Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides: Cap'n Jack vs. Dr. Jones! (a fanboy's review)

I have the most impressive sword of the whole franchise!

Yes, I finally went and saw Pirates 4.  I held off, because unless I'm in a big group and/or in costume, waiting in line to see a movie isn't much fun, in spite of anticipation.  I wore my Rogue Blackbeard Dark Rum tee shirt, which I actually had on before I knew it was movie day.  I had a wee dram of Cruzan on ice beforehand.  I went with my daughter, who was also in the mood.  We did NOT see it in 3D.  And it was a blast.  This is a movie that has taken in nearly a billion dollars worldwide already and has been critiqued up, down, and sideways.  I haven't read any of the reviews, and I won't.  But I do have a few words to say about Pirates 4, using a language I hope you all will understand:  geekspeak.

And I am going to compare it to Indiana Jones.

Logan, Pt. II: The Jacobite Rising of 1715

Back towards the beginning of this blog, I gave some of the deep historical background to "Logan," my character.  I told of the ruined Highland Clan, the Lairds of Restalrig, and my own exploration of Leith.  My fictional bio reads, "Growing up in Leith, Logan learned both the ways of the sea in the Firth of Forth and the North Atlantic and the ways of the smuggler in the difficult times after the Union of the Crowns in 1707.  As a proud Scot opposed to English oppression, Logan stood with the Jacobites in the Battle of Preston."  Now I want to tell this tale, partly as an exercise in bringing various sources together, partly as a warm up for actually writing about Logan.

Warning, this is a LONG POST.

King Robert II of Scotland

Let's start with a a little royal history.  The Stuarts had been the Kings of Scotland almost as far back as the legendary Robert the Bruce, King Robert I.  His daughter married the "High Steward of Scotland," i.e. "Stewart" or "Stuart," and their son became Robert II, first of the Stuart Kings.  The Stuarts ruled Scotland through the 14th and 15th centuries.  In 1503, James IV of Scotland married King Henry VII's daughter, Margaret Tudor, and, with the birth of their son, the Stuarts now had a claim on the throne of England.  This led to the much-storied conflict between Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; his half-cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots; and Queen Elizabeth I.  Although Mary lost her head, her cause eventually won.  When Elizabeth died without an heir, it was the son of Mary and Lord Darnley, King James VI of Scotland, who peacefully gained the throne of England, Scotland, and Ireland with the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

Visitor 1,000!

...appears to have reached Logan via my Somalia Update post that noted the averted pirate attack on the MV Arillah I...and may have actually been a visitor from Saudi Arabia!

Booze and Boat Bits #2 (5 short items of interest)

1:  Yesterday was one of my worst sailing experiences ever.  It wasn't the boat, and it wasn't the wind.  It was the dynamic of the people aboard the vessel.  I think it was also something dark welling up from the murk and ruins under Lake Union, because there seemed to be a general sense of grumpiness and lack of good cheer among all the Duck Dodge participants.  Why else would we see no one raft up at the end of the race, especially on Pirate Night???  All dressed up and in no mood to party.  What made yesterday even more disappointing was that this was the night we chose to introduce Bev to the Dodge.  This was not a total failure, but it was a lesson and a letdown.  The event is well-described by Zanne over at Zzyzx Kitchen.

2:  You must join the Revolution.

Reality check--what I do, how, and why

An anonymous comment just appeared on one of my posts:  "why do you (and pauline) act like experts when all you do is google stuff and rip off others that are actual experts. you think a dumb ass costume makes you the authority? you should have stayed in school and gotten some credibility and learned a little thing about copyright issues and plagarism and maybe you actually be a crew member on an underwater excavation project instead of telling stories in costume to cranky children and 'blogging'."

I cannot speak directly for Pauline, but I want to take a moment and address this generally...

• I do not claim to be an expert.  I am nothing more than an interested person who, like all good commentators, strives not only to share information but also to make sure that information is accurate. 
• I do not claim to have any great influence upon matters, but this does not mean that I am not involved.  I do sail, I do volunteer, and I do try to stay abreast of events.  Most importantly, I care, and that is why I do this.
• It is not plagiarism when sources are duly noted and/or quoted.  It is the nature of even real academia to gather information from a variety of sources and interpret it from your own perspective.  As a Doctoral Candidate in an academic discipline with 10 years of graduate education, this is something I know about.  Coincidentally, I got a BA from U.C. Berkeley, Magna Cum Laude, in historical archaeology, so, yeah, I know something about that, too.
• My costume and my blog do not give me authority, only an audience, and for this I am grateful.
• I do, by the way, know how to use the English language correctly, like spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

I view the Journal of Blue Lou Logan as an opportunity to share passion, knowledge, and perspective.  I work hard to be accurate and truthful.  I thank you for giving me this chance.