Capn Bob

Avast and belike to ye, and greetings, d'ye see... And I had me own mighty vessel of war and plunder, the Henry Crun, out on the waters recently... All right, its still just an 8 ft inflatable pontoon boat, and the waters were just Springfield Lake, but its still a mighty vessel of war, and I'll be scuppering what lubber sez otherwise!

Nothing...I'm stuck here at work...but if I had me way, I'd be eating maple flavoured sausage now... But last Sunday, I adventured my first attempt at making fried chicken. I need to get the seasonings down right, but otherwise, I had no problems, and no mess...

Since I'm currently playing HPS Sims fine game, France 1940, I've picked up a copy of Alistair Horne's comprehensive account of the same events, "To Lose a Battle: France 1940" But I'm also thinking of picking up the library copy of Fraser's "The Reavers" And...half hour later, and I've done just that...same sort of set-up as "The Pyrates", an ahistorical historical costume epic.

Someone attempted to make off with the Crown Jewels! All the details are here in the London Gazette, right hand column, about one third of the way down, beginning with "Whitehall, May 9. This Morning about seven of..." It would appear to be the work of that dastardly villain, Col. Thomas Blood. And you know, since Blood somehow got off the charge of trying to steal the jewels (and to this day, no one knows how he managed that), and since our brave Admiral Captain Henry Morgan was cooling his heels in London at the time, one can't help wondering if the two rogues, steeped in villainy, might have met from time to time. Aye, there's a story...what might they have talked about? And it occurs to me that, like a lubbery idjit, I forgot the link...so here it be... http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/572/pages/2

But aren't Internet Order wives illegal?

My father did his Vietnam service in the 56th Trans Co...Find em, Fix 'em, Fly 'em, 1964-65. Luckily, he came back home, altho the VC conducted a mortar attack on the airport as he was leaving. He got a scratch on his hand from a shell fragment for which the Army would have given him a Purple Heart, but he turned it down...the wound didn't merit the award, in his opinion. So a salute to SFC Robert J. Curtis, WW2, Korea, Vietnam...24 years of serving his country. I was and am proud of him, and told him so.

As Bilbo the Black discovered, as chronicled in the classic books, "The Pyrates" (and I gotta re-read that sometime...again), black satin may look flashy but it feels "yeeg" when wet... How about gloss black satin?

Umm...duh...my *guess*...and thats all it is, since I never saw the movie...yes, I cheated...I looked up the quote (gasps of horror) But my guess would be some sort of percussion system, which is, of course, way out of time range. One was featured in the 1976 Richard Lester version of Three Musketeers, when the Eevyl Milady was going to do in the Duke of Buck. with a teeny feminine little derringer...which stood out like a sore and inflamed thumb to my eyes... That said, I'm going to have to see if the movie's still in print, get it thru Amazon... CLANG! (crash of cymbols) and Capt Bob has it! Very good, I was beginning to wonder if I had imagined the whole movie. For an adventure with no ships in it ,I have watched it over and over for the story and the historical aspects. Now, Capt. Bob , for the bonus prise, what is the not quite period firearm in this film, and why?

And Gunner's quote is from... Drumroll please... Plunkett & Macleane At least, I think so.

Rum's a wondrous drink, d'ye see... And can be had for a minimal fee. Ye guzzle it down, Wi' never a frown, And all the day ye say, Tee-hee! Sorry, mates, it be the best I kin do at the moment... hic!

Okay, I'm game...so how about... "You take the blonde, I'll take the one in the turban..." Uttered in a Groucho Marx accent...you see, I even gave you a hint!

I would love to get a bunch o' these, cut gunports in me porch, and mount them all sides. But I don't have the doubloons for it, me elderly mother might object, and the neighbors would likely give me funny looks and call the ATF goons. But I'd be interested in at least one "swivel gun" model sometime... And the photos make me drool *almost* as much as a good spall of obsidian...

Military Bases...Lets see...in my case, and in no particular order: Fort Sam Houston Fort Knox Storck Barracks, in Illesheim Germany There was also that now defunct air defense installation in Arlington Heights, Chicago area...we didn't live there since it wasn't a base as such...lived at Zurich Lake... And my father was attached to the JAG School in Charlottesville VA... When he did his service in Vietnam (56th Trans..."Find 'Em, Fix 'Em, Fly 'Em") my mother and I stayed in Akron OH, since there was family here in those days And what bloody annoyed me was just how bloody many civvies didn't know Fort Knox is a real place...

Today, May 16, is Armed Forces Day. I'm stuck working, but I'm still marking the day in my own way by putting up a relevant book display (employed in a library, right?), wearing me "Military Brat" pin and Army pin...and I shall be dining at Mariachi Locos after work. (Okay, it has nothing to do with the military, but it just sounded good) But its nothing like the Armed Forces Days we had when I was growing up in the Army. They were almost as much fun as Christmas...all sorts of weaponry on display, firing demos, rides in M113s (this was in the 1960's), big picnics with lots of food...I miss those days...

"My Baybees! Please don't eat my baybees!"... Sorry...old college routine...

And now...reviving a long lost topic... Guess what I found! I got me a copy of "Pirate Port: The Story of the Sunken City of Port Royal", by Robert Marx, published 1967. Found it at Buckeye Books (sorry, its a bookshop, not online) when I was looking for "The Yacht Navigator's Handbook" (and I wish to point out that I am not a yacht owner, or a yak owner, but it looks to be a good book for learning a bit of navigation)

Right this *very* second? Nothin' at all...and what I ate a bit earlier isn't worth talking about. Ah, but yesterday...I had home made Pecan Encrusted Mahi Mahi with a Pineapple Rum Sauce...

Not in these waters, it ain't safe. Idunno who the Shark Red Eye be (do I really wanna?), but clap yer deadlights on this bit of local news, and ponder... Akron OH might be on the way to overtaking Florida in raising alligators...tastes just like chicken! http://www.ohio.com/news/43391417.html

Past couple of days, we've had some really wonky weather. Partly cloudy one minute, the next, dealing with rain and hail. Was cool on those days, too...including me birthday, which was April 21. But today, its going to be sunny all day, and around 60 degrees. For the weekend? Partly cloudy and 79 degrees! And what am I bloody well doing this weekend? No, not fishing, flintknapping, or getting that mighty ship of war, the Henry Crun (my inflatable pontoon boat) out on the water...nay, me 'earties...I'm bloody well stuck *workin'* this bloody weekend! Still, good enuff weather to be getting me three cornered hat back out of the closet...

FREE! I'm FREE! Sorry, I've just been lap-sat by a piratical pussycat named Pumpkin, with a runny nose. I'd have been typing, but me arms were busy. So...snuggling wi' a kitty is what I was just doing...

Really? Hey, I'll have to try that sometime! Only trouble is, that sort of activity tends to attract the attention of the PETA lubbers...but then, it's been years since I last had any long pig, so that'd work, too...

I was hoping someone would pick on the "grunion" direction I was trying to sneakily take this... Well, now that you ask, the Trunnions are actually very close to the "Dolphins" (both are in the middle of the cannon) And of course "Dolphins" are a fish, (not to be confused with the mammal made famous by some guy named Flipper) Or did you get 'Trunnions' confused with 'Grunions' a sardine sized fish that you do dip in batter and fry, now you made me hungry

Cape Cod Girls for me...altho I'm infamous for belting out Free Americay at work... Least Fave? Gotta be "Battle Hymn of the Republic"...and I'll tell ye why, below: Many long years ago, me aunt was a member of something called The Freiheit Club family's German speakers on the maternal side...on me father's side, we came from Brit-land in 1632), and was in their choral group. I can remember sitting in on their sessions, and they *always* ended with Battle Hymn. Now this was when I was 7, and fresh out of Virginia (we came to Ohio to be near family while me father was in Vietnam, 1964-1965)...I guess the teachers got to me at a very early age, because I was *ever* so tempted, even at such a tender age, to stand up and belt out at the top of me tiny little lungs, "Dixie". "Battle Hymn" has *never* been a fave of mine. I never did sing out Dixie. But now I come to think of it, I wonder what they'd have done if I "treated" them to a rendition of The Ballad of Captain Kidd (...To Execution Dock, I must go, I must go...)

I like trunions...batter dipped and fried, mostly... What? We're talking about *cannon*? What does that have to do with a type of small fish?