Talk Like a Pirate Day 2005
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What did ye do on September 19th?

... and the days before and after (we're discoverin' that tryin' to confine the pirattitude to a single day is like tryin' to keep rum in a barrel with the bung pulled out!)! Let us know, an' we'll tell the world!

And as they come in, read the party reports here. And don't miss the photos!

NEW: Excellent advice on how to observe TLAPD in the workplace, from Katie's mom ... and other tales of inspiration, adventure and derring-do

On line/On the air:

Dave Barry auction for Katrina relief: Our Close Personal Friend and Pulitzer Prizewinner Dave Barry auctioned off a guitar signed by all the Rockbottom Remainders for Hurricane relief. He launched the auction on TLAPDay at big105.9 - and raised $2,026 for Katrina aid.

Permanent Vacation Radio - The popular "TropRock" station featured Talk Like A Pirate programming on John Cody's Endless Summer Radio Show (formerly heard on Radio Margaritaville) the weekend of Sept. 17-18.

Pirate programming Radio station KFUO-FM, a 100,000 watt classical music station at 99.1. FM in St. Louis, Mo., celebrated beginning on Friday the 15th with an hour of music from Pirate movies: "Captain Blood," "The Buccaneer," and that upstart from the Caribbean, Jack Sparrow; "Daphnis & Chloe" (kidnapped by pirates!) "The Flying Dutchman" (sailing under a curse!) and "The Corsair."

The Harry Potter Lexicon Forum's went goes Talk Like A Pirate for the day. ( Enter the site, follow the "forum" link and log in as a guest or member, whichever is appropriate, then go to the chat thread for September 19. Note: This is an all-ages forum, so keep it clean, mates!

Pirates of the Burning Sea, a new on-line role-playing game, celebrated TLAPD on the 19th by offering swashbucklers the chance to apply to beta test the game later in the fall. Sign up and they'll notify ye if ye're accepted to play. The game is set in 1720 in the Caribbean and will allow players to create their own pirate characters and engage in on-line battles. Screen shots can be seen here.

On-line school uses pirates in its lesson planning: In celebration of TLAPD, White River Online Learning students conducted research project. They investigated the "school appropriate" areas of the TLAPD website and boned up on how to talk like a pirate. Then they went to wikipedia.com and did a search for pirates. They had to post to a discussion board a paragraph about a pirate or related pirate topic and they write it in "pirate language." (Aarrrrr, matey!) Postings began on Sept 19 and continue for the whole week. White River Online Learning is based out of the White River School District in Buckley, WA.

Minnesota Radio Pirates: "My name is Shelley Pierce and I co-host a radio show called Shuffle Function on KMSU in Mankato, Minnesota. We fully intend to talk like a pirate during our show tomorrow morning, for two hours!!! Listeners have stopped in to give us proper pirate gear for the task (hats, eye patches, hooks) so we are good to go on that front. Everyone knows that props are important on the radio. We also ask that our listeners talk like a pirate when they call in to request music, and we plan on giving out pirate names via the name generator. Should be a good time all we are missing is a parrot or two, and a plank." - Shelley Pierce, Shelley Pierce KMSU 89.7 fm

Radio London Pirate Shanty: "I knows as 'ow ye renegades'll be busy preparin' for tomorrow's International Talk Like A Pirate Day so I just wanted to draw yer attention to the new shanty I 'as quilled for this arrrspicious occasion."- Mary (The Knee Wench)

Download a free pirate song: Download a free MP3 from the soon-to-be-released "The Pirate Album" by Andrew Cunningham and various artists. The album is co produced by Neil Jeffries who did the music for the pirate series on the Discovery Channel. Download the track, Heave Ho, here.

TLAPD chat: kneer0w says "Let people know that if they don't feel like going out and just want to yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, the landlubbers can simply go to #yarr on EFNET as it can accomodate a plethora of pirates in a friendly atmosphere." He has a couple of opers and admins standing by to handle the channel for all who come their way during TLAPD weekend.

Eclectech Pants Pirate: Check out the Piratical greeting from Eclectech; compose yer own greeting and mail it to yer pirate pals!

iTunes Pirate Playlist: "I made a playlist of pirate songs on the iTunes Music Store, including Tom Smith's "Talk Like a Pirate Day" (which iTMS sells), several from "Pirates of Penzance," the Pirate Song from Peter Pan, and others. If you have iTunes (free for Windows and Mac), you can find the playlist by going to the iTunes Music Store, clicking on "iMix" in the left column, then searching on "Pirate songs" in the iMix name. Mine has 11 songs. " -- George Slusher, Eugene, OR.

Ask Jeeves - The search tool features a special Talk Like A Pirate Day look.

Textamerica Pirates: Send yer TLAPD talk here.

The Piker Press ("Literature without the nutritive value") has its second annual Talk Like A Pirate edition on line now and for the week to come, featurin' Jerry and Philip Seeger's prize-winning fil;m script, "Pirates of the White Sand,"

Worth.com's TLAPD Photoshop contest: "If Pirates Ruled ..."

Piratized:

Vorb, the popular New Zealand-based mountain biking Web site, will be "piratized" on Sept. 19 for your reading pleasure.

Nilsson: The Harry Nilsson Website, dedicated to the talents of the late singer-songwriter, was piratized for the holiday as well.

Pharyngula, a biology blog ran by PZ Meyers

The Internet Movie Database (screenshot)

Distributed Proofreaders

(How did they do that? Some used this nifty hack for WordPress 1.2 or higher, which will automatically "piratize" all the text and comments on your blog. Thanks and a tip o' the pirate hat to Dougal Campbell's Geek Ramblings)

Pirate haiku - on radsy.com, just in time for TLAPD 2005

Astraware pirates - "The home of hand-held entertainment" celebrated TLAPD with discounts on two popular games, Tradewinds and Seven Seas.

On-line RPGs: The Last of Azeroth team (in the World of Warcraft game) celebrated TLAPD by "raiding some fine booty."

Pirate videos: Apperceptions posted pirate-themed videos and challenged the rest of the Yahoo Videoblogging community to do the same.

Easter Egg: Fans report that the Popular Sid Meiers' Pirates game contains an easter egg that makes all characters - including the governor's daughters - talk like pirates on Sept. 19.

Talk Like A Pirate Day Webcomix:

Blogged by:

On the ground:

Nationwide:

Long John Silver's: The restaurant chain promoted Talk Like A Pirate Day for the third year in a row with sale prices on the 19th and an on-line pirate name generator.

Eastern US

Gotham pirates : Our literary publicist, Cap'n Liz and her gang held forth at the 19th MacMennanin's Pub, 89 South St. at Pier 17, 3rd floor in the South Street Seaport. (photos)

Clay, NY - Christmas in September: In upstate New York, the town of Clay holds its annual Christmas (Christmas? In September?) Parade of Boats, and since it was scheduled for Sept, 17 this year the event had a decidedly piratical flavor .

Rochester, New York - Shipboard TLAPD: While cruising aboard the American Candadian Caribbean Line's Grand Caribe from Chicago to Warrenton Rhode Island, via the Great Lakes, Roger and Putzler discovered that the ship already had other events planned for Sept. 19, so they persuaded the crew and their fellow cruisers to celebrate TLAPD on the 17th. They were abetted by Patty, Bonnie and Kari, who "took the cutlass and ran with it and convinced the Cruise Director that this would be the thing to do. They even had me make an announcement over the ship's P.A. system inviting the scrurvy crew and land lubbers to free grog (rum & punch---4 bowls were needed) in the ship's lounge. The ship's Captain even got on the P.A. system and said he could tell that the pirate who made the announcement could not have been from New England because he could pronounce the R in Arrrrr! I also shared the five A words with the passengers and, of course, your website. What a hoot!" - Roger Putzler (photo)

Glastonbury, Connecticut - Scupper and kids : Popular children's entertainer Kevin Burke, aka Scupper, had so much fun last Sept. 19 that he's made a repeat visit this Sept. 19 to Barnes & Noble in Glastonbury, CT, including a lesson in pirate talk, a reading from some children's pirate books, and a lesson in pirate lore. (photo)

New London Connecticut - the Coast Guard pipes aboard: "Here at the US Coast Guard Academy we’re celebrating Talk like a Pirate Day by ... talking like pirates. Hotel Company made an announcement of today’s importance, the only shame is our service is dedicated to suppressing and battling pirates, ah well. Ye better fear us, for we patrol the water ye bilge rats defile!" 4/c Radin

Improvised pirattitude: "I'm in North Kingstown Rhode Island, and for International Talk Like A Pirate day, I made dozens of eye patches out of kite string, duct tape and construction paper and handed them out in my high school. Sure, it wasn't as elaborate as other stuff people do, but it really got a lot of attention. People all day were confused about all of the eyepatch-clad people walking around." - Sarah

Salem, Mass. - Good timing: This year's Salem, Mass. Pirate Faire fell on September 17 & 18. Winter Island Park was overrun with pirate re-enactors, swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, romance, treachery, and treasure.

Boston, Mass: Peabody Pirates: The Peabody Institute Library kicked off a town-wide fall reading program on Talk Like a Pirate Day. The library gave prizes to who came in talking like pirates. The selected book for the program is Robert Louis Stephenson's ''Treasure Island." Through the program, ''Read It, Share It, Treasure It: Peabody Reads Treasure Island," the library has purchased a number of paperback copies of the book for residents to borrow and planned a series of events related to the book.

Baltimore - Katrina assistance fundraiser: Pirates of the Drunken Ferret took over the Clipper City at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Md. cto party and raise money to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Lawschool pirattitude: "Professor Margaret Krasik insisted that any student answering a question today in her "Estates & Trusts" class at Duquesne University School of Law preface their answer by talking like a pirate. In response, one student told her to 'walk the plank.' " -- Mary Jensen

Arnold, Maryland - Pirates on the Magothy: – The Ferry Point Marina and Yachtyard in Arnold, Md.will hold its annual Slipholder's Party. Because of the nearness to ITLAPDay, this year's theme was "Pirates on the Magothy" and featured a treasure hunt, with Pirate ships raiding the booty and stealing the wenches; a pirate band and "pin the eyepatch on the pirate" for the kiddies.

North Carolina - Home-town boy: Hot on the heels of Talk Like a Pirate Day, the town of Bath, N.C. continues its tricentennial celebration Sept. 24-26 with a Buccaneer's Bash and a visit by the tall ship Queen Elizabeth II, in memory of their own Cap't. William "Blackbeard" Teach. Check their Web site for more information.

North Carolina gamin' pirates: Hit Point Hobbies held a "booty grabbin', pirate talkin' tournament" on Talk Like A Pirate Day "Bring ye most savvy ships ta sail into the fray and pillage the swag!"

Charleston, South Carolina - Queen Anne's Revenge: In Ole Blackbeard's stompin' ground just up from Charleston, SC on Daniels Island be a fine cafe called Queen Anne's Revenge, named after his ship and trimmed out an -foot model of the Queen Anne, cutlasses and a brace the finest pistols plus blunderbusses and cannon - as well as a lifesized replica of Steed and Bonnet plannin' their next raid in a cut-away of his cabin. On Talk Like A Pirate Day they offered free appetizers for all who came dressed as pirates.

Virginia Beach - Sea Gypsy cruise: Cap'n Amanda "Peg-Leg" Williams and First Mate Olivia Rot Gut" Williams planned to spend TLAPD cruising aboard the Sea Gypsy, which sails out of the Long Bay Pointe Marine in Virginia Beach, Va. on excursions to Blackbeard's hideout. Peg Leg writes: "As a faithful pirate m'self (who, by the way has been in the Navy for 18 years!), I thought this pirate cruise was a lot of fun-they even follow treasure maps, dress in pirate garb and have a water cannon battle at sea. THIS is how we plan to spend OUR international talk like a pirate day! (In case ye wish to investigate this treasure, it's at www.pirateexpeditions.com)"

Richmond, Virginia Smokin: At UM Cigar Distributors in Richmond, Va., the Rev Zack "The Kilted Pirate" Alderfer held an event at his smoke shope.

Southern US/ Gulf

St. Augustine, Fla. - Scarlett O'Hara's: Scarlett O'hara's in historic Saint Augustine, Florida hosted a pyrate party According to a correspondent, "The pyrate ship "Black Heart" is now recruiting "hands" to join the crew. Equal shares will be given for all qualified "hands" that will pass muster and are properly attired and armed to support the ship and its other crew members."

Florida - Libraries with Pirattitude: The North Regional/Broward Community College library in Coconut Creek, Florida celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day with a showing of "a popular pirate movie" whose name they can't publicize because of contractual requirements. But we can guess!

Altamonte Springs, Florida: Kiwi's Pub & Grill, a small New Zealander-owned pub just outside Orlando, has been counting down toward TLAPD for three months and capped the celebration with T-shirts, specials and other hijinks. "So many people are excited about it we want to do it up!!! I even had a guy come in and say, “You guys know about that? We celebrated that back home.” - Mona

Atlanta - PiratePalooza: Our ol' pal Cap'n Drew iput together a little pubcrawl dubbed "PiratePalooza" just outside of Atlanta, Ga. Further info at: www.piratepalooza.com/

Atlanta Radio Theater: ARTC in Atlanta, GA reprised its special Talk Like A Pirate Day performance at Barnes & Noble Bookstore. As they did in 2004, staff, performers and visitors alike dressed (and talked) like pirates while the ARTC performed a staged reading of the book Pirate Hunter, pirate trivia contests and more. Read about this year's plans. (photo)

Mobile pirates: The Mobile, Ala. public library threw a children's celebration of Talk Like A Pirate Day, featuring some of the fun for junior pirates from our site.

Louisiana Sea Grant Pirates: Staff of the Louisiana Sea Grant office in Baton Rouge held their First Annual Talk Like A Pirate Day celebration on Monday. "Everybody at LSG gets eye patches and we'll have a swashbuckling good lunch," writes communications manager Roy Kron. (photos) [The Webwench is especially pleased to hear this news, as she works for one o' LSG's sister Sea Grant programs when she's not slavin' away for the Pirate Guys].

San Leon, Texas - Katrina relief and pirate fun: "It’s time to pool the loot for those that were given the Black Spot by that shrew Katrina. Captains Marcel and Dale shanghaied some buxom wenches and out of their boucan will come vittaulles well seasoned." ... San Leon Marina held a Katrina relief fundraiser for TLAPD.

Rockwall, Texas - Party with the Bilge Pumps: Chandlers Landing Marina in Rockwall held its "first but not last" Talk Like A Pirate Day Party. The party included The Bilge Pumps, one of Slappy and Chumbucket's favorite pirate bands.

Great Western Industries (Dallas?): "Some lass be finished with her distribut'n of our new pirate booty. Our new eypatches for the the entire crew 'on deck' mean we be's ready fer the day's swashbucklin'. Yes, we be telling who the Sprogs and land lubbers are for they refuse to wear the uniform. Aye, some o' the lily-livered ne'er even attempt to envoke the rights o' parley before we make 'em walk the plank fer their lack o'entusiasm. " -- Robert, the network admin

Houston - Space pirates: Cap'n Long Don Silverstrings, who works for the space program and lives, as he says, ""just a doubloon's throw from Galveston where Cap'n Lafitte buried his pirate booty, now located under a tall building or a perpetually flooding housing development," plays in a traditional jazz band, and this year threw an ITLAP celebration at a Houston fish house. Oh, and we asked Long Don whether it would be possible to get someone on the space station to let out a "Arr!" or two on the 19th, thereby making it Interplanetary Talk Like a Pirate Day, but he said he doubted it. NASA has lost its wild and wooly edge, and the right stuff is no longer as prized as it was. Bummer.

Talequah, Oklahoma - Pirate assignment: "Ahoy! As a lecturer in English Composition I've assigned my students to come up with an argument or example of why TLAPD should be a "true" and recognized holiday, unlike, say, step parents day, and present it to the class in pirate jargon." - Tony O'seland, Adjunct English Professor, English Dept., College of Liberal Arts. Northeastern State University

Midwestern US & Plains

Baylor Law School: "Just found your web-site and thought I’d send my TLAPD 2005 story. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as TLAPD until my contracts professor at Baylor Law School walked into class on September 19th and informed us that we would be observing TLAPD in class. Everyone that he called on that day in class was required to begin their answer to his question with a hearty “Arrgh!” If the “Arrgh” wasn’t hearty enough then he made you do it over. Some of us loved it. A couple of the women in class made the professor a paper hat with the Jolly Roger painted on it and left it on the podium the next day. He thought it was great and wore it during class…so the 20th became TLAPD part 2!" -- Joanna

Des Moines, (that's French for "the Moines") Iowa - Parrotheads: The Des Moines Parrot Head Club celebrated at their favorite local watering hole, the aptly Yankee Clipper.

Ankeny, Iowa - Aboard the Yankee Clipper: Those pirate wenches extrordinaire Dawnie & Debe, hosted a pirate party at the Yankee Clipper.

Iowa City pirattitude: Once again, Barnacle Bob and the University of Iowa Loose Association of Very Silly People (UILAVSP) in association with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) spent the day handing out out eyepatches and newspaper pirate hats!

Nebraska - We're not making this up: Cap'n Q-Tip ("I used to be swabby, now I'm Q-Tip) and the Chess Pirates of Nebraska held what we all believe to be the first-ever International Talk Like A Pirate Day chess tournament, the Swag Open, on Sept. 17 and even got some newspaper coverage. They urged all comers to dress appropriately, and plan to honor such "alternative" chess terms as "Heave-to and prepare to be boarded!" (checkmate), "You've run me through!" (I resign.), "I invoke the right of Parlay" (offer draw) and "Cap'n'll see about this!" (need to speak to TD). Afterwards, Q-Tip wrote: "Well the 1st Swag Open is now in the history books - 44 buckaneers from Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa fought over the ocean of 64 squares. One scallywag from Iowa won your fine book and seemed quite pleased to have done so!" (photo)

Cincinnati, Ohio - Pirate shoot'em-up: Scallywag Tag, a pirate-themed laser tag arena got a jump on TLAPD this Friday and Saturday with prizes for the best-dressed pirates and highest-scoring pirates .

Cincinnati , Ohio - More Harriers: The Sin City Hash House Harriers and Harriettes (another "drinking club with a running problem) hosted their second annual Talk Like a Pirate Hash Run through and around the downtown Cincinnati streets on Saturday, Sept 17th . Says Tom Moehringer, "The pace is slow and the energy is high, and there is plenty of grog consumed before, during and mostly after the run. Like most of what we do, there is no point to this endeavor—except to cause a spectacle. (It doesn’t hurt that this is the same weekend as Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest celebration, the 2nd largest in the world, next to Munich, Germany. So there is plenty of opportunity to cause a disturbance, running through the streets in full Pirate dress with thousands of people looking at us, wondering what the !*&@ we are doing.)"

Columbus City, Indiana - Peabody Pirattitude: The Peabody Public Library in Columbus City, Indiana, transformed its Web site into pirate talk in honor of TLAPD '05, and planned Talk Like A Pirate events from the 19th through the 22nd for grownups and sprouts alike..

Indianapolis Pirate karioke: Members of the Indianapolis Women's Chorus will piratied like pirates and pillated the village of Dittsworth (Pirate Jimmy and Tracy’s abode) on Saturday the 17th. (photo)

Winnetka, Ill. - Buccaneer bunnies: When Carolyn Crimi's finished her new book, Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies, she knew a Talk Like a Pirate Day event would be the perfect way to celebrate. At 3:30 PM on September 19th, signed the book at the Bookstall in Winnetka, IL. Kids who came to the signing learned pirate words, pirate songs and hunted for buried gold coins. They also learned that not all pirates pillage. Henry, for example, prefers a good book.

Rockford, Ill. - Pirate Discounts: At the Rockford College Bookstore, in Rockford, Ill, anyone who came in on the 19th talking like a pirate got 10 percent off their purchase.

Marshall, Mich. - Pirates in the schools: Captain Ishtar once again be celebrated ITLAPD at Marshall Middle School. Special Pirate Ship related activities were done in science classes all day, with students encouraged to dress as pirates for the day. Captain ISHTAR will be visiting elementary schools this week, reading “How I Became A Pirate” to the younger students, leaving behind gifts of chocolate gold coins and beads. Arghh!

It's the personal touch that counts: "Eyme gonna go to as many dry Cleaners as possible with a pirate lookin Jakket with one shoulder covered with an ungly mess from Me chicken coop, wearin a patch on one eye and Ask 'em How they rate at getting Parrot Shit stains outta clothing." -- Jerry Poronsky, Dearborn,MI

Minnesota contest: "Sponsored 'Talk like a pirate' day here at McQuay International...(we make air conditioners) held a 'pirate talk' contest (see rules below) with piles of gold wrapped candy in gold boxes & gold dollar coins as prizes! We used the printable pirate eye patches too:) Sadly, our pirates didn't like photographic evidence of their whereabouts or we'd send pictures ;) To those who didn't participate we gave 'bilge rats' (rubber rats)." -- Caroline Hardin Lueneburg, McQuay International Rep Help Desk

Olive Garden Pirate: "I'm a server at the Olive Garden in Maple Grove, MN. I wore a red bandana and some pirate "treasure" while speaking with pirattitude to my guests. My manager wasn't totally keen on the idea but my guests loved it. Made really good tips that day. ;-)" -- Dena from Elk River, MN

Pirates of Missouri: Flat Branch Pub and Brewing, 115 South Fifth Street, Columbia Missouri will be partied like pirates all day long on Sunday, Sept. 18 From the looks o' the photos on their site, last year's party was a real pirate ball.

Liberty, Missouri - Piratical pedagogy: "This morning I hoisted the mast on Talk Like a Pirate Day by teaching the lads and lasses in my Evolution and Ecology class in Pirate speak. They were requested to reply in hearty pirate speech as well. And, shiver me timbers, they did!!! We covered genetics and dealt with a gene for tongue rolling in humans. Luckily for us, we can represent that gene as R (Arrrr!) One student came in late and was more confused than a pirate waking up to find his peg-leg gone after a night down at the dockside pubs. A few found it ridiculous and were forced to walk the intellectual plank. We also threatened the plank for incorrect answers to questions from the Captain. A swashbuckling good time was had by all." --Paul

Western US

Albany, Oregon: Cap'n Slappy, Ol' Chumbucket and the rest of Team Pirate held forth at Riley's Billiard Room & Grill, consuming copious draughts of Dead Guy Ale and talking like pirates. Although hoped-for guest Bobby Henderson of Flying Spaghetti Monster fame was unable to make it, some of his Pastafarian followers did!

Aftermath: Join Team Pirate at the Oregon Trader Brewing Co., 140 Hill St., Albany at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, for an informal post-TLAPD recovery party (also known in these parts as "Please, God, stop talking like pirates!" Day). We'll be throwing darts at the Poopdeck subscriber list to determine the winners of our contest, and the guys will bring along some books to sell and sign, too.

Portland, Ore. - Pirate Island: The Island Cafe (250 NE Tomahawk Drive, in the heart of North Portland Harbor, Portland, Ore.) once again celebrated TLADP with costumes, pirattitude and pirate specials, including the infamous Rum Runner, grog o' choice at this poipular floating cafe.

Portland, Or. - Salvador Molly's: Salvador Molly's offered TLAPD prizes to patrons who could come up with catchy pirate phrases; those who dressed the part won more.

Oregon - Harley pirates: "More'n three score of South Coast Oregon Harley ridin' pirates descended on Pirate Island to share ale, high-seas tales and grub. In a cannon-ball (water balloon) battle twixt pirates and English, pirates won handily. Last pirates standing won devil ducks. If'n you not familiar with such a beast, ye can't be callin' yerself a pirate. The day was filled with games ranging from horse shoes to hitting cannon balls in a full-size, regulation batting cage. A live band from Portland had written pirate songs just for the party. Pirate and their wenches consumed nearly 50 pounds of pork; 11 cases of beer; 20 pounds of snack foods; 2 cases of soda pop (not big on bubbly soda); untold quantities of rum-laced grog. We're already planning next year's event." -- Best, Three Fingers (photo)

Eugene, Oregon: Pirate Aid for Katrina: Diablo's/Downtown Lounge held a The Pirate Day Mardi Gras Party for hurricane relief to raise money for the Red Cross.

News pirates: "I honestly didn't know about this fine celebration prior to today. However, as news director at KING FM it is my duty to research and report on such festive occasions. As a result, this morning we be reportin'.....uhhh, we reported that today was Talk Like a Pirate Day on one of our newcasts. This of course had the effect of makin' the rest o' the crew walk around all squinty eyed an' sayin' things like "aaaarrrrhhhh" and "matey" and such. An' now we be seriously thinkin' about going over and attackin' the nancy boys at 98.9! wILL WE GIVE 'EM ANY QUARTER?? NAY SAYS I....LET'S SINK THE SCURVY SWABS!!!! Aaaarrrhh....where be the wenches?????" -- Lee Jackson, KING FM, Seattle WA

San Francisco - Protecting our shores with Pirattitude: Terry Jelcick tells us his comrades in US Coast Guard Port Security Unit 312, just commissioned in San Francisco Bay as a "small, specialized, globally deployable, rapid response unit," were glad to learn about TLAPD and plan to celebrate ... appropriately.

Los Angeles Count - Pirates! It's the law!: "Temple sheriff"s station in Los Angeles County celebrates the day by wearing buttons and hats ( I have an eyepatch). All the traffic on the computers in the cars are in pirate talk. I be the Dutchess of Death, Watch Deputy. Black Jack Flint the Chief Inspector keeps us on course as to the days of Pirate talk. AAARRRRR. "911 what be your emergency ?" -- The Dutchess of Death

Bakersfield, Calif.- Bookstore Pirates: Russo's Books is holding pirate themed events the whole week of Sept. 18 – 24. Anyone who comes into the store during that week dressed like a pirate or speaking piratey gets a special discount. Visit www.russosbooks.com for more details.

Fresno, Ca. - Theyr'e openin' the house to pirates! "Pirate A Go Go" is an adults-only party on the 17th in a private residence with a pirate ship water slide/bounce house, big pool for the swimming, pirate games, treasure hunt, fire eaters and jugglers, pirate chanties, roasted meats and plenty of rum and mead for the drinking games.

Impromptu TLAPD at DisneyLand?"If anybody's interested, I'm gonna take me family to Disneyland right when it opens, head straight fer tha Pirates of the Caribbean, and remind 'em what an important day it is fer 'em, and then sail the seven seas a few times in a row..... THEN, we'll wander around the park talkin' like pirates, or as well as we can muster, anyway." --Signed, Bombastic Blowhard (No pun intended) [Note: We'd love to hear how this turned out...]

Trainin' 'em young: "I teach 6th grade in California, and we will start reading about Pirates next week. We plan on celebrating Talk Like A Pirate Day - .great fun" -- Lisa Vizcarra

Los Angeles - Flying the colors: "Avast there Capn', we at Booth, Mitchel & Strange LLP in Los Angeles have big plans! We'll be flyin the Jolly Roger from our 44th story window, daring our high rise neighbors to try to board our building! Grog and a wild pirate party will ensue, followed by sacking and plundering of offices on other floors! As fer dressin' up in costumes, we don't need no scurvy costumes! WE'RE LAWYERS!" -

Tucson, Ariz. - Pirates on the run: The Hash House Harriers of Tucson, Ariz., a self proclaimed " drinking club with a running problem ", will get a head start on TLAPD with a Sept. 17 pirate-themed run through the streets of Tucson - with grog stops.

Pirate incentives: "I made 150 Parrot cookies and handed them out at work. I made the landlubbers talk like a pirate if they wanted a cookie." -- Jon Easley, Tucson, AZ

Minden, Colo. - Polite pirates - Pirate Wilson and Pirate Bertolone-Smith, two chummies who teach first grade together in Minden, Nevada, celebrated the day with glorious costumes; pirate vocabulary lesson,s making pirate hates, an orienteering course - and a Treasure map! "We call our class "Polite Pirates" and they jolly well are," write the pirate teachers.

Canada

Prince George, British Columbia: "We run a small independent school, and for (Inter)National Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day, we teachers are planning to dress up like pirates, and act and talk like them, WITHOUT LETTING THE KIDS KNOW THAT WE'RE GOING TO. It'll be fun, they'll be stunned, and we hope to make a few walk the plank! I'll try to get some pics to send along afterwards. Great idea, this thing! Thanks for the opportunity." -- JF in PG

Nova Scotia: Septaugenarian Pirate! "T'day, Sept. 19, 2005, bein the seventieth anniversary of me birth I have ordered everyone in my establishment (The Lobster Shack Restaurant) to observe the day in proper fashion by talkin like a pirate. Our land base is right on the Atlantic Ocean on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia....an area rich in pirate history. As a matter of fact I looks out my porthole every day and spies the verry spot where pirates buried their booties back in them days. I dare not disturb it for I swear it is guarded by swashbuckling ghosts. I have erected a plank on the poop deck and anyone who refuses to talk like a pirate will be sent to pay a visit to Davey Jones at the bottom of the Atlantic....AAAAAARRRRRGH!!!! Well I must git to it and haul the scuppers fer some mates and wenches to help me crack open a keg of grog and jine in me celebrations! Avast!" - Adrien Blanchette

Latin America

Uruguay - Lost in the Ether: Perdidos En El Eter (Lost In Ether) is a radio show from Montevideo, Uruguay, about comics, roleplaying, scifi and other related subjects, and of course, pirates! The South American radio show will hold its second yearly celebration, dedicating an entire show to pirates, this time on September 22, the Thursday after ITLAPD. The show will feature a review of the Monkey Island computer games series, a segment about the roleplaying game Seventh Sea, and a brief catalogue of real-life famous pirates. Producer MaGnUs says, "During the show we'll be drinking some beer, and after the show, we'll most likely play Seventh Sea, whilst completely drunk." You can catch the Spanish language broadcast online as well at: http://perdidoseneleter.tripod.com. (And the hosts have managed to spread the pirattitude to the public schools, too: Public High School Nº 54, to where Endriago's son Eric the Red attends, is going to host their own TLAPD celebration!)

Great Britain/Europe

UK - Pirates care: The Marie Curie Cancer Care program in the UK is ran a Talk Like A Pirate Day Fund-raiser to help support Marie Curie Nurses home-care for terminally ill cancer patients.

London - Pirate Goths: Synthetic Culture - an Alternative/Goth club in London, UK staged a Pirate Theme Night on Friday the 16th September) in celebration of TLAPD.

Leicester pub crawl: On the 20th September the cabin boys and wenches of Leicester University (UK) held a pirate-themed bar crawl round the glorious city of Leicester! Much grog was consumed, and there was carousing well into the night!

South Tyneside College Pirate Plunder: Led by Commodore-Captain KittyCat (Mercedes Z. Kruspe Bernstein) students held South Tyneside College Charity Pirate Plunder to raise funds for the Grace House Children's Hospice Appeal.

Berkshire, England - Theatrical pirates: Colnbrook Amateur Stage Theatre (CAST) Berkshire ceelbrated TLAPD in rehearsal for their 2005 pantomime, Treasure Island

Scotland - Pillagin', plunderin' - and charity: A group o' mad students - some English, some Scots - planned to spend Sept. 10-18 sailin' a hired canal boat from Edinburgh to Glasgow an' back again along the Union and Forth & Clyde canals. They decked ' their craft with pirate banners, wore pirate costumes - and raised money for charity. See their Web site at http://www.yarrpirates.com for details.

Scotland Research Pirates: "We be a research lab in the land o' Scots who have a soft spot in our hearts for pirates. We're tryin' to help ye spread the word, so every year we alter the front page of our web site accordingly. I be Laaaaaurrra, the Web Wench, and my associate Aaaaaarcha helps me instruct the lab in pirate talk. We'll be isolatin' DNA and peepin' at cells with our microscopes all day today, in yer honor.." -- Laura Trinkle-Mulcahy,

Wales: More fun for charity: "Avast cap'n, we've held ours a little early over here in Wales UK, and raised 85 quid for the Macmillan Nurses, this'll be added to the pot at a tea party next week. All good fun and it brings a touch of Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr back to the land of Cap'n Morgan and Colyn Dolphyn. Have fun everyone, Dastardly Dave and Not so Jolly Roger." (photo)

At sea off Portsmouth: "rrrrrrrrr mates. this be redbeard here. as a fine upstandin' man'o'means such as yeself, i take my booty on the high seas as a sailor aboard the finest bucket o' scalliwags in the main, the USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81). she be a fine vessel, fit fer ol' hornigold hisself. a guided missile destroyer for our blessed nation be she, and recently bound from the king's Portsmouth, UK by thunder. true as the north star, i've been plunderin' these murky waters off the coast and bars of the original colonies for ages. today, i've mustered the entire crew all the ways down to the galley swabs in observence o' this fine day. tonight, rations of grog and biscuits be extended, fer the crew be restless fer another prize. no quarter fer those who deny this day! landlubbers, i warrant. not worthe their salt in a dingy. ahoy! fair winds and followin' seas mate! cheers be from the crew o' the ol' winnie churchill! and ye may lay to that!"

Luxembourg Pirate Park: "This wench is a happily married mother of three, and the five of us have recently moved to Luxembourg, a sadly land-locked country. But they do have a lovely, new pirate-themed playground near the center of Luxembourg city (costing much booty for the citizen of Luxembourg, Arr-arr-arr), and we are having a TLAPD party at the playground for the kids on Monday. Not much grog (unless you bring your own), but plenty of pirate talk and water to play in and around. In the meanwhile, we are working on improving our pirate vocabulary in French, something new for us this year." -- First mate Matilda Hood Kehlen, Luxembourg

Australia/New Zealand

First report in: Brisbane: "Here in Brisbane Australia we held Talk Like a Pirate Day today (Friday 16th) and used it to raise money for the Childhood Cancer Support charity. Had a great day and raised plenty of gold and was inundated by the media (18 radio interviews.) Thanks for the great idea and we are looking forward to 2006." -- Peter Wotherspoon (Peg Leg Pete)

Melbourne EDS: "Reporting in that the project team for EDS in Melbourne is in full swing for International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Most people have dug into their wardrobes and have produced outfits befitting any prince of the high seas.A big cheerio and thank you for giving us an excuse to let the pirate within out for a day." -- First Mate Burly Breath

Parramatta: Greetings - As TLPD is around my birthday - and because it was a quiet day at the office - I decided to have fun and raise some money for one of my favourite causes at the same time. My workmates each pledged adonation towards the Hamlin Fistula Aid and Relief Fund (an Australian project help Ethiopian women who suffer severe injuries during childbirth) ... The challenge: To venture up and down the main street of Parramatta during lunchtime in pirate garb (I perform in a theatrical swordplay troupe called "The Highland Cavaliers" hence the extra flourish with rapier and dagger). Most of the lunchtime crowd including the constabulary barely raised an eyebrow - mind you, people are pretty used to vagabonds, buccaneers and layabouts around here - Parramatta was a convict farm settlement which which was established at the same time as Sydney Cove itself back in in 1788 (for out of towners - geographically Parramatta lies about an hour west of the Harbour Bridge via the Parramatta River ferry) ... You will be pleased to know that at least $A300 has been raised to date for the Fistula Aid fund. Who knows what we'll get up to next year!?" - Fearsom' Bess (photo)

Hollywell, Australia - Marina pirates: The SYC Hollywell Sailing Squadron hosted a swashbuckling ITLAPDay party at 1 Marina Crescent in Hollywell, promising pillagin’ and plunderin’, spittin’ and brawling, with prizes for Best Dressed Pirate, Best Dressed Wench, Best Pirate yarn (told in traditional pirate talk!), and The Best “Arrrrrrrr!”

Canberra, Australia - Pirate ball down under: The band Earthly Delights held a pirate's costumed ball on Saturday September 17, at St Johns Hall, Constitution Avenue, Reid, Canberra, Australia. Earthly Delights's Web site describes it as "one of Australia's most inventive and interactive folk-world-medieval music bands- and one with enormous cross generational appeal."

Canberra, Australia - Employee event: TransACT, a business employing about 3,000 workers, celebrated the day by raising money for Starlight Children's Foundation. Anyone donating $5 or more to the cause got permission to talk and dress like a pirate on the job all day. The Starlight Children's Foundation helps children with cancer. (Scroll down the page for more events in Canberra - talk about a town with pirattitude!)

Canberra Pirate politician: (No, we won't make the cheap joke) Mike Hettinger, who's runnin' for something-or-other in Canberra, Australia, threw a Talk Like A Pirate Day picnic and fund-raiser Sept. 18 on Springbank Island, Lake Burley-Griffin.

Queensland, Australia - Money for guide dogs: The Teaching and Learning Services Social Events and Corporate Citizenry Group at Queensland University of Technology sponsored Talk Like A Pirate Day tea on Sept. 19 to raise money for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association of Queensland.

New Zealand Catholic School: "Well ye see me hearties, thar seems t' be a lack o' NZ pirates! Today on the 19th I, Captain Echo, decided to introduce this little shindig to our (Catholic girls) school. So I printed off yer pirate lingo and drafted it in several classrooms along with pictures of Captain Jack Sparrow. The teachers found it Jolly good Roger! More enthusiasm from the scurvy dogs than I's expecting!!" - Captain Echo

Asia

Lonely in Taiwan: "Being closer to the dateline, we get Talk Like a Pirate Day ahead of you, although ~~ I hang my head in shame ~~ I have to confess that I have had little success popularizing TLPD in Taiwan (remember? I wrote a couple years ago). HOWEVER, I am still trying. I have posted you on my blog which is read daily by at least two people. (I’m one, and the other is my imaginary pirate friend.) So have a happy mooncake" -- Yugan Dali AKA Greg Talovich AKA etc

Middle East

Pirates in Kuwait: "In our never ending quest to find anything to pass time away, we decided to celebrate and talk like pirates as much as possible. Our Commodore even got in on the action, which is surprising cause most the time he doesn't have a sense of humor. The Army over here probably thinks us Navy/Coast Guard people are crazy, but even some of them though it was funny. I am sending a picture of me and some of my unit ( The Desert Polywogs ) who boarded a Navy gunboat and raised our flag. The flag is actually the first Navy Jack and was flown on the first Navy/Marine mission the Revolutionary War, and now used as the jack for the duration of the war on terrorism. I noticed that there are no stores to buy pirate costumes in Kuwait so we had to make due with what we had." -- Sincerely, The Desert Polywogs (aka NCWRON 33)

Africa

Pirates?

Elsewhere

The Poles, the International Space Station ... ???

Now that's pirattitude! "I couldn't do me much for Talk like a Pirate Day, so I took all the leeway I could and went out to lunch with my buddies for two hours and drank 5 pints of beer. For the record, I only have a half-hour lunch from the public relations office, and I'm not s'posed ta drink any of them there alcoholic bev'rages. I played two games 'a darts an' a round 'a pool and lost 'em all. But damn, ya shoulda read the press releases I sent out this afta'noon. =)" Michael, whose last name and employer shall go unrevealed.

 

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