Privateers
Treasure Island is a great book. This time last week, I couldn't have told you that because I had never read it. Then I found this site - http://www.online-literature.com/ - and there's a lot of great old books published there for free since their copyright has expired.
I was put onto it because I saw something on the TV about BlackBeard - arguably the most famous pirate ever. What caught my attention is that pirates, and piracy, gave us the origin of the word "privateer".
Now, you and I both understand "privateer" to be somebody who enters a race like Dakar and funds it all themselves - not part of any works or factory team. That's a privateer.
Originally though, the word was coined back in the early 18th Century by Queen Anne. Since England was at war with France and Spain - just for a change - Queen Anne put a bounty on all French and Spanish merchant shipping. If a ship's captain could board a French or Spanish ship and nick it's cargo, then they got to keep 10% of the bounty. These "gentlemen of fortune" (as they called themselves) were called "privateers" by the British crown, and were called "pirates" by everybody else.
So I read Treasure Island the other night. Took me a couple of hours to get through it since it's about 30 chapters or so. But that wasn't the point.
The point was Long John Silver. I've always had this vision of Long John Silver - one-legged pirate - with a parrot on his shoulder, one eye and saying "Ooh-arr, Jim lad". Except I was dead wrong. I don't know where I picked up this image, but it was completely wrong. OK, so he had one leg, and he also had a parrot - but the parrot never sat on his shoulder. And he had two eyes. And he never, once, said "Ooh arr, Jim lad". Never even came close.
It's funny how you can get to believing things, having no basis for that belief, but you still believe it very strongly indeed without ever knowing why. Funny, you know what is the biggest dogma in the world? The biggest and most popular thing in the world that people believe and have absolutely no reason for doing so? They believe it simply because, well, simply because it's what they believe?
No, it's not religion. It's simpler than that. The biggest dogma in the world is what date it is today.
We use a calendar that was designed, implemented and instigated by Pope Gregory XIII back in the late 16th Century. The reason for the calendar is simple - everybody knows when bills fall due and everybody knows when to pay their taxes. The Calendar is nothing more than a means of regulation - it serves no other purpose.
But that blew me away, that Long John Silver thing. And, another thing, Captain Kirk never ever said "Beam me up Scotty". He always said "Beam me up Mr Scott". How many more are there. How do you know what you think you know?
I've been a bit quiet these past few days. It comes from being a technical person, an engineer if you will, who cannot help himself but follow a problem wherever it goes. Reminds me of a story I once heard about a Priest, a Thief and a Computer Engineer who were shipwrecked on a deser island.
The natives of this island, since it was a French colony, had the guillotine. They sentenced the maroonees to death by guillotine. The Priest was brought forward and asked whether he wanted to be guillotined face-up or face-down.
The natives, being a very religious people, declared that this was divine intervention and that they should spare the Priests life. They untied him and let him go.
They manhandled the Thief up onto the scaffold and gave him the same choice - face up or face down? The Thief considered this and replied:
Since the Gods clearly did not want the Thief to die either, the natives were forced to spare his life and let him go. They rounded on the Computer Engineer, tied him up and up onto the scaffold. Again, the face-up or face-down dilemma was posed.
The Computer Engineer piped up:
I was put onto it because I saw something on the TV about BlackBeard - arguably the most famous pirate ever. What caught my attention is that pirates, and piracy, gave us the origin of the word "privateer".
Now, you and I both understand "privateer" to be somebody who enters a race like Dakar and funds it all themselves - not part of any works or factory team. That's a privateer.
Originally though, the word was coined back in the early 18th Century by Queen Anne. Since England was at war with France and Spain - just for a change - Queen Anne put a bounty on all French and Spanish merchant shipping. If a ship's captain could board a French or Spanish ship and nick it's cargo, then they got to keep 10% of the bounty. These "gentlemen of fortune" (as they called themselves) were called "privateers" by the British crown, and were called "pirates" by everybody else.
So I read Treasure Island the other night. Took me a couple of hours to get through it since it's about 30 chapters or so. But that wasn't the point.
The point was Long John Silver. I've always had this vision of Long John Silver - one-legged pirate - with a parrot on his shoulder, one eye and saying "Ooh-arr, Jim lad". Except I was dead wrong. I don't know where I picked up this image, but it was completely wrong. OK, so he had one leg, and he also had a parrot - but the parrot never sat on his shoulder. And he had two eyes. And he never, once, said "Ooh arr, Jim lad". Never even came close.
It's funny how you can get to believing things, having no basis for that belief, but you still believe it very strongly indeed without ever knowing why. Funny, you know what is the biggest dogma in the world? The biggest and most popular thing in the world that people believe and have absolutely no reason for doing so? They believe it simply because, well, simply because it's what they believe?
No, it's not religion. It's simpler than that. The biggest dogma in the world is what date it is today.
We use a calendar that was designed, implemented and instigated by Pope Gregory XIII back in the late 16th Century. The reason for the calendar is simple - everybody knows when bills fall due and everybody knows when to pay their taxes. The Calendar is nothing more than a means of regulation - it serves no other purpose.
But that blew me away, that Long John Silver thing. And, another thing, Captain Kirk never ever said "Beam me up Scotty". He always said "Beam me up Mr Scott". How many more are there. How do you know what you think you know?
I've been a bit quiet these past few days. It comes from being a technical person, an engineer if you will, who cannot help himself but follow a problem wherever it goes. Reminds me of a story I once heard about a Priest, a Thief and a Computer Engineer who were shipwrecked on a deser island.
The natives of this island, since it was a French colony, had the guillotine. They sentenced the maroonees to death by guillotine. The Priest was brought forward and asked whether he wanted to be guillotined face-up or face-down.
- "Face up", he replied. "I want to face God when I die".
The natives, being a very religious people, declared that this was divine intervention and that they should spare the Priests life. They untied him and let him go.
They manhandled the Thief up onto the scaffold and gave him the same choice - face up or face down? The Thief considered this and replied:
- "Face up. Worked for the Priest".
Since the Gods clearly did not want the Thief to die either, the natives were forced to spare his life and let him go. They rounded on the Computer Engineer, tied him up and up onto the scaffold. Again, the face-up or face-down dilemma was posed.
- "Face up, obviously", replied the Computer Engineer, "this looks like a cool piece of kit and I want to see how it works".
The Computer Engineer piped up:
- "NO! WAIT! I SEE YOUR PROBLEM!"
Download the Manic Mission Information Pack for the full story ...
posted by 2009 Dakar at
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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