Sir Eric

Somewhere in a previous thread I posted a review I wrote of UTBF for a history class taught by a VERY particular professor, (the format is specifically for publishing history reviews... 750 words + or - 10% and fully footnoted) I'll see if I can provide a link to wherever the heck it was. (Footnotes indicated but not specified to prevent plagerisim... plaugerism... plageratizim... um... piracy.) ...and I hope this will do just that... http://pyracy.com/forums/index.php?showtop...15entry145721 (um... if there's an easier way to link to a specific post, somebody feel free to clue me in... )

Not to quibble about the overlap between the middle ages and the Renaissance, but remember that the Renaissance started in Italy, not England, and it started around the middle of the 15th century. Not to belittle the English, but it took them a little while to catch up. The movment had to filter through Spain, Germany and France before the English really got into the intellectual swing of things. Regardless, there were pirates at every stage of history, as has been pointed out... so the only question is simply a matter of presentation. Hobnobbing with Royalty? Probably not... but certainly with powerful people all the same... piracy was an accepted profession for many, many many years. It was called something else and sanctioned, but it was piracy all the same. Hinder your competitions ability to trade and yours goes up, plain and simple. So, though maybe not sitting down for tea with Queen Elizabeth or anything, but pirates certainly could be found in company with other members a smaller country court, especially one near the sea.

LOL... Well you see, he was really a nobleman who wanted to be a pyrate.

Yah, I've only been to one faire where they automaticly put a zip-tie on your weapon, regardless if you had peace-tied it or not, and of course once we were away from the gate we removed them as well, and nobody ever said boo to us about it. I like to use a thin black ribbon myself... it just kinda has that little bit of "fancy-schmancy" thing going for it that I like. Sort of a "poor-mans-fancy" if you will. I use a pretty basic overhand knot (like you'd use for your shoelaces) but pull the ends through the loops so it can't untie accidently. When we do our club and bar shows, I tie those weapons in very tightly. We're far more concerned about the beligerant drunk trying to pull our steel than we are about drawing on each other.

This is not quite on-topic, but noticed the mention here from Mr. Hand and thought I'd chip in that at least one rendition of "French Perfume" is performed by Great Big Sea. It's a great song, but I believe in their version it is located off the coast of Newfoundland...(that's where the band is from) but I could be entirely wrong. "You can still see the sight On a winter's night Of his wake in the light of the moon If the wind turns right And you don't take fright You can smell that French perfume" Great song. Kind of a piratey - smuggly - ghosty story.

My dad used to be the operator of a campground in Nebraska that was right next to the state's highest waterfall. It's a few miles off the highway, so we had built a huge sign, like 8 feet tall and 12 feet wide, and put it up with telephone poles so the thing was 16 feet in the air. It had huge letters "SMITH FALLS, 12 MILE CAMP" and a giant arrow pointing the way down the road. We had just finished putting the thing up and were taking a break when a pickup with three guys in it pulled off the highway, stopped right in front of us, with this giant sign over our heads and asked if we knew how to get to Smith Falls. We stared back at them wordlessly, and I think they were starting to think we were stupid when my brother said "Nope. Somebody should put up a sign or something." Nobody believes this next one, but I swear it's true. We were vacationing in South Dakota when I was a little kid, and were at a campground that had a fairly decent sized white-water stream running though it. My dad and I were fishing off the bank, when a family walked up and asked if we knew where they could go to "see them turn the river off." Dad and I looked at each other, and dad said "um... they don't turn it off." The family looked at each other, and the father says "Wow... seems like a big waste of water to let it run all night." Then there was the woman at Mt. Rushmore who was explaining to her kids that the faces were formed by wind and erosion, and that it was God's way of proving America was the new Promised Land. That was kinda spooky. I'm not sure if she believed it or just wanted her kids to... but when dad tried to correct her, she called him a "jew loving athiest commie." We decided to move far away from her.

Of course Morgan wasn't tried by the English. At that point in history, folks who behaved like Morgan were too large an asset to the crown to be branded criminal. The crown wanted and needed people like Morgan out there, disrupting Spannish trade and creating in-roads for English settlement, just like they had sanctioned the same sort of behavior in the Mediteranian. "Tsk tsk Henry, you've gotten the Spannish all upset. You know you shouldn't be attacking their ships and towns when we're at peace with them. Now... go be a good boy and never do it again *wink wink*" Had Morgan been captured by the Spannish, one of two things most likely would have happend to him. He would have either been ransomed for a LOT of money or he would have been tried as a pirate and hung. I think we have to remember that the English perspective isn't the ONLY qualifier for who's a pirate and who isn't. It may be a bit of a stretch, but a simular situation is impacting the world right now. Many people in Lebanon don't consider Hezbollah to be terrorists, including members of the Lebanese government, where Hezbollah is a recognized political party. Iran and Syria support and encourage Hezbollah because it helps them meet their ends. Yet, to those who are suffering because of their actions, they most certainly are terrorists and criminals. A Hezbollah in Syria is a hero to the cause, a Hezbollah in Israel is a war criminal. A Morgan in London is rewarded, a Morgan in Madrid is shackled and locked in a cell.

If that be the case, please allow me to ask a simple question. Why is it that the 1$ bill in the United States is adorned with the image of a criminal? Well, if Washingtons face was on British paper money, I'd say you have a point. He might have been considered a criminal by the crown. However, his portrait is on US money, where he is considered a hero. See, as soon as we won our independance, the whole "treason" thing was moot. Only the loosers get tried for treason. Winners get to be President. That's what I meant when I quoted the old cliche above. Simple concept.

Try doing a search on calligraphy (now I'm all paranoid I spelled that wrong... lol) supplies, lessons or books. You might have better luck.

It's alright Mr. Scabbs... Mad Jack simply has not been touched by his noodly appendage, that's all. Me, I think you're on to something!

CLICHE ALERT: "History is written by the winners." Yes, there were pirates that helped defend New Orleans against the English (in fact, tipping the government off that there would be an attack) and were given great credit and amnesty from their crimes when the Brits were fought off. They were of great service to the nation, and it's a very interesting moment in pirate history. I can understand why one of their descendants might want to defend their "honor" in that regard. But, most of them turned back to pirating soon afterwards, fled to the gulf around Texas, and wound up hung in the end. They may have had some sense of national patriotism, but then again most radicals do. That doesn't make them good people by any stretch of the imagination. Just because a criminal is patriotic doesn't mean he / she isn't still a criminal.

Hrm... wonder if I'm the only person who enjoyed "Enterprise?" Sure... there were a few nagging inconsistancies and some holes in the logic... but I thought it was a well acted series, good writing and some fun plot ideas along the way. The real problem? Not enough pirates.

Right then... I have found a couple of references to pirates holding "mock trials" to entertain themselves. One reference I found in "A Pirate of Exquisite Mind" (like one sentance saying "they held mock trials") and another reference here in the Twill section, but no real details. Does anyone know of source material that describes or contains accounts of this "game" or practice? Secondly, I am also very interested in learning how pirates conducted justice amongst themselves. Again, I've searched the Twill topics and found a couple of interesting references (one especially from blackjohn in "pirate code of conduct" from last November) but no sources mentioned. Anyway... I have absorbed what I can find here on the forums and found a few links to pursue, but was currious if anyone knows of any specific sources that relate to these activities? The purpose of this research is to create (as much as possible) both the mock trials and actual "judicial" process used by the pirates themselves in the GaOP. I imagine to some extent that the pirates modled their tribunals after the civilized law, but would like to find some materials to base that assumption on. Thanks for any help!

Why take chances? Wear them in both ears and keep everyone guessing!

I must admit I too had some trouble understanding Tia's dialouge, even though the sound in the theater was really good overall. I think her character could have been just as effective with a slightly less pronounced (no pun intended) accent. First rule of accents in the theater... if nobody can understand what you are saying, then there's no point in saying the lines. The first few words out of your mouth are the most important, as they acclimate the audience to your speech patterns. After that, they figure out what to listen for, and it's easier to follow the accent. A minor quibble tho. I'm just trying to figure out why it looked like she'd been drinking Tidy-Bowl.

Huzzah to that! I've made the same observation time after time on other boards. Well put mate!

Some vessels had a crew member other than the captain or the mate who was assigned navigation responsibilities... men such as William Dampier became quite well known and coveted for navigational ability. This may have been the exception as opposed to the rule. Likely on pirate vessels it was whoever seemed to be best at it and kept the ship off the rocks the longest... It was also a common occurance for ships in unfamiliar waters to stop at port and pick up a Pilot who knew the local waters. There are also reports of pirates pressing navigators into service on their ships... I believe this is how Bart Roberts came to be a pirate.

A freind of mine picked this book up... and it's pretty cool. I especially liked the reprint of (I think) Captain Kidd's letter of marque. Some really neat stuff included in the book for sure.

Silkie... thanks for the reminder on the quote. So... a couple of quick thoughts here, probably way off base. Jack takes at least two items while at Tia's cabin (hut? hovel?) The first I'm not quite sure what it was... he pockets it pretty quickly. The second is the ring (black stone in a gold setting) that sits next to the heart-shaped pendant with the womans face... the one that is identical to the music box on Davey Jones keyboard. (I would say 'organ' but it sounds funny) Now, this is probably nothing more than my imagination, but looking at those two identical items, it seemed they reminded me of something... the carapice of the Heikegani, or Samuri Crab found in Japan. The carapice of this crab has the appearance of a human warrior's face. Given that the crew of the Flying Dutchman all take on the appearance of various sea creatures, and that there seem to be oriental pirates in the third movie, I wonder if there might be something to that or not. Probably not, but I needed a speculation all my own.

Yep... my stance on this issue remains as it always has. I'm a performer, not an educator. I'm fine with it and I hope other people are. I am still learning, still striving... hoping to be more accurate year by year... but all for the purpose of performance. Some day I want to quit my day job. Main thing here is simply a matter of respect. I respect the reenactment community for what they do. I think it's a needed thing... we should always strive to maintain history... not to let it slide into obscurity simply because Hollywood has influenced us otherwise. That would be like saying that movies like "JFK" and "Forrest Gump" should be considered acceptable alternatives to reality, because it's more attractive than what really happened. The thing is... if you want respect, you gotta give respect. It just doesn't work any other way.

LOL... avast the main mizzen... that's funny. Now I wish I could remember the show that contains the line: "Turn the thing! And that other thing!" Well, tomorrow I go to see this movie again, because there's obviously a lot of little details I simply missed on the first go-round. Maybe I was sitting too close to the screen (I love the feeling of being "surrounded" by a movie.) Now I have some ideas of what to keep an eye out for.

So, I guess it's not possible that Jack just saw something shiny and sparkley that he liked and simply took it?

Fantastic! Thanks for the link to the video. I've always been fascinated by the giant squid, and have always kept an eye out for the day when somebody finally captured one on film. Now... on to Bigfoot!

Well... a first hand account is hard to dispute or argue against. (In best Davey Jones fasion...) Damn you History Channel!

Well... it is a board populated by pirates... charity is not a strong point around here! LOL At least give them a break for re-using cast members... I don't know any of those folk, and quite honestly, I didn't recognize them from shot to shot... or if I did I simply assumed that they would be using the same actors again and again. It's a little like saying "wasn't that the same stormtroper who died on Genosis in the last movie?" (Okay... bad example.) But when you've got a limited budget and resources, you can't exactly hire a few hundred extras. I am also of the opinon that this show wasn't the best, but compared to others I have seen, it was at least better than what I've had a chance to see previously. And, as mentioned above, it really isn't for the dyed-in-the-wool hardcore reenactor crowd as much as for the general public. Yes, they misfired on details, yes they could have done better, but then again they weren't doing so deliberately. I agree that the main idea was to show that pirates were not charming anti-heroes cutting cutesy capers while smirking at the law... but downright nasty criminals who you would NOT want to fall afowl of... and they did that well. Question... if this documentary wasn't the "best ever produced," then what is? Not trying to be conflictive, just currious as to opinons on what the most accurate, best researched and closest-to-truth documentary that's been made is?