2009 Video Contest

Just for fun, we decided to hold a video contest. It was actually Wendy's idea.

These days, everyone either has a digital camera or has a friend with one, and everyone that is crafty enough to operate a digital camera is crafty enough to upload a video to www.youtube.com

Here's how the contest worked. The open period for video submissions ended September 30th. The videos were posted here in the order they were recieved in. The only content related rule was that the video MUST feature one of our muzzleloaders to qualify for entry. The voting phase of the contest ended at midnight on December 31st, 2009.

The voting portion of the contest is now complete. Pete has tallied up the votes and the entrant with the most votes will win one of our pistols of their choosing (with the exception of the double barreled pistols). We will be contacting the winning entrant shortly to find out which pistol they have chosen.

It took longer than planned to count the votes because people could not follow simple directions and put the required words in the subject lines of the voting emails. In addition, there was quite a few people who found a loophole in the simple rules of this contest by voting for their choice multiple times using different email addresses, but with the same user name. One person voted this way seven times. Several others voted from five different email addresses.

Each one of these votes had to be verified by going down through hundreds of votes and checking to see if each one was actually from a unique email address. While the rules accidentally allowed this, I feel it was quite unethical and for the next contest we will have to have more rules in place in an effort to keep people honest.

On the flip side of people voting more than their fair share of times, there were at least two contestants who didn't even vote for themselves!

#1 Here is a video of Soheil up in Canada firing and loading one of our double barreled flintlock pistols.

#2 Here is the crew of The Black Rose II doing a flintlock and cannon firing demonstration at the New Hampshire Renaissance Faire. First they fire a feu de joie, then a volley of blunderbusses fired from the hip. The rest of the video is a demo of loading and firing a halfscale naval gun.

#3 Here is Captain Crusty DeVille's entry. There is black powder, white smoke, a sandy beach...and a ninja!?!?!

#4 Here's Justin with a Georgia Whitetail that he got...with a matchlock musket. Traditional muzzelloaders are not just for shooting blanks, they are just as effective for putting meat on the table now as they were 400 years ago!

#5 Here's a video of a 4th of July memorial feu de joie sent in by Chris. His pirate crew is shown here firing a salute to a member of their crew, Imp, who had died the day before.

#6 Here's John C's entry. In their theatre production of Treasure Island, a pirate uses a 1756 English Sea Service pistol in the attack on the stockade.

#7 Pirates? Did someone say pirates? See how many classic films you can spot in this drama about one pirate's busy day at the tavern. This video was submitted by Kenny M. aka Capt. Crimson Corsair of the Skullduggery Crew.

#8 Here's Greg H's entry firing a Long Land. The noise and flash of the musket startle the camera operator to the point that she almost drops the camera!

#9 Here is Colin G's entry for Valhalla's Pirates. "Got pirates?"

#10 This is Sam N's video entry, an expose' on the effectiveness of various pistol and blunderbuss loads against the zombie apocolypse.

#11 This is Amy McN's entry, a video of the Rhode Island Pirate Players giving a blunderbuss demo outside of the Mohr Library in Johnston, RI.

Pete's note: I added this link to part 2 of this demo, together it counts as one entry:

#12 ***WINNER of the 2009 Video Contest*** This one is from JD. It is a drama about the "Pirates Rule of Acquisition". It is a good cautionary tale showing us that crime doesn't pay.

#13 Here is Wrestling Mark's video of the 2008 Wickford Harbor Fest fundraiser. In the video are the Rhode Island Pirate Players and the Free Men of the Sea.

#14 You may have seen this one on TV. It is Brian B's submission which is actually a commercial for Las Vegas tourism. Watch and learn about the history of Chinchilli Day, which commemorates the time in history when Les Trois Chinchillas saved a small French village from a band of rogues. You observe the holiday by partying in Vegas...

#15 This is Capt. Charles W. Black's entry of Valhalla's Pirates in a skirmish for control of a bridge in Huddy Park at the wooden boat festival in Toms River, NJ. The festival is hosted by the Toms River Seaport Society & Maritime Museum.

#16 Here's one from Rio LaCour of some ship-to-ship action at the Pirate Invasion in Baltimore, MD. There are three sailing ships involved; the Lioness, the Farewell, and the Pride of Baltimore II.