Yo Har Harrr, it’s Christmas at last! And what better way to enjoy the season than with Ol’ Chumbucket – co-creator of everyone’s *other* favorite holiday (that’s Talk Like a Pirate Day, ya scabs) – singing a very special Christmas carol?

So our friends over at the Pyracy Pub seem to have discovered that at one time, May 9th was celebrated to be National Pirate Day. Sadly, what internet results I could find only consisted of additional secondhand info, with no actual evidence. This of course shouldn’t be confused with Talk Like a Pirate Day, which as we all know is September 19th.

Whether you celebrate piracy this weekend or not… scratch that – you SHOULD be celebrating piracy this weekend, regardless of whether there’s any merit to this whole May 9th thing. So sayeth we.

Facebook Pirate language – the new English (Pirate) language setting will liven up your Facebook Profile!.

I haven’t really explored Facebook as yet – and not only because of the copyright debaucle they’ve had of late (although that didn’t help.) But this definitely sounds intriguing – especially for those of you what ne’er git tarrred of readin’ pirate talk, n’matter ‘ow bloody ‘ard it be ta understands!

Apprecerations ta Tad fer sightin’ this one fer us! Yarrr!!!

Rating:
How to Speak Pirate: A Treasure Chest of Seafaring Slang
by Geordie Telfer

I’m going to just lay it out there – I did not expect to like this book. Why not? Because I’m biased. I think Jack Sparrow has become the lazy man’s jolly roger – a way to ride Disney’s coat tails to try and siphon off a little of their merchandising power. So combine this book’s Jack Sparrow lookalike on the cover with the fact that lexicons of nautical terms already exist (very few of which make for an interesting read) and you can see why I assumed it might be garbage.

And so it was to my happy surprise that How to Speak Pirate: A Treasure Chest of Seafaring Slang turned out to be not merely decent, but actually quite brilliant in its own right. The secret? As is so often the case it’s the ever elusive thing I like to call “good writing.” You’d be amazed at the difference it can make. [read more »]

Rating:
The Pirate Life: Unleashing Your Inner Buccaneer
by John ‘Ol’ Chumbucket’ Baur and Mark ‘Cap’n Slappy’ Summers
www.talklikeapirate.com

My sister-in-law is a nurse. For those of you readers who prefer visuals to help in all matters, she’s the redhead posing on the Bilgemunky Swag page. But do bear in mind that if you just now went to the swag page to sneak a peak, you’re morally obligated to buy a shirt. I’m just sayin’.

Anyways, my sister-in-law is a nurse. And the problem with nurses in the family is they have this thing – it’s called “wellness.” The concept behind wellness is that you’re supposed to think about your health all the time. You’re supposed to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and try not to put any crap into your system – i.e. anything fun. Proponents of wellness fail to grasp that the whole point of an annual checkup is so that you don’t have to think about these things the other 364 days of the year. It seems these people think that getting poked and prodded by someone with an “M.D” after their name one day each year is no longer enough, and that all matters regarding our health should somehow infiltrate the rest of our lives. It’s a right crying shame, if you ask me. [read more »]

Official Google Blog: Google in one more language.

HAH! Today Google, tomorrow… the world! Actually, the smart thing to do would be to wait a few months and let Google take over the world, and then fell both in one swoop. But I’m impatient.

Yes, Google has acknowledged “Pirate” as an official language, right up there with Japanese and Swahili. And therefore you can now set Google to use proper Pirate when addressing you. Check it out – I ain’t kiddin’.

Oh yeah, and happy TLAPD! If you don’t know what TLAPD stands for, then I’ve no time fer ya lubbers.

OK, so in my daily search for pirate news I’m stumbling across several stories I just don’t care about. Therefore, I won’t post them. If you really, really want to read every story about pirates, do your own Google search. It’s not hard.

What you won’t read here: [read more »]

Not to be too shameless in my admiration, but it always makes my day when PirateMod sends out one of their emails with new items. True, they have an incredible selection of pirate t-shirts, but I’m particularly a fan of their other, more fashion-forward efforts of late. Which is why it’s so funny that it was one of their new T-shirt designs that so caught my attention. I mean, just look at it!

Talk Like a Pirate Day is fast approaching (September 19th, if you didn’t know), and I expect you all to celebrate accordingly. But shirts like this remind us that while TLAPD is only once a year, we still have 364 more days to enjoy our rum!

Rating:
The Pirate Primer: Mastering the Language of Swashbucklers and Rogues
by George Choundas

Talking like a pirate is the bane of my existence. As someone generally recognized as a guy who’s “really, really into pirates”, as the host of a fairly sizeable annual Talk Like a Pirate Day Party, and as DJ of a weekly pirate-themed radio show, folks pretty much expect me to “talk the talk.” Problem is, I generally don’t.

The core element to what’s widely regarding as “pirate talk” is essentially a mix of gutteral throat scratching combined with maritime words and a shameless knack for “hamming it up.” But sadly, I’m not by nature a ham. What’s more, common pirate impersonations don’t work well on the conversational level, as everything must be an enthusiastic exclamation. This may work fine at parties or festivals, but if you need to actually convey detailed information (as pirates surely did from time to time,) then one needs to find a way to actually – not yell, not growl, not utter – but yes, TALK like a pirate. Easier said than done, in my book. [read more »]

Rating:
Pirattitude: So You Wanna Be a Pirate? Here’s How!

by John ‘Ol’ Chumbucket’ Baur and Mark ‘Cap’n Slappy’ Summers

Upon creating a major national holiday, most folks would figure they’ve done their bit for king and country and rest a while. But rest just isn’t in the Pirate Guys’ vocabulary. Since creating International Talk Like a Pirate Day (actually, one could argue International Talk Like a Pirate Day actually created the Pirate Guys, as before that moment, they were just guys), John “Ol’ Chumbucket” Baur and Mark “Cap’n Slappy” Summers have traveled the nation sharing pirate wisdom, written a comprehensive book on the subject (Well Blow Me Down!) and NOW they’ve gone and written yet another masterpiece, Pirattitude! [read more »]