Sjöröveren

I was sitting right next to Red Bess, so I know we saw the same movie. I wasn't overwhelmed or underwhelmed. (I guess that makes me whelmed.) A little too predictable. I did think Harrison Ford was pretty good, trying to put more into the movie that was in the script. And I liked that Karen Allen makes no attempt to look younger than she is. People need to be told that women over 50 can be attractive and vibrant. And not nearly as dull as all the celebutards out there.

That's one of the things I love most about O'Brian's writing. He uses obscure and archaic words and puts the onus on the reader (now there's a word for ye all - onus.) to discover the meaning. And not just the nautical terms. Of course, it makes it easier to have Dean King's A Sea of Words, a lexicon of words used in the O'Brian books. How else would you discover the difference between homoiousian (of like essence or substance) and homoousian (of the same essence or substance)? These are words you can use everyday! No one will understand you of course, but you can still use them. Example: "Are these avocados on sale homoousian as the ones you had last week?"

I have been searching in vain for several years for a good Royal Navy midshipman's dirk from the Napoleonic era. Reproduction, not original. Anyone know of where I could get one?

I have The Age of Agony and its 19th Century counterpart The Age of Miracles laying around somewhere. Now I'm going to have to dig them up and read them again. I think I got mine from Jas Townsend about 15 years ago. It looks like Amazon has quite a few used copies available for really cheap.

My most recently completed book was In the Heart of the Sea - the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrook. A very interesting and highly recommended book about a shipwrecked whaler and the ensuing cannibalism. This was the (true) story that Melville is said to have based Moby Dick upon. Speaking of which, I tried for the third time to get thru Mr. Dick; and for the third time gave up in frustration. I absolutely abhor Melville's style of writing. Lots of really great stuff in there, but pages and pages and pages of utterly annoying prattle. The whole GD first chapter is bascially about how undworthy he is to be writing the book. Fine, Ishmael! Write your GD book and get out of way! Recently finished the entire Aubrey/Maturin series for the third time through, and promising myself to wait at least a year before I start again. But they're just so damn good!!! I spent most of this week at home, sick, and watching crappy movies (well OK, a few pretty good ones like 300 and Batman Begins.) Finally worked up the energy to get out and stretch today. Went to Half Price Books, and cut myself off at $30. Here's what I got: Patrick O'Brian - A Life Revealed Dean King's biography of my favourite author. That should satisfy my O'Brian fix for awhile. The Pirate Ship 1660-1730 from Osprey Publishing, which I've heard good things about. Warships of the Great Lakes - 1754-1834 which should satisfy my other newest fascination, the War of 1812. (That reminds me, I read By the Dawn's Early Light by Walter Lord over the winter. Same guy who wrote A Night to Remember. This was a really fun read - focusing just on the British attacks on Washington & Baltimore.) The Sea Chart - The Illustrated History of Nautical Maps and Navigational Charts by John Blake. I had never heard of this book before. It looks fascinating and it was only $6! And of course, now that I have all these great new books, I'm feeling better and will be going back to work on Monday.

Just got back from seeing the new Iron Man movie with my 2 powder monkeys. We all loved it. Very reminiscent of the Spiderman films and Transformers, but better than any of them. Robert Downey Jr. is perfectly cast -- Tony Stark is a arrogant jerkwad who ends up finding that there is more to life than piles of money and an endless string of disposable beautiful women. Nice to see Jeff Bridges play the slippery villain that he seemed like he always had in him. And here's an odd bit of trivia -- Peter Billingsly, aka Ralphie from A Christmas Story not only has a bit part but is one of the many executive producers! I had heard that he had more or less given up acting for producing, but this is the first time I noticed his name in the credits. Anyway, highly recommended. I'm interested in what everyone else thought.

Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac is one of those books that stays with a person forever. If you value the natural world and your place in it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's like a long pleasant road trip with that college professor that you always wished you could have spent more time with. I particularly remember the chapter about getting up way before dawn, walking deep into the woods, sitting down with your thermos of coffee, and watching the woodcock dance their mating dance as the sun is about to rise. If you can't be sitting in a forest, this is the next best thing to being there.

Spring has been cancelled in Minnesota. Those 70s and 80s of a few weeks ago were all a big mistake. It snowed in the Twin Cities last night. Parts of NW MN have 6 inches of wet sloppy snow. It's all melted already around here, but it's FREAKING LATE APRIL! Enough with the winter! This weather is like one big sinus infection. You sneeze and blow but it just keeps on dripping. Garrison Keillor once said that weather like this is how God shows teetotalers what a hangover is like. So I guess the best approach is to stay inside and keep drinking. here's to 12 more months of pasty white skin and endless grog!

Hoping that no news is indeed good news. My thoughts and prayers to both of you for healing and peace of mind.

Starvation. You were a poet and not a farmer, right? Me? Die of starvation? Never going to happen! It's far more likely that I would have been drowned by an overzealous anabaptist, or have been mistaken for a corpse while sleeping and quickly dissected before I could object. I am neither a poet nor farmer. I'm more of a 17th century Cliff Clavin. So I most likely would have been beaten to death by those who had simply had enough of my blathering.

Continuing on how presentism applies to reenacting... I used to work at a "history village" type of thing depicting the white settlement of Minnesota. We almost never brought up the relationship with the Indians, even though there is a Dakota Reservation less than 5 miles away. One of the guys who worked there made it a point to occasionally refer to the "local savages" or "heathens" when he felt that the audience would be receptive to having their preconceptions messed with. They'd usually reply with "Why do you call them that?" "They're called Native Americans!" and the like. He'd respond "God made them savages, not I. Why would I call them anything else?" and "They aren't Christian, so they must certainly be heathens. I pity them." and so on. He did it with such simple innocence and honesty, that I doubt he never truly offended anyone. Most of the time he was able to engage them in a discussion that brought them around to the realization that (duh!) things were different then! If you just tell someone "things were different then" they don't think any further than "Yeah, they sure didn't have much stuff." But if you help bring them to their own realization, it seems to be more meaningful. Another case in point. My usual presentation is about Medicine circa 1800. I often will use the death of George Washington as teaching point. His being repeatedly bled, blistered and purged over the course of several days until he finally died seems, to us today, as nothing short of torture. Yet I remind my audience that this wasn't just some slob dying, it was George Washington. He got the finest medical treatment available in the country. State of the art equipment, practices and methods, all the best that could be had. And that meant bleeding, blistering and purging. And if this seems barbaric, just think what folks in the 22nd century will think about organ transplants. "You mean to tell me that you took the hearts of dead people and put them into patients?!? What were you thinking? Why didn't you just grow a new heart like normal people?" Alas, I suppose we will always assume that we have figured it all out, and those who came before us didn't know what we do simply because they were stupid.

So sorry I checked in late.... I was busy givin' Red Bess big birthday kisses from all of ye! And I hope to throw in a few hundred extra, just to be sure that she's good and proper kissed! (I gave her a cute little brooch with a sextant on it. She likes it, I think.)

I raise a full bumper in your honour, Captain! I regret that it is not in person at RF4, but hope to share a dram with you in person in Port Washington in June (if the blizzard lets up by then, with the blessing.) Skål!

I've recently received a pair of boots for my son, and a pair of men's shoes for myself. The boots are perfect! Easily as good or better quality as the ones we bought for him last year from SCA boots for nearly twice the price. Mlle Diamond, I hope you continue to have these in stock until feet on both or our boys are done growing. The shoes, however did not fit my enormous misshapen feet. I wear a size 13E, and although the XL shoes were plenty long, their width would not quite do. If you have normal width feet, you should have no problem. But wider feet may not fit into these. And I must mention that Mlle Diamond accepted my returned shoes with sublime graciousness.

Any embarrassing or compromising photos of Peaches would be most welcome, but try to keep it less than 100. Part of the decision to not go was the fact that there would be all these great vendors there, and I wouldn't be able to spend a groat on anything. It would just be too depressing.

I must, with great sorrow, send my regrets for RF4. I had the room booked and the time off work, but there has been a profound paucity of prize money in my home waters this winter. However, The Fool's Gold will be handsomely represented by Capt. Merrydeath, Lady Barbossa and Peaches. I suppose Red Bess & I will have to wait until Port Washington to discover if he is currently a good Peach or an evil Peach. (Perhaps he is a Cold Peach -- I'd wager his stones are clinging right now.) The good news is that this may have freed up an available room, if that has become a problem.

Jas. Townsend & Sons has a sort of clocked stocking available for $9.50/pair. Not nearly as fancy as the ones in Barcelona, but they aren't behind glass either.

The Chantey Cabin has a monthly show that I try to check out fairly often. It's also a great resource for recordings. They are based in the UK.

Gluttony and sloth wage engage in a never-ending battle within me, whilst I am content to sit on the couch eating Pop-Tarts watching their tempest from a safe distance. Greed and envy seem to be silly wastes of time to me, whilst Lust is a perfectly marvelous waste of time, so long as it Lust Fulfilled.

OK, I'm booked for Thursday thru Sunday. I can't wait!

Adorable beyond belief! A little angel straight from heaven! How unfortunate that within months it, like most cats, will probably become a sullen and willfull crapping machine. Enjoy these days. Our cat, Gus, wakes me daily, always 1/2 hour before I had planned to be up, with an auto-pilot meow. He is a hold-up artist for petting. He will insinuate himself into whatever you are doing, until you drop everything and pet him vigorously for a minimum of 5 minutes. After that, he contents himself with divesting himself of most of his hair on my pillow, where he will spend the next 20 hours. But I wuvs him! He's my kitty! Rrrrrr...you're a good kitty, aren't you Gus. Rrrrrrrr...

Any advice on verifying legality of our reproduction weaponry? I am in Minnesota, and I would like to make a cat and/or a bosun's rope's end. Should I ask a cop? An attorney? Call the state patrol?

We will have full order info to you by the end of this week. At least 1 pair of shoes and 1 of boots. What's your order deadline?

I don't know... $25 for three days? I could get like, 4 cups of coffee for that. I plan to be there for the whole damn thing.

If this adaptation is as good as recent versions of Moby Dick or Gulliver's Travels, I think I'll be busy doing something else those 13 nights.