Argh

Yes, it's that day again! But does Talk Like a Pirate Day still have the same meaning it once did? Has it beocme too commerical? Do people really still care the way these used to before pirates became all the rage? Can any of us truly hope to "talk like a pirate" in these strange and confusing times?

On this day, we are forced to ask ourselves, What Would Blackbeard Do? What Would the Dread Pirate Roberts Do? We must look for the pirate within and determine, is he or she a scoundrel par excellence, or merely a ne'er-do-well? Are we pirates of the soul, or the heart, or the mind? Do we know our starboard from our port, our anchor from our crow's nest? And just how much rum will it take to truly satisfy the pirate within?

Or are we merely cowboys, trading our Western drawls for nautical grunts for the day, but seeking not the sea but horses?

If we are to make Talk Like a Pirate Day matter, we must address these questions.

Better yet, we must say "arrgh" and "savvy" and sing music from Muppet Treasure Island and The Pirates of Penzance. Which is probably what our pirate forefathers had in mind.

For when you are a professional pirate, says the text, you do not have to wear a suit.

(I hadn't intended to write a sermon, but I suppose the confluence of the far more serious High Holy Days and TLAP does odd things to my mind. With any luck, this will get out of my system before Rosh Hashanah.)

PS: Apparently we are supposed to update the Captain's Log today. Anyone know the stardate?