MTA 2008

[zb30]

I wasn't there but a friend took this photo:

[Woodard]

Wierdos.... especially the short one.

[zb30]

Yeah, who in the hell would want to re-enact the Korean War?

[stu]

so many hands in pockets, we need an officer to set them straight! lol

[etooloperator]

"Ya'll just bought all of that at a surplus store. You don't make your own chainmail or have bawdy serving wenches cooking roast pheasant. It takes no effort to do 20th Century. No ribbon for you!" -- Anonymous MTA Judge, upon viewing the pictured scene

It was great to see you guys there, even though Abshire wouldn't talk to me. j/k

<Personal rant about how much MTA sucks in general removed because, well, who cares?>

[sdfoster]

I'm just glad they didn't take a pic of the tall goofy one who was with them at that display - it would have broken the camera I'll bet!

_{(That would be me)}

[McCurley]

Glad that somebody got a picture of the event. Who's the dopey looking dude next to Bren?

[jonprince]

etooloperator said:

"Ya'll just bought all of that at a surplus store. You don't make your own chainmail or have bawdy serving wenches cooking roast pheasant. It takes no effort to do 20th Century. No ribbon for you!" -- Anonymous MTA Judge, upon viewing the pictured scene

Did a judge seriously say that? If he did what an utter jack-ass! So I assume by that standard wars in the 20th Centuary were 'easier' than before then because the Army just gave you all the stuff, shipped you around and you had cooks to make you dinner? Somewhat like over here when a female events coordinator of a well known historical public body had the utter lack of sence to say to one of our members 'WW2, but that's not really history though is it!?', she eventually walked away crying.

I've also been at an event where our WW2 British group was, to our utter surrpise, awarded the best in show for our rather small display, even though the HUGE and authentic Vietnam display complete with vehicles, artillery and barracks just along from us got nothing. The judge had his favourites though so we won even though we hadn't asked to be judged! We actually went along and apologised to the Vietnam group, we were so embarassed

[stu]

The awards there always have been a bit of a joke.

I know my WWII unit's gotten a cooking award before for improvised cooking... I think that time it was New England Spam Chowder.

[etooloperator]

jonprince said:

Did a judge seriously say that? If he did what an utter jack-ass! So I assume by that standard wars in the 20th Centuary were 'easier' than before then because the Army just gave you all the stuff, shipped you around and you had cooks to make you dinner? Somewhat like over here when a female events coordinator of a well known historical public body had the utter lack of sence to say to one of our members 'WW2, but that's not really history though is it!?', she eventually walked away crying.

It's actually a composite of comments from judges and participants over the years. Kind of a running joke, really. My burnout with this event happened in 2004, when I was there with the 80th Division AEF, WWI and we were all (save for one guy) wearing original uniforms. We were told by a judge, get this, that our uniforms were innaccurate. No kidding.

As to the "not really history" thing, you get a point of karma for being involved -- somehow -- in making a stupid person cry.

[John Abshire]

I swear it looks like the fat guy is looking at the skinney pollack with love in his heart...what the hell...maybe it was indigestion.
That was a fun display, we were a US Marine FDC and we actually ran field phones to the VA Army National Guard guys who had a 105mm gun there and we processed and ran fire missions with them...it was a blast.

And Ryan the reason I couldnt talk to you, the local wizard cast a spell on me and took my tounge and turned me into a newt...but I got better. Later the wizard went on to win an award...

*MTA Announcer* "Sorry 20th Century reenactors, we ran out of awards but we made a new award just for the 20th century....and the winner is.....THE DEVILS NIGHTMAREEEEE..."

Yea MTA is good for 2 things, 1 I get to hang out with my friends, and 2 I get to drink with friends...it totally sucks.

[etooloperator]

admin said:

And Ryan the reason I couldnt talk to you, the local wizard cast a spell on me and took my tounge and turned me into a newt...but I got better. Later the wizard went on to win an award...

Actually, we did talk...I'm just giving you a ration of sh*t. But I think our conversation was pretty much limited to how cool the bowling alley scene in "There Will Be Blood" was.

Yea MTA is good for 2 things, 1 I get to hang out with my friends, and 2 I get to drink with friends...it totally sucks.

A cool moment for us at MTA 2K8...my WWII group -- with our 1945 "campaign" display of dropped packs, filthy soldiers, and scattered K-ration boxes -- did get a thumbs-up from an 86th Division vet who was involved in the Ruhr Pocket fighting.

A point for you, John, for making me laugh -- in spite of your surplus store impression!

[cjdaley]

Actually boys, I was one of the "Best Impression" judges for that event and don't recall saying any of that stuff to you.

I may be an "utter-jack ass", but I did love a ton of stuff about your KW impressions. Of the 300 or so reenactors I had to inspect and talk to that weekend I do remember looking at a few very specific unit items you had like binoculars and compasses, those were not just items you bought off e-bay or came across at a surplus store. It was obvious to me and the other judges you guys put a ton of effort with those and other items.

Heck, the guys who came in to talk to us were insanely knowledgeable and really taught me alot about the 1950s. I was humbled by what you guys had to say.

Several of you guys said "MTA sucks", wanna know the true meaning of suck? Be a judge at MTA. THAT SUCKS. You have 2-3 people love you because you chose them and the rest of them just hate you because they think you pissed on their impression. It really does suck and we could use some help with more knowledgeable judges if you want to volunteer.

It's a really hard job to judge, you have 8 hours to review 30 units and make your choice. We stayed up in my living room until 5am the next morning bitching and complaining to each other about who got the award.

2008 was my first year as a judge at MTA. I was asked to do it by my boss (as I work at Jamestown Settlement.) I asked a tailor from Colonial Williamsburg and a former historian from the NRA to help me out. I thought it was a good team judging the "Best Impression", I'm sorry that you guys think we dropped the ball.

In 2008 we were given criteria from the museum on how to judge your impression, much weight was given to patterns, construction, and fabric....obviously, you guys were wearing all original shit so that didn't enter into it, you guys did great on that aspect. More weight was given to how hard some stuff was to acquire, obviously some of your stuff you just got from surplus stores yes, but we all knew how hard it was to find some of the unit specific items you guys used in your demo and we took note of that.

However, in the end, we had to take all 30 units into consideration and we just didn't have 30 awards to hand out.

In 2009 and in 2010 we've slowly revamped the judging process and cirteria. We're adding more and more reenactors to the judging pool, we're getting rid of certain criteria that'll restrict judges from awarding stuff to 20th century guys and we're helping judges to give critical feedback to the participants (which is I think the most important aspect)

For the 2010 event I alone am responsible for getting the judges. I've tried to get a good mix of reenactors, former military officers, museum professionals and educators.

I've also asked the museum to do away with the judging all together, but they insist that's what separates our event from others....they are sort of correct, without judging as small portion of the reenactors would just sit around and try to look cool instead of talk to the public, but I think the stress of the judging adds to the participants detracts from what they are doing for the public.

Case in point for needing judging is because of Mr. Abshire's comment. "MTA is good for 2 things, 1 I get to hang out with my friends, and 2 I get to drink with friends." YIKES, didn't know that's what living history was about, I thought it was about interpreting the Forgotten War to folks who don't know much about it. We REALLY need KW reenactors to tell the public about this important chapter in world history....not to hang out and drink....

In the end, the vast majority of participants will never get a ribbon, heck I doubt you guys need a ribbon from our museum to realize how great you all are.

Will anyone from the 20th century ever win "best impression", I hope so. I do WWI and WWII and I'm thinking about attending the KW event in February....so yeah, I'd like to see a modern war reenactor get it.



If you have a specific suggestion on how I can help improve the judging at MTA, (or if you just want to chew me out) please feel free to contact me at anytime. I'm posting my name, personal phone number and personal e-mail for you to get in touch with me:

Christopher Daley
[e-mail]
757.229.2834

Contact me at work if you want to volunteer as a judge for the 2010 event: [e-mail]

[cco23i]

Mar 23, 2008 0:01:49 GMT -5 stu said:

so many hands in pockets, we need an officer to set them straight! lol

Glad to see you guys wearing "AIR FORCE GLOVES" ;D

Scott