TheBlackFox

Flying into Key West the day before Turkey Day and staying all the way through Dec. 8th. Should make for a nice vacation and work combined for The Pyrates Way. Just picked up a new 650 - 1300 zoom lens for the Nikon and a heavy duty tripod for it. . . . so dress yer best because at least half of the Winter 09/10 Pyrates Way will be dedicated to the event!

Speaking of dress. . . . have to get me some more pyrate clothing for the extended stay.

Looking forward to passing rum with ye in just a matter of weeks!

Mistress Fetch/Magpie/Angi/Wench of the year 2006 will be escorted by yers truly to both days of the festival. We're lookin' fer a splendid good time with our mates!

Issue 10 will be ready for mailing in just a few weeks! The FREE music CDs for subscribers are being pressed right now. . . . #11 is being edited #12 is layed out! We should be all caught up by Autumn. . . .(finally). . . . HUZZAH!

oh and thank ye subscribers for yer continued patience!

See you there mate. . . m'mates and I will be there both days, enjoying the sounds of The Pyrates Royale. . . 'tis a weekend to enjoy the faire whilst stumblin' about in our pyrate bests! No work. . . just there to play and drink and oggle wenches. . . and did I mention drink?

. . . and once ye pick out a fine cutlass. . . . you can even wear it there! (peace-tied of course)

Huzzahh!

Thank you all!

Been extremely busy working on feather hat pins right now.

happiest of birthdays to ye luv. . . . may your day be filled with booty

It took a few days but I finally finished the re-design of The Pyrates Way website http://www.pyratesway.com

The only empty pages at the site are the answers to the crossedsword puzzles and a lot of new features and information have been installed. You'll also notice that the wholesale costs and the advertising costs have dropped dramatically as we continue to give potentional advertisers a break during this sagging economy.

Let me know if you have any issues with it.

Coming this autumn: The Concordium

http://www.theconcordium.com/

http://68.83.111.138:8000/listen.m3u

The station will be off and on again until July 4th as we test new ways to mix the music, interviews, and live broadcasts. Right now there's a mix of various music genres, original songs, interviews and commercials. . . there's no structure yet. . .like I said. . .just testing.

I've canned about 100 hours of nautical music, interviews, etc. . . the site's in test mode now but will go live with a big promotion on July 4 when we broadcast our 3rd Anniversary / Pirate Master Reunion Party live all day from the home of Louie Frase

I use Nicecast (it's a Mac-based broadcasting application) the author/talent licensing is a monthly cost for using the copyrighted commercial music that we'll be including is a separate fee that's pretty expensive but worth if if we want to keep the music fresh.

Thank ye for all yer support, mates. Having ye at my back, giving motivation will get me through this rough task.

I'm into the second week of m'program and down almost 10 lbs. . .I know it's "water weight" but I care not. . . it's 10 lbs I didn't have two weeks ago and therefore a victory!

I shall keep at it!

The Thing that Couldn't Die (1958)

A psychically gifted young woman discovers a centuries-old crate buried on her aunt's ranch. Opening it, her family discovers the living head of Gideon Drew, a 16th century devil worshiper who was beheaded by Sir Francis Drake.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 reviewed it (gave it a proper mocking, too)

But most call me TALDEROY!

. . . and he be BIG and IMPOSING enough to be the first male pirate to grace the cover of The Pyrates Way magazine!

Plus. . .and he'll hate for me to expose him. . . but ye'll not find a nicer mate on any sea, and I'm blessed to call him a friend.

...most of what he has written is substantiated by the records of the time and if we are going to classify his General History as fiction...

If it's fiction then presumably all those substantiated facts are just fantastic coincidence

Agreed. . . . what's history if not a linear series of fantastic coincidences?

So is it too late to make it into the next issue or will we need to wait till the fall to see your fine handy work with Kevin?

The story of Kevin's attempts to settle this matter are in the very next issue of The Pyrates Way magazine along with the photo spread from the Ocracoke remembrance. The issue should be out by mid-June. . . . we're still a bit behind with issues due to the economy's impact on advertisers but should be caught up later in the year.

right now he is in a box in a warehouse. He needs to be back home! So what can be done to get him there?

Bust him out, says I. We be needin' a crack team of pirate-SEALS to infiltrate and collect said booty. Ye boyos go rescue the box and I'll stand by here in relative safety (like Marlon Perkins in the old "Wild Kingdom" shows when he often sent "Jim" to near-death, one-on-one experiences with vicious critters).

Get back to me on that, will ya?

Johnson's history stands in that unique area. It has parts of fiction and parts resource supported fact. But I think we have to remember that Johnson was also trying to sell to an audience, and I think the thrilling way these books were written, as seen in volume II especially, that we can verify that a more general audience was trying to be appealed to here.

In the same vein that Gone with the Wind was based on facts. The War Between the States DID happen. . . Johnson's fictional accounts based on facts is very similar. Using Johnson/DeFoe's book as a reference will absolutely call an author's claim of "factual data" into question.

I just happened upon the last casting call for NBC 's The Biggest Loser Season 8 . . . so in one day I put this tape together and sent it off with high hopes. I got as far as a call back for more medical info. . . and that was it. I refuse to carry this weight around for another year to be re-cast. . . so I'm going to eat better, head to the gym and document my progress on YouTube starting May 1.

EDIT: I set up www.porkypirate.com at which I'll keep a video blog. - make m'own TV show says I!

You obviously haven't bothered to read Volume I and II.

Yours, Mike

Obviously you don't know much about the book. The 1926 copy is the reprint of the fourth edition and combines both volumes in one. I have several versions of the book including two of the twopenny portions from 1734 (kept in the safe deposit box) and two other more modern versions of the volumes which I've yet to crack open (I use the 1926 version most often, as it contains crib notes on the pages that my grandfather jotted onto as a boy, growing up in NC).This version was edited by Arthur L. Hayward and not the 1925 version of which Philip Gosse said that there were "old documents which have proved his (Johnson's) good faith."

The widely-respected historian Robert Moore convinced the world that Defoe was Johnson in 1939. It wasn't until the late 1980s that anyone challenged that notion. In my opinion, I tend to agree with Gosse's idea that Johnson was probably a pirate himself and the embellishments in the book are based on fact (based sometimes very, very loosely on facts). I think a lot of this info is spelled out in the newer paperback Lyons Press version, edited by David Cordingly (2002).

I've been working with an author on an article about Captain Charles Johnson for a future issue of The Pyrates Way . . . which is why I've got the info at my fingertips. Of course I'm always open to a good argument and a view of opinions other than mine. . .opposition always reveals the truth!

I wouldn't dismiss the book out of hand, since it's an excellent source for period information.

There's a lot of fiction written during the same period. . . it's the validity of the information that's in question.

Johnson states in some chapters that his information was from eyewitnesses, captive pirates, and others

but he never lists these eyewitnesses, captive pirates or others as sources. . .no names, no documentation. . .nothing

The notion that the book was written by Defoe is nonsense.

I agree. I said it "might have well," meaning it's as much fiction as anything DeFoe wrote, not that DeFoe wrote it . . . damn good fiction with a wealth of period atmosphere. . .but fiction nonetheless as authenticated by the Library of Congress "FIC" notation.

It came up in another thread, again.

Many have STRONG opinions on the topic, I'd LOVE to see a long discussion specifically on Johnson.

The Library of Congress lists it as fiction.

I have a full 1926 version in which the editor's notes call out that "Nor, beyond a general remark in the Preface, is there any hint of the sources whence the author got his information." It's also pointed out that there are remarkable comparisons between the description of Captain Avery in the book and a certain Captain Avery, hero of "The Successful Pirate" a play by a dramatist named. . . . Charles Johnson.

The book is interesting as a whole but in my opinion it might as well have the name "Daniel DeFoe" as the author as to its authenticity.

We had a very successful set of raids during the day and the crawl (we took the traditional route) was amazing. My calves are still whining but it was all worth it. Huzzah to all m'fellow pyrates and wenches. . . it was a wonderful showing with smiles everywhere.

Now's your chance to get onboard with The Pyrates Way magazine and besides the free booty of collectible trading cards, you'll get a FREE CD of pirated music performed by the likes of The Brigands, The Jolly Garogers, The Drunken Ferrets, and Cindy from Clan McCool!

Plus you'll get two additional issues with your subscription as The Pyrates Way grows to include SIX issues without raising the price.

http://www.pyratesway.com

Unfortunately, we won't be attending Blackbeard this year. . .but for the best of reasons.

My boy, Alex "Black Arrow" Kimball gradee-ates from High School!! Plus, he passed all his quals and physicals to enter into the Navy (like his father and grandfather before him) and is scheduled to take the Special Forces battery of tests prior to enlisting to become a Navy Diver.

I'm very proud and the celebration of his new life must take precedence over my pirat-in'.

<-- Apparently one of a very few people on this planet that liked the show. Well me and the wife that is.

I have very much enjoyed talking about the show and reality TV in general with all the cast members when I have run into them. To me its been fun to get some insight to the inner workings of these things and to get a participant's view point vs. the aired directors view point.

Fair winds,

-Greydog

Well said. . . . there was a LOT more to the show than what was on television. . . . and no respectful pyrate lets ratings rule what he or she enjoys on ye ol' boob tube. I raise one to ye and yer lady Greydog. . "here's to swimin' with bow-legged women"

I find it funny that the magazine is just now running a series on a show that was cancelled two years ago. Seems like there's other things that would be more interesting to the pirate community than a show no one watched or cared about.

-- Hurricane

There's a reason. . . . I just can't say right now. heheheheheh.

I watched the first 8 episodes of Pirate Master with my daughter tonight. . . now she's addicted and has the hots for Ben Fagan. . . she's only 13! I hope we get enough of the cast out in July for our Pirate Master Reunion/Pyrates Way 3rd Anniversary Par-Tay!