As you might know, I’ve been a fan of pirates since I was a kid.  Way before Johnny Depp made it fashionable. 🙂  I even do pirate comedy, which isn’t a topic covered by a lot of comics. 🙂

In fact, you can listen to some right here: http://su.pr/1bfxMK
(That’s from my DVD, “What Color Is Your Laugh?” – available at my website.)

Since tomorrow is Talk Like A Pirate Day, I thought I’d share some of my favorite pirate resources.

First off, here’s the lovely gents that invented Talk Like A Pirate Day: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

And for all the best pirate fashion, check out http://piratemod.com/ They don’t sell pantaloons and stuff.  But they’ve got some of the best pirate t-shirts I’ve ever run across.

The good folks at Pirate Mod have also created free Talk Like A Pirate Day postcards you can give to your friends! http://www.pirategreetings.com/

And if you’re looking for more authentic period pirate clothing your one stop shop is http://www.tobeapirate.com/

I tend to be a nonfiction reader, and one of my favorite books on pirates is “A General History of Pirates”.  It was written in 1724 by an unknown Captain Charles Johnson (no relation to me).  Though in more recent times it’s been almost irrefutably decided that it was written by Daniel Defoe of Robinson Crusoe fame.

It’s 18th century text is a tough read, but the stories are great.  You’ll find out the background of all the biggies: Blackbeard (Edward Teach), Captain Kidd, Calico Jack Rackam, Anne Bonny, Mary Read (the only two female pirates of note), and others.

If you’re so 2009 that you don’t read actual books anymore, The Pirates Realm also has some great information on the classic pirates of yore.  http://www.thepiratesrealm.com/

Certainly during the golden age of piracy, the 3 main players were England, The Carribean, and America.  Pirates roamed the east coast of America regularly and were upstanding citizens in some of our major cities in between their piratical jaunts at sea.  For a great study of the politics of piracy during that time check out The Republic Of Pirates by Colin Woodard.

Interested in playing that Pirates Dice game featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies?  Disney has a digital version for you here: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates/games/piratesDice/index.html

So for the Pirate-iest day of the year tomorrow be sure to buckle your swash and call all your friends bilge rats.  It’s Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Phil Johnson
http://www.RoadsideAttraction.com