SilasTalbot

I've had a casting director keeping her ear to the ground for me regarding "Good Omens" news because I REALLY wanted to read for a role. It seems that Terry Gilliam, who was on board to direct, became so discouraged and financially beaten down by the whole Don Quixote "Lost in LaMancha" situation that any momentum the project had has ground to a halt. Gilliam has, I believe, let his option on the title run out. But as you can see by reading Gaiman's blog at www.neilgaiman.com, "Coraline" and "Death: The High Cost of Living" have been given green lights - I believe both are in pre-production stages now. Saw "Stardust" a couple of weeks ago, and I loved it.

Mad Rose - If you're a member of Arrr!, then I know the institution whereof you speak. I've had previous incarnations of Arrr! involved in events I did in Salem, MA not long ago. The first - and probably obvious - suggestion would be to arrange a day trip out to the tip of the Cape to see the Expedition Whydah museum in Provincetown. I just did the drive from Providence to P-town last week, and it's an hour and a half one way (depending on traffic) but well worth it. I know there is a pirate tour in Newport, but beyond that I know nothing about it. I may be able to suggest a couple of sutlers specializing in GAoP re-enactment who might possibly be willing to present something to your class. Lastly, since I seem to be acquiring a good level of knowledge of pirate/privateer history in Boston, maybe I can ofer something myself.

My condolences to you and your family, Silkie. Sending you all best wishes and peaceful thoughts.

Regarding Montana...which is where I grew up...as a senior in High School (about 300 years ago...) my girlfriend and I used to sometimes camp out in a genuine, non-tarted-up-for-tourists mining town. It was in Maiden Canyon and many of the 19th century buildings were still standing, but long since abandoned. It wasn't easy to get to, and had no modern conveniences at all - but it was still incredibly cool. Never encountered any ghosts, spirits, ha'ants or the like, though. More recently, I used to perform in and/or direct Halloween events in Salem, MA. Again, I never personally encountered any ghosts, spirits, etc...but I was sometimes taken for one. These weren't typical "haunted house" events, these were more storytelling/parlor theatre performances in some of the historic houses. Rather cool to BE the tormented, guilt-ridden fratricidal killer in the Crowninsheild-Bentley House...especially since that house is specifically named as the location of the rather icky climax of H.P. Lovecraft's story "The Thing on the Doorstep". I may also have been responsible for a poor young lady...umm, shall we say "befouling herself" when I was performing behind the Old Salem Jail. The building is next to a 17th century burying ground - supposedly the location where Giles Corey was pressed to death. This young lady and her friend were "exploring" the burying ground and had decided to try to crawl through the fence to get to the Old Jail...right into my "staging area" where I would wait for the next audience group. I don't know what the poor girl convinced herself that she saw as I stood there in my black greatcoat and slouch hat, but amid several shrieks and curses she quickly took her leave. Salem, of course, has a couple of "haunted" trolley tours and walking tours, as does Boston. The "most haunted site" in Boston is said to be the Parker House Hotel (now the Omni Parker House). In their 138 year history they have seen as guests Charles Dickens, John Wilkes Booth, and John F. Kennedy - all of who are said to sometimes haunt the place. What I want to know is...have any boaters or seamen seen anyone haunting Nix's Mate out in Boston Harbor?

The Boston Historic Pub Crawl happens every Tuesday at 5:30pm and meets outside Fanueil Hall. You can follow a link from my personal website to a news article about the Pub Crawl...just go to the Production Photos page. Though further discussion of this might not really be Captain Twill material, feel free to PM me for more information.

In reference to Alewife Station on the Red Line, the name comes from the aforementioned fish. There are now some displays on the platform with depictions of the fish, and an explanation that their presence gave the name to the nearby Alewife Brook. If you want to encounter (or become) the humanoid kind of alewife, then you have to join me for the Boston Historic Pub Crawl.

No offense taken, sir. We all have our own cups of tea (or coffee, in my case). Given that shipwrecks are integral to the plots of "Twelfth Night" and "The Tempest" it's kind of surprising that we don't get some mention of Calypso. Hey, at least we got pirates in "Hamlet"...even if they're only mentioned in a letter.

I'm not going to classify myself as an "expert" on Shakespeare...but having done a dozen or so of the plays professionally and currently writing a thesis on Elizabethan-era performance practice...I have to say I'm unaware of any reference to Calypso in Shakespeare. In Homer, it was Odysseus who was trapped on an island with Calypso. Oedipus was involved in a whole different set of pleasant events... Hope that helps a bit.

I've made some adjustments to my neckwear along the same lines - since my usual focus is RevWar to 1803. I was informed by some veteran RevWar re-enactors that my neck stock was wrong, and after listening to them, I (for once...) had to cave to the historical correctness police. I wanted the same look as in the portrait of Capt. Talbot that I use as an avatar. I got it by combining Capt. Sterling's suggestion of using a regular neckerchief knotted around my neck, and wearing a ruffled shirt with a bit of ruffle pulled through the top buttons of my waistcoat. I finally had to agree with the re-enactors who kept telling me that my old "neck stock with dangly bits" just didn't cut it. Thanks for the diagram, Capt. Sterling.

Though it's not something to which I've given a ton of thought, I'd have to agree regarding armor...trying to maintain it in decent condition on board a ship, the degree to which it can hamper movement, not being much help against a gun shot...it's hard to imagine that it would have been used much (if at all) by pirates. (And wearing armor even in a theatrical environment is a pain in the arse. Had to wear a chain mail coif and shirt, gorget, and gauntlets for "Richard III" for a whopping 20 minutes and even that little amount of time was pretty awful). Aside from the question of "did they/didn't they" ...if anyone in the New England region wants to check out artifacts relevant to this thread, the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA is opening a new exhibit on June 30 titled "Conquistadors to Patriots: Arms and Armor in Colonial America". Though I admit there is little in the Higgins collection having to do with the GAOP, if you love swords and other historical weapons, the Higgins is well worth a visit.

In what area of law do you practice, shipmate? Actually...I don't practice law...and when I was on "Law and Order" I played a Crime Scene Unit tech, so I can't even add "but I've played a lawyer on TV...". I'm guessing that the "res ipsa loquitur..." reference was an improv bit on Depp's part, included as a tip of the hat to his late buddy Hunter S. Thompson. HST used to conclude some of his shorter pieces with just the words "res ipsa loquitur". As a huge HST fan myself, the reference just made me terribly happy.

Totally agree with that. He was having way too much fun. And I forgot to mention how much I loved the one "pirate lord" who, judging by his girth and his voice apparently was...a eunuch. Snip snip.

Saw it last night with my wife and some friends. Liked it a lot (for reasons already covered in previous posts), didn't have any trouble with the running time because the story kept me involved. SHOCKED over Norrington... Would have liked a little more of Sao Feng... Loved Captain Teague...and the fact that the "musical pirate" was referred to as the Pirate King... And I'm wondering if I'm the only person anywhere who went into ecstatic convulsions when Depp worked "res ipsa loquitur..." into his Brethren Court speech. Please, somebody...tell me I'm not that much of a freak...

"'Who'll make his mark' the Captain cried, 'To the Devil drink a toast..." Oh, do I remember the song...mostly because in that former life I wanted to BE Keith Emerson. (And yes, I'm that old). I even had the whole compliment of Hammond B-3 organ, Yamaha piano, Moog and Sequential Circuits synths, etc....at least the pretty and pointy toys that I blow money on now are a damn sight lighter... Wow...I was actually insane enough to schlep all that stuff around to gigs when I was in my 20's....

That all depends...are you offering me a job?

Granted, this piece of info relates to muskets and is post-GAoP. In the aftermath of the Boston Massacre, John Hickling testified at the trial that he was standing next to Samuel Gray when he was shot (at a range of probably no more than 15 feet). When Hickling knelt to check Gray's condition he "found a hole in his head as big as a man's hand". Messy indeed. All the contributions in this thread are VERY helpful to those of us in the fight choreography/stunt performer business who DO try to keep the effects of various weapons truthful, as well as SAFE. Thanks to everyone. S.T.

Sort of a long segue of a few years, having worked as an actor and fight director for some time - but with more of a Shakespearean focus. I was hired to play "Jack Sparrow" for a corporate event, and then a few months later began doing RevWar-era privateer stuff on board a tall ship in Boston Harbor. The experience of being on board the ship totally hooked me...the snowball was rolling down the hill, out of control by then. But the seed was definitely planted when I was a kid...I remember building one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" model kits, watching "Treasure Island" and "Blackbeard's Ghost". I suppose even the summer stock production of "Pirates of Penzance" that I did 17 years ago enters into the picture. If all goes well, we will have another tall ship involved this year. There we'll focus on Boston pyratical history, portraying characters like Samuel Bellamy, William Fly, Edward Low...and I'll get to put into practice much more of the true GAoP history that I've picked up from the Pyracy Pub. The feedback and input I've gotten from everyone here has been invaluable.

Makes me think of a story I read about the composer Claude Debussy when I was in college. Debussy was visiting the U.S. in the early 1900's, and was being shown around one of the major music schools - Julliard, I think. When the degree programs were explained to him he replied in horror "My God! How can ANYONE ever be a Master of Music"?

URGH...mea culpa for forgetting this one yesterday. The 1980's BBC "Sherlock Holmes" series starring Jeremy Brett. What an absoultely brilliant piece of work that was. I especially loved it when they would build up to a shot that was identical to one of the old Sidney Paget drawings of Holmes & Watson from the Strand magazine. And Jeremy Brett was fantastic, rest his soul.

I'd have to guess it's mostly due to Robert Newton as well. IMDB lists him as having been born in Dorset...he probably just did what came naturally, but amped it up for his characters. I'm curious what he sounded like as Bill Sykes in "Oliver Twist". Haven't seen that version. Talk about leavin' yer mark on the world...

Pardon the randomness...I promise it all really does relate to the subject at hand. As another of the past-the-mid-40's crowd, can I just say it drives me up the wall to see so many feature film remakes of old TV shows that weren't that great to begin with? Can we please see some REAL creativity instead of just recycling tired old ideas? Now that THAT'S off my chest... HBO has done some of the most briliant work in episodic TV lately. "Deadwood" blows my mind. It's so well written and the cast is fantastic - you wind up caring what happens to the characters even when you hate them. I grew up in Montana and visited the real Deadwood gulch many times as a kid, so it kind of hits a soft spot for me. (And when we look at linguistic sources like the '1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue' I think we have to conclude that the language in 'Deadwood' isn't so far off the mark). "Rome" is pretty cool as well. I'm not up to date on either of them though, because I get them on DVD from Netflix. I love the way the BBC has re-imagined "Doctor Who". I thought Christopher Eccelston was fantastic as the Doctor. Totally hooked on "The Dresden Files". Love the story lines, and it cracks me up when "Bob" (Terrence Mann) gets some quick inside joke referencing musical theater. I hope I'm not the only one that gets them... As cheesy as it was, I loved "The Night Stalker" as a kid. Watching re-runs on the Sci-Fi channel makes me laugh my buttocks off. Also, when I gave the re-done 'Night Stalker" a second look on Sci-Fi I realized it was better than I first thought. They were really headed for "X-Files" territory, and it's too bad they didn't get the time to flesh out the overall story arc. As a kid, I was addicted to the old "Batman" series. Total silliness, and I still get a huge kick out of it. I swear, Eartha Kitt as Catwoman kicked the transition into puberty into Warp 4 for me... And finally... I WANT NEW EPISODES OF "HEROES"!!!!

Why, thank you for asking, dear. The answer would be BUSY. In addition to the usual borderline criminal behavior...I decided to get involved in a local Rev War event commemorating Patriot's Day (Which is only a holiday in Boston. I'm totally serious). I figured if I volunteered I could make some good connections, and get more training in black powder weapons. Long story short...I would up as the de-facto "director" of the event. Which is fine, they're a great group of people and I'm having fun. But I have no life. Which is why I don't show up here nearly as often as I'd like. We now return you to the original thread, as I crawl downstairs for more coffee.

Coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee. I can't even eek Spinglish without it. Speak english without it. Better go brew more, I think. (What...me? Addicted? Ya think?)

DAMN. That is amazing. I just e-mailed the link to a whole bunch of folks. Thanks for posting this.

I caught "20,000 Leagues" a couple of weeks ago as well, on Turner Classic Movies, or American Movie Classics...one of those. What a blast from the past THAT was. I love Peter Lorre in anything...and I had forgotten the scene of Kirk Douglas playing his tortoise shell "guitar" in a reprise of "Whale of a Tale" alongside Nemo's pet seal. Good thing I had only had one Guinness at that point... Patrick Hand - not only do I remember "Blackbeard's Ghost", I had the comic book AND the 33 1/3 LP version. You're triggering flashbacks, mate.