Sir Eric

That is really cool! You should think about getting a patent and marketing those... I'd definately buy one! (hint)

No way I'll miss it... loved the first one. It was spirited and goofy, didn't take itself too seriously, and most impressive to me was it's just good clean fun, which is something you don't neccissarily see a lot of these day. Although... don't try that little "undressing" trick with your significant other lads. Looked cool in the movie, but you'll just wind up needing to buy a whole mess of sterile gauze pads and medical tape.

New Zorro Flick? okay... not exactly a pirate... But the guy dresses in black, carries a sword AND a whip, and always gets the girl in the end. So... was I halucinating, or did I catch a bit of a trailer out of the corner of my eye the other nite while deeply involved in homework? Anyone know whassup with Zorro??

Absolutely agreed, 100% Even as a strict entertainer who isn't trying to "eductate" or "re-enact" (both distinctions that carry a certain amount of responsibility) a particular era, if a performer is going to be successful he/she has to do some homework and honestly play the part. We don't just dress like pirates and wander around acting like actors dressed like pirates. We do our best to invoke the attitude and demeanor of what people expect of pirates. And that's the main difference... what pirates were REALLY LIKE and what people EXPECT pirates to be like are NOT always the same thing. Sometimes, to successfully entertain, you are forced to be slightly innacurate. If our group had to spend the first hour of our show explaining why we "don't look like the pirates you've seen in movies" it would ultimately cost us bookings. We do parties, riverboat cruises and bar shows... they don't want historical accuracy, they want stereotypes. They want to be seduced and charmed and given a reason to get drunk and flash their ta-tas. If we can inject a little bit of history bit by bit into what we do, everyone comes out on top. If we simply dressed the part and ran around saying "yo dude, whassup? Yo-ho and all that schiz-nit" it would be severly detremental as well. Although we don't put ourselves out there as accurate and educational, we do have a standard to uphold entertainment wise. We have to give the public what it wants, or else the public decides it wants something other than us. It's very scary, but very true. All the same, that shouldn't stop us from doing what we can to instill at least a modicum of "reality" into the show. After all, the best fiction is truth. :)

Entertainer here, pure and simple. We don't try to pretend that we're historicaly accurate (because we certainly aren't) and we don't attempt to educate. Our main goal is simply to make people laugh, dance and sing. However... as other have said, there's an aspect of playing a pirate that becomes a drive to learn more about what it is your trying to portray, and bit by bit you start learning more, and as you learn you start to change your garb, your behavior, and in fact start diseminating what you've learned to others. I know far more about the "real" history of piracy now than I did a year ago, and it's found it's way into our performances, and I'm sure it will continue to do so. Will we go all the way to re-enactors? Nah. That's just not what we're trying to accomplish. For us, being what the audience expects us to be (in appearance, mannerisim et al) is what makes the moolah. I have very high regard for re-enactors and living historians, as it takes a lot more work to attain that level of knowledge, garb etc. I'm always impressed by it. I do feel sometimes that us entertainers are a little looked down upon because of our less than accurate ways. Wow... sorry. Didn't mean to write a book here. Um... entertainer. That's me.

Aye, Coastie... Great Big Sea it be, and the album be "Rant and Roar" GBS has a few updated shanties, although I wouldn't put them in the techno/trance/tribal genre... more like easy listening or even pop. It's brilliant stuff tho... me Mp3 player be overflowin with the Sea, as it were. Gaelic Storm has done a few shanty remakes as well, and their sound is maybe a little more tribal, but still very irish-folksy.

I love flirting with the ladies. I won't write the material I use, because it really looses all meaning when it's in print. It's more about tone and physicality than words... but no worries mates... it's strictly PG-13 material. I also love to warn little kids about the dastardly pirates that are rumord to be running about.... and then I tell them to watch out for this one pirate in particular who is the most dangerous, then I describe myself to them. With adults I aim for people wearing shirts with words on them... I caught this guy wearing a shirt that said "champion stud" on it and had his girlfriend rolling as I made him explain to me the rules of the "stud contest" he had won to earn his shirt. We also run a pillory at most of the shows we do, and "advertise" baby-sitting services, free ear piercings, marriage counciling (we don't do the counciling, but we give you a very good reason for it) financial advice (your stocks are rising, etc) and "free tickets for the safest ride in the faire... no deaths since late last night"

I was going to make that same comment Captain Jim. A brief warning on engravings and such... none of those characters posed for those images, and it's likely the artists never saw the subjects of their art, especially when it comes to the "infamous" individuals who made headlines... except maybe on the way to court or the gallows, if at all. Now... that doesn't mean they're totally inaccurate, but you're dealing with a period of history famous for romanticism, and Anne Bonny's ...err... "attributes" are pretty typical for that period of art. I'm not saying the images aren't valuable as reasearch, just that they may not be absolutely faithful to reality. In fact, chances are that they lean towards more faniciful representations... so it's quite possible that the individuals portrayed looked even less piratey than they already ... dont?

Did they ever stop being hippie fests?

Buttons are becoming somewhat popular at the small tent faires in the midwest. We're even selling them now. Some of them won't make sense if you haven't seen our show, but to get a small sampling, check out this link

Agreed Foxe... informative and insightful as always. Thanks!

This conversation makes me currious to ask a further question along these lines. My question will be in the form of a hypothetical situation... Two pirate crews, one entirely consisting of French nationals and the other entirly English, happen to be searching for water on the same tiny island. By some miracle, they happen to find a little freshwater lake at the same instant. Without saying a word to each other, (and assuming no shots ring out...)would they be able to tell where the other crew had come from just by looking at each other?

It doesn't sound to me as if anyone is blaming POTC for this unfortunate event, so let's not get too defensive. In fact, the articles here even go so far as to say that the scenes in the movie are relatively tame and "hollywood" This kind of thing happens all the time. I remember those kids who were killed after watching a movie about football players (Varsity Blues, maybe?) and imitated the scene where the kids go lay out on the highway as traffic speeds along over them. Heck... how many older, supposedly "intelligent" kids get hurt imitating the stupid antics on shows like "Jackass" or Backyard Wrestling? No doubt, if the poor boy was suffering from ADHD, that played a part, but you have to remember that most kids that age have a poor understanding of mortality and lack action/consequence critical thinking skills. Kids imitate movies and video games all the time. Most of the time it's harmless, but on occasion tragedy will occur. What they seem to be saying is that the hanging scene was an influence, not the cause. That's a huge distinction, and quite frankly one that's hard to dismiss. No, we don't know what was going through the boy's head... and that's exactly why those commenting on the situation can only use terms such as "most likely" and "we believe." Assumptions reached on examining the evidence available and presented as theory. (I.E. "it is most likely walking the plank was never actually a punishment used by pirates" is a theory based on existing evidence, but not an absolute.) Just like it would be leaping to conclusions to say "POTC made this boy hang himself, it would be an even greater leap to say it had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The pirate articles in Johnson and Cordingly both mention musicians, and Cordingly quotes some trial testimony about a pirate aquitted because his fellows said his only action was to play the fiddle. And... as a bodhran player meself, natural skin frame drums are very sensitive to humidity changes, but since tone is altered by pressure on the back of the skin, a good drummer can overcome the effects to a certain degree.

I guess my question would be, what is the desired end result? Is the end product meant to be accurate in every regard (except exploding, of course) as far as size, weight, material... or is the end result simply a representation for display, not meant to be picked up for heft? I work professionally in the theatre, (scenery and props) and my very first impulse was croquet balls. They're about the right size and solid hard wood, so they can be worked fairly easily. Any number of paint techniques will give them the cast iron appearance etc. etc. Of course, they won't be replicas but representations. But, it's a slightly different approach I thought I'd mention for what it's worth.

Tattoo may be alright mixed, but straight up (which is how I usually take me rum) it tastes too much like Jagremeister... which makes sense as that's the market it's supposed to compete in. And, as I don't like overly sweet drinks OR licoriche, I have to pass on the Tattoo.

Apparently I am chaotic evil... which kinda surprised me. I thought I'd score more towards neutral evil.

"Pressure" by Billy Joel. Okay... musical theatre geeks take note... "No man, no madness, though their sad power may prevail Can posses, conquer my countries heart, they rise to fail. She is eternal, long before nations lines were drawn When no banners flew, when no armies stood, my land was born. And you wonder will I leave her, Through war, death and dispair? She is the constant, we who don't care. And you wonder will I leave her, but how? I cross over borders but I'm still there now!"

I'll break a thousand more baby, before I am through. Bad to the (skull and cross) Bone... George T... my main man. here's one for ye all... So I drank all me money, And I slept out in the rain Every day is different, But the nights are all the same Ya never see the sun...

Spamalot

I'll be there! Oh... wait... I WAS there!