hurricane

Sorry, I thought this thread said, "Captain's Goat." Got to get me eyes checked by the ship's surgeon.

Nice togs their mate... I likes the color.

But a goat would have been nice too.

-- Hurricane

For those who aren't familiar, Gaspar's is a pirate bar in the Tampa area. So you not only get to do the interactive along with the big screen showing, but you gets to drink yer measly black guts out at the same time... Full costumes are definitely encouraged. We even bring our swords along for extra prodding of the customers... if you get my meaning.

-- Hurricane

The Pyrates of the Coast are hosting one on Oct. 22 at Gaspar's Grotto in Ybor City. Come and enjoy the fun - drink specials and salasa dancing after the show. I think there's another one scheduled there in November. Roughly every six weeks.

-- Hurricane

Peace tying would do you no good.

There's one thing Disney doesn't ever allow: weapons. You have to leave all of them behind, even for the Not So Scary Halloween unless they're plastic. No replicas. Nothing. They won't even let you on the property, even with tickets.

-- Hurricane

Here's another photo, this time of Diosa and I inside PotC. Definitely worth getting the photos during the event.

-- Hurricane

It's now through the end of October on select dates.

Here's a link to some information.

http://allearsnet.com/tp/mk/mnssh.htm

They allow you in costume and they even have trick or treating for kids and adults. Can't have sharp weapons or replica (or real) pistols. Otherwise, they're good with ya in gear.

Oh, and you also get a complimentary photo of you and your companions...

-- Hurricane

We pressed the issue a lot there but they were nice. The staff let us go behind the chains and such for many of our photos. It was great fun. I would definitely recommend the event to anyone, even without kids. The park looks so different from the regular days, the fireworks show was amazing and the villians get their moment in the spotlight at the parade. We particularly loved the haunted mansion - the staff there was able to really gore themselves up a bit. One of the best events Disney has, particularly since you do get to go in costume.

Diosa and I had to laugh as we entered. We gave coins to two little boys who then had their photos taken with us. Then they had us autograph their Disney autograph books. That was Diosa's first autographing section. I knew she'd dig that!

-- Hurricane

Not So Scary is the time though. They're very accommodating then. Here's me in the jail on the PotC ride at the Magic Kingdom here.

- Hurricane

I don't know about Disneyland but you're not allowed on the grounds in costume at the Magic Kingdom, DisneyWorld, except for the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween evenings. They don't want people in costume to be confused as working there. It's a liability thing as much as it's a loss of control, something the Magic folks like to keep a handle on.

-- Hurricane

He's quite the swab, KP. Anxious to meet him sometime now that he's found the dark side.

-- Hurricane

1.5 liters of Merlot.

-- Hurricane

That could be arranged. I have the print materials that can be sent via email. Just have to pdf them. And you can choose whomever you wish. It's like test driving a car - take one out for a spin and see if ya like it. If not the divorce form is on the back side of the marriage certificate. Handy, huh?

-- Hurricane

Very good point Kass! We use the entertainment opportunity to engage someone first, then we often boil down into real details about a pirate's life. It's easy to switch between the two once you get used to it.

I forgot that we also do 24 hour pirate marriages, complete with certificate, ring, rice, ceremony and alimony check. Real popular in the bars...

-- Hurricane

Most our work is entirely improvisation. We engage members of the public and then bring piracy to life. For some in the crowd, they enjoy the Hollywood version. Others want to know about what being a pirate was really like. The kids love to hold the swords. It's fun to hand them one and watch it drop to the ground. They're used to toy ones. Always good for some fun. It's funny how know one ever questions us walking a regular city street armed with pistols and swords. I've seen people in civvies shot for less.

We work all sorts of events, most of our own making. It may be a bar, a street festival, a city event or just roaming the streets of St. Augustine, posing for photos. No two days are the same. We also have a band that performs. Some sea chanteys but we found that a 1/2 hour of that and people's eyes start rolling up into their heads, so we do a wide variety of music.

Since no two engagements are the same, it's tough to be really specific. We let the members of the public determine what kind of experience they're going to have at that particular moment.

-- Hurricane

Oh, we got to get us some of those!

-- Hurricane

Thanks! That was more than a few years ago, but the guys in the photo were some of the best pirates I've ever known. The guy with the concertina in particular. Weaver Dial could cast a spell on anyone. One time we were supposed to appear before an entire gym of middle schoolers. As we were trying to think of what we could do in a cavernous gym with one mike, we hear roaring laughter from the crowd. Weaver had drifted in, pulled a wind up policeman out of his sea bag of tricks, put it down on the floor and then comedically ran from this little cop with a billy club. The kids went nuts. Saved our butts that day... still miss the guy but learned sooo much about entertaining as a pirate.

-- Hurricane

Had the pleasure of being with Captain Morgan in Port Royal and other parts of Jamaica in gear. Been to the Cayman Islands four times in gear, Roatan, Guanaja, Posada del Sol, Belize, Cozumel, and The Bahamas. A large part of our crewe will be doing Puerto Rico in April in costume. Been lucky in that respect. Everyone loves pirates everywhere I've gone and I usually just pack the pirate gear and a leave the civilian attire home.

This is one of my favorite shots from the Bay Islands off Honduras...

The on the beach shots are definitely the ones you'll cherish most... the ship in the photo was The Ocean Spirit - this was a publicity shot we did for them - the irony was the ship was dragging anchor at the time and almost lopped off the top of the nation's biggest treasure - it's reef.

-- Hurricane

If born to the lower strata of society I think the natural inclination would be to seize what you could and present yourself of a higher social rank, if even to mock that portion of society. As a "have not" if I could have, then "why not."

I think that's the nature now. Look at New Orleans. People were stealing better clothes, home items and electronics in the middle of a catastrophe when the opportunity offered itself. I'm not sure pirates would be any different, particularly with a short lifespan. Live life large while ya can!

-- Huricane

I don't do buttons. A pirate wouldn't be caught dead with one on him. Or perhaps he would. Too faire-ish for moi.

-- Hurricane

Great question. Finally, a good poll on this site. What, no "if I were a vegetable what would I be?"

-- Hurricane

Thanks GoF...

I agree with you... pirates would look like anyone else of the time. When out in public I often make that case, saying a modern pirate would simply blend in with the mainstream. They wouldn't speak differently, dress differently or draw attention to themselves undoly. Their chronicled antics in port have occasionally been somewhat over the top, but that was more due to the amount of money they had and their state of drunkenness.

This has been a really great discussion and I appreciate everyone's points.

I didn't mean to drag swords into the discussion - just had an immediate thought on the subject for my own use. I'm sure somewhere down there they have Morgan's sword. I know that Noel Coward's estate still has one of Henry's houses on it with some cannon balls and a sword found on the property. Noel turned it into his bar.

Having read the many posts by GoF, Foxe, Hawkyns and blackjohn, I have learned much here. And I know that it's hard to change some people's view of the subject that has often been based on popular belief rather than actual research. Hey, I think I used to be one of those people... Hhm!

-- Hurricane

Good points. I should have clarified that no one would take to wearing something that wasn't useful for their work. Perhaps for wearing ashore to attract the ladies. Exceptin' that if my shirt is in absolute tatters I may be open to having one less suitable in the interim, rather than burning up slowly in the tepid heat. It would more be a question of subtle variations of attire between countries and cultures.

For example, I may be a lowly seaman aboard a pirate ship but my luck of share may be a nicer cutlass, something that would be far nicer than the one I would normally have. And I did think that pirates kept their own weapons, that they weren't part of a ship's arms. I know from the Buccaneer references I've poured through lately that they owned their own weapons, both ashore and aboard ship. Of course, that was pre-GAoP.

I really can't imagine a sea-going pirate latching onto a tricorn to wear (or lose) aboard ship. They're aerodynimic enough, as long as you face into the wind. But again, it might be handy ashore when he's in the mood to go whorin' and wants to trade up from an average wharf rat.

While we're on the subject of weapons, were cutlasses common in 1650 or were rapiers more common? Working on a Captain Morgan kit and want to get as close to possible on what he would own and use, particularly since he was more of a soldier than a sailor and his legacy is on shore raids.

If that's off topic I can start a new post or reply elsewhere. Just popped into me mind.

-- Hurricane

Mother Nature is an angry mistress this year. Thankfully, they have all gone abeam of us in Central Florida. Least they could do after four last year, albeit wee ones compared to Kat and Rita.

-- Hurricane

This is a great discussion.

I have a question... say you're out on account for some period of time. You raid a number of ships and part of the take is the crewe's clothing and personal possessions. Would you not trade in your tattered and torn shirt for one from a Spanish captive or victim's chest? Same with other clothing items.

This only occurs to me because in Vietnam, my brother was in the service and the first thing he did was toss his M-16 in favor of an AK-47. I'm sure this has happened in other times of conflict, it's just a concrete example from my own experience and I know this was not a rare practice there. Far more servicable weapon in the environment than the early M-16s which jammed alll the time.

I would envision that pirates would obviously diversify their clothing and weapons according to what they found on board captured vessels and what was divided up as spoils. So over time a crew may have a much more varied look, depending upon the nationalities of the ships they take. I would think it would be natural for a pirate to take a better weapon from a captive or victim and probably take his much better shoes, belt or whatever.

Thoughts on this?

-- Hurricane

T-shirts for sale on cafepress.com would be a good place to start. These are terrific!!!!

-- Hurricane