Monthly Archives: October 2010

Picture in the head

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Every week I change the photo in the header of this blog. But it just occurred to me that I should be highlighting them more.

So far, they have been all my photos and since I haven’t documented which ones I’ve used, I’m sure I will forget and repeat one at some point. So now I will try to post a short story of the photo for your enjoyment.

On July 17, 2001, a summer school student came into the office at Gardiner Area High School, in Gardiner, Maine, and reported a fawn running back and forth on the baseball field. So a Rob Disch, Scott MacMaster and I went out to see what was going on. We opened all the gates and tried to herd the young deer around to one of them. The little guy was exhausted and scared. He would let us walk right up to him, thus the great closeup of my photo. Then he would bolt off like lightening and run back and forth along the outfield fence and throw himself up against the fence trying to get out.

After 25 minutes of this, he finally gave up and went in the direction we wanted him to go. He finally spotted the gate and shot through it like a bullet, ran past the school and headed for the woods.

Photo by Michael Johnson.

Maine Living History on Facebook

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Facebook altered their groups feature last month. Last week I created a group, Maine Living History, to try it out.

It’s not just for Civil War reenactors, though that’s the predominate time period at the moment. I would like to see all re-enactors and living historians in Maine use it to share news, events, ideas, and contact information. It’s closed, which means the members list is public but the content is private to members only.

Request to join and I’ll add you as soon as I can. Also, if someone is already a member they can add any friend. So if you know someone is missing then feel free to add them yourself.

Also notice that you can send email to the group to post and if a thread or discussion is not your cup of tea, you can unsubscribe to individual posts and comments. Continue reading →

World War I is Over

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I missed the news last week, but apparently Germany paid the last of their reparations. Officially ending World War One by completing the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles.

Basically, the date of October 3, 2010 is related to the date of reunification of Germany 20 years ago. You can read a complete explanation of how Germany got to finalizing these payments at the articles below:

In Defense of Reenacting

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Rich Iott, the Republican nominee for Congress from Ohio’s 9th District, found himself in hot water this weekend when The Atlantic outted him as a World War II reenactor, with pictures of him in a German Waffen SS uniform.

And there lies the problem, it’s hard to defend the actions of the Schutzstaffel (SS) during World War II. And I won’t try.

I don’t know Mr. Iott so I can’t say what his feelings are on Nazism or the Holocaust. I’ll leave the mainstream media to sort that out. But I’ve been reenacting for 17 years and would like to make some general observations about people who reenact.

Historical reenactors and living historians all have a passion for history that goes beyond simple explanations and understanding that most people can comprehend. Being able to dress up and attempt to act and live in another time, to some degree, is a rewarding experience for us. You can find living historians for almost anytime period you can name. But some events have left a lasting impact on our world greater than others and a larger group of people are drawn to those eras. There is also an exponential effect from the larger groups.

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The Thing final scene

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Last week, I closed a blog post with a quote, “Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking.

Keep watching the skies!” Apparently few people are familiar with the movie “The Thing from Another World” (1951). The final scene is a classic! I was surprised I could not find that scene on YouTube. Well, in the interest of science fiction study, I’ve fixed this missing artifact of entertainment history.

Enjoy! YouTube video of final scene.

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