courtesy/en.wikipedia.org
Avast me hearties… it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day! Oh those crazy pirates… how they’ve become such a part of our culture that on a whim, a couple of guys named John Baur and Mark Summers. You can read their history here.
Personally, I remember thinking my first encounter with pirates had something to do with a bunch of “goonies” looking for a treasure based on a map their found in the attic of a member of the group. I love that movie… “The Goonies.” Who hasn’t dreamt of chasing after a pirate’s treasure or sailing the seven seas with Blackbeard or some other scallywags. I couldn’t dare forget about Disney’s ride, the Pirates of the Caribbean or the movies that have followed. Oh how I love Johnny Depp and that eyeliner! It just works for him. There’s a romance about it
There’s been lots of stories of pirates – good (relatively speaking) and bad throughout folklore and certainly in our books, movies and music. It’s honestly easy to forget how reprehensible they really are until they show up again, making headlines for capturing tourists and what have you. That has happened in recent years. It can still be a danger to sail around the world. I suppose that continues to be part of the lure though. Some people like to seek adventure but I suppose capture may not be what they have in mind. Running the risk is much different than actually having the problem. Whatever the case may be, pirates are certainly NOT good people and the holiday isn’t about celebrating their very violent past or current violence for that matter.
The website I’ve already listed, does go on to talk about why the holiday was created if you will. Silliness is the main “reason,” if there is one to be had. Who doesn’t have fun trying to talk like a pirate and even get dressed up on occasion? (okay dressing up is probably reserved for Halloween but that is also around the corner). Again, there’s a romance to it – sailing around the world, seeking treasure, talking in a ridiculous manner haha. It’s about the adventure and people tend to be drawn to that. The “Pirates” movies also helped give us a great anti-hero – Capt. Jack Sparrow certainly reveals time and again he’s a pirate and isn’t interested in playing by the rules and yet, he’s not out to be any more violent, if you will, than is needed to carry out his plans. There is always this toying with that fine line between being a good and bad guy. That’s one of my favorite things about those movies, particularly the first one.
Let’s face it… it’s hard to be a pure good guy or bad guy anymore and people don’t usually believe in the Captain America’s of the world like they used to, at least generally speaking. The movies (“The Avengers,” etc),are not included in my above statement. The comic book characters will live on but as for creating new, doesn’t fly so much now. Pirates are a great way to commandeer that fine line and even go back and forth on a regular basis as we see in the Disney movies. There’s been a great many movies and tales like “Treasure Island,” which has been retold in various ways, even “The Princess Bride” has a pirate whom we all love (generally speaking) and “Peter Pan” – where would we be without Capt. Hook? There’s also been “Long John Silver” and more. Pirates, particularly pirate captains, are bad guys, but we tend to love them. Because of the lore and the lure, Talk Like A Pirate Day is a great way to pay tribute to the adventure and romance without putting bad guys on a peddle stool.
With that… here’s a tune or two for your enjoyment:
This couldn’t be complete without Cindi Lauper’s “The Goonies R’ Good Enough”
Last one – a great rendition of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme song “He’s A Pirate”
stormy musings 
Good thing my kids didn’t know!!!! aarrrr…
that could make for an interesting days for sure 🙂
The making of the goonie video is a great watch….the kids were pretty unruly and I guess it took a lot to get the vid done….I SO love that movie…there’s a great YouTube video of two dudes who drove to Washington and went to all the sites from the film…it’s totally worth watching if your a goonie but like me…….by the way, it just dawned on me that your tag line, “whatever, whenever” always reminds me of that poppy shakira song lmao!
LOL lovely 🙂 shakira is cool and it’s certainly relevant during this hispanic heritage month. yes i love the goonies – goonies never say die! it’s just so ridiculously fun.
In a way, Long John Silver was the greatest of fictional pirates, now an underrated anti-hero. I loved reading Treasure Island as a kid. I read it again recently, afraid that I would be destroying my childish love. But it was even better reading it as an adult. And Long John is complicated. Even at the end you do not know if his allegiance was to the main character, or not. That was how charismatic and manipulative he was.
i haven’t read it but i probably should. i like complex characters because let’s face it – life is complex. many people we met in our lives tend to be complicated. it’s a lil’ like “shrek” says – we’re onions and we have layers haha. 🙂
Unfortunately, I didn’t hear about Talk Like a Pirate Day until the next day. Oh well, there’s always next year, eh?
there is! i believe their website is already counting down also. 🙂 i’ll even have to bookmark it myself.
p.s. – thanks for visiting!