Nautical Bits and Bobs

There's a monkey sitting on my computer, staring at me. Which means not that I've decided to torment my cats with exotic pets, but that my magazine-snitching mailman decided that the package from castalianspring wasn't worth hiding from me. Ha! Little did he know that it held a Little Bit of Lovely British Comedians and a (LEGO) monkey. Three cheers for Castalia, provider of wonderful Hugh, Stephen and Monkey! (And you never know, maybe he'll inspire me to actually write the adventures of Captain Jack Monkey and his crew of fearsome simian buccaneers instead of just joking about it. He can be my muse. Ook, ook.)

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With any luck I'll be able to see Pirates again tomorrow, but meanwhile I've finally gotten around to reading my long-ignored copies of James L. Nelson's "Revolution at Sea Trilogy", which is five books long (oops). It's interesting, the reading experience as much as the series itself. ( Cutting some not terribly spoilery book-blather )

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Look, tiamatschild has written my PotC OTP in her drabble Only a Paper Moon! No, not that OTP. Not that one either (man, I am so fickle). Jack/Black Pearl! Love, true love. Hie thee hence and read!

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The downside to all of my current ocean-oriented reading/viewing/dreaming is that I would sell my sister for a lobster roll or some fried whole belly clams (with onion rings and french fries, naturally). I love the North Country, really I do, but it is too darned far from the shore. If a genie popped up and offered me three wishes right now, forget world peace and a cure for stupid people. I'd use all three to zap down to the North Shore (maybe Essex, though I've always had a weakness for Salem), with enough money in my pockets to eat lobster rolls and clams, oh, and codfish cakes (and all the trimmings) until I never wanted to think about fish again. Mmmm...

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I've had a stack of comics sitting here for two weeks because I want to talk about them, and it's just too hot to overcome my interia. I can think of exactly what I want to say, and when I go to type it, my brain melts. It's really frustrating, too- I do have thoughts that go beyond "Scurvy Dogs good, Red Star disappointing, Age of Bronze and Artesia works of art," but while I obviously haven't lost the ability to blather about nothing, I apparently can't get it together enough to talk about something. And that obviously won't be changing today, since the siren call of fic and raspberry-custard pie is a lot more alluring than the comic pile. Meh, they're not going anywhere anyway.

I'm not obsessed. I'm strongly inclined.

I'm still pondering Barbossa's monkey. I need to sleep on what I'm pondering, which is sure to give me some weird dreams, and I need to see the movie again (any excuse, any excuse), but... well, anyway, it'll keep. I was pretty amused by the little stuffed monkey they have modeling Monkey Jack's outfit on this page (about halfway down); too bad it's not a better picture. He looks pretty happy for a nattily-dressed stuffed monkey.


The fun part about doing historical research on the web (or just playing, like I have been) is seeing what bizarre conclusions have benefited from the "anything goes" nature of online publishing. This article, sort of a Cliff Notes version of longer, better (a relative term) articles, caught my attention for this bit:

"The popularity of parrots may be another clue about pirate sexuality. Parrots can live long lives, double that of even the longest living dogs, forty years or more; parrots are monogamous, staying with one partner for life. The common bond between pirate and parrot suggests an acceptable relationship in an era when homosexuality was apparently uncommon even among outlaws."

A parrot as a substitute for hooking up with that cute pirate with the gold teeth and most of his own fingers? Who knew pirates were so much like spinster Aunt Fern with all the cats?


Pirates of the Caribbean apparently had a historical consultant named Peter Twist on staff, and he sounds a mite defensive: "Although the pirate characters aren't based on any real pirates, the movie is 'a compilation of a lot of the things that were done by real pirates, and pirate codes, and so it is fact based,' he stresses." It's a pity that it's such a brief interview with him; he gives some general pirate facts but doesn't really talk about the movie very much, which is unfortunate. What I did find rather neat, though, was that the company this Mr. Twist works for, Heritage Film Services, is also doing advising and providing props and costumes for Master and Commander. It's a small movie ocean, I guess.


Swashbuckler's Cove is a good general pirate site I found while looking for something else- for something that looks simply cute and fun, it has a nice range of useful things like maps, timelines, a glossary and basic facts on a variety of subjects (including Vikings and Columbus, which amused me). It's not deep, but it's a nice little primer. And it has an entry on rum. Rum is very important.


Lastly, two particularly random links- a list of a few superstitions of the sea, including some interesting ones: "To see a Swallow at sea was considered good luck whilst seeing a Cormorant or Curlew at sea was bad luck." "All the seas are purified at the full moon." "Gold hoop earrings protect the wearer from drowning." "Avoid red heads on the way to a ship as they bring bad luck to the ship. The bad luck can be avoided if you speak to the red head first."- okay, that one just caught my eye because, dude, we redheads are always getting picked on in superstitions. We're witches, we're vampires, the fairies love us, the fairies hate us... and now we're unlucky at sea? Sheesh. There are several superstitions concerning women listed, too. We’re bad luck, even when miniature, but of course, we knew that already. Unless we’re naked, that is. What a surprise.


And for all your online pirate shopping needs, The Pirate’s Locker and The Pirate’s Library. I could spend a lot of money buying fripperies and books. I’m not nearly rich enough to have this little resistance to shiny objects.


And a quiz, nicked from cortese and elke_tanzer simultaneously: ( Which Archie am I? )