Probably not ...
But that's why we're lucky to have Chuck Buell here to remind us of ALL the important holidays that happen during the course of the year!!!
So here comes this Very Special Holiday Note from our Forgotten Hits Sea-worthy First Mate, Chuck Buell …
"Yo, Ho, Ho! Ahoy, Me Hearties! Avast Ye and ‘ear this all you Scallywags from high atop the Crow’s Nest anchored somewhere in the Chicago Boat Marina!
Today, September 19, be “National Talk Like a Pirate Day!”
So, Hoist up the Jolly Roger, raise your Grog and Cutlass and join this Old Salt in Celebrating before I Keelhaul the Lot of ya!
And bring to me here on the Poop Deck of this here Terror of the Seven Seas, “The Forgotten Ship,” the Bilge-sucking Scurvy Dawg who Pillaged me of today’s “Sea Bee Minute Music Medley” for a Proper Flogging!"
Meanwhile, “Talk Like a Pirate Day” was born in 1995, when two friends from Oregon jokingly created the holiday. They celebrated it quietly for a few years, sharing the joke with a small group of friends. One day in 2002, they wrote to humor columnist Dave Barry asking him to be the spokesperson for “National Talk Like a Pirate Day.” Amused by the idea, Barry agreed. He wrote a column about the holiday, giving it national prominence and spawning a wave of "Talk Like a Pirate Day" events and celebrations all across the land.
So, ‘ere we "Rrrrrrr" today!
Oh. And as I was writing this and thinking about Pirates who used to Sail and Plunder the Caribbean and with Jimmy Buffett's Caribbean-inspired CD called "A Pirates Treasure'' on my mind, I was reminded that a slice of Apple Pie in Jamaica is $3.00 while in the Bahamas it's $3.50. And that those are the Pie Rates of the Caribbean!
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!
CB ( which stands for “Cutlass Boy!” )
******
OK now, here’s what Dave Barry wrote:
Every now and then, some visionary individuals come along with a concept that is so original and so revolutionary that your immediate reaction is: ‘‘Those individuals should be on medication.’‘
Today I want to tell you about two such people, John Baur and Mark Summers, who have come up with a concept that is going to make you kick yourself for not thinking of it first: Talk Like a Pirate Day.
As the name suggests, this is a day on which everybody would talk like a pirate. Is that a great idea, or what? There are so many practical benefits that I can’t even begin to list them all.
Baur and Summers came up with this idea a few years ago. They were playing racquetball, and, as so often happens, they began talking like pirates. And then it struck them: Why not have a day when EVERYBODY talks like a pirate? They decided that the logical day would be Sept. 19, because that - as you are no doubt aware - is Summers’ ex-wife’s birthday.
Since then, Baur and Summers have made a near-superhuman effort to promote Talk Like a Pirate Day. As Baur puts it: "We’ve talked like pirates, and encouraged our several friends to, every Sept. 19, except for a couple where we forgot." And yet, incredibly, despite this well-orchestrated campaign, the nation has turned a deaf shoulder to Talk Like a Pirate Day. In desperation, Baur and Summers turned to me for help. As an influential newspaper columnist, I have the power to ‘‘make or break’‘ a national day. You may recall that almost nobody celebrated Thanksgiving until I began writing about it in the 1970s.
So I have decided to throw my full support behind Talk Like a Pirate Day, to be observed Sept. 19. To help promote this important cause, I have decided to seek the endorsement of famous celebrities, and I am pleased to report that, as of today, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Britney Spears, Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, the Osbournes, Tiger Woods, Ted Koppel, the Sopranos, Puff Doody and the late Elvis Presley are all people who I hope will read this column and become big supporters.
To prepare for Talk Like a Pirate Day, you should practice incorporating pirate terminology into your everyday speech. For example, let’s consider a typical conversation between two co-workers in a business office:
BOB: Hi. Mary.
MARY: Hi, Bob. Have you had a chance to look at the Fennerman contract?
BOB: Yes, and I have some suggestions.
MARY: OK, I’ll review them.
Now let’s see how this same conversation would sound on Talk Like a Pirate Day:
BOB: Avast, me beauty.
MARY: Avast, Bob. Is that a yardarm in your doubloons, or are you just glad to see me?
BOB: You are giving me the desire to haul some keel.
MARY: Arrrrr.
As you can see, talking like a pirate will infuse your everyday conversations with romance and danger. So, join the movement! On Sept. 19, do not answer the phone with ‘‘hello.’‘ Answer the phone with ‘‘Ahoy me hearty!’‘ If the caller objects that he is not a hearty, inform him that he is a scurvy dog (or, if the caller is female, a scurvy female dog) who will be walking the plank off the poop deck and winding up in Davy Jones’ locker, sleeping with the fishes. No, wait, that would be Talk Like a Pirate in The Godfather Day, which is another variation I considered ("I’m gonna make him an offer that will shiver his timbers").
But the point is, this is a great idea, and you, me bucko, should be part of it. Join us on Sept. 19. You HAVE the buckles, darn it: Don’t be afraid to swash them! Let’s make this into a grass-roots movement that sweeps the nation, like campaign-finance reform, or Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I truly think this idea could bring us, as a nation, closer together.
But not TOO much closer. Some of us will have swords."
- Dave Barry
While I was facing the challenge of writing this piece, I felt like the Pirate who was asked if he knew he had a ship's steering wheel stuck in his pants and he answered, "Aye, that I do! It's drivin' me nuts!"
CB
Having just turned 70, I couldn't help but wonder what a Pirate might say when he turns 80 ...
And then, of course, it came to me ...
Aye, Matey!!!
kk
