Ralphadeus. Music movies comics feature in this look at life from Somerset.
Here's the flyers Boswell our bass player made for our gig on the 26th - you must come. It will have a multimedia element with mash ups of old movies and so on - see you there? If you are wondering what a danse macabre is all about the wiki on it explains all
While on the subject of the American Revolution - see Boston Tea Party below - I thought I'd give a mention to who I think are one of the best 18th century redcoat units in this country the 47th Foot. They are, along with pretty much all the 18th century reenactors, are at the Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey this weekend for an event entitled the World Aflame.
Well as everyone in the UK is about to go Joy Division crazy with the release of the biopic Control (official site) - based on Ian Curtis' widow's novel Touching From a Distance - I thought I'd pass on some thoughts on the matter - why? Well we (Animals and Men) were early, though geographically remote, Joy Division fans - saw their first gig in London at the Hope and Anchor - and were pretty heavily affected by them before they had released their first lp so it's from that perspective that I write. I was really disappointed with the sound of Unknown Pleasures - it didn't match up to what I'd heard before and so I thought they'd been sanitised or processed. Some of those feelings were allayed by the following 'Closer' album which had a great sound but I thought they were not at their best on those lps. Although we had contact with other bands like the Ants, Monochrome Set - bands that we looked up to we never considered contacting Joy Division as they seemed a little bit intense even for us - maybe aloof. I hated it when they became NME's new favourite band and I didn't bother seeing them when they played Bristol. They seemed 'trendy' and therefore just another band that was 'over'. Then it was over. That was depressing. In a way musically it undermined that whole genre of gloomy intense music for us - by taking 'it' to that level even someone who was so influential to us surely had to be wrong? Having said that I don't ever remember sitting down and listening to the lyrics - but you knew what he was getting at on some level from hearing them so much. Will I go and see the movie? Not sure - I'm not comfortable with the commoditising of the artist/suicide link - but I still play the records.
Dead Souls
The lyrics to the above clip may be of interest as there is a historical theme (one example of history rock the Guardian missed out on?)
Someone take these dreams away,
That point me to another day,
A duel of personalities,
That stretch all true realities.
That keep calling me,
Where figures from the past stand tall,
And mocking voices ring the halls.
Imperialistic house of prayer,
Conquistadors who took their share.
That keep calling me,They keep calling me
This society of French and Indian war reenactors from the Czech republic is impressive - they seem to have a lot of activities that if I lived there I would love to do - here's some Compagnie franches de la Marine reenactors (see below for the US and Canadian versions) in deep snow. A lovely photo and an impressive group.
These impressive images are from a training weekend in the Urals. Lovely location with the classic buildings you might expect from this part of the world. Film footage here.
These Hessians are particularly well animated showing the stiff legged gait of 18th century soldiers. Check out their artillery and limbers and their native warriors - all are works of historical art. Let's hope they produce some French troops...
We took this picture of a common viviparous lizard the other day as it basked on our patio. We love them and are always thrilled when we see one. We didn't handle this one for fear of it losing its tail tip but we thought we'd snap it instead.
Quite a few people come onto this page looking for information on this subject and I guess that they are maybe people who have watched Sharpe and thought 'I could do that - that looks fun' - but the trouble is - I personally can't find any decent redcoat groups out there in the UK - all the ones I see are about 6 muskets and about 9 officers and supernumeraries. With the exception of the 68th Durham Light Infantry I think they are all pretty poor. The King's Hussars are great if you like horses. You get the impression that the best days of this period have gone by in this country - presumably it was at its height when Sharpe was on ITV in the 90s. But I am a French sympathiser and I would if I was to do it again join a French group, possibly the 9eme Legere they have 60 plus members. However it IS a great hobby - especially the big continental events - they are always a great time to meet new friends from places like Eastern Europe or even further afield than that. Read an English language report on Rivoli, Italy to see what sort of thing to expect.
This week in 1807 was an important and dark time in the history of Denmark - the bombardment of Copenhagen - by the British -there's all sorts of events and reenactments on - this week - looks great - site is in English too.
We've had a bit of a Cossacks revival on the pc at our house and enjoying historical battles like Narva (see below) and White Mountain (Bila Hora - outside Prague) which was the opening battle of the 30 Years War which ended in 1648. These photos are amazing - taken by one of the participating units - I had no idea that this period was being so well done in that part of the world. A lot more colourful than our rather dour English Civil War that was a bit later - this reminds me of The Flashing Blade (see earlier posting). Get in touch if you want an online bashing on Cossacks btw.
Narva - the siege of the Great Northern War was reenacted by Russian and Swedish reenactors at the weekend. Period formations were enacted as well as an exciting battle. And they had strongbow in the castle bar! In case you're wondering Ga Pa means 'fall on' and was part of the Swedish attack with musket in one hand and sword in the other. I think it's about time some UK reenactors got into the GNW - Poltava in 09 I imagine would be an ideal target. Live Journal/Blog for the period here including video footage.
'Time travel to the 1700s' is the English translation - Fulda the home of the Hessian history museum is the venue - it's the site of the premier 18thc event in Europe held every year at the Schloss Fasanerie. Here's the photos from last weekend from Kersten Kircher - you may be one of the first to see them. I get invited every year - maybe next year? Buy a calendar here
This has to be my all time favourite Elvis moment - a brilliant Leiber and Stoller song beautifully delivered with a minimal backing - over shots of New Orleans - what more do you need to celebrate the life of the man taken from us 30 years ago. I'd love to cover this song but I would be in the worrying space of whether to anglicise it as crayfish thus losing the Elvisian syllable 'aw'. I actually feel a fair bit of guilt towards Crayfish - I used to hunt them down Vallis Vale and now everytime I go there I find none so I feel somewhat responsible. I also feel guilt over the Great Crested newt population of Broadway pond and the stone loach and gudgeon life at Feltham pond. But we didn't have game systems or the internet in those days - catching some rare pond life was about as good as it got for a ten year old in Frome.
More rock and roll, surf and humour from unstoppable Frome trash culture recyclers the Bad Detectives on Western Star records. Also available to download. They have one of the new tracks The Weymouth Flyer on their myspace Weymouth being a seaside destination reachable by train from Frome.
I thought before leaving the era of border warfare in the Seven Years War it might be useful to see if there's anyone who is the eastern European version of Gerry Embleton (see below) - someone capturing the fringes of partisan warfare but in the European theatre. This artist has certainly done some great studies of Croats and their enemies - check out his page for some great artwork. This figure shows what was the Prussian response to the Grenzers (see below) with the Hussar Mirliton being the main addition to the Hungarian style of the rest of the uniform. If you are wondering what was the British equivalent to the Pandour or Croat it was the Highlander - they maintained elements of their national dress, were hardy uplanders and were capable of fierce hand to hand fighting when necessary. Petite Guerre was dirty work and being outside the national 'image' also helped them accomplish what was essentially guerrilla warfare.
Grenzinfanterie Reg. Karlstädter-Szluiner (Kroatische Grenzinfanterie)
I am very impressed by this Czech group recreating the famous border infantry of the
This is an interesting venture - someone producing 1/32 historical plastic figures as a cottage industry doing them on demand. This enables a niche period to be covered that wouldn't normally be done for commercial reasons. As an unfulfilled sculptor I am impressed by his work in particular the '45 Jacobite Rebellion figs and his Spartans. I have long fancied producing plastic figs in this scale - it's great to see someone actually doing it.
This weekend in Estonia there is the excellent Narva festival which has all manner of activities relating to the siege during the Great Northern War. This is one of the world's premier 18th century events, with reenactors coming from all over the Baltic. I wish I could go, but which side would I be on? Certainly there were Scottish mercenaries fighting for both the Swedes and Russians so maybe I would offer my services to the highest bidder. Reenactors here. Until then I'll have to content myself with playing Cossacks the Art of War instead..
Gerry Embleton is one of the world's premier military uniform and equipment specialists recreating mannequins in stunningly lifelike poses and classic illustrations of troops in situ such as this camp scene. One of his favourite subject is the British redcoat of the Seven Years War and the Revolution in North America and this site brings together much of his work to date, and quite brilliant it is too. Highly recommended. www.redcoatsintheforest.com
These photos are amazing - these people are obviously very dedicated to their hobby I salute their high standards. It's interesting to note how similar the flora and fauna of Northern Europe is to North America so it all looks very appropriate.
If you're a Napoleon fan (and I think you know by now that I am) you aren't so interested in the battle of Waterloo which is obviously the low point of his reign but your interests lie in the earlier more successful part of his career. Trouble is the uniforms are quite different, and most figures for the period deal with Waterloo. Recently several companies have started producing models for the Austerlitz period and this latest set from Italeri is a welcome edition to help the junior general refight the great battles of the beginning of the Napoleonic wars. Hat industries have done wonders for this era recently producing one of their best sets of Napoleonic 1805 soldiers in greatcoats. Also they have been producing the not so glamorous Russians in their 1805 uniform.
