Misson

Ok, I want to make a cage for my undead monkey... ...like the one in the second POTC movie so I can put him atop my entertainment center in my Pirate-Themed Living Room. Any thoughts on what the cage might be made of?

I've got a really nasty description of a thigh amputation somewhere, too. (On another computer...alas. You'll have to wait for my book.) A note from the surgeon files... Malaria...they probably would have called it 'fever' and attributed it to 'contamination from foul air.' Diseases were very poorly understood at this time. It'd probably be more likely that he would have died from scurvy, which was also not well understood, but was understood to be an illness unto itself unlike the multiple things ascribed to the term 'fever.' If he got the problem in Marseilles, this was better understood and usually treated with Mercury. So he could have died either from Mercury poisoning from treatment or syphilis (which was one of the more deadly VDs of the time). Interesting factoid about VD. During this time, the BRN charged sailors who contracted VD for treatment as they felt it was the sailor's fault and the BRN shouldn't have to pay for his treatment. This resulted in a lot of sailors with VD not reporting it (in addition to the cost of the treatment, it was embarrassing enough to admit to having contracted such diseases.) This may or may not have been prevalent on pirate vessels, I suppose. (Keep in mind, all dewy-eyed romantic notions of pirate independence and freedom-orientation aside, many of them probably kept with BRN traditions.) See all this crap I'm learning?

A gangrenous hangnail, sir. Please make sure you fully appreciate my diagnosis. Here's a charming bit I just read. This is definitely going in my treatise on barberous-surgery under the heading of wound cauterization: “In 1801, John Bell commented that “[t]he horror of the patient, and his ungovernable cries, the hurry of the operator and assistants, the sparkling of the irons, and the hissing of blood against them, must have made terrible scenes, and surgery must in those dark days have been a horrid trade.” [from Bell, J. Principles of Surgery, 1:150] Taken from The Evolution of Surgical Instruments by John Kirkup, p. 318

...now unable seaman.

Lee seems like the sort who often has a terrific time. I don't think making a buck off your bit part is a big deal. A lot of actors who get cast in small roles in these fan-intensive movies get typecast and have trouble getting other roles. Take the guy who played C-3PO (Antony Daniels) or the guy who played Data (Brent Spiner). Where do they go from there? Mostly to other bit parts and TV one shots and stuff like that. Not high paying roles, by any stretch. Being a regular actor (I'm excluding stars here - Johnny is free from this problem, to be sure) has to be one giant in the butt. You basically have to interview for a new job against multiple other applicants on a regular basis. Phu-Yuck! So if they can carve out a niche somewhere based on their role in a bit part in a fan-fueled series...good on 'em. As for the charity comment, that may be stemming from an aside in my previous post. Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate. Having been involved in volunteering for most of my life (often in multiple organizations at the same time), I can tell you what Arnie, a wise, Yoda-like friend of mine said. "No one does charity work for free. They always get something out of it, even if it's not money." Of course, I maintain there is no such thing as true altruism - and I say that without cynicism (if that's possible). People get free PR, personal growth opportunities, leadership skills, resume lines, a feeling of good will in them, the ability to scope out the lower castes (if you're helping the homeless or some such...I've seen this one more than I'd care to - OK, that's cynical) and similar benefits and opportunities. This is to take nothing away from charity work, I'm all for it. I've been doing it for decades. I do volunteer trainings all the time, just to see how well I can do them. It makes me feel good. There's nothing wrong with that, but it is at least slightly self-serving. Such is the nature of humanity. (Even Mother Theresa believed she was doing God's will. Now there's an act with some upside benefit. OK, that was slightly cynical, too.)

I suspect at the bottom of this is the concern that these girls are interviewing people while in bed with them (if I have the right of this) and calling themselves wenches and such, raising the prurient hackles. On the other hand, the did play courtesans (and wenches), so that is in character... Besides, as Bess points out, how is it any different than Lee or Marty playing off their popularity as pirates? I'm sure if they're "ON" they're behaving like pirates to some degree or at least talking about their experience thereof. A buck's a buck. (Or, in the case of charity events...well, a buck's a buck. Hm.) Actually, this isn't even a new idea. I seem to recall some foreign TV show where this is the standard format. (Provided the show is still on the air, that is. I don't see much TV, so I'm a poor one to gage TV shows...) As long as Disney is OK with it (and what choice to they have if they're not violating copyright and their contracts and so forth) what difference does it make? In the end, if it's commercially viable, then it'll be another stop on the web. If it isn't, it won't. Here's to the free market. (Personally, I can't see spending my lucre for such, but I'm a cheap SOB when it comes to such things. I'd rather have a new fleam...or better yet, a really old one.)

Able seamen Bo? I've gone back and edited posts I created (under one of my other, publically-secret user IDs) much more than a year ago.

Bo seems like a fitting name to me.

Well, I know you have an extra waistcoat... While the guy may be a simple seaman, he is a pirate and could have acquired more refined clothing at the expense of a victim. I believe the best suite of cloaths and/or gunnes were sometimes awarded to the first person to spot a prize that was taken. I would like to play, but I will have to think about something I can contribute...actually, I'd be willing to spring for another folding knife from Weeping Heart trading company. I really like mine.

That's what I think of as the Back to the Future Running Sequel Subplot trap. Subplots can be neat if they're cleverly handled...or they can be a real pain in the...Calypso. (From The Sting satire, Mad Magazine, December 1974, p. 6)

He even died with integrity, turning down Davy Jones. No coward, James Norrington. Good character. Good non-pirate.

No...please. Write him out. Write Calypso out. Awful, confusing, messy, pointless sub-(sub-sub-sub-) storyline...bring back the undead pirates. They can't use anything from fan fics? I understand the legal issues, but I doubt that's even totally possible. They can't possibly read all the fan fics. Although I can see where if a popular story got written, they would avoid it like the plague. God forbid someone should write something similar to what's already being written...Funny situation, ain't it? Bess, I thought you were in craft services? Or is it craft service people that you had to lay off?

But she was on the Dutchman at one point, so she does not have to serve on it to be on it. Convolution is the stuff of fan forums. You guys got nuthin' on the Star Wars fans. Those people are crazy...and the arguments over what is and isn't canon are nothing short of on-line brawls at times.

Didn't they say she couldn't go with him? I'm guessing she'd drown when they submerged. Will could come get her when he was above water, but then he wouldn't technically be fulfilling his duty and he'd turn into a sea polyp or something. And what young mother really wants to hang out with a sea polyp?

Ok, William...I will send you a check for a T (large, please) and for draughts of the Mercury! How much are they? (I know you have them. )

Which she could do if they make a fourth movie. Nothing in the third movie suggests that she just stayed at home and raised the kid. She was just there when Will came back. I would guess she's the best audience identification character for young girls - the ubiquitous headstrong girl coming-of-age that we find in recent sagas. It's sort of funny, actually. She went from being King(Queen?) of the pirates to a housewife if you believe the endnote. What's up with that? As for AWE...it's not dreadful. Some of it (much of it) is just superfluous which I think is what makes it confusing. (Plus there's no undead pirates. Or maybe that's just my problem with it...) They did a decent enough job of tying everything up (and together), though. And they shot the monkey out of a cannon.

Oh, forgot the Dollars trilogy. That's a great threequel. Each movie is good and improves on the last movie. Those have the added benefit of not having to rely on the previous movies to understand what's going on in the current movie. (As do the Bond films, actually.) Plus there's those great Ennio Moricone scores...

It's funny, a friend of mine who is a huge Star Wars (the first trilogy) fan, after seeing the third POTC movie, told me it was the best series he had seen. I chalked it up to the recency effect. It appears others agree with him, though. Of course, this could also be a recency effect from the movie being released on DVD. PCA is sort of a "what's popular now" thing. Even though I'm not particularly a fan of any single movie among them, I'd have to throw my lot in with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy as being one of the greatest Threequels. (Unless you count the first three Bond movies which make for a really great set of three movies. I don't know if Dr. No/From Russia With Love/Goldfinger really count as a legitimate threequel, though... It certainly has no chance at the PCA.) Taken as a whole, the three LOTR movies are more consistent and interesting as an on-going series than most other trilogies. Probably because they already had a well thought out story arc to work with. POTC had to go the Back to the Future route of trying to devise an on-going story to wedge into a terrific and fully realized first movie. I think that weighs the trilogy story arc down a lot just like it did for the BTTF movies (which also had a stinky second movie IMO and a decent third act...even if it was not nearly as good as the first act.) Now Star Wars could have been the greatest trilogy, but ol' George had to go with the pet idea of having a primitive pygmy tribe and throw the original plan for the story arc out the window. (Ewoks... )

Mae, what is your sister's character's name? I just keep calling her Jack's wife...

Don't ever decide to be a surgeon. I have learned that it is far cheaper to buy weapons than it is to buy period surgical gear... Although there's a bunch of people in Eastern Europe selling actual fleems, cupping glasses, trephanes and such-like for less than G. Gedney Godwin...they may not be absolutely period, but some of them look it to compare them to drawings and the equipment Godwin has. I want to make a real surgeon's chest...how the heck I'll get it to events is a different story...

Interesting...that's the name of the Catholic church in Key West. St Mary's Star of the Sea.

Mine is Darth. ("Means 'no.'") I wonder if my parents were trying to tell me something?

The sword should bobble up and down! Kinda' like the old Disney POTC Zap! Action models!

I am reading all three versions of John Woodall's _The Surgeon's Mate_ which I am also downloading into pdfs and copying onto my laptop. PLUS I was able to download the 1655 version into a text file. You cannot imagine how much I am positively squirming with joy here. Thank God for MSU! (Even if I did have to drive all the way to Lansing to do it.)

You know, in a way...I hesitate to say it...but it really sort of made sense to kill him off. I mean, there is more they could have done with him and I think he would have been a good character and all, but...they run the risk of doing with him what they did with Murtogg and Mulroy. That just didn't seem to work as well as I think they hoped it would. Besides, they had to kill some major character off to give the story gravity. But I liked him too. I liked him clean and struggling both.