BILLY BONES

Thank Ye All! I raise me jack to ya!

Happy Birthday, HUH? Happy Birthday,HUH? Birthday greetings are accepted but the music unexpected Iron Bess is such a beauty and Christine a roving cutie Your good wishes I must earn Oh, you pillage, then you burn! My dear Jill, now that you've landed and as always, caught red-handed and Maria, red as roses may the red move to your noses Jacky Tar, you're not so pretty but neither is your ditty I drink a toast to my good mates and the thirst it satiates What a lousy sense of meter and the rhyming could be sweeter Just remember, I am older My extremities are colder and my shamelessness is bolder I apologize.---HUH!

When I was picking the weapons for 2 & 3, I asked for a time period. I was told something like 1724, but by the same token, I was told to pick weapons of any period pretty much, as long as they were cool looking. So there you go. Really, I wouldn't worry about it. I stopped obssessing when I got my first paycheck. Originally, they were going to have Capt. Kidd and Blackbeard as contemporaries. They knew it wasn't true, but it made a good story. Time periods in most productions are more of a guideline. You must realize that you have a story with undead pirates, giant squids, still beating hearts, a ship that sails underwater, a triple-barreled cannon, etc. Worry about time period? I don't think so.

Since someone has reinstated this topic, I thought I'd add an addendum. I made several Islamic and Chinese flags for the movie, and few of them will be seen, mainly because they didn't have a skull and crossbones on them! Go figure! I remade one of Roberts' flags, and actually improved on the first one considerably. Unfortunately, it was aged by putting it in a cement mixer with volcanic rock, and then washed in a washing machine. I was e-mailed by the propmaster, who complained that a lot of the paint came off. Well, DUH! I designed a flag for Sparrow, with suggestions from the Production Designer. Never got to make it, but I understand it has been made, and will show up in third film.

Happy Birthday, mate. I was glad to have met you Friday, and I'm sure we'll meet again. Regards, BB

Yikes Alex, you set this old man's mind reeling.

I often get burned out. I've been piratin for 30 years, at least in my head and heart, if not in some festival. It becomes discouraging, naturally, when you really try to do the thing authentically, and it seems that no one else cares. BUT, even with going to a "pirate fair", and everybody still says "me lord and lady", and you feel like they just got of the renaissance circuit, and decided they might make some money on this pirate thing, every once in a while you see a friend that's pirate all the way, and you feel better. I do find myself sitting with my books, researching things that seem like a parroting of Johnson's, with the same pictures, same quotes, etc. A couple of weeks ago, I found an original copy of the Act for the More Effective Suppression of Piracy 1700 and bought it for 35.00! It gave me a huge shot in the arm. Listen, I've been drinking rum, and I'm not sure where this is going, but I hate to hear the "old timers" or "hard core" filibusters get discouraged. It's true, that I'm older than any pirate has a right to be, but it's what I have left to reenact, and I still love the hell out of it. Sometimes, I slip into the movie pirate mode, but it's by choice, just to have fun--- but I know I've got the real stuff at home. I'd better sign off and see if young Hawkins can slip me another noggin. BB

I regret that I don't know the restaurant. I was working most of the time I was there, and didn't get to explore as much as I'd hoped.

By the way, there's talk of a Blackbeard movie or series being filmed there in September. I'll keep you posted as I find out more. BB

I used acrylic out of the tube for any painted flags on POTC III. It held up well, but there was some cracking, which turned out to be desirable for a movie. The only time the acrylic failed was when the flag was washed and then thrown into a cement mixer with volcanic rock to age it. Rather extrme, and I'm not sure anything would have held up through that punishment.

Brass and bronze seem to have had a higher copper content back then as well, making brass look a little more "red" as it begins to turn.

About 3 days ago, I returned from a movie job in Puerto Rico. I was there for a month. and even though the job wasn't my cup of tea, or rum anyway, my time off was pretty amazing! If you've been there. you know, but if you haven't, I'll tell you a little of what you can expect. Old San Juan was, and is, a walled city, dating from around 1510, and the walls and Spanish forts are still there. Being a U.S. possession, the 2 main forts have some nice park service displays, and since the forts overlook the Caribbean Sea, nice views. I was put up at the Carib Hilton, and the hotel is surrounded by Spanish gun emplacements. The first week, I was rather disappointed in the lack of piratical merchandise (you got to get a t-shirt), although the forts had some pirate books, repro doubloons, and little pirate figures. On my last day in San Juan, I walked into a shop that had some beautiful repro charts of the area from the 18th century, so after buying a couple, I asked the lady where all the pirate stuff was? She sent me to La Fortaleza St. (everything's within walking distance), and there it was, an entire 3 blocks devoted to piracy in some form or other! Antique shops full of real Spanish doubloons, reales, etc., pistols, shipwreck finds, cutlasses, and,of course, t-shirts. Naturally, that was the day I was broke, but hey, I found it! I would spend some time telling you about the historic sites, like Ponce de Leon's house, etc., but let me just say that the trip is worth it! Of course, I was there on somebody else's dime, so I'm not sure about expenses. For all you surfers, I also got to watch the World championships in Rincon, but true to form, I was drinking Mojitos and watching rather scantilly clad ladies most of the time. sigh.

I believe the new Portland Pirate Festival falls on the same weekend.

One reason the fragments of "Kidd's" flag that have turned up in the last 40 years are considered bogus, is that they are all black material. They seem to go along with the Kidd seachests that have the skull and crossbones on them. Probably produced by someone who had little feeling for the time period, or Kidd's aversion to being considered a pirate.

I've noticed through the years (I used to work at a American Civil War relic shop) that the brass used during that period often had a high copper content, due to shortages I suppose. In fact, many times, the authenticity of a piece often hinged on that copper content.

I could probably come down for that, but I'm too late anyway. Oh well. Nice guys.

RUMBA, I'm not on your list either. In fact, I'm feeling a little unmemorable. I've met many of you, and I'm not on anyone's list!

Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of it in it's new home as well.

Thanks Dirk! Let me know when you want to start the next one! BB

Well, I got on here to say something about Marty, but drew a blank. There's too much. He's a great guy to work with, and fun to have around.

Just a side note, but on topic. If you ever see an amber colored flint, buy it. It is more than likely a French flint. and could very well be original. They spark like crazy. I was fortunate enough to get several (I worked in a Black Powder gun store for 13 years back in the 70s). They came off of a French shipwreck from the 1700's. In fact, I'm still using English shipwreck flints on ocassion. Far superior to the modern ones, and I have no real reason why. Every once in awhile still, you see a French flint floating around.

I'm stretching this a little, but the Golden Age started aroung 1630-50 by most accounts. Now granted, there shouldn't be any Jack Sparrows running around a Ren faire, but a Sir Francis Drake wouldn't be out of place. I must say that seeing the queen at the Ojai pirate faire seemed odd to me. Not just the time frame (almost everyone was dressed in the 1700-1730 time period), but she was consorting with known pyrates. I don't believe there was a letter of marque in the bunch.

Chole, I like your flag. The rough edges make it look a little "rough". Pirates could sew, but I doubt a lot of them turned the seams under. I made a flag like that (seams turned under) initially for POTC, and it didn't feel right. The production designer agreed. I thought it might make the flag weaker to just sew the material right on without turning the edge, but the flags held up through gale force winds in the Bahamas (we flew them all day, every day so Gore could get a feel for them). From a slight distance, the fraying edges weren't visible in the overall design. Of course, we were dealing with very large flags. We also aged the flags heavily, which I thought would look ridiculous, as I'm sure that flags were repaired constantly (and pirate flags just weren't flown that much). We had patches, powder burns, musket ball holes, some cannon rounds, fading, etc. and they actually looked better visually (which is the only way you can look at something). Blackbeard's flag actually got hung up on a crane, and was ripped to shreads. I thought it was a total loss, but I repaired it, sewing the tears by hand, etc., and the thing turned out to be the best looking flag of all.

When making a pirate flag, I would be sure to remember that graphic artists weren't prevalent on pirate ships or pirate ports. There were, of course, artists, and a slick design was possible (as shown by some of the military designs of the period), but, sometimes a straightforward and bold design can convey much more than a detailed or busy design. You want the prey to get the message at the first glance! I guess I'm just saying that I personally like a little home-made (or ship-made) feel to these flags. Just my opinion. That being said, nice work everybody!

Oderlesseye, You might want to email me concerning your mural. Right now, I'm trying to get my flag business off the ground, but I'm also a muralist. I get down that way on occassion, so who knows? BB