The Poopdeck

Artists! Team Pirate is seekin' new art for this year's Official International Talk Like A Pirate Day T-shirt (and mugs, and other stuff we hawk on CafePress).

Bein' as how we lack any sort o' artistic talent ourselves, we propose a competition. The winner – or winners, if we can't make up our minds – will receive a mug or T-shirt bearin' their design, whatever other booty we decide t' throw in – and the satisfaction of bein' an official part of the best holiday ever.

THE RULES:

Each design must include the phrases “International Talk Like A Pirate Day” and “September 19, 2010”
Artwork may employ as many colors as you like, but must be suitable for printing on white or light-colored backgrounds.
For judging purposes, and to keep Cap'n Slappy's mailbox from explodin', please submit a .jpeg version of your artwork no larger than 600 by 600 pixels at 72 ppi. We will require a larger, high-resolution .png file for printing; winners will be notified of the technical specifications.
Entries should be emailed to: contest@talklikeapirate.com no later than midnight, Pacific Time, on Saturday, July 10, 2010. The winner will be announced on Saturday, July 17.
With your entry, please include the following information
- Artist's name, e-mail address and a phone number where you can be contacted. If ye have a pirate monicker, artistic pseudonym or other alias, feel free t'send that along, too.

Failure to comply with these rules will disqualify your entry, so look sharp!

THE FINE PRINT:

We may be pirates, but we're not out t'plunder artists. Here be the legal stuff:

All submissions must be your own original artwork.
You retain copyright in your work. However, by entering the contest, you grant The Pirate Guys LLC the right to reproduce your work on our Web site and/or image gallery - with credit - for use in promoting the contest and International Talk Like A Pirate Day 2010.
The winning artist (or artists) grant us exclusive rights to reproduce their work on T-shirts and other products promoting International Talk Like A Pirate Day for a period of one year from the date the winner is announced. That means you will not use it to create your own products for sale during that period. After the year is up, you are free to do whatever you like with the artwork, and we're free to continue selling T-shirts, etc. bearing your image.

World Record Holders Again!

Congratulations to our pirate pals across the pond, the Brixham Buccaneers of South Devon, UK.

A year ago they proudly announced that at the annual get together, the Brixham Pirate Festival, they had set a world record, certified by the good folks at Guinness, for having the most costumed pirates at one place at one time. Then, in September, the Portland (OR) Pirate Festival beat their mark. That was also recognized officially by the Guinness folks.

Well, you can’t keep a good buccaneer down, unless of course you strap him to a cannon before you toss him overboard. In any case, not to be outdone, last month the Brixham bunch took the record back. Unofficially (pending official verification by Guinness) they had 1,722 freebooters gathered down there in Devon, snatching the record back. So congratulations!

But our Oregon filibuster friends are warning them not to get too cozy with the title, because when September rolls around again they intend to take the title back. This could get entertaining.

And of course, there are lots of other pirate festivals out there and perhaps some others will want to get into the effort.

For now Brixham wears the crown! By this fall, who knows?

Pirate Festivals Galore!

Summer is all but here, and that means the festival season kicks into high gear.

You can get a list of upcoming festivals on our links page at

http://talklikeapirate.com/links.html#festivals

But we should warn you. The list is only as accurate as the information people send us and sometimes they change plans or dates and forget to tell us. So it behooves you to follow the links to their sites and make sure it's accurate.

As near as we can tell, the following information is correct. If you know of other pirate festivals in the offing that aren't listed here, let us know and we'll happily add 'em to the list!

Port Washington, Wisconsin Pirate Festival - June 4-6
The New England Pirate Faire - Two weekends! June 19, 20, 26 and 27 in Gloucester, MA.
Northern California Pirate Festival, Vallejo - June 19 and 20 at the Vallejo waterfront. Look for a lot of our West Coast pirate pals there, including Cockroach, his blushing bride to be, Talderoy, the B.O.O.M. pirates and - just possibly, plans aren't set yet - Cap'n Slappy himself.
The Hampton Blackbeard Festival - Previously held at the beginning of summer, this year's Blackbeard Festival has been moved to July 9-11 to help mark the city's 400th anniversary. It's one of the "don't you dare miss it" events on the East Coast.

That’ll be all for now. Keep spreadin’ the word – and the word is “Aarrr!”

- Ol’ Chumbucket, ed.

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