Ship's log: 13 July2007

ARRR! It be Friday the 13th, matey!

It been almost a month since the Ship's Log be updated. If ye be keepin' a weather ey then ye know some changes were made tha' weren't not reported.

If ye take a look in Pirate Medicine ye'll be seein information on Drownin's been absent.

And if ye a mind to look in Nautical Myths ye'll spy words on the Pirate Code and the Brethren of the Code!

I recently finished readin' If a Pirate I Must Be. A review will be posed soon. I'm still digested the book so to speak.

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Ship's log: 15 June 2007

A major change has taken place upon the pages of Pirates of the Caribbean, in fact and fiction. That change being the Pirates Arsenal or Weapons page. This was a project that took quite some time. The original weapons page was almost 35 pages of printed text. It was large and unwieldy. for years I contemplating ways to make it easier to navigate and use. I knew the answer was to arrange the material in a "frames" environment but no really liking frames i was hesitant to do it.

Well, me mates, making the long story short and having no better solution, It seems i broke down and organized the information into frames. Now it be true that much of the words written are the same as before, it also be true that some of the text was corrected and some new information were added.

You can say the same true for the pretty pictures. Some new drawings were added, and some of the old pictures be gone. No doubt some new pictures can be found as well.

Most important is now 'tis possible to expand one of the most poular parts of this here web page with out much difficulty.

so check out the newly designed Pirate's Arsenal

Oh and as usual, even more terms in the Lexicon.

And if that ain't enough stay tuned for two, yes two book reviews!

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Ship's log: 4 May 2007

I told you to stay tuned for a book review and now ye can read it. Ye'll find a book review for the Pirate Primer here.

This is an exceptional book that was just released by Writers Digest. The full title is The Pirate Primer: Mastering the Language of Swashbucklers & Rogues, The author is George Choundas. To be quick, the book is a joy to read and will make a fine addtion to any pirate library.

BTW, ye'll be finding some new words in the Pirate Lexicon. But go read the review of the Pirate Primer first.

Iff'n ye the book make purchase ye'll not be sorry for the act, but y' min' me nows! Be not me gettin' no rewards for yer, genrerosity! I give ye me affi-davies this here review is just me honest words and they's no jolly dollars here for my kinde.

That's all for today, matey..

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Ship's log: 26 April 2007

Made some changes to the FAQ on piracy. Added info on peg legs, eye patches and hooked hands after reading more about prosthetic devices in the 18th century. Who would've known that the glass eye in use today didn't even exist in the 18th century. Apparently anyone up on their 18th Century medicine or an expert on the history of the glass eye.

Stay tuned for reviews of two exceptional books.

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Ship's log: 18 April 2007

Shiver my timbers! Not only di I add the biography of that most fictional pirate, Long John Silverodddex.html, but the Lexicon is now up to 413 terms. So use the links in this text for as silver would say "Right up there is our line for the Pole Star and the jolly dollars!"

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Ship's log: 16 April 2007 After over five years, I decided to swap out the image of Long John Silver on the front page. I am making a page which will include the image so it isn't going away completely. The page will eventually be linked in the FAQ. The page will be here. The new image was inspired by an early anatomical sketch of a skeleton. I'm not sure why skeletons and pirates seem to go together. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the Disney theme park ride. I'm still tweaking the image but it seems like a lot of fun and I wanted something a little more original on the front page. Hope you like it.

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Ship's log: 4 April 2007

Minor changes to the home page mainly. Some tweaking to bring the table of contents higher up on the page. I also fixed some of the information on Caesar. in the Who's Who section. Did you know there are 405 terms in the Pirate Lexicon? It grow almost weekly. Oh, and I corrected the spelling in the March 27th entry.

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Ship's log: 27 March 2007

I've added information on splinter wounds in under Pirate Medicine. It would seem a lot of people now think they never happened because two special effects guys on television claim to have "debunked" a myth. It is a shame that these two men used poor science to propagate an untruth especially when a quick check of the numerous naval histories and biographies give repeated accounts of famous people suffering splinter wounds.

The Pirate FAQ and Lexicon have been split into two separate pages. You will note the FAQ is very short. This is because much of it was simply incorporated into the Lexicon. Also several parts of it were already located in a Pyrate's Life. It made no sense to keep the page as it was.

And if that isn't enough, I finally added Darien (Panama) to Notorious Places.

There were also minor alterations to the Weapons pages

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Ship's log: 21 March 2007

It be the first day of Spring, matey. Twelve hours of day and night. The Vernal Equinox! But more important than that is the change made to the Ships section. There is a new introduction on the page that gives an overview of modifications pirates made to their ships. You'll need to go there to find out what has been done to the little green sloop pictured to the left. The information that used to be contained on the intro page (basic ship of a ship's rigging and such) has been moved to its own page but still remains with the same framed environment discussing ships. Just look for the link called Ship Basics.

Beyond that, there was some updates made to the Pirate Lexicon. For those of you who aren't as smart as paint, a lexicon is a fancy word for dictionary of sorts. If you were to look up the definition of lexicon in a dictionary, matey, you would see it defined as: a stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary of a trade or organization such as 'a lexicon of piracy'. With over 375 terms (and counting) it is worth a quick peek. And if you don't see your pirate word listed you can always contact me through the Crossbones Inn and have yer silly question answered.

I also came across a nice site you might want to take a gander at. It is http://www.kipar.org/.

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Ship's log: 14 March 2007

It be true, Matey. After only a few months of using the Tempus Sans font for most of me Headings, I came acrost, this new fangled letterin' It be around for a long time, of that I'm sure of, but it be smart as paint, so's I grabbed it. The heading, or most of them like wise be in Viner Hand ITC.

Didn't seem right me using Tempus on this here page when I use it fer me main index at blindkat.hegewisch.net. And besides the Viner Hand looks meaner.

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Ship's log: 13 March 2007

Not much to report on the web page but I thought I'd take a moment to mention two books. One has been around for about two or three years. The other one was recently released in England and is due out any day now in America. I'll talk about that one first. The author contacted me a week or so ago and sent along three press releases from the British press. I haven't read the book, but it looks terrific, especially if you're a fan of Black Bart. The book is titled If a Pirate I Must Be...The Story of Bartholomew Roberts by Richard Sanders. If you want to read the press release, click here. Even the press release is entertaining.

The other book has been around for two years. I'm not sure why I haven't read it yet but I'm going to remedy that in the near future. The book is titled, The Sea Rover's Practice : Pirate Tactics and Techniques, 1630-1730 by Benerson Little. A snippet of the review from Amazon.Com states:

The Sea Rover's Practice is the only book that describes in exceptional detail the tactics of sea rovers of the period - how they actually sought out and attacked vessels and towns. Accessible to both the general and the more scholarly reader, it will appeal not only to those with an interest in piracy and in maritime, naval, and military history, but also to mariners in general, tall-ship and ship-modeling enthusiasts, tacticians and military analysts, readers of historical fiction, writers, and the adventurer in all of us.

Both sound quite promising. If you would like to recommend a book or if you have written a pirate book and want a little FREE publicity. Contact me through the Crossbones Inns.

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Ship's log: 23 February 2007

Found a little more information about cats that belonged in the Nautical Myths & Monsters section so I added it. Guess I had to put in in the Pirates, Parrots, and Pets section also.

Other updates were nothin' major matey.. I made some minor corrections/clarification to The Ships section. I felt some of the information about ship's rigging, was a tad confusing, so I reworded it.

Also made a few changes on the Punishment page (part of the A Pyrates Life). I had a nice chat with a pirate lover from Poland who had some thoughts about pirates and torture. After talking with him, I decided that section needed a little re-working because it was misleading and not really what I intended to say.

Did you see the new Ann Bonny Image? I'm going to pushing that one fro a while. I think I'll do Mary Read next and then start on the male pirates. I really didn't think it would be that popular.

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Ship's log: 21 February 2007

I decided to split up the Ship's Log from the Crossbones Inn. I be figurin' if you want to read updates, then you don't wan to have to scroll past the page that links you to the guestbook. This ways I can also later put musings here just to give you a reason to check back often.

So today's only update is the ship's log and the Crossbones' Inn are now on their own pages. Both have a link to one another at the top of the page iffin' you want to go back and forth reall quick like.

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Ship's log: 16 February 2007

I be changing the The Captain & Crew. Some of the information was yanked and moved to a new section whcih will be expanded. That Section is "Life at Sea" Captain and Crew has also been updated with new crew members. Now when some swab ask you what be a Sea Artist or a pilot you can tell him. Arrh! Both parts in the section titled A Pyrate's Life

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Ship's log: 12 February 2007 You might be interested in the new image of th' pirate lass, Anne Bonny in the Who's Who section. It won't be long before ye see th' image all over the 'net. I made some edits to the ol' wood block. I was always upset that her cutlass was cut off in the original wood block so I put it back in the picture. It always seemed that every copy of that wood block either came from Beej's old collection of pirate images or the copy that I uploaded over 12 years ago. I guess no one ever bothered to re-scan the image. I figured rather than just re-scan it at a higher resolution, I'd also edit the image to include the cutlass. In order to do that, I had to make major changes to the background. Afterwards, I decided why not colorize the image? So Now it is colorized. Of course as soon as you scan it at a higher resolution and colorize the image you quickly notice that Anne's left breast is exposed. In order to keep the site at a PG rating suitable for most elementary schools, I covered up the breast. I'm assuming the image will be swiped and wind up in other sites. That is the nature of the beast. However if you're an honest merchant and are looking for high quality prints of the colorized image (with or without the breast editing, feel free to contact me via the Crossbones Inn. #     #     #

Ship's log: 23 Jan 2007

Ahoy mate! Might you acquiesce to set a course to A Pyrate's Life and peruse the Punishment section. She be updated and expanded with new information!

Some cosemetic changes and type-O's were fixed in the Ships pages. The same goes for Notorious Places. Expecte some new Notorious Places to show up soon.

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Ship's log: 19 Jan 2007

The first update be this here page, matey. The Crossbones Inn 'll be the spot wherein ye'll here it first.. So iffin' a change be made or a new page for the site come aroun' , ye'll be heariin' about it here, me brethren! Now iffin' ye be smart as paint, ye'll check here afore ye go navigatin the whole site iffin' ye be a repeat visitor. This way you'll be a knowin' if somethin' new haswashed ashore or if somethin' old was updated.

Speakin' of overhauls, did ye noticed the front page got careened? Aye, and th site map was thrown overboard! It was th' devil to keep up to date and I really didn't like anyway so it were deposed so to speak!

As for other changes:

They was Pirate Myths & Maritime Monsters, It be done back in Nov. 2006. So If ye haven't pored over her, it be time to give 'er yer attention. They's more under the waves than just the Kraken, lubber!

Pirate Medicine, Pestilence and Pain During the Golden Age of Piracy, now that be a new one for ye to seek out. 'tis a belly full of pain and ye' get to find out how a carpenter might be a cutting yer leg off if ye happen to be a young pirate named Taylor

I've been fiddlin' with all of the pages o'er the last few months, so I won't be bother ye with all the little stuff just the big one..

Of the old page we got out brethren, Calico Jack and Black Sam, slippin' into port and joinin' th' others in Who's Who in Piracy. Now iffin' yer smart as paint, as Ol Long John would say, then ye'll know it's yer dooty to give 'em the once over.

Now some smart swab might be noticin' adiffernt font on the pages. I be usin' Tempus-sans instead of the ol' Oxford these days. .Oxford were a good one but I reckon Tempus just looks cleaner.

Aye, an I reckon ye be seein' that dried blood color on the pages. We be trying to standardize the pages a bit here at the Crossbones Inn, sowere fixin up all those different page titles.

Now some lubbers can't seem to use a cross staff to save a life so we bagan to leave them bread crumbs at the top of the page so you can better plot yer' course when you go navigatin' through the pages. So at the top of the page ye'll be seein' somethin' like this:

That should help ye get around when ye start to drift.

Now, I'll be addin' other entries to this Ship's log as time goes on . Ye'll be seeing mention of the latest pirate booty to cross me bow, be it book, video or other such bauble. So keep yer neck clear of Jack Ketch's hemp and a weather eye open for more booty from Pirates of the Caribbean.

As I won't be deleting entries in the ship's log, just remeber the most current entry be at the top. You'll l know when be at th' end of an entry 'cause you'll be seein' ### in th' middle of the page . If you be readin' past the ### the you'll be readin' an old stuff, lubber.

very best regards, BK

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