Iron Jack

Aye, Patrick, We be busy sailin,' pillagin,' 'n, plunderin' our weasely black guts out as usual! Upcoming: 4th OF JULY PARADE, REDWOOD CITY -OK, we just did this yesterday. Hotter than bejeesus backside, but lot's 'o fun as usual, and I got to "fire" me new "chicken gun" at the crowd as well, heh. BLUE FRONTIER RAID - FRIDAY JULY 29TH (unconfirmed) A large fundraiser for ocean conservation. Ongoing cruises with the good ship Royaliste -She just finished a cruise up the Sacramento River delta this weekend and is now back in port and getting ready for: TALL SHIPS 2005 - JULY 30TH & 31ST Piers 30/32 in San Francisco Check her out at - http://www.privateerinc.org NORCAL RENAISSANCE FAIRE PIRATE INVASION - AUGUST 17th & 18TH We invade, we drink, we tatoo, and generally create a ruckus. OJAI PIRATE FAIRE - SEPTEMBER 24th & 25th More big ruckus. And lot's more 'o course! Check us out at - http://www.talesofthesevenseas.com and sign the articles if'n ye dare. Plus, more and more of us scalawags keep showin' up at The Duke of Edinburgh's, Cupertino, Ca. every Thurs. night around 8PM for music, drinkin,' and a generally rowdy good debauch. So, feel free to slip in 'n drop anchor if ye've a mind to, mates.

Right ye be there, mate! Thankee fer the headsup! Couldn't find hardly a bloody thing to do in downtown! Stuck in the Renaissance Center all week (and over the weekend, when it pretty much be all closed. Bah!). Bloody HOT outside too! I did, however, pop into a couple of interestin' pubs while there and managed a glimpse of the "Maritime Sailor's Cathedral." (quoted from the "Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald"): "In a musty old hall in Det-ro-it, they prayed At the Maritime Sailor's Cathedral, blah, blah, blah . . ." So that was interestin.' Mostly got to sit in me room and practice me squeeze (squeak) box, so I did learn a couple 'o new ditties while there, so it weren't a totally wasted time. Payback be a real b*tch if ye be a noisy neighbor 'n be roomin' next to ole' Jack !

Ahoy, mates! Traveling to Detroit this week. Any interesting piratical things not be missed while I'm there? Haven't found any tallships that call the area home.

Me too! Makes me wish I were a kid agin! Wonder if she floats?

Mumbo Gumbo - Love Makes Me Stupid

Indigo Girls - Galileo Good workin' late music.

Old Hobb

Pretty fun hearin' the "bum, bum, bum, . . ." of the runnin' feet on the boardwalk after we made our first pass. Quite the stampede, eh Cap'n?

Captain

Jimi - Georgia Blues

-sushi- raw

Thankee mates! Found the thread in Cap'n Twill and it was very helpful. Don't know which method I will use yet , but I would suspect that a base coat of rigging tar finished off with linseed oil to cut down on stickyness would probably be what was readily available to the average sailor, but I'll let ye know how me "sailin' topper" comes along. By the by, Joshua, I've used the asphalt coating stuff before on my theatrical cannon barrels and it looks good but stays sticky for a loooooong time. Kept getting complaints from me mates of it coming off on their hands while they pushed the cannons in parades and whatnot (pirates be such wimps sometimes). Finally had to give them (the cannons, not me mates) a coat of good ole flat black latex over the asphalt stuff and that seems to have solved the problem.

shock treatment

Red Handed Jill - Methinks you be a different RHJ than the one that currently be ME cabin mate "Red-Handed Jill", heh (or maybe you be moon-lighting? ). Anyhoo, hope your photoshoot went well! In the past, I have successfully stretched a small Jas. Townsend hat-blank to me own big-headed size by just squirting 'er down with some warm water and shovin' er on me head for a while. I did this for Richard Brown's "Blackbeard" hat used for the last Buccaneers Ball (Richard has a pretty big noggin too). Worked out fine and I was a bit sorry to part with the hat because it fit ME so well after the soaking. Hey Patrick (or whomever might know) - Quick hat related question along the same lines: Have you any info. on the waterproofing technique originally used on tarpaulins or felt sailors' hats? I have a felt tricorn that I got from Jeff MacKay that has an oil and wax (?) finish that is waterproof as 'eck and looks quite a lot like the sailor hats that I've seem in museums. It's also very stiff. No tacking required (and it's been rained on!) Haven't hit MacKay up fer the recipe yet (his website claims it is a secret), but I have a felt topper that I'd like to experiment with turning into a right nice sailors' topper by adding the wax 'n oil finish. Any ideas? Anyone know? What was used before Scotchguard? How were oilskins originally made? I've done some web searches, but haven't turned up anything promising other than the DrizaBone treatment, which I will probably give a shot next.

FYI - A good source for very nice "period" pewter buttons be: http://jas-townsend.com/index.php The ones on my black "Sparrow" coat be slightly bigger than 1"D and I used 32 of em! They be a bit pricey at $.75 each, but they be way cool and very nicely done. Jas. Townsend does carry less expensive large plain pewter and brass ones as well. Red Handed Jill, me cabin mate, used smaller pearl-centered buttons on her "Sparrow" coat, but she used more of em. And the pearl buttons worked well for a more "gurlie" lookin' pirate coat.

Elvis Costello - Tear Off Your Own Head

- suckin' face- swappin' spit

Got me iTunes library set to shuffle between cuts from Shivaree, Cake, Jet, Sam Phillips, and with some Supreme Beings of Leisure thrown in for good measure. Woot! It be a fine AM indeed! Well, you DID ask. Although I'll be practicin' a few Clancey Bros. and Dubliners tunes a bit later, heh! P.S. - Not to worry Queenrogue. Them years will be picking up speed before too long.

Ahoy Cap't, I'd love for someone to correct me if I'm wrong here, but, . . . I was just in New Orleans last May (me family be from there) and there was precious little to do with pirates at all down there, even though N.O. was originally the home of Jean Lafitte and his crew of scalawags. Only references that R H Jill and I found to pirates or privateers were: Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, Bourbon St. in the French Quarter; a small bar popular with the ghost tour groups (THE big industry in the French Quarter), and of some historical interest as a building type, but with no real documentation even connecting it with Jean Lafitte. A small "museum" in the town of Jean Lafitte/Barataria and dealing with Jean Lafitte and Cajun culture. This mainly consisted of several showcases with a puppet show/diorama in each one, a couple of old piroques, and, . . . that was about it! Pretty hokey! Here be the link to the "museum:" http://www.geocities.com/worldwidese/jeanl...tteexhibit.html As for vessels: there was the Natchez and several other tourist riverboats near the French Quarter's waterfront and I did glimpse a two masted (schooner?) vessel of some type down in Jean Lafitte but couldn't get close, as it appeared to be at someone's private dock and I was driving and on the other side of the bayou at the time. Otherwise, just a lot of the normal fishing boat and barge types that you see scads of in the area. Don't know about the one at the theme park. New Orleans and the area to the south of the crescent is very rich in both piratical and Creole/Cajun history (I am of part Cajun ancestry meself) and it seems a shame that there is hardly anything referencing it other than some books, road signs, and a few restaurants. Such a shame! Seems ripe fer a willing privateer, sez I! I would start by asking some questions around the Jean Lafitte/Barataria areas. Maybe Chambers of Commerce, etc. A good link for info. on Jean Lafitte and the french creoles can be found at: http://www.frenchcreoles.com/CreoleCulture...jeanlafitte.htm P.S. I DO, however, heartily recommend "Cane" or "New Orleans" brand rum (America's only indigenous label) if you can get yer hands on some. It be fine indeed!

Me hat originally be a Jeff MacKay creation and be a wonderful thing to behold indeed. I've since embellished it with some braided trim which I applied with the dreaded Super Stickum (horrors!). I've also added some silver "trading" type Crosses of Lorraine and feathers to dress 'er up a bit. To attach these, I used fine steel wire like the kind hobbiests use (available at most hardware stores). This worked really well as you can generally poke a hole in the felt with the wire alone, then just thread 'er through. Then It's just a matter of twisting the thing properly so it doesn't stick a hole in your melon when you put the thing on. I've recently reblocked the hat (after many an adventure) and sure enough the Super Stickum be comin' loose and the braid is starting to come loose too. The crosses and feathers (wired) are standing firm. I might try flexible hotglue for the trim next time since this hat be one thick, wax/oil treated creation and I dread tryin' to pass a needle and thread through 'er. MacKay has assured me that this was the original way that these hats were treated to be waterproof and withstand the rigors of sea service and I believe 'im, but she be stiff 'n sticky to be sure.

Aye, 'tis truly a sad day indeed. 'tis many 'o season we have enjoyed sailing aboard her, shooting at her (only after being shot at 'o course), and observing her lovely lines gracing our Bay 'O St. Francis. She leaves many a happy memory behind her. May fair winds and following seas find her wherever she journeys. Ours will be a poorer place without her familiar presence.

Me favorite changes all the time. Current favorite: Singapore - Tom Waits (damn fine freaky pirate tuneage, methinks) :)

I'll post 'er here too, just fer S & G's (don't mean to be steppin' on anyone's thread afterall, 'natch) Ahoy Mates! Just want to say a quick word 'o thanks to all of ye folks wot helped with preparation and assistance with the Buccaneers Ball this year (sorry, fer takin' me dang time in gettin' this out, but I've been a bit catatonic this last week with windin' everything down 'n all). So anyway, a BIG THANKEE to the died-in-the-wool Hide and Shriekers fer stickin' with the vision and helpin' to put the whle thing together in the first place: - Red-Handed Jill (me own darlin') - Rowdy Phil - Joanne Ireland 'n staff (who isn't a "brethern 'o the coast" yet, but we be workin' on 'er) An all of the actors 'n entertainers who participated in putting the show together: - Ace Miles (me boy, ye be a true talent!) - Claire (Poison Quill 'erself) - Scott (Darkthing, ye be a fine one fer pitchin' in at the last minute, mate) - Rowdy Phil - Richard Brown and the Highlanders (ye be true talents with the blades, boys, 'n, Richard, I think ye be born to play Blackbeard, mate!) - Barry Strauss (our fill in DJ fer Saturday night. Also not a pirate, . . . yet) - Skip Henderson and the Starboard Watch (Brilliant as always. Be sure to catch their show evey Thurs. night at Quinn's from 8-10 PM) An everyone who volunteered to help with setup, teardown, or any of the other million things that always need doing with this kind of event: - Bob - Rich - Greg - Nicole - Cyrus - Stephanie (of the Olsen clan) - Adam (also of the Olsen clan) - Jim Corder (whom I had just spoken to for the first time the day before and who showed up and immediately headed up the ladders to help with some of the rigging (that I really didn't want to do meself) Thanks, mate!) -Vinnie (who did everone's makeup on Friday) 'An our wonderful vendors: - Stich 'n Yolanda (thanks fer the beautiful bottle, mate!) - Jamaica Rose and 'er helper (from NQG) - Richard Becker and 'is lovely wench (who's name presently escapes me feeble mellon). And plenty of others, which I'm sure I'm forgetting to name some (jest knock me over the 'ead the next time ye sees me if'n I forgot to mention ye). Overall, I think the Ball was a grand success! 'O course there would be plenty of things which would be different if'n we 'ad 'er to do over again ('n hindsight be 20/20 as always), but all 'n all she wearn't all that bad fer our first year out of the box, methinks, and everyone I've spoken to seemed to have had a really good time. Which is most important. So, we Hide and Shriekers already be looking forward to next year with a bigger and more well-rounded piratical event in the works! So, once again, from the bottom of me weasely black guts, a heartfelt thanks to ye all! Iron Jack

Aye, thanks fer the photos Cap'n, Them pics bring a tear to this 'ole blighters eye. T'was that excursion when I first clapped eyes on the dear Royaliste, . . . from the deck of the Lady Wash. If'n I only knew then. IJ

Aye, them be some fine pics, Ace me boy! Thankee! Wot kinda' place was ye stayin' in? Looked to be a fine one indeed if'n the view be any measure. Much better than the scabborous flea bucket meself 'n Rowdy Phil (i.e. Legless Louie) was inhabitin'. Give, mate. 'An I'll put 'er in me book fer next year.