| The Official Newsletter of Das TeufelsAlpdrücken Fähnlein. Published monthly, or whenever I get around to it. Any opinions contained herein are strictly my own, as are any typographical errors. For external use only - but you may read this inside. Entire contents copyright 1996 by Paula Peterka, unless otherwise noted or authored. Yeah, like you'd WANT to steal anything out of here! Prices shown for comparison only, options extra. Hey, where's the cream filling? |
| Volume 3 | Issue 6 |
December 6, 1996 | |
Das TeufelsAlpdrücken Fähnlein would like to congratulate the following people, who were promoted from probationary member to full member: Peter Langsdorf, and Linda Taggart. The new full members have full voting rights on unit business, subject to age regulations (sorry, Peter), and can be assigned to sponsor probationary members. This brings the total number of active full and stakeholder members to 20. Those probationary members who were eligible to be promoted, but weren't, will have a promotion review in six months, or when their sponsor or the BoD thinks they are ready.
The unit is also proud to welcome the following new members into its ranks: Sean Doherty, Lauren Wadford, Kim White, Bob Wilson, Ray Partenheimer, Janice Partenheimer, Elizabeth Partenheimer, Rob Taggart, Anna Hoppmann, and David Horak.
These folks were officially voted on and accepted into the unit as probationary members.
Congratulations and Welcome, Everyone!
The Unit's Annual Business meeting will be held on January 19, 1997. It will begin at 1:00 pm, in the second floor conference room of the Peterka's apartment building, 2801 Park Center Drive. This will be a very important meeting, since it is once again time for the election of our corporate and field officers. The corporate offices that will be open are the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Recording Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. Additionally, at the last meeting, the unit voted to enlarge the Board of Directors to five members, so there will be two new positions, those of Director-At-Large, to fill. The open field officer positions are Hauptmann and Hauptfrau.
The nominations were formally opened at the meeting on November 10, and will remain open until shortly before the elections begin at the annual meeting. To date, Larry Peterka has been nominated for the office of CEO, Paula Peterka has been nominated for the office of CRO, Drew Jones has been nominated for the office of CFO, and Kellie Hendley and Mike Amos have been nominated for the offices of DAL. Larry Peterka and Paula Peterka have been nominated for the field office of Hauptmann, and Paula Peterka, Jen Lease, and Kellie Hendley have been nominated for the field office of Hauptfrau. Nominations may be made by phone, mail, e-mail, fax, or in person, to any member of the current Board of Directors.
Other items on the agenda will include our participation in Jamestown, our Winter Campaign, purchasing of pikes and commissioning of period shoes.
On the 24th day of Christmas, my Captain said to me: "Come over for a won-der-ful party!" That's right, the Peterka's are hosting their annual German Post-Christmas-Post-12th-Night-One-Last-Holiday-Season Party on January 18, 1997. There'll be lots of food, lots of room, lots of friends, lots of fun, and lots of food. This year the party will be held in the first floor Party Room of the Peterka's apartment complex, in 2701 Park Center Drive (this is the same building in which the main lobby with the front desk is located.) Because of this, the party will start at 7:30 pm, and will have to be finished and the room cleaned up by midnight (or so). There will still be plenty of space in the Peterka's apartment for any who wish to stay over to attend the business meeting the next day. A Buffet dinner will be served, as well as various assorted snacks and munchies, and both diet and regular drinks will be provided. Contributions of food and beverages are not necessary, but would never be turned down. All members of the unit are invited to attend, and may bring a guest if they wish. Dress is whatever-you-care-to-wear. This is the Peterka's way of thanking everyone for working so hard during the year, and making the unit such an enjoyable place to be. Please RSVP by January 12.
Editor's Introduction: The Landskonnections staff solicited comments from all the members about how they felt the unit did during the past year, and what suggestions they would make to improve things in the future, especially with respect to our longest-running gig, the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Several people promised articles, but only two actually sent any. The following may at first seem a little harsh. They are meant as a wake up call, not a dressing down, or a written "Bitch Session". These points addressed in these letters are meant to make you take a step back and think "Hmmm. Am I behaving that way? I don't mean to, but. . ." If you become over-sensitive after reading these, it may well be because you see too much of yourself in what is being said. Food for thought.
Letter from the Kuchenfrau By Kellie Hendley
Well, another year of Faire has come to an end, and I am left with a basket full of dishes. And do you know what's also in that basket? FOOD, and lots of it! There is half-eaten quiche, roast beef, ham, cheese, veggies, and holding it all together: aged apple pie! There could be a few explanations for you guys leaving me this pleasant treat almost every weekend. The following list does not apply to the immaculately clean Larry Peterka and Rob Spencer, who washed their plates every day:
The Kuchenfrau's Top Ten List of Reasons for Half-Eaten Leftovers Stuck on Plates:
Confessions of an Ex-Kuchenfrau By Karen Dawson
Well, it appears nothing has changed in Landsknecht-land. Talking to Kellie, I hear the same frustrations and laments that I experienced during my time as Kuchenfrau. Here are some hints for the future: Kuchenfrau does NOT equal slave. If the Kuchenfrau is going to do something differently, she'll tell you. Otherwise, the basic routine does not change. You can take some initiative and DO IT YOURSELF.
I know that I had trouble with the other women in the group basically doing nothing. I had believed it was my grating personality (I know that I have one, I just don't care), but Kellie is a sweetheart, so there's no excuse this year. Playing, sitting around, and never paying attention seem to be recurrent themes. When I was asked why I was upset, those are some of the things I mentioned. Less than half an hour later, I was treated to the following during notes: "Even though SOME people don't think you're working, I think you're doing a fine job". Thanks. Not only was I wrong, I had to hear it after I'd been assured that I wasn't imagining things, and that it would be taken care of. Basically, I was used and abused, and I wouldn't wish that job on anyone. And I'm sure that the more people are in the group, the worse it gets, so I really sympathize with Kellie.
Full of piss and vinegar by Mike Amos
Gruss Gott!
Without a drug store, chemist, or apothecary, where would a Landsknecht find the drugs needed for day-to-day ills? How were they prepared? Although some raw herbs and spices can be used fresh from the ground, it is not always possible to do so. Many spices must travel long distances, over many months, before finaly being used. Also, most herbs are seasonal, and have maximun potency only for a short time. One solution to these problems is to harvest the herbs at the best time, and then preserve them by drying. Dried herbs provide the basic ingredients for most medicines. Unfortunately, not all herbs remain potent for very long and must be turned into a medicine quickly, while they are still fresh, and then used in a very short time.
Although some medicines may have other ingredients, like cinnabar, mercury ore, and horse urine, most contain various plant parts. Almost all parts of many plants have medicinal uses, even the resinous sap of some trees, like myrrh. You have to be careful about which part of what plant you use, however! Mayapple, also known as duckfoot, for instance, is a good laxative, but only the friut is not toxic, then only when it is yellow and ripe. At any other time the entire plant is toxic, even the seeds in the fruit. Some plants are only used externally, like Beladonna, also called deadly nightshade. When it is applied externally and absorbed through the skin, it eases seizures and stops twitching nerves and nervous tics. It is also used, in much larger doses, in various witches' ointments for flying. At any rate, the only difference between a plant or a weed and an herb, is that if somebody finds a use for a weed, it magically becomes an herb. As Anjabeth says, "A weed is an herb no one has found a use for yet."
The methods used to preparate the herbs into medicine are too numerous to cover in this article. However, here are some of the more common forms these preparations took. Raw herbs: Pop the herb in your mouth and chew it up. Some can be swallowed (like parsely, which freshens your breath), and some are spit out (like tobacco). Some can be smoked or burned as incense (like myrhh or hemp), local laws permitting.
If you make tea out of herbs, it is called an infusion. ("Tea" is made with tea leaves. Herbal teas are actually called "tisanes", and medicinal teas are infusions.) If you boil the herbs and then simmer them for a long time, you have a decoction. Soak herbs in alcohol, then strain, and you get a tincture. Add honey to a decoction, and you get a syrup. A poltice is wet herbs held against the skin. Ointments are wax, herbs, and oils mixed together. Replace the wax with fat and you get a cream. There are many other ways of preparing and preserving the medicines, but you get the idea. To this day we still use the same methods for getting the ingredients to the body. The only new method used is direct injection.
The tools needed for processing these ingredients run the entire range from the very simple (a sickle for harvesting the herbs and a dry place to hang them up, like the rafters) to very compex (distilling equipment with elaborate rituals and prayers, used only at certain phases of the zodiac, as done by alchemists). The effectivenes of the cures also ran from having no effect at all to being theraputic, and to actually being harmful! An example of this was during an outbreak of what was probably syphillus. An effective cure was found by mixing ground cinnabar, vinegar, and horse urine in an iron pot, boiling until it was thick and brown and then adding milk from a nursing woman and pig salt (sodium nitrate). According to the texts, the cure worked, although I'm not sure the slow death and madness from heavy metal poisoning and impotence from the sodium nitrate would have been preferable to dying from the original disease. The taste was so awful that it had to be mixed with wine to make it drinkable. Shaken, not stirred, I'm sure.
Später, - Heinrich.
It Takes Character (and Accent)
(Ed note: This is a reprint of an article from last issue. Given that we have many new members joining us, it was felt by the Landskonnections staff that this information should be given again.)
The question has been raised as to why our unit insists it's members develop 16th Century characters and german accents, when many other reenactment units do not. One of our primary goals as reenactors is to educate ourselves and the public about the lives of the Landsknecht soldiers and campfollowers (the other primary goal being to have fun while doing so), and experience has shown that some of the best ways to educate is by immersion, and through entertainment. Human beings remember more of what they hear than what they read, and more of what they see than what they hear. Additionally, people tend to remember information longer and relate to it better when it is presented in a striking or humorous manner.
To effectively educate and entertain, our unit has chosen to create the illusion of having come from another place and another time. Part of creating this illusion is, of course, wearing period clothing. However, we also give as careful thought to what we say, and how we behave. First person interpretation in character, accent, period and manner makes a very strong impression on both the visitors, who have come to learn, and your fellow reenactors, who may also learn from you.
One of the things that sets our group apart from other reenactment groups is our speech. When you go up to other camps at Marietta or Jamestown, they may look fantastic, as if they've stepped right out of a period painting or picture, but most of them do not sound that way. When the public talks to one of us, we don't just say, "Yes, I come from the Holy Roman Empire", we say "Ja, I am from der Romisch Reich." Our first person interpretation in all areas sets us apart from most other groups, and ensures that our group and our message is remembered by the public, the judges, and our fellow reenactors. Because our intent is to honor the lives of those men and women that we recreate, we must remember that while our interpretations may be humorous and fun-loving, they should not be caricatures. By creating archetypical soldiers and campfollowers, who become living, breathing people, we make it easier for our audience and ourselves to relate to them as real people, and thus learn from them. If we resort to broad comedy and caricature, then we have missed our mark; We become as real, and about as effective, as Bugs Bunny and the Klingons at King's Dominion.
First person interpretation and development of a character also requires staying in that character, and acting and reacting to events as a 16th Century person would, not as a 20th Century person wearing 16th Century clothes. At the very least, this means talking about your life in the Holy Roman Empire, or in service to the English King. It also means looking blank when someone asks you about electricity, television, the Redskins, or even Queen Elizabeth (I or II).
It means not talking to visitors about other reenactment groups, whether ECW or SCA, or other events, whether the Virginia RenFaire or Military Through the Ages, or your regular job, whether IRS Agent or McDonald's Clerk. It means dropping "O.K.", "Cool", and "Spiffy" from you vocabulary, and replacing them with "Ja, indeed", "schön", and "wunderbar". It means cursing with such colorful epithets as "Thou poxy knave!", "God's Death!", and "Get thee gone, else I shall surely smite thee grievously upon thy ale-soaked pate!", rather than the more boring and vulgar modern sayings.
This may seem to be a great deal of effort to go to, but it makes our interpretations very strong, not just to other people, but also to ourselves. It helps us to "walk around inside" a period mindset, and understand why they people of that time behaved, thought, and did things the way they did. And after all, that's why we're out here, isn't it?
For directions to an event please e-mail us.