Blackbead

A biography of Dean Koontz and a book that includes the very first and very last Miss Marple story.

So, Pappy, arbiter of the moment, which of us be correct??

That's gotta be either "Platoon" or "Full Metal Jacket." Flipping a coin - "Platoon."

Don't let 'em rain on your parade, Jacky! Here I writes an ode dedicated to me lovely wife and get nary a response! You comes on all mysterious-like and they can't say enough about yer pome! You just keep doing what yer doin', mate, and Go'bless ye for it! Blackbead

Join the Brotherhood of the Gulf! We're headquartered at Middlefaire, our home faire, but we are ALL over Texas! We have members in the DFW area, Austin, Wichita Falls, and Beaumont! Come see us at Middlefaire (www.middlefest.com), Pirate Days in The Colony (www.piratedays.org) or at TRF during their Pirate Adventure weekend! For more info, PM me! Fair winds to ye, Blackbead

The ability to stop time and move yourself, and things, through the world while it is stopped. You get invisibility, the semblance of incredible speed, and the ability to change people's behavior through intersting means. Imagine standing in line behind a bank robber . . . and the next instant, the bank robber is weaponless and tied up without anyone, including the bank's cameras, knowing who did it. Or seeing a house fire where there are people trapped inside and . . . the next instant the fire is out. Oh, and just so you will know that I am not completely altruistic in my designs, I'll take a page from Rumba's book and say that I have always wondered what the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders' locker room looks like after the game is over! (Do they all shower together or do they have different shower stalls? Just what DO they wear under those tiny little short-shorts? Do they really use double-sided tape to make sure none of their breadfruit slip out of their halters?) Inquiring minds want to know! Blackbead

Times change, people change, what is right and wrong changes, what constitutes being a good Catholic changes. I'll betcha ducats to doughnuts that a whole generation of people believed that any Catholic that laid waste to a whole village full of Protestants deserved sainthood! The Inquisition were considered, in their day, to be VERY good Catholics. You can't judge the past with modern eyes; you can look at it that way, but to judge the people who lived in those times you have to put on their hats and shoes and see the world the way they saw it. I did a lot of research about the susperstitions of the sea before I wrote "A Tale From Devil's Tavern." Many of the susperstitions had their basis in Christian or religious lore and beliefs. You never started a journey on December 31; not because it was "New Year's Eve" and you wanted to party your butt off, but because it was considered unlucky because that was the day that people believed Judas Iscariot hung himself. You didn't start your journey on a Friday either because that was the day Jesus was crucified. You don't start a cruise on the first Monday in April, either, because this is the day Cain slew Abel. Times change, people change, what we believe and what we live by changes. But, wait a minute, how in the deep blue sea did we get to talking about this?? Blackbead

I agree, Mr. Hawkyns. I was a Civil War reenactor for 22 years and the hobby survived a number of incidents - 1. A Frenchman who came over for the 135th Anniversary Reenactment of Gettysburg went out on the field doing Confederate cavalry and put a ball into another reenactor because he didn't know what the hell he was doing. Nor did the troop commander, obviously, if this guy's weapon passed a safety check. 2. A reenactor, never identified, put a tampion through a drummer boy's drum at a reenactment of Antietam. 3. At Raymond, Mississippi, a reenactor was shot with a live round, with extremely cloudy circumstances that will probably never be explained. Every time something like this happened, we watched the news and watched the reaction from the masses. I know that interest in Civil War history has waned for any number of reasons (like Hollywood stopped making movies about the period) but the hobby survived. I think it will take a larger number of stupid incidents just like this or one incredibly bad thing (like a cannon exploding at a crowded reenactment) and there WILL be action taken to do away with our hobby. These days, I'm mainly a vendor and don't get involved in the reenactment portion of this genre. But I've watched enough of the pirate reenactors to know that they are a smaller, but just as dedicated, group and I truly believe that reenactors police themselves to the extent that we will never have any of those events which threaten our passion. At least I pray that to be the case.

Well done, you roguette, you! I, for one, am definitely captured by the synopsis and the first chapter! Let me know when this one hits the market as I would LOVE an autographed copy! Blackbead

Say . . . you aren't related to ol' Ben Hawkins, are ye?

For a'that, I DO like yer avatar and it be a nice way of introducin' yerself! Welcome to the Pub! Enjoy yer stay! And since it be tradition fer the newcomer to buy a round, make mine port with a tender of rum! Fair winds to ye, mate! Blackbead

Thank you, Rumba! I hope it brings in some customers for you at PyrateDaze! I've already had some email from folks talking about wanting to come hear the piece live at Middlefaire. BIG hug!

Treasured Melody Climbing out on the quarterdeck, I’d spent the night tallying gold. We’d taken a brig off Maracaibo And her treasure now lays in our hold. The sun’s just topping the horizon, The color of burnished copper in the air, In my mind, I immediately see your visage, ‘Cause the whole sky is the color of your hair. Last night, I logged pearls set among rubies And jade nuggets of various size, But your smile makes the pearls look washed out And the jade cannot compare with your eyes. We’d taken nutmeg and pepper and sugar But your love is all the spice I’ll ever need. We captured silks that I can’t wait to strip off you, So I order on more canvas for more speed. The ship leaps forward like a dolphin; I know I need to get back below. Counting gold now just seems like drudgery But I still have a long way to go. In the distance, I can make out our headland. If not the inventory, the journey is almost through; And I smile because there can be no greater treasure Than another day living and loving with you. Stephen Sanders ©2009

LOL! Great clue! I got it but want to let others play along for awhile so I'm going to sit back and enjoy. I will say this, the guy making the comment can take on a whole street full of cops with nothing but a song!

I don't think I ever put it up here on the pub, Halfshell, but I might have done so sometime in 2008 before the pub "metamorphosized." I've recited it as part of the Brotherhood of the Gulf show at Middlefaire in Texas and as a guest in the Ladies of the Salty Kiss show at Scarlet's Mid-Winter Renfaire in Oklahoma City. I've also spread it around all over the web trying to get some buzz going for the book. I know Red Bess read some of the book, including her EXCELLENT work, at several places up north but I don't know if she chose this one. My wife and I do it as a duo - she does the narrator part and I do the "laughing unbeliever." You said you had heard it before; I hope you also enjoyed it. If you did like it, consider getting a copy of the book, Raising Black Flags. There are sixteen different poets and artists involved in it and there are many different styles and voices included in the book. If you'd prefer, we've also done a CD entitled "A Night at Devil's Tavern." Come see me in Texas or Rumba Rue out at PyrateDaze or Red Bess at one of the shows up in Minnesota. As I said, I hope you enjoyed the piece, I loved writing it and I've always enjoyed performing it! Steve "Blackbead" Sanders

Yeah, Cap'n Bob, you've got to get up pretty early in the morning to get ahead of these seadogs! They know their flicks.

Ahoy, shipmates! Navigate on over to http://www.gather.com/viewVideo.action?id=11821949021893162 and take a look at Blackbead Productions' first major motion picture! It's based on a poem that tells the tale of a cursed pirate ship haunted by the ghost of one of the crew's victims! You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll scream out loud! Well, maybe not out loud . . . but you might have nightmares! Well, maybe indigestion. But go see it anyway! Blackbead

Well done, Cap'n Bob! I believe that means YOU are up . . .

Still no guesses, eh? Okay, this should make it easy - Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis, Jean Simons, Kirk Douglas, and Peter Ustinov.