William Brand

Life below deck was as one might expect, what with so many new sailors mixed with the old. Already new alliances were forming, but also a few rivalries. The introductions of so many recent prisoners from Martinique and the Maastricht brought with them the foolish bigotry and religious divisions of the wide world into a mix already so eclectic, that their were instant friendships and hatreds within just a few days. These bonds and divisions were expected, and the Bosuns handled them with a balance of indifference and deference applied in measures equal to each situation. Arguments great and small were shouted down, or when too heated, put to work in the open air. Strangely, some of the conflicts came, not between old and new crew members, but between the newest recruits alone. It seemed that some of the prisoners bore grudges against one another going back to times which preceded their capture. These grudges had not only survived the Fort Royal prison, but had flourished there, growing like a mold in the dark, damp corners of that place. Still, no great disagreement could be found that didn't fade in the face of the favorable weather. The same could not be said of the conflicts aboard the Navarra. Life aboard the Spanish merchantman was not so easily comforted by a clear sky and an open horizon. The machinations and politics aboard the Navarra ran deep and all her inner workings were filled with sand and friction. So strange and conflicting were the many ongoing troubles of that ship, that had Captain Brand understood them, he might not have taken on the peril of escorting her to Trinidad. Already since leaving Martinigue, not one, but two murders had taken place aboard her, each one excused under the guise of preserving order, though they were murders pure and simple. These acts were but the latest in a trail of blood going all the way back to Spain and they were so casually done as to suggest that more would come before her tale was finished. By comparison, the conflicts which had played out aboard the Watch Dog and Lucy were small, almost trite. Everyone aboard the Navarra was either utterly naive of the evils to which they were connected, or so utterly entrenched as to lie awake by night and to walk in wariness all day. One of the many who watched everyone all the time, was Lieutenant De la Cruz. Roldán was a young man of few prospects, and had taken on his post aboard the Navarra against his own better judgment. Indeed, in the very act of signing aboard, his skin had crawled a bit, but signed aboard he had. Now he stood at the rail watching the fair Lucy in her progress, longing to join himself to any ship but this one. He had just come again from the ill company of Captain Avendano, where he had once again urged the man to give better understanding of the Navarra's cargo to their allies. "Allies...?" Captain Avendano had scoffed, red about the collar. "Brand is a hireling, and I'll tell him no more than he deserves. A hireling and a protestant both. Ally." Avendano had not hidden any disdain, for it was his nature to put the whole race of man beneath him. It had been what Roldán had expected, but he couldn't in good conscience keep quiet on the matter, for he found it troubling to shake the hand of friends with fresh blood upon his own. His thoughts went back to Le Vedette.

I've seen bottled beer and other bottled items packed in straw within barrels, which would be my take on this.

This ship's paper is based on a Certificate of Origin for goods being shipped from the Central Planets. I didn't stamp or sign this one, as it's meant to be generic for any of the Central Planets. I kept the color scheme Alliance-esque with grey, black and purple. Print at 100% on 8.5" x 11". http://pics.fireflyprops.net/PACE-CertificateOfOrigin.pdf

This is one I made specifically for our Can't Stop the Serenity screening back in October of last year. I was hesitant to put it up at first, as it is so specific to CSTS, but it's for a good cause and it is very Fireflyish. http://pics.fireflyprops.net/PACE-BigDamnTakeaway.pdf

Raise a glass! A very happy birthday to you, my beautiful wife and life long friend. May you and I both enjoy many more of them to come.

Updated with plenty of room to grow.

Very nice kit, but I know that you're carrying that Mercury cell phone and I'm coveting it. It's very distracting.

Keelhauler Transport and Trading Company might seem like a fly by night business at first glance, especially to the larger companies and the handful of mega-corporations in the Verse, but not so. Not only does Keelhauler thrive with its handful of old transports and seemingly remote offices, but it manages to pick up so much business that falls through the economic cracks of the Core that it excels on several fronts. First, the Keelhauler fleet is small, so maintenance is small. Rather than maintain a large fleet of ships and shuttles in endless need of repair or replacement, Keelauler piggybacks more than 85% of its transport and trade with other cargo ships, ingoing and outgoing passenger liners and smugglers already bound for destinations favorable to shipping and receiving. Second, Keelhauler has little to no overhead. Small runs in great quantities means big business with little storage or stock issues. Also, the name is hard to forget. Even if one could forget such a name (with that special 'I'm sorry...what?' quality) Keelhauler itself would never let you forget it. What Keelhauler lacks in large advertising funds, it more than makes up for in the liberal distribution of cheap print goods. Ship a box or two for Keelhauler and expect to walk away with a t-shirt or two and a handful of classic postcards (perfect for that handwritten wave from the Rim). "Dear Ma. Our postman got ate by Reavers, but the youngin's are just fine." Front: Back: pdf: http://pics.fireflyprops.net/KeelhaulerPostcard.pdf NOTE: These are set up as U.S. standard sized postcards for mailing. You should print these on pretty heavy cardstock, or they'll fail as actual postcards.

I find myself working on so many fan projects at present that I can't help wanting to share them around. I'm also a big fan of what I like to refer to as 'The Expanding Verse', or the growing fan canon that comes with any great fandom. That said, Frank has agree to let me host the prop freebies on Firefly Props. I will be posting at least one new document, form, poster, label or other printed good every week. Perhaps for the rest of my wholly unnatural life. This first document is a standard form for the Declaration of Dangerous goods. The form is stamped showing an origin out of the Eavesdown Docks, but I left the signature spaces intentionally blank, so that each one can be signed by you with the intention of making them unique. I went for a bold look, with simple write-in spaces and an obvious warning color scheme. This is based on an actual export form, and I was surprised to see that a form of this kind was so simple in terms of information requirements. It is 8.5" x 14" to match the standard ship's papers size. Enjoy. http://pics.fireflyprops.net/PACE-HAZRAD-DangerousGood.pdf As my second offering, I've gone back to the New Kong Import/Export tags that I created for my Chinese Cooler project, and I've created six different tags for each. Now the tags have random number sets to show visits through the New Kong Customs House at different times. The pdfs were created on 8.5" x 11" with crop marks. Import - http://pics.fireflyprops.net/PACE-NewKongSilver.pdf Export - http://pics.fireflyprops.net/PACE-NewKongGold.pdf Customs tags as shown on the cooler. Beaumonde Bonded Carrier and Forwarding Operations form This was one of my first ship's papers, but it took forever to get everything just so. I wanted to create documents that reflected the cultural diversity of the Verse, beyond the all too obvious super Chinese/Anglo super culture. I love Mandarin as a language, but this form allowed me to explore a little French, so I chose to do a form out of Beaumonde. I was also lucky enough to find an actual bonded carrier form out of Canada, which already had most of the translations in English and French. Ironically, I learned that quite a bit of the French has mistakes, but I left it as is. I think the mistakes say something about governments in general My special thanks to my wife, who typed all the French for this document, 'cause this thing is text intensive. Also a big thanks and a nod to the indomitable Whitefall for passing along some last minute information from the Atlas of the Verse, so that I could finish the instructions side of this form (specifically the names of port cities for the addresses, i.e. Bander Docks & BIC Commercial Docks). Appréciez ! http://pics.fireflyprops.net/PACE-BeaumondeBondedCarrier.pdf ...I also dropped in a subtle reference to the 47A.

Very funny video. I love the gun noises during the 'shoot-out'.

Captain Brand took his turn at the rail and was content that morning to scan every inch of the horizon with a glass. More than once he checked the progress of the Navarra and the Lucy as he watched everywhere else. Jim did the same forward and they reminded the men fore and aft that the Caribbean was a battlefield at present and not to disregard the smallest sign that might present itself. An hour or more had slowly sifted through the glass as they watched, and while they were quite alone for the present, the exercise was not lost on anyone. Even the prisoners, secured under the fore deck, would chance to look out for any sliver of sea and sky and they had to be reminded not to talk among themselves. Ajayi was brought out on deck once during that time, to stretch his legs and turn his face toward the sun. It seemed to revive him as much as the air did. It was easy for William, looking at the man now, to imagine what he would look like under the same sun, but in different climes. They exchanged just a little Arabic at seeing one another and William was glad that the old language was not utterly lost to his recollection. "The Navarra is slowing off to the East again." Jim said, shaking his head. "They've a poor bosun." William agreed, reading disdain in Jim's face as he came up to the quarterdeck, for the handling of the merchantman demonstrated the poor order of the neighboring ship. "Poison from the Captain's table." Jim returned. William simply nodded. "Sail off the port quarter!" Everyone's eyes shot up. Jim and William crossed and took out a glass each. They scanned the horizon for a time before finding the small vessel. Jim sighted it first and pointed down his arm toward the rigging of a ship too small to threaten even the Lucy. It was also too far off to be taken a prize. "She has the wind at her back." William thought aloud. "Aye." Jim agreed "Too far and too little." "Aye." And the day sifted on in this fashion as they watched the small stranger come and go again from their private part of the sea.

If the whole family goes along, then I might just want the monster wedge. Wither way, we can find use for it. Thanks for the offer.

It's good as a paint thinner.

Me. I hope it will be more than me but at least me for now. And a huge flag.

You haven't missed anything. You actually live outside the issue I was discussing and the point I was making, and you should be grateful for it. I am not attempting to police opinion where opinion can serve, but to stave off the arguments of the old hurts that often go nowhere at all. The points that you and others are making about the festival as it is now, are relevant and necessary to growth from here forward. PIP as a whole has been around a long time and has known its share of successes and hurts. Some of the worst mistakes, some innocent and some accidental or unforeseen, happened as a natural part of the process over the years, but most of them are a part of the festival's past. While it is true that there is some bad blood among a few still, most of us all get along with everyone and have placed the past firmly behind us. Just as we should, choosing instead to focus on what we are rather than what we are not. Fun over fret. My point was aimed at anyone touching on the old arguments of the past, long since resolved or irrelevant, or placing the blame on the failure of one aspect of the festival at the threshold of the whole. For example, if the FTPF were to end (and I know that it hasn't and won't) the reasons for such a change would and could only be laid at the doorstep of the fort itself. If the fort chose not to host the FTPF, then PIP should not be blamed. It may simply be forces outside our control and the control of the park services. If the fort as an entity could no longer host us, we should count our lucky stars that we were ever given such a place to live and work and be ourselves unchecked, for we have known a great freedom of expression at the park. Again, those who needed to be reminded to be fair, were. If you didn't get it, be glad that you don't. It means that you haven't had to endure the same old arguments going back for years and years over matters that happened and cannot be changed. And please don't apply a tone of animosity when reading any of my posts. Tired resignation at times, sure. Irony maybe. Some frustration laced with here-we-go-again topped with a lighthearted why-oh-why, but I happen to get along very well with even the crustiest of curmudgeons. Except Stynky...the bastard...

Thank you very much, and please keep us in the loop. While the calendar of events did say it was the 40th anniversary, it sighted that the information was to be found at the left of the screen, so I assumed that the date was incorrect on the button. We will watch for updates.

Do you have the dates then? We plan very far out.

Lift that bale.

Aye, and the first information that I would need from them is the number in their party and the footprints of their tents. They may also offer to do demos if they wish and I'll pass the information along or put the powers that be in contact with them.

I said imagine, so yes, I'm a metaphoric longshoreman. Best in the business.

Very, very cool. As a pirate and a Scot I approve.

Everybody cut it out. I have hosted numerous events for different fandoms over the years, and one of my greatest pet peeves is the loud detractor who faithfully announces that they aren't coming. I do regular shindigs for the Utah Browncoats for the Firefly fandom and there is one woman who pipes in to question, scrutinize, disregard and eventually announce with great enthusiasm her complete lack of enthusiasm in attending any given event. She does this every single time. She goes on for pages about all the things she hates about a given event and why she won't be attending, rather than just keep her very public opinions to herself. Worse than her are those who attend events, but with a very open disdain for parts of said events every single time. Please stop nitpicking those parts of PIP that you wouldn't attend whether or not there is a Fort Taylor Pirate Festival. We all know what each of us as individuals prefer by now and which parts of PIP any given one of us might attend or not. We get it. Stop picking the scabs and leave the tanbark tussles to other hobbyists. Showing your support for the FTPF by tearing down any other part of PIP is counterproductive and no favor to all of the events as a whole.

The most accurate model of Mal's pistol is now being finished by a prop builder out of England. They're calling this replica the 47A. all metal cast parts in brass with a walnut grip handle. You don't even want to know how much it will cost, but it's too damn beautiful for words. http://www.fireflyprops.net/viewforum.php?f=35

Old Fashioned Marshmallow. Sigh. Old Fashioned Marshmallow was as disappointing in terms of a chocolate, confectionary delight as any drink might be. Imagine taking up a glass of cold, clear ice water on a hot day after a hard afternoon of heavy labor only to be greeted by an old glass of water, thick with dust and luke warm in temperature containing a cigarette at the bottom. This is OFM. The anti-christ of all hot chocolate experiences. If the idealistic, horrific hell of the average pulpit pounding aficionado can be accepted as real in even the most peripheral sense, than the dessert bar there serves OFM. Not only is it served, but every other thing offered in Hell is cooked in OFM and topped with it like an unholy, weak, bitter au jus of eternal torment.

I know. I'm tempted to join in on that event. I used to be pretty good and I'd like to see what time has done to my aim, if anything. It really is too bad that this event competes with another that same weekend, but any member of your crew is more than welcome to attend with us.