Randy | September 3, 2026
Our first born Son, Viktor, turns 13 today. This pictorial essay offers insights into the ways, means, interests, talents, and accomplishments of our Man of the hour. I could certainly have gone on at length but chose instead to take the minimalist approach, offering these subtleties to those with eyes to see. Besides, I plan […]
Randy | August 27, 2026
In my 2012 article, A Sabre’s Not For Rattling, I quoted Swordmaster Adam Crown by way of a passage from The Swordmaster’s Grimoire. For today’s purposes, here’s a specific snippet from that larger work: “… Your opponent won’t be giving you a multiple-choice quiz. But can you stand on guard, maintain your balance, line focus […]
Randy | June 11, 2026
Excitable Sean was born fully formed out of a conversation with The Sons LFM on a recent morning drive to school. My recitation left them laughing, even without the additional play on pronunciations. Always teach by example. Excitable Sean by LFM An excitable fellow named Sean Sat naked one day on the lean. A long […]
Randy | May 9, 2026
Some of you have been inclined to pining at my extended absence here in past weeks. I want you to know that I appreciate the pearl clutching with all the seriousness it deserves, and would never trivialize it as but a mass case of the Tulip Time Vapours. In Truth, my Family and Professional Duties […]
Randy | February 16, 2026
The brace of knives laid out in the photo at the top of this piece are representative of those familiar to fishermen who crewed salt bank schooners sailing out of Nova Scotia and other East Coast ports at a time when wind and muscle propelled human endeavour beyond the thin veneer. Much of value can […]
Randy | February 11, 2026
In maintaining life on the other side of the Thin Veneer, only True Tools, both the hard (technology) and the soft (skills), are carried. Which ones will depend on the environment, the job, the doer of it, alone or in company, and what interval of time and space will inform readiness for “self-rescue”, a now […]
Randy | February 1, 2026
Today we will look exclusively at the birth of my own khukuri, beginning with why I commissioned it to be made in the form that it is, and following it through the process as it was dutifully reported to me at every stage. My overall reasons that drove choosing it for integration into my garniture […]
Randy | January 24, 2026
The blade is but the tooth and claw That Nature never gave, So Man no longer hides in trees, Nor cowers in a cave. Why scrabble for what lives beneath The rocks and rotting logs? Take blade, go forth with Comrades bold, And Trusty Hunting Dogs! ~ Tooth and Claw ~ (Excerpt) If you’ve ever […]
Randy | January 2, 2026
“Normally I would have asked a policeman or a minister of the Church, but finding no one available, I thought it better to consult a man with some professional qualifications, rather than rely on the possibly confused testimony of a passer-by.” ~ In the wake of a bicycle accident due his tire pump having got […]
Randy | December 24, 2025
My Esteemed Friend Jim Keating recently made a profound utterance in the matter of prevailing flaccid, and annually recurring, expressions of what’s branded to be in the “Spirit” of the “Season”, saying in part … “… How about songs, words, images which convey strength, power, confidence and faith in this time of Yule? Why not […]