Aftermeetings: An Excuse to Tell Svid Stories
By Master Andreas Hak, KSCA, PK, CGA, CSy, etc.
In the earliest days of the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael, meetings were every Tuesday. The meetings were the center of all our baronial SCA activities, but more importantly they were social gatherings. The barony was geographically split. The Carthaginians came from the north, and no doubt did things together outside the meetings. The Fredonia group was pretty close knit outside of the meetings as well. But it was only at events and on Tuesdays that we all got together.
The barony was also financially split. There were those of us who had enough money (Haxiom: Everyone has their own comfort zone), and then there were the poor college students. Yes I was a college student, but I also had a full time job, and lived with my parents. I was in the first group.
Despite our geographic and financial differences, we were very close; so close in fact, that the Pizza Hut on Route 60, just west of Route 20, never once questioned us for taking advantage of their Tuesday night "Family Special". As far as they were concerned we WERE family. And they seemed happy to have us, despite the fact that we were usually very loud, and occasionally rowdy.
I remember once when Svid (Baron Svidrir Einarrsson) made a magnificently awful joke. Mago (Barak Elandris Syr Mago) said "That was awful, Svid. You ought to commit Viking Sepuku for that one." Svid grabbed his fork in one hand and tried to stab himself in the head, but his other hand caught the fork just in time. He struggled one hand against the other while the fork got ever closer to his face. He went cross-eyed staring at the struggle. His nostrils flared. His neck muscles grew tight. His head went farther and farther back. Finally the firsthand won. The fork, including remains of salad and Thousand Islands dressing, went right up his nose two tines up each nostril. And the chair went right over backwards.
For years afterwards, when Svid made a particularly bad joke, Mago would say "Kill yourself, Viking." And Svid would grab the nearest table utensil and commit Viking Sepuku. But it was usually a spoon. I don’t think he wanted to go to the well too often with the tines up the nostrils thing. Although, he did once place chopsticks, like walrus tusks, hanging from his nose at a feast in Debatable Lands.
The family special went like this: as long as you ordered a large pizza with at least one topping, and a large pitcher of something to drink, the all you could eat salad bar cost only $ .59 per person. So we always went there after the meetings. The people with money would negotiate what kind of pizza and pop to order. The people without money would order the salad bar and water. The waitresses who knew the drill brought pitchers of water. I know there were times when some of the group really looked forward to that salad bar because they could eat two days’ worth of food to stretch their budget.
There was in those days in the Hael a fine lady named Ruth Baraskaya, who was soon to be Mistress of the Arts. Ruth was allergic to everything. One Tuesday Svid ended up sitting next to Ruth, which was a treat for the rest of us. Ruth was rather easily flustered and likely to berate Svid if he got too out of hand. This virtually guaranteed that Svid was going to get too out of hand. They made a great team. (I'm not sure where Ruth lives right now, but I saw her last Pennsic.)
When the pizza came, Ruth started pulling the pepperoni off her slices. Svid leaned over and started heckling in his high-speed blues voice. ‘Come on, Ruth. Eat the pepperoni. Come on! Don't be a wimp. You can do it. Eat it. Do it. Doo-oo it. Come on. You won't get sick. Come on. Eat it. Eat the pepperoni. Live a little. You can do it. Come on. Do it. Eat the pepperoni’.
Throughout this Ruth was gesturing at Svid in a very Ruth way which involved holding her arms and hands like William Shatner in distress and moving them up and down about four inches. The hands were always turned upwards as if beseeching the heavens, and every time she pulled the hands downward she'd say "Svid," a little louder than the last time, waiting for him to be quiet. He, of course, would go on louder and funnier.
Finally Ruth's hands turned toward each other as if all that were needed was Svid's neck between them and she shouted. "Svid!!! I'm Jewish!!" Svid looked awestruck. He leaned back and his face was open and wide-eyed. And he said as sincerely as any words have ever been said, "I'm sorry Ruth. I just wanted to see you get sick! I didn't want you to go to hell”
About eleven or twelve years later Mago and I started leading people from fight practice to the Buffalo Brew Pub. It was a ton of fun, and it showed me that the sort of camaraderie we had back then is still possible. But there is no replacing Svid. In the days of Ice Dragon V, the people I knew rarely left events during dinner, even if they weren't eating on-board. The SCA owned a much larger share of our lives then, than it does now. Almost none of us would give up even an hour of togetherness to go out and eat. And I'm sure I’d give a week's meals now to have one day of that back.
In the earliest days of the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael, meetings were every Tuesday. The meetings were the center of all our baronial SCA activities, but more importantly they were social gatherings. The barony was geographically split. The Carthaginians came from the north, and no doubt did things together outside the meetings. The Fredonia group was pretty close knit outside of the meetings as well. But it was only at events and on Tuesdays that we all got together.
The barony was also financially split. There were those of us who had enough money (Haxiom: Everyone has their own comfort zone), and then there were the poor college students. Yes I was a college student, but I also had a full time job, and lived with my parents. I was in the first group.
Despite our geographic and financial differences, we were very close; so close in fact, that the Pizza Hut on Route 60, just west of Route 20, never once questioned us for taking advantage of their Tuesday night "Family Special". As far as they were concerned we WERE family. And they seemed happy to have us, despite the fact that we were usually very loud, and occasionally rowdy.
I remember once when Svid (Baron Svidrir Einarrsson) made a magnificently awful joke. Mago (Barak Elandris Syr Mago) said "That was awful, Svid. You ought to commit Viking Sepuku for that one." Svid grabbed his fork in one hand and tried to stab himself in the head, but his other hand caught the fork just in time. He struggled one hand against the other while the fork got ever closer to his face. He went cross-eyed staring at the struggle. His nostrils flared. His neck muscles grew tight. His head went farther and farther back. Finally the firsthand won. The fork, including remains of salad and Thousand Islands dressing, went right up his nose two tines up each nostril. And the chair went right over backwards.
For years afterwards, when Svid made a particularly bad joke, Mago would say "Kill yourself, Viking." And Svid would grab the nearest table utensil and commit Viking Sepuku. But it was usually a spoon. I don’t think he wanted to go to the well too often with the tines up the nostrils thing. Although, he did once place chopsticks, like walrus tusks, hanging from his nose at a feast in Debatable Lands.
The family special went like this: as long as you ordered a large pizza with at least one topping, and a large pitcher of something to drink, the all you could eat salad bar cost only $ .59 per person. So we always went there after the meetings. The people with money would negotiate what kind of pizza and pop to order. The people without money would order the salad bar and water. The waitresses who knew the drill brought pitchers of water. I know there were times when some of the group really looked forward to that salad bar because they could eat two days’ worth of food to stretch their budget.
There was in those days in the Hael a fine lady named Ruth Baraskaya, who was soon to be Mistress of the Arts. Ruth was allergic to everything. One Tuesday Svid ended up sitting next to Ruth, which was a treat for the rest of us. Ruth was rather easily flustered and likely to berate Svid if he got too out of hand. This virtually guaranteed that Svid was going to get too out of hand. They made a great team. (I'm not sure where Ruth lives right now, but I saw her last Pennsic.)
When the pizza came, Ruth started pulling the pepperoni off her slices. Svid leaned over and started heckling in his high-speed blues voice. ‘Come on, Ruth. Eat the pepperoni. Come on! Don't be a wimp. You can do it. Eat it. Do it. Doo-oo it. Come on. You won't get sick. Come on. Eat it. Eat the pepperoni. Live a little. You can do it. Come on. Do it. Eat the pepperoni’.
Throughout this Ruth was gesturing at Svid in a very Ruth way which involved holding her arms and hands like William Shatner in distress and moving them up and down about four inches. The hands were always turned upwards as if beseeching the heavens, and every time she pulled the hands downward she'd say "Svid," a little louder than the last time, waiting for him to be quiet. He, of course, would go on louder and funnier.
Finally Ruth's hands turned toward each other as if all that were needed was Svid's neck between them and she shouted. "Svid!!! I'm Jewish!!" Svid looked awestruck. He leaned back and his face was open and wide-eyed. And he said as sincerely as any words have ever been said, "I'm sorry Ruth. I just wanted to see you get sick! I didn't want you to go to hell”
About eleven or twelve years later Mago and I started leading people from fight practice to the Buffalo Brew Pub. It was a ton of fun, and it showed me that the sort of camaraderie we had back then is still possible. But there is no replacing Svid. In the days of Ice Dragon V, the people I knew rarely left events during dinner, even if they weren't eating on-board. The SCA owned a much larger share of our lives then, than it does now. Almost none of us would give up even an hour of togetherness to go out and eat. And I'm sure I’d give a week's meals now to have one day of that back.