown jewel of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Chances are good that I will be visiting this castle so I will post some pictures and thoughts about it.

Somebody also sent me a web link to a Martial Arts store that sells a lot of Samurai Swords. (Ippon-do Martial Arts) And I am definitely visiting this store because I am without a doubt going to purchase a sword and bring it back home with me. And this brought up a whole bunch of new questions which people have been kind enough to help me with.

I got a great email from Elaine at esprittravel.com. She sent me a wonderful e-brochure about tours in Japan and it shows some really remarkable places that fit the bill exactly for what I am looking to do while I am there. Esprit travel specializes in creating individually crafted journeys focusing on the arts, crafts, history, culture and cuisine of Asia. Which is absolutely beautiful and exactly what I want to do while I am in Japan. My thanks to Elaine for the wonderful brochure and if you are looking for a special travel agency for a trip to Asia I recommend you check Esprit travel out.

Now, About Samurai Swords!

I am a big fan of swords but know very little about Samurai Swords but some people have been very helpful in answering my questions about them. In particular, I will be buying one while I am in Japan but had questions about customs, fees, travel and flying with a Samurai Sword! Well, its pretty obvious I won’t be able to carry one on the plane but a call to my airline verified that I can put swords in my checked baggage. As far as customs goes there are some rules when it comes to the value of the sword and the heritage of it. And my thanks to David W. for his guidance in this matter. He outlined a couple of important things I need to know. Generally if the cost of something is under 800 dollars there is no worry about customs or taxes. And under this price I will be able to get myself a nice sword. And this is what I am looking to get. Something of good quality that is a spiritual and symbolic token of my trip. He has also told me some interesting things about Japanese swords. The Japanese are very serious about their swords and they can be considered National Treasures - and rightfully so. So there are rules. If I want to get a “Real” Japanese sword of exceptional quality it can run me upward of 1500 dollars and will come with a certificate of authenticity. This kind of sword, generally, cannot just be taken out of the country. You have to fill out paper work and get permission to have it shipped out of the country which the seller of the sword will complete for you.

There is also, as David points out, a higher echelon of Japanese swords that are considered National Treasures. These swords can run 10k to 75k or more depending on their pedigree (i.e. if it was owned by a famous Samurai). And something like this is taken very seriously. It can take as much as six months to get approval for it to be shipped out of the country.

I have to give another thank you to a webmaster that I have exchanged links with. It is not related to Japan or Japanese swords yet it is still very relevant. The site is Chinese-swords-guide.com and there is a lot of great information about chinese swords, collecting them, fighting with them, cutting with them, restoring them,and much more. It’s a great site if you are interested in this type of sword, its use and history.