pirates
sastyk | May 27, 2010My children are pirates right now. There's a fallen tree in the woods that makes a superb pirate ship, and my children have boarded and captured it. And they are singing pirate songs. Loudly. It is a very good thing that we live so far from other human habitation - if we lived in the 'burbs the neighbors would kill us.
So appropos to nothing, I'm sharing a collection of pirate songs, in the hopes that you won't notice that I haven't written much of anything this week. If I gotta listen to them, you gotta listen to them. It may, of course, be our fault for teaching the boys pirate songs…
sciencewoman | September 25, 2009Last Saturday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day and Minnow and I got into the spirit of the day by reading the only toddler-appropriate pirate book I know: My Pop-Pop is a Pirate by Pat Croce.
(Even if you don't watch the whole video, check out 1:15 to 2:00 minutes for adorable Minnow talking like a pirate.)
Our local science museum was hosting special pirate day activities, so Minnow and I spent the afternoon at the museum, learning about pirates and shipwrecks and undersea exploration. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the pirates, because I made the mistake of going with…
pharyngula | December 4, 2008Some men's magazine was planning a cheesy promotion: they were going to include inflatable breasts with an issue. Sad news, though: the crate has been lost at sea.
There is some speculation that pirates are responsible. Very lonely, tasteless pirates.
greengabbro | September 19, 2008Shiver me timbers, I almost forgot!
What five minerals would a pirate want to know?
pyrite
arrrsenopyrite
arrragonite
cinnabarrrr
feldsparrrr
pharyngula | September 19, 2008I am not yet in Madison, but I am in the Land of the Cheeseheads and am about to hit the road and expect to be there by early afternoon. And then I discover two coincidences, one happy and one mildly problematic.
By my good luck, Ron Numbers is speaking on the campus today, at 3:30 in Science Hall room 180. Hey, I should be able to make that! I just hope he doesn't dispense some jewel of wisdom that compels me to rewrite my talk on the spot.
One concern: this is September 19th! It's Talk Like a Pirate Day! This means, of course, that I have to give my lecture in a hokey dialect, which always…
sporte | June 21, 2008Arrgh. Fremont is just crawling with Pastafarians.
Photos below the fold.
More Solstice parade pictures.
pharyngula | September 19, 2007It's Talk Like a Pirate Day, so let's all heave a hearrrty "Arrr" and down a ration of grog.
Also, more significantly, today is the day of the
Freshman Biology Major Mixer!
In case any of our new biology majors at UMM didn't get the word, but do read the blog, here's the deal: party at my house, 300 College Avenue, 7pm tonight. Here's a map, but you hardly need it — we're right next door to the U.
The biology faculty will be providing the refreshments, we just want you to stop by and meet us all and your fellow budding biologists. It will be fun.
I doubt that I'll be up to growling like a…
pharyngula | September 17, 2007This would be something like Reason #5,422.
Another reason is that there's no such thing as "Talk Like a Ninja Day". (Psssst…19 September. Arrrr.)
pharyngula | July 20, 2007
Look at this: now the Intelligent Design creationists are branching out into pirate fashion. They're everywhere!
pharyngula | July 16, 2007This is all topsy-turvy. Iceland was raided by pirates 380 years ago? I should hope they would have responded by manning the longships and returning the favor.
pharyngula | June 15, 2007Normally, I can't be motivated to read economics—no offense, economists, but I think the economics part of my brain got left behind on one of my many moves around the country, and it was locked in to one particular latitude and longitude anyway—but maybe adding a little swashbuckling and really bad puns in the title would help. Hilzoy has found some interesting examples, anyway. Here's the abstract to one:
This paper investigates the internal governance institutions of violent criminal enterprise by examining the law, economics, and organization of pirates. To effectively
organize their…
pharyngula | June 13, 2007While once I might have pined for an iPhone, I think right now I might prefer an rPhone. Arrr.
Watch out, Apple.
pharyngula | June 7, 2007Morgan Smith is six years old and is going to have a birthday party with a pirate theme. His parents hoisted a Jolly Roger up the flagpole, and…boom, some officious titzypritzel goes bustling off to the city council to complain. Down goes the flag. Now there is what a deranged bureaucrat might call a "happy ending":
A Stafford Borough Council spokesman said: "A planning application has been made for a Jolly Roger flag to be flown at a property in Stone.
"The application is currently under review and will include planning officers looking at the impact the flag has on the area, with the…
pharyngula | May 28, 2007That was a sigh of contentment. I went off to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie with very low expectations—like the last one, I expected an extremely muddled plot, lots of random noise that didn't carry the story forward, and many places where the movie could have been edited down a bit. I was right! But it also had wonderful naval battles, glorious swashbuckling, and finally, the lady lead acquired a bit of ferocity. I just sank down in my seat and savored the unabashed piratey goodness and didn't worry about the details, and all was well.
Except for one thing: finding my…
pharyngula | March 21, 2007In a good pirate movie, you need flamboyant excess, so I guess it's not surprising that the final installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is going to have every pirate in the world in a final climactic battle.
It's going to give every pirate fan an arrrrgasm, I think.
pharyngula | March 20, 2007
Clearly, the Hemelshots have a much more sophisticated relationship than we have. We're flying the pirate flag outside of our house, but every time we try to move on to the full pirate phase, we run aground on the fact that she thinks she should be the Cap'n, and then there are the swordfights on the stairs and walking the plank and black spots and mutinous crew, and then Skatje stabs us both in the back and declares herself captain. The pirate lifestyle is not a mellow, casual one that encourages cooperation.
pharyngula | October 19, 2006Some people find the connection evades their understanding, but Ian has found it.
pharyngula | September 19, 2006Doggone it, I'm gonna have to take someone out to the woodshed. Aren't little girls supposed to be submissive and obedient?
pharyngula | September 19, 2006Pat Hayes wonders about the sensibilities of Minnesotans:
What is it about Minnesota -- the cold winter weather, perhaps -- that seemingly helps our northern neighbors see this issue more clearly than others?
You might also note that Canadians aren't mired in a bloody mess in Iraq, either, suggesting that there is some bracing quality to the Northlands.
I'll tell you the secret. Superconducting silicaceous brains.