Mission

Claude is a good minor character. Did you know that Stan Freberg did the voice of Hubie (the dumb mouse)? He also did Pete Puma, the character of "Oh, three or four..." lumps fame. (Somehow I just thought that was interesting. Here's another favorite of mine from the war years (some war jokes in this one) called Little Red Riding Rabbit. This cartoon has a backstory for me. A new guy had started working in the engineering department where I used to work. I was developing a big software control program and he said something like, "That's an awfully big program for you...ta' have!" which led to our becoming instant friends.

I thought this was a curious thing. Perhaps it was common, but the idea never occurred to me before. This is from Johathan Dickison's Journal or God's Protecting Providence; Being the Narrative of a journey from PORT ROYAL in JAMAICA to PHILADELPHIA August 23, 1696 to April 1, 1697. Some set-up - Dickinson's party had run aground near Jupiter, Florida and been captured by Indians who burned their ship. They eventually gave the party their boat so they could leave. I don't know quite how big this boat was, but the party had 25 people in it, so I'm inferring that it could handle 25 people. Now for the actual relevant quote: "Our boat was very leaky; so we got her into a creek to sink her, that the water might swell her."

Ah...that may explain why I don't recognize the quote. I haven't seen many video games made into movie movies. I try not to stray too far from old movies re-done as new movies (they're already re-re-making Mr. & Mrs. Smith! Is this trip really necessary?), rides made into movies (Will there ever be a Haunted Mansion 2? We can only hope not.), cartoons made into live action movies (Clutch Cargo anyone?) or toys turned into films. (Ok, for the record, I don't see how Transformers II was all that much worse than the first one. The juvenile humor was a lot more apparent, but other than that...more of same IMO.)

It's really been on life support for several months anyhow. Who the hell is Uwe Boll?

Well...I don't want to put too many up at once (there are over a thousand of these, so if I did one a day, we could have over three years of cartoons). But here's another great Saturday morning favorite of mine. Rabbit Hood "But,uh, first,uh...Are you a vet'ran?" "Oh, I'm, uh..." "Good! Then it'll be EASY!"

This is an interesting bit from the English held island of Barbadoes around 1700 from The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, translated and edited by John Eaden. (Only a small part regards uniform colors, but I do so love Labat's descriptions. Maybe someone will find something in there interesting besides just colors.) "...beside the fact that I was in good company, I had the pleasure of watching a revue of the cavalry and infantry of the country. There were four companies of cavalry each containing 126 riders with their drummers and trumpeters. They were all well mounted and well armed. The officers wore red uniforms with wide gold stripes and helmets with white plumes. The infantry were also drawn up in four companies and mustered possibly 200 men. They were fairly well armed, but seemed to be more the servants of the cavalry, being chiefly composed of overseers, workmen, and small proprieters. All the wealthy men, and there are plenty of them in Barbados, are in the cavalry. These troops were of course Militia." (Labat, p. 125)

This is a kind of nice description of an island town. It's from The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, translated and edited by John Eaden. “Bridgetown [barbados] is a fine large town and the streets are straight, wide and clean. The houses are all well built in the English fashion with many glass windows, and are splendidly furnished. In a word, they have an appearance of dignity, refinement and order, that one does not see in the other islands and which indeed would be hard to find anywhere. The Town Hall is a very fine, nicely decorated building. The shops and stores are full of everything one could wish to buy, and their goods come from all parts of the world. The are a number __ of goldsmiths, jewelers, clockmakers, and other artisans who drive a thriving trade and appear to be very comfortably off, and the largest business in ‘America’ is carried on in this town.” (Labat, p. 120-1) And for our Governor: "The Governor's house is a magnificent building and exceedingly well furnished, and stands about three hundred paces from the beach. It contains a library books on all kinds of subjects, which appear to be well selected and are kept in good order. The jetty is opposite the house and is defended by a battery of six cannons with a guardroom and a retrenchment." (Labat, p. 122) And I highlighted this for some reason, so I'm going to post it too: "It is two and a half leagues from 'Jamestown' to 'Speightown.' The latter is a charming little town, in which the houses are well built and the streets straight and wide with plenty of shops and carbarets. Vessels can anchor in the bay in from twelve to six fathoms and are well protected from every quarter except due west. There is a battery on each arm of the bay. The battery on the eastern arm has sixteen cannons, the one on the west twelve." (Labat, p. 123) And for Sterling, "The houses on the plantations are even better built than those in the towns. They are large in size, have numerous glass windows, and have fine rooms that are conveniently arranged. Nearly all the houses have avenues of tamarinds, or shaddocks, or other trees which make the temperature cool and the houses toutes riantes. One observes the wealth and good taste of the inhabitants in their furniture, which is very fine, and their silver, of which they have so large a quantity that were this island to be sacked the silver alone would be worth more than the value of several galleons. This enterprise indeed would not be as difficult as it appears. All that is necessary to ensure making a landing and routing the English would be to collect some 5,000 of our Creols __ and filibusters and a dozen warships." (Labat, p. 128-9) So Labat is a spy!

Being Saturday morning (when I am typing this it is, anyhow), it only seems appropriate to come up with a cartoon we would all regard as a classic. This for all of you who, like me, used to waste your Saturday mornings camped in front of the TV in your PJs eating sugar-laden cereal watching cartoons: Buccaneer Bunny

It is pretty funny that the first accounted re-enactment actually occurred right smack in the middle of the GAoP. Something else I found interesting in that narrative, "...against all the rules to use any metal instruments, such as shovels, or tongs, or plates, dishes, spoons or forks." Everyone tells me that forks were uncommon during period, yet here he mentions them in a way that suggests (to me, anyhow) that you would normally want them. Of course, Labat was primarily land-based and being a priest, he probably ate in some of the better houses, but I still think it's interesting.

Here's the majority of a chapter for all the buccaneers. It's from The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, translated and edited by John Eaden. I saw some more material in here on my first read-through concerning buccaneers which I will reprint for you when I get to it. Geez, this book is fabulous. This is so vivid and well told that it makes me want to try doing a buccaneer impression. Enjoy! “Fond St. Jacques, 1698. Some of our fathers who had come to inquire after the patient (a priest who was getting over he maladie de Siam) asked me to arrange a cochon boucanné in the forest. I did so with pleasure and invited my friends and all our father within reach. A cochon boucan is held in the forest. On these occasions everyone must pretend to be buccaneers, who cook their pig and amuse themselves in much the same way when they wish to take a holiday. One of the differences between my boucan and that of the buccaneers is that they cook a sanglier (wild boar) while I have to be contented with a tame pig. So had a pig killed and cleaned the evening before, and I also had a place cleared in the woods some 1,500 paces from our house on the bank of the river. Here I had a large ajoupa built. An ajoupa is a hut made of light poles covered with balisier and cachibou leaves to keep out the rain. I sent the pig and other things I had prepared to the ajoupa at daybreak and, most important of all, the wine to be cooled in the river. When all the guests had arrived we walked to the boucan and arrived there at about 9 a.m. The first __ thing to be done on these occasions is for everyone to set to work. The laziest had to make two brochettes for each buccaneer. For this purpose they cut sticks as thick as one’s finger, which are then barked and smoothed. One boucan should have two prongs while the other has but a point. The other guests made the brochette. This is a grill on which the whole pig has to be cooked. To make the boucan four forked sticks, about four feet long and as thick as your arm, are driven into the ground to form an oblong structure about four feet long by three feet wide. Cross-pieces of wood are placed in the forks of these posts. On these one arranges the grill, which is also made of sticks, and all this contraption is well tied together with lianes. The pig is placed on this bed on its back, the belly wide open and kept in position with sticks to prevent it from closing up when the fire is lighted. While everyone was hard at work doing these things the slaves set fire to a big heap of wood which they had cut the day before. When the wood was reduced to charcoal the slaves put it under the pig, against all the rules to use any metal instruments, such as shovels, or tongs, or plates, dishes, spoons or forks. Even tablecloths are forbidden as they are too much at variance with buccaneer simplicity. I have forgotten to say that the belly of the pig must be filled with lime-juice and plenty of salt and crushed __ pimento. For though pork is excellent and more tender in America than in any other country, these additions are necessary to make it really succulent. While the pig was cooking, those who wished to do so, ate some breakfast. They were also permitted to drink a shot (un coup) of wine, provided that they drank it in a coüi (calabash) without water, for buccaneers never pour water into their wine and drink either pure water or neat liquor. It is lawful to eat the dishes brought from the house for breakfast, but once the pig has been tasted it is against buccaneer law to eat anything else. Since, however, there is no rule so strict that it does not allow some exception, some of the company are allowed to mix water with their wine. This is because, being still novices of the ‘Order of Buccaneers’, it would not be wise to enforce all the rigour of the law. On which point I wish to remark, en passant, how much more justice and good sense there is in this ‘Order’, than is some I could mention in which the novices are expected to be more punctual and exact than the old members. After breakfast everyone did his share of work. Some went shooting, others collected balisier, cachibou leaves, and ferns to make the tablecloth and napkins. Some looked after the pig to see it cooked slowly, and that the gravy penetrated the meat. This operation is effected by pricking a pig with the point of a brochette, but care must be take, however, __ not to stick the brochette through the skin and thus allow the gravy to fall in the fire. When the boucan was judged to be sufficiently cooked, the hunters were recalled by firing a couple of shots, one after the other. This is according to the rule, for watches are not customary in buccaneer society. As the hunters arrived their game was plucked and thrown in the pig’s belly, or it was spitted and placed near the fire to roast. Hunters who brought nothing were not forgiven if they said that they had seen nothing, but were told that they must go back and shoot something or pay the last penalty. If they were old buccaneers, they were punished on the spot by having to drink as many ‘shots’, one after the other, as the most successful hunter had brought in birds. The only mercy that can be shown them, if it is proved that bad fortune and not carelessness has been the cause of their crime, is to give them the choice of the liquor that they have to drink. In the case of novices, for so those who assist in a boucan for the first time are called, their punishment depends on the master of the boucan. It is then his duty to impose a penalty with discretion and wisdom in proportion to the weakness of the sinners. After benedicite we sat down at a table so solid that nothing but an earthquake could have shaken it, for our table was the earth itself covered with ferns and leaves. Each person laid beside him his two __ brochettes, his knife, his coüi for drinking, and a cachibou leaf. This cachibou leaf is cute into a square, the four corners of which are bent up and tied to each other with small lianes so as to make a bowl. It is in this bowl that one puts the gravy, which is made sweeter or piquant according to taste. I had provided napkins and bread though this is really contrary to the rules, for real buccaneers know not the meaning of napkins, and use but baked plantains for bread. The master of the boucan, as head of the party and father of the family, cuts the first helping for all the company. Armed with a large fork in his left hand and a great knife in his right, he approaches the pig, which lies on its peaceful bed over a small fire. He cuts big slices of pork without damaging the skin, and puts them on balisier leaves which the waiters carry to the guests. A large coüi full of gravy and another full of lime-juice, pepper, salt and pimento stand in the centre of the table, and from these each guest mixes his gravy according to his taste. When the first helping is finished the older buccaneers get up and serve the others. Lastly the novices carve the pig, and they should have learnt this art by watching their elders. I do not think it necessary to inform the reader that one of the essential things in a boucan is to drink frequently. The law compels it, the sauce invites one to do so, and few err in this respect. But since __ man is frail and would often fail had he no one to remind him of his duty and correct him, the master of the boucan has to watch his party. Should he find anyone idle or negligent he must at once call everybody’s attention to the fact. The delinquent must then do penance by drinking a large coüi, a no mean punishment since the coüi is always kept full of wine. In this harmless manner we spent the day with the greatest possible enjoyment. The good wine which is the soul of a meal never failed. I had imported it from France, Madeira, and Canary, and cooled as it had been in the river, anyone would have said that it was iced.” (Labat, p. 52-7)

I think you should post another quote.

Got'cha. Although since it involves Stynky, this may or may not be so as past evidence suggests. (I shouldn't have copied the numbered pic and info into Stynky's post yet...now I have to change everything twice. Grumble... )

Jack, I've been tweaking Foxe a bit on this. This is mostly because we've actually been discussing it... well, he's been complaining about it and I have been reading his complaints about it... ever since he started talking about creating his own website back in our bad old piratesinfo daze. That aside, his site is one of the better sources for accurate, researched info on such things IMO. He provides a nice outline of the QMs job here. Just ignore all his opining about the extra duties of a QM. (But if you really want to be safe, I wouldn't assume that what's being discussed here will necessarily be true for every crew as it doesn't seem to have been so.)

Someone sent me this link of links and the ones I checked out were reasonably good, so I thought I'd throw it out there.

And this is the second best WB cartoon ever made (again, IMHO).

Filibuster is (as I understand it) the French word for privateer. Labat is outlining the conditions for becoming a French privateer. (There is more following the above quote about what a man is paid for losing a limb, digit, eye, etc. which I didn't reprint.) Note that he later calls crews who are just taking any ship pirates, so there is definitely a difference between a pirate and a filibuster in this book. ___ Thinking more on what I quoted, I would guess that this statement is probably the source of the idea that the QM is second in rank to the captain since it's the only place I've seen it so baldly stated. What this means to the QM position vis-a-vis the GAoP pirates is impossible to pinpoint, though. On the one hand, it could be that modern pirate authors have taken this statement and just applied it to every GAoP pirate group, which is sloppy. OTOH, as Littleneckhalfshell alluded in the Religion during the GAoP thread, with Buccaneers, filibusters and pirates most likely consorting in the safe Caribbean ports, the idea could have filtered through the various groups as being a good one and been applied broadly amongst them. This is all if Labat's statement (which is pretty sweeping) is truly accurate for every filibuster crew. Which is all just more proof of my dictum that the more period 'facts' you uncover about pirates from 300+ years ago, the less certain you actually become of anything. For example, I think it's really funny that some of the pirates and privateers were so piously religious (Er, after a fashion. See the above linked thread.) despite the fact that many people think they were all a bunch of atheists. At the bottom of all this, people are people, they are creative and thinking creatures. Put in the same situation, different people will do different things. (Rules are made to be broken, especially by people like pirates. And even that is a generalization!)

In The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, translated and edited by John Eaden, he comes right out and says it: “The conditions of Roving [for filibusters] are set forth in what is called Chasse Partie. If the vessel belongs to the __ filibusters themselves, their booty is shared equally. The captain and quartermaster (who is always second in command in these ships), the surgeon and the pilot receive no more than anyone else except a gift which is given to them by the rest of the crew. As a rule the captain is given a present which is equivalent to three and sometimes to four extra shares. The quartermaster is presented with an additional two shares. The pilot and surgeon each receive an extra share and a half.” (Labat, p. 36-7)

“St. Pierre, 6th March 1694. We were busy all this morning confessing a crew of filibusters who had arrived at Les Mouillanges with two prizes that they had captured from the English. The Mass of the Virgin was celebrated with all solemnity, and I bless three large loaves which were presented by the captain and his officers, who arrived at the church accompanied by the drums and trumpets of their corvette. At the beginning of Mass the corvette fired a salute with all her cannons. At the Elevation of the Holy Sacrements she fired another salvo, at the Benediction a third, and finally a fourth when we sang the Te Deum after Mass. All the filibusters contributed 30 sols to the sacristy, and did so with much piety and modesty. This may surprise people in Europe where filibusters are not credited with much piety, but as a matter of fact they generally give a portion of their good fortunes to the churches. If church ornaments or church linen happen to be in the prizes they capture, the filibusters always present them to their parish church.” (Labat, p. 36)

Wow, only three unknowns! Margaret Raven is a cool name. (Like Marion Ravenwood.) I think I'll even update that surgeon's journal page for to include it.

Talking coyote, no contest. The silent coyote was just not as interesting to me. (But then I was never much of a coyote/roadrunner fan either.) At one point, I believe I may have also had Wile E. as my avatar. (I'm not sure which user ID that was, though.) Or maybe not. I should go dig up that avatar thread again and check.

The Hanna Barbara stuff drastically reduced the number of animation cels per second from the classic WB cartoons. I think WB Cartoons used 24 cells per second (which is standard film speed if I'm not mistaken) and Hanna Barbara used something like half that. So Hanna Barbara's stuff looked "jerky." They also re-used stock footage (which is why Yogi Bear always looks the same when he's running), flipped cells for "opposite" images and used other such tricks to reduce the cost. They sort of had to do this though. Those cartoons were made for TV which wasn't willing to pay as much for them. The end result is that you got crappier looking cartoons in the 60s and 70s than in the 40s and 50s. If you go look at the WB cartoons from the late 60s, you'll notice they have a similar quality to the Hanna Barbara stuff. (Not quite as bad, but not very good either.) @Dorian> "Daddy, you're back from Peru!"

Good lord...just to think of it! Here's a bit of pirate religion for ya'! From The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, translated and edited by John Eaden. "This pirate [Captain Daniel], finding himself short of food between the Saints [Les Saintes or Iles des Saintes, south of Guadalupe] and Dominica, wanted some chickens, and knowing that there were plenty to be had in the Saints, dropped anchor at these islands during the night. Since it was peace-time, no watch was kept on shore, so it was easy for the pirates to land and seize the curé's house and other houses as well. The pirates then conducted the curé and the settlers they had captured on board their ship, and posted men to guard the church and landing-place. They were kindness itself to the prisoners and explained that they only desired wine, brandy, chickens, and other stores. After they had collected these items the pirates asked the curé to say Mass on their barque, and he was unable to refuse this request. They sent for the church ornaments, and put up and alter on the poop under and awning, and then chanted Mass lustily. A salvo of eight cannons marked the commencement of __ the service, they fired a second salvo at the Sanctus, and third at the Elevation, a fourth at the Benediction, and lastly a fifth after the Exaudiat, while the prayer for the King was followed by the most hearty 'Vive le Roi'. Only one incident slightly marred this ceremony. One of the pirates adopted an offensive attitude during the Elevation, and on being rebuked by the captain, he replied insolently with a horrible oath. Daniel promptly drew his pistol and shot him through the head and swore by God that he would do the same to anyone else who showed disrespect to the 'Sainte Sacrifice'. Quite an effective method, as one perceives, to prevent the poor fellow from repeating his offence. When Mass was over, the body was thrown into the sea, and the pirates rewarded the priest for preaching on board the ship." (Labat, p. 221-2) This is also another example of disposing of the dead by throwing them in the water rather than burying him on land - even when burying on land was easily done, although the pirate's offense may have had something to do with that. (However, Labat gives several examples of this throughout his text, so perhaps not.)

Great job on those sideburns!

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a really good book, but I think my favorite Verne book is The Mysterious Island.

Don't they still play them on Boomerang? (I haven't TV reception in over a decade, so I have no clue.) I think a big part of the problem is that the cable channels that start out relying on cheaply licensed shows like these eventually switch to coming up with their own shows or finding very specific niche re-runs as they gain popularity. I suspect they do this more in an effort to differentiate themselves from the other stations than anything. Cable itself has so dramatically altered the TV landscape with shows tailored to specific demographics that the generic old Saturday Morning Cartoon format which fostered the recycling of these cartoons had to go by the boards as they looked for a unique angle. This cartoon is the best Classic Warner Brothers cartoon ever made (IMHO).