William Brand

On the 9th of February, 1718, there arrived at Mobile, by ship, from France, Pierre Duqué Boisbriant, a Canadian gentleman, with the commission of Commandant at the Illinois. He was a cousin of Bienville, then Governor of Louisiana, and had already served under him in that province. In October, of the same year, accompanied by several officers and a detachment of troops, he departed for the Illinois country, where he was ordered to construct a fort. The little flotilla, stemming the swift current of the Mississippi, moved slowly on its way, encountering no enemies more troublesome than "the mosquitoes, which," says the worthy priest Poisson, who took the same journey shortly after, "have caused more swearing since the French have been here, than had previously taken place in all the rest of the world." That line (especially coming from a priest) always makes me laugh.

That's a great look. I really like the style you chose for that outfit.

I want to make the crossed ham flag.

I went by Big Mike's shop a week back and took some pictures of his workspace and some upcoming knife projects. Here's the shop. This is a pic of Big Mike working on a Mediterranean kard. And this is a Viking knife he's offering up for sale at $130. The handle is ebony and the fittings are a combination of brass, steel, bronze and malachite. The sheath is made of red oak with loose leather cross-straps to hold a coin, stone or other special totem.

I could almost feel the blasphemy.

Still hitting some interesting costumes distractions. I wouldn't even know what to call them. Charles Dickens meets Gormengast. Baron Munchausen meets Romani Revivalist. There's a faded, dusty, carnival quality to everything. Pomp and decoration to cover up bad acting, perhaps? Give me a plain clothed good actor over a dressed up extra and let the character come through. It's all frosting so far. However, the lad playing Hawkins does a good job of playing someone younger than his years and I liked the Benbow Inn.

I'm into the first thirty minutes of it now. It has it's good and bad points. It's so overstylized in places it gets a bit distracting. Black Dog looks like he's wearing a coat made out of an old cow hide. I like Pew, but he's too brief. He was always a personal favorite as a minor villain in the story.

To Mister Hand! A very happy birthday.

Why am I quoted most often when I'm being patently absurd on purpose?

This seems like it should be an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' moment. I've only ever heard people talk about Lockhouse as one of the premiere, 'must attend before I die' events. It's interesting that any event should wish to make their event more of a pirate type festival, and thereby make it less so. I grew up at a time when 'county fair' meant something altogether different. You knew what 'county fair' meant, because you expected the kind of local fair that came with it. The definition today is closer to 'county carnival', defined by the portable rides and cotton candy vendors. So if an event that is already heralded as a pirate festival becomes more of a pirate type festival, does it also become more of a carnival?

Wait, what? I didn't start the thread. However, I love your specific citations. I'm not a creature of precise dates when framing the GAoP end to end, only because I play comfortably within a time frame that most people can agree on, but I loved your examples. More people should know the years and names of pirates during the individual 'Golden ages' of those pirates.

I say that we get ridiculously specific. Let's call the Golden Age everything from three fourths of the way into 1667 through the first four and a half weeks of 1729, minus September 14th-19th of 1701 and the better part of 1727 apart from Good Friday, Halloween and Defoe's birthday.

My statement was as tongue-in-cheek as I could manage from a thread that can only be speculative or opinion. I generally just say late 1600s, early 1700s.

So based on the experts we can say, without hesitation, that part of the Golden Age of Piracy was 1715-1720. Or whenever.

Worthy to be marked on any calendar. Happy Birthday, my friend.

There is a pragmatism and casual defiance in that act that makes me smile. He didn't blubber or beg. He went to the gallows eatin' a biscuit.

Is there a new website?

Woohoo! Chrispy is a headliner at Pensacola!

I really like the page layouts and photographs. Top notch work.

It boils down to the little things now that you have your base outfit. A good sailor's knife. A seabag or market wallet. A good walking stick/cudgel. I pick and whisk tool for the pistols. Maybe a cartridge box. A monmouth cap.

You need to go to an event where the temperature exceeds 100 degrees in the shade. A good event with rain, mud, and filth will put a kit right in a matter of days. And sign up for a cannon crew. That will get the white right out of a shirt in no time. And trip from time to time. Just stop watching where you're going and you'll weather the elbows and knees of your kit in nothing flat. And never use a napkin when you can wipe your greasy hands on your clothes.

That's really good news. I wish I lived locally. I'd love to help with the move.

Seconded. The Batavia's Graveyard is one of the most chilling stories of madness and mutiny you can find. http://www.amazon.co...t/dp/0609607669

The Captain does have a point there, mister Quartermaster, sir. Do you collect surgical instruments with the intention of actually taking off a leg...? Please tell me you aren't giving yourself mercury enemas.

I cannot attend Fort de Chartres, and I think more people are considering Put in Bay as the alternative.