Renaissance

I recently went to a renaissance faire in Florence, Alabama. I had a good time dressing as my alter ego, Shipwreck. It was similar to the one in Atlanta Georgia, only much smaller. It’s kind of like a big costume party, if you will. It is interesting to see the many different costumes that people wear, and how elaborate they can get. For example there was an antler man, a troll, and statue, and several other crazy ideas.







I met a few other pirate characters as well. The experience itself is fun to me, kind of like going to a big carnival. It is interesting to see how today’s culture views the renaissance age, especially the way they dressed and the things they did.

fire

Boston

Constitution
Back once again in the small town, after spending two weeks in the Big City. Man was it Great!! Ok, it was my third time going, but each time I find that the experience is just more intense. I did a lot of the same stuff as I did before so most all of the places I went and the things I did were repetitive but it was still fun. The people I met were great.

Godspeed
This Time the Jamestown Ship The Godspeed was in port. I had a chance to visit it. It was a great tour and the guide was really knowledgeable.

liberty clipper
I also went sailing out on the Liberty Clipper. The sunset Cruise was the best!! The captain took us out to Castle Island by Fort Independence, and then back around to the harbor. What a great ride. The crew was real friendly too.

Castle Island

roseway
I also met the crew of the Roseway. Those guys were pretty great too. Tom, The captain took time on his day off to let me come aboard and tour the ship. What a great guy! If I go Back up to Boston I will be sure to try to sail on the Roseway as well.
The best thing to me of course being in the Navy, and the reason for the trip is The USS CONSTITUTION. What a spectacular craft and the crew are great. A met a few new shipmates there and hopefully will be able to keep in touch with them. Always a good choice, and part of the freedom tail in downtown Boston. Lots of good places on the trail, like the Bunker Hill Memorial, The Old North Church, Paul Revere’s house, and my favorite hangout, The Green Dragon. So if your ever up that way Check it all out!!

It's been awhile

Haven't heard from me in a while have you? well Just haven't had anything much to say. I recently....well not too recent... about a month ago went fishing a couple of days in a row. I wrote a short...well not too short story about my recent adventures. hers is one that was posted on another page. the other one will be posted soon. You can read the other one on my group link. http://groups.myspace.com/OchlockneeRiverYachtClub . Find a chair and get ready for :

Dinner on the Table



What is a day off? A day off is when you can do whatever it is YOU want to do. Most will agree to that. Very few times do I have a Saturday for doing what I want. This time was different. No opointments, no job, no chores, well there is always chores, but why do today what can put off till tommorrow? It's Saturday morning at 6:00 in the morning. The crack of dawn, the boat is loaded and ready for the big game. The last bit of last night's supper was a quick breakfast now it's time to shove off. At 6:10 it's fishing time. At the river, the last minute checks on the gear, the lines were untangled the Mudpuppy is prepared for launch. Back down into the water and off the trailer she goes! Now at anchor, The Mudpuppy awaits her captain. The trolling motor mounted, the gas motor sits in the bow, the Camera ready for action, just in case. Anchors aweigh and then lines out. Acajun thunder with a cricket dangling ever so delightful on the end, and a bottom rig with a pond worm dragging the bottom. Nothing. Move and nothing, and this trend continues for a few minutes. Now a noisy group comes arounf the bend laughing and talking ruining the silence of a perfect morning. Finally they get in the river and head down stream, the direction that was the most probable until the motor mouth headed that way. To spare the agony of enduring an annoying encounter with the motormouth once again, it was time for a change of plans. After no luck it was definitely time for a change of scenery.Upriver we haed to an ajoining pond just to the other side of the ramp from where I had just launched althouh there is no connecting waterway except to go into the river and back up to reach the pond. Now that in itself could be a story. It is full of trees overhanging willows and sort of swift current for a trolling motor, not really deep enough in most places to use a gas motor without the endagerment of sheering a pin or catching the foot on a log just under the surface. A struggle it was, but with a little effort and a lot of ducking it finally pays off. It opens into the pond and just to the left of the river bend, is a set of lillie pads. 10 minutes go by......nothing. Now it's time to change to gas, for the struggle about to begin will need a little more power than 12 volts and 27 lbs of thrust. First try, go straight up across the sandbar....No dice. Second try, go around the sandbar to the other swift water side and give it the full throttle. Not going. Ok go back to the sandbar drag her across, and hit the gas hard! Acoss we go only to run into yet another obtsicle. Swift water and small openings, just enough to squeeze through. after some some struggling and starting over again and again, with some special manuevers, I make to to the Big Water. The big water is the Hwy 19 bridge, where the the river opens nice and wide for about a mile or so up to where the Little Ochlocknee River runs in. So off to the farthest point I can go. On a previous trip, I had went up about three to four miles until I could no longer go because of Logs all the way across. Thinking I would do this again I made it just past the mouth of the Little Ochlocknee and ran aground once again. Not wanting to press my luck anymore, it wa time to cast out the lines, first the worm the the cricket......the cajun thunder hands in a root system and breaks off, Time to re-rig. A bobber and a hook ..no weight. the bobber slightly above the hook. I call this the David Parker Theory. Now David is a friend of mine, and he once told me that this application works well on Lake Miccosukee. It has been said tht some times this is the only method that works on a hot summer day. Now its not summer just yet, but it was deffinetly time to test out the theory. Cricket next to the bank... down she goes!! the fight is on! Wait! what is this ? a minnow! How can that be? He can barely get the hook in his mouth! Ok, retrieve the cajun thunder anchor down about 10 yards try again....Wham, she goes down!!! A bream..Now we are talking dinner!!! not very big but a keeper. Try this again.. a few more casts and another fish, this one not quite what I am looking for so back in the drink he goes. a few more trys again move down 20 yards do it again. The line goes down again Alright!! this much better than listening to the blabber-mouth downstream talk about his theory of wireless wires, whatever that means. Three more and I can have dinner tonight. The pace is set. Drift just past the last cast, throw the cricket against the bank, see if goes down. It seems to work beautiful. 10:30 now, Just getting started good. The breeze just blowing enough to stay cool, but not effecting the casts. Nice and shady to be comfortable from the afternoon sun. A throw, a bight or two, a drift, so it goes most of the day. Not really getting on a slaughter, but definitely enough to eat. Final count...26. Not Bad, But some could have been a bit bigger. Hook swallowers they were for the most part, meaning I had to keep a few I could have done without. The return trip just as painstaking as the launchbut with a smile on my face and the bragging rights for the day, if only to myself made it all a worthwhile trip and dinner on the table!!!

Until Next time..........

Happy Easter

Hello once again. No I did not disappear, I just have been doing other things. First things first. HAPPY EASTER. PRAISE GOD FOR THE RISEN CHRIST. I had an opportunity to watch an Easter Cantata last evening. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. It was the best show I have ever watched. The realistic sounds made it difficult to watch at times without shedding a tear. One of the scenes reminded me of the film “The Passion of the Christ” They led Christ through the streets and up to the hill and nailed him down. It was very realistic and hard to watch, and then after he died, Mary was wailing and wailing from the time they took him down until they took his body away, It was hard listening too that as well. It was an outstanding performance and I it would be a difficult match for any church to try.
I had to catch a ride to the show because my truck decided to die. Yes, the Blue Thunder is out of commission. It all started Thursday. I went to Tallahassee, to pick up an item from another location where I work. I made it there No Problem. I had made it almost all the way back to town when my luck ran out. As I crested the small hill and pushed the throttle down just a little get over the hump it stalled. I thought “Maybe a little more gas” No can do. “Switch gears” …nothing. Now what? I have to be at work in an hour and a half and I am in the middle of nowhere. No phone, for it was lost in the house, only God knows where it is. I check the engine, It looks fine… nothing wrong. What could it be? I try to turn it over, it isn’t going nowhere. Ok now desperate, I head down the road to try to find a phone. After about 10 minutes. Someone finally picks me up and takes me to my house. I make it to work on time, which was a miracle in itself, between catching a ride back to my truck and getting a tow truck back out there to tow it home. Now the Blue Thunder sits idle in the driveway, her last days probably have came for she is 15 years old, with over 300,000 , miles on her and it cost more to fix than I could get a trade in for. So it is time to look for a new vehicle. Got to be another truck. That’s all. Won’t settle for a car. I don’t have a use for them.
What ever happen to Shipwreck Entertainment? Did I hear you had more home movies? Yes! I did make those DVD’s recently. Quality isn’t the best, especially the first one, for the vcr was skipping and it was hard to get them out. I just finished the last one Wednesday, and now Shipwreck Entertainment is no more, at least until go somewhere worth videotaping.. Making the Hawaii tapes made me want to go back, but with a busted vehicle that’s a little out of the budget at this point. I have a couple of great photos I posted on my website. You can view them here http://www.myspace.com/shipwreck_john
Until next time…….Shipwreck.

Sacked!!

Me treasure looted!! Arr! Now that be a way get your digits removed fer sure, takin’ the likes of me most prized possessions (at the ones from where I be performin’ my daily duties) Now here be the tale, When set sail fer the home port Friday afternoon, I had misplaced Blackbeard, (that be me writing quill) and apparently left me tankard (that be me morning’ coffee cup) adrift somewhere where my fellow shipmates got their greasy little digits on them. Well now they kind of gotten a liken to me possessions and decided hold fer ransom. Gave me the black spot, they did!! So As I returned aboard on Monday Afternoon, ready get on with the deck swabbin’ I came across this here piece of parchment attached to me strongbox. Now Lostboy and College Cowboy don’t exactly give you “shiver me timbers” when you hear their name but rest assured mates, the be as black hearted as ol’ Shipwreck himself! So whilst I went to parley with em’ over the ransom, they were ready to cut rip until we came to an arrangement to satisfy both sides and end the end they gave me the map to where my belongings were stowed. Now that Blackbeard be safe, and me tankard can once again flow with the Kona delight, and can now once again do my duty as an “ honest” citizen. Shipwreck

Update

Well, Since my last entry there hasn't been a lot to talk to about. The shirt was a hit with my Niece. I guess it will sit in a closet for a couple of months until Hayden gets big enough to wear it. It looks more like a dress than a shirt on him right now. I finally got off my tail and finished printing the covers to my DVD's that made to my trip to Boston. Speaking of which It may be a repeat trip again this year. If so This will make my third visit to the Metropolis of Boston. I am looking forward to it and just waiting to hear if it is a go. I have also started yet another page, this time on myspace. here is the link for those who want to visit http://www.myspace.com/shipwreck_john . I have only the one entry there has of now but, soon it will be anther duplicate of this page so if you read one, you read em all. In the near future I will plan on starting my next video project, which will entail the time I spent in Hawaii. I will keep you updated on the progress as some of my Friends and Family that actually read this stuff might decide they want to look at it when I'm done. That's all for now...Until next time

The Seadog has been at it again. This time, I did just as I promised in an earlier post and turned my great nephew into a scalywag. Start em off early I says. My Neice recieved the shirt today and fell in love with it. It is still a bit big for Hayden but hopefully soon he'll be a little Pirate.... Shipwreck

Ahoy once again

Ahoy and welcome aboard once again to me blog! I haven’t really had anything much to write about since my last adventure to Pebble Hill. Nothing has changed in that respect. I did a photo op with me gear and posted this here photo as well as changed me profile pic. No news to be speakin of at this point. as I haven't really done anything to write about, only just to play catch-up on writing in this thing. All my projects are on hold for the moment although I hope to be up and running soon. My last attempt at movie making turned out a little odd, being that a lot of the scenes wanted to jump a bit. I think it was more or less a problem with the digitations and I decided it will be good enough since it is only for family movies anyway. I just haven't felt like getting out to do anything really, so I guess I have just been really lazy but maybe when it warms a bit I may get "the Fever" and do a little fishing or something but for now I will be staying around here, working, and sleeping.....That be all fer now.....Shipwreck

Pebble Hill

Today I went to Pebble Hill Plantation. It is one of the many plantations here in south Georgia, and the only one to my knowledge open to the public. It is located about 5 miles outside of Thomasville, Georgia on US 319. It was really a interesting place to see, and if you haven’t, I think you should spend the to see it if you are in the area. Of course it being a plantation, the grounds are quite large and the house is a Mansion, with lots of finery. The neat thing about going to a place like that is you get to see all the different things that people with wealth acquire during their lifetime. There are lots of paintings in the house, a lot of them are of birds and turkeys. The owners were quite fond of hunting and used this as their winter hunting lodge. There is also lots of paintings of hounds and horses. The owners also were into show horses and have quite a few trophies and ribbons about the place. Fine china and all the other trimmings are all about. There are pictures of President Eisenhower, when he visited, and Pictures of President Carter when he visited. Unfortunately they wouldn’t allow us to take pictures, But I do have one of the postcards of the Indian Room.



If you like artifacts, then that room is definitely worth seeing . Well that’s all for now. Until next time…….Shipwreck

Staying Awake all Night

What do you do when you can't sleep? Well I ended up doing catch-up work, You know, the stuff you don't really want to do until the last minute. Things like laundry, the dishes and just general housework. I had taken a nap when I returned from work and woke up around 1 am, and that was it, housework it was. I did find this neat internet rock station on Biglemonkey.com called Yar Radio. It was something to listen to while messing around with the computer. I also tried to reload files previously lost from an update I did earlier. As far as the Boston movie goes, well it still going. I am going to finish the intro and ending sometime this week, I hope and then it will be ready to put it away in the files. No more adventurous fishing tales at this time, Although I am still waiting for my bream to get back from the taxidermist 5 months later. Hoping for that call any day now. Today is dentist day. You, know the day everybody dreads. They poke around and tell you to take better care of your mouth, just so they can get 300 dollars from you and tell to come back in 6 months so they can do all over again..That's all the news for now......Shipwreck

Another Perfect Day

Any day I don't have to work is a good day. Any day I can go fishing is even better. Any day I can go fishing and skunk the guy I am fishing with is perfect. Today's unlucky contestant was my Father in law, George. Now usually when George and I hit the water I am the one hanging my head, but not today. I can't say as we" tore them up," but we at least "brought home the Bacon" It it was a breezy afternoon, but not windy. The fish had lockjaw. I finally caught a small bass on a Renousky minnow. Then George had to go and pick up something from the house we had left. While he was gone I caught a keeper bass, not bragging size, a little over a pound around 15 inches. Then the line he left dangling over the side of the pier went down. A nice Georgia bream. For those who don't know about Georgia bream, that would be a stock of bream that are the size of monster Bluegills, somewhere around a pound. It is referred to in the south as a tittie bream because it is so big you have to hold against your chest to get the hook out of it's mouth. When he came back nothing......until we were almost ready to go then I caught three more. Score John--4 George-0. Not a big catch, but enough. And to top it off we had fish for dinner, although not the ones we caught....Mullet. Have a good weekend, I will be working.....Shipwreck

Part two in the making

Hello once again to Shipwreck's Log. Looks like I finally finished burning the the first movie. Now it is time for the captureing of the 2nd Part. So far the actual footage has been downloaded and all that's left is to throw in a few sparadic pictures, mostly of the top of John Hancock Building, since I couldn't get the video camera up there, make an opening and closing scene and put it together. Putting it all together will take some time, proboably as long or longer than it did to download the footage. I hope to have it released for public(Friends and Family only) soon. Probably by Sunday. Look forward to it!.....Shipwreck

Up and Running

It looks to be I finally got this computer editing software figured out and now it time to be a movie maker. I had done a few before, mostly just trying different things to see what I could do with Pinnacle. Then I ran into the low memory problem and did the upgrade. Now I am up and running again and soon will be moving to to other wild adventures. But first It is time to make movies of previous tapes. I am working on a Movie now that will be be finished tonight. Actually, I already have two copies of it and soon will be making the second part.

I went to Boston Massachusetts a few years back and got some decent footage of the Constitution, and Downtown Boston, The Commons, Historical Downtown, Bunker Hill, Beacon Hill and a so on. I will be finishing up the first run on the movie this evening and will be starting to download the clips for the second one soon, probably tommorrow or Thursday. Then, it will be Hawaii.....ALOHA..... I spent a year on active duty there and took some decent pictures as well, so after that it be mostly what I can find around South Georgia and North Florida to tape. So for all the relatives....If you see me with my Camera...run or you just might end up in a film........Shipwreck

Old Truck

You know you have an old truck when........

you spend your whole paycheck each week keeping running. Ok well, that what happens when something gets old, it takes more to keep it up. My truck has been in the shop more than it has been in the driveway over the last month... (streching the truth just a little) I have taken it for tires, brakes and now this. Now the tires you see is what my friend Pam Abbot calls Maypops....They were so old that if you were driving down the road they just may pop for no apparent reason. After all they were staring to have seperation anxiety. the steel was coming through the sidewalls and it was just a matter of time before they blew.Then there were the breaks Well, you might just say that they were not much better. To put it mildly, If I drove another week on them, then I might need to cut the floorboard out and stopping it with my heels, Fred Flinstone style. Every time I hit the breaks the back end would shake until I came to a complete stop. Now those two "little" Bills I was ready for. But the one today, well now, that was a horse of a different color.

It all started on my way from Tallahassee, Florida on my way Saturday night. I had finished working around 5:00 pm and my wife and her Parents were going to meet me at Smokey Bones. I made it there, no problem We all had dinner and I must say it was rather good. Jeanie(that would be my wife) Had rode down with her folks and going to ride back with me. We made it back to Thomasville, without a hitch, and then decided to go for Ice Cream at the local Dairy Queen. That's when the all started. I could smell brakes..it is a smell that you hardly ever smell but you pretty much can guess what it is when you smell it. I said, Well it can't be mine I just had new ones put on last week. The more I drove the stronger it became. Well, Dairy Queen was in range so when arrived, I took a quick glance arounfd and every thing seemed normal so we went on and had our treats. I got back in my truck cranked it up and started down the road. Again the aroma of brakes was becoming stong. We were stoppped by a red light about halway home and I thought I saw smoke. Well that doesn't look to good I thought, and took a quick glance down at my gages. all seemed to be in order, I continued on. Once I made it home , you could see where the smoke was coming from, the front passenger tire wheel well."Boy I hope nothing caught on fire", I said. I hurried inside to get a flashlight. when I came out I could still see the smoke, but not as bad. I couldn't find anything the matter but you know when it is smoking, It can't be good. I took it to the shop this morning and explained what was happening. The mechanic said " sounds like a bad caliper to me." Well I am not exactly what you call savvy when it comes to motor vehicles. I put gas in the tank, water in the radiater, oil in the engine and air in the tires and that is about all I know how to do. "it's not going to cost" that much he says, I will look at it and give a call later. So jump on my bike( Bicycle for you motorheads) and head off to work. about an hour later I get the Bad news" It looks like it going to cost more than we thought." "Fix it, I need to be able to get to work with something besides a bicycle" and that was that

the damage----$200 on a part that I didn't even know existed until today. I hope your day went better than mine............Shipwreck

well once again I've been playing around, but it seems I can't figure out the simple stuff. I have been wanting to post a photo album to his page but I seem to be running into difficulties, so this is the next best thing for now. There are a few pics of Family and friends in the loop.



my pics

My First Post

Hey, looks like I found what everyone else was doing and decided to join the bandwagon. I started another one of these on yahoo 360 the other day so I will probably post the same info on both, just so those of you who don't have a Yahoo 360 account can see what I have been writing . This one looks a little easier to deal with. So long for now.