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Pirate Fest, June 2013 - Put-in-Bay, OH
Mission Bear and Luggage
Chapter 7th: Of Sunday morning, including: Mission Bear; Pirates cracking the whip in the park; A bit more on the Displays (but not too much because we already thrashed that out pretty thoroughly a few chapters ago); Things of note that happened at the Surgeon's Table... maybe a few things of not much note as well; Jennie's Kraken; What about Lob?; More of the Kids at Put-in-Bay this year; Preparing charges for the battle and the ever-popular feature Things Jay Does.
Sunday morning is always a bit melancholy because I have to get my luggage together and check out of the nice hotel which is a reliable source of air conditioning. However, after breakfasting early at Pasquales, I got everything assembled and left the Park Hotel with my bag, Phydeaux, in tow. You can see Phydeaux there at left with my backpack and the boxes needed to transport all my surgical tools. You also see Mission bear peeking out of the backpack, which I did primarily so I could take this photo.
Regular readers will recall that Mission Bear was a surprise made for me by Trudi Dufrense. He came as a sort of extra when I contracted Trudi to make me a set of twin bears for Mae and Brig. This all started when I announced that I was the third twin, a joke I started years ago the crux of which I honestly don't recall. Trudi knew about this, so when I asked her to make twin bears for me, she added him because she felt the twin bears must include the third twin as part of the set.
Mission Bear sits on my dresser most of the time. I decided to bring him because... he's Mission Bear! Actually, I usually have a pretty grisly chopped off hand business card holder on my table which broke. So Mission Bear was filling in for the grisly, chopped-off hand business card holder. Make sense? (No, it doesn't make sense to me either.) As stuffed pirate mascots go, Lob is obnoxious and Flapjack is sort of cute and childlike. Mission Bear is... Mission Bear. What can I say? I don't generally imbue my possessions with personalities. I use him to explain the role of the apron in the surgeon's job. (And sometimes to explain amputations, but not usually. Too much of that and he'd just be another shade of Lob.)
 Photo: Sos Boss Mission Bear and His Namesake at the Surgeon's Table |
 Photo: Sos Boss MB & Beads. I don't want to know what he did to get them. |
At a lot of events, there is often some activity that everyone seems to want to try out. While there wasn't truly such an activity this year at Put-in-Bay, the bullwhip came about as close as anything. M.A. d'Dogge got the whip out before the displays in Site B were officially opened and started cracking the whip. This is the sort of entertainment that immediately appeals to the Wrong Crowd, so several of them had to try it as well.
 Photo: Mission M.A. d'Dogge Cracks the Whip |
 Photo: Michael Colossimo M.A. d'Dogge Dramatic |
 Photo: Sos Boss Vince & the Whip |
 Photo: Michael Colossimo Ed Snaps the Whip |
Opening time rolled around, and Site B became a hive of reenacting activity and learning about the golden age of piracy as you see in the photos of the camp below. (The bullwhip got put away. It doesn't do to accidentally thrash your audience with braided leather. They don't tend to stay around to learn about the golden age of piracy when that happens for some reason.)
 Site B Coming from the Street |
 Site B Coming from the Public Rest Rooms |
The displays were covered in detail in Chapter 4, so we won't go through that again. However, I have some other photos from them from Sunday that I wanted to share. The first two are from the weapons display, partially because this fascinates so many reenactors and partially because it was right next to me and it was so easy for me to take photos. (I am nothing if not lazy.) I believe this is a primary focus for a lot of reenactors because they spend a lot of time researching the right types of weapons and how they are used as well as a fair chunk of change procuring them. It interests the public because it's one of those things you immediately think of when the topic of pirates come up.
 Dan Reveals the Hidden Mysteries of Weapons to the Jack Sparrow Crew |
 Harrison Pease Tells the Public about Pirates and Swords |
Speaking of Harrison Pease, it's time we talked more about him. Harrison came to us from the Navy, which means he likely has ten times more sea experience than the rest of us combined. He said that his favorite part of the event was "roaming around the camp site and talking and getting to know everyone and hanging out afterwards for dinner."
Photo: Terry Smith - Harrison Spies a Prize...
I asked him what he liked about reenacting and he told me that, "Unlike watching history on a movie or documentary, or reading about it in a book, you get to experience it firsthand. You can actually step into a character and become that individual and learn through personal practice what it was like to live in that role and how to cope with the tools and resources available."
He got out of the Navy in 2012 after having served as a nuclear engineer on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. Aircraft carriers have long fascinated the engineer in me because they're so huge. (Harrison told me they're so big that they contain obscure areas where you can go and get a moment of peace during your off hours. He talked about watching the sun set in Japan from a small deck off the side of the Geo. Wash.) I asked him what he liked best about Japan and he told me about how friendly the people were. "They have this fantastic way of integrating the old and the new of their culture together. You can be walking in a busy metropolis with skyscrapers all around and suddenly there is a Shogun temple in the middle of it all, and it doesn't look old or out of place -- it just all fits."
Harrison used worked on the Santa Maria back in 2007. He happens to be the person responsible for bringing George/Ken into the fold on the SM. He revealed that one of the things that impressed him most about his first pirate reenactment (this past May on the Santa Maria) was I was "how well organized and professional this group was." Harrison is currently going to school for mechanical and electrical engineering.
 Photo: Jim Shipley Harrison Thinks He's Eastwood |
 Photo: Jim Shipley Harrison and Santa Maria Recruit George |
 Photo: US Navy The USS George Washington Aircraft Carrier in Port |
Photo: Jim Shipley
Billie With the Old Ball and Chain
The food table was also close enough to me to warrant a few extra photos. It looked resplendent as you can see in the photos below. Billie Beach was in one of the photos, apparently explaining food to one of the kids at the event. Or maybe trying to fool the kid into thinking he could buy something off the food table. (Billie is the model of a modern pirate reenactor, after all.) Or maybe he was telling the kid a story about that time he was anchored off St. Christopher's and he managed to convince the islanders that he would transport their annual coconut crop back to England and arrange its sale for them and then bring the proceeds back. (Thus allowing him to drink free coconut milk for months. I don't know if you can ferment coconut milk or not, but I'll bet Billie would have figured a way.)
Not related to the food table (although you can see it in the background) is a photo of Billie wearing a ball and chain. (What do you mean this has nothing to do with the food table? See, there was the food table, then there was Billie and the food table...
Photo: Jim Shipley
Billie With the New Ball and Chain, Having a Pipe
so we're just following a natural progression of images here.)
Now, you may recall that Billie was recently seen laying on his back in the grass next to Grace (Tammi's little dog) at the Site A encampment, apparently waiting to get his belly rubbed like Grace. And you may also recall that Grace had the ball and chain attached to her, Here we see that Billie also his it attached and...well, you can draw the next conclusion. (I'm not trying to say that Billie is a dog. Well, not directly.)
While trolling about, looking at images, I also found the one you see here at right, which proves that Billie is something of a horn dog. He apparently offered to share a pipe and bottle with her which appears to have worked out well for everyone. Some people say 'What happens on Put-in-Bay stays on Put-in-Bay', but it clearly doesn't because I posted this image. Not that Billie probably cares either way.
 Photo: Michael Colossimo Another Luscious Photograph of the Food Table at Put-in-Bay |
 Photo: Michael Colossimo Bille and a Kid at the Food Table - "No soup for you!" |
Photo: Jim Shipley
Billie With the Old Ball and Chain
Over at the Navigation Display, Jennie Gist had a new guest. Actually, she had acquired this new guest over in the vendor's tent across the way. He was in the form of a stuffed green and blue kraken. (For some reason our group seems to be intent upon acquiring a cadre of stuffed pirate animals. This is curious, given that I'm not aware of stuffed animals even being around during the golden age of piracy. Perhaps we can outfit them all in period garb like Mission Bear. With such an army, we might take over the world! Or not..)
I don't know if the octopus/kraken was meant to be a part of the Gist's navigation display. (Then again, he would make a heck of a navigator with eight arms if he could use the tools.) I suspect she bought him to be a part of their Steampunk outfits.
Whatever he (or possibly she) was meant for, Bess, aka. Cheeky Actress, decided he was meant to be a hat.
 Jennie & the Kraken |
 Mary Diamond Admires the Kraken from Afar |
 Cheeky Actress Wears the Kraken |
Cheeky Actress as Guest Surgeon - Explaining Cupping
For the last bit on the display, we turn to the surgeon's table. (Because it's mine, which means I can put it whereever I want.) Several folks filled in for me this year while I wandered about. You've already seen Carla of the Sos Boss crew. Today Cheeky Actress also took the helm as you see at right.
There were some interesting and knowledgeable members of the public at my table this weekend. I often get nurses, dentists and even a doctor or two who recognize some of the instruments, but today I got the daughter of a barber. Not just a barber, but a barber who taught barbering at a college in Akron, Ohio. You can see her in the images below left. She knew all about straight razors, although she didn't know that period straight razors were different than modern safety razors. (The sides of period razors are not scalloped to fit fingertips. That's one of the 'safety' features of a safety razor.)
The Birhory Progeny and Your Surgeon at the Table
The Bihary family also went out of their way to visit me today. They had seen my presentation yesterday and wanted to know if they could get a photo of me with the kids behind the table. I immediately agreed to that for a reciprocal photo.
They asked me all sorts of questions about how I got into this and where the tools came from. The grandfather was surprised to learn that I was not actually a surgeon in real life and then was delighted to learn that I was an engineer. It turns out this his family contained four engineers - two chemical engineers and two mechanicals. So I asked them if I could get a photo with them. (They didn't ask for a reciprocal photo, although they were certainly entitled to one at that point.)
Then he revealed that one of his granddaughters had gotten a scratch and asked how I thought they should treat that. I showed them. Suddenly noting that I was an engineer and not a surgeon, the family decided to resort to Band-aids and ointment for some reason. (You can only help those who are willing to be helped. I think that's in the Hippocratic Oath.)
 A Barber's Girl |
 The Bihary Family of Engineers (or Engineer's Kids) |
 An Impromptu Amputation |
Pirate festivals are usually kid magnets and Put-in-Bay is no exception as you've already seen. For some reason, this never ceases to amaze me, perhaps because the island is more adult-oriented than kid-oriented. Still, I have lots of evidence to prove this, so I thought I would stick some more kid photos in this Journal. We begin with several character studies of single figures.
 Photo: Mission Pip Preparing to Speak |
 Photo: Mission A Young Pirate and His Sword |
 Photo: Mission A More Modern Take... Sort Of... |
 Photo: Sos Boss A Princess Pirate |
There were also a number of activities in Site B for kids at this event. In fact, as I was going through these photos, noticing all the things we have for kids to do, I began to wonder why I should be surprised that there are so many of them. Below are just some of the many examples.
 Photo: Sos Boss The Kid's Tent is Hat with the Kids (Natch) |
 Photo: Terry Smith Cheeky Set Up Wood Pin Bowling for a Bit |
 Photo: Mission Spyglass Trials in Nathan's Store |
 Photo: Michael Colossimo You Could Learn Expert Sword Fighting. (Or M.A. d'Dogge could teach you.) |
 Photo: Michael Colossimo Or You Could Sit on the Dock of the Bay with Mom |
Now, you may be wondering what became of Lob. I was certainly wondering, as you can see in the photo below left. Lob had abandoned us again on Saturday night, which concerned me because he is essential for breaking up the serious stories in these Journals. (Well... 'sort of' serious stories. OK, there are no serious stories. Let's just say Lob adds an extra level of nonsense to the usual level of nonsense and leave it at that.) So we sent Jim Shipley off to search for Lob. He searched high and low (literally), but he couldn't find him.
 Photo: Michael Colossimo Your Author Worrying About the Whereabouts of Lob |
 Photo: Michael Colossimo "He's not near me, not in this tree, he's I can't see, Sam I Am." |
"Stupid writer surgeon! Lob is right here on watermelon! Lob never left! I no went out at night or trashed Round House Bar or steal nine pairs of women's underwears no matter what burly bouncer boy says! It's a lie! That was Alloicius, who is different brown monkey! Entirely other monkey! Lob is been sitting right here on this watermelon, waiting for silly pirate people to return so Lob can go home and read bibles passages!"
"Look! Lob is friendly and harmless. Making friends with squeezy purplish creature on net in other monkey Flapear's booth. Hello, ugly bulb-noggin! Ha ha, creature looks like saggy eggplant bagpipe head! Hee hee! Lob is glad he only has four arms to be pulled on instead of eight like you! See? I can grab arms and yank on them like... Yah! Quit jumping around like that! Let go of Lob! What are you doing? It flying purple monkey eater! Hmph! Lob thinks he go wait in car for the rest of the day!"
 Photo: Michael Colossimo Lob, the Innocent, On a Watermelon. |
 Photo: Sos Boss Lob and His New 'Friend'... |
 Photo: Sos Boss Lob Being Eaten By His New Friend |
Something else that happened was the black powder cartridge filling party in preparation for the battle. This actually happened yesterday as well, but with so many things going on, it got left out. So I figured I'd stick it in here since it's really the same thing each day. (You know?) Basically, this is the art of making little paper tubes and then measuring the appropriate amount of black powder into them for use when firing the guns during the battle. You can see the crew doing this below.
 Photo: Terry Smith's Camera Jay Babcock, Terry Smith & Marcus Cain Loading Cartridges |
 Photo: Terry Smith's Camera Terry, Adam Mudd and Jay Looking Proud of Their Work |
Now, you may have noticed Jay Babcock was an integral part of the cartridge filling process, which means... it's time for another episode of Things Jay Does! It's been far too long since we did one of these. In fact, I think the last one was at the spring Columbus Pirate Weekend on the Santa Maria. So let's close out this page by remedying that.
 Photo: Mission Jay Standing to Load Cartridges |
 Photo: Terry Smith Jay Sitting to Load the Cartridge. (It's Easier That Way.) |
 Photo: Terry Smith Close Up of Things Jay Does! " It Takes a Very Steady Hand..." |
 Photo: Terry Smith Jay Changes It Up and Uses the Brass Measuring... Thingee... |
 Photo: Terry Smith Jay And His Work. There's a LOT of Cartridges in That Box. |