Red Maria

76% William Wallace 75% El Zorro 71% Lara Croft 58% Maximus 58% Neo, the "One" 58% James Bond, Agent 007 50% Indiana Jones 50% Captain Jack Sparrow 50% The Terminator 42% The Amazing Spider-Man 42% Batman, the Dark Knight

That's a movie I'd pay to see!!

I hate to be picky here but the Western Hemisphere starts west of the Prime Meridian at Greenwich. Therefore it includes much of Britain and all of Ireland. Since there have been guns in the Isles since the Middle Ages this would not be the first gunshot victum in the Western Hemisphere. But it could be the earilest gunshot victim in the Americas, which in of itself is extrordinary.

I listened to a live broadcast to the opening of this chest on NPR on Friday. It was really exciting. Thanks for showing the picture of the plethora of pearls.

The only thing missing is for him to be holding her purse!

Not pirate related but of maritime interest http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19195624/ BOSTON - A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt — more than a century ago. Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3½-inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale’s age, estimated between 115 and 130 years old. “No other finding has been this precise,” said John Bockstoce, an adjunct curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Story continues below ↓ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Calculating a whale’s age can be difficult, and is usually gauged by amino acids in the eye lenses. It’s rare to find one that has lived more than a century, but experts say the oldest were close to 200 years old. The whale had a bomb lance fragment lodged a bone between its neck and shoulder blade. The fragment was likely manufactured in New Bedford, on the southeast coast of Massachusetts, a major whaling center at that time, Bockstoce said. It was probably shot at the whale from a heavy shoulder gun around 1890. The small metal cylinder was filled with explosives fitted with a time-delay fuse so it would explode seconds after it was shot into the whale. The bomb lance was meant to kill the whale immediately and prevent it from escaping. The device exploded and probably injured the whale, Bockstoce said. “It probably hurt the whale, or annoyed him, but it hit him in a non-lethal place,” he said. “He couldn’t have been that bothered if he lived for another 100 years.” The whale harkens back to far different era. If 130 years old, it would have been born in 1877, the year Rutherford B. Hayes was sworn in as president, when federal Reconstruction troops withdrew from the South and when Thomas Edison unveiled his newest invention, the phonograph. The 49-foot male whale died when it was shot with a similar projectile last month, and the older device was found buried beneath its blubber as hunters carved it with a chain saw for harvesting. It’s unusual to find old things like that in whales, and I knew immediately that it was quite old by its shape,” said Craig George, a wildlife biologist for the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, who was called down to the site soon after it was found. The revelation led George to return to a similar piece found in a whale hunted near St. Lawrence Island in 1980, which he sent to Bockstoce to compare. “We didn’t make anything of it at the time, and no one had any idea about their lifespan, or speculated that a bowhead could be that old,” George said. Bockstoce said he was impressed by notches carved into the head of the arrow used in the 19th century hunt, a traditional way for the Alaskan hunters to indicate ownership of the whale. Whaling has always been a prominent source of food for Alaskans, and is monitored by the International Whaling Commission. A hunting quota for the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission was recently renewed, allowing 255 whales to be harvested by 10 Alaskan villages over five years. After it is analyzed, the fragment will be displayed at the Inupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, Alaska.

That mean I can bring me banjo and still be period? Lordy, now I just need to learn how to play... The modern banjo appeared in the 19th century. If you want to be period you need to cover a gourd with skin and and attach a long wooden neck to it. The reason I know a bit about this is I got into a discussion on tthe history of the banjo with Harry Kelsey (author Sir Francis Drake the Queen's Pirate) a few weeks ago. He insisted that the first banjo ever was at the L.A. County Natural History Museum. I insisted that it was from Afirca. I brought the proof and he apogised. The Natural History museum has one of the first short string banjos owned by Joel Walker Sweeney (errouneously attributted as its inventor) . So I have been immesered lately in both violins and banjos. All boasting aside it you want to play a modern banjo do it. Its like Patrick's concertina. Afterall you're a pirate! Only rules that apply are the ones you agreed to!

The Messiah hasn't had its neck changed. It is the one Strad that is as it orignally made. In fact it still looks shiny and new which is why there was some contrversy if it was really a Strad a few years ago. That question has been laid to rest. It is a Strad. The reason it looks so new IMO is because it has rarely been played. It's been rarely touched by human hands. Its owners usally died before giving it up even Stradivarius himself couldn't give it up. It sits as I write this on display at the Ashmoleon Museum to be looked at and admired but not touched. Sad really. Changing the neck is minor compared to the shape of the sound box. That hasn't changed really since Stradivarius's, Stainer's or Gueneri's time which is conversant to GAoP. The violin's soundbox shape, the f-holes, materials used are the same. The bow OTOH has gone through radical changes from arched to relatively straoght stick, culminating Viotti's design made by Tourte. The label of the violin given to me says "a Copy of Antonio Stradavarius made in Germany" That refers to the soundbox not the neck. It's one of the most simple yet complex designs ever IMO.

(Again) New Grove Dictinary of Musical Intruments v.1 pg 152-153 " .. Earliest know illustration of the instrument is in Sir Hans Sloane A Voyage to the Isalnds of Maderia, Barbados, Nieves, St. Christopher and Jamaica (London 1707 written in 1688 ... it was often associated with the calinda dance [which was] unsuccessfully supressed by acts of the Martinque government as early as 1654..." The illustration for the Sloane book (which is in the dictionary) depicts what you describe. So the banjo is a GAoP instrument.

I wish I had known this guy. He sounds like a true pirate. From my friend Capt. Thomas Tucker Here is someone I remember from my seafarin days in the Pacific, may he rest in peace for the true seaman he was! Capt. Tom CAPTAIN HOWARD THOMAS 1919 - 2007 SAN DIEGO - He was friends with Errol Flynn, he took Charles Lindbergh sailing on San Diego Bay, he was considered the fastest man in America in 1940, and he helped Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discover San Diego Bay 21 times. Howard Thomas was known along the waterfront as the "Ancient Mariner," he was a man for all seasons, and friend of all the world. He died June 3 from natural causes at the age of 87 in the comfort of his home, with family nearby. Looking as though he stepped right off the pages of a Joseph Conrad novel, or off the label of an Old Spice bottle, Captain Thomas was a natural gentleman and extremely credible. He mentored people of all ages, was devoted to his wife and three sons, but still managed to indulge in his love of the sea, often to extremes. Howard Thomas worked for the Auto Club of Southern California for 36 years and was Regional Manager for the Auto Club of San Diego County for a decade before his retirement. He was chairman of the San Diego Rotary Club Yachting Committee, and Commodore of the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians. He was a loan executive for United Way, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the City of San Diego, President of the San Diego Public Safety Committee, and President of Cabrillo Festival. But that just scratched the surface. Walter Mitty fanaticized about being larger than life. Howard Thomas was larger than life. He lived out adventures on land and at sea to the fullest, collecting the most unbelievable chapters in his long life, and an even longer list of friends who admired the man for a lifetime of honesty and integrity. As a young man, living in Tujunga, California, he was fast as the wind. Thomas captained the San Fernando High School track team, the Glendale College track team, and the Fresno State University track team. He was named to the All-American track team for high hurdles and held the 120 high hurdle national record. He qualified for the Olympics in 1940 but WWII dashed his dreams of a Gold Medal when the Olympics were cancelled. He took first place at the Los Angeles Coliseum in the 120 hurtles and was greeted at the finish line by movie mogul Jack Warner (of Warner Brothers Studios), who promptly signed Thomas up with his acting agency. Thomas was 6'3", had chiselled good looks, and was a tremendous athlete -- all the tools needed to succeed in Hollywood in those days. The agency paraded him around town with the young starlets in their stable. He dined with Katherine Grayson, Lana Turner, and Esther Williams, and always at restaurants where gossip columnists Heda Hopper or Louella Parsons could see the budding actors. The grooming of his new public image was well underway when Thomas decided to chuck the whole concept of acting. He would say years later, "Those people were not real, and six months was all I could stomach." Right out of high school he and a pal stowed away on a tramp steamer headed to the South Seas via San Francisco. They were discovered by the ship's captain in San Francisco and unceremoniously put ashore. Time and again Howard's plans to see the tropics were dashed on a lee shore. His interests turned to football and fencing, but always involved a traditional sailboat. He married Dawn Eldridge right after high school. She was from a three-generation Vaudeville acting family. Her stage name was "Baby Dawn." She died in 1993 after more than 50 years of marriage. That hole in Howard's life was never filled. After missing the chance for Gold at the 1940 Olympics, and failing in his plans to explore the South Pacific, Howard joined the US Navy. During this time, and while walking along the docks in Sausalito, he saw what he described as, "The most beautiful schooner I'd ever seen." He paced up and down the dock, and even jumped into the bay to swim her length for a closer look. "She was a gaff-rigged beauty," he would recall years later. As he was swimming around her stern a man stuck his head out of the hatch and said, "If you really like her that much, come on board." It was the swashbuckling actor himself, Errol Flynn. The two became friends. Flynn eventually asked Thomas to join him on a sail to Jamaica through the Panama Canal. The moment nearly won the decision, but Howard's wife reminded him rather quickly that they had two young sons at home, and a third on the way. He decided it would not be prudent to up and leave at that moment. Still, he and Flynn remained in touch over the years with Thomas visiting him on the set and at his home various times. When Flynn died, his widow, Patrice Wymore, personally drove to San Diego to give Howard the news. As his three sons, Baron, Drake, and Lance grew, their father craved a larger boat. He had been sailing since 17, and owned several small gaffers and luggers. But he wanted something special. He found her in San Francisco, not far from where he first saw Flynn's schooner. From 1969-1980 Thomas ran San Diego's first sailing charter aboard their 80-foot brig Rendezvous. Howard was already quite a sailor, having won the 1960 Newport to Ensenada Race at the helm of the 1906 schooner Martha, but this ship with the large Maltese cross on the fore top, was to become legendary in sailing circles up and down the coast. To Howard, she was his pride and joy. His sons became mates on the Rendezvous, and Drake acted as skipper for many years. They logged many seagoing adventures with their salty father. And, like sailors' wives of old, Dawn had to compete with the sea for time with her men. She would exclaim years later, "I wouldn't have had it any other way." On Rendezvous the Thomas family frequently entertained celebrity guests. Among his passengers and crew were Charles Lindbergh, Arthur Godfrey, Reza Shah Pahlavi (the last Shaw of Iran), Lloyd Bridges (and his sons Beau and Jeff), among others. Over his long career Howard Thomas was tasked with finding a traditional sailing vessel to recreate the annual "discovery" of San Diego by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo for the San Diego Cabrillo Festival. Howard got a kick out of telling people that he helped Cabrillo discover San Diego 21 times. Captain Thomas would arrange for the sailing ship (intended to be Cabrillo's San Salvador), the row boats to get Cabrillo, his priest and soldiers ashore, and often Howard would have to point them to shore or give rowing lessons just to help the re-enactors reach their destination. He was a respected wooden boat owner and sailor until just two years before his death, organizing tallship festivals (before it was popular to do so) and schooner races on the bay. He helped with traditional boat restoration projects and organized educational programs, Thomas once told a reporter at Sea Magazine that at one of his events the officers and crew of a Japanese Class-A tallship were so impressed with the hospitality he provided, that they arranged to name a mountain after him in Japan, "Mt. Thomas." The name "Captain" was not a military rank. And yet, everyone who ever worked the San Diego waterfront will tell you he is, "Captain Howard Thomas." "The boats he loved were really his communication devices for sharing with others," said Ray Ashley, executive director at the Maritime Museum. "They were the theatre stages, if you will, for performances that were more important and far reaching than any roles he might have played on the silver screen. "On land, many of Howard's 'voyages' were achieved through public service, his 'landfalls' in the success he helped others achieve, and the pride he took in their accomplishments. "His daring 'rescues' could be found in the interest he took (and role he played) as mentor and generous friend and advisor to the many young people who worked with him, sailed with him, adored him, and incorporated him into their own concepts of integrity, honesty, and the proper way to live a life." During his long career Thomas was Port Captain for the state tallship Californian. During construction of the ship at San Diego's Spanish Landing, he arranged for numerous large donations to help build the vessel, and served as political liaison to various city agencies throughout. Captain Thomas would later become Port Captain for the large Gloucester schooner named Star Pilot, and consult with numerous charter schooners and ancient mariner vessels. His last boat was an Angleman ketch named Sea Waif. It was designer Hugh Angleman's personal yacht for many years. Howard Thomas lived in La Jolla for 18 years, and Point Loma for 32 years. His wife Dawn predeceased him in 1993. He is survived by a sister Jane of Orange County; sons Baron of San Diego, Drake of Maui, Hawaii, and Lance of Coronado; seven grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren. A celebration of life for Captain Howard Thomas will be held at the San Diego Maritime Museum, Friday, June 29, at 6:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the San Diego Maritime Museum "In Memory of Captain Howard Thomas." ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

Patrick my info on the concertina came from The Grove dictionary of Musical Instruments v. 1 pg 459-460... " The inventer of the English concertina was the scientist Charles Wheatston (1807-75) who is 1825 consrtucted a mouth organ with free reeds governed by a small button board which he patened in 1829 under thae name Symphonium. Further experiments led to the bellows blown concertina patened in 1844" I was off 3 years on my first date but I hadn't rechecked the entry at that time. I wouldn't fault you for liking to play the concertina. You right ahead and enjoy yourself no matter what period your in.

First form of the concertina appeared around 1822. The version we're familiar with about 1844. As to the fiddle the modern violin came into being about the 1520s in Cremona Italy, Amati being one of the early makers. Widespead use of the basic violin was in use the mid 1660s. Stradavarius and Guarneri were making fiddles during the GAoP period. OK no pirate is going to have a Strad or Guaneri (unless they got real lucky with booty) but the basic modern design exisited and was in common use at the time. I've just finished reading Stradivarius's Genius. It's on the history of the violin and its greatest maker. So I'm up on this subject. The bow OTOH was still evolving and wouldn't reach its present shape till the 1790s. I just was given a fiddle by a good friend. It was her mother's and had been sitting in its case for 50 years. For being in a case for 50 years it's in very good shape. The label inside reads "a Copy of Antonio Stradivarius made in Germany". The belly is spruce and the back, neck and ribs are birdseye maple. It at my luthier right now being set-up.

I remember the documentary Planet Earth said that capuchins are the bullies of the monkey world. A former rommate of mine, a primatologist, who used to keep capuchins said you have to come back with as much attitude as they give you or they'll run ruoghshod all over you.

I saw the red carpet premiere yesterday on E. Geoffrey had the 'cursed monkey' on his shoulder. I guess she was his 'date' for the night. They made a cute couple.

You know I looked this rhyme up in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (2nd ed. pgs 470-472) and there is absolutly no refernce to Blackbeard. Henry VIII Anne Boylen nad the dissolution of the monstaries yes. The phares Sing a Song of Sivpence appearing a Fletcher play Bonduca in 1614 yes. But Blackbeard no. There are no citaions listed to support the Blackbeard claim so I'm writing it off a false. Sorry I just think some thing published by Oxford University Press to be more realible the any website.

That is so sad to hear. My condolance to the family. A Christmas Story is one of my favorite films.

Glad to see the old girl is on the road to recovery. It's alot of work but the royaliste is worth it.Say hello to Kat for me. (who's not an old girl at all!)

I just saw these certifcates for crossing the line(equator) for the U.S. Navy that is in our maritime collection. They're from the 1920s. Very colorfulsigned by Davy Jones himself and signed by his scribe (Davy Jones) Neptune Rex King of the Raging Main. I'm going to try and get a copy and/or post an image. It may be awhile since it isn't cataloged yet.

Lovely Bess!

I've been invited to harvest cochineal in the Desert Garden this coming Tuesday Yippee! (happy dance) Apprantly there an infestation the curator of the Desret Garden wants taken care of. I might get enough for dying and a bit more. Anyone want to trade?

Henry Cooke from MA? I can contact him if that is the case... Yes that's him. I only met him for a few minutes but he seemed a really nice guy. He was out here fitting some guys for Revolutionary War British army unifroms up in Sacramento and asked to come down here to look at an orderly book we have. He is also a friend on the of the botanical voluteers here who does stuff for Colonial Williamsburg. Herny is suppose to be the man when it comes to 18th c. tailoring and dress. He does things for Colonial Williamsburg and the Smithsonian. I would have liked to have talked to him more.

Unfortunately one of the best qualified person to answer this, Henry Cooke, just left here. Sorry. That being the case you might want to check-out Military Uniforms in America: A series for collectors, published by the Company of Military Collectors & Historians. They have wonderful colored plates.

A painting any Rennie would want http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lfsearc...intSaleID=21198 Skip to lot# 177 It makes me feel like I'm back ar Agoura!

I see a 22x22" Habotai silk scarf on the website Kass posted. Would that do?

Put it anywhere but Corona! I'm doing this because New Providence is too.