blackjohn

I think I missed the "secret" part! DOH! My apologies. I hope you like it, and happiest of birthdays, Christmas, and New Year too! Mine arrived in the mail the other day. I want to open it now... but I think I can wait... I think... either way, thank you to whoever... I wish you all good cheer! And now, I'm off... taking a winter's break from pyracy... see you all on the other side of '09.

Kicking around various ideas of "things to do"... dug up these from about 6 years ago... no wonder son#1 doesn't like reenacting!

Love it! Brilliant!

Dude! Waaaasssssaaaappppp! I love ya man! Many Happy Returns!

Best Wishes! May your birthday be filled with those things pirates so adore... gold and jewels and rum!

It's not as bad as their lightsabers... which are their "most frequently placed on time out" toy. I tell them, "no thrusts! And the face is not a legal target." But do they listen... nooo.

Cute. Abject evil. Cute. Abject evil... ...and the Universe imploded. Thanks. Heh... you'll get to see how cute/evil they can be in a couple years...

great! Last year I used the Ghost of Xmas Present as my avatar. He's always been a favorite.

They have a website: http://www.coloniallivinghistory.org/ http://www.coloniallivinghistory.org/about.asp They also have a list of events, but it appears to be thru '08. We're going to make the Lockhouse Nov '09 a two-day event and hope to have them back again.

I'm doing a paper on the UNESCO Underwater Cultural Heritage program, and similar laws in the US, and while doing research happened upon this. Fortunately she doesn't classify as underwater cultural heritage, but she does need some help. http://74.220.215.216/~sscolumb/wordpress/?page_id=40

Agreed. And what I didn't know is that Bill is an accomplished maker of muskets. At the last event, he had this most amazing snaphaunce that he was using. It was huge. And really, really nice. I asked him where he got it, and he told me that he made it. Whoa! He said he was always handy with metal working, but he used to be hesitant to do woodworking. Evidently Ted broke him of that. I'm not sure, but Ted my make alot of their furniture, though some of it may be antiques. I know some of the accessories are. Bill's wife has the most excellent collection of tea-related items, including a period tea transport box, as I recall.

Bill & Ted. They have an incredible collection of stuff, that's for sure. And massive trailers to move it around in. And they are both really cool guys who like a good day's fightin'.

Hahaha... I know. Every time I see those juxtaposed that way I can't help but think of both of those shows, and a silly now you see him *poof* now you don't sort of thing.

Fwiw, if I'm stuck with cold, I may as well have some snow to go with it. Then again, I have two young sons, and having a snowball fight ranks pretty high up there on the list o' fun things to do.

Hmmm... no, looks like I never did. Duh. We did three skirmishes as I recall. Every one was a really good fight. We were allowed to use the plantation house itself in the scenarios, which is a rarity. The only caveat was when we fired, we had to make certain we stepped outside to discharge our arms. Very cool. Very much like playing army as a kid. Of course, when you are playing army as a kid you don't have mock grenades... heh heh heh... I think one of the high points of the event was when the Rangers decided to hole up in the house. Owen had a whole bag of grenades. He made a run for the door, lit one, then dove for cover. Then there was a giant PUFF of smoke at the door, and the Rangers come stumbling our. We opened fire. Mayhem. What fun! Matt tells me the F&I events there are similarly great. So with any luck the border war will be a success.

We plan on being there. John has supported our efforts in the past with flying colors, so I'm certain the Brethren will be there to support him. The site is fantastic. We did a pirate event there about a year and a half ago (were going to do one there this year but couldn't agree on a date) and it was one of the most fun events I have ever done. I give it two huge thumbs up. I don't recall if I ever put together a Pirate Brethren gallery page for that event or not... if I didn't, I should have... but you can read about the event and see a few pics here.

Dude. You live in frickin' Cali man, move someplace where it's warmer.

Sweet! Congrats! MSW... that's like... Master of Surface Warfare??? Best of luck to ya!

Ha! Great minds think alike. I just popped over there to their site to grab the url and by the time I got back you had posted it. http://www.therifleshoppe.com/order%20a%20catalog.htm It really is a great book. It's like... part history book, part Xmas catalog. I can't recommend it enough. I could sit and ogle the escopta section all day...

I know... poor little tree... Imagine what that place must've seemed like to those intrepid travelers on the flying boats that stopped there briefly... great thing to daydream about...

A couple dozen 15mm minis arrived in yesterday's mail!!! On Thursday, let the Firefly game begin! (and now I must away... time for trimming flash and priming miniature cowboy-spacemen)

Better a late salute to a fellow philosopher than a salute to a later philosopher, says I. Anyway... thanks! High on my to-do list is to sit around a table with you and Ed, drinking heavily, or at least heartily, and enjoying all the random, fascinating tidbits that I'm sure we would bounce around that table...

Hey Mark, sorry I missed it! I hope you had the finest of birthdays, and wish you many, many more!

Hahahaha... that's wonderful! Bravo!