ANZAC Day (a few days late)

25th April was ANZAC Day, a national day of remembrance in both Australia and New Zealand for members of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. I had meant to make a post on the day itself, but never got around to it. Which is probably pretty shameful. Even more so when Stephen Fry tweeted about it, and he's someone I've been critical of in the past. I take it back - Mr Fry has gone up in my estimation.

My connection with the ANZACs is that one of my great grandfathers was one. My great grandfather Sharpe (my dad's mum's dad) emigrated to Australia at some point before the war to work on one of those giant sheep stations. He joined up and fought in the Great War. My father has his medals. I don't know much more than that. After the war, he returned to the mother country and worked on an estate in Lincolnshire. At some point in my life, I'll research this some more. It would be interesting to know where he fought.


And on the subject of ANZACs, does anyone remember the television series of the same name? Made in Australia in the 1980s. And just so good. It is at least available in this country now (if you look hard enough). When we got it, it involved postage from Australia and a multi-region DVD player. It was originally shown here as a weekday daytime show, which looking back is hard to believe. There are certain tropes you expect with war dramatisations because you've grown up watching British and American ones. This Australian one is different, and because the structure of how it presents its many characters is different, it works much better as an account of war. I can't praise it highly enough. It's a phenomenal piece of television. I can't think of a better screen portrayal of either world war. (Not that I was there...)

The Great Pendragon Campaign

For some time, the RPG collector in me has wanted to own 'The Great Pendragon Campaign', an epic campaign supplement for the Pendragon RPG that details everything that happens in that Arthurian setting from the days of Uther to Arthur's final battle. It mixes Malory characters with more of a realistic Dark Ages setting, which is probably how I like my Arthuriana.

Anyway, the problem has been that since this was a rare supplement, it fetches very high prices on eBay etc when one comes up. Currently, the cheapest used copy on Amazon is listed at more than £100. It's been available in downloadable .pdf format for a while, but I really wanted a book.

And now I've ordered one. You see, drivethrurpg.com now offers a print-on-demand service. So as well as buying and downloading the .pdf, I've also ordered a P-o-D softback copy. All for £40!