Capn Bob

This crocus cloth...it sounds like something I might be likely to use for the scrimshaw work I'll be starting up early next year. Give me (fossil) ivory a nice polish. But one question...how many crocuses does it take to make this cloth?

Thanks for the info and the complement! Flintknapping is a very useful skill for any pirate, in case of shipwreck or the like. I first discovered projectile points and the like way way back when living in Tulsa...altho I'm sure I must have encountered them even further back, living in Fort Sam Houston. I've been attempting knapping, with very limited success (actually, mnore like no success) from the age of 13...altho recently, as you can see, I've had better luck at it. The Obsidian Spirit must like me now.

I be thinkin' of a big pot of Caribbean Chili...it's got peach salsa in it!

I'll give you a buck and a half for them... Or would you prefer does to bucks? I have some suitable revenge for her as well.... a certain comprimising photo of the mistress and a certain red coated soldier.... Hahahah How many blackmail photos of you are out there, Lilly? I know I have a few... But I'm not sharing.

Cursed by them King's Men, anyway...scupper the lot of them! Still, he should have tried bribing them with more money... ("...Gold from laws can take out the sting...")

For some reason, and I don't know why, I'm sharply reminded of what the good Cap'n John Smith related about colonial dietary habits during the period known as The Starving Time: "Nay, so great was our famine, that a Salvage we slew, and buried, the poorer sort took him up again and eat him, and so did divers one another boiled and stewed with roots and herbs: And one amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered her, and had eaten part of her before it was known, for which he was executed, as he well deserved; now whether she was better roasted, boiled or carbonado'd, I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of." General History of Virginia, 1624 Note that "powdering" simply refers to salting...so it's "salted wife" Yum!

I been sick! Sick in bed, and not in any fun way! Happened right after the first snow of the season in these parts...which must mean I'm becoming allergic to The Evil (I rarely use the vile S--W word itself). But as someone in a movie somewhere once said, "I'm getting better..." What made it worse was that anytime I asked a doctor about leeches or fleams, they would just give me strange looks. I tell ye, mateys, medical science these days do not fill my wi' confidence...

Does that "I'm a BRAT" refer to being a military brat, or some...other kind?

Given the weather here on Monday (heavy snow, almost white out conditions), and given my hearty dislike for winter, I would not say it was a lucky day for me. Luckily, I had no incidents while driving.

Keepin' in mind I be a hard nosed skeptic and regular reader of randi.org, here be my entry, for what its worth...slightly edited (and yes, I was born on Easter Sunday...didn't seem to help at all...) And I'm not sure I care to be associated with a lot of the underlisted with whom I share a birthday: 21 April 1957 Your date of conception was on or about 29 July 1956 which was a Sunday. You were born on a Sunday under the astrological sign Taurus. Your Life path number is 11. Your fortune cookie reads: Anger begins with folly, and ends with regret. Life Path Compatibility: You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22. You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 6. You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 9. You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7. The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2435949.5. The golden number for 1957 is 1. The epact number for 1957 is -1. The year 1957 was not a leap year. Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/31/1957 and ending 2/17/1958. You were born in the Chinese year of the Rooster. Your Native American Zodiac sign is Beaver; your plant is Wild Clover. The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 21 April 1957. The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 21 April 1957. The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 6 March 1957. The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 9 June 1957. The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 16 June 1957. The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Tuesday, 24 September 1957. The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Sunday, 14 April 1957. The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 5 March 1957. As of 11/17/2008 6:55:41 PM EST You are 51 years old. You are 619 months old. You are 2,691 weeks old. You are 18,838 days old. You are 452,130 hours old. You are 27,127,855 minutes old. You are 1,627,671,341 seconds old. Celebrities who share your birthday: Robert Smith (1959) Andie Macdowell (1958) Tony Danza (1951) Iggy Pop (1947) Charles Grodin (1935) Elaine May (1932) Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom (1926) Anthony Quinn (1915) John Muir (1838) Charlotte Bronte (1816) Catherine the Great (1729) Jan van Riebeeck (1619) Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 7.37299412915851 years old. (You old hound dog, you!) Your lucky day is Friday. Your lucky number is 6. Your ruling planet(s) is Venus. Your lucky dates are 6th, 15th, 24th. Your opposition sign is Scorpio. Your opposition number(s) is 9 & 11. Today is not one of your lucky days!

Bein' new...ish here, I don't know how it works and would be needing instruction and direction ("Lady, tis what I yearn for!", said Ben Avery to Anne Bonny), but having said that, I might be interested. I think I can find a few items of interest in my Plastic Drawers of Wonder...

Well, guess what done fell of the stern of a treasure galleon... Got me copy of The Scarecrow last night! Watched some, will be watching more today (had no chance watching it all through yet, since we had to take me mother in for blood transfusion this morning)

Just as an additional note, in *my* movie version of Fraser's "The Pyrates", Geoffrey Rush was memorable in the role of Col. Blood. Other cast members escape me mind at the moment...perhaps others here might have some ideas?

Tyme fer me two shillings, altho I won't be sayin' much what hasn't been said already... For me plunder, the best pirate movie ever is the 1991 Treasure Island, the one with Heston and Oliver Reed. Heston's entrance as John Silver was filled with quiet menace, shouting "This is a *dangerous* man", and Reed's version of Billy Bones was wonderful to watch. I like PotC, and watch the trilogy whenever the mood takes me. For sheer piratittude, I favor the character of Barbossa over Sparrow, but thats just me. Best pyrate movie *never* made? Has to be "Pyrates", the screen version of the book by George MacDonald Fraser. (Remember, I said *never* made) Speaking of Fraser and movies, I have heard that Flashman will be made into a movie (or re-made, since there was a version with Malcolm McDowell back whenever), and I've heard they're tagging James Purefoy for the lead role. Best pirate movie that isn't about pirates at all? The BBC version of Beggars Opera, with Roger Daltry as Captain Maceath. May not be about pirates, but when snagged, pirates and highwaymen would have both faced the same sort of people and circumstances. Great music in it, too.

Maybe a signed copy of Beggars Opera?

Flogging Molly? Would she enjoy that? In college, I used to spank...(sorry, no names, please) Sorry...couldn't resist, mate...

My copy is on the way. According to Amazon, it should have arrived today, which means it'll get to me tomorrow, like as not. It'll be popcorn tyme when it gets here...

Bein' as I'm a pirate and a caveman, both... About the only instrument (musical) I can even make an attempt at playing is the Didgeridoo. Seemed to be a natural choice for a flintknapper, and you can make a passable didge on the cheap out of pvc tubing. I need to work on something called circular breathing, though, to extend the duration of playing. Anyone here heard of Yothu Yindi? And what's the didge to do wi' pyracy, ye might be asking yeselves? Well, the instrument was featured in the soundtrack of the 1991 Treasure Island movie (music by the Chieftains, Charleton Heston as John Silver)

Ye be Scratchy? Have ye tried calamine lotion? And don't wear wool so much... I still have nightmares of wool Army blankets...

Gas at my usual station, Circle K in Cuyahoga Falls, is $1.92.

A few posts back, someone asked about some pix of my work. I suspect they were talking about my scrimshaw, but what they're getting instead is flintknapping. First pix is of a stemmed obsidian pointed hafted onto a deer bone and bound with sinew. Second is a fantail Flint Ridge flint pointed hafted onto a deer bone stained with walnut juice (which does not make for good drinking, in case you be wonderin'...) Oh, and aye...them hairy hands be mine...flintknappin' ain't always pretty...

Just as a side note, as a flintknapper, I've found that a bit of cornstarch helps clot blood very fast. This is a useful little bit of knowledge, since, as a flintknapper, I regularly bleed for my art. Bandaids are standard in any knapper's toolkit.

Welcome aboard, Gibbet...as the old line has it, no noose is good noose... Did I hear something about free drinks?

You can have Barnabas, the most indecisive man in Collinsport...me, I'm going for Angelique!

Hadn't thought about it, but if there were a remake, yes, I can see Geoffrey Rush in the role...