Bubba's Bar 'n' Grill

Hey Rey:

How did your "GIG" go on the June 9th weekend? Haven't heard anything, was just wondering how things went....

(06-21-2012 07:56 AM)onebad70ss Wrote: [ -> ]Hey Rey:

How did your "GIG" go on the June 9th weekend? Haven't heard anything, was just wondering how things went....

Hey Onebad, thanks for remembering about that and putting forth the question. I will say that the “Gig” turned out pretty good, but not perfect. Since it was a first time event we were putting on for this museum, there were the inevitable problems that popped up. First of which, after a very pleasant week preceding the event, the furnace got turned up just in time for our weekend, with temperatures in the 90’s (33+ C). This had the effect of making everyone very uncomfortable, since a lot of the reenactors have to wear heavy wool military uniforms and other outfits. The hot weather also meant a lot of them never showed up, we had over 200 reenactors registered, and about a third of them didn’t show.

For me this meant that an entire German squad that was (in the script) supposed to attack our group from the north, wasn’t there, as none of them showed up. This called for some last minute changes to the script, to try and figure out a way to get the scenario still to work. Then, just before show time, we had a derailment, oh no. A maintenance car derailed down the track blocking the line, so we had to cancel the first few trolleys of spectators that we were doing the show for. So we ended up all standing around in our hot costumes in position out on the train tracks for an hour waiting for that to get fixed. Finally things got started and it went pretty well, the trolleys were pretty full of people and they seemed to be enjoying it.

Sunday went much better, as we did the full five trolley runs and they were packed with people, despite the hot temperatures. I was finally able to get into the role a little more and start to enjoy it, instead of worrying about all the things that might go wrong. I did a lot of shooting with my pistol, and I took a lot of hits. There was this field where we were supposed to run away, then a group of Germans would open up a machine gun on us, and we take a hit and fall down, playing dead. The field was full of spiders, so I’m lying there trying not to move, and I could feel them crawling all over me. There was this one that crawled up my pant leg, I could feel it on my skin crawling up past my knee, that time I had to move! Yikes! One guy got bit on the neck by one, and the bite swelled up like an egg shape.

I would eventually like to write up a story with pictures about this adventure (that kind of sucked at times while having it), and I will post it here when I do, but it might take a while. There was also a film crew out there on Sunday filming the whole thing, and I hear they are making a short sort of movie/video production of it, so I will have to see how that turns out. Oh, and I got my picture in the newspaper too, how about that.

After the event, I received an email from the organizer that went like this:

"I was pleased to see how this event has grown from a small living history gathering in 2011 into a respectably sized event in only one year. All the volunteers who work at the Museum have repeatedly expressed their gratitude for our efforts and applauded our creativity of historical expression and dedication to authenticity. Although we got off to a bit of a slow start spectator wise on Saturday, the crowds that over whelmed our trolleys on Sunday were a pleasure to see and enjoyable to interact with. The Trolley Engineers have repeatedly reported to me the spectators were amazed and thoroughly entertained by our efforts with comments such as this report from one of the trolley engineers:

From my perspective, and that of our passengers, Rails to Victory came off really great today. The battle at Mantes-la-Jolie was a stunning re-enactment. The other scenes at Vernon and Rouen were engaging as well. The French civilians in those scenes seemed to grow into their parts as the day went on, taunting the Germans with nasty names and predictions of Allied victory. All in all, the passengers got into the theme of the event, and most trains clapped their hands at the conclusion.”

So, overall, not a bad "Gig" in the end.

-Rey

Quote:passengers got into the theme of the event, and most trains clapped their hands at the conclusion.”

The applause of a single person is of great consequence!!

Nice one Rey - look forward the pics and story line when you are ready

Sounds like everything turned out pretty well Rey. other than the circumstances beyond your control part, I'd say that it looked like the re-enactment was a success. Would like to see that video when it comes out.. Hopefully the spiders didn't get you too bad - Way to take one for the team....

How about a link to that newspaper photo as well?

Boomer`s post the other day honouring a pilot downed in Vietnam (who had recently been found) reminded me of a story about a US plane (a Kittyhawk) found in the Sahara Dessert (near Egypt by an Oil Company), which had been downed.The Pilot (RAF - although I dont know whether he was a Brit flying a US plane, or a US pilot with the RAF), apparently survived the forced landing, and walked off - only to die from (I guess) dehydration. Anyway some pics -

Unreal - a time capsule. Reminds me of Glacier Girl... on the other end of the spectrum!

Nice plane pics NWo...
______________________________

So where was Rey over the weekend? Probably not hard to guess, and this time we made it onto the local television news with a short clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEioE-iGxas

In the clip you can see the new Panhard armored car this guy is building, he's not finished with it yet but brought it out anyway. He made it out of modern car and truck parts, steel plates, and a welder. Not bad, considering.

But why, oh why, did it have to be 100 degrees out? Aaah, I think I'm melting!

Right back at ya Rey - Good clip!! I gather the reason everywhere is so hot in the US is because the Gulf Stream has shifted, which is why we still have fires lit and central heating on and monsoon rains over here in bloomin` July........aaaarrrghhhhh

Mufasa - Yes the people who found the plane have described it as perfectly preserved like Tutenkamen (spelling??) tomb. 70 year old crash. Nice looking fighter.

Rey, that was very nice to have gotten some attention for you and crew.

(07-03-2012 05:51 AM)2Beers Wrote: [ -> ]Rey, that was very nice to have gotten some attention for you and crew.

Yes, it was nice, although I didn't make it in the clip, I think I was expired by then in that battle.

Why didn't we have a news crew out there for the Brewhaha anyway? What's the matter with them? With all that good food and drink it should of been headline news in Milwaukee and Green Bay, just saying.