Starlit Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi, Puritan Privateers, and a Rambling Lemming

"The Colorful Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi"

(Image © Rafael Defavari, via NASA, used w/o permission.)
"The many spectacular colors of the Rho Ophiuchi (oh'-fee-yu-kee) clouds highlight the many processes that occur there...."

There's more, including a link to a "Free APOD 2014 Calendar in PDF format" that didn't work when the Lemming tried it. Maybe you'll have a less anticlimactic experience. Or maybe not.

Apparently Robert Nemiroff (MTU) and Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) wrote the description of Rafael Defavari's photo; and the Lemming found all of the above on APOD, which has very little to do with Apple's portable media players, oranges, or William III of England, who probably didn't inspire the phrase "to give the willies."

Naturally, that reminded the Lemming of Nassau, Bahamas, that's on New Providence. Old Providence is in the Caribbean, too: but instead of transplanted American loyalists, Old providence got Henry Morgan and Puritan privateers. The Lemming is not making this up. Really.

Allegedly-related posts:

• "Holiday-Themed Nebulae: Caldwell 92 and IC 2118"
  (October 18, 2013)
• "Mayan Apocalypse Transition: Book a Galactic Cruise; or Take the Cosmic Bike Tour"
  (February 3, 2012)
• "Stone Spheres of Costa Rica"
  (January 10, 2011)
• "Looking Down on the Auroras"
  (June 21, 2010)
• "Arrr! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day"
  (September 19, 2009)

Arrr! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day

"Ahoy! 'Tis time to talk pirate, me hearties"
CNN (September 18, 2009)

"Easy tip number one, if you want to talk like a pirate: Add "me hearties" to the end of any sentence.

"The meaning is simple -- 'my friends, my mates' -- said John 'Ol' Chumbucket' Baur, before offering as way of example, 'Turn your head and cough, me hearties. Or, fill it up with regular, me hearties.'

"Saturday marks 'Talk Like a Pirate Day,' an observance that has been recognized on all seven continents and beyond. It inspires dress and behavior -- of the Long John Silver variety -- in seedy bars, staid workplaces and even the International Space Station. It has fueled fundraisers, been the topic for a New York Times crossword puzzle and mentioned on various game shows.

It was an idea born in 1995 on an Albany, Oregon, YMCA racquetball court. Baur, 54, and his friend Mark 'Cap'n Slappy' Summers, 46, began unleashing insults at one another, as pirates might...."

Me 'ats off to ol Chumbucket an Cap'n Slappy, for instigatin' this truly linguistic foray. "Talk Like a Pirate Day" has even inspired well-meaning landlubbers to emulate, if you will, the argot of the buccaneers. Even if they don't know how to spell "arr!"

Now, this CNN article: it's author - a bonny lass, no doubt - she points out that it wasn't until one Dave Barry, of the northerly port of Miami, caught wind of it and spread the news among all adventurous landlubbers. And, as it seems, quite a respectable number of the less-than-bold sort, as well.

Ah, it takes all sorts to make a world, they do say.

There's more to that article, about this day. It sports a picture of Cap'n Slappy and Ol' Chumbucket, which is well and good - but would it have broken CNN's heart to show us what the fine lass who wrote the piece looks like?! Arr!

Related post:

• "Arrr! It Be Talk Like a Pirate Day Tomorrow"
  (September 18, 2008)

Arrr! It Be Talk Like a Pirate Day Tomorrow

The Official Site of International Talk Like A Pirate Day

"September 19th (every year) is International Talk Like A Pirate Day"

I must be seriously out of touch. Talk Like A Pirate Day (or TLAPD), has been growing for at least six years. And this is the first I've heard about it.

Arrrr! That be most distressing!

Happily, The Official Site of International Talk Like a Pirate Day is helping me make up for lost time. They've even got a page that gives a quick explanation of why you should talk like a pirate, and how. With mmp3-format examples in German, Swedish, Mandarin Chinese.

Yes, it's an international phenomenon.

The Official Site of International Talk Like A Pirate Day website has a online software, too: like an English-to-Pirate Translator. It be no substitute for proper study o' t' pirate dialect, but tis sufficient to get a lubber started.

And, a personality test: "Find yer inner pirate."

I was going to look for some more 'talk like a pirate' links, but The Official Site of International Talk Like A Pirate Day website beat me to it: with a page called, logically enough, "Pirate Links."

I feel like a bilge rat that's poked it's whiskers above deck to behold a vast and brighter world.

I best be shovin' off now.

---

But before doin' so, a word about that personality test. I ventured a run through it, taking to particular care about accuracy or verisimilitude, and came up with this:

You are The Cap'n!

Some men and women are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any scalawag who stands between them and unlimited power. You never met a man - or woman - you couldn't eviscerate. You are the definitive Man of Action, the CEO of the Seven Seas, Lee Iacocca in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. You're mission-oriented, and if anyone gets in the way, that's his problem, now isn't? Your buckle was swashed long ago and you have never been so sure of anything as your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off his head if he shows any sign of taking you on or backing down. If one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

Yo-Ho-Ho and a Count of the Votes: Pirates and Democracy

"Pirates had 'democratic' ways" World Science (February 23, 2008)

I learned how pirate crews picked their captains quite a few years ago. This article does a pretty good job of describing just how "democratic" pirates were.

"Fifteen Men on the Dead Man's Chest:" More Than Just a Song

"Why 15 men sat on a Dead Man’s Chest"

"The mystery of the pirates' song, 'Fifteen men on the dead man's chest, yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum,' from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, has been solved. Until now, its meaning has baffled readers and Stevenson himself never offered any explanation.

"The answer is provided by Geographical, published by the Royal Geographical Society, by an explorer who says Dead Mans Chest is part of the British Virgin Islands."

Interesting historical detail, relating to the Robert Louis Stevenson classic.

Digital Pirates in Cyberspace! It's No Joke

"Piracy of Your Blog Content?" is another discussion thread from www.blogcatalog.com that deals with intellectual property theft.

Maybe, considering the word "piracy," I should say intellectual piracy on the digital seas.

I've been away from the BlogCatalog community for a couple of days, and apparently missed quite a bit. Theft of intellectual property isn't anything new, of course, but the Internet has speeded the process up enormously.

On the up side, our new information technology makes catching the thieves easier, too. For example, there are pirate-finding services. I talked about one in "Plagiarism-Finder Site: Copyscape" (August 9, 2007).

Related posts, on Intellectual Property Rights