Cap'n Pete Straw

Francois: You look great. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Here are some shots of my clan. In fact, here is the whole clan from last weekend's Bristol Renaissance Faire: From left to right, that would be my Lovely Wife (who absolutely hates dressing up in "costumes," alas), myself, my 12-year-old daughter ("Elizabeth Morgan"), my 14-year-old son ("William the Bloody"), my father and my step mother. And here am I, wasting away. Oh, wait... is that a pistol at my feet? Stupid jailer! Here is William the Bloody in one of his two favorite shots from his day at the Faire: ...But for some mysterious reason he likes this one more: And my daughter... who cannot be held by a mere iron cage...

More aboard the Dreadnought... Breza has sest up a small mini-museum, with a few pirate exhibits, inside the ship. He plans to expand upon this throughout the summer, but he is off to a great start... In addition, there is a great activity for kids on deck, who can haul up a submerged treasure chest (just don't be standing on those coils of rope when you let go!)

More Fun at the Faire... They have an awesome game for kids of all ages... a combination trampoline and bungee/pulley system... ...which catapults you about fifty feet in the air. My daughter is fearless. Here she is again trying her balance on Jacob's Ladder (a ride which I ran when I worked there 25 years ago): And, speaking of fearless, here she is again tackling the 40' climbing wall. She deliberately paused (without prompting) over halfway up for me to get this photo op. Yes, she defeated the undercut part of the wall, and made it all the way to the top, while other kids were still struggling with their first 10' of the wall. My son, meanwhile, had his own idea of fun...

Here are some promised pics of the Dreadnought... This would be Cap'n Pete Straw guarding... er... nothing: Mike Breza, Captain of the Dreadnought, actually drew up the plans for the ship which was assembled on site. The Dreadnought offers some good photo opportunities for ship-less pirates! I offer the following two examples as evidence... My daughter ("Elizabeth Morgan"): ... and my son ("William the Bloody"):

I will post some of my BRF photos here (I have dozens!)... but most of the pictures of the Dreadnought I will post in the separate thread on that subject... .... except these... Here is the infamous Cap'n Pete Straw surveying his surroundings (with the Dreadnought in the background) And here is William the Bloody, literally surveying his surroundings: And young Elizabeth Morgan... well, it appears she, too, is surveying the surroundings... And I am proud to present, in a very rare costumed appearance, the Lovely Mrs. Wade: Oh, dear... I really re-sized those pics small. Oh, well, you can see them fine, I guess, and I plan to post a whole bunch...

Michael Jackson

...Still picturing the Pinewood Derby.

The Eagle has landed

I would sign up as Scout Master. Helping old ladies across the street would be a breeze with compressed-air-deployed grappling hooks.

7" tall pirates (if you know what I mean )

Puffy clouds

Well, here it comes... My son must go back to his mother's home the weekend of the 5th. And I have a family reunion on Kentucky on August 5 (not to mention a conflicting CW reenactment as well as a church obligation all that same day). ... What to do? What to do? I think my son (William the Bloody) and I may plan to go downtown Chicago on Friday, August 4, in our pirate regalia (It's the final day of my vacation) and see some ships. If you're planning to be there on that day, let me know. ... But if you are in, say, a great big ship, you don't have to tell me: I'll find you.

In another thread (Bristol Renaissance Faire), I will post some pictures of the Dreadnought ship -- the subject of this thread. Or maybe I'll post some here, too.

Lady B got it right -- the weather could not have been more cooperative. It was in teh 70s with a slight cooling breeze off the lake all weekend long. The only rain was very late on Friday night after all the rabble-rousing had ended. It forced most to get inside and get a good night's sleep, which was needed for Saturday. We were NOT allowed to camp on site (citing lawyer concerns), but there were many protests... the organizers might listen to us for next year. More pirates (and the local militia "bad guys") might set up more authentic camps if allowed to stay on site. There is a really nice (small) area that could accommodate everyone. I personally secured a room in the adajcent hotel -- my room overlooked the "reenactment" area. When I turned on the TV for the local morning news channel, I was alarmed to see a live feed of my tent (more of a shebang) which had collapsed overnight. I looked out the window -- sure enough, it was down -- then back to the TV... Where was that shot coming from? It was the same view! (I later learned there was a live TV camera feed hooked up directly above my room. I wish I saw some of the footage that the local news might have aired later that day.) But I have to admit -- my room was literally a stone's throw away from the action -- the accommodations were great. Mark your calendars for 2007. This promises to be a lot of fun next year.

Can you imagine how tasty the Kraken would be? Screw calamari being a mere appetizer -- just one of those tentacles would be a main couse for the entire voyage!

Moody Blues (I know -- the lyrics are "Tuesday afternoon..." But this popped into my head, and this is Word Association, not?)

... On top of that, Superman -- because of his innate super-powers, cannot bring himself to kill. Batman has no such qualms. So, in a fight to the death, Batman would be the hands-down winner. Good vs. Evil? No, they are both good. But Superman won't step over The Line. Batman will take any Means to reach The End. And according to the DC Universe canon, Batman is perhaps the only living human who does not trust Superman -- preferring to trust instead the adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely." ...This is why, also according to canon, Batman keeps a piece of kryptonite in his cache of weapons. Batman chides Superman for being a Great Big Do-gooder Boy Scout, but hanging on to the only ultimate weapon in case the ultimate Good Guy goes bad? Now that's what I call Being Prepared. Especially when your arch-nemesis is a white-skinned, green-haired clown who prefers to wear purple. Black is this year's Purple.

Monday morning

Um, Young Captn M Shamrock... I just showed my son, William The Bloody (who has not logged into the pub in ages) your photo... He is the same age as you -- I think his exact words were: "Daaaamn..." Photos of him (and of all of us) from this past weekend's Renaissance Faire to be posted soon...

Why is all the digital rum gone?

Will try to get pics up later today or perhaps tomorrow... this camera does not hook directly to my computer. Damned technology. I have pics of the ship, and on the ship, and inside the ship, and, if that weren't enough, of Mike Breza on the ship! I have a zillion anecdotes about the one day at the Faire, but cannot begin to recall or relate them all. Planned invasion on August 19th, eh? My kids will be back at their mother's home, and I am 376% positive that Mrs. Straw will opt to not accompany me (Ren Faires are totally not her cup of mead)..... but I will mark my calendar. Let's see what I can do -- the weekend is thus far unobligated, and it's only a 90 minute drive for me. I had not been to the Faire in ten years, and worked there 25 years ago -- despite all the modifications, as I walked in, I felt as if I had never left. Long-forgotten memories came rushing back to me... I cannot wait to go again. - - - - - - - - - - - Can anyone explain how I dropped over $100 in one day at the Faire and walked out with nothing new? I only had one beer, one plate of food, a bunch of water (some of which was purchased for me). Aside from admission for my kids on some rides and stuff (you MUST try the bungee trampoline thing!), I didn't even purchase anything for them.

I made an authentic Shut-The-Box game (based on a museum specimen) for Civil War reenacting, and have been playing (+ gambling) with it for several years. I have taught countless families and kids how to play at reenactments, and have sent parents running off to purchase versions of this great mathematics-skill-building game. And, yes, this was a popular gambling game with sailors... I have a printed reference to this fact somewhere...

I actually finally got my two youngest kids to sit down last night and watch my DVD of "Captain Blood" from beginning to end. (My daughter: "You mean this is in black-and-white?? UUuggghhhhH!" I threatened to make her wear real pirate shackles during the whole movie if she didn't stop complaining) They actually enjoyed it. So, now I get to tick that off my "Great Father Things To Do" list. ... Will force them to watch "The Sea Hawk" on DVD tonight or tomorrow (non-stop thunderstorms here). But I had to explain that while "The Sea Hawk" is a better movie, I wanted them to see these two in the order they were made.

As mentioned two or three posts ago, I used the men's XS size for my son's coat. However, this required purchasing a second pattern, which was no problem at the time because they were on sale for $1 apiece. If you are scaling down a larger pattern, I hope you are a very experienced seamstress -- it will require a lot of recalculations. If you are adventurous, you can make your husband's coat, then cut the new fabric according to HIS finished coat panels -- taking in seam allowances should make the difference ... but maybe not ... ... Ultimately, I strongly recommend you purchase a second pattern with the XS size (or measure yoursealf against the other available sizes) for the best end result. - - - - - - - The Renaissance Faire was a great success. My son's complete outfit looked great. So many people remembeed me (actually, they remembered my coat) from last month's Pirate Festival, it was quite amazing. Pictures coming soon...

Ride 'Em Cowboy