Well, I was going to write a long involved blog post involving curiosities of Roman legal history and astronomy and meteorology, but then my brain got eaten by Netflix, so you've been spared. At least for a little while. You're welcome. Instead, I will treat you to two itty pieces of pirate movie trivia.
Itty piratical movie trivia bit #1: (Because I could not possibly have saved this for Sept. 19th....) The actor Robert Newton (star of such swashy classics as Treasure Island (as Long John Silver, of course) and Blackbeard, the Pirate) is considered the "patron saint" of International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Itty piratical movie trivia bit #2: Walter Matthau (yes, THE Walter Matthau) has also sailed the cinematic high seas as a fearsome swashbuckling pirate. He was Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red in Roman Polanski's (yes, THE Roman Polanski) Pirates in 1986. (I saw it... prolly the year it came out, actually, as a themed double-feature at the drive-in (which, wonder of wonders, is open again!), along with The Pirate Movie (funny at the time (tho' most of the jokes went over my head) but really, don't bother, Pirates of Penzance is a MUCH better movie.)) Pirates was a bit bizarre and yet rollicking good, as I remember... sort of a deliberate B movie. It had an international cast-- Cap'n Red's first mate The Frog really *was* a Frenchman. I *do* wish it would get released on DVD. (Write your congress(wo)man!) Trailer here, if you're curious.
(And really, do you think I could have made any more nested comments, here? Sheesh. I felt like I was writing code.)
(Parenthetical Note #2: I'm writing about pirate movies, and somehow I now have the "Quack, Quack, Waddle, Waddle" song stuck in my head. And I know that someone, as she reads this, is laughing her butt off. Or thinking murderously of me for infecting her with it. :D)
Posted by gris at July 20, 2005 11:44 PMBy request: Quack, Quack, Waddle, Waddle (requires Windows Media Player 9)
Posted by: Gris at July 21, 2005 12:11 PM