Mission

Kind of a mix of the two ideas.... we make a "treasure map" of the Fort out to the camps.... that could be passed out announcing the "Camp Walk"... after the Battle... (This also allows for Key West Time... because the "Camp Walk isn't at X:30... but a little after the battle... so we all know when it is...) That does sound like a good idea. I personally figure about 5 minutes for a presentation because that's about all I usually want when I'm watching someone. I could go on for an hour about the crap I've learned, but I don't think that's being very considerate of my audience. I figure if they want more, they'll ask questions. (If you watch people, you can see when they're getting edgy.) Again, I suggest we use signs. Big white signs with red or black lettering. "Your questions are welcome!" or "Come see how pirates lived on land!" or "I assure you; we're open!" or some such. Key West is not Hampton (or Deltaville or where ever people are fairly close to the real world) and most people are probably not going to show up for the 2pm Living History display. It seems to me that it would be best to just flat out tell them we invite questions and this is the 1722 Mercury Camp or the 1670 Buccaneer camp or the 2009 Independent Mead Drinker's Camp and so forth. I'd be happy to help letter signs if we get the paint and wood on Tuesday. (I ain't figuring to show up before Tuesday next year unless there's a really good reason.)

Bucky shall have a mate! I'm going to put together a female skeleton in a gibbet for 2009. I already have a female skeleton that is perfect for the role and I found a new source for Gibbets. http://www.brandsonsale.com/hg-004423.html (In case anyone else wants to get in on the fun of making one.) Michael Bagley has agreed to provide me clothing for her. I think she will get my old shoes as I need a new pair anyhow. If anyone would like to donate a bonnet or something suitable for headgear, both Ms. Bucky and I would appreciate it...

I am still not a fan of the set times. I don't think it matters that much in Key West. I am proud to say that Key West broke me of the habit of wearing a watch and I wouldn't want it any other way. If we must have set times, they should be to have a dedicated Living History display for a very short duration. Like 2 hours after battle max. (Before battle will be a huge complicating mess IMO.) Just MHO, feel free to disagree.

And Sophia never got a chance to break out her spice trading materials at all!

It sounds so easy when you say it. Being an inveterate college student, I can tell you that is not the way it happens in college. I am well-suited to college teaching and will eventually do that before I move along. (Unless the moving along happens sooner than I expect...)

And then, just like that, I found one on-line. It's even cheaper than the other one was and looks like the same basic thing. http://www.brandsonsale.com/hg-004423.html

It could happen. I'll think on it. I don't want to do an amputation, though. MAD Dogge had a good idea in '07 about bullet removal that I might try. Mission just likes to stand and lecture. Mission was a professor in another life. Possibly in the future of this one, too.

A proper surgeon's chest. That, alone, is a huge project. Fortunately Mary Diamond said her dad might be willing to help me. (I have to design it around Woodall's descriptions and my equipment. And I want it to close up with a wood front for UPS shipping.) If I could get another gibbet, I might make a mate for Bucky. (He needs a girlfriend.) Maybe I'll save a search on eBay for gibbets and see what happens...

Actually, there were a couple of different objections, some of which were most definitely valid. I think the action between the fort and encampment was a little more balanced this year. Last year it seemed like the fort was the only game in town as far as the public was concerned. Maybe going from 9 tents (or whatever someone said it was in 2007) to 29 had some impact on that.

Ah, I must have missed the link. However, your photos are great (as always). Willie is cool. Would that be Wobble juice...? The Pirate Bar Dog. (I've seen many dogs in bars in Key West, so this is perfect.) The Scarlett Jai in PC Togs action figure (I took a pic of her and Leatherback with Jessi's camera, but she didn't post them. Did they suck so badly they didn't rate posting?): And the honeymoon suite:

I think large, non-period, easy-to-read signs might be good for the period encampments. Maybe even demarcations for which encampment is which - rope boundaries or such like. However, I don't think we should go overboard with this...the real joy of PiP is that there aren't any period Nazis that I've seen (so far, knock on wood). Too many rules and delineations about who is what and it will muck everything up and encourage thread counting and other primarily irrelevant political nonsense. If that happens, it'll probably be my last trip to PiP. The demonstrations...I don't know what to say about the demonstrations. I was all for it in here a few months back and everyone kind of shot me down. Then Harry came up with the school thing, which would have been a great idea, but it didn't work out for various reasons. Dutch was a big supporter of the demonstrations and he was also the one that really started it at PiP this year. I don't know how, exactly, he got people on their way to the beach to listen to him, but he did. So I broke out my stuff too. (I have never lectured in front of a woman in a bikini before. I love Key West.) If nothing else, it made the postage to send 35 pounds of medical equipment worth the while. Then a group came over from the fort led by...was it Diosa and some other people? That helped tremendously because that group had made the trip from the fort and were thus invested in seeing the demonstrations. They asked lots of good questions - which shows they were interested. Of course moving stuff outside the fort will also help merge the folks interested in the pirate doings with the location of the encampment and make such opportunities more prevalent. But as for staffing a booth from x o'clock to y o'clock? I'm not a big fan - I really sort of like the loose organization deal. If we were going to do such, however, it would make sense to do it after a battle when the interest in what pirates did would be at a peak. A nice explanation of guns, food, medicine, navigation and such-like would probably sell pretty well at that point.

Not to put a damper on the Mallory Square idea, but wasn't it something to do with Mallory Square that got PiP into so much trouble awhile back? It's good that the BIBs have a license to perform there, but it seems to me that you'd want to make pretty sure you guys don't jeopardize that. Get all the t's dotted and the i's crossed before we get too carried away with what could be a right controversial stunt. (Like most small towns, from what I've read in the Citizen, Key West's city council appears to have a somewhat stunted sense of humor.)

Oh do let's sign Mission the Vegetarian Surgeon up for that one, for sure... (Not.) It's a really cool idea, though. You should contact the Doug and William show - I'll bet they'd be interested. I don't think they post here, however.

Aye that event can be hard on the feet also... I personally found the concrete at Hampton to wear worse on my dogs in two short days than in the four we were at PiP. By far.

Maybe it's his final act of defiance before being hung out to dry. He's flouting the Crown. Er, so to speak...

From finals, direct to PiP, to Graduation. Whew! Congrats again! (Now when are you going after that doctorate...?)

Funny, you don't look the part. I, on the other hand, look totally trashed. (So does Stynky...hee hee hee. Stynky got stinking.)

He's just trying to pull his pants up. He's embarrassed.

Lilly, I have a bunch of little skull beads. They're about 3/8" high and the hole in them accepts a piece of thread. I bought a bag of 100 or more of them for my ceiling fan pulls in my Living Room: I have a at least 30 or 40 of them left. If you can use them on whatever project you're considering, I'll be more than happy to just send you as many as you'd like. PM me you address if you're interested.

Good God! Don't put the responsibility on me! I was just savoring the irony. (If you guys do want me to split it out for better visibilty, I'll be happy to do so, however.) Here is what I want on my ornament: (Bucky the pants-ed skeleton.)

Oh, good, you got pics of the Home for Wayward Pirates! (Can I use them? Pleeeeeese?) You got some really good ones... For anyone who has doubts about what a great site, we had, this is the view out Keith and Lily's front door:

How did this moody thread become a discussion of Christmas ornaments? I think you'd have to pick the right people to be on the ornaments to sell them. Look at how hard they had to work to sell those artist's sketches of some fairly popular (in our little PiP world) pirates.

A few last ones before... ...I just give you the link to the lot of them. Thanks so much Mary for giving me access to these so quickly. (Where are your photos? You always take such good ones...)

I must confess, I didn't see this because I was running pell mell back to the Callahan's tent to get my bone saw in time for my part in the melee. I honestly didn't think the hanging was going to happen and I didn't want it stashed by the stage (where it was originally placed) when the auction was going on. (If they accidentally auctioned off the bone saw, or someone walked off with it on its first outing, I'd be crushed. The damned thing cost almost $200 in the auction where I won it.) I can't remember the psychologist's name, but he basically said all you need for such a movement is rhetoric and a compelling idea in back of it. Once the ideas are in place and people see others joining in, most willingly slip the chains of expected public social behavior and join the fray. There are countless historic examples of this. If you really want to scare the hell out of yourself (and wonder about what you might do in a morally ambiguous state), read about Stanley Milgram's Obedience Experiments. 2/3 of regular American people did something that you probably doubt you would even be capable of thinking about if asked. (Sorry to get all serious. It's a fascinating avenue of study.)

Tell ya' what BVFF...you come down to PiP next year and let me spank you and then we'll negotiate the second act to this potential episode of public humiliation. (This means I'll be safe forever. )