JoshuaRed

Not entirely unlike Blackbeard.

Well that pretty well sums up Philadelphia, doesn't it? "Philadelphia - if you're too scared to live in New York and too dumb to live in Boston" - Craig Kilborn

Take it from me - straight lasted shoes are comfy! So don't let that myth about straight-lasted shoes deter ya from getting 'em - they are as comfy as the biz-casual shoes I wear to work everyday.

Penn amounted to enough to get his statue atop City Hall! I'm not defending him, just tossing my two bits in. Kass that looks like a vintage pirate feast shot if I'm not mistaken! One guy on the floor under some strumpet....I'd say the night was still young, maybe 9 pm? Yuk yuk...

Danger Island was on Boomerang when they were showing the Banana Splits. It was well, surreal to say the least. Fun though! What - no Airwolf fans here? C'mon! Stringfellow Hawk and Ernest Borgnine in a jumpsuit, and a boss with an eyepatch!

That big dude in red & black that GOF posted is downright terrifying! WOW! Looks like he's gettin ' ready to "bring out th' gimp." But I digress from boots. Boots! Let's see if we can keep this epic thread on track here, maybe even hit 200 posts about BOOTS! Or lack thereof!

I almost woke the whole house up laughing my ass off at that pic! HA! He's so serious! It reminds me of something...just can't place it.

Thank god for TIVO!

I can't believe I'm so out of it that I totally missed this...thanks Petee! This looks..well, AMAZING! I am royally psyched for this puppy. I was a big fan of James Purefoy on Rome...I think he's looking like a terrific Blackbeard. Some costuming innaccuracy that kind of surprises me from National Geographic...but it's neither here nor there - this thing is gonna kickass.

Very good points Green!

Speaking of Peter Earle I'm reading his book "The Pirate Wars" right now, and I'm finding it a refreshing point-of-view. First one I've read in a long time that seems to cull from sources other than the same-old same-old we're all familar with. As to the gay pirate thing - remember what Kass said about the self-hate & social stigma involved back then...and toss in the fact that the pirate community was very small compared to other social sub-sets, and pirates were transient. In the GAOP for example, it has been shown that the vast majority of crews came from Hornigold's original gang and its offshoots. So within a timeset of the one or two years a pirate could expect to survive, and within the relatively small area of the West Indies, MANY of the pirates would have crossed paths and when that happens, word spreads. So I don't think Johnny Pirate would want it spread around the West Indies that he prefers catching to pitching. It's a certainty that were GAOP pirates who happened to be gay, but no more prevalent than an equal cross section of Coopers, or Blacksmiths, or Fishermen, or Haberdashers, etc...

Nice painting Petee...very nice. Got a date & artist on that? Based on the technique and style it looks like a later 19th or even 20th century painting to me. Ok, then it stands to reason that if a pirate wanted to look his best on the town then not only would he put ON his finest, biggest, baddest boots, but he should also remove all the rest of his "piratey" gear, and go dressed merely as a gentleman. After all, why have fashionable footwear if the rest of you looks like a dirty seaman? Yet all the bucket-boot brigade pirates I see always still have the headscarf, the sash, the weapons, the knife, the bloodstained shirt, the belaying pin, etc... which leads me to think that they are not interested in portraying a "succesful pirate parading about town" but rather are interested in portraying a sailor wearing what are essentially cowboy boots. Which I suppose is kind of like a Viking reenactor stubbornly pressing on with his horned-helmet despite the evidence against their existence? Why? We all know why...because Mr. Viking man thinks it just looks cool. It comes down to choosing the myth over the history. And again, as GOF has said before, there is NOTHING wrong with either pursuit...just be clear to yourself and the rest of us what you're goal is. Because all this warping of history hurts my brain!

Now THAT is probably the best single anti-bucket boot testimony I've read yet. Succinct, logical, and funny. Thanks!

WHICH brings us full circle...as a hardcore reenactor, or if you're doing it for laughs at a RenFaire or festival you could look at the portrayal of a pirate as an artistic endeavour. And therefore the decision to wear bucketboots or not must simply be at the discretion of the "artist" and their intent. :)

Yeah and that would be " worme canne".

'course not! But it's got Bill Bones in it, and it "stinks like hell and the neighbors complain"...

Thanks bud. "Filipino Boxspring Hog" by Tom Waits could be the unofficial buccaneer anthem....check it out!

Wha? Did I just fall for something? Did I miss the joke...or is it on me?

Oh just don't let those boots fall into the wrong hands Kass! Keep them in squarely in events where people see them and say "Oh those are FINE ECW Boots", not "Hey NICE pirate boots! Arrg matey! Ahoy!"

Aye he sez that now, but after round one he'll soften up when he sees what a darlin' ye are, and you'll drink the rest o' the night for free!

I should add that in our case, our resident Brit does indeed know what he's talking about, and that I value his knowledge very highly!

Oh yeah I sure have...all too familar with that phenomenon. I like how here in the States whenever some shuckster has something to sell on an informercial they get a British gal or guy to do the talking. Because they know that us dumb Yanks assume that anyone with a British accent is an intellectual who knows what they are talking about.

I dunno, I think that Minnesota's dialect sounds more foreign than anything a Brit ever said!

I like the playful ones that like to wake you up just as you're falling asleep!

Right! Go to the source or don't go at all. I'm always shocked at how much 19th-20th century popular art (illustrations, etc) just blatantly copy earlier art without checking up to see if what they copy is even feasible, let alone accurate. Case in point - those "Piracy" EC Comics from the 50's & 60s...every other panel is just a poor copy of a Howard Pyle painting and you know what happens to a copy of a copy of a copy...incrementally you don't notice the slippage until you hold it up to the original source, and the difference is suddenly vast.