I'd like to thank everyone who made this possible....gosh I'm choking up...uuuum...my wife and children...the cat...

My very own elephant stamp!

It seems I have joined the august ranks of the nominees of the........

 

Conrad Kinch of the always highly enjoyable Joy and Forgetfulness blog has nominated me for this virus thingy going around at the moment. It seems anyone who's written a blog is getting nominated for this award, which doesn't mean that I'm not grateful for for the nomination, as I was feeling a bit nervous that no-one out there felt that my little blog was worthy of this gong! Now I can rest easy thanks to Conrad.

Apparently there are some rules attached to this thing;

• Thank and link back to the person giving you the award (done) 

• Share seven things about yourself.

• Select 10-15 blogs who you think deserve this award.

• Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award

So, 7 things about myself?

1. My life long interest in all things historical and military started with the usual playing WW2 soldiers in the backyard, but got accelerated by my introduction to Asterix around age 7-8. A visit to Europe as a kid leaves me kicking myself I wasn't interested in history beyond 1066; we visited HMS Victory where some old poof asked another bloke to kiss him when he lay dying; Napoleon was some ponce in tights and a funny hat who seemed to have a bad tummy; and Waterloo was a song by ABBA!
2. I came to Napoleonic history later in life as the 2 extremes of my historical interest met somewhere in the middle (or more closely to the modern period) after a flirtation with Victorian military history, courtesy of that great fictional cad, Flashman. I started work at the University of Melbourne library and haven't looked back, reading everything that has taken my fancy from general histories to books of specific campaigns. The collection at work certainly makes up for any workplace disadvantages. 
3. Unlike a lot of others, I came to wargaming later in life. I played Dungeons and Dragons as a kid and got the bug for painting figures then, and played crude solo wargames with my Orcs and Dwarves, but didn't really take it any further. University, adulthood and family got in the way until recently when reading about Napoleonic warfare and talking to a mate at work who'd wargamed when he was younger, piqued my curiosity. I'm now a father and immune to feelings of geekines (your kids think you're one no matter how cool you are!), so it seemed the time to dip my toe into the water. Almost 4 years ago I dipped my toe and promptly fell in once I discovered the Nunawading Wargames Association and the great bunch of blokes who all share the same passion for Napoleonic history and wargaming. 
4. While I may have more or less mastered the club's rules, I still have a long way to go before I develop a tactical talent as many of my regular readers may have guessed!
5. I have some (mildly) interesting family historical connections; My paternal grandmother had a distant relative who was present at the Eureka stockade rebellion of 1854, where the miners of Ballarat rose in armed protest against the unjust colonial taxes. He was a teenager who ran messages and brought up ammuniton for the rebels on that bloodily onesided day.  On my mother's side, I'm related to Hannah King Letheridge, the first registered pakeha (European) child born in New Zealand. 
6. I'm a librarian, my sister's a librarian and my wife's just finished her qualifications as a librarian after 10 years of child-wrangling (must be something in the water). 
7. Our cat Mintie (Most Mighty Feline and Terror of All Things Small) is so proud of her abilities as a mouser that she insists on showing us by bringing the things in and torturing them with unashamed glee. Once we chase her and her prey outside, she then plays mouse-soccer until it's dead and then decides it's no fun any more and eats the ball.

 

My nominations (who may or may not have already received one) to pass on the award to are :

• Carlo Antonio at Military Miniatures; What Carlo does with 1/72 figures makes your eyes pop

• Sander at Modus Reg Magni Momenti ; I first saw his stuff on the HaT website which showed me what was possible with 1/72 Napoleonics

• Paul at Napoleonics in Miniature ; He is the maestro of 15mm!

• The Plastic Hussar at the Plastic Pelisse ; He runs a real public service with his comparisons of plastic and metal products in 1/72 scale.

• Francesco Messori at Franznap; His skill is really, really impressive. I'd love if someone would pick up his sculptures to mass produce them. Simply stunning!

• Jean de Terre Neuve at Wargaming in 28mm ; a dedicated solo gamer who puts in 100% with his figure painting, terrain building and OB research.

• Rafa Pardo at Project Leipzig ; I know he's already been nominated, but he's been very supportive of my blog and has passed on invaluable information on Spanish uniforms. His excellent OB research and finely planned battles are works of art in 1/72 scale!

• Alanus, Dux Homunculorum at Dux Homunculorum; Another 1/72 tragic and fellow Australian, but he does waste his time with too much ancient and medieval stuff ;-)

• Robert of Serrez les Rangs and la Bricole and too many other blogs; Very nice chap with a great Front Rank collection of French and Russians and some interesting uses for tofu containers!

• von Peter himself at Welcome to von Peter's Wargaming Madness ; A Kiwi (we won't hold that against him!) with a lovely collection of eye candy, and a denizen of too many forums to count!

To those I've nominated, I'll formally notify you of the nomination in due course. Let the back-slapping continue!