ALERT! All Armchair Sailors

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 08:01 PM

I just checked the barrel; it's Jack Daniels Old No.7 and the cider is fresh rather than hard. Father is quite mellow these days but back when me and my brother were growing up he was rather short tempered; it couldn't have been because of us – we was always perfect angels!

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Dave Swan
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 07:00 PM

Roll&Go,

Many Happy Returns of the Day to your dad. Tell me about his poison. Burbon & what sort of cider? Apple? Hard? Sounds interesting. Might it be the secret of his success? There are livers a-quiver all over the mud waiting to hear.

Dave

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 05:17 PM

I wonder if they'll be any more singing in the Hornblower series this time around. No, I'm sure they wouldn't dare do any sea shanties but there are plenty of naval ballads and drinking songs that are appropriate to the period. I'm still looking forward to watching the A&E channel this Sunday at 8 pm, along with my father who'll be celebrating his 96th birthday (bourbon and cider rather than grog).

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Naemanson
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:57 PM

You know, the old Gregory Peck movie had one thing that is difficult to find in modern movies. When a cannonball struck the ship it DIDN'T explode. It knocked off bits and pieces, large bits and pieces.

I am rereading the Hornblower books now. Forrester wrote a better adventure story with a more complex hero but O'Brian did a better job of catching the flavor of the times. That, plus his ship actions were real ship actions gleaned from the log bokks, journals and gazzettes of the time. He changed the names to fit the story but they are accurate.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,Melani
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 02:43 PM

I have been told that an Aubrey-Maturin movie is in the works, and that HMS ROSE will be used for the purpose.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Don Firth
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 04:21 PM

Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini (the book, not the Errol Flynn movie, although that wasn't too bad.) And sequels.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 03:44 PM

Try Gervase's link above, and lose yourself in fictional worlds of Patrick O'Brian.

You know, Heston used to be a sailor himself. Maybe, he will come up with a decent film.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Les from Hull
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 01:20 PM

Getting back to Hornblower, I did enjoy my visit to 'Grand Turk' when she came to Hull. Grand Turk is the replica Napoleonic post ship (they call it a frigate, but it's a bit small for that) that they used for the earlier episodes.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Gervase
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 01:04 PM

Bugger!
Mangled the blicky.

Try here

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Gervase
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 01:02 PM

There's not a bad CD available of songs from O'Brian (and a couple of CDs of the chamber music featuring in the novels) - trouble is, I can't for the life of me remember who did them, and my copy's at home and I'm in the office).
For fellow Aubrey-Maturin addicts, there's many an hour to be wasted here

And apologies to Forrester fans for hijacking the thread!

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 12:46 PM

And I'll be happy to sing all the new verses I wrote to "Kicking Up Bob's-a-Dying."

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Les from Hull
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 12:39 PM

Gervase - I'd be happy to play Preserved Killick!

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Gervase
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 12:35 PM

Charlton Heston has had the options on a film treatment of the Aubrey-Maturin novels for a number of years now, but the mad old fart seems too concerned with banging the drum for the NRA (sorry, risking thread creep AND flame wars here...) to pull his finger out.
As for casting the O'Brian books; a few fellow addicts and I have had many a pedantic evening trying to work out who would play whom in a film adaptation. My suggestion of Tony Robinson in his Baldrick incarnation for Maturin wasn't too well received. Can't think why...
On another tack entirely, I can recommend the cook-book, Lobscouse and Spotted Dog, based on the food that is mentioned so often in series.
And for those who are wondering what the feck I'm blathering on about, just read the books. They're highly addictive.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 11:55 AM

Roger, I think Dudley Pope is really Enid Blyton on speed. On second thoughts, her plots were much more complex and her characters more 3-dimensional!

Steve

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 10:44 AM

R&G-C is right, of course, and gets the doughnut for spotting my "deliberate" mistake. I think Dudley Pope does have an alter ego but I can't bring it to mind.
RtS (sometime [at school] Sea Cadet Corps Petty Officer but mostly an armchair sailor).
RtS

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: SINSULL
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 10:22 AM

Hated the series. A wimpie Hornblower. Gregory Peck had it right. I prefer Captains Courageous with Freddie Bartholamew (SP) and Spencer tracy. Even made me want to go to sea.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 09:50 AM

Well, Kendall, I'm sure you'll agree that it's too late to "curtail" O'Brian's success.

And I'm aware that "Alexander Kent" is Douglas Reeman but I'd be greatly surprised if he was also Dudley Pope.

And speaking about good reads, let's not forget the outrageous tales in Dr. Dogbody's Leg by James Norman Hall; Kendall, you'd love these stories.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: kendall
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 09:14 AM

I also loved Hornblower when I was 12..I still do. Not to put too fine a point on it, but, O'Brian gets too involved in the nomenclature. Cross catharpings! cunt splices.. I didn't like Aubrey from the start..talking at the opera while the performers were working.And, then, he hires the guy who told him to shut up! Hard to swallow.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 09:02 AM

Dudley Pope's Ramage series (he's also Alexander Kent), Richard Woodman's Drinkwater series, Showell Styles Fitton series,Philip McCutchan's Halfhyde series (this one is later - with the emergence of steam) are all worth looking at, all better than Hornblower (IMO)and equally as good as, if not better than O'Brian.
RtS

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 08:41 AM

I, too, favor the Patrick O'Brian series – far better writing but no one is trying to film that, and I seriously doubt if they could do O'Brian's writing justice. The new Hornblower series is considerably superior to the Gregory Peck 1950's film. There's also a coffee table book out now on how the film production company put together the ships (Russian shipyards), their various scale models, how they operate them, and other slight of hand stuff.

As for other good reads, you might try James Nelson's novels (former 2nd officer on the HMS Rose), and then there's Alexander Kent's 20 or so novels (the lesser of several other weevils as Dr. Maturin might remark) although I find his work rather repetitious and somewhat thin fare. Or you could just stay tuned to the Cranky Yankee thread!

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: KitKat
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 08:10 AM

I loved the books and the series is excellent just because of Iowan Gruffyd (I think I spelled that right) who is just gorgeous. I don't worry about technical things with cannon and muskets - that's boys' stuff!

Kit Kat

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Grab
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 07:59 AM

Hmm. The Hornblower TV series was OK, if you didn't know too much about boats, and the range of cannon, and continuity. Still...

Graham.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,#1
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 01:36 AM

And to Patrick O'Brien's series add Dewey Lamdin's (spicier).

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 01:34 AM

Is this the same as the BBC mini-series that came out a few years ago? I enjoyed that one.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Wotcha
Date: 03 Apr 01 - 10:24 PM

Read "Cochrane: The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain," by Robert Harvey (Carroll and Graf, NY 2000).
Cochrane's life is the basis for the Patrick O'Brian novels. Fact is stranger than fiction -- this is a great read!! Here is a naval operator who "invented" commando tactics, helped to liberate Chile, Brazil, and Greece, meanwhile biting all the hands that fed him: quite the character.
Another book needs to be written about Bernardo O'Higgens (not kidding about the name) who had a hand in the liberation of Chile ...
Cheers,
Brian

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Les from Hull
Date: 03 Apr 01 - 04:12 PM

Anyone who loved the Hornblower series should read Patrick O'Brien's Jack Aubrey novels. They're even better!

Les

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: Amos
Date: 03 Apr 01 - 02:30 PM

Count me in, Thief!! Down with Grundies and Fascists and little old ladies of all sexes and ages!

A_who_LOVED_Hornblower_when_12.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: mousethief
Date: 03 Apr 01 - 01:45 PM

Wild, MMario. The library never told me what not to read when I was a kid. Seems like an overstepping of their job boundaries to me.

Readers of the world unite against fascist librarians!

With apologies to non-fascist librarians everywhere, of course.

Alex.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: MMario
Date: 03 Apr 01 - 01:43 PM

I ran through every hornblower book I could get my hands on when I was in fourth or fifth grade. Remember having to take notes to the library from my Mom - because they said they were too "advanced" for me. great series

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,#1
Date: 03 Apr 01 - 01:14 PM

I didn't think I was an armchair sailor until last week when my dishwasher got a valve stuck. There I was in an archair with the water rising about me. You might try reading the Hornblower series, too. I recall having read them many years ago.

Subject: RE: ALERT! All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,#1
Date: 03 Apr 01 - 01:13 PM

I didn't think I was an armchair sailor until last week when my dishwasher got a valve stuck. There I was in an archair with the water rising about me. You might try reading the Hornblower series, too. I recall having read them many years ago.

Subject: ALERT!All Armchair Sailors
From: GUEST,ROLL&GO-C
Date: 03 Apr 01 - 12:59 PM

A&E TV is running another Hornblower series, starting Sunday, April 8, 8-10 pm. Arrggghhh!