historyfanatic

Thanks to everyone who has wished us well! And I'm LMAO that everyone thinks Bo had a baby... Serves ya right Bo for tryin' ta be a messenger! lol! Anyway, me an' the boy and his mother are all doing well and enjoying our new adventure... And in case you're all wondering, yes, he's already got a kit... And of course, it's all hand-finished... lol! Just haven't gotten the nerve to make little knee-britches yet... Might wait 'till he's older for that... Here are a few pictures: And for your information, he's not going to be a cabin boy... Remember, I rarely play pirate... Usually I'm British Navy hunting said pirates... Therefore, he'll be Midshipman!! Bwahahahaah!!!

Thank-you. I didn't know that his son had been shot. I'm sorry to hear that.

Hello everyone... Just wondering... Has anyone heard from or seen Captain Midnight lately? He hasn't posted here or elsewhere for the better part of a year. Seems to have dropped off the planet... I've had no luck PM-ing him from any of the usual boards. Anyone got a phone number or anything for him?

Oh, and Mission... Great job. I loved reading the journal. I'm sure it took some time to do all that. One word of constructive criticism though... My name is spelled Nathanael (-AEL, not -IAL or -IEL. Nathan works fine though) But I'll let it slide this year... Thank-you again for the long drive and the long writing. I do appreciate it...

It seems that several other folks have seen fit to "blog" about this year's Pirates of Paynetown event. (I know, I know, the event is over and I should give it up, but I'm still really excited about how much this thing has grown...) Most of these are from reenactors who shared their experiences over the weekend. Some of the facts and names may be lacking, but I think the overall feeling of the articles is very positive and most of them are quite funny! There's a lot of good pictures in all of them as well. The last blog is exceptionally interesting to me... It is a non-reenactor who lives locally and brought his family to the event. This is a neat and rare opportunity to see what kind of lasting impression we can make on these folks. If this one man's impression of the event holds true for the majority of the public who attended, then I'd have to say we did a good job of showing a difference between the Hollywood and the historical. Thanks again to everyone who participated, promoted, and took the time to write about this fun weekend! Michael Bagley: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=75067827&blogId=505077226 Mark Gist: http://avast-me-hearties.blogspot.com/2009/08/pirates-of-paynetown-2009.html Non-reenactor local: http://coyotewatches.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/pirates-on-the-lake/

First off, let me make a shameless plug for one of my dear friends, mentor, and swordmaking tutor... Kyle Willyard made several of the swords seen in POTC 1 and also the boarding axes. His website is: www.olddominionforge.com Kyle usually has a long wait for his swords and they ARE around a grand... So... Shameless plug for me... If you're in the market for something of quality that is fully usable, let me know. I have made a good number of 18th century style swords and all of mine are fully functional. They start at $200 and go up depending on the amount of work involved. A word of warning though... I don't copy movie swords... Reasons being that 1: I don't want to run afoul of the copyright police, and 2: I like doing my own artwork... :) What I can guarantee is that my swords are one-of-a-kind and will serve you well. Just something to keep in mind... Oh, and I think a 16-year-old with such good capitalization and punctuation ROCKS!!! I hate it when customers e-mail me and ask "howmuch 4 shipping 2 me. U make gr8 stuff." !!

Depends on what you mean by custom colors... I can get a lot of colors, but I usually don't because other colors are typically hard to sell. Let me know what you're wanting and I'll tell you if I'd be willing to get that color in stock.

I can help you. I have several colors, 100% wool felt, hand-blocked to your size and stiffened with real shellac (made from the secretions of the Lac beetle) as was done in the 18th century. I also cut the brims to an even width and I can embroider the edge upon request. Black and Brown (1/16" thick) are $25, $40 if embroidered. I also have heathered grey which is of a much heavier felt.(1/8" thick) They are $35 each and cannot be embroidered.

Generally speaking, my business hours are 9am to 5pm EST monday through thursday. I will also usually answer the phone on the weekends unless I am at a living history event. If I don't answer it means I'm busy with another customer. (One-man show here) Just leave a name and number and I will certainly call you back. Thanks!

Easiest way is to call me at (812) 606-1264 if you want to use a credit card, etc. Alternatively, you can e-mail me for size availability and I'll send you a PayPal invoice or my address. (nlogsdon AT att.net)

I also have a handful of these: Brass Sundial Compass - Find out where you are going and what time it is!! Comes with a handstiched leather case. Measures 3" in diameter. $30 including shipping anywhere in the US.

Hello everyone, I have a handful of new Whydah rings in larger sizes (10-13) but they are going fast, so check with me to see if I have your size. If not, I'm taking pre-orders as well for the next run of these. $25 each shipping included. PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Am-Ex, Discover, Check, USPS Money Order accepted.

I sold all of the first roll, but desperate times call for desperate measures, so I've decided to sell another roll. Exactly the same as the first one, but I'm already down to 45 yards, so buy it now if you want it. I will definately keep the last roll that I have, so this one is the only other one I can sell. It will go fast. The last one certainly did.

Mission, I believe Miss Graves' personna name is Catherine Graff. Sorry I forgot to point that out earlier... (Parasol girl...)

Mission, Yup! Use whatever you wish. Just be sure to reference where they come from. It's ok to use Graphic Enterprises pictures as well, just make sure you leave the "Cummings" Copyright logo on them.

News articles: Post-Tribune Mark Gist Blog Coming up August 13 on WTIU's Weekly Special: Pirates of Paynetown

Part 1 of Pirates of Paynetown pictures are now loaded on Graphic Enterprises. If you'd like, there's a guest gallery where you can load your own pictures as well...

(Say, who is Phydeaux's owner?) David and Aimee Graves. (David is Krista's brother) What are the names of these boats and whose are they? Mark's boat is the Firefly, correct? What are the other boat's names and owners? Wespe, Mike Dollinger (yellow in back of pic); Firefly, Mark Gist; Unnamed British Bateau, Tom Nader; II (two), Jay Henderson; Tantrum, Jay Henderson. In the previous picture, we have the prop boat, aka Powder Tender (the one that blows up during the battle) and the Tantrum with Jay Henderson and Brian McCrary setting Powder Tender on fire. Who are these chaps and who are they with? Left to right, David Graves, Rats (Archangel), Bradley (GLRP) and Daniel Robertson (Skurvy Dog Clan), both dead, and Gavin Kelly's sword and pistol in the far right. Mark, that rum keg belongs to the Great Lakes River Pirates. I believe it is Jay Henderson's. We'll have to figure out a way to arrange getting it home. Meantime, fill it with water and don't let it dry out...

Well folks, we did it again!! Thank-you to everyone who showed up and especially thanks to Michael Bagley and Rats who did a wonderful job with the safety checks, ect. You guys were a big help!! The dates for next year are August 13-15. I'll put some pictures up here as soon as I find my camera... Most things are still packed.

OK!! TIME IS UP!!! We are now officially full. We cannot accept any more registrations. I'm already a little over my allotted number! Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze a few more camps in next year, but I don't want to overbook the space we have, so I've gotta close registration now. Thank-you to everyone who jumped in and registered. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T REGISTERED YET!!! There's still hope! You can still register IF you can find someone to stay with, or if you intend to NOT set up a tent. There is plenty of room to crash in the boatwright's shop and the smuggler's demo area. There are also a handful of folks who said they'd be willing to let a vagrant sleep under their fly. :) There are also a number of great hotels and campgrounds in the area and as of right now, the Paynetown State Rec Area's modern campground does still have two sites available. Contact me for a list of local hotels, etc. P.S. If you have already sent your registration to me, I will still honor anything that is postmarked by August 25th.

No worries, I'll be lining out camps and I think I have a pretty good understanding of who wants to be with who. I'm assuming that Scioto and Soris crews want to be together. I also figured on putting the Archangels close by these since you all know each other well. The Great Lakes River Pirates will be near the vendor area as per their request (granted because they have supported us from day one!) and the Skurvy Dog Clan will be nearby the GLRP since they're the host crew and can pretty much camp wherever they want... :) McCarty's Mercenaries will probably be to the outer edge. I'm trying to make sure that everyone is happy, but please understand that if I do make a mistake and you're not with your crew, I apologize in advance and I will try to fix the situation if possible, but understand that it may not be. We are trying to strategigally place camps this year so as to get as much space efficient use as possible... Thanks for understanding.

Yup, that's pretty much it...

Mark, Last year wasn't so bad... Remember? Jen sold her soul... :) I'm hoping that the current weather pattern holds... As I am typing this (at 7:40 AM on July 19th) it is 57 degrees... For the record, that is unheard of in Indiana... Hopefully it will be lovely, but it is August in Southern Indiana, which is not usually pleasant... But there are trees for shade, a lake for dipping in, and a good steady breeze just about all day.