Graydog

.

.

Cape Horn

.

This in a way reminds me of a story. I had an uncle who married a German. Mind you this is 1946 and he marries her in Germany. Well, she learned English back in the days before everybody in Germany was speaking English. So, the availability of English instructors was very limited. Anway, so he marries this German. A very nice lady but she spoke with a lisp. After a couple years of marriage turns out she did not have a lisp. Her English instructor had a lisp! After some time of speaking English full time around native speakers the lisp went away on its own.

Tom Turkey

No, I do not think that is a universal truth the way it so often gets used. Ask any modern Japanese about World War II and they will quickly explain to you about how they were victims, just like it says in their history books. Ask anybody from a Mexican school system about the Mexican-American war and you'll get a far different discussion than in the US. Considering how Mexico lost the war it doesn't support history being written by the winners. There is the weird phenomenom of Nazi Death Camp deniers and all their trumped up facts. They put out their own history books now. The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empier during WW I is well documented, but Turkish history says it didn't happen. Yet, Turkey (aka the Ottoman's) lost the war. What is history? Newspaper clippings, first hand accounts, participants records, various media of the events, etc. Now, the further one goes back in time the fewer those items become. Sometimes when talking ancients the only data left is from the victor's side. But, the outcome of the ancient Greek Civil Wars is not comparable to data available for events within the lest few hundred years. This saying is one of the instances where a glimmer of truth turns into a blanket truth, which it simply is not. Yes, there are instances where I'd agree, but I don't support it as a general statement.

I see BBQ's and such for a traditional 4th. However, if you are in So Cal and looking for a non-traditional 4th, there is a Fourth of July Pirate event. From the No Quarter Given website events page: July 4th & 5th, 2009: PIRATE FEST IN THE CANYON The San Fernando Valley, Chatsworth, CALIFORNIA This is a benefit for Browns Canyon in Chatsworth CA. It is at the top of Desoto Ave and was heavily damaged by the Season Fire. Celebrate & experience the days of yore when, Swashbucklers, Rogues, & Pirates sailed The Seven Seas & roamed the world in search of Treasure & Grand Adventure. A Brand new Pirate Fest Located in the San Fernando Valley in Browns Creek Park. SLIGHT ADDRESS CHANGE: New Address is 10897 Old Santa Susana Rd., Chatsworth, CA 91311. Take the 118 Fwy., off ramp exit is Topanga Canyon (NOT De Soto). Follow the signs. 10am - 7pm ADMISSION One Day $15.00 Two Days $25.00. Kids 5-13yrs $5.00 Infants free. Tent City Camping (new Price Coming Soon) or you can volunteer and get in for free, for more info call Dagger at 818-385-7014. We still need volunteers, food venders, & guilds.

General History has always reminded me of a Dime Novel. Its purpose was to entertain and it was not written to be historical documentation of events with the same to be said for accompanying woodcuts, but, that’s IMO. I would postulate that the most successful pirates of the GAOP are lost to history. Why? Because they got in, made their money, and got out without anybody actually knowing who they were. Rumors of such folks abound even today in such places as Baltimore and Boston to name just two places.

.

Humpback Whale

Beef, it's what's for dinner.

Ye will answer to Captain Teague for that comment! Why I can hear the guitar string snap as I type this. Ye, will rue the day ye will and that be fer sure. (I think this is a fun reference as it points to how pop culture has portrayed some pirates as decent fellows. It makes a wonderful and fun story line! Alas, I do not think that story line reflects the reality. If I was a passenger on a merchant man in 1715, I doubt if I would jump for joy if the ship next to us ran up the Jolly Roger.)

Having just spent a weekend where our group fired near a 1,000 rounds of black powder ammuntion from blunderbuss to cannon, my question certainly isn't how to get clothes dirty nor how to smell bad! :angry:

Some very good rum cake: Pirates Alley Rum Cake- New Orleans

All around a first rate event! Lots of fun. Thank you to all that took the time to drop by and say ello to the Alliance of the Double Cross. Fair winds, -Greydog

This here raid be on the morrow. So, Lads and Lasses, hoist the mainsail and be a headin to Long Beach in SoCal. Fair winds, -Greydog

For what it's worth here's my understanding. 1. The ship is registered with the Netherlands. There have been complaints filed with the Netherlands, but they have not taken action on complaints. 2. The area of the antarctic they operate in is a demilitarized zone by international treaty and armed vessels are forbiddon. 3. The area they run around in the antarctic is claimed by Australia for enforcement of laws, but that claim is rather suspect because of some rather confusing treaties. Regardless the only time authorities appear on the show they have been Australian. 4. My pure conjecture, some how, some way the Australian government is defacto giving these people top cover for their operations. 5. My pure conjecture, the Japanese government views these people as self-endagering wackos and there is more politically to lose by stopping them, than by putting up with them. (I'd tell the Japanese its black op time and for the "Steve Irwin" to suffer a catastrophic hull failure, gosh, it should have been better maintained. Everybody has seen on the show what a rust bucket it is.) 6. The Captain has had numerous felony charges made against him, but to my knowldege has never had one stick to a conviction. Why the Dutch allow him to retain a certification to be a captain, with all this video of his incompetence as a captain, is rather perplexing to me. (We are in the middle of an ice field that the captain knowingly allowed our non-ice rated ship to go into. Ice is crushing the hull. We've ordered people below to "shore up the hull" and those people can't even define what that means. The crew is donning survival suits because we could go down any moment. We aren't sure of which way to go to get out. Oh, the captain? He went to bed. But if CNN calls wake him up!) I guess it's like doctors getting a license pulled is a nice concept, but is so rarely done that it is not practical.

That's a Japanese to English title of "Bacon", so I have my reservations on if it being a cut of meat that would qualify as bacon. Is that actually prepared like good ol'bacon? Does it have any semblance of a taste to bacon? Where I looked on line that package was $50, so my interest stopped rather abruptly. I have had raw whale blubber which tasted exactly like................the damn seasonings they had all over it! LOL

I get the impression that a 14-17 year old Somali is a better seamen. Now of course the Sea Sheperd aren't looking to delibrately kill anybody, but they are going to kill somebody owing to a combination of what they are doing and their basic incompetence at just about any level of seamanship seen on camera., especially the first officer and captain. These eco-warriors are a menace to navigation, themselves, and their "enemy". Ah, for want of one more Kamakazi.

Whale Bacon is a form of rebellion in its own right.

Updating my avatar. <--

Cool! Can you buy that at Animal Planet?

No truer words could be said. My group is still out of luck for the Queen Mary Event because it conflicts with Ojai. Regardless, I hope ye all have a grand time!

A couple of days ago I learned the pirate portion of Oceanside Harbor Days is NOT happening this year, so one less competing event for Pyrate Daze. --Jamaica Rose Yes, the pirate activites are cancelled, but pirate attendance is not. According to the Chamber of Commerce that is hosting the event, pirate participation is not so much cancelled as curtailed. Last year the event had a pirate theme and this year it doesn't. Consequently, for this year there will not be tall ships nor pirate battles. However, they are still inviting guilds (their words not mine) to come and setup at the event. So, indeed the pirate activity portion is cancelled, but pirate attendance/setup is not, which is a tad self-defeating IMO. I guess they will just have to wait and see how that pans out for them. For more info one can contact the Chamber of Commerce directly at 760-722-1534. Fair winds, -Greydog