[Stargate] The Elephant in the Room
David Whitford
dbw6969 at yahoo.com
Fri Jan 12 10:03:45 PST 2007
Just a few points-Im not saying Toras points are
wrong, just in need of clarification I think. WWII
groups do not always have folks just fall down, thats
for show battles. Tacticals have a different set of
guidlines like we do. ACW is very similar. As for
aunthenticity can we find a different term rather than
nazi, the longer I play and the more I strive for some
form of accuracy the more offensive I find that label.
Robert..babbling from work
--- robert smetek <robertsmetek at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Howdy Yall,
>
> As a one trick stick jock, who has done other
> reenactment groups before this one, the three things
> that have kept me coming back time and again is the
> real fighting with fake swords, the fact you can be
> as authentic as you want to be, and the pursuit of
> your personal interpretation of the Dream. >
> Point #1 fighting) I have been in Civil War and
> WWII reenacting. They are basically a stage plays.
> You or your commanding officer choose when you go
> down. I have been told Were supposed to win this
> fight but were outnumbered so dont go down to
> quickly. Also, I have seen a whole squad get mowed
> down by one pistol shot. Funny to watch but not
> very realistic. Its also the fact that its
> historical reenactment. I was also in Bamfgaurd at
> one time. That was until I blocked my first
> fireball with a sword and was told I was dead
> anyway. If I want magic missiles, Ill play D&D.
> In our combat, when you get hit hard enough to have
> gone through chain, its a hit. You have to practice
> and sweat to get good at this game. When I fight, I
> feel like Im making a connection to the past. When
> you win, somebody didnt hand it to you, you earned
> it yourself. Your win was paid for by you with your
> sweat, tears, pain, and sometimes blood.
>
> Point #2 authenticity) I know Im going to
> upset a few people with this one. Let me start off
> by stating that authenticity can be hard and
> expensive. We strive for authenticity without
> demanding perfection. Maybe a newbie doesnt have a
> country or year picked out so they go for a generic
> look for now. Maybe the dinosaur wears the same
> garb every time because they have to scrape up loose
> change just to get in the gate. We encourage an
> attempt at to at least cover up things that are to
> modern. This loose attitude can be a boon to us.
> In Civil War and WWII reenacting, they get as
> authentic as possible. I mean really authentic.
> One of our Sergeants got demoted for repeatedly
> wearing his socks on the outside of his pants. It
> didnt mater if he was a good leader or not just
> that he conformed to regulation dress. On another
> occasion, a newbie had to buy a new Union uniform
> because the first set he got was made out of the
> wrong type of wool. Those cloths arent
> cheap either. This may seam laughable but they
> mean it. I have met people who were driven off
> because of a groups tireless pursuit of
> authenticity. I have witnessed what happens to
> groups when Authenticity Nazis take over. If the
> equivalent happened in the SCA, Kings could take
> awards away because the person wasnt dressed
> properly for their persona. A lot of people think
> it could never get this bad but remember that the
> other groups started with loose clothing rules like
> ours and they slowly got more dictatorial over time.
>
> Point #3 the Dream) Everybody has there own
> interpretation of what the Dream means to them.
> This is as it should be. It makes your Dream more
> personal. For me, the Dream is a connection to the
> past. The split second when you forget what time
> period you are really in. It happened to me once
> during a Civil War reenactment. I got up early one
> morning to check on our guards. Being a Sergeant of
> the color guard, guess who was usually put in charge
> of our camp guards. I walked through the perfectly
> reproduced campsite. It looked like a lived in
> museum display. At the edge of camp, the fog from
> the nearby field was trying to visit us. I glanced
> across the shrouded field toward the enemy
> earthworks. There in the field was a solder. He
> glided through the fog. Moving without movement.
> In that second, I was no longer a 16 year old high
> school student reenacting the Civil War. In that
> second, I was Sergeant Smetek of the 13th U.S.
> Regulars on a mission for Uncle
> Ab to defend the 13 strips and 34 stars of Old
> Glory. It was so beautiful I cried. If I wasnt run
> off by Politics and Authenticity Nazis, I might
> still be on those fields chasing down that one
> second. As it is, I'm still looking for that one
> second in the SCA when I'm no longer a 30something
> office worker but a 30something peasant Samurai
> fighting to make a name for himself.
>
> Seeya,
>
> Tora
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Looking for earth-friendly autos?
> Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos'
> Green Center.
> _______________________________________________
> Stargate mailing list
> Stargate at lists.ansteorra.org
>
http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/stargate-ansteorra.org
>
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
More information about the Stargate
mailing list