Yo-ho Me hearty!

It happened. As soon as people thought it was the end of the blog, I received a storm of messages to my inbox. "Don't miss out!!" some cried, and also "Add 2 to 4 Inches!!!" and "Make $$$ in your spare time!!!!"

In the face of such an outcry, what can I do?

So here 'tis. The blog is back.

Since it's 5 AM on a Sunday, one might think I would blog on insomnia. Not so. Tonight (Actually, it's now tomorrow morning I suppose) it is pirates that roil my id.

Y'know, I figured there had to be some sort of pirate wholesale store (surely one can't expect the crews of corsairs to go paying retail), and now I've found it.

Of course a true raider should always keep a weather eye out for bargains.

Given that the penalty for piracy is death, perhaps you could persuade the judge that this guy did all the talking?

Lately there have been efforts to re-romanticize pirates. The popular pirate of Jump Street, seen here, has everybody singing "A Pirate's Life for Me" (although with everyone singing it you'd think I could have found an audio clip--no luck).

The movie was pretty damn good, thinks I. But remember, it was the second film based on a Disneyland attraction that already existed. This wretched and hopefully soon forgotten flick was the first.

But this isn't the first pirate flick to capture public imagination. This features the best Robin Hood of all time (This party should be beaten to death with his own angst, but a club would be fine in a pinch--the music at that last site shuts off after about fifteen seconds, by the way, which is a good thing).

But for the true pirate soul, there can be only one book, and one movie. Who amongst ye would curse Robert Newton?

Pirates make a good symbol: They indulge in bad acts for "good reasons", so the romantic in us wishes to believe. Actually, most of them were fairly pragmatic people, captured and "turned" to piracy, or making a choice to live fast and die of scurvy.

Bartholemew Roberts wrote the definitive pirate Articles, including provisions for workers' compensation: He almost beat this outfit into their core market.

Everybody knows this fella, right?

Of course, the romantic image suffers a bit when you consider the historical record.

But there were "Gentleman" pirates. Though not, it appears, "Gentlewomen", or at least none you could tell by looking.

Speaking of which--take a look at this! If "ad absurdum" is one of your favourite phrases, click here, otherwise read the news release about their battle with this outfit. I suppose piracy was involved, when you think about it. Certainly the modern-day equivalent.

But ya gotta love the giftshop!

A note: "this outfit" means Kelloggs--but their Web site wasn't available [Later: Got it] this morning. Perhaps it's computer-breakfast time? Wow-no results for computer-breakfast. Think I'll just nip out and register that domain name!

A nice resource site, though not pretty.

Just so's yer know: I'll be sailin' under this name. You can damn well find your own!

By the way, don't bother visiting this homepage. it's the worst page I think I've ever seen in design & organization terms. Just go straight here.

Catholic Movie Reviews. Who knew?

You have to love a Web site that declares itself to be composed of "Biased and Superficial Science Fiction Reviews".