All good things must come to an end, but I do not look forward to the last installment in the POTC franchise. I really, really enjoy the character of Jack Sparrow. I truly escape all else when watching Depp drift around, pirating his way through each film. Sparrow is easily my favorite film character, eclipsing even the Dude.
On Stranger Tides had me worried, without Bloom and Knightley, but it proved to be just what I needed. Bringing in Edward Teach (Blackbeard) was terrific. I really appreciate how the writers draw on pirate lore and history to make it feel a bit more authentic (even though we all know it's just goofy fun).
I watched it in 2d at a regular theatre, then again in 3d at the local IMAX. It's no eyecandy film like Inception, so I don't know if the extra $10 or so was worth it, but the sound and picture quality was top-notch, anyway. (It was worth it for me, but then...)
OST is full of laughs, action, intrigue, lore....what more could anyone wish for? Oh wait, I've got it: more!!!
Showing posts with label pirates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pirates. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Arrrrrhhhhh!
So, last fall I started building a playground for my kids. It's to be modeled after a pirate ship. I've been documenting progress on that project at another blog: http://www.pirateshipplayground.blogspot.com
I often sit at the window, wishing it were better weather. These days, I've been out in the elements every chance I can get. We've made tremendous progress lately. I can now begin to see my project coming into its own. I have a target date of Spring Break for the christening of the pirate ship.
It is not without concerns that I build this beastie. I know that every playground is dangerous. Every time my kids monkey around on one, I worry. It's another issue, however, when the very playground I build somehow leads to an injury. That's creeping me out. To compensate, I've been collecting wood chips (now about 10 truck loads) which I will layer at least a foot deep all around the ship to cushion the boys' landings. Even so, I've got to attend to ways they might hang themselves in the rigging, how they might catch their heads between the rail posts, how they might find some inventive way to jump ship at some height I would not like. Worry, worry, worry!
On the other hand, the ship gives me something constructive to do. I can exhaust my creative energies on that project for a good long while. I've yet to design the gunwales, the anchor, the bow, the rigging, etc. I've ideas of the ship's exterior, but I don't know if I can really make it look like I imagine it might. I've got to create a captain's quarters, a ship's wheel, and various other nautical marvels, too. The boys want me to start on sea creatures next, to surround or perhaps accost the ship. I'll make those of concrete, somehow, I suppose...or better yet, let them make something of their own imagination!
Good times!
I often sit at the window, wishing it were better weather. These days, I've been out in the elements every chance I can get. We've made tremendous progress lately. I can now begin to see my project coming into its own. I have a target date of Spring Break for the christening of the pirate ship.
It is not without concerns that I build this beastie. I know that every playground is dangerous. Every time my kids monkey around on one, I worry. It's another issue, however, when the very playground I build somehow leads to an injury. That's creeping me out. To compensate, I've been collecting wood chips (now about 10 truck loads) which I will layer at least a foot deep all around the ship to cushion the boys' landings. Even so, I've got to attend to ways they might hang themselves in the rigging, how they might catch their heads between the rail posts, how they might find some inventive way to jump ship at some height I would not like. Worry, worry, worry!
On the other hand, the ship gives me something constructive to do. I can exhaust my creative energies on that project for a good long while. I've yet to design the gunwales, the anchor, the bow, the rigging, etc. I've ideas of the ship's exterior, but I don't know if I can really make it look like I imagine it might. I've got to create a captain's quarters, a ship's wheel, and various other nautical marvels, too. The boys want me to start on sea creatures next, to surround or perhaps accost the ship. I'll make those of concrete, somehow, I suppose...or better yet, let them make something of their own imagination!
Good times!
Friday, October 02, 2009
Pirates of the Caribbean
Normally, I am more-or-less immune to overtly commercial franchise products, re-imaginings of comics into film, multi-billion dollar corporate media manifestations and the like. So what sense is there in me being so very obsessed with a Disney park ride converted into a series of campy films? The franchise is nothing but a cash cow (global box office of the three films comes to over 2 billion bucks!) Is it my alleged man-crush on Johnny Depp? Is it (more likely, by my assessment) a fascination with Keira Knightley?
I cannot explain it. I cannot dismiss it, either. When people ask me that hypothetical question, "If you could meet anyone, absolutely anyone on earth from any time period, who would it be?" I am just as likely as not to say "Captain Jack Sparrow!" If I have my headphones on at work or my earbuds in at play, it's more-than-likely I'm listening to Hans Zimmer's Pirate's soundtracks (as I am at this very moment). I am looking forward to a lot of things, like the end of the semester in 73 days, 5 hours and 3 minutes, but I am especially (more than anything else) looking forward to Pirates IV, On Stranger Tides, where Barbosa and Sparrow will sail in search of the Fountain of Youth!
I think I'm always looking for a hero, and when I find one in the more unlikely places, like on the deck of a pirate ship, I am pleased.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Ahoy--playground ideas ahead...
Building Things is something that brings me pleasure, from lego castles to model cars to raised garden beds and (this last week) carports. I find Building Things a close second to Fixing Things.
As previously mentioned on this blog, I am plotting to build a pirate ship playground, and as I am not restricted by ordinances, I am able to pick/choose standards of safety, etc. For instance, I am going to have a rope swing, for kids on my equipment are not going to strangle themselves w/the rope. (We have had a tire swing for some time now and report no fatalities.) I am honestly trying to plan for safety (no heads caught between ropes/bars, no falls of any great distance w/n the structure, reasonable slope to the slide, etc).
I am hoping to use unconventional materials, too. Why be limited to packaged deals, to new lumber, etc? Salvaged wood is better for me. Anytime I can Build Things of Salvaged Things--well, that's a double whammy for me. I know this: I'm going to build something out of old wooden pallets I'll upcycle into a building or part of this playground. I'm building cannons from rusty old sewer pipe. We'll make a ship's wheel from the remains of a garden cultivator. (I need a welder to make some of my dreams come true.) I want to get hold of old wooden barrel staves to make cool stairway railing, but that's hard to come by in KS. I'm looking into culvert pipe liners as a basis for a pipe slide. Half the fun is re-engineering materials into this themed playground.
It's also fun to combine form and function. Part of the rope ladder will be for climbing, but some will be just for looks. Some of the sails will be for shade as well as effect. The cross members on the mast (obviously I know little of ships, to date, or I'd give some technical name like spars or "yippin' yappies") will be the support for conventional swings. The pipe slide will run the interior of the ship, for the boys said "a stupid yellow slide did not look pirate-shippy."
Some over-the-top ideas we're entertaining include a real water cannon, a brig, and stage two... tie-in to a nearby tree house.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Aspiring Pirate Playhouse Artist
Aye! That's me.
I've been surfing the net for two years and have found no better model than Daniel's Wood Land, Inc.
I so wish I could afford one of their ships, but I'll have to make my own. My boys and I have been scheming and drafting for some time now, and I hope to begin construction this fall. (Hey, I built an entire haunted house, I don't think this will really be that challenging!)
I have very lofty ambition but little resources. I do have trees, and that's a start. I'm hoping to make it something like the Swiss Family Robinson tree house at WDW (or better).
It will likely not be finished before my boys turn into men.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Piracy and Plagiarism
I was elated to receive the film in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series for Christmas. Though it’s silly to admit, I’ve bought into the pirate craze. I play pirates with my boys (we even dress up). I collect Jack Sparrow memorabilia. On September 19, “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” I ‘treated’ my classes to a day of pirate lore and language. Now, I’m educated enough to know that all this is myth and fancy, that pirates were swarthy at best and certainly not a people to celebrate. Nonetheless, I find myself, for lack of a better word…hooked.
However, as smitten as I may be in my mainmast, there’s a form of piracy I have no truck with: plagiarism. This is vastly different from robbing and pillaging fellow vessels at sea. Plagiarism is the theft of ideas, and the very idea of it shivers me timbers.
I am an instructor of English Composition II, and in that capacity, I teach responsible use of credible source material. I spend hours on finding and evaluating resources, and we spend even more time insuring that all material is adequately incorporated and documented—giving a nod to the original source and inspiration of the student’s research paper. We cover other material in that course, but I consider this my greatest contribution to a student’s academic future, for they will be writing papers throughout college and then engaging in professional writing all their lives. It is my greatest contribution and also my highest duty to equip people to find good support and use it correctly.
All that said, every semester I find students who operate quite contrary to everything I hold dear. These individuals, well-versed in attributing material to its source and very well-aware of the consequences of not doing so, still cheat. I am most amazed and perturbed with those who cut and paste entire web pages to word processor, then submit the work as their own (without the least bit of editing or attention to detail). In academia, this is roughly equivalent to those “stupid criminal” reports and Darwin awards. In my class room, it is absolutely unforgivable and results in a failure in the course.
As astonishing as this may seem, students are not especially disinclined toward cheating. A recent survey reported 78% of high school students had engaged in copying, submitting others’ work as their own, or resorting to some new-fangled, high tech form of cheating employing text messaging or mobile phone photography. 75% of students in traditional classes admit they have cheated (Rowe, Cheating in Online Student Assessment: Beyond Plagiarism, 2004). Schools nationwide are finally ramping up to cope with this epidemic by recasting policy and procedure. Never one to think legislation or regulation is the answer, I am fishing for what truly may be a good fix.
To me, it seems to be a cultural issue. Not too long ago, illegal file sharing was in the news, for millions of songs were being shared via download without any royalties (the rough equivalent of acknowledgement in general) returning to the artists or industry. Even after being bombarded on the news with cases of individuals being fined and imprisoned, the practice of pirating music and other files runs rampant. People shrug it off, saying it’s no big deal and the likelihood of getting caught is minimal. I know one individual who brags that he has ‘ripped’ over 300 feature films off the Internet. One of my relatives claims to have over a gigabyte of illegally downloaded music on his mp3 player.
Even at play, our culture seems to vilify cheating. Over the holiday, I played a new board game based on a popular television show. Built right into the game were two versions of cheating, namely copying and peeking. Of course, media has always glamorized the criminal element, (like, oh, say…pirates) but when this gets so very close to the class room, and therefore my line of work, I become very attentive.
If it is a cultural phenomena, like childhood obesity, road rage, and abuse of mobile phones, then I feel it should first and best be addressed in the home. It surely should not be something that is neglected until college. Students who ‘get away with’ these practices for 20 years should not suddenly be brought to task. That makes no more sense to me than legislating the drinking age.
Education on plagiarism should begin, in my opinion, with young children. It should likely start with property rights and ownership, then progress to the ownership of ideas. Somewhere there, it seems, we all just turn a blind eye. Anyone with a patent or copyright, however, will be quick to tell you that an idea is in some ways tangible and in every way something that can be owned (and therefore stolen).
I suppose I should begin by lecturing my kids while we watch Captain Jack Sparrow stealing ships from the British Navy. I should wag a finger and nag my boys on ownership and honesty.
Maybe I will, after I watch it a few more times for fun.
However, as smitten as I may be in my mainmast, there’s a form of piracy I have no truck with: plagiarism. This is vastly different from robbing and pillaging fellow vessels at sea. Plagiarism is the theft of ideas, and the very idea of it shivers me timbers.
I am an instructor of English Composition II, and in that capacity, I teach responsible use of credible source material. I spend hours on finding and evaluating resources, and we spend even more time insuring that all material is adequately incorporated and documented—giving a nod to the original source and inspiration of the student’s research paper. We cover other material in that course, but I consider this my greatest contribution to a student’s academic future, for they will be writing papers throughout college and then engaging in professional writing all their lives. It is my greatest contribution and also my highest duty to equip people to find good support and use it correctly.
All that said, every semester I find students who operate quite contrary to everything I hold dear. These individuals, well-versed in attributing material to its source and very well-aware of the consequences of not doing so, still cheat. I am most amazed and perturbed with those who cut and paste entire web pages to word processor, then submit the work as their own (without the least bit of editing or attention to detail). In academia, this is roughly equivalent to those “stupid criminal” reports and Darwin awards. In my class room, it is absolutely unforgivable and results in a failure in the course.
As astonishing as this may seem, students are not especially disinclined toward cheating. A recent survey reported 78% of high school students had engaged in copying, submitting others’ work as their own, or resorting to some new-fangled, high tech form of cheating employing text messaging or mobile phone photography. 75% of students in traditional classes admit they have cheated (Rowe, Cheating in Online Student Assessment: Beyond Plagiarism, 2004). Schools nationwide are finally ramping up to cope with this epidemic by recasting policy and procedure. Never one to think legislation or regulation is the answer, I am fishing for what truly may be a good fix.
To me, it seems to be a cultural issue. Not too long ago, illegal file sharing was in the news, for millions of songs were being shared via download without any royalties (the rough equivalent of acknowledgement in general) returning to the artists or industry. Even after being bombarded on the news with cases of individuals being fined and imprisoned, the practice of pirating music and other files runs rampant. People shrug it off, saying it’s no big deal and the likelihood of getting caught is minimal. I know one individual who brags that he has ‘ripped’ over 300 feature films off the Internet. One of my relatives claims to have over a gigabyte of illegally downloaded music on his mp3 player.
Even at play, our culture seems to vilify cheating. Over the holiday, I played a new board game based on a popular television show. Built right into the game were two versions of cheating, namely copying and peeking. Of course, media has always glamorized the criminal element, (like, oh, say…pirates) but when this gets so very close to the class room, and therefore my line of work, I become very attentive.
If it is a cultural phenomena, like childhood obesity, road rage, and abuse of mobile phones, then I feel it should first and best be addressed in the home. It surely should not be something that is neglected until college. Students who ‘get away with’ these practices for 20 years should not suddenly be brought to task. That makes no more sense to me than legislating the drinking age.
Education on plagiarism should begin, in my opinion, with young children. It should likely start with property rights and ownership, then progress to the ownership of ideas. Somewhere there, it seems, we all just turn a blind eye. Anyone with a patent or copyright, however, will be quick to tell you that an idea is in some ways tangible and in every way something that can be owned (and therefore stolen).
I suppose I should begin by lecturing my kids while we watch Captain Jack Sparrow stealing ships from the British Navy. I should wag a finger and nag my boys on ownership and honesty.
Maybe I will, after I watch it a few more times for fun.
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