Announcement - Impending royal visit to Montsurreal

It can now be disclosed that the royal couple (AKA myself and my queen-consort) will be visiting Montsurreal for a few days during the Christmas season. No official itinerary has been set, but it does seem probable that  we will be spending some time with His Excellency, Emperor Eric of the Aerican Empire and his family while we're there.

Patchwork micronationalism

One of the things Slabovia has become known for over the years is our patches. And, full credit where it's due, a lot of that is due to the efforts of our chancellor, Rankin. Here's a few that might be of interest:

 

The patch for the recently-completed Operation Pole Dance

The patch for Operation Pole Vault, which got the flag poles from Chicago to Montreal earlier this year

The patch for the Micronational Outer Space Taskforce (MOST)
This was a joint taskforce operation involving Westarctica, the
Aerican Empire, and Slabovia during the pandemic

The Micronational Anti-Squirrel Task Force
If you know Grand Duchess Mortitia of Ruritania, you'll understand.
Otherwise, well, you had to be there.

Sometimes, you get lucky... or maybe the universe aligns

In the run-up to Operation Pole Dance, I'd reached out to Emperor Eric of the Aerican Empire to ask him to bring me an item from Quebec. He indicated that he would do so, and give it to me as a gift.

Generosity cannot go unanswered, so we obtained a reciprocal gift for the imperial residence. And, as we were going to be travelling to the rendez-vous with a member of the press, we got them those "Press" patches (large and small) with hook-and-loop fastener, so they could look the part.

Note the "Press" individual appropriately labeled on the right

That then left Grand Duke Travis of Westarctica... I certainly didn't want to snub him, so I needed to find a suitable gift for him as well. Then, inspiration struck me! Earlier this year, I'd found a nice "swagger stick" or baton (effectively a short staff of office, formerly carried by certain members of the military), but for some reason it was sold in sets of two, so I had a spare. So, I wrapped it up with the other items, took everything with me to Niagara Falls, and presented everyone with their gifts.

Well, it turned out that this was EXACTLY the right gift for Travis, as he'd been looking for one for his uniform for a number of years! 

Presenting Grand Duke Travis with his new stick

Same presentation, slightly different view

Sometimes things align just so, and we really can't say why. Maybe it's fate or random chance or some higher design, I can't say. But, in this case, everything worked out well.

The MicroCon 2025 Commemorative Book is now available!

Yes, I know, I didn't get a post up yesterday. I'm going to claim that it was because I was waiting to announce this, and not because a) I've been sick with a head cold since Wednesday and/or b) I'm in the middle of a cybersecurity competition. Anyway, here is an important announcement! To quote Eric Lis, Emperor of the Aerican Empire and chair of MicroCon 2025:

"The MicroCon 2025 Commemorative Book is now available for purchase on Amazon. Links to Amazon US and Amazon Canada are below but it should be available in your regional shop. To make it as accessible as possible, the price has been set to the lowest possible point; I will not earn so much as a penny from book sales.

If you don't want to pay for the physical book, or if you want to see what it looks like before you buy, here's the complete pdf version, absolutely free." (Google Drive Link)

Amazon US link

Amazon Canada link

The MicroCon 2025 Logo from the Facebook group

After-action Report - Operation: Pole Dance

I previously discussed Op Pole Dance here.

USS Hammer of George departed home port at approximately 0947 (all times local).

Rendezvous with press corps was made just before 1000, followed by departure for Niagara Falls.

Arrived at Niagara Falls approximately 1145, linked up with other Slabovian Navel units as well as the representatives of the Aerican Empire and Westarctica at checkpoint "Rainforest Cafe".

But first, lunch!

After lunch, all personnel relocated to the roof of the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel for a ceremony marking the mutual signing of the West Who Space Treaty by all three micronations.

Signatories signed their signatures significantly

Signed, sealed, and delivered!

I also took the opportunity to present Grand Duke Travis of Westarctica with a ceremonial field baton or swagger stick:

This stick floats! (It wood.)

Next, Slabovia's personnel assisted in the transfer of the flag poles from the Aerican Empire PMV (personal motor vehicle) to Westarctica's PMV:

Unloading the poles

Reloading the poles

Ensuring the load is secure

After that, all personnel relocated to the local mini-golf course for some much-needed R&R:

Finally, after a brief walking tour of the Falls area, we all retired to the Hard Rock Cafe, where the wait staff kindly provided us with a private room for our dining experience.

After supper, all representatives split up, and the USS Hammer of George headed for home, dropping the press corps off on the way. Arrival at home port at approximately 2200 local time.

Finally, a throne!

I've previously documented my search for a suitable throne. Today, I'm happy to reveal that I've found one! While rummaging through the local charity store, I found a wonderful medieval-looking chair:

The new throne of Slabovia

That won't be its final resting place - in that picture, it's blocking access to the basement stairs (on the left) AND the downstairs bathroom (on the right). I'm also still contemplating potential modifications to make it more "royal". And, of course, if I find an even better throne at some point in the future, then so be it.

But, for now, We have Our throne. 👑

Making your life more royal (part six of a series) - Serve your guests like a royal

Part of the reason I set up this blog is to help people "put a little royalty into their life". To that end, I've kicked off this semi-regular series of postings about bringing the castles of Europe to you, sort of. Similar to the "Gothic Homemaking" series of videos that were put out by Aurelio Voltaire (over on YouTube), this will be a recurring series on how to make your own life, well, a bit more royal.

Part one of this series can be found here. Part two of this series can be found here. Part three is here. Part four is here. And, of course, part five is here.

Setting a royal table (as briefly discussed in part five) is one thing, but you can't serve blue-box-brand macaroni and cheese to royalty. Well, you CAN, if you're the king/queen, and it would certainly be memorable, but maybe not in the way you'd hope.

Royal banquets are usually in the format of a "full-course meal". In modern society, these are typically either three or five courses.

A three-course meal consists of:

• Starter or salad
• Main course
• Dessert

A five-course meal consists of:

• Hors d'oeuvres
• Soup
• A fish/seafood course
• A main entrée (such as a roast with sides)
• Dessert

Emily Post [Wikipedia] recommended a seven-course meal:

• cold hors-d'oeuvres
• soup
• fish
• entrée (meaning a main, unlike Charles Ranhofer's menu below)
• roast
• salad
• dessert (followed by after-dinner coffee)

Of course, if you want to go over-the-top, you can follow the 14-course menu of Charles Ranhofer [Wikipedia]:

• Oysters
• 2 Soups
• Side dishes, hot and cold
• 2 fish and potatoes
• 1 relevé or remove (i.e. a light roast, such as lamb) with vegetables
• First entrée with vegetables (Note that entrée here does not mean a main dish; it means "entrance" and implies a lighter starter dish such as a goat-cheese salad or escargots the use of entrée to mean a main dish is a uniquely American phenomenon)
• Second entrée with vegetables
• Third entrée with vegetables
• Punch
• 1 or 2 roast meats
• 1 or 2 cold dishes with salad
• 1 hot sweet dessert
• 1 or 2 cold sweet desserts
• 1 or 2 ices, plus the last dessert [fruit, served with the ices]

Regardless of the number of courses, service can be "à la française" or "à la russe". Service "à la russe" is probably what you picture when you think about, for example, Downton Abbey - each course is brought to the table separately, and served individually to each guest. Hopefully, you have a large staff for that! Service "à la française", on the other hand, means that the individual courses above are grouped together (often into three groups: first, any potages + hors d’œuvres + entrées + relevés, then all roasts + salads + entremets, and finally the desserts. However, the individual items are still eaten in the "correct order" according to classical dining, so (for example), during the first course you'd eat the potage, then the hors d'oeuvres, then the entrées and finally the relevés. Unless you're sure that your guests are up on their table service manners, service "à la russe" is probably the way to go.

As for what to make for these various courses, there are literally thousands of recipe websites and cookbooks out there. The only advice I can provide is this: the more courses you're serving, the lighter each course should be. If you're having someone sit through fourteen courses, you probably shouldn't be serving big plates of pasta. Oh, and test every recipe before the day of the banquet! There's nothing worse than having your recipe flop when your guests are waiting at the table!

And, if all else fails, there's always pizza delivery.

The desserts we served at MicroCon 2019
(They were sponsored by Westarctica, hence the flag)