QUARANTINE BLOG # 233

November 18, 2020

Yesterday the nickel in the jukebox played “The Auctioneer” by Leroy Van Dyke.  Well, with nothing to do, and time on my hands (5 hours actually) I did a mash-up of the song.  Here is “The Auctioneer” like you’ve never heard it before https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSfU8JzFDHc.

👉  Today’s jukebox selection is “A Deck of Cards,” which relates the tale of a young American soldier arrested and charged with playing cards during a church service, first became a hit in the U.S. in 1948 by country musician T. Texas Tyler.  The highest-charting version was recorded in 1959 by future game show host Wink Martindale, and was performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.  For our nickel today, we get Tex Ritter, and “A Deck of Cards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj3BT5nmgvQ.” 

👉  Counting today, we are still 38 days out from Christmas, but I found something yesterday I know you will want to buy.  It is the perfect Christmas tree ornament for 2020 – and the picture below is not retouched, it appears on the company’s webpage exactly as is:

Now if you want to personalize your very own, prices start at $12.95 for up to 7 heads.  Dogs are $3.95 extra each, and cats are also $3.95 each.  Priority shipping is $4.95.  Get yours delivered in 5-7 business days by ordering at https://www.holidayornamentspecial.com/order-form1600176814632.  You are welcome.

👉  A Michigan couple, Kateri and Jay Schwandt have long attracted attention by the size of their family – 14 sons, the oldest of whom is 28.  

The Schwandts have now welcomed their first daughter. Maggie Jayne, weighed in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces.   Jay Schwandt said he and his wife, both 45, “are overjoyed and beyond excited to add Maggie Jayne to our family.”  Fifteen children.  Maybe they’ll figure out what is causing that and quit.

👉  Here is another bit of presidential humor: President Ronald Reagan and the 3 Legged Chicken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ggU0hfRSvM.

👉  The first talk I wrote when Bonnie and I began cruising was “Pirates of the Caribbean.”  The has changed and adapted over the years to reflect our itinerary.  On a transatlantic sailing it was “When Pirates Sailed the Atlantic.”  Sailing in and out of Port Liberty, NJ, I added “The Pirates of New Jersey.”  Today, by request, I’m beginning a look at “The Golden Age of Sail,” with a scaled down version of that first talk.

Who do you picture in your mind when you think of pirates? 

Maybe you conjure up images of either Errol Flynn as Captain Blood. 

Or perhaps Johnny Depp, from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Or Captain Hook from Peter Pan.

Robert Louis Stevenson was not the first novelist to publish a series of adventure stories about pirates, but his tale for boys, Treasure Island (published in 1883), almost single-handedly established western perceptions of pirates and the world of piracy.

There is a great deal of confusion nowadays regarding the various terms people use interchangeably to describe pirates. However, for a pirate, what he was called often meant the difference between his (or her) life or death.

A pirate was a seafaring criminal who attacks ships of any nationality, during time of war or peace, for purposes of thievery and/or revenge. A privateer was hired during time of war, by government officials to attack enemy cities and ships. They were considered adjuncts to state navies. A buccaneer was originally French and English game hunters of the seventeenth century living on the island of Hispaniola. A swashbuckler is technically not an accurate term used to describe a pirate. In the sixteenth century, the term was slang for a land-based, sword-wielding bandit. Novelists in the early eighteenth century thought this a far more colorful metaphor that embodied the daring men whose tales they were recounting. Swashbuckler has become synonymous with seafaring pirates, not highway robbers.

Choosing to live or die beneath the infamous “black flag” was not for everyone. Those who signed on for pirating were motivated by riches – often beyond their wildest dreams. Others hoped to see the world, prove their manhood, escape criminal prosecution, or to exact revenge upon personal enemies.

Pirates came from all nationalities, circumstances, and backgrounds. Welsh, Irish, English, Scots, French,  Spanish, German, Italian, Greek, and Dutch pirates sailed. Rare, but not unheard of, were a few South Seas natives and North American Indians. 

One of the most famous Pirates came from Puerto Rico.

Wrapping up for today, why did pirates wear earrings? There are four popular theories put forward. Eyesight: There is an acupuncture point in the ear-lobe which relates to eyesight, so pirates wore earrings to improve their vision. Sea-sickness: Sea sickness is brought about by a minuscule imbalance, and an earring in one ear corrects that imbalance. Portable wealth: A gold hoop in the ear would be a relatively safe way of transporting one's wealth around. Funeral expenses: Earrings were worn to pay for a funeral if the pirate drowned and his body washed up ashore.

You can discount the those theories, because the real reason pirates wore earrings was because they were fashionable.

Tomorrow we’ll begin to look at some of the famous, and not so famous pirates.

👉   Today’s close is from Praying with the Psalms, by Eugene H. Peterson.

“Let the sea roar, and all that fills it: the world and those who live in it” (Psalm 98:7 NRSV).

Salvation, which brings God’s wholeness into our lives, develops a capacity in us for total response, which is praise.  Everything and everyone is enlisted in the work of praise: the songs of the people, the melodies of musical instruments, and the sounds of nature.

Prayer: My God and King, bird song and sea-roar accompany the praise I lift to you.  Mine is no solitary voice raised in gratitude; a thunderous and multitudinous congregation is making sounds of thanksgiving, and I am glad to be a part of it.  Amen.

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