Cauli Le Chat

Cauli Le Chat
Cauli Le Chat, MPL Feline Roving Reporter

Monday, September 19, 2011

ARRRRRRRRR, Shiver Moi Timbers!

ARRRRRRRRR!  Shiver moi timbers!

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest, yo-ho-ho! and a bottle of rum.  Drink and the devil had done for the rest, yo-ho-ho! and a bottle of rum.

Pirate Ship

The "Jolly Roger"

Today (September 19) is Talk Like a Pirate Day.  That fictional sea shanty above was invented by Robert Louis Stevenson in his classic novel of old English seafaring days, Treasure Island.  Have you read it?  If not, run to your favorite library and check it out.  I can wait.

MPL Book Trailer for Treasure Island

Although Stevenson is probably better known today for his psychological thriller The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he was in top form with Treasure Island, and you will be mesmerized once you begin reading.  Every book, movie, television show, theme park attraction, restaurant, or any other portrayal of pirates owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Stevenson, who popularized the entire pirate genre in literature (and elsewhere).  Characters such as Long John Silver grace all manner of fiction, including comedy sketches (e.g., the football [soccer] match featuring Long John Silver impersonators on Monty Python's Flying Circus) and blockbuster Disney movies.  Stevenson could not have imagined that his creative foray into seafaring adventures would spawn such imitations.

Jim Hawkins Falls Prisoner to Long John Silver
in the Search for Treasure

So, avast, ye swabbies!  Trim the staysails!  Full speed ahead!  Thar she blows!  Women and children first!  (Wait, that's not pirate ship talk.)

And will somebody please get this parrot off my shoulder?



Crackers Are So Not Happening, Polly,

Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Pirates News Beat



P.S.  The Lady With the Red Hair did this fun video using pirates to illustrate how books are processed and cataloged at Greenwood (Indiana) Public Library.  Lots of "Arrrrrrrrr'ing" going on, let moi tell you.


P.P.S.  Kevin Kline and chorus sing "The Pirate King" from Gilbert & Sullivan's classic musical, The Pirates of Penzance, which first appeared on stage in 1879.  But not with Kevin Kline, however.  He's not that old.  (Hoosier trivia:  Did you know Kevin Kline attended Indiana University in Bloomington?  You can look it up.)

3 comments:

  1. Cauli, you make a great king pirate with your parrot on your shoulder or neck maybe! Good to see you are now on the Purr n Fur website :)

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  2. Our two legs mom apologizes for calling you a king pirate when you are a Queen cat! Oops!

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  3. My human is a HUGE Gilbert & Sullivan fan (strange, considering she is a semi-former heavy metal rock journalist), so she really enjoyed today's clip!

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