A labor of love.

For nearly 6 years now, I have been working on getting material for a biography on Luftwaffe Ace Walter Oesau. I am eternally grateful for the people I run into on the internet in the various forums that I frequent who give information and for the people on my other sites that provide me with information or ways to get said information.

I've spent quite a bit on documents, photographs, collected here and there, spent many a night sleepless doing the research. There's still more to be done, and I'm waiting for my feelers that I sent out and the favors I have asked of other people to come in with even more information.

I've read other biographies. Ones of Adolf Galland, Rudel, Marseille, Wick, Graf, Grislawski, Schnaufer, etc.

We that know our WWII history know all the "greats" of that era, save one.

Oesau.

Born in Farnewinkel on June 28th, 1913, this determined young man carved himself a path in the Heer and then changed to the Luftwaffe, despite what his mother, his aunt and his childhood sweetheart thought. It wasn't easy. The first time he soloed, he crashed the aircraft on landing and busted himself up but good, getting a chiding from the three women and a "Good job, m'boy" from Vater Oesau. He continued in this vein, married the childhood sweetheart on a Christmas vacation in 1940 and went on in 4 years to rise in the ranks. This was a singularly different man than what the world wants us to think of German people during that era. This was no Nazi. Rank meant nothing to him when there was no fighting to be had. All men on the ground shared alike at the barracks. There was no distinction. This was a man who possibly saved the life of another Holsteiner who had the temerity to respond to him in a manner that wasn't "militarisch" code, but the language of his home.

This was a man who could claim the friendship and respect of nearly everyone he met, and even the two most diametrically opposed personality-wise - Galland and Moelders.

That is why, for 6 years, I have not let up in my pursuit of the truth, the information and the research on Walter "Gulle" Oesau. I do not want this man's memory to be faded away as the years go by. I do NOT want him lumped in with the "they're all Nazis anyway" crowd. Oberstleutnant Oesau was a man that truly deserves the respect of a well-written, concise and accurate biography, and by god, I'm going to give it to him.

In other news, Author Ed Taylor is working on a biography of another very interesting LW officer, the Renaissance man and PhD, Ernst Kupfer. From what Ed's shared with me, I'm pretty darn excited for the book to come to press. It will serve to be another gem in the treasury of great Luftwaffe/war time biographies. I can't wait for it, Ed!

News and blues

It's getting to be that time of year again. By what's displayed in the stores, you'd think Chri$tmas is around the corner. It isn't. It's Samhain, or as to the non-pagan community, Halloween. The end of the Celtic/Pagan year, one of the nights when the veil between the living and the dead is supposedly the thinnest. Luckily for us, the moon will be waxing gibbous, and by the magical reasoning, it will be technically "full" since the date of the full moon is November 2nd. (I think it was Uncle Bucky's Big Blue Book O' Wisdom that first imparted this little gem of wisdom when I was a wee witchlet.)

Me? You won't find me a-dancing in the nude under the full moon. Not up here. It's too damn COLD this time of the year (and the other times of the year are chock full of things like black flies (aka noseeums) and other biting insects, so yeah, never was a nudist either.) I'm dressing up the kiddo and going on that time-honored, loved-by-dentists-everywhere tradition; Trick-r-treating. Yeah, not far, mostly to the family, a few friends and then the fire hall for cider and donuts, but still - being a parent takes some of the fun out of the Old Time Religion. Hahah.


In other news, the leaves are nearly past peak, so all them #$^#$@^ leaf peepers will be going away soon. The NJ fishheads? Not soon enough. Between Salmon and then Deer season, the sleepy backwater "town" not 7 miles from my delapidated domicile has become chock full of tourists.

The only benefit I can see is that we occasionally get the stray European or the French-Canadian down here, and since the vast majority of BillyBobs and TankaRaes here don't even speak intelligible English, I'm usually the one who's in line doing the translation service. I don't get paid for it, no. But it's fun, nonetheless.

Ran into a German when I was on my way with the kiddo to Oktoberfest in full Tracht. THAT was interesting. He was on my six like, well, Hartmann on a Yak on the Eastern Front. He ended up actually following me in his car to the festival (a goodly 45 miles out of his way) with his fishing buddies (Bavarians all) and even though I ended up losing them in the crowd (thank god) they more than likely had a good time, despite the rain. First O-fest I've been to where it was raining. Miserably cold and rainy.

We seem now, however, to be experiencing what is called an "Indian Summer" - temps back up into the low 60s, which makes my gas bill a bit easier to digest. Winterizing probably this week, as much as I can for this old house.

In the next couple of blog posts, I'll probably end up posting some recipes, as it is getting into the baking season for me, and what better than sharing recipes with people?

In memoriam

Famed German Ace Gunther Rall Passes Away
Gunther Rall, the world’s third ranking fighter ace of all time, died at his home in Germany on Sunday, October 4, 2009, after suffering a heart attack on Friday, October 2. He was 91.

How to make clove cigarettes at home and save money

Okay folks, let's do this.

You will need:

1 pouch of your favorite cigarette tobacco (I use Midnight Special)
1 pouch (about 3-4 ounces) of Clove buds (you can get them usually for a small amount at grocery stores)

A coffee bean grinder

Paper towels
Tupperware container
Ziploc baggie

Take some paper towels, dampen them and put the cloves in the middle. Nuke on 50% power for about 30 seconds, let sit for 2 minutes or until the cloves have absorbed some of the water and are less hard.

Place them a little at a time into the coffee grinder and grind the hell out of them until they are shredded into smaller bits. Don't use clove powder as a cop-out. It does not have the amount of essential oils necessary

Measure out how much clove you have, and make it into a 40% clove and 60% tobacco split into the Ziploc baggie, shaking to incorporate it all. Squeeze out the air and let sit for about a day.

While you're waiting, take some filtered cigarette tubes and dip the filtered ends in a sugar solution of 1 tbsp sugar to 2 tbsp water, let dry.

To make a clove cigarette:

Add a small amount of the clove tobacco into the cigarette maker.

Take one of the sugar-treated filter cigarette tubes, place into your cigarette maker, and follow your cigarette maker instructions.

You can also roll them filterless, and spray the resulting cigarette lightly with the sugar solution, and let dry.

Enjoy your clove cigarette, and fight the powah!

FDA passes tobacco ban under our noses.

Goodbye, sweet prince.

Thanks to the FDA and BigGovt playing Nanny State 1984 HOLY CRAP WHY on us, the sale of flavored tobacco, including my beloved Djarum clove cigarettes, are banned under Federal Law.

Go HERE for more info.

Fortunately, my darlings, there is a way around this, as always.

One can go to Canada or other countries, buy the acceptable personal amount, and then come home with them.

One can also make your own, using a blend of shredded clove buds and loose cigarette tobacco. Mix in a 50/50 split (originals are a 60 tabaccy 40 clove mix), store in a dark jar in a cool, dark place for 3-4 weeks, and then use with a rolling machine or papers.

OR, you can go online to foreign companies and buy either the loose tobacco or the cigarettes themselves.

http://www.mykretek.com/ - it's international, which is a good thing. One Indonesian site has THIS to say about the ban:

"The new regulation has ban clove cigarettes to be distributed in all states but you can still purchase them online since the law addresses the sale of these cigarettes ONLY in the US. Our company is located and registered in INDONESIA. The law also doesn't ban private citizens from possessing and smoking the clove cigarettes. You just cannot find and buy them on your local store."

So, while you were paying attention to the Wag the Dog Health Care bill and other things, THIS was passed under your very nose.

What was this about a "transparent" government, Mr. President?

Edited to add:

You can now sign a petition to have the ban removed

State Fair Hijinks

The State Fair in New York is always a must-go. Food, rides, vendors selling useless junk, and enough "New York State" culture to make your head spin.

We went back on September 2nd, to see the famous chef Bobby Flay. As usual, the human crush was AMAZING, and the amount of self-important twittery was, as usual, astronomical.

What always amazes me about humanity is the self-absorbedness that most people have now; the rudeness is amazing.

However, there were some great people as well. The Tiki Turtle was trying to get Bobby's attention to challenge him to a throwdown. They have a fried Reuben sandwich using his sauerkraut recipe, (which I unfortunately did not get a chance to sample, but promised myself that I WILL next year) and wanted to see if he would... bite.



All in all, it was a great time spent at the Fair. I've been going nearly every year since I was very little, and it's always a wonderful day spent with a picnic lunch, dancing at the dusk with the Native Americans in their Village, munching on fry bread and things deep fried that you would never think were edible deep fried, and the swag is usually pretty decent, if you're a kid, that is.

Your feet hurt at the end of the day, and when you drive home under the lights of Interstate 690, you have the feeling that this is, indeed, the end of the Summer and the beginning of Fall.