hurricane

My gripe is once again, someone advertising the "True Pirates" when it wasn't true. Much of it was just as whacked as PotC, but sold to the publice under the guise of history. The Modern Marvels segment on weapons was far, far better than this piece. -- Hurricane

All I can say is "Very Disappointing." Obviously the budget was sooooo low that they couldn't film outside of Puerto Rico, the cast had to bring their own costumes (what was a Cutthroat Island soldier coat doing on a pirate?), they interviewed Ben Cherry, the best portrayer of Blackbeard around but used a cheesy Blackbeard for the onboard scenes and the same people appear in almost every scene. Louie as Captain Morgan, Louie as a diver, etc. etc. For the build up given it was hardly True Pirates. Morgan was a buccaneer, not a pirate, no one wears boots on a ship (or even boots in the period noted), no one would be aboard a ship in full waistcoat and frock coat in the bloody hot Carribbean. There was more holes in this than moldy Swiss cheese. I have eight of us poking holes in almost every scene and we're only half way through. For example, my two South Carolina mates here just found out there are mountains in Charlestown (look in the background as the ships sail into the harbor). I just wish someone would do one of these with a decent budget and more authenticity. An update: There is salvation. The new Verizon commercial just came on and it obviously had a bigger budget than the History Channel's 2 hour production and better acting. -- Hurricane

It was sooooo much fun doing the TV thing yesterday. We had four Disney handlers moving us around the park - we had the ride to ourselves for the whole bridal party and got married five times on TV, local and national. Even my mom and my friends up in Seattle got to see us get hitched. We finally leave just before noon and a guy on the trolley on Main Street calls out to us with a hardy Congratulations! He saw us on TV before heading to the park. Too fun. We get married officially tonight at the Pirate's Dinner Adventure Theatre - in the show. We wrote a really fun script and the gang at the theater added some new parts last night at rehearsal with some gun play. Woo-hoo! And Channel 6 here in Orlando will be filming it to complete their segment on Whacky Weddings which they started filming at the Magic Kingdom. What a day! -- Hurricane

Off to Port Royal, Jamaica, of course! :) Love that place. -- Hurricane

Tune into the Daily Buzz tomorrow (it's a syndicated show - see if you get it at http://www.dailybuzz.tv/about/localstations.php and see our crewe in action. We're set to raid the raid, entertain, be with the reporters and oh, Diosa and I are getting married on the show as well. There will be eight of our crewe there... Hey, you may even get to see the wedding without paying airfare. -- Hurricane

Most of the early sea shanties have very simple cords. Get the first one and you'll probably get the rest in the song. Usually they are mixtures of C-F-G, G-C-D. Use a capo to get into the correct key if you have a recording and go from there. There's not many that are hard enough to have tabs to. -- Hurricane

The Pyrates of the Coast will be at the AMC 24 at Pleasure Island (Disney) for the 1:15 and 8:15 shows. Come along one and all in the Orlando area - we'll be the ones in full regalia. -- Hurricane Would love to do the late show on Thursday but we're at our wedding rehearsal at the Pirates Dinner Adventure Theatre. Woo hoo!!!!! --

The location of the piece may provide a clue. It was located outside of Building 5 in the excavation, which, by its layout, appears to be an inn/tavern. It has the typical parlor arrangement with access to the upstairs and a door to the serving area to the right. Some 25 pewter plates were discovered there. Two of the guns were collected from the yard in the back of Building 5. If the artifact had been in the backyard, which had the hearths, I could see its use as a fire starter, and in fact, during the earthquake it could have conceivably made its way to Queen Street. But I would doubt it. The three successive earthquakes sank that part of the city straight down... there was actually very little destruction by shaking and entire parts of the city simply went straight down within two minutes, buildings intact. Witness the pipe shop where several hundred pipes simply fell straight down off their shelves and settled on the floor. Even the floors, particularly in Building 5, are undamaged and intact today. Building 4 would have been relatively undamaged as well, except for the ship which broke loose and plowed into it during the subsequent tsunami in the harbor. So, I would gather this was out on the street at the time, potentially in the possession of someone walking the streets shortly before noon on that day. I don't pretend to know its use - simply its position relatively to what was around it. -- Hurricane

If the buccaneers were bear legged and footed then they are a billion times braver than I. While tromping around Port Royal last time we headed into the truly untamed brush of the tropics to find Fort Rupert. There are thickets, and cactus, sawgrass and sticker-laden bushes down there that tore our panted legs apart. I just can't imagine hunting in the Caribbean bear legged when on a hunt. Even those of us with buckled shoes and stockings were wishing they had boots (and I do know those weren't period. :) The Palisadoes are a good testing ground as they have been relatively unchanged (from a botanical standpoint) for the last 350 years. And from visits to other islands (though not Tortuga) it seems to be fairly common down there. Wow! Great stuff! -- Hurricane

Easy choices here. Captain Quint Poxy Boggards Great Big Sea (the latter two not exactly piractical but great pirate music) -- Hurricane

What great timing. The Port Royal Pyrates Festival was moved up to the week prior so now we won't be out of town when the movie debuts. But again, a movie premier in Port Royal would have been awfully cool, too. To another year of piracy and opportunities. Can't wait! -- Hurricane Oh, and they picked my birthday no less. Woohoo! --

Our crewe will be heading out to the Magic Kingdom at the crack of early for the official opening of the ride here in Florida and a lot of TV coverage. Love it when Disney lets us entertain there in full regalia. Then we're off to an afternoon showing of the movie in garb at Downtown Disney more than likely, followed by an after party at the Adventurer's Club. If you get "The Daily Buzz" on your local stations, look for us. Never know if you'll see The Pyrates of the Coast crewe that day. -- Hurricane

I am sharing what I know I guess. There is hardly a bar worth visiting in Key West that doesn't have a musician playing non-stop during the day and night or music blaring. That goes for Captain Tony's, Sloppy Joes, the Schooner Wharf, Hog's Breath, ad nauseum. A working musician hardly wants to interrupt his livelihood there to accommodate anyone else singing. The voice of experience there (I was the one trying to interrupt during my first voyage there - not a good experience). Frankly, the bars don't care about the festival. Never will. Local businesses don't care. Even the tourist spots like the Pirate's Soul Museum don't care. The reason is simple. The festival takes patrons away from their businesses... that includes visitors who go to Captain Tony's and plop down $6 for a beer locals pay $4 for, as well as $20 for a shirt and $5 to Captain Tony for his autograph. The patrons are cash cows, the festival is not. So don't expect a lot of businesses to welcome your performance. Your money yes! Drawing patrons away, no! They love events like Fantasy Fest that fills their bars... Simple business 101. That is the main reason the Pub Runs were never a success when we did them. We had lots of people go - 50 at a time - but the pubs didn't really support an event where the patrons came in, had one drink and then headed off to their competitor's place down the road. I don't want to be a wet blanket, but after all these years, this is the state of affairs there and I don't see it changing. We've tried, oh lord we've tried... Even the full time festival folks there who are the customers of these places year-round couldn't get that kind of support or interest. -- Hurricane

Ahoy there! Looks like everyone has a good handle on this year's activities. I think we're going have a pretty good turn out this year. I think seven or eight of my crewe are planning to head down for this year's event. -- Hurricane

We have three of them here. They are nicely made, though not very authentic what with the skull and crossbones on it. But its a very nice entry piece and we used them for our theatrical performances... Hurricane

It's Official! We will be hosting the first annual Port Royal Pyrate Festival in Jamaica, May 24 - 27, 2007. We are in the process of assembling the packages for the event, which will be headquartered at Morgan's Harbour Marina and Resort. The initial schedule includes a thieve's market, historical tours, including a ghost tour at night, sailings aboard the Schooner WOLF, evening dinners, recreations of the tryal of Ann Bonny and Mary Read, visits to the Money Museum (which has treasure from the sunken town), Fort Charles Port Royal Museum, the National Archives in Spanish Town (where the original documents are housed and you can actually hold them and read through them), a trip out to Lime Cay (we pass by Rackam's Cay on the way there where Calico Jack was hung), and much, much more! We will be setting up a site soon. Don't miss your chance to walk in the footsteps of real history. Our crewe just returned from there and it's hard to put into words being under full sail in the same waters as Morgan, Blackbeard, Calico Jack and the rest of our ancestors. Email me with questions at hurricane@piratesofthecoast.com... -- Hurricane

I have been asked to relay a message from Julie, Festival Director for PiP. In the future please direct all suggestions, comments and certainly donations directly to info@piratesinparadise.com. Vicki is no longer associated with the festival in any capacity and cannot act on its behalf. Thank you! -- Hurricane

I am the brother of my mother's son. -- Hurricane

From Billy Bones over the weekend: The crew of POTC II & III, was greatly saddened by the news of the passing of one of our own last weekend. Richard Snell was found in his hotel room after suffering what we think may have been an anurism. Richard, a consummate make-up artist on the show, was also a member of the Rum Runners pirate group in California, and a hell of a pirate at that. A memorial service was held yesterday on the set, with cannons roaring, inspirational words spoken by Orlando Bloom and Kevin Mcnalley, a 21 gun salute, and a viking funeral (at least the burning boat part). Richard is survived by his wife and twin 5 month-old daughters. Here's to ya, mate!

Sorry, it was Malaysia. I have a nice photo of the gun toting gang over there - got me navigation a bit screwed up. Compass only points to Florida these days. -- Hurricane

We just had the Neo Nazis parade through Orlando and it gave me an idea. No one questions their authenticity - the color of their brown shirts, the swastika armbands. I think I'm going to go Neo Pirate - then I can do my own interpretation and hold others to my standards. Oh, guess those guys off Somalia and the Phillipines are already doing that Neo Pirate schtick. Crap!!!! -- Hurricane

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/02/27...reut/index.html NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) -- Somali gunmen hijacked an Indian-owned dhow off Somalia's coast with 25 crew members aboard, a maritime official said on Monday. The dhow was attacked by two small boats while on route from the southern port of Kismayo to El-Maan, 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the lawless capital Mogadishu on Sunday, Andrew Mwangura, program coordinator for the Seafarers' Assistance Program, said. -- Hurricane

I would be wary primarily because the site registration is private. Never seen that before for an ecommerce company... Leather Works, Inc. ATTN: LEATHERWORKS.COM c/o Network Solutions P.O. Box 447 Herndon, VA 20172-0447 The domain registration address is Network Solutions. Usually it shows the individual's address. Not a good sign ever.... Further, the domain name expires on March 6, 2006 and has not been renewed... -- Hurricane

Very nice! Diosa and I can't wait to build our pirate residence. We think the same way. We want a pond in the backyard with a dock that circles it with facades of period homes, taverns and shops. They will fold back and down and anchor for hurricanes... Always thinking ahead. -- Hurricane

Sorry Ace, got an ex-wife. No one can be vicious enough here to match that. She's a gold medalist in the event. --- Hurricane