Timonium
 

Just returned home from Timonium. I'd like to thank Lee and Artzi and all the lecturers for a terrific evening. A lot of good information well presented.

Still here
 

Still here in Timonium, but having a great time. There were some neat bargains at the Baltimore Arms Show, but you really had to hunt.

The speakers were very good. Some of my favorites were Charles Sanders, Phil Tom and Ian.

Artzi and Jimmy Manteris have some neat tables. Also Fred Coluzzi and a lot of other people.

The "show and tell" part of the EEW forum was incredible! Some really outstanding weapons. A lot of ivory, steel and gold.

Got two Parang Nabours from the Sea Dyak and an 18th Century Piha Kaetta.

Hi Everyone

I arrived home late last night from the show. I had a wonderful time at the show and the seminar was terrific. I want to thank Artzi and Lee for organizing the seminar and the rest of the speakers the who shared their wealth of knowlege on various topics and weapons.


Lew

Lee and Artzi did a wonderful job. MUCH appreciated

And it was good to finally meet you Lew,

Bill Marsh

A Good Ole Time In Timonium!!
 

I know many of you were at the Timoniun Forum Dinner and Seminar, and I hope you all had as much fun as I did!

The first evening's discussion of Crusades-era archeology was fascinating, and I learned a lot about medieval swords...but still a novice on the technical details.

My speciality/love was reserved for the second nite and the variety of topics on ethnographic arms.....all outstanding, and enjoyable.

Perhaps what I see as important as anything are the developing friendships and fun among the collectors/forum members. We have almost become like a fraternity, with all the socializing, laughs, and fun that come along with the more scholarly endeavors! Members seem to revel in each others' company, and mutually enjoy one another's collections....who could ask for a better weekend for the "Forum Freaks"!!??

Maybe next year we can plan more time for collection "mutal appreciation" and socializing. There were some fascinating things from a variety of fields and collections to be seen during breaks and after the presentations.

A special thanks to Artzi and Lee for the organization of the event. It went off withput a hitch!...and thanks, Lee, for being the tireless "director and producer" for so many presentations.

Just 364 more days............................

Just came home from Timonium.
Guys (and, of course, Kate Raphael!), it was a pleasure seeing all of you and to participate in the symposium. In all honesty, this is one of the most exciting weekends I had all year around. Hope the tradition persists and we shall meet again next year.
Ariel

I concur. I believe our forum has benefited from the opportunity to get together and actually meet in person. We had a grand time and the presentations continue to get better and better year after year. Many thanks and kudos to Artzi and Lee for putting together an educational and wonderful get together.

Recovering from Timonium...
 

For my small part, you are most welcome. I do wish to remind everyone that the big thanks for our annual meeting must go to Artzi and Avner Yarom of Oriental Arms. Without their financial sponsorship, the event would not even happen and without Artzi's wide contacts and ability to bring exciting speakers, the diversity and quality we have enjoyed would not be attainable.

I would also like to thank the new keynote speakers this year for their insights, as well as to thank all of our returning and favorite presenters for continuing to expend the efforts to share with us. There was not a single presentation from which I did not learn something new. And of course, we must not forget those who brought along items from their collections - even if only bought that day - for show and tell, even if it did often tempt the evil of envy.

Special thanks are also due to Andrew for taking on the thankless scut task of preparing the nametags and to Gordon Gray for keeping the show going with audiovisual support.

Now, to begin resting up for next year...

I've merged the two Timonium threads.

I, too, had a great time. Many, many thanks to Artzi, Avner and Lee for their encouragement of our mutual obsession. :D

Thanks, also, to all the presenters. The material covered was fascinating, and the various approaches, from the formal archeology of Kate Raphael, to the insightful analytic reasoning and critical thinking applied by presenters more experienced than I truly added to my knowlege base. More importantly, I found my way of thinking about certain things affected by this seminar.

Personal thanks to Ian, Jim McDougall and Philip Tom for entertaining my endless questions, and to RSword for the primer on identifying wootz and mechanical damascus in the many poorly maintained weapons residing on certain tables at the show.

Charles, Philip, Tony Tirri and I definitely have the best hairoos. ;) (JP, you need to take the plunge, my man.)

Rick, you were missed.

Andrew,

You have an excellent eye. I had overlooked the one piece but when you took me back to it and upon much closer inspection, the pattern welding is going to be fabulous. I had to go back on Sunday morning and pick it up so many thanks to you for finding it. I'll share some pics once I have had a chance to clean it up. I think there are many "sleepers" out there so even the most rudimentary looking Tulwar deserves a close look at the blade to see what may be hiding.

That's excellent, Rick. I'm glad you did go back and pick it up. I look foward to seeing how it looks with a polish.

This year's seminar was magnificent! and it was great to finally meet so many members at last in person!!! It is always a pleasure I look forward to each year to see my good friends in our annual adventure, and especially to see our numbers growing.
I would like to thank Artzi and Avner for thier kindness and generosity as well as Lee for his part in hosting and organizing this wonderful event. Our annual dinner and seminar are steadily becoming increasingly important as not only enjoyable social gatherings, but as presentations of the incredible assessment of knowledge on the weaponry that continues to grow as the core of our forum.

I really enjoyed all of the presentations, and there was so much fascinating detail and exciting information that I couldn't take notes fast enough....besides I cant read my own writing even when written in the light, let alone dark!!:) I really enjoyed Kate Raphaels exciting discussion of excavating crusader sites!! Everybody elses presentations were good too, but gotta say you guys didnt look as good though!! :) Just kidding OK!!
It was great seeing Scott Rodell demonstrate fencing technique, incredibly impressive...I had never realized how much speed is involved in those movements.

Lee, I very much enjoyed your presentation on these distinctively marked
swords. I really had no idea of the number of these, I thought there were just a couple...and especially wanted to thank you for bringing your breathtaking example to share. As always, your very systematic research brought entirely new perspective and interest to this topic. Thank you!!

Really all of the presentations were outstanding, and I felt I was learning so much so fast....fascinating and well presented material by everyone!! Well done!!

Andrew, it was really great to meet you in person at last, and I really enjoyed talking with you and thanks for the lunch! It was fun with you, Ian, Gordon and Lee, and especially the sixth, special guest at the table!! :)

Rick, it was great to see you again...even if we didn't wave around a five foot sword in the parking lot this time!!:)

John, I'm really glad you're feelin' better and you're back to being your mild mannered self !!:) really, it was good to see ya!

This years was the best ever, and I can't wait till the next!! Thanks again to Artzi, Avner, Lee and all you guys that I got to see again and those who I finally got to meet in person and can put names and faces together!! It's really getting to be kind of a big family, and I really like that a lot.

All the best everybody, and thanks again!!!
Jim

Photos?
 

Hey Friends!

Have you made any photos out there on Timonium? Bring them here, good ole Europe would like to see something anything from there :)

I'd like to add my thanks to those above. Another great job done by all that put it on. I could only be there Saturday but it was still well worth the trip. I learned a great deal of new things and unlearned some things I thought I knew about some types of swords. Keep up the good work everyone

I had a great time, too. Sorry for the over-dramatic entrance Saturday! I didn't look at the schedule carefully enough and thought maybe I was early!

"It's so dark in there..." Doh! :o

In any event, the presentations were excellent, as always, and the show-and-tell a lot of fun. It is always a pleasure to inspect closely and handle the swords previously only seen in photos.

Thanks to Artzi, Avner and Lee for all the effort and great organization.