No longer as straight as an arrow

December 31, 2018 8:49 AM

Lars Andersen demonstrating turning arrows. (Previously: 1, 2.)
posted by em (13 comments total)

Do not try at home or in Nottingham!
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:59 AM on December 31, 2018

Watched a few of these and now youtube is trying to sell me crossbows. So there's that.
posted by es_de_bah at 9:49 AM on December 31, 2018 [3 favorites]

That’s nothing, just look at what James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie can do with bullets. [warning, movie gore]
posted by chavenet at 10:29 AM on December 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

FYI, he's a bit of a fraud.
posted by CheapB at 11:09 AM on December 31, 2018 [8 favorites]

I don't think his *archery* is a fraud (except maybe fudging about what counts as "splitting" an arrow), but his (or his narrator's) claims about history -- how much he has actually "rediscovered," what archers used to do and why, what practices are concessions "Hollywood inventions," what current archers have "forgotten," whether his techniques are actually more effective than other modern archers -- sound like they're not very accurate.

These curved shots seem pretty great though (except for the putting people in danger part). It's a shame you couldn't have Hawkeye or Arrow do this kind of thing because people wouldn't believe it's possible without telekinesis or something.
posted by straight at 11:54 AM on December 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

not bad, but...
posted by superelastic at 12:06 PM on December 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

I super thought this was going to be about slashfic for Green Arrow.
posted by Scattercat at 12:15 PM on December 31, 2018 [5 favorites]

I thought it was going to be about making arrows, but I may have been watching too many machinists' channels and lathing videos on YouTube lately.
posted by Inkslinger at 1:16 PM on December 31, 2018 [7 favorites]

I thought it was going to be about making arrows on a lathe....
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:17 PM on December 31, 2018 [5 favorites]

That was my second guess.
posted by Scattercat at 1:42 PM on December 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

When I was a kid (long time ago) the big bone of contention among us was whether or not a baseball really curved. With only radio and newspapers, no tv, it was not as obvious as it is today.
posted by notreally at 5:40 PM on December 31, 2018

These curved shots seem pretty great though

Echoing everything that straight said. And noting that Anna Maltese did not address the curving shots at all.

In sum, he sounds like another excellent performer/athlete who's also a total blowhard ...
posted by oheso at 3:09 PM on January 1, 2019

I think the debunk video was not in response to this, but to an earlier effort on his part.
posted by Scattercat at 6:27 PM on January 1, 2019