Mission

No, we'll make it the other sided. Where the heck is Ed? I need some backup here. I don't know if books were common. I really only know what I read about Defoe and General History of Pyracy. That book sold very well, in fact I think it sold out, and went through several printings. I'm quite certain from what I read that books were more or less luxuries at that time, however. It seems to me that General History was considered remarkable in that it sold well when it cost so much relative to the average person's salary. I'd have to find The Canon-isation of Defoe to give you the reference, though. However, the dearness of books might explain the prevalence of pamphlets. Defoe has been credited with writing literally hundreds of pamphlets (some disagreeing with each other in basic philosophy ). Pamphlets would have been less expensive to publish, I suppose. The pamphlets are remarkably political in nature and many do indeed support a socialist doctrine. Now, my view of socialism may not be the same as Sir Eric's, and it may not be the technical definition, but here it is in all it's Mission/rationalist wonder. It's the notion that the government, large institutions or society at large should be responsible for taking care of the individual. The tale of Captain Misson is a flagrant example of this philosophy. (Note: I'm really not attempting to turn this into a political discussion. That will probably lead nowhere good.) At my core, I find it hard to believe that most people would be as interested in becoming a pirate as a way to promote a philosophical view as much as a way to fill their belly. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs belongingness (which I'd guess is the lowest spot we could place rebellion in the hierarchy) is quite a ways up from physiological and safety needs. If you read the source accounts, you'll find that many and probably most pirate sailors had a decided lack of both these things with fair regularity. (You try having nothing to eat but your shoes for dinner and see how you feel about societal structure.)

Interesting. I had always understood it was much younger than that. What time period is that for? Sir Eric's points are excellent and provide a much more palpable explanation for why piracy arose than any we've come up with yet. It sort of a combination of financial need and opportunity available. The discussion on literacy is fascinating, I would have presumed it to be much less prevalent, although John's points on sailors and books is a good one. I know a guy who's a sailor and that holds true. I wonder how available books were outside the UK? Still, it sort of points to the idea (in my mind) that pirates would probably have no more inclination towards a socialist system than anyone else at the time. I suppose they would have the added advantage of being a part of a smaller community that could proceed more agilely in that direction, however. I still think it would be the exception to find a socialist-minded philosophy at work among a pirate crew rather than the rule.

Is it within our power to create things externally to us through pure thought? Not without a little help, methinks. I do believe we draw things to us and push them from us, but it's not purely mental. The actions that proceed from pure thought - even small, nearly unconscious actions - produce the results we get. Haven't you ever convinced yourself you were able to do something that you haven't been able to do previously? Powerful engine, our mind. (Plus it may run chaotically. )

Funny you should say that. I'm off to give a training this noon to college students called Making Problems Work For You.

This is unfounded speculation, but I'd be willing to wager that most sailors, who were usually, what?, about 14-20 and would be more interested in the sort of life that a pirate could lead when he was onshore than the sort of life he would lead as a RN sailor on shore. Again, mere guesswork. I just can't believe most people who chose the more weighty philosophical route of "freedom from the chains of society" when they could look take the "Well, what's in it for me?" route. It's that live in the moment, forgo planning and all all that stuff to which society would have us subscribe. However, this is not historically based, it's conjecture.

I shrunk the picture down tiny, so you can't read it. But in the large version of the photo, it actually says: "5.K.A. In Loving Memory of Your Support Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell Platinum (Something I can't read)" It's some sort of congratulatory promotional thing. Mr. Loaf has a weird sense of humor and this probably was an example of his kind of humor.

Of the 12 pictures I took in Oz, four of them were of this (from Alice Springs): (The snake on the cow skull is real.) Oh, I found the webcam on the net. This is Bojangles Saloon and they actually have a webcame near the skeleton's head. Keep in mind they're 14 hours behind EDT: http://www.boslivesaloon.com.au/cam/default.htm

You know, I have never heard the Prarie Home Companion. I used to listen to a 2 hour jazz show that came on before the news and I'd sometimes listen to the news.

I don't actually listen to NPR anymore (it leans so farrrrr left), but I did notice when I listened to it that they are more erudite than most media outlets. (And perhaps a tad supercilious as well.) Hinkypunks. That's a cool word that Rawlings made up (I think she made it up).

I know, ain't it cool? I had never heard of that when I read it either. It also sounds like something they'd use on NPR.

godwottery (god-WOT-uhr-ee) noun 1. Gardening marked by an affected and elaborate style. 2. Affected use of archaic language. The Travelocity gnome has apparently left his life living amidst the godwottery behind to make a quick buck.

It was a pseudo-scientific movie about this guy finding the ultimate number that will unlock everything. (Kind of like my Brains, Chaos and Whatnot thread). It leaned on chaos theory and numerology a lot. These guys may or may not be chasing him to get this chip or something he stole if I remember it right. Also, he seemed to be going insane as the movie progressed. It actually borrowed an awful lot factually from the early life-story of Mitchell Feigenbaum now that I think about it. (Having read about Feigenbaum since seeing the movie, that is.)

Now that's a strong recommendation. I really have been looking. Even snooped around the badly organized, used DVDs at various BBs. I'll pick it up off the net. (I should just break down and get Netflicks. Except then I'd probably spend far, far too much time watching obscure movies.) I was in Alice Springs in July and that's their claim to fame, right? Say, I have a neat picture I took in a bar in AS. Anyone who knows me will understand it. I'll try and dig it out tomorrow, scan it and post it. I know you'll all be waiting with baited breath for that one.

Yeah...good weird and bad weird. Speaking of which, I have not been able to find Priscilla Queen of the Desert, even at Blockbuster. Nor can I find The Tao of Steve. I did once own Pi the Movie, but I don't any longer. (I suspect it has almost nothing in common with either of the above movies, but The Tao of Steve reminds me of Pi the Movie for some reason.) edit: Oh, it just occurred to me that they're both Greek letters. So that's probably why.

Blackbead actually gave us a quote, but no one's guessed it. I Googled it, so I'll just shut up.

Talk about weird parallels. A friend of mine and I used to send WB Cartoon quotes to each other via corporate IM (the only time I've ever used IM, actually). I can't tell you how many times we'd say, "You can't do that. Gee-ology of the ground's all wrong!" That's how I assembled my WB Cartoon quote file. It's not quite as sublime as The Duelists, but there you are. BTW, I have no idea what that Tomcat quote is from. ___________________ "Whatta ya' doing, I say, whattaya doing with a pump, son? Pumping for oil? You're crazy boy! There's no oil in this ground! Stand up son, you're falling all over yourself. There's no oil five hundred miles of here! Geology of the ground's all wrong! Even if there was oil, you'd need a drill. Not a tire pump. Layin' down again! Ya gotta stand on yer own two feet, boy. I may not always be around to help ya! Boy's got a mouth like a cannon. Always shooting it off!"

I had never actually heard of this word before today. I have three or four others I got in Word-A-Day that I found similarly interesting. Think of it as the pyrate's own vocabulary builder. (If you think of it at all.)

The world looks more and more wonderful the less and less you care what other people think. You, however, begin to appear to others to be eccentric. Of course you only see yourself as normal while others see you as eccentric, but you don't care what they think, so you see yourself as normal and... Then you see yourself as sane when you are, according to the implication in your statement, in fact, not. See you see yourself as sane when you are insane, but you see yourself as sane, so those thinking you're insane are obviously insane because you see yourself as sane and... It's like trying to walk through a tesseract; you keep ending up in the same place. (All the insane people I know think they are sane.)

"It doesn't really interest me to be able to use interesting words," he said with accismus. Actually, in conversation, I only use about a third to half the words I use when writing. I do this for two reasons. 1) When speaking I am not always exactly sure I am using the world precisely as I mean to and 2) most people don't understand what I'm saying when I use them.

Why is it that when you post a new topic here, it immediately has 2 views? I could see if it had one, but 2?

accismus (ak-SIZ-muhs) noun - Feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it. [Etymology: Greek akkismos (coyness or affectation)]

A Gala Apple. ____________ "You know the first thing I’m goin’ to do after the curse is lifted…eat a whole bushel of apples."

Depends on a ) the level of your belief (I know people who believe in and have seen ghosts and UFOs. If that isn't proof that believing is seeing, I don't know what is.) and b ) the level of your sanity (see above).

Except you have several offspring. Our future paths will diverge there. Widely. (You'll appreciate this, John. I considered the pros and cons of such actions, weighted things according to my current plan and desires and created a rule based on rational choice.)

Ex-Italian Dominican priest Signor Caraccioli, cohort and philosophical muse for Captain Misson. He was also fictional, something I greatly respect and admire.