HBlackthorne

I am in N Central FL and have opened my home to friends who live in mobile homes. Figure a brick house on 12 acres with a 100ft deep Swiftmud flood canal butting up to the back yard is safer than a Trailer in Tampa/St. Pete. Have plenty of Hurricane Lamps, a large grill [with a freezer full of meat], and plenty of floor space. If the storms are bad, we are safe,...if the storms are minimal, we all had a BBQ and shared time together,....

My views on past lives and connections to specific famous people notwithstanding, the idea is a interesting one. Personally, due to a few "psychics" readings and my own personal dreams, I believe that I have had many past lives and all of them end similarly [shot, stabbed, or otherwise pierced in the back by a younger man over a woman] so the idea of past lives makes sense to me. As for what you experienced I believe it is possible that you were in fact a Pirate or a Privateer in a past life. My view is what or who we were in the past does very much affect our present. If you are drawn to the idea of the "Pirate life" and if you feel that odd "call to the mast" then it is quite possible you were a sailor in a past life. I have a friend who in his daily life has a code of honor and a chivalry about him that when he goes to RenFaire and put on his garb he is more comfortable than wearing slacks and a shirt,.... he is a "man of the court" to his very marrow and only gets to fully let that part of him out at Faire though that Code of Honor and Chivalrous attitude permeates his day to day life as well. If there is an aspect of you that is an "Anachronism" in this time,..if you are a "man out of Time",...then you may very well be touched by your past life,....

Since I am working on a list myself, I figure you all might have some ideas as well. I know some of us will have a CD with "pirate music" on it to listen to on the way to a show site or what-have-you, but taking that idea a bit further,....the question is what movies would you put on a list for something to watch before a show [like maybe the two days preceding it] to get in to that right mindset? Now this does not necessarily mean the best portrayals or costuming or anything like that,....but what movies give you the right "vibe" or "feeling" to put you mind in the right space to play a pirate?

Morgan was that "The Buccaneer" with Yul Brynner from 1958 or another movie? I truly hope not because I have to actually go buy a copy on DVD [all I have is a VHS i have had for years]. Yul Brynner did a pretty good job in that movie, admittedly the clothing was off [more the material than the pattern] and it had many stereotypes in it, but all in all it was a good movie that did show the "use" of Pirates and Privateers to an area. Plus Brynner just has that presence that makes you believe him in most any part,...lol.

While its not quite a "Pirate Movie" Mel Gibson was in a Naval Movie,...he was in "The Bounty" along with Anthony Hopkins. It was, to my recollection because its been a few years, a decent movie and had good acting in it. As for "Treasure Island" I plan on buying the DVD soon myself after seeing bits of it on SyFy. I am actually gathering some movies together for "preparation" or "mindset"movies for upcoming shows and plan on having Treasure Island [the SyFy and the Disney versions] on the list.

Just for giggle Mission I have to ask do you have the "cure for drowning" one anywhere? I used to watch this BBC show called QI [it was hosted by Steven Frye] and one of the questions involved a bellows looking instrument with a small bowl on it and the question was "what was this item used for". Turns out in London in the late 1700s these bellows were all along the Thames and the coastal areas and were used to resuscitate a drowned person by, I kid you not, filling the bowl with tobacco and blowing smoke up the persons rear end. And supposedly once when it was found to be "snake oil" the term "blowing smoke up your bum" became the term for being lied to or being told falsehoods. I did the research and it was a true "medical device". Here is the QI segment,..sadly I cannot find the other stuff,..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeEvP6QCpw8

Oh I love when people ask me about "The Code as set down by Morgan and Bartholomew", it gives me a chance to play around with how ships articles worked. Well, a least I enjoy it if they are just Disney-fied people instead of Drunken Idiots. It can be kind of fun explaining the difference between what the popular media shows of pirates and what reality probably was. I had [seems I lost them about 3 months back] the ships articles for Morgan and Black Bart so I can actually show them the Codes of both along with a few others I had. That all being said I can get behind the issue with Psedo-History,.... but I enjoy the books that show "History from another viewpoint" like the one I saw that had Jean Laffitte as someone who was trying to stabilize the Bayou area of New Orleans despite the government because he had a love for the area and its people. Did it make him a faultless patriot,..no not really it still allowed for the fact he was a pirate and a bit bloodthirsty,..... basically the book painted him as a hard and tough outlaw who had a decent plan for "his city" and handled it well whose actions also helped New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Wish I could find that book again because it was kind of an interesting read.

Ok,.... I stumbled on this trying to look into other peoples research and I know I am new to the forum but hey figure I drop my 2 shilling in on it. First off, having met Crispy at a few shows and having him save my butt after one of my stage shows [street fair we both did were I was on asphalt doing my "how to be a pirate" kid show and did not realize how dehydrated I was Crispy kindly ran off and got me a chilled drink when he realized I was real close to passing out] I think Crispy kind of falls into the same general area I do when it comes to the idea of Re-enactment. I try not to tout myself or the Crew I work with as Historical Re-Enactors,..we use Historical Entertainment,.... we strive to be as accurate as we can within the limits of comfort and weather [wool in FL summer is not good idea] and try to balance that with recognizably of "known pirate". A few examples being, like what is discussed in this thread, beads and accoutrements. Ok,..historically speaking we know that beads and such were trade items so having a few on your hat [on a thong] or a few strings wrapped around it as a hatband would be an easy way to carry barter goods. Also [and I know the time frame is off but it still makes sense] Vikings would wear hammered silver jewelry that could be easily broken off to use as coinage so it is feasible for a pirate to have a similar idea by wearing whatever jewelry they could get and using the medallions as trade items. Now like with anything this can be taken too far ofcourse, I mean someone with strands and strands of beads in their hair does "jump the shark" as it were. Its all about moderation. Personally, from what I know of Crispy [and I am not trying to speak for the man or anything this is just my view of him] he portrays a more wild man pirate that is meant for entertainment over extreme accuracy. I am similar in my portrayal,.... I look for things that fit in the general timeframe that would be possible and incorporate them into my character. I carry some beadworked items on my baldric,.... they look good and since they are cheap I can pop a bead off and give them as tokens to kids. I have a few coins on a thong on my sash as well,..I use them as a teaching tool [again for kids] as to the fact that currency was widely varied at that time [what they actually are are my screw ups trying to cast some pirate coins,... they are misshapen or have bubble holes in them so I found a use for them]. My cutalss is actually a 1876 British infantry saber that I changed the grip on meaning the biggest difference is its a thinner blade than it would have really been and is slightly longer than it would have been but it fits my hand and I can swing it for Stage Combat. So, to my mind in moderation on each person [and to that persons character] such things can work. Admittedly unless you have a back story putting you in the Pacific sea lanes a bone in the nose is a bit much but hey if you can back it up my all means do it. All this being said I really thing that as long as you have a general reason for why you have something out of the ordinary and its not a huge anachronism you should be ok,...as long as you are not at a show that is billed as True History. I always try to learn just how much of a Stitch-Dalek the promoters of a show are before going,...if they are the type who want detailed notations of the accuracy of your gear [and yes we all know these shows exist] I either fit in or do not go,...if they are more the type to say "nothing obviously modern if you are cast" then its easier on me [heck I used to carry a hidden digital watch on me sometimes sewn into a piece of leather and ties to the bottom of a clear bottomed tin mug,..you cannot see it unless you lift the mug up to your face and peer down into it] After re-reading this I offered no documentation for any of my points other than generalizations and thereby broke the rules of the forum and for that I am sorry. I know I cannot remove the comment so I will edit it with the addendum that I see now where I messed up and again apologize.

I am so very glad I found this thread since I have been almost literally tearing my hair out [and since my hair is down to my waist that's a LOT of hair] trying to get some flags up and going. Our original flag was sewn by a friend from a very lightweight cotton [its what we had in the house when we realized that we really should have a flag for the parade in a few days] and while it was acceptable it was really low end work and promptly fell apart after a weekend of use. We then made due with a "generic pirate flag" that we found at a Goodwill which instead of being some modern material seemed to be cotton [we figure it was an old replica flag from 50s possibly used in some Parade or something]. Well now the Captain wants to get our flag back up and flying so since I am one of the few with time on my hands I said I would do it. I have on its way some cloth, what I assume is a naval signal flag for a cruise ship, that I will use as a basis for a flag. The colors are the ones I want and are already weathered. I figure this would probably have been one way they would have done it back then, re-purposing captured flags for material and sewing it all together. Imagine you are a merchant vessel and after a mutiny you go Pirate. Well you have your signal flags and your national flag,... tar the Nation flag thereby darkening it [or if anyone knows how to dye then just dye it a dark color] then use the signal flags to sew on whatever insignia you want. You have all kinds of options just with those alone. Personally I will be going that route for some of the flags and a "well made" route for others,...I plan on having both a weathered version and a newer version of our flags just in case we need them.