Happy Lithuanian Independence Day!

Today is the anniversary of Lithuania's brief independence in 1918. In honor of the date, I'm posting a couple of links to YouTube videos (here and here) showing some military-type observances of the 10th anniversary celebrations of independence in 1928. It's way out of the SCA's period, of course, but in some of the banners, and in the decorations at the end of the second film, you can see the Vytis and the Pales of Gediminas -- both ancient heraldic symbols of Lietuva and its leaders.

My apologies for again abandoning this blog for a couple of months. Not much happening here at the moment. However, the calendar is sneaking up on me -- Slavic University is less than two months away! Holy moley! Also, registration for Pennsic University at Pennsic 39 is now open. I guess it's really getting to be time to decide whether I'm going to teach something special about the Battle of Grunwald's 600th anniversary and, if so, what I'm going to say.

One note: At the Storvik Performers' Revel, I told a five-minute version of the Tale of the Battle of Zalgiris, and it went over pretty well with the audience, even though I'm not much of a bard. Maybe I will practice that for future use at SCA events this year.

Baltic-style provisioning

Ah, where to get Eastern European food without spending all that money on airfare and hotels? Wouldn't it be great to have a listing of stores and restaurants that provide such tasty ethnic victuals?

Disclaimer: The following is not a commercial endorsement. I'm simply pointing out a few food sources that I know of.

Not far from Storvik, I've found the Kielbasa Factory in Rockville, Md. LOTS of varieties of frozen pierogies and other treats. Plenty of candy and canned goods imported from Poland. Some of these things are Polish specialties; others are simply food products you can get elsewhere, but with Polish-language labels. I think the people who run the store are natives of Poland, too.

Also in Rockville, plus two other sites in northern Virginia, is the Russian Gourmet. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but I hope to do so in the new year.

In my hometown of Gardner, Mass., Bonk's Market is still in business. I know, "Bonk's" isn't much of a Slavic name, but when I was growing up, it was the place to go for Lithuanian "white" (i.e., not smoked) kielbasa and fresh rye bread. (My hometown has even more French Canadian Americans than Polish Americans -- that's why Bonk's also serves up poutines rapées at this time of year.) I haven't been to Bonk's in years, but when I'm in Massachusetts next week, I'll have to check it out!

In the Boston area, the purveyor of Eastern European groceries seems to be the Baltic European Deli not far from Andrew Square. I've never been there, but maybe I ought to check it out on a future trip.

Finally, I stumbled upon PolishPlate.com, a Web site that lists lots of Polish shops and restaurants around the U.S. Of course I can't vouch for its completeness. Mostly, I'd like to hear from other Slavic Interest Group members, SCA folks, and re-enactors who can suggest food-related business they're familiar with.

Lithuania's castle in the air?

I meant to post this over the weekend, but I got busy.

Believe it or not, the Washington Post actually published a news story about a medieval Lithuanian palace! Of course, the article painted the palace -- actually an ongoing reconstruction of a 15th-century palace in Old Town Vilnius -- as ye olde white-elephant boondoggle. After all, nobody remembers exactly what it looked like, since the original was destroyed 200 years ago. Ah, well, even if it can't serve as SCA documentation, I'd like to visit it some day -- along with the rest of Old Town Vilnius.

Slavic stuff on the horizon...

Since I last posted on this blog, I've been added to the tentative class list for Slavic University 2010. (Yes, I know, that's the title of my existing course instead of the one I've been developing, but we'll see how far the development goes.) Several other classes have been announced. I know that Posadnitsa Sfandra is a dynamic teacher because I've taken one or two of her Pennsic classes over the years.

Plus, Baron Bardulf is planning to bring his portrait-photography setup to Slavic U. He is the gentleman who took the formal photograph of me in my Cavalier outfit at Atlantia's Twelfth Night 2009. This is just a little more motivation for me to get a Baltic/Lithuanian outfit together in time for the event. Of course, if the Baron's time gets all filled up with appointments with people who haven't yet had the chance to pose for him, I will let them have their turns.

One more thing: I've learned that the Midwinter's Revel (Barony of Lochmere, Kingdom of Atlantia) will host an "Anything Slavic" A&S competition/demonstration. Since this is a fairly local event for me (roughly a 45-minute drive from my residence), I'll be really tempted to prepare something to enter -- and maybe not even Lithuanian specifically, just something Slavic. (This competition theme wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Their Royal Majesties have Russian personas and live in Lochmere, right? Naah....)

Just what I was looking for!

Not long after I wrote last week's post, I learned that Slavic University 2010 has indeed been confirmed for next April! I had met Lady Marija at Pennsic 38 and she said this event was in the works, but I didn't want to mention it on this blog until there was an official announcement.

Slavic University will take place April 10, 2010, in the Shire of Sylvan Glen in the Kingdom of Aethelmearc. Mundanely, that's Shepherdstown, West Virginia -- in fact, the event site is less than one mile from Atlantia's border! I can drive to it in 90 minutes to two hours, depending on traffic.

I told Lady Marija I'd be happy to publicize the event within Atlantia. I'm thinking of putting together some flyers to hand out at the University of Atlantia in February and the Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival in March. Atlantia's current King and Queen, Their Majesties Vladimir and Kalisa, have Slavic personas -- see their photo here, at least until the next Coronation on April 3 -- so I'm hoping that sparks at least a little more interest.

So, there I have it -- more motivation to get off my duff and dive back into Lithuanian history and material culture!

One semi-related piece of news: the Lithuanian embassy has donated 62 new books about Lithuania to the Library of Congress. Dang, I can hardly wait to get a look at them!

The post-Pennsic sloth continues...

... but there is a ray of hope.

Seriously, you've probably noticed that I haven't updated this blog in over a month. It's a rather quiet time for me in the SCA; my home barony isn't having another event until February, and other things, such as mundane business travel, have gotten in the way of my attending other Atlantian events.

However, I recently noticed that the February 2010 session of the University of Atlantia will be held in the Shire of Isenfir, which is in central Virginia. It's a rather long but still reasonable drive for a day trip. Maybe this will become motivation to prepare for a "test run" of either of my class ideas for Pennsic 39. I'm open to suggestions, of course.

Cavalier outfit, again

Here's a better portrait of of me in the Cavalier outfit that I mentioned in the previous entry. It was taken at Atlantian Twelfth Night 2009 by Baron Bardulf Rauen of the Shire of Border Vale Keep. He kindly takes portraits of Atlantians with a professional camera/lighting setup and doesn't even charge for it. I am most grateful to him for making me look good!

I do enjoy this Cavalier outfit, even though I don't wear it often (and definitely NOT at outdoor events). My only quibble is that I wasn't wearing a bum roll under the skirt because I couldn't find it in time. Now I think I know where I put it.

And, yes, I know that this has nothing to do with Lithuania ... but I think a Lithuanian woman visiting western Europe would have "done what the Romans did" and chosen clothing to suit her new environment.

I would really like to write about late-period Lithuanian clothing -- the little we know about it -- but that will have to wait until another time.

Update on post-Pennsic sloth

In my last entry I reported on "post-Pennsic sloth." So, what have I been doing?

I'm still working on the second of a pair of mundane knitted socks -- the first ever that I have knit. Eventually I'd like to knit stockings in a more medieval/Renaissance pattern, but that's for the future.

I started messing around with tablet weaving on a secondhand loom that Lady Teleri gave me when she moved several years ago. I'm only using cotton yarn from my stash. I'll have to post some photos.

The major project is a non-SCA wedding at which the musicians of Three Left Feet will be performing on September 26. I'll have to learn some new pieces, and I need to get my Cavalier outfit all in order. This will be a good chance for me to expand my musical horizons in terms of style (non-dance music) and ensemble playing (a different lineup of musicians from our normal Monday night dance practices).

Post-Pennsic Sloth

My apologies for taking so long to post the new-for-2009, improved handout from my Pennsic 38 survey course on medieval Lithuania. I will publicize the URL when it goes "live."

While you are waiting for the handout, please feel free to explore my online bookmarks at http://delicious.com/luscious_purple. Try the keywords "lithuania," "baltic," or "sig" (for "Slavic Interest Group"). Not everything in my bookmark file is period or period-appropriate. I've got some modern-day cultural stuff in there, plus even a few Victorian-era depictions of medieval folks like Mindaugas -- depictions that are so obviously wrong. But I bookmark things there as soon as I find them, and I figure that eventually I'll study them further and figure out whether or not they are accurate and/or useful.

In the meantime, I'm trying to poke myself into doing some A&S projects. I had hoped to make a proper apgalvis or diadem for the Tempore Atlantia competition at Coronation, which is this coming Saturday. Tempore Atlantia is a rotating series of competitions for reconstructed items of material culture from a given time period. I could probably argue that different types of diadems were worn in the Baltic era on both sides of the A.D. 1000 dividing line, although I was thinking of making an early-period one. Oh, well, I can always wait until the next pre-1000 competition, which will probably be next April. Maybe I could actually get the thing DONE by then.

Also, at Pennsic 38 I took three classes in Old Norse poetry specifically because of the upcoming poetry challenge at Storvik's 30th Baronial Birthday. One cannot possibly write verse in "Eddic style" without knowing what Eddic style is (and is not). Our Poeta Atlantiae has provided additional resources. Now all I have to do is find some inspiration and apply pencil to paper. Inspiration? Ha ha ha.

Oh, and I'm knitting myself some not-very-period socks ... and trying to find time to practice my music ... and last week a friend tempted me with a brief lesson in tablet weaving ... aargh!

Report on Pennsic 38 ... and looking ahead to Pennsic 39 already

Overall, I believe that my survey class on medieval Lithuania went well ... even though I forgot to bring the tri-fold display board on which I was going to post photos, maps, etc. D'OH!!! Good thing I brought my stack of books along, even though I had to spend most of my time at War worrying whether they would get wet if it rained. I was able to pass around some of the books to illustrate my points.

Once again, the tent was full of students, and some of them asked really good questions. One person told me afterward that she learned more about her ancestry than she had ever known before. I'm always glad to help in that regard!

Next year I'm thinking of doing Pennsic University a little differently. In fact, I have thought of two separate classes to teach:

• The 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald happens next year, just before Pennsic. Wouldn't an hour-long presentation about this battle and its historical context be just fabulous? Perhaps the subtitle of the class could be "Smackdown of the Teutonic Knights" or "Last Battle of the Crusades." Hee hee!
• A survey of Lithuanian women's clothing through the ages. (Sorry, guys, I am less knowledgeable about what the menfolk wore, especially since I don't have to dress a guy for the SCA.)

As always, I welcome comments from my readers! I'm particularly interested in hearing whether a non-fighter like myself would be a credible lecturer on a subject like Grunwald.

Also, at the annual Slavic Interest Group (SIG) meeting at Pennsic, I tasted some incredible krupnikas from a New England brewer. That was seriously smooth and had great legs! Sorry, the brewer doesn't seem to have a Web site, but I have his business card, so he may be getting an order from me.