Tangents

[William Brand]

The best part of any good conversation with friends and fellow pirates, and friends who ARE fellow pirates, and pirate friends who aren't fellows at all, is the moment when you first divide from the topic at hand to those tangents that lead one or many willy nilly down every road of thought and every segue of distraction to places both funny, revealing, tragic and to uncomfortable pauses only filled with observation about uncomfortable pauses. Thus is life and good conversation. We don't see enough of it here. Not like we once did.

[Mission]

One word: Facebook.

The funny thing is, Facebook is a wonderful medium for chit-chat, but a terrible medium for accumulating information. I have always thought the forum should move towards collecting information. I can't tell you how many times I've used Google to go a-looking for some fine point of medicine when writing an article and found the answer on this very forum (sometimes, in my own very posts that I have forgotten.)

[Bright]

The more aye study the more aye learn.

The more ayes learns the more ayes forgets.

So why study ?

[William Brand]

Speaking of kites, it is believed that they were brought to Europe by sailors from Japan and Malaysia in the 16th and 17th century. While first regarded as curiosities, they were used as vehicles for scientific experiments throughout the 18th century.

[Mission]

If by study, you mean just read about something, I think studying in that way often ends up being a waste of time in the long run - unless you have a very good memory.

If, however, you take notes and organize those notes, or even rewrite what you've found in a place like this, then the knowledge becomes accessible and (more importantly IMO) searchable. Then you have a database of information from which you can find answers to questions. This is how I write my monthly articles and put together my surgeon's presentation.

[Silver]

the us navy used kites aboard ships in the early 1900, i also have noticed the decline here on the pub.

[William Brand]

I blame Mission and the absence of live tavern music.

[Mission]

I am annoying, am I not?

I blame change, which is inevitable. I am curious what will follow Facebook. They say it's Twitter, but it seems to have a different raison d'être than Facebook. (Then again, FB was initially very different than forums. Remember when you could only enter a limited number of characters?)

[Silver]

could the pirate persona be on the wane. i do like tavern music, could we get it to play when we log on?

[William Brand]

I don't think that it's in decline, but it may have plateaued. One such culprit to the perceived demise of the hobby is the merger of many pirate events with other events. Rather than patiently allow a good pirate event to grow to what it can be, which often takes years, some events are impatiently merging with others and deluding their events in the process. I had several events on my calendar for next year, only to learn that they joined up with other science fiction and fantasy groups to such a degree that the 'pirate' presence is almost non-existent.

I recommend that you play your own music when logged on. Even the most subtle music can be annoying to someone after awhile, unless their in the mod for it, and it can be a surprise to people logging on and not prepared for it. We actually had a chat room for the writers on the Watch Dog project that had the sound of a boat rocking and creaking gently on the water.

[Silver]

i recall that the 2004 blackbeard festival i went to was coupled with a renaissance fair. i wasn't involved with the pirate persona at that time to say that was the being of many a pirate festival.

[Mission]

I only go to a limited number of events, but most of the ones I attend have seen generally improving numbers in both reenactors and attendance.

[Guest]

Dang... can't afford to get two people to Fort Zackery(Martie and myself) ... and other than that there is Nor Cal Pyrate Fest (FARB to the MAX)...so with the dwindling lack of interest after the whole POTC thing wore off.....

Hey... is that a kite... ?

[Duchess]

Maybe it's a squirrel?!

Or something shiny?!

[William Brand]

Oh it's shiny. It's the money the studio is dumping into Black Sails.

[Silver]

the POTC did rocket the pirate persona into the lime lite. people jumped on board started resreaching the life of a mariner in the GAOP and alot of the farb turned to fact. it has been a plus to the history of that period, never a bad thing. there is a web page that lists pirate events, i have been checking it for several years. this year i see several event cancelled and more event then i recall listed as pirate/reinfaire. how is blacksails fairing?

[William Brand]

Black Sails is still in the advertising stages, but I see it everywhere.

[Bright]

There have always been and always will be as long as there be a sea, pyrates ;-}

There be a group on FB calling themselves Authentic Pirate Living History

[William Brand]

I know it well. Speaking of authenticity...

[oderlesseye]

Eye saw the first episode of "Black Sails" during Comic Con.. Here in San Diego... Some of the authentic is lost ...especially when they refer to the monitary system.. And Black Beard was a laugh! As to waning interest.. crickets...

[William Brand]

[Silver]

just checked out the "authentic pirate living history" site on FB. the NEW PUB?

[Mission]

I like the APLH facebook page that Foxe started, but I wouldn't call it the new Pub. (If anything, it would be the new Captain Twill Forum.)

The only trouble I have with it being forum-worthy is that Facebook isn't content searchable and once something sinks, it's a sonuvabitch to find again. However, it does have the plus bringing people from several other, non-Pub pirate forums to one place to discuss Twill-like stuff. As more people join, it may evolve (or devolve, depending on your POV) into chatty non-Twill-like stuff. Then again, Foxe has recently booted several such topics, so it may not.

[William Brand]

Yeah, it's no Pub.

And speaking of pubs, we must all agree to meet at the Prospect of Whitby in London some day. The place was a pub back when my forefathers were still in England.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Sorry mates, no more home computer keeps me limited to what I can do. Unemployed and sold most of my gear, civil war took front spot til recent economic events have nixed that for me as well. Don't see me participating much in the future at all

Bo