PyratePhil

My apologies.

That wasn't my intent.

Don't be wastin' time cleanin' up, lad - th' lass gave ye a gold-plated invite!

We all tend t' filter wot' our senses perceive. How conscious we are o' those filters or the judgement calls we make wit' 'em is wot's in question. I'm sure neither o' ye would argue that this ability is useful an desirable sometimes.

The questions we should ask is how conscious are ye of yer own consciousness? Can ye quiet yer self enough t' experience things as raw sensory perceptions?

Aye 'n' aye.

'Tisn't easy, nor even desirable most times - but when ye DO practice it, it's something very special.

At least, until the damn neighbors start up their industrial-grade lawn mower - I SWEAR they do it just to bug me!

You beat me to the punch - I won't care what others think - I ALREADY don't care for the most part.

Even if I DID care, how could I change their perceptions of me, except by acting falsely?

LOVE the Bugs reference - that's how I've always thought opera should be!

But that Disney clip? Oh, boy - talk about something that's probably been censored to pieces by now...

Eh, yes and no (like most things in life).

Without fresh blood, you run the risk of inbreeding - a situation that I observe daily in my mundane life neighboring community. Thoughts become stale, everything becomes predictable.

And yes, you open yourself up to new terrors and troubles when you bring in fresh blood, but so what? That's also the nature of freedom, right? Like this country? Open your doors and you get a wonderfully crazy mixing of ideas and customs, but along the way you get a few chum-buckets.

So, there are systems and methods available that will eliminate the chum buckets (and I know THAT'S been a topic here before - just ask Rumba).

Wouldn't it be worth having the new blood?

As for the owners - whoever they may be - if this is just a hobby board, fine. It's a great one. But I just see the missed opportunities...

PS - why should the owner have a second ID? I don't buy that. In fact, I just saw Booty on here before.

If you want to play The Phantom with your members, that's swell - just don't expect the highest levels of trust and cooperation. I don't give my allegiance to a mask...

I thought the implication might be in the statement, but for clarity's sake:

"The point is that how we perceive something appears to dictate how it will be for us."

If you perceive me as evil, then you will interpret every action I take in light of your perception. I see that go on all the time. If the neighbors become the mental enemy, everything they do is interpreted as a threat to the perceiver. If they improve the landscape, "they did it to make our yard look bad." Etc.

As for the elephant...not sure what to make of that one. You can believe it is an elephant if you like and for you it may seem to be so. But I wouldn't tell too many people about your belief.

Just because you believe in something doesn't mean it is that way. It's just how you will mentally experience it until you believe differently. (Want proof? Look at how many people think anthropogenic Global Warming is the main cause of the temperature change. )

Implications often lead to false perceptions.

I'm glad to see that you finally acknowledged in your last paragraph that no matter what amount of perception, implication, or other filtering is done, none of it changes the TRUE nature of what is being observed. That was the only point I was trying to make.

Therefore, if you just let things alone and let them be themselves, without filtering them, you will be more likely to see the truth.

Don't think my belief about elephants is valid? Ask the thousands of people every year that ride Dumbo.

Put THAT in yer magic feather and smoke it!

Yes, loose control is good - certainly better than a dictatorship - but just as William has been after the Admins for 2 years, I've been asking since I joined for the Admins to at least show their faces once in a while. But it's always been second-generation responses from Mods, rumors and best guesses.

Yes, the board works - but that's due to the Mods and the superior quality of the members. The Admins should thank their stars that they're lucky enough to have such a system in place, and the least they could do is make a surprise visit once in a while, or turn the duties over to someone who has more time and/or cares a bit more about the board.

Look at the SEO of this place - frankly, for a board with this much traffic and this long a history - it sucks. To me, that shows that someone doesn't care very much about it. With the pirate craze going wild these last couple of years, this place should be a goldmine for the owner which in turn should be reflected in upgrades and some current news items.

Do something new here, for cripes sake - make it a little more Web 2.0 perhaps - get some videos going, an audio library, set up some proper mail systems and IM's...at LEAST upgrade to version 2.3 of the IP software...

Just my thoughts, as always.

The point is that how we perceive something appears to dictate how it will be.

I disagree.

I think that how we perceive something will dictate how it APPEARS to be, not how it actually IS.

I could perceive an elephant as being an airplane. I could visualize his ears being the main wings, his tail the rudder, and his trunk the...I don't know - refueling umbilical?

Anyway, no matter HOW hard and HOW well I perceive that elephant as being a plane, in reality he is not. He's merely an elephant.

Too silly an example? Too extreme? OK... I perceive that you're an evil person, because you say things I don't always agree with. Now, it doesn't matter that that disagreement doesn't make you evil; but in my perception of things, let's say it does.

Are you now in fact evil? Will my perception of you cause you to go out and do evil things? I highly doubt it.

Perception is a gremlin, a little joker who always wants you to see things the way they are NOT. I think the trick is to go beyond perception and enter the realm of direct experience.

I think that's the original version of what's become dozens of take-offs around the Net.

Hypnotic, isn't it?

PYRATPHIL!!!!!!  My brudda from anudda mudda!  100% Batman, baybeeee!

Yea, I see the similarities each time a read a post from either of you.

Yo, check it out - we're OG's! (Original Goonies)

Aye, Brother Matt - we been too long separated and too soon parted!

The Dark Knight RULES!!!

Yay - the hero I've always most identified with!

You scored as Batman, the Dark Knight, As the Dark Knight of Gotham, Batman is a vigilante who deals out his own brand of justice to the criminals and corrupt of the city. He follows his own code and is often misunderstood. He has few friends or allies, but finds comfort in his cause.

Batman, the Dark Knight 100%

Neo, the "One" 83%

Lara Croft 75%

James Bond, Agent 007 71%

Captain Jack Sparrow 67%

El Zorro 58%

Indiana Jones 54%

The Amazing Spider-Man 54%

Maximus 46%

The Terminator 46%

William Wallace 25%

...and here I thought I was becoming popular with Zen poetry masters...

Though I'd settle for a Pirate Ceiling Fan too..  

What, like this?

Thanks. As a retired fighter and weapons man I am trained to spot stuff like that. Notice next time you watch the first movie that they both are right handed but often draw their guns lefty. This is especially noticeable in the final showdown when Barbossa gets killed: he and Sparrow both draw left-handed.

Embarrassingly enough I should be able to make the same claim, UNretired, but I don't think I will today.

Well, the left-handed draw is for keeping the sword-hand open, no?

Wow - didn't notice the different sides - good eye!

One point to consider is, how many of those who eventually "went pirate" had formal training in European fencing techniques?

Espada y daga etc. is all very nice and proper but it takes a long time to master it sufficiently to use in an actual land-based fight, let alone on a gyrating ship.

Here's an idea: they wore the glove on their left hand in the movie because it looked cool! I mean, ALL the hot warrior-types in the movies wear fingerless gloves, right, so why not pyrates?

I know all, see all, 'n' don't charge much.

"Innocent", "Idealistic", "Natural" - it's all good.

...and in 1:12 scale you'd have a still-impressive model roughly 15' long and a bit under 3' wide!

Too bad this topic wasn't here years ago. I had made a doll house for the wife from scratch, based on actual plans for a Victorian mansion.

I made it to 1:12 scale and started by making a 4' x 6' table that hinged open into three sections. The house itself I made of hand-hewn basswood, cherry, oak, pine and mahogany. Scale framing with individual 2"x6" 's for that puppy! Hand-turned stairway banister and railings...the house was made to open exactly along the lines of the tables' opening seams, but the division of the house itself I wanted to be perfectly invisible when closed.

Running water, electrified, real stained glass - you name it. At the time I was producing custom doll-houses for clients that were similar, so I was already set up with a "micro workshop" - miniature lathes, shapers, table saws, etc.

From conception to finish it took slightly less than two years, at an average of 2-3 hours per day work on it. When I brought it to several miniature shows in NY at the time as an attention-grabber for my work, I was made some interesting offers.

Never thought of a pirate ship at the time - might have been interesting. It's definitely doable by several workers in the doll house field today, but if you're looking for something for kids to play with I daresay you wouldn't want to go through the time, trouble - or expense - of having one custom-made like my doll houses. Stick with Playmobile or Lego - much easier on your wallet and psyche!

At only 1100 lbs it ain't much of a tank.

And, at 6hp, I fail to see how it can move itself, much less a boarding party of 5...

I think you'd need at LEAST a 10hp Honda OHV to get that puppy flying.

Someone just pointed out to me what this meant...I had no idea. (Apparently I need to listen to more popular music so's I can understand popular culture...or maybe not.)

Pretty darn innocent for a Pyrate.

Did anyone tell you about "booty"?

...and a "love sheep" is cheaper than supporting a mistress...

Well, I'll be a monkey's spitball!

Ahoy, Ye dirty ol' man! Fancy meetin' ye in this port!

Why is it that witnessing an Oriental prostitute take a bullet to the forehead is acceptable family fare?

All part of the lop-sided way society has developed, say I.

We let Junior play video games where it's cool to shoot cops, blow up everything in sight and interact with virtual hookers, then we're shocked when they become so desensitized to violence that they walk into their classroom and blow away their classmates without a seconds hesitation.

You used to be able to count on a Disney film to provide "clean and wholesome" entertainment. That era died along with Walt, IMHO.

Caught the 10:30pm show with my son...

I still like #1 best. Don't know if it's because the concept is fresh or the actors are, but that's how it is. I agree with Master Dreadlocke - the sword fighting was uninspired, but the cannon work was excellent.

Jack was Jack, as expected. Keith Richards - wish we could have seen more of him. That was a throwaway role if ever I've seen one. M'lady was fun to watch, but no big surprises. Barbossa is still my main guy. Will fleshed out nicely, too.

Too many switches of allegiance during too short a period - a bit confusing. Calypso - I thought she was going to do something a little more spectacular than a whirlpool, and connected with that the fact that the entire Royal fleet turns tail and runs after one engagement of their lead ship stretches disbelief too far.

All in all, a nice way to end it all but it just seemed to end for lack of wind.