1930’s Redux? The Russian Bear Stirs from his Lair…

Conditions ripening for “Scorched Earth: The Other Side of World War II“…

We inhabit a very odd time in history folks. All of us are accustomed to being in a “post-Cold War” mentality with all (especially the military) exhausted from the prolonged conflicts in both Iraq & Afghanistan. And here we are, on the verge of another European war with Russia as the catalyst. Too often overlooked (perhaps intentionally by historians/academe are the machinations of Josef Stalin vis-a-vis the Baltics during the mid-to-late 1930′s. While Hitler had set his sights on eradicating Czechoslovokia, Poland, & uniting with Austria, Stalin was also looking to further Soviet influence/dominance toward Western Europe...

Some weapons and techniques were considered dishonorable such as the dagger and the arbalest. A knight would not use these weapons because they were not knightly. A dagger was a weapon of a sneaky assassin and an arbalest was a brutal weapon of the untrained. A knight’s code of chivalry demanded that he face his enemy openly and honestly – it was a “let the best man win” situation. The dagger was a surprise attack and the arbalest was fired from a distance.

Chivalric Virtues Define THE MARSCHER LORDS:Brotherhood or Death…

Picking up on the meme of the last post, Chivalry is a strong component in THE MARSCHER LORDS:Brotherhood or Death. It should be noted that chivalry – in the heat of battle – can be a very tough code to abide by...

Chivalry: Live It. Learn It. Reclaim It.

An unfortunate sign of our times that common decency seems to have been usurped by an ugly, base crassness that – in reality – threatens our very base as a civilization. It is the desire of the Self über alles and all else be damned. Not that long ago, an incredible disaster took place at sea when the RMS Titanic struck the infamous iceberg. As we all know, the ship was doomed. Word went out, “Take to the lifeboats” with the watchwords “Women & Children First!” soon after. Why was this? Because women & children – at the time – held an exalted place in society and it was understood by the culture of the time that in perilous circumstances, the life givers (women) and the next generation (children) should be/must be preserved as much as possible...

Whew!

View from above: Telluride from Allred’s

That’s the word that comes to mind after a couple of days spent skiing on the slopes in Telluride, CO.  A more picturesque town could not be found outside of Bavaria or the Tyrol (both of which we’ve been to but never had the pleasure of sampling the slopes while on skiis). The whole affair felt like a cross between “Where Eagles Dare” & “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service“, two rollicking good adventure flicks. However the comparison only goes so far: there was nobody (thankfully! ) shooting at us! Hey – we all can’t be Producer/Director Stephen Rollins in Afghanistan! Stephen – we want you on the team, not taking one for the team! :<D (Steve just had a table read of his new American Identity script, and we would have been there if not for a pr...

ReGroup/ReLoad/Relaunch!!!

Well, the campaign on Indiegogo expired without us reaching out target goal of $70,000 for the production of THE MARSCHER LORDS:Brotherhood or Death. We’ll fall on our swords since – obviously – there’s still some things/nuances we’re not doing/aware of re: crowdfunding. There’s a big, still-evolving learning curve on it and obviously our blade isn’t sharp enough yet to cut through the vast swathe of crowdfunding projects listed on the various crowdfunding sites. That’s ok. We’re all about moving  forward and learning as we go. The time the project was active was not wasted, we made many more contacts & connections and were/still are able to turn more people on to the project. Wonder if we were doing a zombie project if we’d’ve done better $$ wise? :<D

In Truth,...

And the Music Continues…

WOW!!! – Now (as of this writing) at 4, 587 Likes on FB!!! Moving ever-upward. The hard work on THE MARSCHER LORDS:Brotherhood or Death goes on. While it’s true it has never been easier to create your own project, the heavy-lifting that one has to do to get to the goal has increased exponentially. Why? Because everybody’s attempting crowdfunding!!!  One of the differentiating characteristics of these projects here  is that they’ve all been formed as their own corporations, so we’re not beholden to crowdfunding. We can bring in private capital from investors and they can feel secure in knowing that they are attaching themselves to a professional organization. Our CFO – Ruby Emerald Diamond – (yes – that’s her real name, no kidding!) has about 30 yrs experience as ...

THE MARSCHER LORDS:Brotherhood or Death Teaser Reel is Coming!!!

Yes – by now most of you have seen THE MARSCHER LORDS:Brotherhood or Death video pitch on Indiegogo.com. However, we’re not done!!! It doesn’t stop there. We’re going to add a teaser/sizzle reel to the mix!!! Why? – Why not? Because it will only add more and help round out the entire project.

Really? – What will it be like?

We’re not telling. Not yet. But we can say this – both Robert & Edwin will be in it and…that’s it. For now. ;<) Stay tuned.

And of this writing THE MARSCHER LORDS:Brotherhood or Death has reached 4,487 Likes!!! 5,000 is not that far away and we should reach that in a fairly short time. Again, if we had a bigger budget for advertising we could probably get there tout suite but we’ve got a lot of projects in...

Rediscover Chivalry…

Presaging Scorched Earth: The Other Side of World War II: Opening today of note is a new Russian film Stalingrad directed by Fedor Bondarchuk, son of Sergie Bondarchuk, the legendary director of such cinematic masterpieces as War & Peace (roundly considered an epic among epics) & Waterloo. The production value is very high and it is the first film about Stalingrad ever shot in 3-D. Should make for an interesting two hours for that alone. This review however doesn’t give the story many high marks. But movies are like ice cream, there’s different flavors.

Pledges remain low (hell – we’re not even in the ballpark) for THE MARSCHER LORDS:Brotherhood or Death and we’re getting down to the wire: as of this writing 15 days left...

FV ‘Harbinger Down’ Steams Back into Port Amid Sad News…

News came this a.m. that we’ve lost Harold Ramis, the terrific geeky-chic actor & director who brought the world such gems as CaddyShack (starring friend of the site & all-around terrrific acting teacher Scott Colomby), Groundhog Day, & Ghostbusters. Came out of Second City in Chicago, which is a terrific training ground for sketch comedy actors. A late friend of ours – Frank Payne – was also an alumni. Scott always spoke very highly of him and you can see his wit in his interviews, especially here on the “Quotability of Caddyshack”.  The world will miss your unique ability to make us laugh and bring zany comedy to the screen Mr. Ramis. It seems at only 69, you have a lot of good years left in you.

Support for THE MARSCHER LORDS:Bro...

‘It’s Not Just a Movie, but a Movement…’

Chivalry. Honor. Duty. Gallantry.

Those words may be a bit foreign to some in today’s modern, fast-paced, teckie-type world, but to knights of the Teutonic Order, Knights Templar, & the Livonian Order, they were sacred words by which to live and die. Die schwerpunkt, or “point of main effort”, was to protect the what was considered at the time defenseless (see below) making the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It was for this that they were founded. The Teutonic Order’s castle still stands today at Acre, on the peninsula in the Gulf of Haifa. Amazing, since it’s been fought over and around about six times since the First Crusade in 1104.

‘It’s Not Just a Movie, but a Movement…’

Chivalry. Honor. Duty. Gallantry.

But these principles by which they lived ...