My Third Decade Begins

I still have a hard time grasping the fact that I'm twenty years old now. But then again it's only been three days. Guess it takes a bit longer than that. But still, if someone comes up to me and says "act your age" I'm not gonna have a clue what that means. Is it "act your age", or "act your age"?

March 10th 2014
I remember on March tenth I got up in the morning with the house to myself, and went out for a walk; to go down the road and then by the creek, to find some river stones. Still some snow left on the ground, and I had my wooden staff and HandyCam with me. Half a field away, I saw a grey shape sitting still, crouched in the snow. 'Wait...' I thought. 'Is that a fox?' I took out the HandyCam and used the zoom lens to get a better look at it. In seconds, the red and grey fox rose to its feet and started running. Quickly I took four photos as it was moving away.

(attention city people; You see? THAT is the sort of thing you're missing. In places like this there's peace and natural life. No traffic or gangs all over the place)
Unfortunately every rock at the creek was angular and uneven. Not round or smooth enough for throwing, but heavy enough to weigh a sling down. I picked up four and put them in my pocket before leaving for home.
I went back to the creek later in the afternoon with my leather sling, to practice the throwing technique/s with the stones provided and figure out which throw I was going to use for filming the next day.

You know what can make someone's day? Seeing birthday presents covered in all Duck Dynasty wrapping paper. I was laughing literally right away. I even got a couple of their books, "Si-cology" and "Happy, Happy, Happy".

The chocolate chip cookie cake was delicious. I mean, obviously! It's a giant soft cookie with green and brown frosting decorated on it! (It's a C.C.C.C.C., a Camouflage Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake!)
Several hours were spent watching behind-the-scenes on Catching Fire with my sister till we both got too sleepy to stay up much longer.

March 11th, 2014
The next day I put some of the other stuff I got to good use.
I got to wear my Beorn t-shirt for this episode of Beorn's Tent, and use a new set of paracord and leather to make a a new sling.
The only really annoying thing was the battery in my camera kept wearing down in not too much time, so I had to charge it and and edit the footage between filming sessions.
It was cool, though. I shot a long-distance fight sequence outside with the new sling and my flannel camouflage cloak. In the editing I made it look like a warg was charging at me and I was throwing a golf ball into its mouth (I showed a golf ball in my hand, and later I switched it with a random rock so the pouch would be weighted and I wouldn't have to worry about losing good ammo in the snow). Although I guess it's no secret to say, that scene was a bit tricky to edit. So was picking out additional music for the whole episode when I was running out.

March 12th, 2014
I got to go to the shooting range at French Creek Outfitters with another friend (so I brought both my bows, both shooting gloves and every arrow that would work) and, well... she wasn't exactly the best. But I guess part of the reason is 'cause we were the same distance from the target and she had the lower-weight one. Mostly it was trouble with the anchor point and pulling to full draw. But that means there's room to improve. "If it makes ya feel better, I've been doing this since I was sixteen." I said. It was a pretty funny shooting session.


I'm just glad my last few teenage years were awesome. Now, still plenty more life ahead to enjoy and give meaning (and a LOT of time to grow a beard too).

My First Shooting Range

This is my short story of the first time I went to a shooting range. And a good thing too, 'cause beforehand I'd been getting really antsy 'cause of the snow, thinking "I've gotta shoot something!!!"

My friend Sam picked me up, with her compound bow in its case in the back seat. I put my recurve and trigger release with it and got in the front seat. Today we were going to French Creek Outfitters for the upstairs archery range. I’d been looking forward to it for a while, and finally I was going to my first shooting range. I figured I would mark that as the fun thing I did during my last days as a teenager.

It cost about thirteen bucks for me to shoot, and for some reason Sam wanted to sort of sit and watch, not comfortable with the thirty yards since she'd changed the poundage or something like that. But anyway, I filled out a little form and we went up the almost hidden stairs to what looked like a long attic with animal-shaped targets scattered at different distances and heights. Behind a thick yellow line people of different ages from teens to fifties stood side by side and were shooting at the targets with their own bows.

“Most of them are just target shooters, not really hunters.” Sam said. And it was pretty obvious in some ways ‘cause of all the balances and wires and fancy gear that most of these shooters put on their compound bows.

Sam also told me during the week there’s hardly anyone there, so theoretically we should be able to come up sometime and just shoot at plain practice targets (these were 3D with a big group of people around). That’d be nice, maybe after my math class sometime. Or even on a Friday when I don’t have any classes. And according to her there’s also the possibility of getting my arrows fixed. I mean the ones where the nocks have broken off from hitting them with other arrows, but with the fletching and shafts still in good enough condition to shoot again.

Finally my turn came up so I went into the first lane and shot with my recurve. Sam gave me two of her arrows to shoot with, since apparently you’re supposed to bring your own. I must have looked pretty primal next to these other Olympic-style bows. At least I hope I did, ‘cause honestly, I’ve never liked the idea of dressing up a bow with gadgets. You’re not gonna be able to shoot a buck (not that I would unless necessary, but still) or sneak up on anybody with a big cumbersome pipe attached to the front of your bow. Just one other man at the range had a recurve, made of wood. No sights or anything. You’ve no idea how relieved I was to see that.

It wasn’t until after I had shot my first few targets that I was told we’re supposed to aim for the numbered targets according to the names hanging above the lanes each we stood in. Now it made more sense to me. There was a piece of cardboard that was orange on one side and green on the other, so you would shoot at the numbered target depending on the color it’s number was. And after everyone ran out of arrows, we’d make sure everyone was done, go get our arrows back, and someone would switch the board from orange side to green.

It was a lot of fun. Sometimes I hit the target I wanted, but sometimes when I would aim at an animal’s torso or something, I’d hit its leg or neck or part of another close by target. I hit the gator’s tail at least two different times, once near the end when I was aiming for the sheep behind it.

Nonetheless I enjoyed it. Maybe a bit too much, now that I think of it. I hit the mosquito-shaped target, which was quite large and set on top of a wooden fence near a few turkeys.

I kept thinking to myself ‘What Uncle Brad wouldn’t give to see this.’ I bet he’d love it. And now I can say I’ve gone through a session there and can go back to try again whenever.

As I got closer to the end of the line I tried thinking and experimenting in a way, watching the other recurve shooter and recounting how previous shots had succeeded and failed, so I could make the next ones awesome.

But… I broke the two carbon arrows which I felt a bit bad for, for a minute (before that, one of them got stuck in the backdrop’s wall and had to ask two guys for help to pull it out. I pulled a couple muscles in the process). Well one of them broke into three pieces, the other one lost its nock. One of the guys in charge took the nock out of the broken one and put it in the other arrow’s shaft so I still had something to shoot with. At least that way I had a bit more leeway in picking which target to shoot. I pretty much always picked the closest to me, but sometimes they weren’t that far apart.

I missed a closer-range bear target, though. By less than an inch it glided right over the bear’s spine. So I hit the ground more times than I liked, but at least I finally got to try it out. And honestly, it made me excited for a weekday target-shooting time, when there probably won’t be many people, if any at all.

Maybe when I get my first longbow, I’ll be even better at this archery range since it’ll have better poundage.

"I'm gonna go protect my title!"

I'm a huge Tolkien nerd, and it may be what I'm most proud of 'cause of the amazing change it made to my lifestyle.
A good transition from one point of fandom to another is making my TheOneRing.net (TORn) account and seeing a webseries on YouTube called Happy Hobbit; two more enthusiasts expressing their love of Middle-Earth in different ways. I became an immediate fan and (after posting some of my music videos on their Facebook page and getting positive responses) was asked to edit a flashback video for their year-one episode. You have no idea how excited I was to get that message. Before it aired I asked if there was gonna be a Beorn/honey episode, saying I'd be tempted to show up myself if I wasn't on the east coast. When the year-one video DID air...

"His name to the outside world is Derek, but we shall introduce him here to you as Beorn."

:) 'Yep, it's official.' I thought. 'Got a nickname now.'

In Middle-Earth, Beorn is a skin-changer who lives in a wooden house he built. He takes care of horses, cows, sheep and dogs, and does not eat or hunt animals. He also keeps big beehives, and lives mostly on honey, bread, nuts and milk. (Like me! So, he's kind of a picky eater)
"Sometimes he's a huge black bear, sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with."
I think he's a fascinating character in the story, and one of my all-time favorites. It raises my curiosity of what we'll see of him in the next Hobbit movie. I bet next time we see him he'll be in his huge bear form killing orcs.

I got the chance to appear in Happy Hobbit's Thanksgiving special by filming my own footage and sending it to them so they could edit it together. Then I decided to do a spinoff TORn series with different topics from the other side of the country.
I couldn't quite come up with a title for it though. At first I thought "Beorn's House" but then when people talk about the second Hobbit film they would be saying the same thing, so I went through a few other ideas before lowering it down to Beorn's Tent.
It was after I was taught how to set up a tent that I thought of the name, that maybe I would be living in it some of the time, or just to let it represent simplicity.

 Beorn's Tent feels like doing my own thing and at the same time teamwork. This is me representing TheOneRing, showing topics I know about and can imply Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to.
Since I do it at home by myself, that saves me the trouble of working out any scheduling conflicts with siblings or friends.
Plus I get to make up a few bear extras like Arg, and Arg Jr. (aka "Milky") using bear sound effects.
So far so good, I've made several episodes and have gotten some online fans of the series. Not many, but it's a start. Quicker than I expected actually.

The wooden badge around my neck is another reminder of this. Like I'm "one of them", "welcome to the club" or something. Another one of those dedicated fans on TheOneRing with a love of JRR Tolkien's and Peter Jackson's work.
Definitely as a writer, filmmaker and outdoorsy guy, this whole experience has been great. Especially since The Lord of the Rings is what sparked my interest in making films, and the Hobbit production blogs taught me almost everything I know about behind-the-scenes business.

Keep your eyes out for more, and "be careful if you have man-bears in your woods."

May your days be filled with milk and honey!
~Beorn

THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, from the house of Beorn

[SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE! You have been warned!]

THEONERING.NET

So far I have seen The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug twice, both times enjoying it and getting excited for what happens next. I looked forward to this film even more than the third one from the get-go because most of my favorite parts of the book take place in that portion. Beorn's house (or "the other Beorn's" should I say, 'cause that's kind of my name), escaping in barrels, Smaug's lair...

DURIN'S HAMMER! Smaug was incredible! Most terrifying dragon I've ever seen! Last time I saw that scene I was actually getting kind of scared, so that must mean he was made perfectly. The only surprise for me was he had two legs instead of four, but thankfully it didn't really mention his leg count in the book and he was huge!

I liked the prologue, 'cause it showed the story of Thorin meeting Gandalf in Bree, which is talked about in the book/s but I had no idea it would be adapted as part of the movie.
As soon as I saw the man walking into the rain and munching a carrot I screamed in my head "PETER JACKSON!"

The present-day beginning did an awesome job continuing the dwarves' quest and introducing the huge skin-changer. Beorn being my OneRing name, it made seeing the eight-foot guy  in the nice wooden house pouring breakfast milk and talking about his past quite interesting. I mean, a bit more than it already was.
I guess it's also because of some of the traits I share with [the other] Beorn, like a love of animals (along with honey and nuts), good humored whenever possible, doesn't eat meat, doesn't hunt, and he's a lot of what I aspire to; growing a nice big beard, getting stronger, living in a wood-and-stone cabin in the woods with a fireplace and an axe (no traffic or neighbors to bother me).
I think he was adapted perfectly for the film, down to details like his low growling voice and bushy eyebrows. I can't wait to see more Beorn in the next Hobbit movie, probably rescuing Gandalf in Dul Goldur and fighting Bolg in the Battle of Five Armies.

A scene that really surprised me was when Kili had to be left in Laketown because of his arrow wound. You can see in both him and his brother Fili that they've grown up with tales of Erebor and triumphant leaders, dreaming of they day they could go back... only Kili has to wait so they don't get slowed down, and Fili has a responsibility since he is next in line to the throne. But the amazing thing was that he stepped off that little boat and stood up to Thorin so he could stay with Kili.
"I belong with my brother." For me that really displayed how much Fili cares more about his younger brother than going on the quest.
:')

I'd heard rumors about the Kili/Tauriel relationship (I'm so glad there's no major love triangle and it's not too predictable) but didn't see any confirmations. So when she jumped in and saved Kili from the spiders and he later asked if she was going to search him (I also laughed when the elves' search of Fili's weapons took forever until his last knife came out before the bars closed), that was it. 'Yep, this is happening. Getting pretty curious now...' When she asks about Kili's runestone and it picks up from there, that scene felt like a really honest conversation that anyone meeting a new friend could probably relate to. Because it's just them talking about their memories and listening to each other with fascination. And you don't know how long it goes on for because the next scene starts while it's happening. So that can really set fans' minds wandering, don't ya think? It certainly did mine.
I was really touched when Tauriel healed Kili's arrow wound and he's half-asleep, talking about her and holding her hand. I think that was a good note to end that story on for the second movie, and to pick up with the next one.

As far as the cliffhanger, I thought at first that the movie was gonna end with Smaug getting killed (because I didn't see Cumberbatch on the cast list for There and Back Again. It probably got updated later) and Laketown being destroyed. But now that I watch it, it really keeps the suspense going even more than the first movie and we can start the next one on a really action-packed epic battle scene. It really raises the question about whether Bard is going to kill Smaug with the giant lance thrower or his longbow. Though, there have been several on-set pictures of Luke Evans with a longbow and arrows, on rooftops and hanging by a wire, so I bet the black arrow will get lost or something and he'll have to use his bow. I guess we'll have to see.

I can't wait for the next time I see The Desolation of Smaug, and I know There and Back Again is going to be great.

~Beorn

TheOneRing.net "HAPPY HOBBIT" review

JRR Tolkien's written work combined with visionary Peter Jackson's film adaptations of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT have touched and inspired millions of people. A significant two of these people are active OneRing-ers and sisters, Kellie and Alex Rice from California.

As fans of Tolkien, Kellie and Alex (nicknamed Kili and Fili after the young dwarves from THE HOBBIT) incorporate Middle Earth into their daily lives, in a way that is both modern and old-fashioned. As such, it seems the perfect idea for them to display this lifestyle through their YouTube/OneRing webseries, Happy Hobbit.

The show Happy Hobbit is very much Middle Earth from a modern-day perspective. The way these two enthusiastic fans put it together involves a lot of helpful and informative instruction mixed with pure entertainment and no small amount of slapstick. There are surprises throughout each episode and you've no idea what's going to happen next, since they never repeat themselves or use "the same old jokes." They make everyday things, some that people would normally not pay much attention to, look exciting and fun.

They even make watching a movie trailer more exciting than it already is, posting a reaction video of The Desolation of Smaug trailer (only to be noticed by Sir Peter Jackson himself and then shown to the main elf actors on the film). One thing's for sure, if Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly thought it was good, it must mean something. "I think they outperformed us," says Lilly after watching the reaction video.

As far as fans go, I think these girls have reached a level of fan-dom that other Ringers like myself would aspire to be. And I don't mean being noticed by the cast, but their dedication to Tolkien's work and making it part of their lives, and showing so much support that it reaches the attention of other Ringers alike. It is certainly my favorite webseries, no exaggeration.

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, an I like less than half of you half as well as your deserve." If you don't already like/know Happy Hobbit, I highly recommend it for anyone in support of the masterpieces Tolkien created for us.

"Like a River in the Rain..."

I said to one of my friends once, "excitement swells like a river in the rain", on the subject of the second HOBBIT movie. Yesterday, however, I went to the movies and that expression literally came to life.

Me, my mom and my sister went to Carmike to see Monsters University which we'd been looking forward to since the first trailer came out. It was a little chaotic, in a sense. When we got in there we had to wait in line quite awhile 'cause there was a whole gymnastics team coming in as well, probably to see the same movie. But we got our tickets, the huge crowd built up behind us and we got into the BIG-D theatre first, getting our seats before it filled up (I've never really liked the BIG-D theatre, it's too big and I'm afraid of heights. But it was the only 2D show we could get).
In just minutes, the whole team/crowd from the lobby flooded in and were quite loud, and we kept worrying they were gonna be too near us. With all of them running around (five or six-plus of them ran right past me when I was at the door on my way back to my seat later), I kept thinking of this...

At least it was quiet(er) when the movie started. Just over halfway through I could hear something rumbling and thought "I think it's raining." When the movie was over, we made a quick-enough getaway since we were seated right next to the stairs, and coming into the lobby revealed the heavy downpour outside visible through the glass-windowed doors.
On the way home we pulled into a parking lot and waited for the rain to let up because it got really bad. I'm talkin' inches-deep muddy rivers on either side of the road! In fact by the time it was safe enough to continue driving, the roads were flooding pretty badly and there was one area closer to home that was, well, scary to drive through. At least ten feet long, there was a HUGE muddy "puddle" that was so deep we had to drive through it carefully and slowly.

It's been raining all week! Seriously, make up your mind, clouds! One minute it's sunny and nice-looking, and then the next thing ya know there's clouds comin' and it rains cats and dogs on your head. That's one of the only things that annoys me about this summer weather. Too much thunder and rain.

"Slinging"

"SLINGING." Yeah, that's the term my 13-year-old cousin made for practicing with the weapon I showed him. Well, I wasn't fully responsible, since he is also a huge fan of the Ranger's Apprentice series (which I introduced to him, so come to think of it I guess I was. lol) and just loves working with weapons.

Another iconic story involving the sling, that I especially love, is "David and Goliath." And to think I barely heard of it until just last semester in history class. I think as a kid all I heard was 'a giant defeated by a boy with a slingshot,' and I had no idea that this was the same story. I'm glad I heard the whole thing this time, so it actually makes sense.

So, I really wanted to learn the weapon. I even did a video blog about this.
    So what I did was I took a piece of durable fabric and sewed it together to make the pouch, and added two strings.It didn't stay that way, though, since squared corners can make it drag and effect your throwing with it, so i folded the corners and eventually replaced the string. I mean, lets face it. Are you really expecting a ROCK sling to hold together with just two pieces of string?

So I replaced the string with para-cord, and stapled two strips of sandpaper to the inside of the pouch to keep whatever ammo (rocks, golf balls, whatever) into it just a little better.

I kinda hated the staples being in it though, (and you can't use a sewing machine for that) so I took them out and hot-glued the strips.

As a result of taking the sling with me to a play at Mont co (that was supposed to be outside, which is why i took it), I really didn't wanna go anywhere without it.
When I went to my sister's college graduation and we were just walking around taking pictures, I found a bunch of smooth rounded stones near a grate, so I 'sorted through them' when nobody was looking, picked one up and put it in my pocket.

And then later I thought, 'If I really need sandpaper to keep the ammo in, then this probably isn't a good material for it.' So I made a different sling, this time cutting off a piece of a long rubber exercise band to make the pouch. Every day I would take my sling with me to school, and after my class was over I would go outside to the parking lot and practice throwing rocks in the river. It was grand.

BUT... I ran into a very frustrating and panicky accident. Mid-throw, a corner of the pouch ripped off (i had attached a grommet cause it had broken before) and landed in the river with the rock I had thrown.

I must have sworn half a dozen times panicking and hoping it wouldn't go too far. It floated close-by so I climbed down to the bank and grabbed it before it could float away.
So, for anyone who's interested in making a sling... NEVER USE RUBBER! EVER!

But in a way it was a good thing. I was kind of worried for some time about it breaking, and so now I knew for sure it wouldn't last. Now I knew I had to go to the best, classic, and most durable material possible for it: Leather. Yeah, it's legit.
  I cut a big squarish piece in half and used one of the two for the pouch, and used cording (left from what I had made a beaded totem necklace from) for the strings.

Important Tips:

1. The ends of a sling are essential. On end has to have a knot you pinch (NOT GRIP!) with your forefinger and thumb, and the other string has a loop that goes around your middle finger.

2. The length of the 'strings' should be roughly  the same length as your arm, so what I do is tie the knots before unrolling the cord and measuring. Then I add another few inches so I have room to tie them to the pouch and have a little remaining.

Later I noticed my golf balls weren't flying as far, which led to the conclusion that the pouch may have been a bit too heavy. So i trimmed about an inch and a half total from the pouch, 'cause I didn't want to risk making it too small.

And it works great.

After a while my cousin Caius asked me to teach him, so I had him use my first one (which I still have as an extra), and he got so excited about that I just had to make a good one for him. So i used the rest of the leather to make a copy (the picture here isn't of his, it's mine after it got trimmed).

Later, when I went to my friends' graduation ceremony I took the sling and one stone with me as usual, and on my way out of the "Wildcat stadium" I picked up three more.

Hopefully soon I can find another, and make it five stones like in the story.

So, the sling is a really fun weapon. And the best thing is, since it's basically a strip of leather and not the kind of weapon you'd get at DICK'S, it won't get confiscated or anything if you carry it around. I'm good at doing arc-shooting and going forward, but I don't know how to aim yet. Maybe when (and if) I figure out how, I'll have to do a blog about it too. I don't know, we'll just have to see.