Kaylee

Touche. Kinda assume Miss Swan is a one-man woman, don't it? I'm not quite so certain anymore. And I rather suspect she'd find ways of..um... keeping his attention. Possibly at knife point. Anyhow, I guess we'll see. Whatever they do, it looks to be a fun ride. :) As to Norrington.. what can I say? I love a nice man in uniform. Especially southern-bred marines, all sweet and mannerly in mixed company.. all.. well. Never mind. :) The mirror.. for now all I have is a guesstimate 3D model. I'll try a better render this weekend. I'm afraid I've projects aplenty before I get to making a real life one. Yeesh!

Ah ha! Here's a sense of scale for the thing. It's pictured between a full-size gov't model 1911 (albeit one broken down for a checkering job) and a Winchester Model 94 rifle. It's um... big. Captain -- thank you so much for your advice! I just ordered a catalog from MBS. Those octogon-to-round barrels are purty. :) When did they see use?

The prussian/potzdam model. I'll post a picture of it compared to a modern pistol shortly. PS -- it's for sale here. :) http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?...p?Item=57350569

Quite the contrary actually. As a human being, he's much the better man. Heck, I'd argue that were all these characters real, I'd posit that the grace and kindness Norrington showed when he lost Miss Swan made him the best of the three. (Prior to his fall, of course.) As a character however Mr. Turner falls a little flat to me, though. Sure he deserves Ms. Swan... but since when do we get what we deserve? As another pyratical great has observed "life isn't fair." Really though the scene just popped in my head one morning. Seeing PotC on DVD again, it actually seems distinctly possible to me.. Elizabeth has far too much pirate in her even from childhood to really settle in as a noble good lass like Will. "Peas in a pod" as Jack observed. Anyhow, I guess we'll find out. I for one can't wait. "Like powder through the flask, these are the days... " Anyhow, glad you like the mirror. I've a mind to make one now actually, just to actually see it in real life. Just don't think I can bring myself to draw real veves on the thing..

I did it! Polished the innards s'more, and refaced the trigger notch a touch.. as much as I dared anyhow. Trigger pull is *loads* better. The more I play with it though, the more I'm thinking I'll be reselling it anyhow. Just too biggish for me... more like a "sawed off" musket than a pistol. Great bit of devilment there, just not much panache. I'll say one thing though.. those ol' locks are interesting inside. I think I'll have to try building a pistol up from parts now. :)

Some history reading recently led to some wandering about another possible "magical pirate setting" artifact that might come up... As mentioned here -- http://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/catalog/dra...rake-intro.html and here - http://whom.co.uk/squelch/discover_coast.htm The Spaniards had an almost superstitious fear of Drake because of his ability to locate their treasure ships. They called him El Draco - meaning 'The Dragon' - claiming that he had a magic mirror in his cabin to aid his navigation. Apparently he was entirely too good at finding their treasure ships and suchlike for them to think it was simply mortal skill. Now wouldn't that be a fine thing for a pirate to go trying to find, eh? Imagine, mate... one look and you know just where the best prize on the sea is... who needs a waggly-faced compass? Such musings then led to this little bit of speculation. Ignore if you please.. if you happen to know what *really* is gonna happen, please don't let me know. I just thought ya lads and lassies might could use a bit of musings in the long wait till next year. :) ************** *BLACK SCREEN* We hear the last stages of a fight. Scuffling, growls, things being kicked across a floor. We hear a grunt filled with effort, and the sounds of a man being strangled. We hear him gsap, struggle to breathe, kick at the floor.. and grow quiet... *LIGHT SLOWLY COMES UP, red gel* *FLOOR LEVEL Mouse-eye view* We see the shattered mess of a captain's cabin on a ship. Things are strewn everywhere. In the background, we see a man's feet as he desperately claws amongst the wreckage of a cabin. In the foreground we see the dead man's hand, partially blocking our view of his killer as it lies limp on the floor. The searcher sounds frantic, insane... he is desperately looking for something. He tosses something aside with a crash that obscures our view. Finally we hear his gibbering grow ecstatic.. this is it! this is it! We hear him laughing, gibbering softly to himself. This is it, this must be it.. what else can it be? *OVER THE SHOULDER VIEW* We see gnarled, scarred hands pull out an ebony box from beneath a pile of papers on a cluttered desk. It is deep black, battered about at the edges a bit but still intact. It is about a foot square, and 2 inches or so high. There is an ornate clasp at the front, and a DRAGON EYE motif in gold on the face of the box. *DESK LEVEL "MOUSE-EYE VIEW"* The killer's breath comes faster now.. he pulls the case towards him, and with trembling fingers unlocks the case. The top is all gathered burgandy silk. A little knatty now, it was once obviously gorgeous. Lying in the bottom of the case is a SCRYING MIRROR. It is the size of a dinner plate, and glistens with a black light. We can see the flickering taper of a candle reflected in it. The gnarled scarred hands pick it out of the bottom of the case, trembling as they do so. The killer places the mirror against the back of the case, and the camera pans across the base of the box. (SFX- sub-level Dragon's Growl, quiet eerie voodoo-type music) In the case, we see a wooden disc, about the same size as the mirror. It is a MAP OF THE WORLD.. crudely carved and inked on an ancient slab of wood. It is carved and inked scrimshaw style -- an early-early representation of a flat earth. We see the major continents, distorted though as early 16th. century maps are. Around the rim of the wood disc is a border filled with strange-looking "voodoo sybols." Maybe little shells and feathers and stones surround the disc, along with cast brass representations of the FOUR WINDS in each corner of the box. The man's excited sounds continue. We see his fingers drop a familiar-looking short string of beads on the center of the wooden disc. Finally, the killer speaks. We hear his old, strained voice almost growling.. "Show.. me.. Jack Sparrow" Camera pans to the MIRROR.. we see it fog a little, then in false-color dim light we see a SHIP, from far overhead. *CAMERA ZOOMS IN, TRANSITION TO EXTERIOR AIR SHOT OF THE BLACK PEARL* The camera zooms in from the aft of the ship.. coming in from behind and above, circling around under the prow for a beauty shot before zooming in on the MAIN DECK. Here we see a YOUNG GIRL (about 12) at the wheel. She is the spitting image of ELIZABETH SWAN as a child. Clad in a nice period gown, she looks a little out of place on this pirate ship. She certainly looks nervous behind the wheel, which towers above her. She jerks it a little here and there. Behind her we see JACK SPARROW. He's older, a little grey in his hair, but still the same old Jack. He stands behind the GIRL, gesturing with a panicked, concerned look on his face, frantically trying to will the wheel into the correct position. She of course doesn't see him. Another jerk at the wheel, and we hear a SNAP offscreen. JACK then DUCKS, his attention on the child and her steering as a rope and pulley fly narrowly over his head (he never even looks, just knows that it's coming). Offscreen, we hear an IMPACT, and a man grunt and collapse. Jack then reaches out in his characteristic manic style, grasping the wheel over the girl's hand. In the background, the pulley falls slowly back to center behind them as Jack steps up. "Let's just... set it.. this way, shall we?" *Camera PANS and ZOOMS, to frame their faces and look at them as they stand face to face. Her smiling, him looking at her adoringly* The GIRL turns around and is face to face with him.. seeming not to mind that goat's hiney breath in the last. She smiles and kisses JACK's cheek. "I love you Daddy" Offscreen - We hear a MAN'S SCREAM OF RAGE The camera backs out swiftly, spins around. *MIRROR EYE VIEW* We see WILL TURNER. He too is aged, and not well. His hair is stringy about his face, his eyes mad, and a deep ugly scar crosses his face from ear to chin. He stands in the dimly lit captain's cabin we saw before, and howls with rage. We hear a CRASH as the screen QUICKLY FADES TO BLACK *BEGIN OPEN CREDIT ANIMATION*

finally managed to um.... pirate .. a screen capture from the DVD. I'll be finishing a map in the next few weeks. :)

I just got one of these things and WOW the thing is huge. The proportions were what I was looking for, it's just half again as massive as I expected. I think I'll end up shaving off a good deal of wood eventually to bring down the mass. ANYHOW... the trigger is terrible hard to pull. Sometimes it doesn't seem to want to pull at all (yes, I'm on the full-cock position ) When I took the lock apart to clean out all the packing grease and stone the rough surfaces, I noticed that on the tumbler, the full cock notch was angled backwards, so that pulling the trigger had to force the hammer a touch back in order to clear the notch. Hence the heavy trigger pull. SO -- what I'd like to do is stone that to a nice smooth 90 degree angle from the tumbler axis, and hopefully lower the trigger pull that way. Is that safe, or are those notches even suppose to be that way? Thanks!

while probably too late for your period, these folk make absolutely incredible copies of early US coins: http://www.gallerymintmuseum.org/shop/order-form.html and these folk make nice stuff it looks as well... but sadly, mostly before the GAoP - http://www.antiquanova.com/post-1500.htm

Ooooh -- that's incredible work! How fascinating.. I might have to try one of those someday. I don't suppose there's a good source for say historically correct versions of the rulers and dividers and all? I did just find a copy of "Taking the Stars: Celestial Navigation from the Argononauts to the Astronauts" and it's just all kinds of fascinating..

I don't suppose there was ever any kind of map given for Isla de Muerta? Or even a location for shooting those scenes that I could look up on Google Earth and extrapolate from there? I'm making a mess of maps for our Pirate Day party at work next week. So far I have a "it's better than a key, it's a picture of a key rag, a rockin NeverLand (book version, mostly) laid out and doing the tea soak now, and of course Treasure Island, but I'd like a map from "Curse of the Black Pearl." Any ideas? Sugguestions? Heck, screen captures? Unlike my NeverLand map, this one will be small enough (roughly 11x17 I think) that I'll be able to scan it for them which want a copy when it's done.. Thanks so much mates. -K (yes, I know that it ain't s'posed to be findable without the Cap'ns trusty compass. But I still think a map would be cool decor )

I've seen period woodcuts of folks with bandoliers of pistols, and of course pieces just thrust through a belt -- but was anything like the "saddle ring" of the 1800s ever used on the shorter carbines and blunderbuss and such of the period? The concept certainly seems handy enough on a US Civil War era Sharps on a cavalry sling, and I know some folk even use the same idea with the "single point slings" of the M4.. but did it go back as far as pirate days? The earliest I can recall is an 1850's Sharps with a looooong bar and large ring, but surely it originated before that. Do we know when?

Wow.. talented folk you all are, and smart as paint besides! Thank you so much for the education -- the "this is how the parallel rulers and dividers work" webpage was especially useful! I'll have to order that book -- thank you! So.. next question. I presume that the fundamentals are pretty much the same, but is there a book on the techniques and thoughts of period navigation? In looking about I see plenty of books on celestial navigation, but they all seem to be of a modern bent. I presume the fundamentals haven't changed much.. but is there something closer to a "this is how they did it way back when" book? Or failing that, any chance we can get the good Captain Enigma to write one, with pictures of all his work? Thanks so much for the education! -K

Okay, I admit. In preparing for our company "Pirate Day" party in a couple weeks, I've become obsessed. Tracking down pretties, digging out my childhood copy of "Treasure Island," and reading your site archives like crazy. Neat place! So um... a question for ye all. I see these pictures of lovely maps spread out on a table, with all sorts of brass instruments and suchlike. Some look like stuff from high school geometry escaped into the wild, others.. yeesh. I can't begin to recognize. Is there a good book you'd recommend I look at that covers the life, duties, and practices of a GAoP navigator? Particularly a nice picture book with lots of "this is a such and such. It's used in this manner to do this..." Thank you so much!