Hester

I know Kris Kristofferson is 27 years my senior, but sometimes I just find myself thinking of a time-warped universe and wondering "what if?".

Hi, all: A few years ago, a friend's sister, who had a 42-foot sailboat, took a year off with her husband and young son, planning to sail from the Great Lakes all the way down to the Caribbean and back. Well, they made it as far as Florida, and other sailors that they met along the way warned them strongly not to venture any further (at least not without some serious arsenal aboard and a large convoy to accompany them). They were told that modern-day pirates (drug runners mostly) cruised the waters between Florida and the Caribbean islands, and that if they came across a lone, unprotected vessel, they would hijack it, kill the people and throw their bodies overboard, and then use the ship for smuggling. My sister's friend turned her boat around and headed back home 6 months early. However, one of my wilder dreams for when we retire is to buy a small ocean-worthy sailboat and cruise down the eastern seaboard into warmer climes. So, my question is -- how real is this threat of modern-day piracy in the Caribbean? Was my friend's sister just paranoid and reacting to ill-informed scare-mongering, or did she do the wise thing? Cheers, Hester

... and then back to the "prison games" theme: electric ______

chair

Hi, Jill: Yeah, I know that's what some demographers say. But, Douglas Coupland, who popularized the term by writing the novel Generation X, was born in 1963, just like me and Johnny Depp. He was writing about his own generation. Seems a bit ridiculous to say Coupland's not part of the generation he defined as his own. Indeed, there's no real consensus on the boundaries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X#...further_defined Cheers, Hester

I've got an old fibreglass canoe that's bright yellow and weighs a ton, and a paddle-boat held together with Marine Goop and a pagan prayer. My husband J. has the plans to build a wooden sabot -- but we haven't got around to finding the marine plywood (or the time) for it yet. Other woodworking projects always seem to take precedence -- like replacing the soft planks in our on-land decks [we have 3 - back deck at home, front and back deck at the cottage]. I'm angling for a small sailboat here in the city too -- a dagger-board type that we can pop on top of the car and launch from the beach that's just 2 miles south of here. And I was dreaming over the sailing magazines at Chapters today. I want a sailboat that's small enough for the two of us to crew by ourselves, but large enough that we could sail down the east coast all the way to Florida (and beyond?). Cheers, Hester

Kris-Kristofferson-naked-on-a-motorcycle-of-his-choice / stones

dominoes

... and the concept's not that far fetched, really, since there's a 17th century broadside ballad that tells of Robin Hood fighting off French pirates off the coast of Yorkshire: http://www.lib.rochester.edu/CAMELOT/TEAMS/fishint.htm [Plus, in more recent pop culture, you have Errol Flynn, the quintessential Robin Hood, also playing the role of Captain Blood.] Cheers, Hester

I haven't been able to lay my hands on a copy yet, but apparently there's a 1960 spaghetti swashbuckler entitled "Robin Hood ei pirati" [Robin Hood and the Pirates]. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054246/combined Here's a poster for the Spanish-language version, "Robin Hood contra los Piratas": Cheers, Hester

Oh, dear, the postman just delivered this DVD that I mistakenly ordered from Amazon. I meant to buy Cutthroat Island, but got distracted by the "others who bought this title also bought..." links. It stars a highly unattractive Robert Shaw as the main pirate, dressed from head-to-toe in red [add a bit of white fur, and it would be a Santa suit]. The consolation is that Genevieve Bujold is the heroine. But worst of all -- it's in Widescreen format. Accchh! My TV screen's too small for that nonsense. Oh, well. I'd best pay closer attention before I click that "buy" button in future. Cheers, Hester

And PIGS might... Which is a bit redundant because it inevitably brings us back to ... FLY Cheers, H.

And PIGS might... Cheers, Hester

Drat! I'm going to be out of town for a month starting this Friday, and I'll miss the entire festival. Luckily, the website claims this is the first ANNUAL pirate festival, so perhaps I'll get another chance to go next year: http://www.thepiratefestival.com/index.html Fort York's so cool! Cheers, Hester

Hi, Themarko: Thanks, that's kinda close to what I'm thinking of, but perhaps a tad too raunchy. I'd probably be more comfortable on a cruise for the Captain Twill set. Cheers, Hester

In pain... I just tripped over the enormous atlas that I carelessly left lying on my office floor, stubbing my toes (in bare feet, yet) and tearing the toenail on my middle toe. Hurts like a bugger ... as my scadalized neighbours who heard my agonized curses can attest. And it really ruined my pedicure! Groan, Hester ... perhaps some rum would work as an anaesthetic -- ingested, of course, not topical

I'm the great-great-great granddaughter of a star-crossed Scottish innkeeper's daughter named Annie Bird, who, at the age of 16, had an affair with her stepfather's much younger brother, a strapping young married slater from Aberdeen (who apparently came to visit to fix the roof of the pub), and as a result gave birth to my great-great-grandfather, who later became a sailor out of the grim North Sea port of Peterhead. Cheers, Hester ... whose Mom prefers I not tell that story in polite company

In the "What you be eating right this second?" thread [don't ask why], I wrote: And indeed, there was at least one such pirate making use of these maze-like waterways in the 1830s: >>>The heritage of Alexandria Bay and the Thousand Islands includes accounts and legends of pirates who looted passing ships. Perhaps the most famous of Alexandria Bay's pirate stories was the capture of the Sir Robert Peel in May 1838, during the Patriot War with Canada. A gang of pirates led by Bill Johnston boarded the ship, ordered the passengers and crew to shore, grabbed 20,000 pounds in militia payroll, then torched and fled the vessel. Within days, thirteen men were captured and charged for the assault on the ship, but none of them were ever convicted. The remnants of the sunken hull still remain there, and have been a popular underwater adventure for scuba divers and a curiosity for tourists and history buffs. In August, Alexandria Bay comes alive with "Bill Johnston's Pirate Days" featuring reenactments of the pirate ship attack on the village.<<< Source: http://www.alexandria-bay.ny.us/ Some pics of Alexandria Bay's "Pirate Day" festival on this page: http://www.alexbay.org/2004/photo-gallery.asp Cheers, Hester

Hi, MorganTyre: Good point about some of the food being kept "alive". Makes me think of Norrington and the goat in PotC2. Indeed, when I saw that scene, I wondered how well livestock actually fared/produced out at sea. Would a milk animal such as a goat or sheep be very happy in the hold of a ship? Similarly, would chickens lay eggs in such conditions, or would they be too upset to produce? ['Course, if they didn't give you milk or eggs, you could always just cook the animals themselves.] Cheers, Hester

Thanks, Joshua: I'll look for his books at my local library. Cheers, Hester

"Northwest Passage" by the late Stan Rogers. Chorus: Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea; Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage And make a Northwest Passage to the sea. Westward from the Davis Strait 'tis there 'twas said to lie The sea route to the Orient for which so many died; Seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered, broken bones And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones. I think it should become the new national anthem here in Canada -- 'specially if global warming continues at this pace and them damned Yanqui-boats keep encroaching on our territorial waters: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/northwest-passage/ The story of the doomed Franklin expedition is quite a romantic chapter in maritime history, as is the grail-like quest to find the remains of the ships and crew: http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/specialfe...ion/default.asp http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/ind...s=A1ARTA0003031 Cheers, Hester ... who gets shivers everytime she hears the song

Fresh whole-wheat linguine with clam sauce Florentine, topped with parmesean; and bagged Italian salad with Thousand Islands dressing. Perrier to drink. Speaking of the Thousand Islands -- surely there must have been pirates there, where the Great Lakes meet the St. Lawrence river. You could play hide & seek among those islands forever, on that clear turqoise-crystal water: If you knew the waters really well, you could lure unwanted pursuers onto rocks. Hey, and apparently a replica of the Bounty even came into port at Gananoque: More pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pcellis/sets/152868/ Cheers, Hester ... who has swum in those waters -- and they're COLD!

And that reminds me ... I haven't seen Beowulf & Grendel yet: Methinks it's time for a trip to the video store .... Arrrr! Cheers, Hester

Oh, YES! But, with the wild curls and close-cropped beard he wore in Timeline: Cheers, Hester P.S.: Rinalda, he's got a Glaswegian accent!

Come to think of it, so's Johnny Depp. We were born the same year. No wonder he's so comfortable in eyeliner. Cheers, Hester