Matty Bottles

Have a happy birfday, Viperpirate. Remember: damn the beer, full rum ahead! *Takes a HUGE chug of rum from his tankard*

Happy Birfday, Redbeard. Here's hoping ye find yerself in pleasant climes. *Takes a big drink of rum out of his new tankard*

Thank ye, matees. I veritable font o'information. So, what precisely was legal and illegal? Or was it mostly an imprecise business?

Of course I'd be interested in a fine game or TV show. Some syndicated shows are better than others, although I can't imagine a pirate TV show being bad. And as fer a casting call, I live in milwaukee, but there ain't a whole lot keeping me there, and I've got a lot of scars. That might lend a bit of authenticity....

Mmmmmm. Well, sometimes fashions change, or it could simply be a mistake. That's interesting. I've ordered some osprey books about that era, but they won't be here for a week yet. I'm sure there's someone out there who knows the right answer, though.

Aye, I did notice that. I guess his stature is increasing. Isn't that wot lordly men do? Powder their wigs?

Well, the pirate part of me says rum raisin, of course. But the former ice cream shop clerk part of me thinks rum raisin is sort of like butter pecan: a perfectly good flavor, but one overwhelming preffered by old people. So Cherry ice cream would be delicious.

Hey, Look! I'm a captain! yaaaay! :)

Thank you.

I guess I'm a disney WORLD type, never having been to disney LAND....Even tho' The Pirates of the Carribean was COSED FOR REMODELING 2 of the 3 times I went to that f*****g place! Sorry about the language. I just miss it sometimes, people. I miss it. When I was eight, my life was so clear. I would be a pirate. But you get older, and other things catch your interest, and you get a job at an ice cream store called the Yum Yum Tree, and how can you become a pirate after that? An you go to a good university and get a degree in English and realize that you don't like kids but you'll never make money with the dang thing other than the pennies you'll make teaching and you find your self grinding away at menial jobs until your total lack of professional experience is such an albatross around your neck you find yourself frozen in place like the ancient mariner, but when you were a kid, you knew that you could be a pirate.... *sniffle* I need some ice cream.

Thank ye, Miss Maria.

Thank you, Hawkyns.

Press gangs were groups of Royal Navy employees (I'm not sure if they were sailors or officers or just thugs) who woukd be ordered to find a crew and who had authority to kidnap anyone they came across and force them into the navy.

The press gang seems particularly despotic to me, as I read "Pirate Hunter."Does anyone have a good source for information about the press gangs? And, while we're at it, can anyone reccomend a good source of info for the rules of apprenticeship at the time?

Or should I say: Dear Lady Bassett, Your gentle words warm me heart And now I am well. High-koodle-oo

Thank ye, Lady Bassett. Such fine words warm me heart. And on a side note, I've recovered from my disease. Mostly.

Okay, first of all, let me say, that when I mean good when talking about sequels and prequels, I don't neccessarily mean 'better than' or even 'as good as' the original. I would rather watch a not as good as sequel than a truly terrible cash-in/rip-off/spin-off. Now, about prequels: I though Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was pretty good. Exhibit A for good prequels. I also thought the Young Vito scenes in Godfather Part II were excellent. Exhibit B for prequels. Jack and Barbossa obviously had piratical careers before the POTC. I think they'd be able to pull of a prequel....done soon, that it. I just think the storyline is rich with potential. Of course, star wars had potential, too, but....Let's just say it seems as tho' George Lucas now has more in common with the Emperor than Yoda.

Visiting my folks, all of us are going out, Now I must shower. Later.

Size seven and five-eighths no feather or trim; black felt with a five-inch brim.

Gigantic Headwear matches me pirate ego and a new felt hat.

Thanks for the updates, gents. I threw the question about a fall out there because I was suddenly reminded of my Paul Bunyan class in Boy Scouts, and how they told us of the dangers of climbing with a hatchet on our belts, and the danger to our tender young loins. But I guess the question is obvious, upon reflection: if the scabbard isn't going to protect you, why wear it? But that begs another question: the rolling deck, ships shuddering from gunfire and collisions, would make it seem as though accidental slashings and stabbings would be inevitable. I don't mean to impugn the skill of those sailors of yesteryear, or imply they cannot handle their weapons, but battle is chaotic. I remember another time from boy scouts, when we were trying to clear a logjam on the Nippersink River, and a developementally disabled young man, who probably should not have participated in that particular project, rather carelessly waved his bow saw around, balancing on a log, and when another log drifted into it, he lost his balance and accidentally sawed his neighbors head. The neighbor was okay, of course, and there is a huge difference between a professional fighting sailor and this crazy-ass kid, but still.....

This one, for high seas combat: Sweeter than flowers, The cry of wounded sailors and that brimstone stink.

Technically, he DID take my card....but it wasn't much of a trick. The cheap bastard.

This is an interesting thread...it makes sense to me, clumsy as I am, not to have a sword particularly sharp. I'd hate to fall any sort of distance with one on my belt. Of course, I'd hate to fall any sort of distance with a loaded pistol, too, so that isn't much of an argument. Hawkyns, this might interest you. I had a middling, middling-poor katana that I managed to break right above the hilt. My friend has gotten interested in making sword hilts (he just got himself a welding rig) and has expressed an interest in rapier hilts, so I passed along this broken blade (just about 28 inches long) to him to see what he could do. I'll let you know how it turns out. I figure that, at the very least, it would come out as an interesting, one-of-a-kind sword, even if it had no practical purpose.

Since this seems to be the designated area for hat chatter, I thought I'd post here to talk about my hat. I got the blank from Jastown. I wanted a working hat, plus I'm very impatinet sometimes, so I didn't trim it, because That would involve me going to the store and I have a bit of a bug and don't like to leave the house. The shaping went well, and I'm going to try to get some emu feathers from the farm near my parents house. I'm now ready for a dressy hat, and should be working on one in the future.