Charlotte Doyle

Same here, same here . . . how'd ye manage to get yer copy two days (three days?) early??

Oh yes -- if you are going, PLEASE take pictures!! :) Me, I'm going to have to contend myself with picking up the video first thing in the morning, got my copy all reserved . . . but ooh, I wish I could hop down to Key West for the big shin-dig. If you're going, have _fun_!

Yes . . . I have respect for the pirates of the Golden Age because I think a lot of them were trying only to break out of the life placed on them by being born into the wrong class or social standing -- their's was a different world. They were in a different society, a different time, and a lot of them probably turned pirate because they saw no other option for themselves if they wanted to experience any freedom or control over their lives. Modern pirates I have no use for! There's no honor in modern-day piracy (if there ever was any honor at all is, of course, debatable. I rather think there was).

Certainly not an "official" pirate song by any means, my favorite sea shanty nonetheless be "Shiver My Timbers" from Muppets Treasure Island -- despite the hilarity of the rest of the film itself, this initial opening song (provided you hear it on the soundtrack and not in the film itself; the singing mosquitos kind of detract from the mystery *grins*) is a bit more serious in tone and really quite wonderful. The tune is a delightful earworm that gets stuck in your head; it makes a great "car song" that you can really get into singing (particularly at night). Great fun.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, SORRY TO SHOUT, BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW EXCITED YOU JUST MADE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh WOW . . . FINALLY, finally, there's some PotC SHEET MUSIC that's going to come out!!!!!!!! I have wanted this SO BADLY!!!!!!! *tries to contain excitement, finally gives up* Oh, _man_ . . . this is SO going on my Christmas list . . . I'm definitely going to ask for the book itself instead of paying 4 bucks for each song online . . . and until Christmas, I have the free first page of each song from the website to entertain me . . . oh, my gosh, thank you BoneHunterLane, so very very very much!!!! You've made my month!!!

I hear ye, Kindhearted Kylie, when it comes to trying to cram in all that good pirate literature into the Christmas Break . . . I'll be reading "Under the Black Flag" then, along with a whole slew of other books. I can't wait -- I just hope I have time for them all! :) Speaking of -- last night I picked up a book called "The Dragon Sorcerer," by John Gregory Betancourt, which I found in the Bookstore purely by chance; despite its title, the main character is a pirate. I'll let you know (when I have time to read it ) if it's any good -- but it rather looks like fun.

I can do some mean drawings of anthro-ducks . . . but unless you're willing to turn William Kidd into Daffy Duck with a tricorne, I won't be of much help. ;-) Good luck!

Awesome pictures, Lady Elaina, absolutely awesome. Now I _really_ can't wait for the movie to come out! :)

I'm not a fan of grape-flavored anything -- so I guess I'll stick with my non-alcoholic lime-aid grog *grins* -- but if I see Grape Grog I'm gonna hafta buy some JUST once for the fun of it . . . I WANT THAT SURVIVOR SHIRT. The Survivor logo is annoying . . . but the rest of the shirt is so froody AWESOME it makes up for that!!

"Under the Black Flag" by Cordingly definitely looks wonderful (when I actually have time to read it, I'm sure I'll love it); I also have to recommend "The Lost Fleet" by Barry Clifford. From what I've read of it so far (*glares at stupid school textbooks that take up all free time*), it's really well-written and bloody _fascinating_ . . . and if anyone can read it without thinking, after completing the first chapter, "d'Estrees! You MORON!" please let me know. Thank you. For fiction -- if you don't mind a bit of a fantasy flair, you can't get much better than Robin Hobb's Liveship series (first book is called "Ship of Magic" -- it's a trilogy). I've read the first in the series and it's really delightful. All the characters are really neat, but the pirate captain Kennit is well-written, IMO, and fun in his own way. (Not a Jack Sparrow-esque fun, mind you; fun in a different way.) And I _must_ read Captain Blood by Sabatini already -- I keep hearing how good it is . . . oh, will Christmas Break EVER get here so I can read all this great pirate literature!?!

If PotC wins the Best Picture award this year at the Oscars . . . oh MAN will I be shocked. Heck, I'll be shocked if it's NOMINATED! :)

Ooh . . . see, I didn't get to watch this one yet, I taped it last night but didn't actually see it. I'll *definitely* have to watch tonight! BTW, did anyone notice that their background music is *almost* "Pirates of the Caribbean" themes? It's really quite close.

I want to come so badly my teeth hurt -- but there's no feasible way I can. *Sigh* . . . everybody have a good time for me, m'kay?

By all means, please please PLEASE let me know when your events are being planned to be put on. I couldn't join up as a crew member meself -- my schedule wouldn't allow it -- but I _did_ manage to convince me family that, if there's some sort of pirate event on the East Coast (unless it's in Florida; can't get me mum to go back there *grins*), we'll do our best to attend. So keep us posted! :)

That's why I don't mind "Survivor" the way I used to -- I KNOW it's rigged. It's _not_ a reality show (whatever that means anyway), it's a bunch of actors pretending that this is a "real" thing, just like any other TV show. Oh, the audience and everybody else involved pretends it's "real," but since I know it's rigged . . . I dunno, that somehow makes it less annoying to me. And since I've become a closet "Survivor" watcher -- I tuned in last week just for the heck of it because I knew it was a pirate theme . . . and I'll be tuning in again tonight. Sad, eh?

*tries not to weep and fails* Oh man . . . all I can hope is that they have another pirate-ish themed weekend next year . . . SOB! I can't _believe_ I missed it . . . Sigh. ;-)

My favorite fencing/sword fighting scene will forever by the fight in "Pirates of the Caribbean," where Jack and Barbossa duel while crossing in and out of the moonlight, going from human to skeleton and back again . . . it's the neatest scene in the movie and definitely my fav swordfight. Of course, I am biased. ;-)

Hey -- does anyone know where I might be able to DL free sheet music on the web? Specifically, I really want to download the ol' Disney tune "A Pirate's Life For Me," and I *know* there's places on the web when free sheet music can be downloaded, but I can't find any of 'em. I have found places where I could just buy the book of "Disney Collected Songs" or whatever the title is that has "Pirate's Life" included in it -- but it's always in a book of sheet music something like two hundred pages long, and I _really_ don't want to dish out thirty bucks for the big book when the only thing I want from it is the (probably) one-page-long song somewhere in the middle. So if you know where I might be able to find this on the web, please let me know! Thanks.

The Ren Fair that I always go to because IT'S IN MY OWN STATE had a _pirate weekend_ *this year*, and this was the one year in several that I _missed it_?!?!?! Oh man. That's going to hurt for awhile.

Oh, that was wonderful. My personal favorite has to be, "Is that a plane?" Heh-heh. Thanks so much for posting, I loved it!

Ooh, quite a luverly set of photos . . . I've been a Jason Issacs fan since "DragonHeart" (yes, I know it was a horrid movie in some respects, but I absolutely loved it) -- playing Hook definitely suits him. I can't wait for this film to come out! . . . Thanks so much for the pictures.

I was a pirate this year, too. I was officially supposed to be Anne Bonny, but I definitely went for a more Captain Jack Sparrow-esque look -- the red bandana, the hair beads (I was *very* proud of the hair beads), the mascara 'round the eyes. :) It was great fun. I went to my college classes in costume on Halloween (and got bonus points from my history prof for doing so -- thanks, Prof Dave, you're the coolest) and also attended my very first college party that evening . . . it was pirate-themed! Right down to the (non-alcoholic) grog and "cannon-ball-apple-dumplings" . . . it was delightful. We talked pirates, we quoted "Pirates of the Caribbean," we listened to sea shanties and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" soundtrack -- and wrapped up the night, for some inexplicable reason, watching a DVD of the English comedian Eddie Izzard. (We figured, Hey, Eddie Izzard is _British_, and a lot of _pirates_ during the Golden Age of Piracy were British, sooo . . . yeah.) So it was great. Best of all -- I am actually dressing up in a modified version of my costume for my senior yearbook photo. Yes, this is actually happening. No head scarf, caked black mascara, or plastic sword -- but the wenchy Renaissance blouse, pirate doubloon necklace, sash, and vest will remain . . .