JoshuaRed

Is it recommended that one like myself with a great interest in period black powder arms but no interest in modern arms begin with black powder shooting, or should I take a general safety course covering all manner of arms first? I have NO shooting experience at all, except BB guns. However since I am fascinated with all things Colonial and piratical in nature, I yearn to experience firsthand the firing of black powder pistols and muskets to better understand what it was like in those days.

Ah yes! How foolish of me! Thanks!

Yes, I definitely think Norrington spent those 8 years ridding the Caribbean of many a nefarious character. Sparrow alludes to this yet again when he's enticing Barbossa about how they could team up to become the "Last real pirate threat in the Caribbean". This statement, coupled with the decidedly mid 1700s costumes, sets & ships also makes me think that the story is indeed set much later in the 18th century than our beloved "Golden Age"....at time when all the well known pirates were long dead...perhaps even 1750-60? By the way....though I do know little about the history of smuggling, I am reasonably sure that rum was never illegal or contraband in those times....so just what were rum runners doing in the movie? It's much more a 20th century, Prohibition phenomena. Unless they were just smugglers who moved rum en masse for a nice profit.

How did ye see it? Thought it didn't open till Christmas day...mebbe I be wrong.

Yeah, it would be cool to see Norrington's backstory - to see just what his amazing exploits were during those 8 years that caused his scorching rise from leftenant to Commodore.

I finally got time to settle in and watch the dvd last night with the surround sound cranked up...what a JOY!!!!! However I noticed something that I never thought of in the theater. Early on, Norrington is captain of the ship that brings Swann and his daughter to Jamaica. Yet he also seems to order the marines around like he is officially in charge of them as well. Wouldn't a detachment of marines on board a ship have their own superior officer who in turn reported to the ship captain? He even orders them around when Jack rescues Elizabeth from drowning, and commands the fort when Barbossa attacks...wouldn't these matters have been left to a military commander, not a naval officer? For when Jack and Will commandeer the Interceptor, Norrington leads his men at sea too. Seems Norrington is a control freak bent on controlling every military aspect of Port Royal! After all it "throws into sharp relief that which he has not yet attained." I'm not nitpicking, I understand that combining all military command on land and sea is under Norrington is for brevity's sake and that the historical accuracy is best left to Master & Commander. It just struck me for the first time last night that this guy has some serious control issues! :)

Setting it against a war would be a great idea! Anything that lets them populate the Caribbean with a lively, colorful populace will help. POTC felt a little "sparse" in the background scenery department.

Ugh! red type....hurting..eyes....owwwie..... Yeah, it's a damn shame Captain Blood hasn't been put on dvd yet. I've emailed WB several times about it, with no response. If you can do a blend of VHS/ DVD, here are a few I recommend: First and foremost, Pirates of the Caribbean, brand new on DVD. Cutthroat Island is on DVD, but is a crappy movie. Captain Kidd is on DVD, got mine at Border's dirt cheap. Disney's Treasure island is on DVD - can't beat Robert Newton as Long John! For VHS, go with: Captain Blood The Black Swan The Sea Hawk TNT's amazing version of Treasure Island Pirates Good luck, matey!

Nay, if it be like the most amazing television show, it'll be a delightfully low-tech blend....take fer instance the "House Party" episode where Spongebob throws a party that gets out of hand. Interspersed thru the episode there are also live action scenes of Patchy the Pirate's own house party. (He sort of hosts the show before and after commercials just like the children's shows of yore - although Spongey is cute he definitely ain't just fer kids - some of the jokes are quite racy!) Me and most of my office are bigtime Spongebob fans...can't wait for the movie!!

$13.97 at Walmart! ARGH!! Got two copies so I can give one to my bro at Xmas!

Ah, I guess I'm sorta at a grey area about the use of voodoo in the sequel. Voodoo lore is fascinating, and would be very cool as a dramatic tool to enhance the creepy mood, but there is already an Aztec magic thang goin' on, and I just don't want to see a situation where each new movie brings on another magic gimmick. One way I could see Voodoo working well in the sequel is if say, Jack knew a Voodoo shaman on some dirty island who could use his magic to counterattack Barbossa's Aztec curse or something.

Oh I agree! That's why I mentioned that I was glad it had fuzzy origins.

Hmm....everything I've read online about voodoo origins suggest something more akin to the following: Some Brief Notes on Voodoo's Historical Development Bob Corbett December, 1991 In James Leyburn's landmark work THE HAITIAN PEOPLE, he sketches the historical development of Voodoo. * 1730-1790. The emergence of Voodoo. Gradual ascendancy of Dahomean form. * 1790-1800. Revolutionary period. Voodoo, too, experienced growth and cohesion. * 1800-1815. Voodoo was suppressed by three of Haiti's most famous rulers, Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe. * 1815-1850. Quiet diffusion. Under Emperor Soulouque Voodoo became acceptable to the regime and emerged publicly. * 1860-1945. Various periods of Roman Catholic suppression, culminating in an all out war against Voodoo in the 1940s. After the failure of this war the Roman Catholics have decreased their overt suppression of Voodoo. * 1945 to present. Co-optation of Voodoo by the Duvalier movement and growth of America Fundamentalist Protestant challenge to Voodoo. * 1975 to present. Re-emergence of Voodoo, especially in connection with the lwa, Ogoun, as a force in the peasant movement toward progressive reform in Haiti. Who's to say? I like the idea of voodoo having fuzzy origins....that way I can utilize it in my pirate tales. :)

Would be a shame to include voodoo as it wasn't in practice until the late 18th century/early 19th century. I know Disney stretched the parameters of "The Golden Age of Piracy" a bit in the first movie....hope they don't stretch it even further now!

Is there anything left that hasn't used Clocks?

Hell's Bells! This looks like a real beauty of a game! Here is the official site: Dread Pirate Hefty price ($99!)...but looks to be well worth it. I always wanted a quality pirate game like this with "Real" pieces. Check out the journal excerpts on the actual game site, it's a neat backstory!

For those of you in the northern New England area, I picked up a sweet POTC Bobble Head doll at Newbury Comics today...one of the nice, high detailed resin ones. Very collectible! Check out the manufacturer site here: NECA :)

Oh no! I've been on that schooner! It was truly beautiful!

LMAO!! Rosalinda, that is sheer brilliance. You made my day! Love that show. Doesn't the theme song just make you so happy despite every attempt to resist it!?

Thanks so much matey! Here's to 'ee!

Why thankee Claire!

Nice. I'm big into trip-hop...fusion...acid jazz...etc. I'd like to hear your stuff.

Thanks all! THere's more on the way. Course one of my dreams would be to have some work appear in some future issue of NQG... :)

Sweet! Pirate art! I LOVE pirate art...in fact it's my favorite subject matter! If you would like to peruse some 'o my rogues, head tomy site! I'm an artist with a near crippling fascination with all manner of pirate lore. *NOTE* My site is image intensive and may take a good while to load, so be patient. It's a design flaw on my part, which I'll fix asap. You'll find the pirate art in my illustration portfolio.

Be warned - Tortuga is basically a watered-down version of Port Royale sprinkled with a few enhancements. Though if you don't have Port Royale already it's tough to recommend which to buy. Visit the forums at www.ascaron.com and read up for yerselves....