Yargh...

Ahoy, mateys... Tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day today...

Links:

• International Talk Like a Pirate home page
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Mail
• Pirate Name Generator (mine is Smilin' Laszlo Dregg)
  
• How to Talk Like a Pirate video
• English-to-Pirate Translator
• Yargh.com (new TLAPD video on YouTube)
  

Yargh...

Frank Miller: That Old Piece of Cloth

Well worth a read. Miller, of Batman and Sin City fame, waxes poetic about patriotism, the flag, and 9/11.

I was ready to believe that our flag was just an old piece of cloth and that patriotism was just some quaint relic, best left behind us.

It was all about the ideas. I schooled myself in the writings of Madison and Franklin and Adams and Jefferson. I came to love those noble, indestructible ideas. They were ideas, to my young mind, of rebellion and independence, not of idolatry.

But not that piece of old cloth. To me, that stood for unthinking patriotism. It meant about as much to me as that insipid peace sign that was everywhere I looked: just another symbol of a generation's sentimentality, of its narcissistic worship of its own past glories.

Then came that sunny September morning when airplanes crashed into towers a very few miles from my home and thousands of my neighbors were ruthlessly incinerated -- reduced to ash. Now, I draw and write comic books. One thing my job involves is making up bad guys. Imagining human villainy in all its forms. Now the real thing had shown up. The real thing murdered my neighbors. In my city. In my country. Breathing in that awful, chalky crap that filled up the lungs of every New Yorker, then coughing it right out, not knowing what I was coughing up.

For the first time in my life, I know how it feels to face an existential menace. They want us to die. All of a sudden I realize what my parents were talking about all those years.

Go read the rest of it...

Save Charlie!

Knee deep in a lot of work related distractions, so posting is very light (again), but there is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Our beloved "Classic" Charlie Cardinal has gone missing. My speculation is that he's been kidnapped and replaced by a goofy looking cheap imitator. They pictured us as rubes and thought that we'd be unaware of their deception, but no... this cannot stand. Photographic evidence discloses the deception...

Charlie "Classic":

(photo credit: BSU.edu website)

"New Coke" Charlie:

(photo credit: macreportonline.com website)

Am I the only one that sees the difference? This is like when Bugs Bunny dresses as Pete Puma's relative. He looks kinda like a puma, but something is just off.

This is a travesty! Charlie "Classic" has been an institution at ol' Ball U. To think he can be slid out the door for the demented "New Coke" Charlie without our indignation is appalling.

We should seek, nay... demand justice for our fallen comrade. Much like the "New Coke" bungle made by the Coca-Cola corporation, this decision needs to be overturned. Rise with me to demand our "Classic" Charlie be restored to his rightful place at the sidelines of the next Cardinal game!!!

Sign the iPetition and fight for our beloved "Classic" Charlie!!!

Update (09/12/2006 9:15 PM CT): Since our little petition is picking up steam, I have set the petition to send to President Gora and Coach Richards of the BSU Cheerleading squad. It is currently set to send on October 1st, but can be adjusted. Any thoughts on others who should be included?