JoshuaRed

Bother! That is THE. BEST. AVATAR. EVER, John. Hands down, you win. When I loaded the page, Sir Topham Hatt was the last thing I expected to see - had me laughing out loud! Black John, you deserve a newww coat of paint. Well done sir! (Sorry for going OT. Tried to PM ya but your box was full.)

I love this painting...such classic Hogarth. I had it as my wallpaper for awhile. All I can say for sure is that there are bound to be some bloody knuckles when that sailor and the guy in the white shirt get done wailing on each other with sticks. Thanks for sharing it Foxe, you've genuinely brightened my day.

Yeah on closer look I think it's just how his pointer finger is drawn...looks like a cig, but he's just doing a hit of snuff. Which by the way ain't bad! (thanks, John)

That is flippin' cool. Definitely looks like the 17th C. Marlboro man to me.

Ain't no mistaking what sailors use fer snowman noses, eh?

Somewhere around here is a thread about this already. Cigars did exist during the GAOP, but it doesn't seem they were in wide usage by Europeans, except occasionally in the West Indies. There, the Spanish seemed to have picked up the method of cigar making from the indigenous peoples (Can't remember the exact tribe...maybe the Arawaks?) who made big ones from whole tobacco leaves, called "sekars" which is where our modern word stems from.

Ever open to fresh takes on old tunes I picked this up the other day and freakin' love it. It's raw, spontaneous and unique. If you prefer traditional versions of shanties, it may not be your cup of tea...but I must say some of these covers are remarkably unchanged from the "originals", such as Lowlands Low. Much of it sounds like a dirty, bawdy group of actual drunken sailors wandered into a recording studio. I love that. This will serve as a really nice compare n' contrast piece to all the old Ewan MacColl stuff I have. For me, the only disappointing thing about this set is that Tom Waits is noticeably absent. Hopefully he'll wash up on Volume 2 in 2007.

It's always been my belief that pirate crews were more civilized and got along better than we tend to think today. For that reason, I believe that many pirates probably just kept their weapons stored with their personal effects below decks. In addition, I'm quite sure that there would have been a catch-all "tool shed" on any pirate ship, containing left-over axes, hatchets, well-used cutlasses, pikes, etc...anything that those without personal weapons could grab in a fight.

Amazing! Looks like a straght up fedora!

It's one of my all-time favorite books. A good fun adventure to introduce kids to the Classics, but ballsy enough for grown ups to enjoy too.

They have in the past, but last year at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party they didn't do anything different. Speaking of Nightmare, they are re-releasing the film in "Real D" this October. RealD is digital, hi-def 3D, and it's phenomenal. I saw Monster House that way, and it was hands down the best 3D I've ever seen. They showed a trailer for Nightmare, and it's gonna look WICKED cool.

Does DL have FP for POTC? (How's that for savvy initial usage?) Here in DW, POTC has none. Even at peak days the wait for POTC is never more than 15-20 mins, and that's with the line bursting out of the Caribbean plaza and clear over to Jungle Cruise.

I've got one. I just have to find it. Stay tuned, I'll post it here...eventually. If I ever make it back from the "pirate bookcase"...

Hmmm.. fave FM song? Well the pirate in me sez Queen Anne's Revenge or Salty Dog...but I do love Faraway Boys...so haunting.

Yeah that's why I leave my 1-click settings turned off...don't want any rum-induced impulse buys showing up on my doorstep that I can't recall ordering...

Once again I find myself recommending the travel writings of the great William Dampier. In them, he goes into a good bit of regular detail on what his crews ate while buccaneering their way around the world. The answers might surprise you, too. They were quite "civilized" in their tastes, and while there were certainly lean points near starvation, they also dined in style more than you'd think. Often they picked up local dishes from various tribes, including delicious sounding fish stews in coconut broth with plantains, heck they even made hot chocolate, coffee and more!

And more to the point, there is not a shred of real evidence of GAOP pirates wearing earrings as a general habit or fashion statement...so if you're friend has found the smoking gun, please share it with us!

LOL yeah yer right -- Kris isn't fluff! Course neither is Heath for that matter, I guess it was just that particular shot of him. David Warner is excellent. He'd be a great corrupt island governor. Hester, was that still of Rob from Plunkett & MacClane? I don't recall that scene, but it's been awhile. Cool pic!

At the risk of veering this thread off it's seemingly intended "soft focus - leading man" ideas, the gritty, noir pirate film I'd make would have perhaps Tim Roth or Robert Carlyle as pirate captains. Or Gary Oldman. Or perhaps Clive Owen.

Hours? Try days! Just weighing anchor could take hours if you're in a deep harbour with a lackluster crew!

If you're trying to sell stuff or promote things like your website, you need to do in the Plunder forum....

Especially since they had the famous dog with the keys in their rowboat when they found where the Pearl was beached.

Heck I enjoyed it. I appreciate that Gore takes his time telling the story, without trying to squeeze it into a more palatable 90 minutes for the increasingly ADD audience. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching Davey Jones.

Blackbeard was gunned down & hacked to death on the deck. The largest collection of eyewitness reports by Maynard and his men that I've come across is contained in the book "Blackbeard: A Reappraisal of his Life & Times". You can peruse it HERE.

Oh heck yeah there were Scottish pirates...now if you're asking if there were any infamous ones...I can't say off the top of my head. But the Scottish were certainly active in the Atlantic and West Indies during the GAOP. In fact, they had grand designs to establish a small Scottish empire in Panama in the 1690's...you can read more HERE.