John's Soapbox: The companion to OAImages.com. All about OA Patches … with ocassional comments on current events, UNC basketball, or just about anything else I find interesting. Remember any changes to Order of the Arrow policies and programs will be announced through official channels, not here!
Many of us have been wondering for years what will happen with Blue Book. A new version has not been published since 2006. At 1pm today Jason Spangler will broadcast part one of an interview with Roy More where they discuss the future of Blue Book.
Back in 2010 I announced the formation of Tschipey Achtu lodge as a result of the merger of Ty-Ohni 95 and Ganeodiyo 417. At the time I was told they would use the number 397, which is also their council number. This created a bit of controversy as that number is currently in use by Chilantakoba lodge in Louisiana. I also announced their first flap. Other than a 2010 Jamboree issue no further news from this lodge made it to me.
I was talking with a Roger Ward last night who was at the recent Winter South Carolina Trade-O-Ree. He tells me it has not been quiet in that lodge. The use of 397 was problematic. Many wanted to choose a different number. Some wanted to claim the number zero, but that was not well received given the special place Unami 1 holds in the Order of the Arrow. The Scout Executive, I am told, stepped in and told the lodge they will use the lower number from the two merged lodges.
The lodge is now known as Tschipey Achtu 95. I have updated the site to reflect this current information. Several new issues have also been added.
My friend Jason Spangler, also known as the Santee Swapper and host of the Scouting Hot Finds newsletters and podcast has assembled a free guide to spotting the fake Chinese made OA patches currently appearing on eBay.
This is an extensive 24 page treatise on these patches, with many illustrations. It documents the fakes produced by various sellers over the past several years. It also discusses the marketing strategies of those who produced these fakes including the stealing of images from this website.
I have written several posts on this blog about patch designs that appear to have been copied or "inspired" by other designs, quite often from different lodges. For example see the first and second posts using this same title. Another example is this post on more "inspired" patches.
The patch pictured at the top of this post was a recent chapter event issue from Piankatank chapter of Wahunsenakah lodge. (Editor's note: Please see correction in comments). The lodge is chartered to the Colonial Virginia Council which could easily explain the American Revolution theme of the design. However, the lodge totem is a duck so the hawk's head might appear to be an unusual choice.
A friend gave this to me. He acquired it a Trade-O-Ree and thought of me once he saw the design. It's obviously taken from Tsoiotsi Tsogalii's 2010 SR-7B conclave flaps, listed on this site as S34? and S35?.
Perhaps someone in Wahunsenakah can fill us in on the story behind Piankatank chapter's choice of patch design. The artist of the lodge 70 flaps should be flattered that someone in another lodge was so impressed by his design that he chose to adapt it for his chapter's event patch.
"One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others. By the time I finish my song?"
How many of you remember this song from "Sesame Street"? I saw a friend of mine at the Winston-Salem Trade-O-Ree last weekend. He usually has a great assortment of patches, many classic material and items from our area. However he wants it to be known that he isn't just interested in old patches, so he puts the frame pictured here on his table. I'll let him remain anonymous unless he chooses to step forward here.
One of those patches seems oddly out of place (really two but one sticks out more!). Do you see it? It's not quite as obvious as recognizing letters and numbers, but still very easy to see! Every time I see this frame I chuckle a bit. It's a good way to start a conversation. Now you all can join me in a good natured chuckle.
Read the Full Post on blog.oaimages.com
Posted in Current Events by John E. Pannell on August 7th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
In recognition of opening of the 29th Olympiad of the modern era tomorrow (8/8/08) in Beijing I offer up this collection of videos.
First up is one piece of music recognizable by many and long associated with the Olympic games. It is Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”, played here by the Honk Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
The lighting of the Olympic torch is the highlight of the opening ceremonies. Olympic host committees make great efforts to create spectacular, impressive or emotional ways of lighting the Olympic Flame. Here are three memorable examples from recent past games. Continue Reading »
"Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect, they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries."
Way back in October of 2006 I wrote a post entitled “Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery” in which I pointed out some patches whose designs appeared to be inspired by other patches. I now offer up another pair of patches.
Pictured here is an image recently sent to me by Robert Mathis. This is the J2 from O-Shot-Caw lodge’s Gokhos chapter. As you can see, the design is simply a large cut-out owl, wings outstretched, on an arrow. The chapter had previously issued their X1 with an almost identical design. I think it’s an effective design and looks good. However, it might look more than a little bit familiar to some folks.
"The first nonabsolute number is the number of people for whom the table is reserved. This will vary during the course of the first three telephone calls to the restaurant, and then bear no apparent relation to the number of people who actually turn up, or to the number of people who subsequently join them after the show/match/party/gig, or to the number of people who leave when they see who else has turned up.
The second nonabsolute number is the given time of arrival, which is now known to be one of the most bizarre of mathematical concepts, a recipriversexcluson, a number whose existence can only be defined as being anything other than itself. In other words, the given time of arrival is the one moment of time at which it is impossible that any member of the party will arrive. Recipriversexclusons now play a vital part in many branches of math, including statistics and accountancy and also form the basic equations used to engineer the Somebody Else's Problem field.
The third and most mysterious piece of nonabsoluteness of all lies in the relationship between the number of items on the bill, the cost of each item, the number of people at the table and what they are each prepared to pay for. (The number of people who have actually brought any money is only a subphenomenon of this field.)"
Back in 2010 I announced the formation of Tschipey Achtu lodge as a result of the merger of Ty-Ohni 95 and Ganeodiyo 417. At the time I was told they would use the number 397, which is also their council number. This created a bit of controversy as that number is currently in use by Chilantakoba lodge in Louisiana. I also announced their first flap. Other than a 2010 Jamboree issue no further news from this lodge made it to me.
I was talking with a Roger Ward last night who was at the recent Winter South Carolina Trade-O-Ree. He tells me it has not been quiet in that lodge. The use of 397 was problematic. Many wanted to choose a different number. Some wanted to claim the number zero, but that was not well received given the special place Unami 1 holds in the Order of the Arrow. The Scout Executive, I am told, stepped in and told the lodge they will use the lower number from the two merged lodges.
The lodge is now known as Tschipey Achtu 95. I have updated the site to reflect this current information. Several new issues have also been added.
Some of those who know me personally, know that I have gone over to the "Dark Side" and have started using Apple products. I bought an iMac a couple of months ago and just recently got an iPad. My brother is trying to tell me that my Droid's days are numbered.
I really like my iPad and started day dreaming about an OAImages app for it. I have no idea how to go about writing this and it would take me into an entirely new area from what I know. It's not something that would happen easily or soon. Here's your chance to give feedback. What do you think about an OAImages app? What would you put in it? Do you have any thoughts on how it would be distributed or how much it would cost?
Please feel free to comment. Comments are moderated for those who have not successfully had a comment published on this blog before in order to control spam. I will do my best to approve comments as quickly as possible in order to facilitate a discussion.
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October 4th, 2011
Indian Summer and Summit Corps Patches
I have added special pages on this site for the 2011 Indian Summer and 2011 Summit Corps. I still have a few images to add but most of what I have images for is now on the site. Thanks for Rick Horne for most of these images.
It's kind of odd to come out of hiding to post about a topic like this.
I'm hearing from some brothers that there have been gullible readers to this blog over the years. I would have thought it was obvious from the context of the posts, but the various posts made on this blog throughout the years that have appeared on APRIL FIRST are all satire. None of them are true. Read them and chuckle but please do not complain to your friendly OA National Committee members, Scout Executives, lodge advisers, or official website administrators about the "changes" that are "announced" in them.
This is strictly an "FYI" post for those familiar with the issues facing those who maintain blogs and message boards where readers can post comments.
Recently I had been having issues here with comment spam getting past this blog's filters. I deleted the inappropriate posts as quickly as I could but this was still unacceptable to me, as well as additional work. I since have required that readers register before they're allowed to post comments here. That seems to have stopped the spammers.
I still see a number of probable spammers, mainly from Russian domains, registering on this blog but so far none have had their comments posted successfully.
I may test my luck for a short period of time in the near future. At some unannounced time, I will turn off the registration requirement for posting comments for a day or two. I want to see if the spammers have been chased away, or if they're just awaiting an easy opportunity to push their garbage
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February 11th, 2011
Change in Comments Policy
This blog is being hit with a large number spam comments lately. There have been over 12,000 attempts to spam the blog with comments just within the past 60 days. Recently a few dozen comments, hawking service and goods I deem inappropriate for this blog, made it past the filters. Since I don't desire to spend more time deleting the spam as I find it and don't want inappropriate information to sit on my blog, I am tightening up the policy on commenting here.
Those who wish to comment must now register and be logged in before being to post comments. Registration is free and is not the same as membership to this site. This is a common practice on many blogs especially among sites run by more "traditional media" type companies.
Posted in Current Events by John E. Pannell on August 7th, 2008 at 4:21 pm 
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