Mission

Maybe there's a tug-of-war.

Wow. Although it would be an odd environment to watch some other movies, like, say, Tron.

Most of the tortures I have read about were physical. It seems to have been more common to do cruel things to someone then than it is now. I do seem to recall a story of the pirates putting all the captured ship's crew into a room with no windows, taking one out and then torturing that one nearby so that the others could hear the sound of their cries. The pirates figured the rest of the prisoners would be more likely to tell where their treasure was hidden when they were brought before them. Still, probably not stuff for a re-enactment... although I have seen a similar technique used in a haunted house.

It's got to be tough to try and top the first movie, which I thought hit almost every note perfectly. The second and third were rather clumsily written bolt-ons. I had hoped this one would take us in a new direction, which it did, and recapture the magic of the first one, which it didn't (well, not for me, anyhow.) Since it's a huge international hit (and not doing so badly in the US either), we can count on them making more - probably as many as Depp can stand to make, based on the numbers. Pitch perfect or not, it all burnishes the pirate re-enacting marque and keeps pirates in the public eye, so we should all be grateful for that.

I combined the two topics on the POTC4 figures since we really only need one. That Unison figure is amazing in detail. However, the cheapest I found it for pre-order was here at a measly $262 (plus shipping). They should make a Barbossa too - I know several people who would probably buy that.

Happy b-day Chad/Swab/vintage! (And any other aliases you might have.)

Pretty nifty. They look remarkably like something that a navigator might have use for to me. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350472751206&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

So this is done? If I book a hotel via Priceline, I'll be OK? Hey, if you guys want me to, I can change the title of this thread. Just let me know what you want it called.

Wait...so you're basically not dressed here?

Here's some folk wisdom for you. (One would think this would apply directly to sailors.) "...the evident external Cause of most Fevers is to be sought for hence, viz. because the Sick either left off Clothes too soon, or after being hot with Exercise, expos'd himself unwarily to the Cold; upon which account the Pores being suddenly stop'd, and and those Vapours retain'd, which would otherwise have passed thro' them, this or that sort of Fever is kindled in the Blood, as either the general Constitution, which at that time reigns, or that particular Disorder of the Humours is more inclined to this or that sort of Fever: and I verily believe more have died on this account, than by the Plague, Sword or Famine all together. For if any Physician shall inquire strictly of the Sick, concerning the first occasion of their Disease; if it be of the Number of those acute Diseases we have treated of above, he will almost always find, that either the Sick __ rashly left off some Clothes that he was accustom'd to, or that he expos'd himself suddenly to the Cold, when his Body was heated with motion, and that upon one of these accounts he was seiz'd with the Disease. Wherefore I always advise my Friends that they should never leave off any Clothes, unless it be a Month before Midsummer, or a Month after: I likewise carefully advise them to avoid Cold after being heated with Exercise." (Sydenham, p. 186-7) Note that everything he deals with seems to have to do with humoral theory. Humors that cannot be passed through the pores or removed from the blood stream by other means get stuck there and create disease. This hints at one reason bleeding was thought to have helped patients - it removed the bad humors 'concocting' in the blood.

Ah...bet I know where it is.

Brigands Grove has a neat sound to it. Are the dates the same?

The predecessor to Smith Brothers! "Moreover, I order'd the following Lozenges __ to be taken often, which indeed are the best I ever knew to stop Coughs which are occasion'd by taking cold. Take of Sugar-candy two Pounds and a half, boil it in a sufficient quantity of common Water till it sticks to the Fingers; and then add of Powder of Liquorice, Elecampane, the Seeds of Anise and Angelica, of each half an Ounce; of the Powders of Orris, and of Flowers of Sulphur, each two Drams; of the Chymical Oil of the Seeds of Anise two Scruples: Make Tablets according to Art, which let him always carry in his Pocket, and take one of them often." (Thomas Sydenham, The Whole Works of that Excellent Practical Physician, Dr. Thomas Syndenham, 10th Edition, 1734, p. 177-8)

Blood dirt and patina would be good on that. (Shorts? They wore shorts? I can think of several events where that would be nice...)

The first few photos are up on the Surgeon's Journal Facebook fan page. (Click on the link back there to see them.)

I think that's a really good look. Keep the mutton chops!

Nice outfit, Fighting Fury. You should post larger pics in the You in yar garb. thread for everyone to comment on.

There's a new series of pages on my pirate surgeon website about Finding and Obtaining Period Documents. For those of you wanting to learn more about sea/pirate surgery, there is also a list of books I have found the easiest to read and most useful to learning about GAoP-era surgery. Each book is linked to Amazon and/or a search database. (The pages before the list explain how to you can procure articles from the search databases.)

To be honest - (I thought) that's what we were already doing. . . kinda. For a while Jamaica & Black Syren were going to keep it organized and up to date - but they've both been pulled away. No, what I mean is that when you open page three of the comments, the first post from the first page still appears at the top. With the ability to click on the latest entry, the first page is easily skipped in a multi-page thread. What I am trying to do is consolidate all the threads for different years of the same event into one thread. If the first post is the event info, it only needs to be changed after the event and the same thread can work for the event the next year. Then the event organizer doesn't need to start a new thread for each year of the event. (Go look at June and maybe you'll see what I mean. The same event appears more than once on the first page of the forum because a new year with new dates/times/whatever has come up and the old thread is no longer relevant.)

If we were going to use the map (and I think it is a great idea) my thought before even seeing Hurricane's post was that the two be combined by having a map for each month. Make them a series of monthly maps that you can scroll through with arrows. Maybe combine a few months in the winter when events are few and far between. The trouble with the calender is that there are often many events on the same weekend and you wind up not really having enough room in the calendar box to fit all the info.

Ok, but what about my simpler (I think) idea of having the first post appear at the top of every page of the thread? This would allow us to use the same thread for an event repeatedly. (Having several topics for the same event (one for each year) is kind of confusing.)

My kind of daily-wear knives.

OK, we all agree it's kind of a mess. But it doesn't have to be and it needs positive input. Anyone else on the forum got any other ideas on how to make it better?

I was just thinking that it is annoying that the events forum contains all the old topics and requires a new topic for the same event each year. It would be cool if there was a sort of uber-post which is ALWAYS at the top of an event thread, no matter what page of the thread you were on. This should contain the bare-bone basics (and not much else): Where (City, State & encompassing location - the park, pier, fort or whatever) When (Event Times and Days) What (A single paragraph explaining the concept of the event) Who (A contact person, pm, phone number or whatever) Web-site URL (if such exists) Facebook Page (for one often exists these days) I have been trying to link the Pub's Facebook page to our events page and I am pretty sure there are events that are going on which have no current post, but have one for the previous year or two years ago or whatever. So the potential for pirate re-enactors to publicize their event here is being missed. (Like the NorCal thing. Where is the current post for that?) This is an important function of this site and it should be as serviceable and useful as possible. Any other thoughts on how we can better inform people about events?

Where did you get that? (And for what period of slave trading are those numbers valid?)