I just returned from the Galesburg Heritage Festival. We had a lot of fun and the weather was BEAUTIFUL for the most part. We had some rain during the night and as we finished packing there was more rain, but the temps where cool all day yesterday and for the most part today.

I made the local newspaper. I participated in a fashion show and the Galesburg Register Mail ran a story about the rendezvous side of the show.

'It was a very dark, bloody time'

Re-enactors interact in character, but not politically correct

Sunday, August 19, 2007

By JOHN R. PULLIAM

The Register-Mail
GALESBURG - While Saturday's Civil War portion of Heritage Days Ladies Tea and fashion show was rather dignified and informative, the rendezvous portion of the fashion show, although also educational, was more street theater in its presentation. The re-enactors' interaction with each other kept the audience laughing throughout.

Will Crouch, who portrayed a farmer in 18th century Illinois, said conditions were not as they have been portrayed in movies.

"It's not Daniel Boone, it's not Davy Crockett," Crouch said. "It was a very dark, bloody time."

He warned the audience not to expect a politically-correct presentation, as the re-enactors would be in character.

He first introduced an Indian and the Indian's "woman."

"A lot of the clothes I have on are French or English," the Indian said. "It didn't matter, whoever paid better."

The man had black paint around his eyes, giving the look of a mask, with a black stripe down the left side of his face and his neck. His head was shaved, except for a top-knot on the back of his head.

He said the red ribbon on his rifle was so the British would know which Indians were loyal to them. He also carried a French safe passage coin, to use when needed.

"You've had your say, Indian, move along," Crouch said.

"Scalps paid very well, too," the Indian said menacingly.

An English lord of the manor said the king gave him thousands of acres in Illinois for his help in fighting the French.

Sarah Crouch, his female companion, said she knew little of her past because the English lord "killed my family."

She said he treated her well.

A wizened Scottish trapper took exception to her attitude. While it was difficult to understand his thick, Scottish brogue, it was obvious the lord of the manor received a well-deserved dressing down.

Ray, a long hunter, carried a Brown Bess musket. He said he became a hunter and trapper because he had no desire to enter his father's trade as a blacksmith. He said he traded with Indians, "However, I don't care much for the natives. They're pretty well savages."

Two mountain men entered. One, wearing a coonskin cap, said, "I came from Missouri. I'm here to buy a few women to trade back to the Indians."

His friend asked a woman if he could trade some trinkets for her daughter. The first man asked the woman, who was not a re-enactor, to stand up.

"Sit down, you're too skinny," he said.

A British militiaman, Noah Crouch, was a farmer but grew tired of that life.

"I'm not going to stand up here and gawk at the women or chase my sister around the room," he said, referring to the mountain men. "I joined the British, not that I agree with them, but because I dislike the French."

Seamus, a Scottish Jacobite - a member of a political movement dedicated to returning the Stuarts to the thrones of England and Scotland - said he hid in the moors of Scotland when the English soldiers arrived. When he returned, he said the " 'Anglish' killed my wife and children and put a price on my head."

He fled to Ireland, then Canada, where he helped the French.

"There is nothing that makes me happier than to kill an 'Anglishman,' " he growled.

As Will Crouch concluded the program, Seamus stayed in character. He stared at one Englishman, "I'll give you 30 seconds before I start shooting."

My alter-ego is Seamus MacPhail. But now let me give you some of the un-PC points that were not brought out in the article.

The "wizened old Scottish Trapper" was Duncan, Sarah's "uncle" at one point he was yelling at her for associating with people that "fight with their feet, and fornicate with their faces."

The Mountain Man was wearing a coyote skin cap, not a coonskin cap... and yes they did start sizing and pricing women in the crowd. When he told the one to sit down he actually said, "Sit down you're too skinny and your butt is too big."

As for me, they abbreviated my entire closing speech. It was more along the lines of "Now that the Anglish and the French have started fighting, I'm going to help the French fight the war. Nothing would make me happier than killing some Anglish and their manky american colonial lapdogs. And if I'm lucky I'll kill some of their women and children as well."

I got the only audible response from the crowd. And yes I did threaten to shoot Noah and when he gave me lip I cocked my musket loudly. At which point someone yelled out, "Move it, I don't want to get caught between the two of you."

The best part was the look on Will's face when he came out of the building. He had a look of bewildered disbelief. He told us he wanted us to stay in character and I asked if he was sure he wanted Seamus the Surly Scotsman. He assured me he did. But later he told me he just didn't think I would say I was going to kill the women and children.

Well I'm going to go finish cleaning up and unpacking, I'll give you more details later. I just wanted to share the article with everyone.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:36 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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This last weekend went to prove a point I’ve been telling people for years. It doesn’t matter what the event is like, if you are with friends you’ll have a good time. Four years ago we did Theatiki for the first time, it was impressive and we had a lot of fun. Made some new friends and thought it was a great event. Since then it has rapidly been dying off. Three years ago they uninvited all the food vendors that served meals instead of just ice cream and popcorn. Then they started losing vendors, unfortunately some of the good vendors left and some of the crappy ones stuck behind. They moved the weekend it was one, participants started dropping out and even though it’s a “juried” event (Meaning you have to pass inspection and meet a standard of period correctness set by the event), there are a lot of people that were wearing and displaying things they shouldn’t. IE it was not period correct for the 1750’s that this event was set.

This year the camp was about barren. The military unit camp looked vacant, trader row was about 1/3 of what it was the first year we did it. Thank god for the Buffalo Man or Ktreva and I would have been stuck having to live off of ice cream and popcorn. The rapidness of this even collapsing is surprising. To be honest there has to be some kind of internal power struggle or sabotage going on in order for this rapid of demise. But this even is not dead yet. As my friend Will pointed out, they have a great opportunity right now to turn the event around and bring it back to something great.

Even with all of that going on, we had a great time. Why? Good friends. We camped in our usual spot, our friends Will and Red showed up. Their daughter Sari drove down from college to spend the weekend as well. We should have known we were in for a heap of trouble Friday when after all of us changing into costume, Will and I set down to do some drinking. We started with all the left over beers from my reviews. After finishing ALL of those off, we switched to WillÂ’s beer. We were about a case into it when two of the Rangers showed up. Ray and Sgt. Smiley came down and in typical Brit fashion got both Will and I to volunteer to fight in the battle the next day.

We had some more visitors, drank some a lot more beer and then decided to head up to their camp. Of course we leave our camp armed to the hilt. We’re a little on the “socially lubricated side”, and allegedly making some very strong anti-ranger, anti-Brit and anti-Indian comments. Finally we find the manky Anglish gits and set about to deplete their supplies of alcohol. Okay, at this point things start to get fuzzy. I do know that someone gave me a rum horn at one point and I about drained the thing. There was some worry that I was going to collapse it like a little kid sucking on a juice box. Ktreva got tired and headed back to camp. When it came time for us to head back, poor Red and Sari had to keep us in line. And in my case, use my possibles bag strap as a leash to keep me from wondering into other camps. I laid down in the tent to get some sleep and it started spinning like a top. How do you get the tent to stop spinning if you are already on the ground? I was woken up by the sounds of recycle beer and rum splashing off the back of my teeth. With what great speed I could muster I flung myself out of the tent… two feet and preceded to do something I haven’t done in a long, long time at an event. Vomit from drinking too much.

Saturday morning I felt fine, I was a little foggy headed, but felt fine. Until the womenfolk reminded Will and I that we volunteered to fight in the battle. We both looked at each other and stated, “That doesn’t sound like something I’d do.” After breakfast we did the woods walk battle, burned a bunch of powder and walk through the most spider filled woods I have ever been in. I was coated in head to toe in spider webs. After the battle we kind of looked at each other and decided that was too much like work and were going to desert.

When Ray showed up Saturday night to try to recruit us again for Sunday the first words out of my mouth were, “We aren’t drunk enough to volunteer again!” Saturday night wasn’t as wild and crazy as Friday… mainly because we ran out of beer and Sari wouldn’t make a “B double E, double R, U, N… BEER RUN!”(There ya go Harvey, thanks for the link.) Well she did offer earlier in the night, but we thought we had enough between my growlers and Will’s stash. We were wrong. And at 11:00 PM she didn’t feel like driving into town. Not that I blame her.

The Buffalo Man, his wife and assistant came down to join us around our fire Friday night. Stories were told, some great laughs and a couple of things I just would have never thought I would have heard aboutÂ… Like a gay Klingon wedding at a Sci-Fi Con, or Buffalo Man mixing a Klingon outfit with an elf outfit and going to a Con as Kay-Blar. (Keebler) ThatÂ’s right he was the Klingon Elf Kay-Blar and he would hand cookies out to the other Klingons. From what he was telling us, that didnÂ’t go over too popularly with the Klingons.

We also discovered that I can do a plausable version of Herbert, the creepy old man from the Family Guy. Which once I got started doing, I couldnÂ’t stop. The ladies were all creeped out by it; I think Will and I just found it funny. Especially when a creepy flatlander kept coming by to take pictures of the ladies. I couldnÂ’t help but to keep the joke going.

Even though the event itself was kind of crappy, we had a lot of fun because of the friends and the company. There were some mistakes madeÂ… mainly not enough beer. Definitely need to bring a second cooler to Galesburg if weÂ’re going to be drinking like that.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:11 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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It’s time for another one of my whirlwind adventures. I’m off this weekend to Bourbonnais, IL for the Gathering on the Theatiki. This is a pretty fun event to do, as long as the temps stay out of the “oh my god I’m melting” variety. For the last couple of years the temps have been in the upper 90s low 100s with high humidity. That may be why every year at this event I damn near get heat stroke, even with drinking gallons of water.

This weekend they are calling for temps in the high 70s and low 90s and maybe rain on Saturday. Me + Re-enactment = Rain. WeÂ’re prepared for a torrential downpour sometime Saturday afternoon. Hey, why should I start having dry canvas now?

If any of you are in the area and want to see a good battle, this is the one to attend. Of all the re-enactments I do, this one has the best battles. Plus if you stick around you can help me cull off some of the overstock left over from all the beer reviews. I think IÂ’m bringing 6 different beers to this event. 12 bottles of the last four reviews and two growlers from Carlyle.

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Last weekend we did the Fort Koshkonong Rendezvous. I finally got around to updating The Spoon and Blade. There are a couple of changes.

You can see the review of the event. There are a couple of pictures. Including one of the sexy Ktreva and the boy posing with Seamus.

You can also read the new Campfire Tale called Tam and the Beast about Tam, AKA Sengo, AKA Wes of Bodhran Roll Please. It's all true, I swear by my tattoo!

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We got back from our re-enactment last night. IÂ’ve just been so out of it I havenÂ’t posted anything. We didnÂ’t leave until late Friday night. There was a Raptors game and Wes and I went to that, afterwards we headed straight home, grabbed the family, jumped into the truck and rove up to Fort Atkinson. Wes rode with us to the event. We got there around midnight. Unlike in years past, we didnÂ’t have a problem with finding someone to tell us were we could or couldnÂ’t set up. We just pulled in found a spot and set up. I didnÂ’t even try to find anyone to ask, since I have a hard time finding anyone at 5:00PM; I doubt IÂ’d be able to find someone at midnight.

The next morning when I finally got around to trying to register, it took me over an hour again. I went to the registration table and they werenÂ’t ready. After waiting for a while, they just gave me a packet and I went off and had breakfast. Even after breakfast they still werenÂ’t ready. Then when I was finally able to register I find out they increased their fees to $25.00. I guess if I had read the literature better I would have known that they made that change.

After that we took a walk around both the upper and lower camps to see if we knew anyone there. Other then a couple of the vendors, there were two demonstrators I talk to on a regular basis. The rest were all ones I know in passing or as acquaintances. The attendance for this event was down drastically from last year. There were no new faces that I saw, but a lot that werenÂ’t there from years past. Some of the people did a walk through, but didnÂ’t camp. After conversing with many of them, it seems that the quality of the event coupled with increased prices on everything is keeping them at bay.

The weather was actually pretty good. Of course we were rained on Saturday. We always plan on getting wet at this event. The temps were fabulous. Highs in the low 70s, lows in the mid 50s. We built a fire to help ward off a chill, but it never too cold. We couldnÂ’t have asked for better weather.

I also got hit with more bad news. Three re-enactors I know had heart attacks since my last event. And I just found out that another one had died a couple of months back. It seems that most people thought I knew so didnÂ’t repeat the information, thus I never found out. It has been a dark year for re-enactors. That brings the count up to 4 deaths and 9 with serious health issues for the year. That is not a good count this early on.

Saturday night the camp was pretty dead, which is very unusual. Finally later in the evening we had a bunch of people show up. Most of them committee members or spouses of committee members, it made us wonder they read some of my reviews of the event and were trying to butter me up for better ones. That and the way I was treated all weekend was kind of weird. Everyone on the committee was overly nice to me.

Saturday night also led to Wes and I having the most idiotic conversation weÂ’d ever had with other re-enactors. IÂ’m not going to go into all the details, but it started over me not wanting to pay $55.00 per person in my family to do an event, it devolved into one person not liking me calling my outfit costuming and my tent at tent. They wanted me to call it wardrobe and a lodge. I know that a lot of re-enactors do it, but itÂ’s a matter of semantics and I just donÂ’t care. Then they got pissed because I referred to re-enacting as a hobby, they said it was a lifestyle. I pressed on with it being a hobby, mainly because at that point I had been drinking for hours, and my inner arsehole had come out and I was just trying to piss the individual off. Finally it reached the point where one said Wes and I werenÂ’t really into it, and that we donÂ’t take rendezvous serious. YeaÂ… It was an interesting conversation.

Sunday was uneventful. Except for Wes making a name for himself in the re-enacting circle. He protected some kids from an animal attack. IÂ’d include that story in this post, but that deserves one all of its own.

All in all it was pretty much decided that unless we have some other friends going next year, we wonÂ’t be back to this one.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:51 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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This weekend is the Fort Koshkonong re-enactment in Fort Atkinson. We are heading out to the event after the Raptors game Friday night. So we wonÂ’t get there until late at night, probably close to midnight. ThatÂ’s not big deal; we are used to setting up in the dark. Plus its better then trying to get up early and get up there on Saturday morning.

This very well may be the last year that I do this event. After last year's trying to get registered fiasco, the fact itÂ’s poorly run and the event is slowly dying, I just donÂ’t know if itÂ’s worth doing any more. The fact that it is dying is really what is weighing heavily on me. The main reason I do this event is to hang with friends and to shoot. Every year fewer and fewer of the vendors show up and most of my friends arenÂ’t going. In fact this year from what I can tell the only friend I know for sure is going is one I see on a regular basis, and one of them is riding up with me!

It seems that none of the River Scum are going to make it, and from what I hear Will and Red arenÂ’t going to be thereÂ… although I donÂ’t have first hand knowledge of that since they wonÂ’t return my e-mails. But IÂ’ve heard through the grapevine they wonÂ’t be there and they arenÂ’t responding to anyoneÂ’s e-mails. At the visitation last week, I spoke with others that usually attend this event, and they all said they werenÂ’t going.

So IÂ’m going to give this event another shot, see what happens, but it just might be falling off our schedule for next year.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Since Ktreva and I started re-enacting, we've always had a large tent. In fact for wall tents we have what's considered to be a larger then normal one. Yes, there are wall tents larger then ours, but you just don't see them that often. However, we've decided to downsize. We've had enough of these large set-ups at events that we don't need that much in order to participate. Normally our little wedge tent would be enough, but sometimes we need just a little more for the boys or if I decide to do an event alone, I don't need to bring that much gear with. So I bought myself a field tarp. What's a field tarp? It's roughly a 10 foot by 10 foot piece of canvas with ties on it. See:

Of if you want to see what it looks like on the inside:

It's actually more roomy then it looks. Now, this is just one way of setting it up, there are so many different styles that it would be almost impossible for me to list them all.

Oh, and the best part is that it took me all of about 5 minutes to set it up.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:13 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Welcome to the wonderful world of packing lite. I haven't set up anything more than a diamond in something like 4 years (ah the joys of being single). Now, is Ktreva signed on for weekends in the diamond?

And what took you so long to get it set up.

Posted by: Petey at May 21, 2007 09:22 PM (Tkl8J)

2 Should I ask what the paddle is for?

Probably not...

Posted by: Harvey at May 22, 2007 07:00 AM (L7a63)

3 Petey: Ktreva is warming up to it, but the privacy thing is kind of an issue. And hey, it was my first time setting it up.

Harvey: Paddling a canoe, and doubles as a pole. Jeez, what did you think it was for?

Posted by: Contagion at May 22, 2007 07:21 AM (Q5WxB)

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Holy crap IÂ’ve been negligent! I just realized I hadnÂ’t updated The Spoon and Blade in almost a year. Then again IÂ’ve run out of Mortar Maidens AND the only event I did after the last update was canceled on Sunday.

Well tonight I rectified that. I finally put up the review from Gathering of Macktown this year, a couple of weeks late. But it does have some interesting pictures. I also updated our schedule of events, just in case any of you want to see where weÂ’ll be at this year.

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A couple of weeks ago during my re-enactment I learned that a re-enacting friend, and one of my Mortar Maidens, had been diagnosed with cancer. It was told to me that she was terminal and that they didnÂ’t expect her to last much longer. From a phone call I received yesterday I found out that much longer meant until Monday.

I only really knew Denise for a short period of time. Her and her husband portrayed natives, as you can tell from the photos. Both of them really loved Clone and would play with him at the events or give him little re-enacting items. Denise always came across to me as one of those truly nice and fun loving people. Every time I saw her, she always seemed to be full of life and joy.

IÂ’ve heard people say that the world is a better place for having someone in it, and I never really understood that. But since learning of her passing, I finally understand. In my eyes the world will be worse off for not having her in it. I donÂ’t know if IÂ’m going to be able to make it to her funeral or visitation, but at least here I can leave a little piece of the internet to her memory.

For Denise I leave this Scottish blessing (Because even though sheÂ’s a native, IÂ’m a Scot.):

Please donÂ’t leave condolences in the comments. They should be reserved for her husband, close friends and family. I grieve not for me, but for them. That is all I have to say about that.

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Good lord am I beat. This weekend was a great weekend. It jump-started my re-enacting bug, which is good. Now IÂ’m looking forward to my next one.

Originally we were going to head out Thursday night, but with it being on the cold and rainy side and us not participating on kidÂ’s day, we decided to head out Friday. I have nothing against kidÂ’s day; I use to do it all the time. However, after my leaving Clan Chattan I changed my demonstration from Surly Scotsman talking about weapons to Surly Scotsman talking about Distilling. It had been decided a while back that my demonstrating distilling to kids might be taken the wrong way. The event coordinators didnÂ’t want some parent complaining that they were promoting alcohol use to children. With todayÂ’s litigation loving society, I completely agree. There were some rumors floating around that the committee wouldnÂ’t let me participate. I did get those straightened out that it was a mutual agreement.

We arrived a little on the early side Friday. Kids day wasnÂ’t quite over, so we had to wait in the parking lot before they would let us in to set up. Since a nice warm front was coming through, the skies cleared up and it actually got warmer as the afternoon passed into evening. This is when all my love of re-enacting came flooding back. The sights, smells and old friends really warmed my heart. It was great seeing people that I hadnÂ’t been able to visit with since October. Unfortunately, there were some friends that werenÂ’t there. Some that either couldnÂ’t make it or just didnÂ’t come, and in a couple of cases ones that didnÂ’t make it through the winter or arenÂ’t long for this world.

Saturday was a hot one. The temperatures climbed into the 80’s. I didn’t participate in the battle, mainly because I spent most of my time demonstrating distilling, but also because I really didn’t want to participate. As the years have passed my desire to go run around the battlefield burning black powder is waning. My desire to go shoot at a target is more along my lines. Speaking of shooting, one of the re-enactors there brought with this huge blunderbuss. I believe he said the barrel was 1 and 9/16 diameter at the breech. It will fit a golf ball comfortably. He let me fire the thing. When asked how much powder it takes to shoot it, he replied with, “300 and some” He had a 100 grain powder measure. He would fill it three times and pour it down the barrel. Then he would fill it about half way and put that in as well. Using a slice of bread he would pack it into place. Yea, it rocked!

It's not the length, it's the girth

I went to the ONW meeting on Saturday. There wasnÂ’t enough there for my second introduction, but thatÂ’s okay. It was another opportunity to meet more of the guys. It was during this that I learned more said news about some other re-enactors I know. It seems that this off-season has really taken its toll. The guys all gave me crap for not going to Bloody Lake next weekend. Unfortunately there are too many reasons that I canÂ’t go. I canÂ’t even day trip it and itÂ’s almost in my back yard.

After the public left we went over to Clan Chattan for Dinner. Grau was making I canÂ’t believe itÂ’s not Blam stew, and invited us to help eat it. We werenÂ’t about to pass that up. It was damn good. He made the ultra-dense version of it. It didnÂ’t take much for you to get you fill. And if you ate even a spoonful too much, you where in discomfort. After dinner Clone was acting up so we headed back to our camp. I figured weÂ’d just sit and stare at the fire while listening to the other camps from ours. We canÂ’t leave Clone in the camp unattended. Wes, who was camping next to us, came over and started playing his Bodhran, and my friend Smokepoles came over to join in the festivities. I turned to say something to Ktreva, and I noticed that most of Clan Chattan AND the RogerÂ’s Rangers had wandered into our camp. We ended up having a party right there!

All was going well until Grau decided to bust out the wheel of pickled food. The pickled turkey gizzards were good, the herring was wonderful, but he had some pickled eggs that spelled my doom. I love pickled eggs. So of course I grabbed one and popped the whole thing in my mouth. What none of us realized is that these had some extra-spicy kick to it. It took a whole couple of minutes before my stomach problems kicked into an overdrive. Our camp was close to a golf course, all I know is that I feel sorry for the golfers that found my surprises on the back nine the next day. Let me just say, I am NOT sticking my head in a port-a-john.

Sunday went well. I spent more time walking around and visiting people. The temperatures again soared into the 80Â’s. Which kind of sucked because I only brought my cold weather clothes with. So I was sweating my nuts off. I also finished off a nice sunburn on Sunday. My nose is blistered; my ears and lips are burnt. ItÂ’s painful when I blink. Before anyone says anything about sunscreenÂ… yea I know. But you have to understand. IÂ’m half Scottish, half Norwegian. Me in the sun is like putting a fork in the microwave. Even with SPF 109,238, which is a thick paste, I get a sunburn. Then I peel, and then I go back to pasty white.

Clan Chattan revived the Voyage of Maelduin after a three-year hiatus this weekend. It used to be their signature play they would put on. There are parts in the play where the actors have water thrown on them “unexpectedly”. My long lost blog daughter, Virtue (whom is not dead as previously thought), had this idea to get the audience in by throwing water. Unfortunately she informed my wife and Smokepoles about this nefarious plan. After she left our camp Ktreva and Smokepoles filled a bucket with water and ice from the bottom of our cooler. I didn’t get the shot of Smokepoles dousing Grau with ice water, but I did get a couple of shots of them being splashed.

Yes, that is a wall of water heading for Grau!

All in all it was a good weekend. IÂ’m geared up for my next event, Fort Koshkonong in Fort Atkinson, WI. IÂ’m hoping that some of the River Scum from down state make the trip again this year. ItÂ’s always good hanging with them and I havenÂ’t seen most of them since last October. Anyway, we all had fun, especially Clone. He keeps asking when we can go camping again.

The boy on his way to harass Smokepoles

Oh, and by the way. Even though it didn't rain on us while we were at the event. Right after we finished packing up and headed out, the skies opened up on us. So even though my canvas was technically down and in my vehicle, it still got wet. There is no cover on my truck.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:30 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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If you live in the Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin area and want to see a little piece of history, head to Rockton, Illinois this weekend for the Gathering at Macktown. It's at the Macktown Forest Preserve and Golf Course. The family and I are heading that way and will be set up for the weekend to entertain folks with tales about distilling and just being a surly Scot!

Posted by: Contagion at 03:46 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Has your mood for re-enacting improved?

Posted by: Petey at April 26, 2007 04:48 PM (Tkl8J)

2 Have fun with it! Here's hoping you get back into the swing of things

Posted by: Shadoglare at April 26, 2007 09:20 PM (VYxNT)

3 I may have to swing in there, just to see ya being a cranky ascot.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at April 26, 2007 09:31 PM (amJz2)

4 have fun there!

Posted by: Fab at April 27, 2007 03:49 AM (OmPxo)

5 Don't drink all the MacPhail 27.

Posted by: Harvey at April 30, 2007 05:51 AM (L7a63)

6 I hope y'all had a GREAT time! :-)

Posted by: Richmond at April 30, 2007 02:00 PM (e8QFP)

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I completely failed in my role as a family provider today. Tonight Ktreva asked me to run to the grocery store to pick up supplies for this weekend. It was a very simple task, with only a couple of meals that I actually had to buy food for. Since she had set me to this task a couple of days ago, I had the time to make a proper grocery list.

After work I stopped at the local grocery store before picking up the boys. As I walked in I realized that I had forgotten my list at home. DAMMIT! How the hell could I have done such a thing? I had planned and prepared for this trip over the last couple days. Maybe it had to do with the malaise I have toward re-enacting right now. IÂ’m not sure, but what was I going to do? I donÂ’t have the time to run home, get the list and come back. IÂ’m so screwed.

WAIT!

That was a short and simple list. IÂ’m doing the majority of the cooking; I can do this with out the list. There was nothing on there that I donÂ’t know the recipe by heart. So I started shopping. Simple cold cereal on Friday, French toast on Saturday, Burgers with fruit and vegetables Saturday night, Eggs Sunday morning. ThatÂ’s not that hard.

I grab my cart and start whistling up and down the isles.

Fruit, Check.
Vegetables, Check.
Bread, Check.
Meat, Check
Hamburger Buns, Check.
Syrup, CheckÂ…

Then a voice in my head rings out… “CONTAGION, YOU ARE FORGETTING SOMETHING!” What? No I’m not! Going down the mental list. Eggs, beer, pop, beer, cheese, Jack Daniel’s, spices, beer, cereal, milk, beer. No, it’s all there. Everything we needed, I’m not forgetting anything. I know it’s all there. I ran over the menu and the list a dozen times. No, there is nothing I’m forgetting.

But that voice in my head would not let me be. It kept harping on me. Nagging that I had indeed forgotten something. I get the boys; return home and start unloading the groceries. Putting the items that need to be kept cool in the fridge, and the rest with the re-enacting gear. Finally it dawns on me what I forgot. The most important of all re-enacting foods, the one item that just the mere mention of it will bring people to your camp. There is even a historical phrase that goes with it.

Figured out what I forgot? IÂ’ll give you a hint: it goes with Sunday breakfast.

ThatÂ’s right. I forgot to bring home the bacon.

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Anyone that has read me for a while knows that IÂ’m big into my re-enacting. Every year about this time, I start getting excited and giddy. Those of use in the circle refer to this as the ronde-flu; we just canÂ’t wait to get back out in our period clothes and canvas tents. Next weekend is my first event of the year. To be honest, I really could not care less.

I donÂ’t know whatÂ’s going on this year, but I just have the excitement and anticipation that I normally do. Part of me doesnÂ’t even want to go, thatÂ’s right I donÂ’t want to go.
IÂ’m not even sure why I feel like this. Maybe itÂ’s because IÂ’m not really in a good place mentally right now. IÂ’m still having some hellacious health issues that are not getting better. ItÂ’s to the point that IÂ’m beginning to look at my mortality. How long can I go with my stomach slowly digesting itself before it turns into something fatal?

Maybe itÂ’s because IÂ’m having personal issues at home and at work. ItÂ’s really permeating my thoughts and activities. I just canÂ’t seem to get away from it. The thought of just ignoring it all and going off and pretending all is fine and playing Seamus MacPhail, Surly Scot and distiller is just not appealing. Hell, I havenÂ’t even updated the Spoon and Blade since August.

It could be that I feel like IÂ’m obligated to head out and do this one. Bloggers might liken this to the feeling they get when they have nothing to post, but feel like they should. I know that since my heart isnÂ’t behind it, I know I wonÂ’t put on as good of a demonstration. IÂ’ve strived so hard to be a premier presenter that it bothers me that I might be sub-par.

What ever it is, I just donÂ’t know. IÂ’ve got some stuff to do before this weekend. Usually I do this with excitement. Now, IÂ’m looking at it likes itÂ’s housework. I hate housework.

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ItÂ’s been almost a week since my last re-enactment I should get a post started on it. I was going to wait for some photos, but there is a slight problem with that. Thus IÂ’m going to go ahead with out any. Sorry, as soon as I get the pictures IÂ’ll post them.

Ktreva and I headed out early Thursday morning to Trail of History. We wanted to get out there and get set up early so we could spend some extra time with our friends. Our camp was set up completely by 1:30. We spent the next couple of hours walking around, talking to other re-enactors and helping others set up. Fortunately for us we did get there early, it helped offset what was going to come. Thursday we went to dinner with some friends of ours at the Grand Old Mill, LTD in Wonder Lake. Ktreva and I love this place, good food and it’s located just off site from the re-enactment. Their chicken liver pâté is excellent!

Friday was kid’s day. They bus in children to learn about history. I didn’t sign up to demonstrate for kid’s day based on past experience. I wouldn’t mind doing it, but being a distiller is not the most child friendly of demonstrations. The concern is that some uppity parent will get upset that we are “promoting the use of alcohol” which is not what I do. We cleaned some cast iron, and Ktreva cooked. Periodically a group of kids would come to our camp and I’d have to direct them on saying, “We aren’t putting on a demonstration today.” What I really wanted to say was, “They have bright orange signs for camps putting on kid’s day demonstrations. Take a look around; do you see any in camp? Dumb arses!” One time I had a group come up and I advised no demonstration, they just stood there. So I advised them again, No Demonstration. The teacher said okay and just stared at me. Then she asks, “So what do you do?” That pushed my button just right and Seamus the surly Scotsman shot back with, “I stand around telling people I’m not putting on a demonstration today.” During the lunch break I decided to go visit my friends that where demonstrating. When I returned to camp 20 minutes later I was drunk.

Ktreva just looked at me and asked, “Are you drunk?” Which I responded with, “No?” (Yes, I was questioning the no, I wasn’t sure that was the right answer.) When I went on my walk about I had guys coming up to me saying, “Hey, you’re the distiller. You’ve got to try this stuff I made” I drank 2 apple brandies, cherry brandy, apricot brandy, 2 blueberry brandies, A Chocolate liquor, mead, ale, and hot buttered rum all in about ten minutes. I was fine until I was walking back to my camp. Then about ten steps from camp it hit me. Thank jebus I wasn’t demonstrating.

Friday night a group of us went into Richmond to dinner at Doyle’s an Irish pub there. They have good food and good beer. Top it off with the great company and we had a wonderful time. However, after drinking as much as I did my little stomach problem kicked in and poor Graumagus had to worry about me redecorating the interior of his van with gastric juices on the ride back. Fortunately my “No horking in the car” policy kept my stomach in check.

Saturday was beautiful. It wasn’t too cold and the wind wasn’t bad. I spent the whole day demonstrating. Before we left for the event I decided I wasn’t going to participate in the battle. It was too difficult for me to do my demonstration and all the prep battle work. I did take an hour break to go to the indentured servant sale. Ktreva and I needed someone to help gather firewood and water, turn the oats, and tend to the mash. We don’t actually buy a servant, but it was part of the demonstration. I ended up getting me a servant for a barrel of “Whiskey” two years in the cask. Through out the day I had a steady stream of people coming through my camp and at numerous times I had groups up to 20 people listen to me give my spiel. I did have a couple of incidents. At one point I had an older gentleman stick his finger into the drippings. I saw him lean towards it and I told him repeatedly, “Sir, don’t do that.” The whole time he was looking at me as I said it. Finally I had to grab his arm and advised him “You can NOT touch the still or anything coming out of it for numerous reasons.” He was a little indignant, but not as much as I was annoyed over the whole incident. Fortunately the event backed me up on my actions.

There was also a guy that decided he wanted to see what was inside the still. While my back was turned to get some more wood for the fire, he decided he was going to remove the copper cooling tower on the still so he could see inside. The still had been on the fire for over 5 hours. For those of you that may not understand, the cooling tower is where the vapor just starts to cool, but it’s very hot, very very hot. I use leather gloves to remove it when I’m finished at the end of the day. I turned around just as the guy was pulled his burnt hand back from the still. All I could say is, “You might not understand this, but that’s going to be hot.”

Saturday night at the camp meeting Ktreva and I won an award for Best Public Interaction. This completely floored me. As we’ve only done this demonstration for two years, I never figured to win any thing. So when they called my name I wasn’t sure how to react. Since I’m so shy, I didn’t know how to act. When I accepted the award the only thing I could say was, “That’s what happens when you bribe the Booshway with whiskey.” Shortly after the camp meeting the temperature dropped and the rain came in. Ktreva, Wes and I sat under our fly where it was warm and dry. Then Graumagus and Maeldun from Clan Chattan came over wanting the three of us to leave the dry warmth of our camp to walk to the cold soggy wetness of their camp. They went to see if they could get some others to come visit them and I told them to stop back by and tell us what the plan is. They never came back so I wandered over to the swamp their camp to see what was going on. There was Maeldun and Grau huddled under a fly lamenting the fact that Clan Chattan had a poor turn out and no one wanted to sit in a swamp with them.

Being the nice guy that I am, I went back to my camp to rally the troops. Grabbing up as much alcohol, chairs and furs as we could carry; we headed over to Clan Chattan. Others started straggling in from other camps and we had a good time. The only real issues with their camp, besides the fact the fire was half a mile away from the fly, is that the ground was getting swampier as the night went on. They had to have had the lowest ground in the entire camp. Of course the typical passing of the bottle took place. At one point late in the evening I had to wrestle a bottle of vile swill made by an evil man away from Graumagus. IÂ’m not kidding, I physically had to force the bottle away from him. This is the same rotgut that no one else in camp with a right mind will touch. You have to understand that re-enactors are die hard drinkers; this is the only crap IÂ’ve seen that they wonÂ’t touch. Grau and I almost came to blows with my forcing the bottle out of his hand after he drank about half of it! I swear the man was trying to kill his liver.

Sunday morning they had an emergency camp meeting. Apparently the incessant rain over night mixed with the weeks worth of rain they received prior to the event had turned the floor of the camp into a marsh. In order to protect the land they canceled the event. They did not want the public coming in and tearing up the ground and then worry about us trying to get out. The conservation district brought in tractors and hay wagons to get everyone out since we couldnÂ’t bring our vehicles into camp. I would like to thank the McHenry County Conservation district for everything; they did a good job helping everyone. Ktreva and I were home and unpacked by 3:00 PM on Sunday. Which was kind of nice because I was able to watch one of the football games on Sunday.

So for those of you counting, that is two events that were canceled this year. Now, both of these events have one thing in commonÂ… other than rain. Graumagus only made two events this year. Both of them were canceled on Sunday. IÂ’m thinking Grau is going to take my title as event jinx. However, so far 17 out of 21 events weÂ’ve set up canvas at over the last three years have been rained on.

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Over at the Spoon and Blade we have our latest Mortar Maiden up, Kitane of the Lenape Tribe. Hey, what can I say? These native girls really have something going. Plus this one gives a new meaning to “Love slave”. (wink wink, nudge nudge).

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I was finally able to get the Spoon and Blade updated. ItÂ’s only taken three weeks and 5,983,487,925,735 e-mails to my hosting company to be able to update it.

Now that itÂ’s been updated and IÂ’m done fighting with them, I can tell you the goings on of our weekend. Of course it rained this weekend. Hey, IÂ’m setting up canvas! We had some rain on Friday and again on Saturday. It wasnÂ’t too bad; it was a light rain that didnÂ’t really bother us. It just helps keep the streak of wet canvas alive. Even with that the weather was beautiful. It was a little sticky on Saturday, but the temp never got out of the upper 70Â’s. A little bit more of a breeze would have been nice. DonÂ’t get me wrong, IÂ’m not complaining, IÂ’ll take this weather for any event!

Ktreva and I decided that we were going to do a 180 of our normal selves and pack light. Instead of bringing our wall tent and fly, we brought just the wedge tent and set that up. It was so nice! Normally when we do an event, it takes an hour to load up all of our gear and about an hour and a half to unpack and set up everything. On Friday we loaded the truck in less then thirty minutes and set up in about the same amount of time. Once we get all the details worked out we should be even to get even lighter, we ended up bringing stuff we didnÂ’t need to.

As soon as I finished setting up, I started catching crap for being a racist. In May I took pictures of two Native girls, one Eastern Indian and one Western Indian. In June I was able to post the Western Indian for the Mortar Maiden. Since I was having problem’s accessing my site due to the change in ISP, I never did a July Mortar Maiden. Since Miss August is one of Teme’s wives, I’m obviously a racist toward the Eastern Indians. It was all in good-natured fun, and as I told him, “All Indians are the same, the only good one is a dead one.” That was a joke people. I don’t want anyone coming here thinking I’m an Indian hater.

I was able to pick up a couple of items at this event. A track pack made by Davie O. of the Illinois River Scum. Apparently he stopped making them and his are really good. I’m fortunate to have found someone selling one. I also was able to pick up a paddle. Petey, occasional commenter and Illinois River Scum helped me pick it out. Right about now some of my re-enacting friends are probably wonder if I’ve gone daft. I can hear the question, “Is he planning on going on a canoe trek with the River Scum?” Well, much to some people’s delight, yes. Yes, I am going to try to do a trek in the next couple of years. I’m also painfully aware that they will leave me tied to a log in the middle of an island. They just need to schedule one for a weekend I’m not so busy, so it won’t be until next year before I get to use it. (Lets hope for something in June!) So far the only paddling I’ve done with it has been of Clones bottom.

My handmade canoe paddle

I also attended a meeting of the Old Northwest Company. At first I we vehemently against attending, I didn’t want to join another group. After being a guest at the meeting and learning more about what they are about and whom they are, I’m thinking I’m going to see if I can’t get someone to sponsor me in. It’s not a group like I’m used to and it’s a very loose organization. Plus then Ktreva will be happy because, “I’ll have a pretty blue banner to hang in front of our lodge!” (girl squeal). Guys, have you noticed how a woman could take anything masculine and make it sound all girlie?

There seemed to be fewer vendors this year. The only one I really missed was Irish Ridge. They have been good to us since we started re-enacting and they told us this is probably going to be their last year. IÂ’m pretty sure this is the last event of the year that we would have done together. I wanted to see them at least one last time before they retired. What I found amusing is that most of the items I purchased came from trade blankets. (Blankets that re-enactors set out with items on them they are trying to sell. I have to remember not all of my readers are re-enactors). There were a lot of good trade blankets at the event. I donÂ’t have any official figures, but I think the public attendance was down to. Unlike the past two events IÂ’ve been to, I donÂ’t think this is due to the organizers. It just seems to be a matter of economics.

One of my Mortar Maidens, Davina, went and got herself engaged. She’s been seeing one of the River Scum for some time now and apparently she suckered him into actually proposing to her. I kept telling her it’s not too late to say no, but she didn’t want to let poor Josh off the hook. When he proposed I was actually looking in the right direction and was able to see the whole thing. Ktreva was nowhere around when it happened. She’s annoyed that I saw and she didn’t. She’s the one that has the romantic and sentimental side. I on the other hand kept giving words of advice like, “Remember, nothing kills the libido in a woman faster then her own wedding cake!”

I also heard these words of wisdom over the weekend, “Never pet a burning dog.” Don’t ask me to explain, I really couldn’t do it.

For more stories and pictures go see the Spoon and BladeÂ’s Review.

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IÂ’ve had enough time to recover to actually tell you about my weekend. Unlike everyone else in Northern Illinois that went to the Ogmeet, I was re-enacting in Bourbonnais, IL. DonÂ’t get me wrong, I would have loved to have gone, but I take my re-enacting very seriously and enjoy it immensely. Ktreva and I always have fun at the Gathering on the Theatiki, so itÂ’s hard to not go.

Friday we arrived to find our friends Will, Red and their daughter, better known as Skye, setting up in the spot next to where we wanted to camp. As it was hotter then all get out, we busted hump to get camp set up. Then we ran into town for dinner and to pick up some supplies. We ate at a restaurant called Coyote Canyon; itÂ’s a steak buffet. The food is decent and reasonably priced. We were sat in a section where the girl clearing the tables looked like she was 16 and 8 months pregnant. She was also the fastest pregnant girl woman on the planet. I would leave the table for three seconds to get something to drink and my plate and flatware would be completely cleared away.

When we got back to camp we were visiting with Will, Red and Skye when another friend of ours, Jim, showed up and set up camp. Great! There is nothing better then re-enacting and being able to camp next to friends. Early on we decided we were not going to dig a fire pit. It was so hot that we didnÂ’t want one, and we had decided we were not going to cook this weekend, so it wasnÂ’t needed. We did have our campfire in a bucket, AKA citronella candle.

Saturday was so hot we spent most of the time sitting around under the shade of a tree talking. Normally I participate in the battle, but I really had no desire to go marching around in 9 yards of dark woolÂ… so I didnÂ’t. During this time it was discovered that Skye has a thing for me. Apparently, realizing I would never leave my beloved Ktreva for her, she went and found a replacement Contagion, A re-enactor from Indiana that also portrays a Scot. It was such a thinly veiled attempt to find herself someone as much like me as possible. All weekend I tried to not lead her on, as I did not return the feelings. However, her young heart knows what it wants and I had to spurn her affections many times. My sexy facial hair was driving her wild.*

The heat on Saturday was so bad that barely any people showed up. Word in camp was that the local news had advised everyone to stay inside if possible, and apparently the public listened. That and I swear the event coordinators are trying to kill this event. Last year they got rid of all the food vendors that truly cater to re-enactors. Fortunately, after much protest, they brought them back. This year it looked like the got rid of a lot of quality vendors and left some that really didnÂ’t need to be there. One of my least favorite vendors attends this event, and they have a lot of crap on their tables all the time. The event coordinators also donÂ’t appear to like variety. They had multiple shops that sold the exact same things, while other vendors that sold unique products werenÂ’t there. I can understand having multiple clothing vendors as they all have different styles and patterned clothes, but did we really need two soap vendors, three wood carvers, and 5 WallyworldÂ’s of the fur trade. (The discount store of fur trade merchants who sells everything from tourist trinkets and pseudo-Native American junk made in Taiwan, to Pakistani knives to cheap get-you-started period clothing.) There where some quality vendors there, but their numbers were thinning out.

Saturday night was spent again sitting around the “campfire” again telling stories and just enjoying the camaraderie of good friends. Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday, only with a better breeze so we weren’t as hot.

Technically we didnÂ’t get rained on this weekend, but we might as well have. I had wet canvas. It was so humid that before dark, dew had started setting in the grass. By morning when we woke up, you could see the moisture on the inside of the tents and flies. When I stepped under my fly Sunday morning, I thought it was raining. Then I noticed it was the dew dripping off the tent onto me.

We had a good time, despite the fact that my inner organs are well done. What made this event fun was seeing all of our friends and socializing with other re-enactors. If it werenÂ’t for them, this even would have been a bust. The hot temperatures may have had a hand in the lack of public and activities, but I think the event coordinators really did a lot of damage too. At least three times over the weekend some inner squabbling between the committee members was discussed with in earshot of the public and participants. I just hope they get their act together and not drive the event into the ground. If it keeps going this way, I think there will be only three years more before we quit going.

For pictures of this event, check out the Spoon and Blade. more...

Posted by: Contagion at 06:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 I hope it can continue despite the inner turmoil.

Sorry you missed the Ogmeet.
We only had three shooters, and you would have been more than welcome!

Og and I have agreed to shoot sometime in INdiana (somewhere of a halfway point for both of us).

Perhaps you could join us.

Posted by: jimmyb at July 18, 2006 08:59 PM (aYwOH)

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This weekend will be the one weekend every year that I bypass my moral and ethic of not fighting under a British flagÂ… and fight for the Brits. The truck is loaded, cartridges rolled, jerky ready to be gnawed on, and IÂ’m ready to fight! Theatiki, here we come!

First matter of business to get out of the way, weather. There is a 60% chance of rain on Friday; there is only a 20% chance of rain the rest of the weekend. ThatÂ’s not too bad. Anyone want to wager that itÂ’s going to rain sometime Saturday or Sunday? I canÂ’t have an event that it doesnÂ’t rain on me! Actually this weekend IÂ’d probably welcome the rain, it is supposed to have a high in the 90Â’s, low in the 70Â’s with about 68% humidity. ThatÂ’s right, itÂ’s going to be ball sticky hot. At this event last year I had a case of heat stroke due to marching in 95-degree weather in dark wool. It would have been improper of a gentleman to take off his waistcoat in public, and since that weekend I was portraying a gentleman (ItÂ’s cooler then wearing my hunters frock!), I didnÂ’t dare go improper!

I love this event; I have a lot of fun every year. Unfortunately, if I want to fight in the battle, I have to fight with the Brits. The French and the Indians have such a large contingency at this event that the Brits are outnumbered 3-1. They look for as many people as possible to fight with the Brits. It also doesnÂ’t help that one of the largest British encampments is generally so hung over on Sunday that letting them fight would be like giving a straight razor to a retarded 9 year old. You know someone is going to get hurt.

Plus this event has one of the best battle scenarios I’ve ever done. They have two battles during the day. The first is called “The Woods Walk” They re-enact the battle from Last of the Mohicans when the English are leaving Fort William Henry and are ambushed by the Natives. Except here it’s the public with English guards being attacked by the French and Indians. It’s fun to play in and to just observe. The public gets to be right in the middle of the fighting. No other re-enactment I’ve heard of does that. If you’re in the area of Bourbonnais, IL this weekend and want to check out a little history, I’d recommend the visit just for the first battle.

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There is a psuedo re-enactment this weekend. ItÂ’s more of a black powder shoot, and less of a re-enactment. In fact you couldnÂ’t call it a re-enactment at all if it wasnÂ’t for the fact that about 5 camps where primitive, there were 6 tin-tipis (Those are modern campers to you flatlanders.) In fact there where only about a dozen people in period dress there.

Since this event is about ten minutes from my house, I just day tripped it. I didnÂ’t even bother putting on costuming. I did this event last year, and I didnÂ’t feel the need to maintain any level of historical accuracy. I was going just to burn powder and throw lead with the olÂ’ smoke pole. (ThatÂ’s a smooth bore musket to you green horns.) I hit the event around 10:15 AM, and didnÂ’t leave until they closed the range at 4:30. I burned through 2.75 pounds of black powder, and 124 round balls (Bullets). Even if the range had stayed open longer I wouldnÂ’t have been able to stay and shoot. I was out of powder and round ball.

Since I had spent more of my time of late shooting modern than black powder, I was pretty rusty. Sure I took second place in the competition last week, but that was only out of 4 people and 2 of them had never shot before. Early in the day my shots where spread out all over the target. By the end of the day every shot would have killed a Brit. In fact I had a couple of old timers tell me that I was pretty good with a smooth bore. I also had a couple of people ask how long I was had been shooting because my clusters where impressive, for a smooth bore. At one point I got into a little bit of a shooting match with a newbie. He had just picked up his first flintlock and was talking a little smack. Apparently the guy was a Marine and does all kinds of modern shooting. He figured would be an expert marksman with his flinter. He was giving me crap about my cluster when he toed the line, aimed, pulled the trigger and missed the backstop completely.

He missed because he had never fired Black Powder before and that explosion going off to the side of your head can be distracting. The guy flinched and hit the ground about a foot in front of the target. Me being me, I couldn’t help buy to spout off, “My cluster might not be perfect, but at least I hit something other then dirt.” He started getting a little pissy when some of the other shooters and I explained that, in that crusty re-enactor way, he’s new, has no idea what he’s doing with a flintlock and that you can be a sniper with a modern rifle, but black powder is a different beast. Hang fires, delays, small explosions next to your head are not only common, but also expected with flintlocks.

After some of the old timers gave him some words of advice on how to shoot a flintlock, he did get a lot better quickly. We played a couple rounds of “In the Black.” Basically you see who can get the most shots in the black in a 30-minute interval. Per shot fired he would have won, but that wasn’t the rule. The benefits of a smooth bore, they load fast. So I ended up winning.

Overall I had a good time. I need to get out there more often. I donÂ’t get to shoot as much as I would like. Lack of available places to shoot and times to go shooting is what my problem is.

Oh, and I had no less then 5 comments that I have huge balls. Since most people out there shoot .45 to .56 caliber, my .75 round balls look monsterous.

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Over at the Spoon and Blade, weÂ’ve gone native. WeÂ’ll at least as far as the Mortar Maidens go. Head over and see our first exotic Indian Mortar Maiden, Eyanosa.

BTW, It was discussed at this last event that I could open up a dating service for re-enactors. IÂ’ve had many a person inquire on the various maidens and as to whether or not they are single, what events they do, and if they want a man. HmmmÂ… Maybe I could become a 1756 Internet Pimp as well as 1756 internet pr0n king.

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