michaelsbagley

My vote would be for Cesar Romero and Eartha Kitt as the best incarnations of the Joker and Cat Woman from Film/TV.... Jack Nicholson got the temperment more or less right for the Joker, but his physicality was very wrong for the role, and I feel it affected his portrayal. Michelle Pfeiffer had a very good physique for the Cat Woman, but she just wasn't evil enough to fit the role. On the whole I have not been impressed with the movie versions of the Batman villians. Or at least I wasn;t impressed until "Batman Begins" was released, then my attitude changed dramatically.

Bump... An oldie but a goodie. So I've been looking at the slop contracts lately thinking of adding some slop contract clothing items to my slowly growing collection of period garments from the era.... And one item that keep throwing me for a loop is mention of "black buttons" on waistcoats and breeches in the a few iterations of the Slop contracts. What are "black buttons"? Are "black buttons" a reference to heavily leaded pewter? It would not be truly black, but much darker than the "white Tinn Buttons". I seem to recall a discussion about these on a forum, and I thought it was either this Forum or the Pirate Brethren forum, but searches on both forums have not provided me with any good results. And I seem to also vaguely recall someone suggestion horn buttons as a possibility of what "black buttons" may have been. No offence to whomever may have put forth this suggestion, but it doesn't "feel" right to me. But I'm asking here, so obviously, I have no clue. Are there any other theories out there? Even better, is there any reasonable evidence as to what might have been meant by "black buttons"?

The absolute cut off time is ten minutes before the whole event ends. If you can come down for half, a third or even a tenth of the event, we'd love to see you there. Thanks William! That does give me a bit more time on my side to hopefully turn things around. Should I and my other half still fill in the forms and send them in? In hopes of a change of fortune... Or should I wait until I get a better indicator or what will be?

This is really driving me nuts... My attending has recently come under some doubt. In fact at this very moment, I am under the impression that I will not be attending PiP. I have a few weeks with which to turn this around, but I'm starting to get pessimistic. To those I had discussed a car pool with, please accept my appologies, and I hope making different arrangements comes easily for you. To all those who do make it, I hope you all have the best of times, and please take lots of pictures and have lots of good stories to tell so that those of us who fell on the way can live vicariously through you all! As I said, there is a chance something may happen at the 11th hour that could change my fortunes for the better, but I don't want anyone depending on me in case things don't work out. Is there any absolute cut-off date for committing? I just would like to know what my timeline for turning things around is.

Is that what you are looking for Alex? 18th Century Coat Pattern Or the Justacorps? Justacorps pattern Both from the Gentleman of Fortune web site... Gentlemen of Fortune Homepage You will of course still have to draft a usable pattern from those diagrams, but that is as close to free as your going to get... But on the whole, I agree with Hildekitten, buying the Reconstructing History pattern, is a VERY worthwile investment... And I'm not just an advocate, I am a very proud owner of some 7 to 9 Reconstructing History patterns (between me and my girlfriend anyways). By the way GoF, if you see this post... I'm really liking the new look and feel of your web site. Nice work as always!

I would like to very strongly second Mary's recommendation... I too had bought some linen fabric from JoAnn's, and not only did it shrink more than I anticipated, the colour bled quite nastily for the first FEW washings (of course if you are using white or natural coloured linen, bleeding colour won't be an issue for you). Good luck to you on this endeavor. Looking forward to seeing some pics when your done!

This might help, This Link will take you to a web page that has all kinds of links related to English Country dances and the accompanying music. Each dance has a PDF file of the dance steps, a PDF of the sheet music, and links to midi files of the music. English Country Dance music is accurate to the late 17th and early 18th century, so most of it will be period correct (or fairly close).... Hope you enjoy.

I believe there was one on display at the "Real Pirates" exhibit (the Whydah exhibit)... But my memory on this is getting shakey. There isn't any images in the book "Expedition Whydah", and most of the artifacts that were on display are detailed in the book. If I get back to the exhibit a second time (which I hope to soon) I will keep an eye open and if possible make some sketches and notes...

Personally, I will be sleeping on an air matress, with modern blankets and pillows and the such... But because of that, I am also going to be very careful to keep my period(ish) tent closed and tightly sealed up at all times so as my modern creature comfort items do not spoil the ambiance. If I was going to go all hardcore on the sleeping stuff, it would be a wool blanket to sleep on, and perhaps roll my self into for warmth, and another wadded up blanket to use as a pillow (or perhaps even a wadded item of clothing, as I have done in the past). Showers and bathroom facilities is a good question though...

I would second Patrick's suggestion, go with the short jacket first, you can always add a waistcoat in later, and the short jacket is more versatile as a starting peice.

I've not spent a great deal of time that far south, but up here in the north, the sun sets at what 7:30ish in November (give or take)? Is the sun-set at those lattitudes any different? And if not, I don't think noise ordinances will be much of a concern, neither should staying sober until after... Beer-O-Clock for me tends to be around 9:00 PM (Beer-O-Clock being the time when any adult beverages of any variety come out)....

I may not have held it, but I have been within breathing distance of the pouch (give or take a glass barrier)... And unfortunately, the wooden slats are displayed seperately from the leather portion... So even though the pouch is displayed in a case that allow and almost 360 view of it, it would be (as Cpt. Midnight says) still nigh on impossible to tell where exactly the slats should fit in. I really need to get back to the exhibit and try and spend more time there.... And definately on a weekday where I don't have to fight with a crowd all pressing in to look at everything....

The pair of you have my vote.... Mornings have been my archrivals since the dawn of time (or at least the dawn of my time).

Hey BlackJohn, When you questioned the authority on the slats being attached to the flap, did you get an answer as to where they should go? Or was that they were not a part of the flap the only answer you got? I'd be hugely appreciative if you shared the info if you are able to.

I wouldn't worry too much about it Rumba, I check into RenSpace from time to time, and generally it is pretty much like a ghost town in there.... I think I saw some clusetrs of tumble weed roll across many of profile and chat group in RenSpace the last few times I peeked. I know there are some active users in RenSpace, but I don't think it was anywhere near as successful as hoped.

Joined the foght shortly after joining Facebook a few months ago.... Out of all the "Social Network" web sites out there... Such as... MySpace Yahoo 360 Live Journal Facebook Blogspot RenSpace Tribe.net etc. etc. etc. Facebook I find is the most interactive... It seems a bit strange at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's great. But then again, different people prefer different interfaces. My favourite aspect of Facebook that none of the other "Social Network" sites seem to have is the whole "tagging" photos functionality. It makes it so much more amazingly easy to share photos, and enjoy photos of people you know. Sorry for the divergance in the topic, but I like to think of myself as a bit of a connisseur of internet social network applications...

This isn't a definitive way of telling the difference.... But if you look really close at cotton fibres (the threads that make up the weave of the peice of cloth), they will usually be somewhat frizzy... I'm not talking all out shaggy, but a subtle almost barely perceptable frizz. Linen will more often than not have very straight fibres, no frizz, but occassionally linen will have slubs (little almost nubbley bit in the fibres).

Absolutely correct.... And it's over to Red Handed Jill. Maybe I should have picked something a bit more difficult...

Alright here it goes.... "You don't like Beethoven. You don't know what you're missing. Overtures like that get my.. juices flowing. So powerful. But after his openings, to be honest, he does tend to get a little &%$@ing boring. That's why I stopped!"

Is it "The Mask" with Jim Carrey? That's the first movie I could think of where there are plenty of "Warner Bro." cartoon style lines.

Historical or not, I love the look of that red and gold brocade(ish?) fabric. It's a gorgeous pattern. That's a great looking vest/waistcoat. I'd be proud to wear something like that around a festival. I'm kind of a bit jealous just thinking about it. Very well done Lady B!

"But . . .but . . .but . . .'e's had 10 pages!" she protests weakly. Yeah but Mr. Hands posts are SOOOO worth waiting for... They may come at irregular intervals, but their great when he gest around to it!

Nice list Lily! Now, you've got me in the spirit... 1. Latchet shoes (which I don't have yet, but is at the top of my list to get) 2. Linen shirt 3. Knee breeches (which I have), or slops (which I still have yet to make). 4. Short waistcoat and/or short sailor's jacket 5. Socks/Stockings (commenting because of another thread I saw on this forum, I have a wool pair, and a Linsey-Woolsey pair, I found the linsey woolsey pair much more comfortable in the summer than the wool, not sure how the linsey-woolsey compares to cotton, but judging from wearing my modern socks on a daily basis (which are all cotton), I would guess the linsey-woolsey would feel better). 6. A hat (I have prefer a cocked hat on me, but I'm guessing there probably should be more of the other period hat styles out there). 7. Belt (sword belt in my case). 8. Period hanger sword to go with number 7. 9. A Musket or pistol of some variety (another item on my to get list) 10. A Shot pouch or cartridge box to go with item #8 and 9. (Still need to buy or make this as well), other gun accessories could be lumped in here as well (powder horn etc.) Looking back at Haunting Lily's list, I like her item number ten... If I wasn't trying so hard to keep my items as "hard goods", Lily's number ten would have made my list as well (probably at the top of the list at that!). Well said Lily!

Dang... that is so cool to know...... Jas. Townson was (maybe they still are) selling pewter ingots, and I saw pewter shot in an art catalog, but they wanted $22.00 per pound for it..... CAUTION... THE FOLLOWING IS REALY DANGEROUS AND POSSIBLY STUPID I wanted to make a stamp, by making my master mold outta sculpie, then forming a dam around it.... then filling it with pewter..... just never got around to ordering the pewter..... So the tip about solder is very handy....... Hummmm.... and I do need some buttons.......... OH BOY..... Fun with molten metal.......... Happy to share the trick. Sculpie won't hold up to the heat of molten pewter/solder, but plaster will (it scorches which is why it deteriates so fast, but it will hold up for at least one to a few castings)... Sculpie will burn and most likely ruin anything you are trying to do. I know people that make buttons this way, and they turn out well... It's a bit trickier, as I am told it requires a three part mold, but it can be done. And I am certain it works for coins as well. If either of you (or anyone else) makes anything, please do share your experiences. I'd love to hear about what other uses people think of for this. Edit - My other half wants credit for the using sculpie as a master and making the plaster mold from the sculpie master.... I was originally going to use wax (casting wax) until she suggested the scuplie/vaseline/plaster idea.. Hopefully this admission will get me out of the dog-house.

I made a seal out of Sculpie.... First I made what I wanted the seal to look like from Sculpie, and then baked that... Once it was cool, I used it as a mold and formed more Sculpie over that and added a handle. It took a few trys to get it to work, the Sculpie kept sticking to the mold, so I had to re-form it a few times. I don't know how this would work for a seal.... But to take Patrick's suggestion to another level on something I have tried..... I made a buckle once.... I formed the original out of sculpie, baked it to harden it (follow standard sculpie instructions). But rather than using it as a mold to make a sculpie object, I covered the sculpie original in a thin layer of vaseline, whipped up some plaster, pressed the vaseline covered sculpie buckle into the plaster deep enough to make a good impression. Then left the plaster to dry. The scuplie will not sink, but when the plaster is dry, you have a mold of your original. Now you can use this mold to make a pewter copy, but odds are, you will only get one (maybe two or three if you are VERY lucky) molding out of the plaster. One note here, let your plaster dry THOROUGHLY (like wait days, maybe even a week if you are in a very humid region). Pouring or dripping hot pewter onto plaster that is not thoroughly dry will cause steam, steam burns people, burning people is bad, very bad. Now here's the funny thing... Modern lead-free pewter is made of the following... ~85 to 90% tin ~2% copper with the remaining balance being made from Antimony or Bismuth. If you look at the make up of hardware store plumbing solder you will find it is made from ~70 to 90% tin ~2% copper with the balance made up from Antimony or Bismuth (or occassionally other substitutes, but not often) Wikipedia entry on Pewter Wiokipedia entry on Solder So those wanting to try pewter casting without buying a large quantity of lead free pewter from a jewelry supply house, can go to your local hardware store and buy a pound of lead free solder (usually about $10 to $12) and try it with that. If you try this at home, have adult supervision and use lots of caution and safety gear (tinted safety goggles and HEAVY protective leather gloves). If anyone has any questions, please let me know, and I will try and provide more specific advice and suggestions...