SECOND TRUMPET--MTA
       The annual romp in the cold mud at Jamestown Settlement will be on March 20-21, with the extraordinarii setting up on Friday the 19th.  With an eye to surviving in a slightly more cheerful condition than last year, your beloved Commander will be staying in a Hotel this year, and I imagine he will not be alone.  I'll find out more about rates, etc., and you let me know if you want to split a room or a couple rooms.
       One new development which definitely cheered me up is that the awful-looking bunch called "Charlie's Angles" will NOT be there!  I wrote a letter to Jamestown in October begging them not to invite such an inauthentic group back, and they actually agreed!  So at least we won't have to put up with their crimes against history this year.
       Jamestown just sent me the pile of paperwork for MTA, so I’ll be passing forms around to those who I know are planning to attend.  Don’t be too freaked out by the “position descriptions”, just fill out the forms and bring them with you.  There will be the usual Park-supplied dinner Saturday night, generally a good time and I’ll assume we will partake.  If you have any “family members living within your household” who will be visiting the event (not as participants), give me their names and I will put them on our Unit Visitors List so they can get into the park free of charge.  Any other non-participants have to pay the usual admission charge, $10.25 for adults, $5 for age 6-12.  (Geez, it’s gone up a bit since the last time I paid to get in, but that was a LONG time ago...)
       PLEASE make sure Quintus knows your plans!  Also let me know if you need directions/maps, or want to convoy or carpool.

FIRST TRUMPET--MTT
       Marching Through Time will be April 10-11, 1999, at Marietta Mansion in Glenn Dale, MD.  Our soldiers and civilians will be chatting up the public from 11 AM to 5 PM both days.  A couple of us will be setting up on Friday the 9th while busloads of school kids are brought in to get a brief tour of whatever reenactors are there--I always have the first group help us set up the tent.  This is a good event for first-timers (as well as veterans!) and I think we’ll have a good turnout.  Invitations have also gone out to a couple other legions, and we will share our camp space with them if necessary.
       Admission for the general public is $5 for adults and $2 for students.  Marietta’s phone number is 301--- and you can call them or Quintus for more information.  More details will also be in next month’s issue.

JOKE
       A number of people have sent me this hilarious little anecdote, so I thought I'd pass it along.  Not only will this make sure that everyone gets to see it, it may help to let people know that Yes, Quintus has seen it!  Thanks, everyone!

       While browsing through some dust-covered archival material in the recesses of the Roman Section of the British Museum, a researcher recently came across a tattered bit of parchment.  After some effort he translated it and found that it was a letter from a man called Plutonius with the title of "magister fastorium", or keeper of the calendar, to one Cassius. The text of the message follows:
Dear Cassius:
      Are you still working on the Y zero K problem? This change from BC to AD is giving us a lot of headaches and we haven't much time left. I don't know how people will cope with working the wrong way around.  Having been working happily downwards forever, now we have to start thinking upwards. You would think that someone would have thought of it earlier and not left it to us to sort it all out at the last minute.  I spoke to Caesar the other evening. He was livid that Julius hadn't done something about it when he was sorting out the calendar. He said he could see why Brutus tuned nasty. We called Consultus, but he simply said that continuing downwards using minus BC won't work and as usual charged a fortune for doing nothing useful. Surely we will not have to throw out all our hardware and start again?  Macrohard will make yet another fortune out of this I suppose. The money lenders are paranoid of course! They have been told that all the usury rates will invert and they will have to pay their clients to take out loans. It's an ill wind.....
    As for myself, I just can't see the sand in an hourglass flowing upwards.  We have heard that there are three wise men in the East who have been working on the problem, but unfortunately they won't arrive until it's all over.  I have heard that there are plans to stable all horses at midnight at the turn of the year as there are fears that they will stop and try to run backwards, causing immense damage to chariots and possible loss of life.  Some say the world will cease to exist at the moment of transition.
    Anyway, we are continuing to work on this blasted Y zero K problem. I will send a parchment to you if anything further develops. If you have any ideas please let me know.
Plutonius

FABRICAE
       Well, we had two successful workshops in the last month, both rather short-notice affairs but I hope I reached everyone who might have been able to attend.  I don’t think that there will be any other workshop parties at my house before MTT in April, but if you need to get help on something (or just need to visit) before then, contact me and we may be able to set up an appointment.  And of course if you’d like to hold a workshop or other gathering in your home at any time, just tell me when and I will spread the word!

EVENTS?
       Lowell Luedke of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is looking into getting some Romans invited to that city's Festa Italiano this July.  In his words:
      "The Festa is not just a folk festival drawing 120,000 people to the Summer Fest grounds but there are 11 stages of music, all at the same time all four days, Sunday mass in the amphitheater and religious parade led by the Sicilian Archbishop, food in about 120 permanent booths, a Bocci tournement, and even Dick Contino and his accordion have been performing at every Festa. It's just one of the ethnic festivals that fill the permanent facility, of the Summer Fest grounds, here in Milwaukee. Romans and Italians seem to be a good fit but I haven't been able to get a meeting with the director as yet."
       George Metz has contacted the management of Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City, New Jersey about the possibility of his Legio XXIV performing there, and he'd like to know if Legio XX is interested in whatever comes up.  There may be several gigs during the tourist season, but there are no details yet.
       Something more like our other events is the Military Time Line at Ft. Malden, Amherstberg, Ontario (just southeast of Detroit, Michigan).  George attended this last year and had a lot of fun (in gorgeous weather, I might add!).  The dates are July 31-August 1, and it IS a bit of a drive, but are there any takers?

TOOL TALK
       In the December issue I mentioned the Hand Punch Kit ("Whitney punch") available from Harbor Freight Tools.  Well, their latest catalog says "Free shipping with any purchase from this catalog" and the price on the punch has been slashed to $15.99.  The item # is 37405-1ACA (the last four digits apparently change with each catalog).  There are also TWO anvils, their big 55-pounder for $49.99 (00806-2ACA), and a 15-pounder for only $9.99 (03999-0ACA).  Anything around a dollar a pound for an anvil is a decent price.  Other goodies include a kit for turning your drill into a small lathe, and cheap belt sanders.   Harbor Freight Tools:  www.harborfreight.com .

TANDY
       A few months ago two of the Tandy Leather stores in the DC area closed down (the two closest to me, naturally), and now rumor has it that ALL the Tandy stores will close, and that the company will operate only by mail order.  What a drag!  It's been a while since I bought any large amounts of leather from them, since there are cheaper places to order it from, but so much for grabbing a bottle of dye on the way home from work.  Well, if mail order is all that's left, I'll stick with Leather Unlimited--it's about the cheapest place I've found so far, and they have all the supplies that Tandy ever had.  If anyone knows of any other walk-in leather store in the Washington DC area, please let us know!

CALENDAR
 March 20-21 --Military Through the Ages, Jamestown Settlement, VA.  Multi-period encampment with over 30 groups from the first century through the twentieth.  Generally cold and wet, so if this is your first time attending this event be sure you have me check your cold-weather clothing.
 April 10-11 --Marching Through Time, Marietta Mansion, Glenn Dale, MD.  Also a multi-period event, not quite as big as MTA but closer to home and warmer.
 May 29-31 --SCA Quest for Wit or Wisdom, New Jersey.  We have been invited by the 3 Celtic cooks who attended Roman Days.  More details as they become available.
 June 12-13 --ROMAN DAYS, Marietta Mansion, Glenn Dale, MD.  If you only get to one Roman event all year, this is the one!  Several other groups will be joining Legio XX, and it will be bigger and better than last time.  Massed tacticals, Olympics, merchants, and more.  You do not have to be dressed as a Roman to participate and have a great time!  Kentucky Public Television station KET will be sending a Latin teacher and a camera crew to film parts of the event, mainly for students but possibly for PBS!
 July 31-Aug. 1 --Military Time Line event, Ft. Malden, Ontario (just over the border from Detroit).  Bit of drive for most of us, but definitely a good time of year to head north, eh?  Is anyone seriously interested?
 Sept. 24-26 --Roman Military Equipment Conference, South Shields, Eng.  See the ROMEC website for details, http://pobox.com/~jrmes/romec.htm
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ADLOCVTIO is still the official monthly newsletter of the Twentieth Legion, even though my Greek helmet arrived and I’m having a hard time concentrating on all this Roman stuff!  Tom Kolb picked up a few new Greek books, too.  Gonna order brass for my hoplon rim and linen for my linothorax, gotta bang out my second greave and put together my sword scabbard...  Sorry--I’ll try not to let the whole Legion go down the drain!  So you can still call me Quintus and keep looking forward to seeing Adlocvtio each month.
       Any submissions or questions about Adlocvtio or the Legion (or about Greek hoplite stuff!!) should be addressed to Matthew Amt (aka Quintus), Commander of the Twentieth Legion and Editor of its world-famous newsletter.  The Legion’s website is at www.geocities.com/Yosemite/3761/index.htm               Salvete!