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A recap of the day's events and photo galleries that show it all
The 2013 CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals presented by Chevrolet Performance has struck again at the State Fairgrounds in St. Paul, Minnesota. We witnessed more tire smoking action at the F.A.S.T. burnout contest; chose the winners for our Editor's Choice Awards; continued testing cars for the Real Street Eliminator presented by FRAM, QA1 and Lucas Oil; and rooted for teams competing in the COMP Cams Engine Duel contest. The fairgrounds were overflowing with a variety of classic muscle, custom late models, and unique trucks. The turnout was by far the best in years, and we're excited to see the hobby expanding to younger generations that accompanied parents on Saturday.
Be sure to read the full recap of days 1, 2, and 3 of the 2013 CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals presented by Chevrolet Performance:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Lucas Oil Dyno Challenge
Our first stop of day 2 was at the Lucas Oil Dyno Challenge. We arrived around 8:15 am as the sun was still rising and before the crowd had fully entered the fairgrounds. As we approached the dyno a bright yellow Viper was taking to the rollers; after two passes the supercharged, late-model Mopar posted under 300 hp due to mechanical problems. It was anti-climactic to say the least. A couple cars later an '87 GNX, owned by Jim Schmittinger, 40, of Slinger, WI, backed onto the ramps and laid down an impressive 959 hp with 877 lb-ft with one pass on the rollers. The twin turbocharged aluminum 3.8L sports 3.25:1 gears out back. We didn't get many details about the Buick, when asked to pop the hood Schmittinger politely said "no, I do a lot of street racing." With confidence, the Real Street Eliminator participant quickly hopped in his car and headed for the QA1 Autocross challenge at the grandstands. The autocross and launch box are the other two, of three, tests that must be completed in order to compete in the weekend-long event.
QA1 Autocross and FRAM Launch Box
The second stop of our day was at the grandstands where we witnessed the QA1 Autocross and FRAM Launch Box, both were popular throughout the day. Those who registered for the CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals or participated in the Real Street Eliminator were admitted to the all-day event for free. The line of cars continued to grow late into the afternoon, and the bleachers filled with spectators as word got out of the infield action. Thankfully we saw no accidents, just good fun and stiff competition. Everyone attempted to break the weekend's best time of 29.05 seconds set by Jeremy Fohrenkamm in his '76 Triumph. The course was dry and lent itself to the opportunity of speed, however, we saw no one break the Triumph's time. Though none broke the record, it appeared everyone had a blast driving as fast as possible through the cones. Hopefully Sunday we'll see a lap time faster than 29.05.
REVELL Make 'n' Take
As we continued cruising the fairgrounds in a golf cart, we came upon the free REVELL Make 'n' Take event at the Progress Center. Families packed the building, assembling model cars to take home as souvenirs. It was nice to see children interacting and enjoying their time at the 2013 CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals presented by Chevrolet Performance. It just goes to show, the Nationals are fun for ALL ages.
COMP Cams Engine Duel
Twice the COMP Cams Engine Duel commenced at the COMP booth near the main stage. We headed to the competition for the 3 o'clock match-up between two, two-person teams. The first set of builders to assemble a small block Chevy engine and run it for one minute won a set of Snap On tools and COMP Cams gift cards. For the first 30 minutes the two teams, Team F.A.S.T. and Team COMP Cams, duked it out, but in the end a much younger Team F.A.S.T. pulled away with a 31.40 minute victory. Team COMP Cams continued past 37 minutes when the clock was stopped prematurely. The winning team proudly displayed their prizes for the audience, grinning for photos and enjoying the moment. Meanwhile in the background, the two older gentlemen from COMP rebuilt a possible mistake. There's another contest Sunday at 11:00am, at the same booth, maybe Team COMP Cams can take another stab at the challenge.
Chevrolet Performance Hosts an Autograph Session with Courtney Hansen and Linda Vaughn
Long lines formed at the Chevrolet Performance booth throughout the day as crowds lined the tent to meet Courtney Hansen and Linda Vaughn. Those who patiently waited were awarded with a free autographed poster and cellphone pictures with both ladies. They signed custom notes to fans, answered lots of questions and shared laughs. They'll be back signing posters, or any other merchandise you bring, at 10:30-noon and 1:30pm-3:00pm on Sunday. Get in line, snag a signature, and be sure to get a smile from both ladies – they're definitely worth the time.
Pro Builder Shootout
Voting continued on day 3 as the 2013 CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals Pro Builder Shootout is determined by the general audience. Five Pro Builders are competing for your vote near the Main Stage. Pioneer and Mach 1 Audio are holding electronic voting, so continue the democracy as Sunday, day 3, is the last day to get your favorite car in the running. There are a variety of ways to vote, in case you can't make it to the stage by noon, check out all the ways to vote HERE.
Vendor Marketplace
Lots of vendors had tents, tables, trailers, and displays available for viewing throughout the fairgrounds on Saturday. With well over 40 different companies showing products, it was almost impossible to avoid the great merchandise throughout the event. Customers asked questions with professionals, learned about products for future purchases, and got the chance to views cars displaying parts in action. If you're on the fence about buying parts from big names like Painless, MSD, Mickey Thompson, or any other auto manufactures, take a walk around Sunday and be sure to get your questions answered. You're sure to find what it is you're looking for.
Editor's Choice Awards
We were stoked to hand out our awards Saturday during the 2013 CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals Editor's Choice Awards. Douglas Glad, Editor-in-chief of CAR CRAFT Magazine, took to the main stage this evening; he announced 7 winners and praised each builder on the quality and craftsmanship of their vehicles. If you get the chance, take a peek at the cars Sunday before they leave the fairgrounds. Here are a list of the winner and the categories they won:
- Best of Show – '55 Chevy – Owned by Gary Kollofski and built by Dale Pelvit
- Best 1969 Camaro – Owned by Troy Emmans and raced by his 16-year-old daughter
- Best Chevrolet – '69 Nova – Bob Marvin
- Best Pro Street – '79 Mercury Capri – Mike Dietzen
- Best Paint – Bill Wojcik – '81 Monte Carlo
- Best Pro Touring – "Damion" – Pontiac Tempest
- Innovation Award – Jeff Jarzynski – '89 Chevy pickup
- Best BOP – Pontiac Tempest
F.A.S.T Burnout Challenge
This evening F.A.S.T. held the second burnout competition of the weekend at the grandstands. The seats were packed; some spectators stood along the rails, while others occupied entrances at both sides of the infield. The crowd cheered for each driver, some burnouts received louder praise than others. Compared to day 1's competition, there was much more carnage and even more contestants. The vehicles ranged from 3rd-gen F-bodies to a rat rod. One car worth mentioning was a panel van with no roof, in its place was a stripper pole standing proud as the owner stood on the pedal, spun the tires, and pumped-up the crowd with his hands. A burnout worth remembering was a pickup that blew a tire and sent it 30 feet backwards. The crowd cheered for a minute straight as the truck limped off the steel plate, which was covered in a thick coating of smoldering rubber. The winner of the contest went to Nick Hirsch and his '71 Chevy C-10 equipped with dual flame throwers on either side. The pickup started burning rubber quickly and never let up. The cloud rose to heights no other burnout could match, it was certainly a sight to be seen. Don't miss the last 2013 CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals F.A.S.T. Burnout contest Sunday, July 21st at 12:30pm.
Though lightning may not strike twice, the nationals will defy nature by striking a third time. The event kicks off its final day Sunday, July 21st, bringing an end to the signature event of the summer. On day 3 the Pro Builder Shootout winner will be announced, Real Street Eliminator determined, Miss CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals crowned, and a third burnout champion chosen. Don't miss the weekend finale, it's sure to be a busy day with the same great Lucas Oil dyno challenge, QA1 autocross, FRAM launch box, Chevrolet Performance autograph signing with Courtney Hansen and Linda Vaughn, a bustling vendor marketplace, and the awesome family fun zone. Be sure to bring the whole crew to the fairgrounds, we wouldn't want you to miss the excitement. See you Sunday!


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Physicist Julian Barbour and his theory of time were previously featured in a cover story from December 2000.
Julian Barbour cuts an unlikely figure for a radical. We sip afternoon tea at his farmhouse in the sleepy English village of South Newington, and he playfully quotes Faust: That I may understand whatever binds the world's innermost core together, see all its workings, and its seeds. His love of Goethe's classic poem, about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for unlimited knowledge, is apropos. Forty years ago, Barbour's desire to uncover the innermost workings of the universe led him to make a seemingly reckless gamble. He sacrificed a secure and potentially prestigious career as an academic to strike out on independent research of his own. His starry-eyed quest: upending Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, and with it our understanding of gravity, space, and time.
It was less than a century ago that Einstein was the most radical physics thinker around. With his general theory of relativity, he discarded the traditional notion of space and time as fixed and redefined them as flexible dimensions woven together to create a four-dimensional fabric that pervades the universe. In Einstein's vision, this stretchy version of space-time is the source of gravity. The fabric bends and warps severely around massive objects such as the sun, drawing smaller objects such as planets toward them. The force that we perceive as gravity is the result.
Yet Einstein's fabric left a few loose threads that cosmologists have struggled to tie up ever since. For one, general relativity alone cannot explain the observed motions of galaxies or the way the universe seems to expand. If Einstein's model of gravity is correct, around 96 percent of the cosmos appears to be missing. To make up the difference, cosmologists have posited two mysterious, invisible, and as yet unidentified ingredients: dark matter and dark energy, a double budget deficit that makes many scientists uncomfortable. Einstein also failed to deliver an all-encompassing theory of "quantum gravity"—one that reconciled the laws of gravity observed on the scale of stars and galaxies with the laws of quantum mechanics, the branch of physics that explains the behavior of particles in the subatomic realm.
While other scientists tread softly around the edges of Einstein's theory, hoping to tweak it into compliance, Barbour and a growing cadre of collaborators see a need for a bold march forward. They aim to demolish the space-time fabric that stands as Einstein's legacy and remap the universe without it. This new cosmic code could eliminate the need to invoke dark matter and dark energy. Even more exciting, it could also open the door to the theory of quantum gravity that Einstein was never able to derive. If Barbour is right, some of the most fundamental things cosmologists think they know about the origin and evolution of the universe would have to be revised.
"We have radically reformulated Einstein in a different light that might be valuable for understanding cosmology and quantum gravity," Barbour says. "It is a very ambitious hope that it could play such a role."
Barbour's penchant for mapping space and time is apparent even before we meet. His home, College Farm, is hidden away some 20 miles from the nearest city of note, Oxford. Knowing that visitors often struggle to find the 17th-century farmhouse, he has sent two sets of directions. The first includes detailed instructions for navigating through the village's rolling hills along sunken roads, passing thatched cottages, the local Duck on the Pond pub, and the ancient church near his home. Those directions might have served equally well for locating Barbour's house at the time it was built in 1659, a few decades before another English physicist, Isaac Newton, wrote his Principia, setting down the ideas about motion and gravity that dominated physics for almost three centuries.
In one respect Barbour has spent 40 years faithfully preserving Newton's universe, meticulously restoring the farmhouse's period features. He proudly shows me that each window frame is adorned with a small metal animal figure—a lion, a stag, a cockerel, and the flying horse Pegasus. The lion is Barbour's favorite because it is original; the rest he had specially made based on designs seen in other buildings of the same era in the village. He taps the sturdy stone wall surrounding the window. "These were here 350 years before us and our modern conceptions of physics," he tells me, "and chances are they'll still be standing 350 years after we've gone."
By contrast, the second set of directions for finding Barbour's farmhouse—GPS coordinates—work only in the modern, post-Einstein reality. The satellite navigation system pinpoints positions on Earth to within 10 meters (30 feet) in a matter of seconds by comparing the timing of signals received from a number of satellites at known locations above the globe. The system works with such stunning accuracy because it compensates for the fact that clocks on fast-orbiting satellites run at different rates from those on the ground. The fact that gravity and motion affect the flow of time was discovered by Einstein as a core element of his theory of relativity.
To remap the cosmos, Barbour has tapped into both Newton's and Einstein's conceptions of nature and then discarded key elements of both. Newton imagined that the universe was spanned by absolute space, which served as a rigid invisible backdrop or grid against which the position of all stars and planets (or farmhouses and the Duck on the Pond pub, for that matter) could be definitively located. Remove all objects from the universe and Newton's grid would remain while time ticked along at a steady universal rate, as if marked by God's wristwatch.
Einstein saw time and space as altogether more malleable. During his student days, he had studied the work of James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physicist who recognized the speed of light—300,000 kilometers or 186,000 miles per second—as a fundamental property of electromagnetic fields. In Maxwell's time, most physicists thought that light, like sound, needed some kind of medium for transmission; the mysterious, invisible substance they hypothesized, called the luminiferous ether, would presumably be influenced by the motion of Earth around the sun and the movement of the solar system through the galaxy, a dynamic that stood to alter the speed of light depending on the relative direction from which that light came. But numerous experiments failed to discover any evidence of the ether, and Einstein realized the speed of light must stay constant no matter which direction it came from or how an observer moved.
That understanding contradicted Newton's view of space. In his physics, you could catch up to anything, even light, if you moved fast enough. But if the speed of light holds steady no matter where you were or how you were moving, it would always seem to zoom away from you at the same constant 186,000 miles per second. Einstein enshrined that principle in his first theory of relativity (special relativity), which states that you can never catch up to a light beam no matter how hard you might try.
Barbour first heard these ideas as a teenage schoolboy in the early 1950s, a time when Einstein was still alive. As a 3-year-old child Barbour had earned the nickname "Why?" from a friend of his mother's because of his ever-curious nature. Yet upon learning of relativity, he uncharacteristically did not question it. "I was lost in admiration," he says. "Everyone thought Einstein was the greatest figure after Newton, and so I took it on trust, almost like someone being indoctrinated into a religion."
It took another decade for Barbour's questioning nature to overcome his awe. Twenty-four years old and a recent graduate of the University of Cambridge in 1961, he was planning on graduate school in astronomy. But he took a year off the academic conveyor belt to visit Germany and learn two languages: "Russian, because I adored the writer Pushkin, and German, because the first girl I fell for was a German au pair," he says with a chuckle. So taken was he with the country that he stayed on to complete an astronomy Ph.D. at the University of Cologne, gaining the mathematical and language skills to read Einstein's texts in their original German and grapple with their meaning.
What struck Barbour most was Einstein's comment that his intuitive leap about space and time had been inspired by Austrian physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach, whose study of the speed of sound in fluids helped explain the sonic boom heard when objects break the sound barrier. ("Mach numbers" are named in his honor.) Long before Einstein, Mach had advocated a "truly relative" theory, in which objects were positioned only in relation to other tangible objects—Earth relative to sun, pub relative to farmhouse—and not against any abstract background grid. "Mach wanted to obliterate Newton's absolute space and time, arguing that physics should not be at the mercy of an invisible grid that nobody can verify exists," Barbour says. "This informed Einstein's thinking at the time."
That Machian ideal seized young Barbour, too. "It was something in my psyche," he says. "The insight resonated very deeply with me." The more he read, the more Barbour became convinced that Einstein had failed to take Mach's ideas seriously enough. "I have certain knowledge from my readings in German," he says, "that Einstein didn't implement Mach's ideas in the most direct way because he thought that way was too hard."
Barbour felt that Einstein had taken a circuitous route to reframing the cosmos. Einstein's 1905 publication on special relativity seemed to bring him closer to Mach's camp, dismantling part of Newton's grid by abolishing the notion that time was absolute. But it did so only by linking time to the three dimensions of space to create a rigid, four-dimensional block of space-time. Then, with the broader, more all-encompassing version of relativity (general relativity) he published in 1916, Einstein reshaped that backdrop into a more malleable four-dimensional space-time. Sure, Einstein's space could be warped by the presence of massive objects, undulating like the hills of South Newington. But despite the name of his famous concept—the theory of relativity—Einstein's universe still required a background against which particles and objects could be located in both time and space. Compared to Mach's ideals, Einstein's theory was not truly relative.
By 1964 Barbour was almost finished with graduate school and knew he wanted to pick up where Mach had left off. Pursuit of Mach's concept in defiance of Einstein seemed a path to career suicide. Einstein's theories were cornerstones of modern physics, whereas Mach's ideas were largely considered historical curiosities. So Barbour decided to change the rules: Forgoing the security of an academic career, he set out on his own.
That might have seemed reckless to most graduate students, but Barbour's father had also been an independent scholar, studying Arabic and traveling through the Middle East. "He was a role model to me," Barbour says. Besides, he had a backup plan. Using his new mastery of Russian, Barbour realized he could work as a translator to pay the bills.
With his newly minted doctorate, young Barbour pressed on where Einstein had feared to tread, coming closer to Mach by dispensing not just with Newton's rigid grid but with the very concept of space-time. In general relativity, time is a dimension interwoven with the dimensions of space. In Barbour's universe, on the other hand, time is emergent: It is a measure of how space changes but not a fundamental component of it.
By 1969 Barbour had purchased College Farm, leaving Cologne and moving back to South Newington with Verena Bastian, his German wife. To support his growing family, including son Boris and daughter Jessica, he set up a business as a translator, drawing on his old love of Pushkin and rendering English versions of Russian scientific texts. But all the while, he tinkered away at his Machian model of the universe. "There was the possibility of a big discovery, and I had the scent of something exciting," Barbour says. The idea was regarded highly enough to make it into the pages of Nature (pdf), banishing any worries he might have had that by shunning academia, he would be dismissed as a crank.
From 1975 on, Barbour joined forces with Bruno Bertotti, a physicist at the University of Pavia in Italy, to take on the juggernaut that is Einstein. They developed a technique known as "best-matching," in which the motion of an object (for instance, the moon) is tracked solely by its changing distance from other objects (like the sun and the Earth), rather than its changing location against a grid. Similar to playing connect the dots to chart how the moon's position changes over a fortnight, Barbour imagines a triangle whose corners are formed by the location of the three celestial bodies at one point in time and a second triangle formed by the same bodies a moment later. Using the mismatch in the shapes of the two triangles laid one on top of the other, he can quantify the amount of change that has taken place. He even used his best-matching technique to derive Newton's laws of motion in a completely new way. He made the effort, he says, just to prove his model worked.
By 1982 Barbour and Bertotti had come up with a new theory of gravity (pdf) that described the world just as accurately as Einstein's general relativity but without invoking time as a fundamental dimension.
In a sense, Barbour takes physics a step back. He begins not with Einstein's four-dimensional space-time but with a three-dimensional space vaguely resembling that of Newtonian dynamics. The space of Barbour's theory, however, is curved, bearing little resemblance to Newton's rigid Euclidean grid. And in cases where Einstein's and Newton's theories differ, Barbour's shape-based calculations hew to Einstein's more sophisticated predictions. They match Einstein's explanations of everything from the bending of light by distant galaxies to the distortion of time in those gps satellites. The added accuracy in Barbour's calculations arises from the fact that best-matching requires an accounting of the positions and gravitational influence of distant cosmic objects that Newton's equations tended to ignore. The reason Einstein's theory is so much better than Newton's, Barbour notes, is that Einstein was able to get much closer to the Machian ideal.
The success of Barbour's theory was gratifying, but it also threw him a curveball. He had set out to use Mach's ideas to topple Einstein, but his results and Einstein's seemed essentially the same. Still, Barbour remained convinced that Einstein didn't go far enough: Because relativity wasn't truly relative—or Machian—fundamental inconsistencies in Einstein's model of the universe remained. If he had stuck with the Machian approach, Einstein might have attained the all-encompassing "theory of everything" that consumed the last decades of his life. "He might have produced a version of his theory of gravity that would not conflict so fundamentally with quantum mechanics," Barbour notes. But Einstein had lost his nerve.
One hint of trouble came to light in the 1970s, when astronomers realized the outer portions of a significant number of galaxies were rotating inexplicably fast, seemingly pulled by more gravity than general relativity could explain. To account for the extra gravity, they embraced the idea of dark matter. If only they could find the missing mass, then all the accounting would fall into place and the rules of gravity would look sensible again.
But clouds of undetectable dark matter was not an entirely satisfying explanation to Hans Westman, a University of Sydney physicist who has collaborated with Barbour at College Farm. Seeking a better answer, he started analyzing a largely forgotten theory developed by the German mathematician Hermann Weyl. Around 1918 Weyl attempted to modify general relativity so that it would not require absolute measurements of scale or distance—so that it would abide by an entirely relative system, again akin to that of Mach. "Einstein called Weyl's model a stroke of genius of the first rank," Westman says. On closer inspection, though, he found the theory mathematically messy, yielding unpredictable results. In the end, both Einstein and Weyl tossed the model out.
Westman now argues that this rejection was a grievous mistake, because abolishing a scale of measurement and making everything completely relative might have enabled a different theory of gravity, possibly one that meshed with quantum mechanics and had no need to invoke the notion of dark matter at all. To determine whether a Weyl-inspired theory of the universe could explain away the need for dark matter, physicists will have to put it to the test and see if it produces a universe that looks like ours. Westman thinks it could. A theory that reproduces reality without dark matter would be much more beautiful than one with dark matter, Westman says, because we cannot make predictions based on the properties of an undetectable particle; we can only infer what dark matter must be like in order to have created the configurations we observe.
Many observational astronomers counter that the evidence for dark matter is now so strong that it will take more than a new theory of gravity to disprove it. Only more research, Westman responds, will enfranchise dark matter or cast it from the fold. The ultimate evidence would be direct confirmation of dark-matter particles by one of the specialized detectors created to seek them out.
Barbour's Machian approach could also help disprove the reality of the other dark mystery of modern cosmology, dark energy. Despite its name, dark energy is better thought of as a repulsive force that pushes galaxies apart from each other. It was first widely invoked by cosmologists in 1998 to explain why the expansion of the universe seems to be speeding up, a finding that won the Nobel Prize in Physics last year. (See the DISCOVER Interview with Saul Perlmutter, one of last year's physics Nobelists.)
David Wiltshire, a physicist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and a visitor to Barbour's College Farm, thinks the reason dark energy is so mysterious is that it is an illusion. Wiltshire's argument is that most physicists essentially ignore one of the major principles at the heart of general relativity: that clocks in different parts of the universe can run at different rates. Einstein held that there is no such thing as universal time and that matter affects the rate at which clocks tick, such that time slows near massive objects. Accordingly, Wiltshire notes, the flow of time near galaxies could be slower than the flow of time in empty space. "In a truly relativistic view, the age of the universe differs from place to place," he says. "In empty space, over 18 billion years have elapsed since the Big Bang, but within galaxies only about 15 billion years have passed." (Because Wiltshire starts from a separate set of physical assumptions, his numbers are different from the now canonical 13.7 billion years for the age of the universe.)
By ignoring those nuances, Wiltshire claims, cosmologists have misinterpreted the positions of the distant supernova explosions used to determine how quickly the universe is expanding. Light from a supernova travels to Earth's telescopes after passing through both patches of empty space (where the universe expands more rapidly) and through intervening galaxies filled with matter (where the expansion slows). As a result, Wiltshire says, cosmologists expect supernovas to be closer than they appear, creating the illusion that the expansion of the universe is speeding up. Supernova measurements are the key evidence for dark energy. But Wiltshire thinks physicists may have been chasing shadows rather than zeroing in on reality for years.
Perhaps the most far-reaching aspect of Barbour's view of gravity is that it could reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics, the physics of the subatomic realm, marking a major step toward the long-sought theory of everything. This incompatibility tortured Einstein in his later years and has flummoxed physicists ever since. The crux of the problem is that the quantum realm of the extremely small is defined by uncertainty. Before observing a subatomic particle, there is fundamentally no way of predicting exactly where you will find it when you measure it. Quantum equations describe only the probability of finding a particle in a certain place. This fuzziness is not due to poor measurement; it is an intrinsic property of particles on the quantum scale. In many, many experiments, quantum particles, when measured, turn up in various locations with the same frequencies as predicted by their probabilistic equations.
The problem comes when theorists try to combine relativity with quantum physics. Quantum mechanics still relies on the absolute measurements of time that Einstein discarded. String theorists have tried to reconcile the differences but keep running into roadblocks: For instance, the ripples caused by uncertainty might cause such frenzied gyrations of Einstein's space-time that every location would be riddled with black holes, an impossible outcome. In other words, relativity and quantum mechanics seem to be hopelessly at odds.
"Most physicists are trained to get on with calculating things and not worry too much about these contradictions," Barbour says, but to him, they were key. In his true Machian theory, there is no space-time fabric that could be torn apart by quantum fluctuations. In fact, there is no fundamental dimension of time to create conflict between general relativity and quantum mechanics, removing any obstacle to coming up with a complete theory of gravity that works in both cosmic and quantum realms.
Today physicist Sean Gryb, who recently left College Farm for a postdoc position at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, is embarking on that Machian path to the theory of everything. Gryb first learned about Barbour's gridless universe while a graduate student at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario, in 2008. At the time, Gryb was skeptical, to say the least: He concluded that Barbour must have made a mistake and decided to find it. So in August 2010 he joined a group of friends, including postdoc researchers Tim Koslowski, also at Perimeter, and Henrique Gomes at Imperial College London, to pick apart Barbour's writings just as the young Barbour had once scrutinized Einstein's. The students thought that their background in quantum gravity would allow them to find Barbour's misstep.
That never occurred. Instead, the work withstood their ongoing scrutiny, and last year Gryb, Koslowski, and Gomes took their first tentative steps toward developing a theory of quantum gravity. They hope to show that Barbour's model, unlike Einstein's, does not cause gravity to flare up to infinite levels in tiny regions. Without those infinities, there should be no fundamental obstacle to uniting Barbour's theory with quantum mechanics. Such a marriage could lead to astonishing new insights, like an explanation of what happens inside black holes and what conditions were like at the moment of the Big Bang, when the whole universe was born. "That's the dream we are working toward now, although the math is tough," Gryb says with a touch of understatement.
Gryb credits not just Barbour but also the idyllic surroundings of College Farm, which serves as a kind of private research campus, for inspiring the work. "The house evokes a simpler time and just opens your mind to new ideas when you visit," he says. "Some of our biggest breakthroughs come from talking while walking across the rolling fields or when cooking dinner." Indeed, Barbour continues to work from College Farm even though he is now, in a startling turn, a visiting professor at Oxford. In 2008 he won his first-ever official research grant and used the money to travel to conferences, as well as fund collaborators like Gryb and Gomes, the first two scientists to complete Ph.D.s on Barbour's shape dynamics, work that had its origin right there on the farm.
At the end of Goethe's Faust, the scholar's sincerity redeems him, and God saves him from the devil's clutches. Barbour is finding similar redemption in many of his colleagues' eyes. "He stands out as the soft-voiced English gentleman who makes deep points about gravity that nobody else has considered," says Olaf Dreyer, an expert on quantum gravity at the Sapienza University of Rome. "Barbour's insight could be leading to exactly the breakthrough physics needs." Even a sympathetic character like Dreyer adds a skeptical rejoinder, though: "It could just as easily be leading to a dead end."
Is Barbour, now 75, waiting to be officially vindicated? Is he amazed that so many physicists embrace what to him are clearly illusions about space and time? A gentleman to the end, he refuses to answer such pugilistic questions. Instead he comments that it could take many more years to persuade the physics community that his framework will bear fruit, but he is willing to do the work.
"Why do some people get caught by an idea that takes over your life? I don't know, but I do know that as long as it doesn't drive you crazy, it is a blessing," Barbour says gently. "When I started out on this 40 years ago, I said to my family that I know what I want to do and it will take me the rest of my life to do it—and that is the way it has worked out."
Zeeya Merali, a London-based writer and blogger for FQXi Community, covers cosmology for DISCOVER and other magazines.
Discover Magazine


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Fifteen people were injured at a concert in Norway on Sunday where an American DJ was scheduled to perform, NBC News reports.
Police in Oslo told NBC News that part of the venue's roof collapsed just before 5:30 p.m. None of the injuries at the venue, Sentrum Scene, were serious, according to police.
Among the injured were 13 Norwegians, one French and one German national.
American DJ Steve Aoki tweeted that he was "saddened and shocked that a piece of the roof collapsed in an accident at the venue in Oslo tonight."


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Around the League's positional free-agent previews are ranked according to the players we would want -- not the players who will make the most money. Our first in the series: Available pass rushers at defensive end and outside linebacker.
Note that "five-technique" (3-4 alignment) defensive ends will be included in the defensive tackle group. We listed each player with the team they played for in 2012. Here goes:
Proven pass rushers in their prime
1. **Michael Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals
2. Cliff Avril, Detroit Lions (UPDATE: Signed with the Seattle Seahawks)
3. Anthony Spencer, Dallas Cowboys
4. Paul Kruger, Baltimore Ravens (UPDATE: Signed with the Cleveland Browns)
5. Michael Bennett, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Notes: The most well-rounded of the young pass rushers, Johnson was strong against the run while compiling 11.5 sacks last season. Was it a coincidence that he finally put it all together in a contract year? Expect him to get the franchise tag if he doesn't reach agreement on an extension by Monday. ... Avril is soft against the run and was on the field for fewer snaps per game than any player in the top two tiers. On the positive side, he's the most naturally gifted pass rusher among those still in their prime.
Among the game's best run defenders at outside linebacker, Spencer has been an underrated sidekick to DeMarcus Ware for the past half decade. The cap-strapped Cowboys would like to find a way to keep him, but it's not a great scheme fit in Monte Kiffin's 4-3 defense. ... By the time the Ravens reached the Super Bowl, Kruger was arguably the most valuable defender on the team. A full-time starter for the first time, Kruger did most of his damage once Terrell Suggs returned from Achilles surgery at midseason. Does that make him more of a complementary player? ... Originally undrafted out of Texas A&M, Bennett has drawn less attention than brother Martellus despite having a far greater impact on the field. He's coming off back-to-back stellar campaigns as a complete three-down defensive end.
**3/1/2013 Update: Bengals assigned the franchise tag to Johnson.
Proven pass rushers with flaws
6. Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis Colts
7. Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants
8. John Abraham, Atlanta Falcons
9. Connor Barwin, Houston Texans (UPDATE: Agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles)
10. Israel Idonije, Chicago Bears
Notes: Freeney was a poor fit for Chuck Pagano's 3-4 defense, but he's an ideal pickup for a contender seeking a situational pass rusher to reach the Super Bowl. The Broncos, Falcons, Seahawks, Giants and Patriots should be hot on the borderline Hall of Famer's trail. ... Umenyiora is just a year younger than Freeney, but hasn't displayed quite the same level of consistent dominance over the past decade. He should be a fallback option for teams that miss out on Freeney. ... Released by the Falcons due to a $7.25 million salary-cap number, Abraham enters the open market after recording 10 of the team's 29 sacks in 2012. Similar to Freeney and Umenyiora, Abraham can still help a contender by consistently getting to the quarterback as he enters his mid-30s. ... Barwin is a tricky player to evaluate. After tying for the NFL sacks lead in the second half of the 2011 season, he was one of the least effective pass rushers in the league last year. The Texans want him back, but he'll have to lower his asking price. ... Idonije is the rare player coming off the best season of his career at age 32. He settled for a one-year, $2.5 million deal from the Bears at this time last offseason.
Talented pass rushers with question marks
11. Victor Butler, Dallas Cowboys
12. William Hayes, St. Louis Rams
13. Matt Shaughnessy, Oakland Raiders
14. Lawrence Jackson, Detroit Lions
15. Shaun Phillips, San Diego Chargers
16. Juqua Parker, Cleveland Browns
17. Andre Carter, Oakland Raiders
|Take a look at the top players that will be available when free agency opens on March 12.
Notes: Playing behind Spencer and Ware, Butler compiled 11 sacks despite just two starts over the past four seasons. Still just 25 years old, he should appeal to teams seeking a breakout edge rusher in a 3-4 scheme. Don't be surprised if Rob Ryan brings him along while setting up his defense in New Orleans. ... Hayes bounced back as a productive situational pass rusher in St. Louis after battling knee and shoulder injuries in Tennessee. ... Shaughnessy was viewed as an up-and-comer two years ago, but hasn't been the same player since undergoing shoulder surgery in 2011. He has to prove he can stay healthy and effective.
"LoJack" has shown the ability to rush the passer and stop the run as a rotational end under Jim Schwartz the past three years. ... Phillips' entered the decline phase of his career last season, but could help Ray Horton transition the Browns to a 3-4 scheme under former coach Norv Turner. ... Similar to Idonije, Parker is coming off one of his best seasons at age 34. He keyed a surprising Browns pass rush as a situational 4-3 defensive end. ... Finally over a torn quadriceps muscle, Carter exceeded expectations upon signing in Oakland at mid-season. The Raiders want him back for his age-34 season.
Rotational/situational players
18. Kyle Vanden Bosch, Detroit Lions
19. Robert Geathers, Cincinnati Bengals (UPDATE: Agreed to terms with the Cincinnati Bengals)
20. Frostee Rucker, Cleveland Browns
21. Antwan Barnes, San Diego Chargers
22. Darryl Tapp, Philadelphia Eagles
23. Wallace Gilberry, Cincinnati Bengals (UPDATE: Signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.)<
24. Quentin Groves, Arizona Cardinals (UPDATE: Signed with the Cleveland Browns.)
25. Calvin Pace, New York Jets
26. Ray Edwards, Atlanta Falcons
27. Erik Walden, Green Bay Packers (UPDATE: Agreed to terms with the Indianapolis Colts)
28. Bryan Thomas, New York Jets
29. Kyle Moore, Buffalo Bills
30. Trevor Scott, New England Patriots
31. Shawne Merriman, Buffalo Bills
32. Jonathan Fanene, New England Patriots
33. Chris Wilson, Washington Redskins
34. Jamaal Westerman, Indianapolis Colts
35. Turk McBride, New Orleans Saints
36. Antwan Applewhite, Carolina Panthers
Notes: Vanden Bosch's tank might be on empty at age 34 after playing through severe knee pain last season. Former coach Jeff Fisher could import him to St. Louis as a mentor for Robert Quinn and Michael Brockers while playing 15-20 snaps per game. ... Geathers is more of a run plugger than a pass rusher. ... Rucker was a free-agent bust in Cleveland after playing strong run defense in Cincinnati. ... Barnes followed a surprising 2011 breakout season with a disappointing performance in 2012.
Gilberry can rush the passer as long as his snaps are limited to roughly 20 per game. ... Pace's career has been in steady decline. It's hard to find an outside linebacker putting less pressure on quarterbacks. ... NFL teams showed scant interest in Edwards after the Falcons cut him in November for refusing to join a team gathering in the locker room. It's fair to wonder if he's more interested in boxing than football.
Position overview
Beyond Spencer and Barwin, there's little depth available for teams seeking a 3-4 edge rusher.
The primary concern with the upper echelon pass-rushing free agents is whether they are capable of beating double teams or are merely complementary players. Is it a coincidence that Johnson and Bennett are coming off career years with three-technique tackles Geno Atkins and Gerald McCoy dominating in the trenches? Similarly, Kruger and Spencer have a smoother route to the quarterback with Suggs and Ware taking on extra defenders. For Super Bowl contenders seeking that final push, proven pocket crashers Freeney and Umenyiora might actually carry less risk than the under-30 crowd.
Teams with a need
Arizona Cardinals: New coordinator Todd Bowles could use a pass rusher opposite Calais Campbell and depth at outside linebacker.
Atlanta Falcons: John Abraham is nearing the end of this career, and Ray Edwards was a free-agent flop.
Baltimore Ravens: Kruger's loss will be severe if Terrell Suggs doesn't recapture 2011 form.
Green Bay Packers: Clay Matthews still needs a sidekick.
Indianapolis Colts: Freeney's exit leaves a book-end vacancy opposite Robert Mathis.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Draft and free-agent busts have left the Jaguars without a pass rush at defensive end.
Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins need a pass rusher opposite Cameron Wake.
New England Patriots: Chandler Jones can't carry the load all by himself.
New York Jets: Rex Ryan desperately needs to add speed off the edge.
New Orleans Saints: Rob Ryan finds the cupboard bare at outside linebacker.
Oakland Raiders: Dennis Allen is overhauling his front-seven after finishing 31st in sacks last year.
Seattle Seahawks: "Elephant" pass rusher Chris Clemons just tore his ACL in early January.
Washington Redskins: Getting Brian Orakpo back will help, but the 'Skins still need more pressure up front.
Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.


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|Medieval and Renaissance Daggers
|Daggers are to be found in every culture known to man, they are the most basic in personal protection. Our collection of Replica daggers include medieval daggers, fantasy daggers, the main gauche and Scottish daggers. Our website contains a growing selection of all kinds of knives and daggers. Our collection also offers a wide assortment of historical replicas, medieval daggers and military dirks from ancient to modern times. Our daggers and dirks are from the near and far east as well as Europe and the United States. We carry functional and decorative, fantasy knives, Asian knives, historical replicas and collector's pieces. Fantasy and historic daggers from brand names like Toledo, United, Colt, Marto, Windlass and manufactures from around the world . We also carry a large assortment of budget dirks and daggers that suit your needs as well as your pocket. These decorative replica and fantasy blades offer a piece of history and make outstanding decorations and gifts. You will find something that suits your taste and your price range. These daggers are medieval and renaissance inspired in their design.
In addition to our Functional Medieval and Renaissance Daggers we also carry Denix daggers. These collectible daggers make great gifts. The blades of Denix daggers and swords are cast from a metal alloy and cannot be sharpened, making them safe for display in family environments.
12th Century Crusader Dagger
Based on an original housed at the Museum of London, this 12th Century Crusader Dagger features a tempered high carbon steel blade and mild steel fittings. The grip is wood and a leather sheath is included.
Price: $99.00
12th Century Dagger
The Generation 2/Legacy Arms 12th Century Dagger is the companion to the 12th Century Sword and has many of the same features. It features a hardwood handle wrapped in leather. The cross guard and pommel are solid steel, polished and fitted onto a full tang that is peened at top of the pommel for strength and durability.
Price: $139.00
14th Century Dagger
This dagger, a replica of a 14th Century Dagger housed in the Royal Armouries, features a tempered high-carbon steel blade. The fittings are mild steel and the grip is wood. The curved guard and pommel provide a sure grip.
Price: $99.00
15th Century English Dagger
This single edge 15th Century English Dagger is a replica of a hammer head pommel dagger now at the Royal Armouries, Leeds. It features a high carbon, tempered steel blade and mild steel guard and pommel. A handmade leather sheath is included.
Price: $99.00
15th Century French Chevalier Dagger
This double edge 15th Century French Chevalier Dagger, with its unique pommel, is made from forged, tempered, high carbon steel. Grip is bare wood, leather sheath included.
Price: $99.00
15th Century Rondel Dagger
The Rondel Dagger was developed as a piercing blade to fit into the gaps of fully armored knights. This dagger is based on an original 15th Century Rondel Dagger housed in the Wallace Collection. It is of French origin.
Price: $99.00
All Steel Dagger Circa 1400-1700
This All Steel Dagger is light and easy to carry and often worn like jewelry by both men and women. Daggers were used throughout the European Renaissance, and were common at the feast table.
Price: $95.00
Arming Dagger
This Medieval Arming Dagger is crafted from high carbon steel with a brass guard and pommel, and a carved two tone wooden grip. The wood-core scabbard is overlaid in black leather and completed with brass fittings.
Price: $53.95
Art Gladius Daguesse Dagger
Our Daguesse Dagger is originally from an Italian design. Art Gladius Medieval style daggers have 440C stainless steel blades, which are fully tempered, but they are primarily intended for use as collectibles and decorator pieces with eye-catching detailing.
Price: $55.00
Art Gladius Daguesse Dagger with Leather Scabbard
Our Daguesse Dagger is originally from an Italian design. This beautiful Medieval Replica Dagger is crafted by Art Gladius. Gladius Medieval style daggers have 440C stainless steel blades, which are fully tempered, but they are primarily intended for use as collectibles and decorator pieces with eye-catching detailing.
Price: $65.00
Art Gladius Hattin Dagger
The simple, clean design of this Art Gladius Hattin Dagger offers a single line crossguard and a leather-wrapped hilt.
Price: $55.00
Art Gladius Hattin Dagger with Leather Scabbard
The simple, clean design of this Art Gladius Hattin Dagger with Leather Scabbard offers a single line crossguard and a leather-wrapped hilt.
Price: $65.00
Art Gladius Jerusalem Dagger
Our beautiful Jerusalem Dagger is crafted by Art Gladius. Gladius Medieval style daggers have 440C stainless steel blades, which are fully tempered, but they are primarily intended for use as collectibles and decorator pieces with eye-catching detailing.
Price: $55.00
Art Gladius Jerusalem Dagger with Leather Scabbard
Our beautiful Jerusalem Dagger with Leather Scabbard is crafted by Art Gladius. Gladius Medieval style daggers have 440C stainless steel blades, which are fully tempered, but they are primarily intended for use as collectibles and decorator pieces with eye-catching detailing.
Price: $65.00
Bollock Dagger
The Bollock Dagger was the civilian side arm of choice for most of Northern Europe from 1300 – 1550 and often seen on archers and occasionally on middle to higher classes.
Price: $85.00
Bone Hilted Medieval Dagger
This Medieval Bone Hilted Dagger features a copper wire wrapped bone grip with steel cross guard and ball pommel. Blade 14 1/2in Overall length 22 inches.
Price: $57.00
Bonny Scottish Dirk
This 11.75 inch blade long Bonny Scottish Dirk showcases crisp etchings of the traditional Scottish foliage and thistle motif on both sides of the blade. The blade is a 5 inches long with a swagged false edge and a knurled pattern on the blade back mark this dirk with distinction.
Price: $110.00
Brass Beaded Pugio Dagger
The Brass Beaded Pugio Dagger is a very fine replica worn by Roman foot soldiers. Hand forged from high carbon cutlery steel. Riveted brass grip with brass & steel scabbard.
Price: $114.95
Brass Sword Hilt Dagger
This impressive Brass Sword Hilt Dagger features an unsharpened carbon steel blade with brass guard and octagonal pommel. The grip is wood with a leather wrap. Includes a leather covered wood scabbard with brass throat and tip.
Price: $72.00
British Naval Dirk with Polished Horn Handle
This British Naval Dirk has a blade of high carbon steel and a guard of brass. The grip is polished horn with a brass spacer. The blade is riveted with steel through the grip and secured with a pommel nut.
Price: $129.95
Brookhart Hospitaller Dagger by Legacy Arms
Legacy Arms Hospitaller Dagger - designed by Bruce Brookhart
Price: $139.00
Brookhart Templar Dagger by Legacy Arms
The Brookhart Templar Companion Dagger - Designed by Bruce Brookhart, matches the Templar Sword.
Price: $139.00
Brookhart Teutonic War Dagger by Legacy Arms
The Generation 2/Legacy Arms Teutonic War Companion Dagger - Designed by Bruce Brookhart matches the Teutonic War Sword.
Price: $126.00
Celtic Dagger Dagger with Face Pommel
This Celtic dagger features a familiar Celtic form. Also a carbon steel blade with a cast brass hilt . Includes a leather sheath.
Price: $90.00
Celtic Dagger with Bronze Anthropomorphic Grip
This Medieval Arming Dagger has a brass guard and pommel with two tone wooden grip. Includes a leather wrapped wooden sheath with brass furniture. Overall 19 inches long.
Price: $105.00
Celtic Flame Dagger
Our Celtic Flame Dagger is a magnificent Celtic dagger has magical Celt appeal! Each flame like blade of steel is individually and masterfully forged by hand and comes with its own leather sheath (which is made individually to fit each kris blade).
Price: $129.00
Celtic War Dagger
This wicked Celtic War dagger was used with effectiveness in battle as well as around the camp. Features a solid metal handle with integral guard. The unique blade is made from hand forged, tempered high carbon steel. Every part is antiqued, a perfect compliment to any Celtic outfit. Includes leather belt sheath.
Price: $79.00
Crecy War Dagger
Double-edged War Dagger has a 1065 high carbon steel blade tempered to a low 50s RC. Battle-hardened finish with a blue patina and peened full tang. Matching scabbard. Overall length 15 inches.
Regular Price: $145.00
On Sale For: $94.95
Crown Stag Damascus Dagger
This Crown Stag Damascus Dagger is reminiscent of the beautiful Black Forest hunting daggers of Germany.
Price: $244.00
Crusader Dagger
Our Crusader Dagger was designed to match our AH-3304 Crusader Sword. This medieval dagger comes with a wire wrapped grip, solid brass down-sloping guard and wheel pommel.
Price: $58.00
Damascus Dirk
This Damascus Dirk has a beautiful patterned hand forged blade with hardwood handle. Hardwood handle is inlaid with metal studs.
Price: $92.99
Damascus Lady's Dagger
Our Damascus Lady's dagger has a genuine Damascus blade made from carbon steels and folded 9 times for a total of 512 layers. Full tang construction.
Price: $90.00
Damascus Sgian Dubh
A Scottish tradition, originally Sgian Dubhs were commonly worn under the shirt close to the armpit. Now the "stocking dirk" is traditionally worn in the stocking of the Highlander. The term "Sgian Dubh" itself actually means black handled knife. Our Damascus Sgian Dubh which weighs less than 2 oz.
Price: $60.00
Damascus Sgian Dubh Raider Knife
One of our most elegant Damascus daggers, this is expertly adorned with silver and brass filigree work. Polished hardwood grip, antique brass capped pommel. Includes brown leather scabbard with belt loop. Overall length 12-1/2 inches.
Price: $94.95
Deluxe Gold-Inlay Seax of Beagnoth - Limited Edition
The Limited Edition Deluxe Seax of Beagnoth is a battle-ready replica of the famous Thames Scramasax which has been embellished with 18k gold-inlaid runes and geometric design. It is idealized for display with a Wood and Brass wall-mount. Limited run of 250.
Price: $715.95
Denix King Arthur Dagger
As symbolic as his sword, Excalibur, King Arthur's Dagger never left his side. This version of the Dagger by Denix is a match for their Excalibur sword.
Price: $64.00
Denix Roman Dagger
The Roman Dagger, or Pugio, was a standard weapon carried by the Roman Legions. This replica by Denix of a museum piece illustrates the skill of the artisan and the taste of the Roman officer who wore the original.
Price: $60.00
Early Scottish Dirk
Our Early Scottish Dirk is a direct descendant of the medieval ballock dagger style. The grip form began to change, probably sometime in the late 16th century, but soon developed a form that was purely Scottish. The blade was long and single-edged.
Price: $115.00
Egyptian Mummy Athame Set
This Egyptian Mummy Athame Set is a wonderful set of ritual athames are bedecked in Egyptian imagery, making them particularly well suited for anyone who finds kinship with the ancient gods of the Egyptian Pantheon.
Price: $61.95
Elizabethan Bronze Dagger
The Elizabethan Bronze Dagger is constructed of solid cast bronze with a brown leather wrapped grip. The thick blade is unsharpened. Overall length: 11 3/4" Inches, blade length: 6 1/2 Inches.
Price: $77.00
English Medieval Dagger
Our ornate English Medieval Dagger has a wire wrapped grip, solid brass pommel and engraved guard, 12" multi-fullered blade. This Dagger Includes a leather covered wooden scabbard with brass furniture.
Price: $58.00
Exeter Pugio Dagger
The Exeter Roman Pugio Dagger has a blade of high carbon steel. The steel tang is layered over with horn and steel to form a riveted, composite grip. The wooden scabbard which is bound in leather and steel and finished with steel hanging rings.
Price: $82.95
Fayans Medieval Bone Handle Dagger
The Fayans Medieval Bone Handle Dagger has a Riveted Bone handle grip with brass guard. Blade 9 inches. Overall length 15 inches. Includes leather sheath.
Price: $63.00
German Hunting Dagger 19th - 20th Cen.
Our German Hunting Dagger is an Historic design. Hand forged carbon steel blade with simulated antler grip. Includes a leather sheath with brass fittings.
Price: $71.99
German Landsknecht Katzbalger Dagger
A companion Renaissance Dagger for the Landsknecht sword, our German Landsknecht Katzbalger Dagger includes a wooden leather covered Scabbard.
Price: $68.95
German Papenheimer Dagger
The German Papenheimer Dagger is designed to complement our AH-3212 PAPENHEIMER RAPIER. Wire wrapped grip, solid steel guard and distinctive pommel. 14 1/2in blade, Overall 22in. Wooden scabbard with steel furniture.
Price: $62.00
Gladiator Dolch - Brass
Gladiator Dolch Brass short sword features a cast brass metal hilt with narrow groves to provide a solid grip, as well as a cup shaped guard for a modicum of defense when wielded. Blade is made from EN45 high carbon steel.
Price: $59.95
Heaven Knight Dagger with Scabbard
This Heaven Knight Dagger with Scabbard has a 440C stainless steel blade, which are fully tempered, but primarily intended for decorative use.
Price: $90.00
Holbein Dagger
The Holbein Dagger was a Swiss dagger with a crescent shaped pommel and hilt. They were called Holbein Daggers because they could often be seen in the works of artist Hans Holbein.
Price: $70.00
Irish Gaelic-Norse Dagger
Irish Gaelic-Norse Dagger with its characteristic Irish ring-pommel has a thick-edged blade forged from EN45 high carbon steel - its edges are blunted for stage and sport combat. The hilt is steel with wooden grip and bound in leather. Wooden scabbard is wrapped in leather.
Price: $59.95
Italian Arming Dagger
Our Italian Arming Dagger is a royal Renaissance dagger features a fishtail type pommel popular during the 15th and 16th centuries. The flourish of the pommel and star shaped quillons provided a regal presence that enhanced this quick daggers function.
Price: $90.00
Italian Bollock Dagger
The name bollock dagger is originated from the unique shape of the hilt. The dagger was popular throughout Europe between the 13th and 18th centuries, in particular the Tudor period. This beautiful reproduction has a strong triangular blade, capable of punching through the toughest mail armor.
Price: $139.00
Italian Courter Stiletto Dagger
This unique Italian Courter Stiletto Dagger is a 16th century stiletto is but one of many examples made during this time period, depicting figures as a handle. Pairs of monsters, animals or humans were sometimes designed to enhance a piece, making it truly one-of-a-kind.
Price: $95.00
Khanjar Turkish Knife
This type of Turkish knife was also used in Persia and India. The grip is real hand carved bone while the strong parts are solid brass on a well-tempered high carbon steel single-edged blade. A very interesting and highly effective fighting knife. Both light and fast! Includes sheath.
Price: $89.00
King Arthur Dagger Nickel Finish
As symbolic as his sword, Excalibur, King Arthur's dagger never left his side. Our Denix King Arthur Dagger has a nickel finish and cast from a metal alloy that cannot be sharpened, making them safe for display.
Price: $64.00
Kings Medieval Dagger
Our Kings Medieval Dagger is a regal medieval dagger fit for a King!
Price: $92.00
Knights Templar Dagger
The Knights Templar Dagger has a EN45 spring steel blade. Leather wrapped grip, steel guard and distinctive wheel pommel with Templar cross decoration. Leather covered wooden scabbard.
Price: $53.99
Knights Templar Dagger - Stage Combat Version
The Knights Templar Dagger has a blunted EN45 spring steel blade for stage combat. Leather wrapped grip, steel guard and distinctive wheel pommel with Templar cross decoration. Leather covered wooden scabbard.
Price: $64.99
La Tene Celtic Dagger with Leather Sheath
La Tene Celtic Dagger with high carbon steel blade; grip is polished wood with decorative brass studs. Guard is fitted with a brass guard-plate. The dagger comes with a laced sheath of thick genuine leather.
Price: $57.75
Ladies Medieval Dagger
Our Ladies Medieval Dagger is the perfect size for M'Lady. This medieval dagger has a wire wrapped grip, solid brass guard and pommel, 7in fullered blade. Overall length 13in. The Dagger includes a leather covered wooden scabbard.
Price: $55.00
Late Late Roman Dagger
Our Late Late Roman Dagger includes a wooden scabbard with steel fittings.
Price: $125.00
Leeuwen Pugio Dagger
The Leeuwen Pugio Dagger is a very fine replica worn by Roman foot soldiers. Hand forged from high carbon steel. Riveted brass grip with brass scabbard.
Price: $164.95
Maldon Seax
This medieval Maldon Seax knife is from Windlass Steelcrafts Battlecry collection. Fitted to a sword-style hilt, the Maldon sax is a size that serves roles as working knife as well as combat dagger. This is a solid and well balanced piece.
Price: $225.00
Medici Dagger
The House of Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence during the late 14th century. This courtly ring dagger embellishes the family's regal presence as well as their deadly side through the fine filigree work.
Price: $120.00
Medieval Battle Dagger
The Medieval Battle Dagger is designed to compliment our AH-3315 BATTLE SWORD. The dagger comes with a Braided steel wrapped grip, down-sloping guard and ball pommel. 14 1/5in blade Overall 22in. With Scabbard.
Price: $55.95
Medieval Dagger
Our Medieval Dagger is Battle Ready and designed for European live steel combat, it will stand up to the rigors of steel to steel fighting. The base model comes with a rebated or blunted blade that has a satin finish for easy maintenance.
Price: $135.00
Medieval Dagger - Stage Combat Version
The Late Medieval Dagger has a blunt blade for sport and stage combat. Steel hilt with wooden grip, covered in wrapped leather coard, treated with beeswax and shrunk for a quality, traditional finish. Scabbard included.
Price: $64.95
Medieval Feast Knife
As a re-enactor it is difficult to find a good quality multi-purpose dagger. This excellent little Medieval Feast Dagger is perfect for carrying at events. It features a forged high carbon spring steel blade and beautiful hardwood handle. Designed for feast or those little "around the camp" tasks that pop up. Leather scabbard with belt loop included.
Price: $35.00
Medieval Gothic Dagger - Stage Combat Version
Medieval Gothic Dagger for sport and stage combat with blunted blade and rounded tip. Dagger blade is EN45 high carbon steel. Steel hilt, grip is leather over a core of wood. Wood-core scabbard is wrapped in leather.
Price: $59.95
Medieval Guingate Dagger
The Medieval Guingate Dagger has a Brass guard and pommell with Bone Handle. Matches our Guingate Medieval Sword.
Price: $53.99
Medieval Rondel Dagger
The Rondel Dagger was a favorite during the middle ages. This medieval Rondel Dagger comes with round Iron fittings, a carved wooden grip, and includes a scabbard.
Price: $50.00
Medieval Table Knife Bone Handle
This Medieval Table Knife with Bone Handle is an Authentic medieval design. Table knives were used by all classes. This knife comes with a real bone handle and forged carbon steel blade. Includes a leather sheath with belt ring.
Price: $49.00
Primitive Scottish Dirk
Our Primitive Scottish Dirk is an early type of dirk evolved from the Kidney Dagger and was the first step toward the ornate Scottish Dirk we know today. The grip is solid hardwood and the parts are steel. The long high carbon steel blade is flexible and well tempered.
Price: $95.00
Quillon Dagger
The Quillon Dagger has a blade of high carbon steel and a hilt of brass. The grip is wood with twisted brass wire. Included is a wood-core scabbard bound in leather and finished with brass fittings.
Price: $44.99
Renaissance Dagger
This 17th century Renaissance Dagger, believed to be of Italian origin, is beautifully crafted and decorated. A chiseled pommel and guard compliment the wire-wrapped grip with its turk's-head knots.
Price: $160.00
Richard the Lionheart Dagger
Our Richard the Lionheart Dagger comes complete with a sheath and is fully wearable. The blades of Denix daggers and swords are cast from a metal alloy and cannot be sharpened, making them safe for display.
Price: $65.00
Robin Hood Dagger with Scabbard
This highly decorative Robin Hood Dagger with Scabbard is ready to display. Ornate detailing makes it a beautiful addition to your home decor.
Price: $90.00
Roman Pugio Dagger
The Roman Pugio Dagger is a very fine replica worn by Roman foot soldiers. Hand forged from high carbon cutlery steel. Riveted steel grip with brass & steel scabbard.
Price: $99.95
Roman Pugio Dagger
The distinct shape of the Roman Pugio Sword blade was excellent for a close quarters fight, and was used throughout the legions. Although swords and knives were generally not worn by civilians within the boundaries of the "Pax Romana", barbarians and bandits were certainly to be found in the outlands, and a merchant or trader best go armed.
Price: $95.00
Roman Pugio Dagger - 3rd Century
The Roman Pugio Dagger is a very fine replica worn by Roman foot soldiers. Hand forged from high carbon steel. Riveted steel grip with steel scabbard.
Price: $94.95
Roman Pugio Dagger Embossed
This Roman Pugio Dagger or knife is a very fine replica of the type worn by Roman foot soldiers. Our version of this Pugio Dagger is Hand forged from high carbon cutlery steel.
Price: $125.00
Rondel Dagger
Rondel Daggers were popular through out the middle ages. This medieval dagger comes with brass fittings, carved wooden grip, and includes a scabbard.
Price: $60.00
Rondel Dagger Hanwei
Our Rondel Dagger is a sidearm of the late middle ages. Carried by tradesmen to fully-armoured knights, the Rondel enjoyed a long service life. functional T-section blade is edged in 5160 high-carbon steel.
Price: $160.00
Royal Scottish Dirk
Royal Scottish Dirk with un-sharpened blade from high carbon steel. Blued guard and pommel with polished wood grip. The scabbard is of wood and overlaid leather with a blued steel chape and locket. The belt loop is of leather.
Price: $125.95
Saxon Parrying Dagger
Based on an original in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Saxon Parrying Dagger features a tempered high-carbon steel blade and blackened mild steel guard and pommel. The grip is wood and the sheath is constructed of leather in the period style.
Price: $99.00
Scottish Clansman Dirk - Brass Fittings
Styled on a military regulation dirk, this impressive 18" full size Scottish Dirk has a polished 12" steel blade. Brown wooden handle with brass tacks. A black leather covered scabbard, capped with brass mounts, is included.
Price: $80.00
Scottish Dirk
Our Scottish Dirk is a direct descendant of the medieval ballock dagger style. The grip form began to change, probably sometime in the late 16th century, but soon developed a form that was purely Scottish. The blade was long and single-edged.
Price: $118.95
Scottish Dirk - Steel Fittings
Styled on the military regulation dirk and much favored by Scottish Bandsmen, this impressive 18 inch full size Scottish Dirk has a polished 12 inch steel blade etched with traditional Scottish thistle and foliage decoration.
Price: $79.00
Scottish Dirk IP-130-2
This Scottish Dirk is fashioned after a Fifteenth Century Design. This beautiful dagger has highly polished steel blade with strong tang peened to the pommel.
Price: $142.00
Scottish Dirk with Fork and Knife
Styled on the military regulation dirk and much favored by Scottish Bandsmen, this impressive 18" full size Scottish Dirk with Fork and Knife has a polished 12" steel blade etched with traditional Scottish thistle and foliage decoration.
Price: $99.00
Scottish Sgian Dubh
A Scottish tradition, the original Sgian Dubhs were frequently worn under the shirt close to the armpit. Now it is traditional for the Scottish Sgian Dubh to be worn in the stocking of the Highlander, and the knife is frequently called a "stocking dirk".
Price: $40.00
Scottish Sgian Dubh
The Sgian Dubh is a ceremonial dagger (Gaelic sgian) worn as part of the modern Scottish Highland dress along with the kilt. It is worn tucked into the hose with only the pommel visible. The name comes from the Gaelic meaning "black knife", where "black" may refer to the usual colour of the handle of the knife.
Price: $35.00
Scottish Sgian Dubh Knife
The Scottish Sgian Dubh Knife is designed to match our military regulation dirk. Has a polished 4in steel blade, Overall 8.5in. Comes with a black leather covered scabbard, capped with nickel mounts.
Overall 10in with scabbard.
Overall 10in with scabbard.
Price: $28.00
Seax Knife Circa 750
The Seax Knife, or sax, was the universally carried knife in Northern Europe. Carried by the Saxons, Angles, Vikings and Germanic tribes. Its use probably dates before the fall of Rome and continues on into the early Middle Ages.
Price: $125.00
Seax of Beagnoth Viking Knife AH-4171
The Seax of Beagnoth is a variation of the Sax that has high detailed alphabetical inscriptions that were probably intended to have magical powers. Based on the original restored in British Museum, London.
Price: $120.00
Stage Steel Close Combat Medieval Dagger
Our Stage Steel Close Combat Medieval Dagger is 1-1/4" wide and 8+" long. The dagger features blunt edges. Overall length 15" (no sheath)
Price: $53.00
State Guard Brunswick Dagger
The Brunswick State Guard Dagger has a brass pommell and ornate ring guard with leather wrapped grip.
Price: $68.00
Templar Dagger
The Templar Crusader Dagger features an unsharpened carbon steel blade with central fuller. The grip is wood wrapped in braided brown leather and flanked with a solid brass guard and octagonal pommel.
Price: $79.00


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Earlier today we reported that Transformers 4 has been tentatively slated by Paramount and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura for a June 29th, 2014 release date.
In our original piece we confirmed the release window; however, as the day progressed, a few more enticing tidbits saw the light of day - including new basic details regarding how the fourth Transformers installment will tie-in with prior entries as well as confirmation that director Michael Bay will return to helm the blockbuster.
According to an official press release at Bay's official website, MichaelBay.com, the director has signed-on for a two picture deal with Paramount that will bring both his passion project, Pain & Gain, as well as the fourth Transformers film to the big screen. Whether or not Bay will shoot number four back to back with the inevitable Transformers 5 is, apparently, still up in the air (or at least unconfirmed) - and is NOT, at this time, part of the two picture deal.
Earlier in the day, while speaking to MTV, Bonaventura was pretty forthcoming about some other Transformers 4 - details - first restating the 2014 release, then debunking rumors of a Jason Statham lead character, as well as using Marc Webb's upcoming Marvel reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, as a point of reference in order to describe what NOT to expect from the next Transformers film - which the producer has described as somewhat of a "reboot."
Check out the full interview below to hear where things stand with Transformers 4 at this point, at least according to Bonaventura:
So, basically - here are the four biggest points Bonaventura addresses:
- Transformers 4 will release in 2014 as reported.
- Further confirmation that Michael Bay will direct.
- No characters have been decided at this point - since the script isn't even written (though expect heavy-hitters like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee to return).
- The next film will introduce an all-new storyline but continue the existing continuity.
The fan-favorite producer's comments do seem to corroborate earlier speculation that Paramount was keen on having Bay return - even if it meant bumping the fourth installment back one year (when compared to the release schedule for the first three films 2007, 2009, 2011 and [now] 2014) so that the director could finish-off his smaller passion projects (such as the aforementioned Pain & Gain).
Similarly, given the amount of closure presented in the third film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which included major character deaths and an action-packed (how will they top that?) third chapter, it makes sense that the next film in the series will present somewhat of a series "reset." Bay and the writers can use a fresh slate to clear-out some of the existing franchise material that bogged the last film down (such as incorporating a Sam Witwicky character arc) as well as offer-up new bad guys and hero bots. Anyone still scratching their heads as to what the producer means by a "reboot" need only look to Bonaventura's upcoming G.I. Joe sequel, Retaliation, which essentially continues the story set-up in the first film - while at the same time dramatically cleaning house.
That said, as Bonaventura asserts, don't expect the team to simply abandon the established continuity. Could this mean that, in order for them to up the ante once again, we'll soon be introduced to some of the franchise's more ambitious additions - such as Unicron, Metroplex, Galvatron, or even the Dinobots? Given that there's no story at this point, what the future holds for the franchise is anyone's guess - though, with Bay back in the director's chair, fans of the film series should definitely be able to look forward to some truly epic action in 2014.
Transformers 4 will hit theaters on June 29th, 2014
Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for further updates.
Source: Michael Bay and MTV


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|Wed 28 Nov 2012, 3:00pm–8:00pm
Wellington, also known as The Middle of Middle-earth, is planning a blockbuster celebration as the city counts down to the 28 November world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be the first release of The Hobbit Trilogy.
Stars and VIPs will walk more than 500 metres of red carpet from Reading Cinema to The Embassy Theatre, both of which will be screening the film for invited guests on the evening of 28 November.
Pre-carpet entertainment will begin at 3:00pm and the filmmakers and stars of the film will begin to arrive at 4:30 pm.
Stars attending red carpet:
Peter Jackson - filmmaker
Fran Walsh - filmmaker
Philippa Boyens - filmmaker
Martin Freeman - Bilbo Baggins
Richard Armitage - Thorin Oakenshield
Cate Blanchett - Elf Queen Galadriel
Hugo Weaving - Elf Lord Elrond
Andy Serkis - Gollum
Elijah Wood - Frodo Baggins
Barry Humphries - the Goblin King
Sylvester McCoy - Radagast the Brown
The Company of Dwarves:
Jed Brophy
Adam Brown
John Callen
Mark Hadlow
Peter Hambleton
William Kircher
Graham McTavish
James Nesbitt
Dean O'Gorman
Aidan Turner
Ian McKellen, who reprises his legendary role as the Wizard Gandalf the Grey, will be unable to attend but said - "It is thrilling that Peter and my other friends from the cast and crew will be re-united for the world premiere of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'. I know they will have a wonderful welcome from the fans and I envy them. As ever, my heart is in Wellington, and I send my love."
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At AAMCO Cathedral City, we offer comprehensive Differential Service and Repair. Your differential allows each wheel to turn a different speed than the other, while providing power to both. If one wheel is spinning slower than the other in a turn or in slippery conditions, the internal gears in the differential will keep driving the other one without any skidding or chattering.The differential operates so that no torque is lost and the tires aren't damaged every time you make a turn. Because the gears and bearings require special lubricants to make sure it operates correctly, maintaining the correct level of lubricant and changing the lubricant when prescribed is essential. Noises, shuddering, whining and banging can all be noises associated with a problem.AAMCO Cathedral City experts can quickly and accurately diagnose differential problems and provide repairs or maintenance as required.


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Last weekend, a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution flew off of Colorado's Pikes Peak during the hill climb and performed a terrifying series of barrel rolls down the side of the mountain.
The driver, Jeremy Foley, and his codriver, Yuri Kouznetsov, managed to escape the crash. Kouznetsov was pretty banged up initially, but it sounds like both are relatively ok.
Before the crash, Foley was really pushing his Evo up the mountain. Luckily, the video of the crash isn't the only thing from the weekend.
Here, a spectator caught Foley and Kouznetsov about a minute before the crash. He's definitely on it as he locks up the brakes before taking a hairpin turn. It's obvious that he was really going for it, which could have contributed to the crash a minute later.


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Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal story looking at the oil and gas boom and the resulting boost for the economy, including a lift in production at Fleetwood Homes, a subsidiary of Cavco Industries Inc. To view the entire article click here.
The staccato of nail guns echoes across a cavernous building as workers for Nampa, Idaho-based Fleetwood Homes piece together manufactured houses with easy-to-clean linoleum floors and rugged interiors for muddy oil-field workers.
There is no oil and gas production in Idaho, but that doesn't mean the U.S. energy boom has bypassed this bedroom community west of Boise. Fleetwood Homes, a subsidiary of Cavco Industries Inc., has increased production by 25% since last fall at its Nampa factory, hiring 40 workers and adding hours for employees. It is building the extra-insulated "Dakota" model for shipment 1,000 miles east to the Bakken oil field in North Dakota.
Were it not for the new demand for oil-field housing, factory manager Jeff Chrisman says he would be handing out furloughs, not overtime. Instead, "We've been able to bring back people that we hated losing a couple of years ago," he says.
An energy boom is revving up the U.S. economy. The use of new drilling techniques to tap oil and gas in shale rocks far underground helped add about 158,500 new oil and gas jobs over the past five years, and economists think it has created even more jobs in companies supplying the energy industry and in the broader service industry. U.S. oil production is rising for the first time in decades. Natural gas has become so plentiful that prices recently plunged to a 10-year low.
"This is probably the biggest stimulus we have going," says Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, a consultant based in Amherst, Mass. Some $145 billion will be spent drilling and completing U.S. wells this year, up from $13 billion in 2000, estimates Spears & Associates Inc., an oil-field market research firm.
Chrisman said he had no clue about the energy boom until he received a call from a planned 300-unit housing development in Williston, N.D. He traveled there in 2010 and saw well-paid workers sleeping in their cars in a local Wal-Mart parking lot during winter because of the lack of housing.
As the factory's pace of production began picking up last summer, Mr. Chrisman rehired workers he had let go amid the housing downturn. Shannon Smith returned to her job caulking tiles and cleaning up the houses before they are loaded onto trucks.
"In the two years I was laid off, we lost our house" and racked up a lot of credit-card debt, says Ms. Smith, a mother of two. "There was no money and nothing to do. This is chance to buy groceries again and keep paying the bills."
Though she has never seen an oil well, Smith says, "I hope it keeps coming."


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Trailer: 13 Reasons Why
Follows teenager Clay Jensen, in his quest to uncover the story behind his classmate and crush, Hannah, and her decision to end her life.
A writer on Netflix's controversial teen drama 13 Reasons Why has defended the series' explicit depiction of a character's suicide, despite widespread condemnation from suicide prevention advocates.
"I stand behind what we did 100 per cent," series writer Nic Sheff wrote in an essay for Vanity Fair.
"I know I was right, because my own life was saved when the truth of suicide was finally held up for me to see in all its horror – and reality."
The popular series, based on the 2007 novel of the same name, is set in the aftermath of a teenage girl's suicide, charting the incidents – including cyberbullying and sexual assault – that led her to death.
A confronting scene in the season's final episode – which graphically shows lead character Hannah Baker (Perth actress Katherine Langford) taking her own life – has earned rebukes from professionals and viewers both locally and overseas, who've labelled it "irresponsible" and "exploitative".
In his essay, Sheff says he was caught offguard by the backlash.
"From the very beginning, I agreed that we should depict the suicide with as much detail and accuracy as possible," he wrote. "I even argued for it – relating the story of my own suicide attempt to the other writers."
Recalling a story told to him by a woman he'd once met while in drug rehab who had explicitly detailed her suicide attempt to him, Sheff said he believed being open about the realities of suicide could help with prevention.
"The memory came to me like a shock. It staggered me. And it saved my life," he wrote.
"So when it came time to discuss the portrayal of the protagonist's suicide in 13 Reasons Why, I of course immediately flashed on my own experience.
"It seemed to me the perfect opportunity to show what an actual suicide really looks like – to dispel the myth of the quiet drifting off, and to make viewers face the reality of what happens when you jump from a burning building into something much, much worse.
"It overwhelmingly seems to me that the most irresponsible thing we could've done would have been not to show the death at all," he added.
"Facing these issues head-on – talking about them, being open about them – will always be our best defense against losing another life."
@13ReasonsWhy writer #nicsheff has a thoughtful response to some controversy surrounding our show.Please read!https://t.co/7N2C9llKoN— Amy Hargreaves (@AmyHargreavesNY) April 20, 2017
Sheff's defense echoes that of series creator Brian Yorkey, who outlined his intent in Beyond The Reasons, a half-hour discussion with the show's stars and counselling experts that's also available on Netflix.
"We worked very hard not to be gratuitous, but we did want it to be painful to watch because we wanted it to be very clear that there is nothing, in any way, worthwhile about suicide," he said.
While some viewers have backed the team's explanations, their defense remains at odds with the recommendations of mental health professionals.
Earlier this week, local organisation Headspace issued a warning saying the series could lead to "increased risk and possible suicide contagion".
"There is a responsibility for broadcasters to know what they are showing and the impact that certain content can have on an audience – and a young audience in particular," Dr Steven Leicester, the head of the organisation's online counselling service, said in a statement.
If you are troubled by this report or experiencing a personal crisis, you can contact:
Lifeline 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
BeyondBlue 1300 224 636 or beyondblue.org.au
Mensline 1300 789 978
KidsHelpline 1800 551 800


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Dine comfortably with the style of the dining arm chair. A traditional design features an intricately carved back, cabriole legs, sculpted arms and an upholstered seat cushion. Also available as a dining side chair. Add the round or rectangular dining table for a complete dining set.
The Tabitha Traditional Dining Arm Chair by Coaster at AHFA in the area. Product availability may vary. Contact us for the most current availability on this product.
Turn back time with the glorious design of the Tabitha dining collection. Rich birch solids and veneers are set in a Cherry finish. A traditional style comes alive with intricate carvings, sculpted bases and legs, comfortable upholstered seat cushions and brushed metal hardware. Find the right look for your home with the dining arm and side chairs, rectangular dining table, round glass top dining table, buffet, hutch and complete china cabinet.
The Tabitha collection is a great option if you are looking for Traditional furniture in the area.
These images are representative of this group as a whole and may differ from this item.
This item has been tagged as: Dining Chair, Dining Room Chairs, Arm Chair, Dining Arm Chair, Side Chair, Dining Side Chair, Dining Room Set, Dining Table and Chair Set, Kitchen Chair, Kitchen Dining Chair, Dining Room Furniture
Nothing on this page may be copied or reproduced without explicit permission.


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This month has been - and is scheduled to be - one of the busiest I had in a very, very long time. So much so that sometime last week I exhaled on Facebook a scream that I am totally exhausted. I am not here for details of my life, it's a running blog, so, on the training side, I pushed my training, cramming it high-school and college finals' style, all in 3 weeks of finally being free of injuries. In the midst of it, I cut a tip of my finger, and then managed to totally burn my eyes at work while starring at UV light with no protective gear (dumb, I know) The two photos below are taken exactly 24 hrs apart (by accident, the first portraits a finished hat as a product - any takers?).
|I was surprised Larry still loved me - he even drove home for lunch and brought me soup from Whole Foods!
36 hrs later I managed to drive myself to work with my eyes closed (this job will kill me one day, or my ability to guilt myself into not taking sick days).
Another 24 hrs later I was up at 4:30 am to do my last long run with 20 hill repeats. Make it 21 for a good measure, just one-up from my last prep for San Diego 100.
I completed it in surprisingly great time, with surprisingly strong legs, and 5,000 feet of elevation gain - all on 2 streets of Austin. Yup, when I am focused, I am THAT focused.
And then I went to the corner store and stocked up on dark chocolate The well-deserved reward was worth the effort. Yes, dark chocolate is my vice, bite me!
I didn't taper through the next week, as I was still some 25 days out of the goal "destination", and I put a fast 9-mile tempo, and some random other runs, and the last 2 weeks I was also the most consistent in the last many years with my yoga practice - like, 3-4 times a week (don't ask me how I did that between other things I can't speak of). I wish I could just yoga and run...but that's a dream that ain't happening, so lets move on...
Rough Creek races of Endurance Buzz Adventures is a relatively new series, but David Hanenburg does a fantastic job organizing, marking, putting things together, and doing it in environmentally friendly style as a family business. His wife Wendy is a sweetheart, and his two little blond cherubs are adorable as the kids can be (and helpful too).
|Not a clue where I stole this photo, but this is David H. and his son.
|From race document.
And because he wasn't coming (and I am too lazy to put a tent up by myself, and then take it down in the dark), I skipped taking a tent for the campground we reserved, planning on car camping. Well, let me tell you, it is still summer in freakin' Texas! And I am not 5 feet 90 pounds child to fit in the back seat of the car - which, by the way, is a Honda Civic year 2005! All this provided for an interesting night. Cramped in my own sweat paddle, with windows open trying to not think of male predators after lonely half-naked women and wild Texas critters (at 11 pm someone at the bathrooms yelled: "It's a snake, it's really is a snake, stay away!"), hugging one leg over front seat, one arm out the window (hell with the snakes!)...5 am couldn't come early enough. It's official - I am too old for camping before the race, car OR tent. Even if the race is a training run. Camping is only for backpacking trips. Note taken.
So, back to the race profile. As someone who prides herself in being a mountain runner, and as I am "working" on my Grindstone 100 profile/split chart, this picture above didn't bring any emotions. Like, and? I also knew that the course is OPEN to the weather/sun exposure, is double-track for the most part (not my forte at all), the temps are hitting back into high 90's (even though I am 2 hrs North of Austin), and there will be some scramble hills called "Rusty Crown". Bring it, I am simply testing my fueling (alternating BRL Endurafuel and VFuel gels) and Pearl Izumi M2 shoes I got for free as a possibility for running 100M races.
So, we took off, marathoners and 40-milers, at 7 am, and I am, like, running on this flat dirt road, and thinking why the hell is my Garmin clicking low 9's? That is certainly stupid, right? Um, yes, it is. Where are the hills??
|Race photo official - I bought them yes, I paid for them all 3.
|Race photo official. Fat girl climbing. Too busy for Paleo lately.
The Bowl AS came and left, and we went for some rollers in open terrain, and then into the back-side of the Rusty Crown, with more of those steep loose scree climbs and descends, where you see the other side as you come up, some through-cross-country connectors, and relentless beating. Back to the first AS (manned by my clients Brandon and Megan Walters and a couple of guys I knew too, thanks!), and back on the flat double-track to the loop's end (the race was 13.4M repeated either 1x, 2x or 3x). 2:30 on the clock, and I am like - Whoa, I planned for 3+, I will have to pay for it!
|Photo E-Buzz
|Race photo official
|Photo E-Buzz
The thought of going through the Bowl - or the Crown (no matter how fun it seemed on the first loop) was kind of ugly. I ran into the AS and told David I am about to drop. Just in case he should fill my bottle with ice. Just in case I'll put on the shoes I wore when driving in (which I thankfully dragged to the start/finish area for no reason, I never change shoes, but thankfully those were Patagonia's new trail racing flats I got also for testing, soft and not broken in at all besides the drive!). I complained that I had to bend over and pick up too many empty gel packets (half-marathoners?). I told him I hope that the softness and the width of the Patagonia shoes will let my toes to not scream (although the soles were too thin for the rocks). And that I am going to walk out to that first AS on the course and come back.
I stood another minute chatting with Angel, another client (and a wife of that fast Alex B. running second) manning the start/finish AS. Then I chatted with a tall guy who asked what I want - and I told him to go plant some trees for the shade! And then I power-walked out.
|The Beast. Photo by Stephen Winton
And then I ran some, walked some, and repeated it - and made the 2.7M in 35 minutes or so? And as I entered the visibility of AS, I saw Megan standing there smiling like she knew it - and I was like:" You don't know me, you don't see me, pretend it's not happening". She laughed, as she filled my (both drained) water bottles with ice and water, and I rocked it out. And as I did - the cloud cover came down! Like, holly cow, that guy at the previous AS was Jesus! He didn't grow trees, but he threw clouds for me! Shade! And instantly the life turned from head back on its feet. I passed a number of guys, trying to persuade them to walk with me, but they had none of that (and laughed as they couldn't jog at the speed I was walking). I got those Rusty Crowns on both sides of the Bowl like nothing, and even ran some sections of the Bowl's road. I was repeating how great it is - to learn another lesson opportunity provided: to not give up, to believe, to hydrate and turn around, to believe, and to inspire all those who were there today and whom I couldn't let down.
So, that was it. My both 2nd and 3rd loop's time was 3:15 for each (though I putzed around in-between for quite long), and my finishing time was 9:06. I was 2nd gal and 7th overall (by default, I'd say, it doesn't really matter, as 21 folks dropped from 40 miler due to extreme heat). The winning gal Jessica was a highlight of my trip - a total hoot I'd take 2 hr drive to having meet! She passed me somewhere mid-2nd loop, cheerful and strong (and I totality cheered her on) and beat me by almost half an hour. We talked non-stop at the end, as we took shower together (don't you get ideas now! the resort had cabin showers, and we just took turns while chatting, modesty be damned), and I loved how free and free-spirited, and strong, and positive she is. All the best in your Rocky 100, girl!
That was not my course, or my weather, or my shoes. But it was an ultra run, and that all that mattered. It provides me an outlet that reminds me that I can be strong, there - and in life.
Two and half weeks. I am excited. Virginia, I am coming to have lots of fun in the mountains!