darkRose

Wish it was more romantic than this...but was vending at Silverleaf Ren Faire....the second weekend was Pyrate weekend...I just fell in love with it...the people and the look...there was another vendor there..Captain Jack...that really impressed me....and that was it...hooked... The other end of the story ...and you have all heard it from me allready..was PIP....what I discovered there...in the people and attitude is enough to make this ole renny yern fe the coast.... darkRose aka Rogue's Pierre

Happy Birthday Mate....I hopes ye had a guud'un..... darkRose

'bout time we pyrates whar giv'n our due! Seems that was the rallying cry at PIP this last year Rogue's Pierre

Plinkin around wit me banjo...guitar(nigels seen the pics) and fer a number of years...it was the TUBA!!!!!...yes the tuba.....wot a wunnerful wunnerful instroment darkRose

I can't be.ieve i missed this one...HARRY NEW YEAR to all of you Pyrates, Wenches ,Rogues and Harlots! darkRose aka Rogue's Pierre

Thankee sir...and I agree...as I said....it not be us here...it thems you mentioned...but they are there...we just have to put up with that sometimes.... I think this has been a great discussion and I thank you Hurricane..Hawkyns and all....makes this stuff "FUN".... Now that bein said..Bring on the Rum and the Wenches.... darkRose

Fantastic Movie....go see it and heck wit dem cross eyed critics...I saw it Friday and was enthralled with it..... Rogue's Pierre

I wrote an earlier post...that was much longer than the one there now...and I want to figure this out...It looks like its all in what our objective is....play to an audience...play to other "re-inactors, rennies...whatever" The problem does not lie with anybody that I have seen post in this topic. Everybody has their own ideas and pretty much we all agree that each has his own place....however as a garb vendor....it is very hard to have paytrons who are interested in dressing for the first time in your booth when one of the garb natzis comes by and announces loudly that t your stuff isn't good enuff....My patterns are authentic...including my shirts, trewes, and doublets....but I use a sewing machine...sorry....but the same out fit that will cost a paytron $125.00 from me ...if it were hand sewn would be way out of reach of the normal..I wanna dress up person...these are the ones that I have a problem with...not the kind and gentle people here.... just a 2 doubloons worth from a vendor darkRose

Interesting thing their Hawkyns....There are several Faires across the country that have Adults Only weekends....or days...and the faire that I am planning though a family faire will have one venue that will be adults only. So why couldn't there be an adults only Festival?.....and them Wenches and Rogues could wear or not wear what they want....by the way....there was a small weekend festival in Michigan this year that just about fit the bill ...it was called "Whipstock".. darkRose

PIP The final Chapter Or I DON WANNA GO HOME!!!! I would first like to wish all of you and yours a Happy Holidays….We got to spend a lot of time with the family and friends and was a great time. I would like to comment also on Nigels comments and his request for DETAILS. First.I am sure each one of us had that moment...or more than one of them while we were there...they are life changing moments and I had more than one……and Details?….heck I have slept since then…not much …but a little So…Friday broke way too early for me…but there was work to be done…. We had to find Spyder and find our assigned position for the remainder of the festival…when we found it I was more than pleased…we were situated directly across from the street entrance to Schooner Warf Bar!!!! What a great spot…. People by us all day long and into the night…On Friday we had the honor of The Pirates of the Coast stopping near our booth and doing a set…which was hard sometimes as the Schooner Warf’s stage was quite close to us also. All of the great people attending the festival stopped by…the falconer s….the musicians…the playtrons and paytrons…We had a small bit of rain on Friday off and on and off again…just enough to keep things jumpin… some things got a little wet but hey that happens….As day turned into evening and evening into night we found that the number of people that stopped by did not diminish…and the night of the infamous visit of old Size 2….a local who decided that he needed a complete outfit at 10:30 in the evening….we fitted him out completely…..and if ya wanna see something funny watch Stynky help somebody get dressed. When he was done had everything from socks to hat, and, I got to actually sign my first piece of clothing…. He was a delight and will be looking for him next year when I am there…We also got to put a couple of pieces of garb on Chipper the skipper…Chip is the Captain Of the America…. The largest of the tall ships that are docked there at Schooner Warf…. It took some doing …but was great to have him starting to look like a pirate…. Finally decided to pack it up around midnight…it had been a long eventful day but was tired and had to do it all again tomorrow…. Saturday morning was more of the same…. People stopping by the booth…selling pirate garb to all sorts of different people…a lot of tourists that day…and fitted several of the local wenches for bodices...…I have found my calling! Had to take a nap that afternoon as was leaving for the Fort Lauderdale Airport at 1:30 in the morning….but after a bit came back and finished out the night…that evening was the 10th Anniversary bash for NQG…where?….right across the street at the Schooner Warf Bar…how great was that?….again all of the Pirates, Wenches, Rogues and Harlots were there…Olaf of course came by several times and shared his special brew with those of us that had to work….thanks Olaf….Mead flavored rum…how much better can ya get? Well closed up again around midnight and went back to the hotel to get ready for the drive. I had to take Deb and Sheila to the airport to fly home…something about having to work on Monday…the drive was long, Deb did drive up so Got to sleep a bit more on the drive….got there around 5:30 for their flight and I turned around and drove straight back...arrived back at about 9:00 in the morning…just in time to set up for…. Sunday…hmmmmm…. Sunday…beautiful day…. Hot apple cider and Cap’n Morgans …sell the clothes…leather goods…what I remember about Sunday was slowly during the day the people that had to leave stopping by and saying good-bye…kisses and hugs…. And realizing the number and quality of the friends that we had made this past week…I will always remember each one of you…and the joy you provided me in the week the friendships and the welcome you gave us…We feel part of the community now…. And after seeing this festival…believe it is a true community. I could have told you of the problems that we had…but the goods far outweighed the bads…and all of us have suggestions and things we can do to help next years festival grow…but that is for another place….for now I just want to say Thank You Everybody…from the bottom of my heart…Thank You Rouge's Pierre Sailmaster-The Pirates of the Coast

Hurricane We be talkin to the gennelman in question quite a bit...he claims he was not his double....after MUCH discussion I believe him...he supposedly won a costume contest on Halloween in Miami and his wife said that he spent hours and hours working on the mannerisms etc.....of course it could have been smoke and mirrors...he did stay in the same hotel we did and we had breakfast with him one morning...I guess if he was there under contract to Disney...why was the one they used in the presentation so ...er....lame...and looked nothing like the character?....just a thought or two HI DERE SPITFIRE! Rogues Pierre darkRose

Now Nigel...be right bout this...thems be corsets...only one person had Bodices that I know of...and I seem to remember a very nice lookin redhead in one of them too... Rogue's Pierre darkRose

Best of the season to you....I look forward to commin yer way soon and hope we can cross paths when we do... darkRose

Part 2 Pirates in Paradise Or yikes what a week Darn…There is so much to remember that methinks I may be lost a few brainy cells down there (thanks Olaf!). Wed. Morning was our morning to sleep in… yeah ok! Was up early sitting at the pool having breakfast and enjoying the company of me mates and new friends…. Of course a little blurry eyed but still chipper… After a lazy morning (yeah)…Headed down to the Schooner Warf Bar (weren’t we just here?) And getting ready or the 1:30 sail of the Schooner Wolf. We had the opportunity to make sail on the Artist and Author Sail…Pierre, Stynky and Sheila got on board and waited with bated breath for the Wolf to pull from the Harbor…. It was worth every second of the wait…as we were pulling out the harbor police drew their 50 cal. (?) machine-guns down on us and right away I felt like a real Pirate. Blue Green Water…Sails set and running before the wind…. Yep…Life was good…. And to make it better (if it could be) Mike Noles, Bawdy B., myself, Don Maitz, Stynky, Sheila and others started singing ...Hearing The Mingulay Boat song…quietly as were cutting through the water…where does your heart dwell when that happens? As I sit and write this I stop and think of that moment…. And thank all those that helped make it what it was. After returning to the dock…decided to go to the receptions at the Custom House and at Mel Fischers Maritime Museum. Again two events that I am fortunate that I decided to go to…The artist and writers reception was fantastic…. I learned more about the people I had met and saw what they can really do…. I was humbled in the presence of the artist and writers present…*I have to make another side comment here…As we were walking the Art Gallery floors I saw the Hemmingway exhibit…. It was nice, good pictures lots of info…but for the second time in the day I was brought to another place…. One cabinet has a typed manuscript carbon copy in it…. I imagined PaPa sitting as his typewriter typing it and I was awestruck* Anywhos…. The reception there was wonderful and we enjoyed every moment. After this was over…we all hauled across the street to the Maritime Museum…seeing the gold…the jewels…and all the other treasures brought up from the seabottom just reinforced the whole image and mood of the week. We spent a great deal of time there as the square in front of the building was the meeting square for all the crewes.and everybody met to make plans for the night…. After some thought it was decided that Captain Tony’s was the place to go…and yep.sure turned out that way…Arrived there with a whole lot of rum…. scalawags and scoundrels already makin their presence known….It was a night of dissolution of marriages (the 24 hr kind) more taking place, Music..quarters in the fishes mouth…Olafs Brew! And all around Pillage and plunder. A good night it was…. Got to know the members of Pirates of the Coast as it seems that was their home base…after a night of rum…good times this poor old man trundled off to bed…. I had to sleep fast as Thursday morning was planned to visit a few of the touristy things…and again am glad I did…first stop of the morning was the Hemmingway house…again another set of chills run up and down my spine…. To see his writing room with his Royal still sitting there was a special moment. After that went for walk to Hogsbreath and had some lunch…picked up the usual T-shirts for the family and some trinkets. Went back to the hotel to get ready for the evenings Party at the Banana Bay …I went over in the afternoon scoped the place out. Claimed a spot and set up our tent…beautiful sand…beautiful water…beautiful people…. And an evening to die for…. Just ran out of rum punch to quickly!..made this an early night for us went back to the hotel and tried to catch some sleep for what we knew would be late nights for the next two nights….. I am going to stop here again and finish aff with the rest of the weekend…Most was spent in our booth meeting people selling Pyrate Goods and making friends…..a lot more exciting stuff happened and just too much to talk about in this post!!!!

Happy Birthday Redbeard....a toast to ye..... darkRose Rogues Pierre

Well sir.... I don't believe in interfacing....if I want some extra hold I will use an extra layer of the material......not interfacing.....and Linen...Linen....linen, darkRose

Olaf me Hearty!!!!! I jes be needin tellin ye....er...uh....sumtun...er I fergot .....wheres ye flask....hep me amember! darkRose aka Rogue's Pierre

Thankee all.....we want to make friends too..not just customers.. Nigel/Master Studly...check the newest member o the crew?????? El Pirata....come on down...we share our rum...and do what we kin fer ye... darkRose

There are a great number of Pictures that I know of...at least 1000 just have to yet be posted...There are now pictures on The Pirates of the Coast website and soon on A Faire of the Rose. Others abound but not sure where they will be posted. I worked in our booth most of the release party so cannot fill you in on that but I am sure Nigel or someone else can. darkRose

Pirates In Paradise Or 10 days of Pillage and Plunder in Key West Part 1 By Pierre Rose2003 A Faire of the Rose earlier this year decided to attend the Pirates in Paradise Festival in Key West Florida. Little did we know what was in store for us. Leaving Chicago on Saturday Nov. 29th we drove 1600 miles arriving in Key West Monday Morning at 9:30 am… No time to rest set up for the Monday cruise ship trade on Mallory Square. The First view of Mallory Square was truly unbelievable,with the calm aqua –blue waters if the Gulf of Mexico and Christmas Tree Island in the distance were breathtaking…It was almost difficult to see where the sea and sky joined. Warm breezes off the waters were unbelievable especially for the first week of December. Almost as soon as we finished setting up our goods we had customers…. The first sale was a pair of pyrate britches to JERRY. This gentleman was part of Jack Sparrow’s crew in POTC. He was the short bald crew member…. Speaking of…*this part was written by a woman of course! *…”It was truly heaven to sit just soaking in the view. Feet up on the nearest palm tree with a cocktail in hand. And then to see ‘the” Jack Sparrow staggering my way made it almost a dream. There was a short moment of watching him saunter over where time stood still…right before drawing a large crowd asking, “is it really him?” This went on for most of the afternoon. We spent the afternoon making new friends and selling goods to Pyrate Crews and tourists alike…. We had to take a break for the local craftsmen and entertainers to use the square but were able to open up again at 7:00 that evening…. Why open at 7:00 at night…. Just wait…that evening was the DVD release party for Pirates of the Caribbean right there 200 Ft from our booth…. Would you like to see a party….come to a Disney DVD release party!!! Cast members and entertainers were there….Fireworks and a sea battle between the HMS Bounty (yes the one from the movie) and a local Pyrate schooner the Wolf made you feel as though you were part of the movie. This was a kickoff to the largest DVD sales in history…wow…. at 1:00 we finally shut down and headed back to the hotel…but the party was still going strong. Tuesday began slowly…and due to some misunderstanding almost got hauled off to the pokey…but discretion was the better part of valor…. But we made the best of it…sitting at Pepes open-air bar on the square. The bartender made us feel very welcome feeding Sheila (yes our little green wench) free drinks and providing me with one of my favorite concoctions.the Ciperaina (the Brazilian national drink). Some new friends and customers that we had dressed completely the day before came by and we sat for several hours…getting quite happy. Tuesday we got our copy of the dvd at blockbuster and had our new friends sign it…. And the T-shirt! That night we went to the place that was to become base camp for the rest of the week The Schooner Warf Bar. Step off your barstool and take a few steps and you are at the docks where the tall ships are berthed…The Western Union, the America (yes that one), the Compass Rose and the Wolf…. We were invited to share a table with a pyrate couple from Orlando, Mike and Roxanna…. Mike is a well-known artist /sclpturer.and lead singer for the Rusty Cutlasses (Disney people might know who they are as they work the park). Funny thing about this was that Mike is good friends with Debs cousin Gary Powell who is now the head of Disney Imagineering…. The highlight of Tuesday…. Was the Grand Entrance of our new friend Stynky Tudor…pyrate extrodinaire? A very fine graphic artist and animator…he designed the new flag for A Faire of the Rose and is doing more for us…. Deb feels she made a truly new friend when later that night he decided to get in the middle of our bed and jump up and down…. Also the entrance of TJ of the Nighthawk was quite a wonder to behold.she brought her whole crew down from NC… and she is a wonder in herself…. (A special note here…her father was the Mayor of Miami for awhile and if you oldsters like me can remember…in about 56-57 the Miami herald had a picture of a little blonde girl sitting on Martin Luther Kings lap. it was TJ…she has a whole number of fascinating stories to tell) This is the end of our first two days.....there are a million more things to talk about and people to mention I hope I do not slight anyone.....it will be a couple of days and will have more.....

OK Stynky..ye don't get off that easy....I be givin ye berth and cause I didn have no puter didn know it were yer birfday...so no spankins from ol size 2 fer you...and yep Olaf and his little concoction was quite fyne....believe it was passed around the booth more than once...and was a pleasure to be wit ye on yer birfday!!!! Nigel...I just gots to have that recipe.....! darkRose

Well...a lengthly review of this 'ere festival is in the makins...but there be so much to talk about that I jest don't think I will start till she be done..... What I do want to say...is thanks to all of ye that made us feel so much at home......felt as though we had belong to this community from the time we set foot in port...I would like to thank all that helped support our trip by...buyin a little sumthin ...or even alot of somethin.... and Captain W.E. Roberts....it was such a pleasure to meet ye.....and all others that be herebouts..... Hurricane, Spitfire, Nigel....next year I be bringin me Guitar and Banjo... Special thanks to Sloe Gin....and Mike Knowles..Roxanne...Don Maitz...Jerry....and whoever invented Hot apple cider and Cap'n Morgans...ah....lets not forget TJ...skipper of the Nighthawk..Dawn...or Captain Marcy....Chipper the Skipper...the list goes on.....was a fine sail...and look forward to more of it next year.....and this time I expect to see more of ye scurvy dogs there...and by the way...Stynky is one great guy....except fer jumpin on beds at 3:00 in the morning... Almost fer got the one that first made us feel welcome...Bawdy B. thankee There will be a full review comming...ifin ye want to read it.....be here soon... darkRose

Gentlemen....I listen to these words.....and am again...glad I found this place.....Duty,Honor,Respect...a way to live your life..Military or not...the men you speak of and yourselfs are still brothers..... I am not an old man yet...but something was said that stirred a memory of my father...he has been gone for some time but one of the things I remeber about him...was somethig I didn't know till after he died.... I am reading the original paperwork for a Bronze Star my dad recieved in WW2....yes ..he faced down a Machine gun nest....SS officer in charge and captured it...he had several replacement troops with him that he was taking back to his unit...they had never seen any action so he basically did it by himself.... I am not telling you this to talk about how great my dad was...but to tell you that in all the years that I knew him before he died..he never spoke once of it....Not a word....I only found out when I was going through his papers...After talking to mom about it she told me that he felt it was his duty...and an honor to be able to do it....and gained a respect from me that I had never given him in life... he was 5th Army...in France and Germany Just something I felt like sharing.... darkRose

I am a bit late with this....but I hope ye all had the best of days...family and friends...I read the posts that been put here..and am proud to be part o this crew.... I pray to my own God for our troops...wherever they might be...and offer a prayer for each of us here... Thank all of ye..... Now as fer lasses in skin tight leather breeches....I gots me good eye on one. Merrydeath.....it be the IOWA PORK PRODUCERS that be the fun bunch out that way.......hehe...love dem piggies.... darkRose

Good day Mateys.... Well it is count down time...my fingers are tired of sewin but think I have some good plunder and garb for ye all.... I would like to let you know....I will be bringin me machine that sews with me....and will do repairs to garb or do custom color shirts, pants skirts..overnight...after monday night....will bring some materials with but have found an outlet down there so....if there is something let me know.....Leather work the same....even do some of that same day...belts...baldrics....etc. Me crew will be Captain Thomas Shivers...Meself...Me better half Debra and Sheila(our..hmmmm...helper).... Look ferward to meetin up with the other crews!!!! darkRose A Faire of the Rose