Mission

You know, I thought I had collected a pic of the seats of ease, but I couldn't find it. As I had been working at this page basically all day (between writing, idea-ating, sorting photos and constructing that page), MD got quickly added into the script rather than going back and trying to figure out where I had seen that photo. There are literally 10-20x more photos available to me this year than last. (Besides, that pic looked so much like that jailer from hell to me that I laughed out loud when I thought of including it. In fact, I think it's better this way.)

I call this next slide "Still Life of Stolen Mugs." Does anyone claim the one on the left?

Hey, does anyone have a good pic of Cpt. Sophia at PiP? It may just be that I have missed her, but in my scans I found few pics of her!)

RedJessi and I were exchanging things and she sent me a copy of all the Firefly seasons. (Not to get OT, but she drew a skull on the back of the package which I thought was sort of funny, so I scanned it in for everyone to enjoy. It sort of has a Punisher thing going on, which makes sense given Jessi's love of comic books. Jessi's cool.) Anyhow, I am re-watching Firefly. (I talked about watching it the first time back in the early days of this thread.) I like it a little better because I know the characters this time going in. I am still struck by the hokey adoption of the midwestern accents, particularly by Mal (who can at least sort of pull it off) and Kaylee (who can't.) But it's a minor beef, so I'll try to banish it from my mind in the future. This is still an awfully moody show. Nice set up in the first episode, though. I can see where this could have been a good show, but I suspect, based on the characters and Weadon's propensity for choosing odd paths for his characters in later seasons of other series that it would have been even better if it had a particular story arc and length like Battlestar Galactica did.

Not all of them... I think there is a necessary condition for a psychologically normal person not to feel remorse over killing. It has to do with the way you view the person you have killed.

Speaking of cats, we have from YouTube. (It's obviously a cheesy 'good news' segment on some faux news show, but I am still fascinated by the cat...and the device.)

I submit that the basic thing that makes one remorseful for killing a fellow human, whatever the socio-political or religious norms is a far more basic emotional response. Thus it would transcend all the layers of external rationalization we are using as an excuse to say someone would not feel remorse at this time or that place. (See my post above.) We know there is a process that is gone through to desensitize soldiers to killing the enemy. It is very simple and I believe there are records of it going back to Roman times.

That pretty much sums it up for me. Trying to get other people to conform to your idea of anything is just setting out to frustrate yourself. I actually do choose to make part of it a research paper, which is why I disagree with the source you quoted when he said (right before that splendid quote above, ironically enough) "You want to make it some kind of research paper, or some such other work, stop it." That is also part of the way I chose to play. Gah. I posted something in Pyrate's Heart! I haveta' go take a shower...

Just a side note here...I generally like to let those in the know spot my sources for themselves, but since I don't think Stynky is a rat (he's an upstanding, honorable, decent, law-abiding fellow........................................... ), I thought I'd pop this in here. In all fairness..."the rat" comment is a riff on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. (In fact, it's stolen directly from it.) There are many, many movie and cartoon references in that mess. (It's what I do.) If you really wanted to do this at PiP (which would shock the heck out of me - I don't think most of the people there would actually get it) or if you just wanted to understand what's really behind all the jokes, you would be well advised to watch Animal House, GBU, The Scarlet Pumpernickel, any random Foghorn Leghorn cartoon with Miss Prissy in it and Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a Half Century. In fact, you should do those things anyhow. It will be good for you. You should also go back in time to PiP '08. In fact, we all should...*sigh*

That could also have to do with the fashion of the time. Plus few people could write. Plus how many diaries (since candid comments seem to wind up in diaries) have you read of Spanish people during this period? How many do you know of that have been even translated so you can read them? (I often wonder what a Spanish sailor would have had to say when doing my studies. I have read a dozen English accounts, but I haven't even seen a Spanish account. I've only heard about some French accounts because they haven't been translated. So my research is decidedly one-sided.) I think when it comes to remorse, the question you should start with (for we are starting in the middle) is what is necessary for remorse? I suggest, at its core, it is not social mores, nor is it religious doctrine, nor is it governmental edict. These things all encourage people not to kill other people, but they are not sufficient to stop people. What is that would make you (yes, you) remorseful over the killing of another person? (Hint: look at what happened to parts of the fighting groups during trench warfare following the German/French/Scottish truce at Christmas in 1914. It is something very basic to humanity, whatever time period you want to consider.)

Wait...who's Bess? Is she one of your characters? Geez...I can't keep score without a scorecard. Thank you to everyone for correcting me on the fact that Stynky is, in fact, face down on the floor mumbling incoherently to the clean up crew about dancing with Brig in the photo where I said he wasn't. Also, I realized right after I posted it that the photo of Ashley is not from PiP because of the ground, but it is a nice picture, so I left it there. The photo of Stynky with the girl in the black dress is also not from PiP as Stynky told me on the phone. Would the owner of the previous photo account (the one that has Silkie standing at her Ordinary) please fix the position of Silkie's picture located by the link. That would be Dutch and it is highly unlikely that he even knows how to adjust it. no problem cheeky, got em all upright now. Oh, thank you Dutch! It's much better now! (Give Silkie a kewpie doll!)

Aw, gee. I missed that photo!

I wasn't going to post any of this before the whole site was done, but I was having way too much fun with this and I had to share it. I mention this on the web page, but thanks again to Hurricane for emailing me the script from the Tryal of Anne Bonny and Mary Read so I could use that as a starting point. This is how we deal with Stynky ruining all the good photos, Jim! (Note: all the SJ Easter Eggs will not be quite this detailed. This idea hatched after poring over reams of photos and finding many of Stynky that I thought were pretty funny. Hope you enjoy it.)

Sterling, to add more torture to them both, place a bottle of mead just out of their reach. Don't forget feet as well as hands. And make sure they don't have anything on them they can bribe anyone with, not even the snotties. Animal Don't forget a couple of well endowed females....... Eh? Didn't follow this one. William does not drink, Animal. So I don't think mead is going to tempt him.

PM me your address. (I think Stynky owns stock in UPS...)

Now here's something we hope you'll really like! (From this eBay auction.) It's an 18th C. device used for the self-administration of enemas. Whoop!

If no one answers this, you might PM hurricane. He knows a lot about Jamaica.

Ah, here we are. Saturday morning, Panara, cuppa' Hazelnut coffee with Nutmeg in it (try it, you'll see) and...Leo Eloesser: “With the buccaneers, the surgeon seems to have had a salary: ‘Also [they draw out of the common stock] a competent salary for the surgeon and his chest of medicaments, which usually is rated at 200 or 250 pieces-of-eight.’ (Footnote 7: Esquemeling. Op. Cit., p. 60.)” (Eloesser, p. 35) "The pirate surgeon, however, does not seem to have had to sign the articles. He was taken of a prize and forced to serve until another prize was taken that had a surgeon on board; he was then given his liberty, if he chose, and the new surgeon put in his place.” (Eloesser, p. 36) “Dow and Edmunds’ report reads: The next morning John Kencate, the doctor on board the ‘Ranger’ [Low's Ship] was brought to trial. The Advocate General stated that although the prisoner ‘used no arms, was not harness’d (as they term it) but was a forc’d man; yet if he received part of their plunder, was not under a constant durance, did at any time approve, or join’d in their villanies, his guilt is at least equal to the rest; the Doctor being ador’d among ‘em as the pirates’ God for in him they chiefly confide for their cure and life, and in this trust and dependence it is, that they enterprise these horrid depredations not to be heightened by aggravation, or lessened by any excuse.’ Capt. John Welland deposed, and that he saw the Doctor aboard the Ranger; he seem’d not to rejoice when he was taken but solitary, and he was inform’d on board he was a forc’d man; and that he never signed the articles as he heard of, and was now on board the deponents ship. John Ackin Mate and John Mudd Carpenter, swore they saw the prisoner at the Bar walking forwards and backwards disconsolately on board the Ranger. Archibald Fisher Physician and Chirurgion on board the said Greyhound Man-of-War deposed, that when the prisoner at the Bar was taken and brought aboard the King’s ship he searched his medicaments, and the instruments very mean and bad. Others testified that the doctor was forced on board, by Low, and that he never signed articles so far as they knew or heard, but used to spend much of his time in reading, and was very courteous to the prisoners taken by Low and his company, and that he never shared with him. The Doctor himself said that he was chirurgion of the Sycamore – Galley, Andrew Scot, master and was taken out of that ship in September last at Bonavista, one of the Cape de Verde Islands, by Low and Company, who detained him ever since, and that he never shared with them, nor signed their articles. The court then cleared the doctor… (Footnote 47: Dow and Edmunds, Pirates of the New England Coast. Salem, Mass., 1923, p. 302-303)” (Eloesser, p. 54) There's more, but that's enough of Leo. I'll close off with one from Eric Graham's magnificent tome Seawolves: Pirates & the Scots: “The attrition rate among the pirates to disease and mindless violence was such that skilled men were forced whenever they were captured.” (Graham, p. 112)

Wait...Stynky stole 3? Or do you mean the 3 he conned people into buying for him? He only stole one that I know of. (Of course, it could be successfully argued that my memory was unreliable after the third or fourth bottle he conned out of the unsuspecting. Gawd, that stuff sneaks up on you...)

Hear, hear! To Perkeo!

Instantaneous, you think? Or just hard to make?

So I collected 853 photos so far...not including whatever the Callahans put up to round out their lot. If I put all those on my website, my provider may disown me. (They once told me that I had been a client for so long that I could put as much stuff on there as I wanted. Hmm....)

That's quite interesting, Graydog. It goes against my supposition, but it still supports the idea that remorse and conscious steps in.

He'd steal the chain. (Let's chain him to an anchor...)

That could be it. Why, is his missing?