Captain McCool

Just thought I'd point out, the idea here, as I understand it from Pew's first post, is to answer the previous question, then ask another, preferably in the same post. Keeping the ratio one question to one answer, that is. It just keeps it organized and less cluttered, and allows each person one chance at a time to both ask and answer.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree there. Ixn-ay on the Ylos-pay.

Wench. Definitely wench. Oh, and to answer the previous: firing squad. Way quicker than the noose. More guaranteed to cause a quick, relatively painless death. Millenium Falcon or Serenity? (what? They're both pirate ships!) Edit: Nuts! I missed the last one.

Hook. Way more threatening. But gotta be on the left, not the right. Also, Hat. More versatile by far than a bandana. Die of syphilis, or die of dysentery?

Cool! Can't wait to see the finished product!

Aye, Parker Strong doesn't sound half bad...

These really are cool! Incidentally, Henry - your zombie pirate gear rocks! It was an inspiration to me when I did my own! I totally need to add some barnacles though. They would be the perfect addition! Some photos of that:

Or me. My name sounds like a pun, haha. I agree with Chrispy - think hard about it. But yeah, Parker's a perfectly decent name! Is that your given name or your surname? Either way, if you keep it, I'd say it's best to keep it as a surname.

Sea bag. More versatile, and easier to carry. ...And both Somali pirate... or Ninja? (that's right, lesser of two evils)

Dark. Preferably spiced. Full-rigged-ship or Barque? (I mainly ask because I've always wondered what was the point of a barque-rig)

Haha, that's the spirit Hurricane! As for Blackbeard's accent... well, I'm not sure really... I didn't think much of it, but you may be right. In the Tim Powers novel he's described as having a strange accend that can't quite be placed, but I think it's clear they're not using much of the book... so I really don't know. I certainly hope he doesn't play him Spanish... that would be bloody bizarre...

Or perhaps gunwale... which I always imagine to be something resembling Shamu dressed like Rambo... But somehow I think we've strayed from the point...

I saw a couple really impressive wheel locks at the Metropolitain Museum of Art in New York when I was there back in Februrary. They were freakin incredible. One of them was very similar to this design, and it was over/under. I'm sure there are probably some NYC pirates here who know the piece I'm talking about.

Haha, brilliant. I'll have to check out the podcast tonight.

Haha... poor Dushin Hoffman... He made a good Hook though! As for McShane, I'm pretty thrilled about that casting decision, but I am admitedly a little bummed at his height (or lack thereof). Also, his costume looks way too "biker pirate" for my taste. But that's just me.

Damnation, I'm probably going to miss this one! I never seem to get to listen live anymore. Major bummer. Best of luck though! I'll definitely catch all the craziness via podcast!

Damnation! I really was looking forward to those. Well, maybe I can get one on the net somewhere...

Let me first start by saying I did actually enjoy Flint and Silver. However, I had numerous issues with the book. I never thought Drake captured the character of John Silver particularly well, nor did I feel he really did justice to Stevenson's original work in general. But that's just one pirate's opinion. I know a lot of other folks who are crazy about his work, so I'm probably in the minority here. Personally, as mentioned above, I was never satisfied with how likeable Drake wrote Silver. I always felt Long John had a deeply sinister side in the original Treasure Island, and while you do end up liking him in a way, you never quite trust him, and you know he'd gladly stab you in the back if he thought he'd profit by it. I felt Drake presented him as much too moral, noble, and sympathetic. Furthermore, I felt the character of Selena was really contrived, and basically just filled the roll of the ubiquitous "beautiful female lead." There were a few other things too that didn't quite sync up with Stevenson's work - like the fact that Silver appeared to admire Flint, as suggested by various bits of dialogue in Treasure Island, as opposed to the complete animosity he shows towards the man by the end of Flint and Silver. Also, Drake seems to have this deep-set opposition to the concept of buried treasure, for which he shamelessly uses this book as a platform. Yes, I realize there is no actual evidence of real pirates ever burying their treasure, but if you're going to write a book based on a story that revolves around this concept, you might want to act like said concept is even slightly plausible. The concept of Flint doing this as a means to trick his crew, and then come back for the treasure later was definitely interesting, and it foreshadowed Silver’s dialogue in Treasure Island regarding him putting his money in banks, etc. but in the end the explanation felt a little flimsy to me. Still, strictly as a novel on its own, I thought Flint and Silver was nicely written, and it grabbed my attention quite strongly. The characters, though not quite the characters I knew from Treasure Island, were interesting and compelling, and made you want to know what happened next. Even Selena, who was my least favorite character in the story, had some great moments - for instance when she manages, almost accidentally, to blow the head off her would-be rapist towards the end of the book. The description of that scene was great, and rivaled the bit with Jim and Israel Hands in Treasure Island. I haven't yet read the others in the series (truth be told, I didn't know they were even out yet), but I'll have to look them up. Hopefully Silver will prove a little more complex... we shall see...

"Golden Age of Piracy." That's the reason BlackJohn cited for buying the abovementioned two-volume history of Virginia. Which I thought was kind of awesome on an extremely nerdy level It's funny, I don't know why, because now it seems glaringly obvious, but you're right - that very well could be Wiil and Elizabeth's son in the trailer! I'm not quite sure it is their son, but it totally could be! I am glad Barbossa's back, but I'm not sure how I feel about him going all Royal Navy. I'm sure it's a ploy of some kind on his part, but I'm still not sure how I feel. I really dug his old costume, and so far he doesn't seem to wear it even once. I'm also really concerned with the complete lack of anything even remotely connected to the Black Pearl, now that they've rebuilt the movie ship into Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge. I'm going to be really sad if the Pearl is gone. Still, we get the HMS Surprise (or the HMS Providence as she was redubbed for this film), which makes me very happy. I love that ship.

Heh, somehow I think this thread has deviated from its original topic... but what else should one expect out of a bunch of history nerds? (hello Pot, my name is Kettle ) As for the trailer, woohoo! Looks like fun! I'm still a little dubious, because I haven't quite gotten over a lot of my gripes with movie #3. Not to mention the fact that the number of "#4" movies out there that are actually good is probably about equivalent to the number of honest politicians in the world. But still, I'm already excited by what I've seen. I still think Penelope's costume is total bollocks (okay, so none of them are historically accurate, but hers just makes her look like a bad ren-faire refugee), and I'm still bummed that McShane doesn't look more badass as Blackbeard (he's got that whole "biker pirate" look, I guess), but I'm psyched about McShane in the role in general, and the visuals so far look brilliant! Now let us just pray for a decent script. From what we've seen so far, I think it's fairly safe to say that very little (if any) of Tim Powers' novel will make its way into this film. P.S. I think you get extra points for buying that history of Virginia book solely because of the presence of four meaningful words contained with in, BlackJohn.

...I do love me a happy ending

I'm a big fan of the Epee du Soldat design, and those look quite nicely crafted.

Mr. Martin, I must say, this is one of the best things I've ever seen!

Damn. Tempting... Very tempting...

Argh! Damn your eyes, why must you tempt me so! Out of curiosity, do you know what it weighs?