Weekly Quote

I am going to take a break this week from the regular weekly quote for something that is monumentally more important:

On this day in 1861, just as the Civil War was heating up, the US Navy, in its infinite wisdom, abolished the daily rum ration for enlisted men. Yes, today is truly a sad day, and I think I may have to drink a Dark & Stormy for all those sailors for whom the rum ration was never part of the daily routine.

UPDATE: Check out Mike Williams' blog for a far better explanation of this than I just gave. Tip of the hat to my shipmate!

Interesting Item on the Beaufort Blog

For any of you interested in the Revolutionary War period, check out this interesting article on the Beaufort Blog.

A Few Interesting Tidbits

Today was a good day and an overall interesting hodge podge of stuff. I convened my first meeting of the Historic Clothing Committee for Historic Sites, a duty which I've taken over since Chris Graham's departure. We had a good turnout and good conversations. I will begin ordering both historical clothing and reproduction weapons and related items very soon. We also decided on a topic for our next workshop, which will be in March and will focus on period fabrics and materials.

This afternoon I attended a meeting of the Museum Educator's Roundtable. As with most organizations, the business meeting was pretty bland, but my breakout group session was very interesting. My group discussed the growing use, as well as pros and cons, of using new social networking technology to promote our museums and communicate with new and ever-changing and growing audiences. So, stuff like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, blogs, etc. and how to best use them to suit our purposes. I think lots of folks, like myself, are sort of just dipping our toes into that water, but there are some that have taken the head first plunge. So, good stuff!

Finally, upon my return home, I found the latest issue of North Carolina Historical Review awaiting me. A couple of very interesting articles in this edition, including "'The Cure for All Our Political Calamities': Archibald Maclaine and the Politics of Moderation in Revolutionary North Carolina" by former blogger John Maass and an article by my friend at the state archives Chris Meekins titled "Unionism and the Arcane Origin of 'Buffalo'". Also some good book reviews in this issue, so I can't wait to get into it (when that will be is anyone's guess).

Damn Pirates - Part II

Here's more on modern-day piracy. Those damn pirates!

Weekly Quote

For those of you who are regular readers (and if you've been paying attention lately) you have probably noticed that I haven't had a quote the past two weeks. Quite simply, I didn't find one that I liked in the book for those weeks and decided to skip over the feature. Well, we're back now with a quote of the week from the Mariner's Book of Days:

I desire no more delight than to be under sail and gone to-night. ~from the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

A Rare Thing....

....and I'm not talking about some historical artifact or something. This weekend is a rare thing in that I have absolutely nothing that I have to do. A weekend where I don't have at least one thing planned is very rare and the timing couldn't be better as the next three weeks are going to be crazy (and of course I'll blog more on that later).

So what plans do I have? Well, I'm going with my mom to visit dad today. He's adjusted well to the nursing home and is doing good. Then tonight I am participating in my first-ever live draft for a fantasy football league. This is one of the things I do that my wife thinks is terribly geeky, but I'm a fantasy sports nut. I play football, baseball, basketball, and hockey every year, each to a varying degree. Since three of those seasons overlap, its not unusual for me to have four or five teams going at once. However, I've never actually participated in a live draft, as I am always busy, but this one is timed just right. While I'm doing that I will also be watching the Steelers preseason game against Minnesota. It just might be football overload, but I'm ready for the season to start.

Sunday there's nothing on tap, but I imagine I'll do something with Lori and maybe try to finish up one of the books I'm reading. I've spent more time in the evenings lately watching the Olympics than reading, but I need to get back on track because Monday is the start of a crazy three weeks.

Damn Pirates

Pirates are at it even today.
Governor Spotswood!? Where's Lieutenant Maynard when you need him?

Photos from Caswell Event

We all had a good time at the Rev War program in Kinston yesterday. Without further adieu, here are some photos (including some of fellow bloggers).Mr. Time Warp Mike Williams working on another kosh Albemarle Soundings proprietor Chris Grimes Bill Barber looks on Blacksmith David Stone works on a project as Jeff Bockert watches Ken (we just call him "Nuts") Sewell and Don Smith - this was Don's first Rev War event Finally, yours truly!

Rev War Weekend

Well, actually, it will only be one day, but tomorrow is the annual Revolutionary War living history at the Richard Caswell Memorial (better known to most folks as the CSS Neuse State Historic Site) in Kinston. Along with a number of other reenactors, the Carolina Living History Guild will be in attendance, mainly as our 5th NC Continental Line persona, although at least one of our members will be doing a sailor impression. This is a small event, but a fun one, as it gives us a chance to socialize and get in a little small arms drill, which is something we don't get to do very often. We will also be shooting our swivel gun and assisting with the 3-pounder from Alamance Battleground. All in all, it should be an enjoyable program.

Final Bit of Pirate Fun

OK, I'm going to stop talking about pirates now, but I had to post this photo, hat tip to the Beaufort Blog. She posted this photo of the Beaufort Fire Department taking part in the 1960 version of the pirate invasion. Fun stuff!

New Projects

Since my colleague Chris Graham left us last month to pursue a new academic route, I have taken on some of his former responsibilities. Check out Chris' blog linked above to see how he's making the transition to his new academic duties.

Anyway, one of the things I picked up from him is the Historic Clothing Committee, a group that works to ensure folks at our sites have the best knowledge available to them towards developing accurate and authentic historic portrayals through costuming. Involvement with this group should help to explain my recent rants against the Pyrates of the world (if you haven't read that banter in my previous post you are really missing something).

Another thing I picked up was Chris' spot on the Vance Birthplace reinterpretation committee. We are working to develop a revised and fresh interpretation at Vance, one of my favorite historic sites. There will not only be new exhibits, which are sorely needed, but also a film and adjustments to the tours that are given of the house and outbuildings on the site. I sat in on my first meeting yesterday and though it means I now have a lot of work to do in catching up, I am excited about the prospects. This also means that my pleasurable reading, which has been difficult to start with, will now have to take a back seat to two Zeb Vance biographies. See the links in the sidebar under What I'm Currently Reading for more info. This is going to be a challenging new adventure for me and I'm ready to go!

Why I Just Can't Get Into the Pyrate Thing

All of my negative biases against pirate reenacting were confirmed yet again this weekend at the Beaufort Pyrate Invasion. I saw more ridiculous crap this weekend than I see at any other type of event. Pirate events just seem to bring out the weirdos and the crazies in all shapes, forms, and fashions, and for some reason people just eat this shit up. But in the long run its more like a Star Trek convention than a real historical event. My personal opinion (and the folks in Beaufort will want to crucify me for this) is that this was just an opportunity for business owners and event organizers to rake in a little money. As a tourism strategy it sure as hell seemed to work. Otherwise, it just seemed like Halloween come two months early for one town in coastal North Carolina.

Now, as a supposedly "historical" event this is where I have real issues. I listened to the narration of the "battle." Fast and loose with the facts would be an understatement. It seemed the narrator was making up whatever he thought sounded good and the crowd was accepting all of this as truth. Furthermore, while some of the reenactors are concerned with authenticity in their costuming and presentation (the Devil Men of the Cape Fear are a good example, but unfortunately they don't have a website) most of the reenactors don't seem to give a damn about being historically accurate. Take for instance the Shadow Players. We talked to their leader at great length. He was a great guy, very personable and easy to talk to. But he admitted very readily that as a stage combat theater group they are not terribly concerned with complete historical authenticity. A look at their website will confirm this.

I could go on about this for a long time, but it would only get my blood pressure up. I wouldn't have a problem with pirate events if they at least tried to be authentic and accurate, and dropped the theatrics and sideshows. I have a hard time taking any "pirate" seriously when he's carrying a caplock pistol or Hawken rifle. As with any other form of living history, if you're going to do it you ought to at least try to do it correctly. But, as long as pirate events bring in the number of tourists they do and make the kind of money they do, organizers will continue putting on these circuses.

On a more positive note, I think my friends from Pennsylvania had a great time, they really enjoyed doing the pirate thing, and I'm glad for that. Greg also had a wonderful time shooting the cannon with us at Fort Macon on Saturday morning, which was a much more authentic experience. I should have photos of that soon.

A-Pyrating I Will Go (sort of)

This is my friend Greg and me. He is from western PA and works for the National Park Service. I met him at the weapons course in February and he has a peculiar interest in pirates. So I sent him the website link for the Beaufort Pyrate Invasion. I thought he might find it amusing. Then he called and said that he and his girlfriend were coming to take part in the festivities. So starting tomorrow morning I will spend most of the weekend with Greg and Rachel doing a lot of pirate stuff. I'm not very enamored of pirates; in fact, I think most of it is overdone and terribly hokey. But, for Greg, I will go a-pyrating for the weekend. Should be interesting.

As a follow-up, for more info on pirates in Beaufort and a Spanish invasion, check out the latest post at the Beaufort Blog.

Weekly Quote

From the Mariner's Book of Days:

It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought. ~John Kenneth Galbraith