Posts filed under ‘For Laughs’
Arrr… Official Talk Like A Pirate Day
Avast, me hearties! Once a goofy idea celebrated by a handful of friends, “Talk Like A Pirate Day” has turned into an international phenomenon that shows no sign of letting up. From South Africa to the South Pole, from New York to the Pacific Northwest, everyone now has their own personal excuse to party like pirates every September 19th.
How It All Began
Once upon a time, in June 6, 1995, to be precise, John Baur and Mark Summers came up with this idea over a game of racquetball – they were not playing very well. Their calls of friendly encouragement to each other quickly turned into pirate slang: they are still not entirely sure how it all started. Anyway, whoever let out the first “Arrr!” started something. One thing led to another. “That be a fine cannonade,” one said, to be followed by “Now watch as I fire a broadside straight into your yardarm!” and other such helpful phrases.
After their hour on the court was over, they realized that lapsing into pirate lingo had made the game more fun and the time pass more quickly. They decided then and there that what the world really needed was a new national holiday, Talk Like A Pirate Day. Since then, for seven years the two celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day pretty much on their own with a few friends. This particular day of pirate slang, however, might have remained virtually unknown if it had not been for one happy accident. One day in early 2002, John Baur chanced upon Dave Barry’s e-mail address. Dave Barry is a syndicated columnist, Pulitzer Prize winning author, and humorist.
After contacting him, John Baur and Mark Summers assumed a famous guy like Dave Barry would have more important things to do than read the e-mail of a couple of goofy guys with a hare-brained idea. It turns out, it was perfect material for his column and the idea exploded. Chat rooms all over the Web have been deluged with “Arrs” and “me hearties” and such. Radio stations were abuzz with the story and the two even interviewed with NPR’s All Things Considered. They tapped into something big, much bigger than anyone had ever anticipated: the world was finally introduced to Talk Like A Pirate Day.
What’s The Point?
The point is, there is no point: and that is what’s fun about Talk Like a Pirate Day specifically, and talking like a pirate in general. It gives your conversation a swagger, an elán, denied to landlocked lubbers and the like. The silliness is the holiday’s best selling point and embraces the mere image of swaggering pirateness. So when Sept. 19 rolls around and suddenly tens of thousands of people are saying “arrr” and “Weigh anchor or I’ll keelhaul the lot of you,” it staggers us. They are talking like pirates — not because two guys from the Northwestern United States told them to, but simply because it’s fun.
Basic Pirate Speak
Pirate lingo is rich and complicated. There are several sites online that offer glossaries of vernacular that will assist any aspiring pirate. But if you just want a quick reference, a “pirate patina,” if you will, here are the five basic words that you cannot live without. Master them, and you can face Talk Like a Pirate Day with a smile on your face, a swagger in your step, and a parrot on your shoulder.
Ahoy! – “Hello!”
Avast! - Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, “Whoa! Get a load of that!” which today makes it more of a “Check it out” or “No way!”
Aye! – “Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did.”
Aye aye! – “I’ll get right on that sir, as soon as I adjust the hook.”
Arrr! – This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. “Arrr!” can mean, variously, “yes,” “I agree,” “I’m happy,” ” “My team is going to win it all,” and “That was a clever remark you or I just made.” And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!
So be sure to enjoy Talk Like A Pirate Day this September 19th, and embrace the silliness. And be sure to follow the piratical John Baur and Mark Summers on their Facebook Fan Page – more than 15,000 fans strong – complete with a live feed of The Poopdeck newsletter. Or check them out on Twitter under “thecapnslappy“.
Reality Check on the Meaning of Growing Up Digital
This article speaks for itself. From the San Francisco Chronicle’s Technology Blog:
Walkman, at 30, a mystery to teen
What better way to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Sony’s iconic Walkman than to ask a teenager for some feedback on the device?
The BBC couldn’t think of one, and neither can I.
I like to imagine that the experience was similar to an archaeologist rediscovering how a recently excavated artifact was employed thousands of years ago. But I’m well aware that it must have been different for 13-year-old Scott Campbell, who co-edits his own news Web site. For one, teenage impatience must have stood in the place where I fantasize scientific curiosity should have been.
“My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day,” Campbell wrote. “He had told me it was big, but I hadn’t realized he meant that big. It was the size of a small book.”
Sure enough, people on the street noticed the antique clinging from his belt with amusement and friends on his school bus were quick to come up with some witty remark.
Campbell went on to criticize the portable cassette player’s size, appearance, functionality and the “hissy backtrack and odd warbly noises.”
Even when he discovered the cassette had more music on the other side (it took him three days), Campbell was still disappointed it could only hold a small fraction of what an iPod can.
“Did my dad … really ever think this was a credible piece of technology?”
Ouch.
(Image found here)
This “Social Nitwitting” Stuff is a Hoot!
My mom joined me on vacation last week, and her one goal from our time together was to learn how to “Facebook better.” She sent me this cartoon via snail mail today, and as she notes, it’s indicative of our attempted Facebook lessons. I’m incredibly proud of her for wanting to keep up with technology and working to utilize Facebook. Susan knows it has lots to offer her, but lots of what? The day before she left, Susan asked me, “but why would I want to look at Facebook every day?” and knew that I had failed as her personal ‘net instructor. Our contrasting perspectives on social networking’s value and relevance mirror many parent/child and teacher/student approaches to social media tools: the young folks want it and the old folks don’t quite get it. [Disclaimer: this is a sweeping generalization, but not totally off target.]
At OneSeventeen Media, we’re excited to build the bridge in homes, classrooms and youth organizations between tech savvy kids and the important adults in their lives. We know that our interactive tools can improve the lives of kids and their relationships and communications with adult role models.
(Imaged clipped from the San Antonio Express News)
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Social Networking Dissolves Your Brain (riiiiiight…)
…and other outrageous claims from the out-of-touch.
I saw Lady Susan Greenfield’s comments on the effects of social networking via the New York Times LEDE Blog yesterday, as her analysis has been a popular topic across the web. TechCrunch’s Sarah Lacy had a response that mirrors my own: “I’m wondering if Lady Greenfield has ever used a social networking site.” You can see my liberal, artistic interpertation above. The LEDE blog I mentioned provides a good overview of Greenfield’s remarks; here are two direct quotes that stuck out to me:
“My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment. [...]
Real conversation in real time may eventually give way to these sanitized and easier screen dialogues, in much the same way as killing, skinning and butchering an animal to eat has been replaced by the convenience of packages of meat on the supermarket shelf. Perhaps future generations will recoil with similar horror at the messiness, unpredictability and immediate personal involvement of a three-dimensional, real-time interaction.”
You can see her speak directly on YouTube (admittedly without any context provided to support or explain her responses.)
As I commented on The Washington Post’s site, Greenfield’s analysis leaves me thinking, “what, huh?”
I’d agree with Greenfield to the extent that anything in excess is unhealthy, be it running, eating, social networking, drinking or reading. Pretty much anything you can add an “ing” to isn’t healthy or recommended in excessive, life-absorbing capacities. Point taken. I would expect a youth who did nothing but stare at a computer screen all day everyday to have an infantile brain, and I would expect the same inappropriate development in a kid who stared at a single tree all day. It’s not that the computer screen or the tree is hurting the child, but that the child is obsessing over both in entirely unnatural, problematic ways.
However, Greenfield’s concern over the implications of real time communication are completely illogical. When speaking to her friends face-to-face or on the phone, does Greenfield not communicate in real time? Does she take breaks between sentences to think up the “clever or witty responses” she esteems? The beauty of Web 2.0 is that the speed of communication has made it much more like “real-life” offline, but with the potential to interact with friends and ideas from around the world, unlimited by geographic location. I think she might also be surprised by the plethora of clever, witty material available through these mediums. (I can already imagine a Saturday Night Live Really!? segment featuring Seth’s thoughts on Greenfield). Greenfield seems to be calling for a slowdown in the communication process, but I am unsure what she would prefer since one of the earliest means of communication: face-to-face, verbal communication is still the fastest method around.
There is so much to learn and study about the impact of social networking, but extreme positions unsupported by data aren’t helpful to any side of the social networking conversation. Greenfield’s obvious ignorance about the intrcacies of social media make it hard to take her too seriously.
(Graphic created by adapting image found here)
95% of Tweens More Tech Savvy Than Parents
London Free Press highlights the fact that of 3,000 grade 6, 7 and 8 students surveyed, 95% believe they know more about the Internet than their parents.
While the cartoon above is good for a laugh, It’s hard for parents to monitor their child’s online presence and set expectations when they do not know more about the tools than their tween. At OneSeventeen Media, we tend to agree with the tweens: many of them can out-tech their parents any day. This is one of the many reasons we’re excited to provide PlumbBrain to the tween market. We have the savvy and know-how to build the community kids want, but we’re also moms, dads and teachers; we understand the importance and necessity of creating safe places for youth to hang out online while teaching them skills to navigate their online and offline worlds successfully.
(Image found here)
