blackjohn

WTOP is saying the weather is going to keep getting better right up until Friday. Then Saturday, possible showers and maybe even a thunderstorm. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Agreed. It is cool. I figured if you hadn't made something you could use it for inspiration. Oh, I understand completely. It's just creative costuming, with a vague theme of hi-tech Victoriana. No rules. No wrongs. No rights. That being said, even they seem to have some hierarchy in their subculture, not based on authenticity, but on the ability to make things. Have you ever read this article? http://www.datamancer.net/Kraft-steampunk.htm How well I know that. I don't really like doing pirate festivals for this very reason. If I dress in an outlandish way for a festival, tongues will wag. People will say, "well if he can dress that way..." etc. So I try to avoid them, generally. Of course, this could be expanded upon to become its own thread... Exactly. It's about unbounded creativity. My question is, after you've made stuff, what can you do with it? As a reenactor, I know I can get a bunch of people together, and at the very least, fight a bunch of skirmished during the course of a day. Costuming seems somewhat limited once the costumes are made. Obviously, you can have a fancy dress party with others. But how do you kick it up a notch?

If the cogs ever pick up sufficient speed, I'll get back to you.

I'd never even heard of that Burning Man thing until you mentioned it. Did a quick search on the net and, whoa, talk about fascinating. Not my cup of tea, to be sure, but without a doubt one of the more interesting subcultural events there is out there. This is pretty cool... A trike? You should document your progress and post it, someplace.

I was thinking about this thread, and in a flash I saw the old salt from Master and Commander there in my mind, with H-O-L-D F-A-S-T tattooed on his fingers. When it gets tough... hold fast.

Duchess, believe me, the cogs are turning. If I make it, will they come? My word, aren't you practically on the other side of the country?

Two weeks... I better start rolling massive amounts of cartridges! Guess there's a trip for a can of black powder in my future.

Who? Me? Silas, I mean Patrick, yes. But me? I'm generally not a maker of stuff. However... I am a maker of events! That being said, I do have one or two clever and twisted inventions in mind. Now it's just a matter of applying the right amount of money.

Fwiw, the opening was pushed back one week because they weren't sure they'd have enough time to pack up all the Star Wars stuff and put together all the Whydah stuff. For closing day of Star Wars, there's a good chance some pirates may duke it out with some Stormtroopers on the steps of the museum.

Looking at the members list, it appears Red Maria has been a member since day 2. Maybe she'd remember some names? All I know is that it appears some dude named Angus MacVox once ran the show. http://pyracy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2066

(Disclaimer. This is not exactly on topic, and the mods can move it to elsewhere if they so please, but I thought I'd give everyone a heads up just in case they'd be interested in seeing something different.) This coming weekend, at the Lock House Museum in Havre de Grace, Maryland, my friends will be holding a reenactment of the Battle of Clontarf. I may be mistaken, but I believe groups from England will be there, and also the Longship Company, with their replica viking longship. If you are in the area, drop in. It'll probably be pretty cool. I may be there taking pictures. I won't be reenacting, since I have other duties during the day and/or weekend. There's a lengthy thread on the Pirate Brethren website: http://www.piratebrethren.com/forum/viewto...php?f=40&t=1253. Also, the Baltimore Sun ran an article on it a few weeks back. If you happen to go, and you see me, and your name in Rogue Mermaid, make sure you bring a bottle of rum.

Or man has a bad affect upon her? ...I wish I could take some of that snow off of your hands. We've gotten totally ripped off in the snowfall category this year. At most, I had to shovel snow twice. One of those snows, if not both, I could've used a whisk broom instead of a shovel.

Both cool links. Thanks. I'll add Crabfu Steamworks. It's one of my favs. Seems to be down at the moment, however. maybe he's adding some new marvelous contraption. http://www.crabfu.com/steamtoys/

You are one of pyracy's best and brightest, and I for one miss you. That being said, I know where you are coming from, and I know anything steampunk you create will be a wondrous sight!

That's cool Christine. I didn't remember that about you. So... what character class did you like to play?

Know what ya mean... if I don't have a history book in my hand, it's a gaming book instead. Or vice versa. I'm actually looking forward to the day when my kids are old enough to roll them bones.

There's a pretty good bio on wiki. I agree. In fact, I think my imagination was better when my primary hobby was rpgs, as opposed to reenacting.

Nice dice cat! Nice dice!

Weird, isn't it. Think of the cultural shift that guy helped create. D&D paved the way for the computer gaming revolution. Also weird to think I've continued playing D&D (and/or other rpgs) ever since I started back in the 70s. It led me to my circle of friends, my wife, even my job. Hell... even my kids have their own sets of dice!

If you are looking for exact measurements, go here: http://www.artifacts.org/

You may want to read this article. it doesn't give you specific dimensions, but it will show you some options based on period art.

Sorry Eye, but I have no idea when Pirate Con is, so I couldn't answer. And even if I did, it would just be a guess. My guess would be no. Between construction times and shipping times, I'd be surprised if we'd see these arrive before two months. We're probably looking at four. But again, that's just as guess.

After much back and forth banter over styles and shapes and so on, I think Loyalist Arms is doing a great job giving us as many choices as possible in these new shoes. The cost will be $125.00 US. Two different types of shoe will be available. One is based on the shoe from the Whydah. The other is derivative of shoes found on La Belle. Discounts will be available for group orders. I'll pass along more info as it comes to me.

A friend of mine is in some way involved in the naval contingent for the 1812 Grand Muster at St Leonards. Considering the size of the event, and the fact that it is only about an hour and a half drive, I really should think about getting involved in some way. Heheh... and thinking about it... my old scout master captains an 1812 infantry group... I could hook myself up with them as milita, or with the navy guys as random oarsman.

I've seen such latchets in archaeological reports. One of the shoes from La Belle appears to have had a short latchet with a buckle attached by a stud.