Wednesday, September 29, 2004

 

There's still time to enter ...

... the drawing to win a trip for two to Gasparilla Fest 2005 in Tampa Bay, Florida, including air fare, hotel accomodations and a bunch o' goodies.

Here be yer portal t'the contest entry page.

Entries close on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 5 p.m. PDT. As in tomorrow.

This is a special offer just for fans of International Talk Like A Pirate Day. How cool is that?

-- The WebWench

(The Pirate Guys are still catchin' up on their sleep, but I'll be nudgin' em t'get back t'bloggin soon...)

Sunday, September 19, 2004

 

How did ye celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day?

Tell us about it - or send a photo - an' we'll put it on the Web site for the world t'see.

Ye can use the comments here to tell us about yer adventures, or send 'em via our contact page. Yer photo - just one, please, no more than 600x400 pixels in size, can be sent to the WebWench.

Here's how Team Pirate celebrated TLAPD Eve.

(If ye get a "file not found" page, that just means the flood o' visitors has kicked ye over to the backup version o' the site, which is a few days old. Hopefully we'll be able to get our Webhost to synch it up tomorrow. Meanwhile, keep tryin' an you should be able t'see the current stuff).

Now I'm off to quaff a few (more) beers with the Pirate Guys at our favorite brewpub, which happens t'be conveniently located across Cap'n Slappy's back fence.

Fair winds t' ye all!

-- The Webwench

 

It's an honor

OK, I was a little drunk when I made that last post.

I've been awake about two hours, and it's been a fairly surreal day already. Mad Sally forced me from me hammock and brought me over to Cap'n Slappy's quarters where we awaited a phone call from a radio station for another interview. This was a Dutch radio station. We were interviewed by a DUTCH RADIO STATION. Very odd. They spoke to us in English, and that's what we spoke because we sure as hell don't know any Dutch. Then we stayed on the line listening to them talk - and Dutch is a cool sounding language - and they had a spirited discussion that appeared to be about the difference between "Star Trek" and "Star Wars." Both of those titles came up repeatedly. Then they had a caller, speaking Dutch, who was apparently doing a Klingon talking like a pirate. That was when I realized my life has taken on a other-wordly twist from which it may never recover.

Moments later the phone rang again. It was our brother Mark Jensen of the Seattle Seafair Pirates, extending to us the honor of membership in that organization. I can't tell what a great privilege that is. These guys are the very best, and we accept with a great deal of pride. You will see us next year at the Tacoma tall ship festival June 30 to July 5, and of course at Seattle's Seafair the last week in July. So this is both the best and most peculiar day of our lives.

Ol' Chumbucket

 

Hi deveryone

OK, I'ver had a little to drinkbecause IT'S TYQWLK kieke a pirate fayg and Wow it;'s take kuje a Puitwte FDay and I can;t tyoe4 because I'm druinkk and what cabn I say, Have a great day,


Friday, September 17, 2004

 

The price o' popularity

The blog's been up an' down like a yoyo today, an' the Web site has reverted temporarily to a backup edition a few days old. 'Tis very likely the result o' the massive number of hits both are gettin' as TLAPD draws nigh.

Between the interviews an' the impending partyin', we're not frettin' over it; things'll get sorted out an' updated as we find time. Meanwhile: Fair sailin' t'ye all, an' happy Talk Like A Pirate Day Eve!

-- The WebWench

 

Somethin' for our friends in L.A.! (We love it!)

Ahoy!

I'd like to submit information that might appeal to pirates in Los Angeles. We have an exhibition on view that features in a video installation of a beautifulisland with a lost gentleman in a flowy white shirt with his parrot.Here is some related info.

A Little Thought
July 25 through November 29, 2004
MOCA The Geffen Contemporary

A major mid-career survey featuring 30 multi-media works by the acclaimed Vancouver-based artist is open 11am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday; 11am to 5pm on Monday and Friday; and 11am to 8pm on Thursday; and closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. General admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students with I.D. and seniors (65+), andfree for MOCA Members and children under 12. Wells Fargo Free Thursdays provide free general admission every Thursday.
INFO 213-626-6222 moca.org

The specific pirate-related work is Vexation Island, 199

This is what the LA Times said about it:

Graham often embeds pop culture references in his work - especially the Hollywoodvernacular of costume dramas. "Vexation Island," which made the artist's reputationwhen it was shown in the Canadian Pavilion at the 1997 Venice Biennale, is as glossyas a 1950s epic filmed in CinemaScope. The theme of a desert island castaway is suggestive of Daniel Dafoe's "RobinsonCrusoe," which has been filmed more than a dozen times, starting with Georges Mélièsin 1902. Even Surrealist Luis Buñuel filmed the story, featuring a famous dreamsequence.

Graham's nine-minute film was made the same year as the most recent version, which notably starred Pierce Brosnan - today's James Bond. Nothing much happens in "Vexation Island." Graham's narrative is not located in thescript as much as in the self-consciously artful composition of the images, the carefully contrived editing and the intentionally hackneyed sequence of lush visual clichés. Movie memory is a subject. A man (the artist) in 17th century dress lies spread out on the sand, a bloody woundon his forehead and a parrot perched on a wooden barrel washed up at his feet.

Most of the film is a sequence of images setting the scene and isolating details: the unconscious gentleman, a looming palm tree, fronds swaying in the breeze, poundingsurf, the brightly colored bird, sun beating down between fluffy white clouds, etc. It's a virtual index of Dream Factory establishing shots. Suddenly the parrot squawks. The man awakes and, sluggishly spying coconuts up inthe palm, staggers toward the tree. He grabs the phallic trunk and shakes it, dislodging a fruit.The coconut falls and - yes - beans the hapless castaway, laying him flat-out in the sand. The bloody wound on his forehead and his prior state of unconsciousness are at once explained and renewed. The film loop repeats the shaggy dog story inperpetuity.

The film is a Buster Keaton-style short subject, worthy of Sigmund Freud. In "The Interpretation of Dreams" the Viennese psychiatrist gave an example of dreamanalysis in which a letter - a message - is a puzzling symbol for vexation. Graham'slooping "Vexation Island" is a wry tale of the repetitive daily cycle of enigmatic sleep followed by waking troubles - Bill Murray's "Groundhog Day" for an analysand. It deftly pulls the plug on Dafoe's book, which chronicled the fantasy reunionbetween a civilized man and raw nature. Graham, as both the artist and the actor, is the eye of the camera and the "I" of the film. Significantly, our hero is unconscious during most of the movie, which repeats its gorgeous and elaborate array of vivid Hollywood clichés over and over ,ad infinitum. One dubious implication is that consumers of popular culture are unwittingly narcotized by it, while consumers of Conceptual art are happily enlightened.


Katherine W. Lee
Director of Public Relations and Marketing
MOCA THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART


 

Lusty Lisa

Lusty Lisa, our Ambassad-aarr!! in Iowa, will be on the radio in Des Moines Friday, 6:30 a.m. local time. on Star 102.5. If you're within earshot, listen in. We're very proud of Lisa and know she'll do a great job in promoting the holiday!!

Hooray!!

We'll post further Ambassad-aarr!! news as we can and as time allows.

 

A fine day, and the weekend coming!

First things first: The beignets (pronounced, I think, something like bin-yay) at Island Joe's were wonderful. Just these balls of puffy dough, fried and served with powedered sugar. Heaven.

Cap'n Slappy and meself had a fine time in porltand hanging out at Island Joes, meeting people, giving away some prizes, having fun. Met some great folk and the wait staff was great - they kept bringing us food and coffee. And special thanks to Steve Woodward of the Oregonian for a great article that brought a lot of folks in.

A good thing for all the coffee because it's been a very long day and tomorrow will be longer. We've been on the air in San Jose, Canberra Australia, Swindon England, and other places. Friday we'll be on the air in L.A., Salt Lake City, Escabana Mich. Bakersfield and on a couple of syndicated shows - so we might be popping out of your radio in the damndest places. Give a listen and let us know how we sound.

And we hope to see anyone who can make it at our Talk Like a Pirate Day Eve party Saturday beginning at 8 p.m. at Riley's Billiard Room in beautiful downtown Albany Oregon.

Have a great Talk Like a Pirate Day Weekend. Keeping spreading the word - and the word is Aarrr!

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

 

Ahoy, Portland!

Finally have the details for our Portland, Or., adventure, and a good thing too, because it's Thursday!

We'll be at Island Joe's, 538 Sixth St. S.W., from noon to about 4 p.m. There'll be give aways and mayhem throughout the afternoon! We'll have books and T-shirts to sell, a song in our hearts, and room for dessert. Island Joe's apparently is famous in town for it's desserts. We shall see if the reputation is warranted!

Hope to see ya there!

Ol' Chumbucket

Monday, September 13, 2004

 

Celebratin' the Weekend!

We asked you to send us yer plans. Lord love ya, scores of ya did just that. So many that I can't list them all at once. So here's the first batch, and I'll keep adding to it as the week progresses.

If yer in any of these areas, take note:

South Pole
The South Pole Bar Club, the official port for Talk Like a Pirate Day in Antarcatica, reports that it will "revel in the bounty of liquor." They then say several other things which shouldn't be repeated here because kids might be reading, but rest assured they'll be having a VERY good time. And then, "before the sun strikes the yardarm it's off to the Isle of New Zealand for drunken debauchery."

Nashville, Tenn.
The Plowhaus Artists Cooperative will host "AAAARRT!" -- the pirate art show -- on September 18th. Those attending are asked to wear pirate or pirate-themed garb. The address is 213 South 17th Street, Nashville. Call (615) 262-2224 for more information.

For the second year in a row, James in HOUSTON will be leading an AA meeting on TLAP -- and conducting the whole thing in pirate talk, from the time they hoist anchor with the Serenity Prayer 'till they sail into home port with the group announcements. "It went over splendidly last year (though not everone participated) and this year it's even been suggested that people attend dressed as (sober) pirates."

St. Augustine, Fla.
The Maiden's Pub Association will host an event at Scarlett O'Hara's Restaurant. Local reenactors will be on hand, and a group from the restoration area will come over to sing some bawdy sea shanties.

So that's a start, and just scratchin' the surface. We'll have plenty more as the week progresses, so keep checking back. And don't forget to sign up for the Poopdeck, the online newsletter of Talk Like a Pirate Day. You can sign up by sending an e-mail to majordomo@peak.org. In the body of the message, just write, subscribe poopdeck" The rest will be taken care of.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

 

Pirate Romance is in the Airrrrrr!

Did ye get married/engaged/"knocked up" or simply "snuggled with" on/around or "because of" International Talk Like a Pirate Day?

I'm so curious ye could put me in a monkey suit and call me "George."

Tell us all about it - and be as saucy as ye please.

Monday, September 06, 2004

 

High Seas Adventure

SHIP'S LOG - Aboard the Festering Boil
Ol' Chumbukcet recording
Sept. 6, 2004

The cannons were roaring off to the north, but my ships ignored the fracas. There was gold to be gathered! And we didn't need the inconvenience of a sea battle.

The action took place Sunday at Fantasy Knights, a gaming center in our home port of Albany, OR. The store was holding a tournament for Pirates of the Spanish Main and invited Cap'n Slappy and meself. Under the circumstances, we had to say yes.

Now, Slappy and meself are not gamers. We don't play the role playing games so much. Poker with cigars and beer and many a bawdy song are more our style, with Mad Sally, the Official Lusty Pirate Wench, leading the chorus and Lieutenant Keeling usually raking in the winnings, since he doesn't drink, the sneaky bastard. But we took a hand in the opening round, before we had to dash off for another appearance.

I don't like to brag, but I think I'd have won had I not had to leave. While a good cannonading of the opposition looked fun, and the other three players were lining up their shots one at another, I read the instructions closely and they said nothing about points for sinking the enemy. All it said is the winner is the one with the most gold. Cap'n Slappy laughed at me later for getting so into it – but I'm convinced that in three more moves I'd have won because I was after the gold! Well, we'll never know now, will we, but it was fun.

We just want to thank all the guys at Fantasy Knights for inviting us, for making us feel welcome, buying more than a few copies of our book, and teaching us the rules and letting us play for a while. We had a good time!

Remember - 11 days til Talk Like a Pirate Day Weekend begins Sept. 17. 13 days until Talk Like a Pirate Day!


 

The Right Weapon for the Right Job

Ahoy me buckos and buckettes! It's yer Uncle Slappy with his Helpful Hint o' the Day!
Yer weapon is yer friend. But like any friend, it has to be bought, paid for and/or stolen at the cost of some other fool's miserable life.

Me own favorite weapon is me BLUNDERBUSS. Can ye say "Blunderbuss?" Aye, I know ye can!

Cementhands McCormack's favorite weapon is his massive pair of hands which can lay a well-armed opponent low with one blow (don't ye know?)-vo-di-doh-doh.

Always scrappy, Ol' Chumbucket can inflict all kinds o' damage with naught but a bucket full o' chum.

So, what be YER favorite weapon when locked in a struggle at sea? (Or in yer local tavern?)

Sunday, September 05, 2004

 

College poll

It's poll time!

Cap'n Slappy wants to know:

Which university will celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day with the biggest party this year?

One vote to a customer, mateys ...

Saturday, September 04, 2004

 

A good contest to enter

SHIP'S LOG OF THE FESTERING BOIL, somewhere at sea
Sept. 4, 2004
Ol' Chumbucket, recording

If you haven't signed up for the Florida Giveaway through our site - go back and do so NOW. It's a heck of a trip - last weekend of January you and a friend could be off on a Southwest Airlines flight to the TradeWinds Island Resort (pirate themed, naturally) in St. Pete's Beach. Across the bay, in Tampa, they'll be celebrating the Gasparilla Festival, one of the biggest and best pirate-themed fetivals in the world, and you'll have VIP tickets!!!! (Sorry - the contest is open to U.S. residents only. We didn't make the rules, we just provide the portal.)

So sign up. It doesn't cost you anything, the company running the contest says your info won't be abused, and man . wouldn't that be a grat prize to win!!!

Friday, September 03, 2004

 

The price o' popularity ...

We're startin' to hear reports that our Web site is loadin' mighty slow these days. No surprise, that; if last year is any indication, we're startin' t'see the leadin' wave of a tsunami o' hits that should break ashore right around September 19th (to torture a metaphor.)

We host our site on a small-but-trusty local ISP, an' for 11 months o' the year, everything runs ship-shape. But come September,we get smaped - to the point where the lads have shoved us off by our lonesome on a separate server so's we don't carry the rest o' their hosted sites down with us. Last year we got 19 million hits in the first couple o' weeks o' the month, an' this year we're already well ahead o' where we were on Sept. 3, 'Ought-three.

You people have far too much time on yer hands.

I'm plannin' to put a wee note to that effect on the site this weekend, urgin' folks what want to keep abreast o' things to visit the blog, so we may see things pick up a bit here soon, too. O' course, that means I'll have t'nudge Ol' Chumbucket an' Cap'n Slappy t' find some time t'actually post some updates ...

An' then start thinkin' about buyin' some beer for the lads from the network engineering crew on the 19th ...



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