Ahoy, me hearties! It be Talk Like A Pirate Day once again, and as usual I've got some special piratey goodness for ye. In this episode of "A Pirate's Life" I do a very special cover of Lady Gaga's Poker Face. Ye best enjoy it, or ye'll feel the back o' me hand!
Use the player below or download it here.
Run time: 6:30
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
I am a pirate like they do on seven seas
Raid and pillage every village till me hold is full (I love it)
I wear me patch and pegleg and I really look the part
Best give me what I want or feel me cutlass though yer heart
Yo, ho ho, Yo, ho ho-O-o-o-o-o
I got a scar, brow to me chin
Yo, ho ho, Yo, ho ho-O-o-o-o-o
I got two legs, but only one shin
Can’t beat my
Can’t beat my
No, you can’t beat me pirate face
(He’s gonna get yer booty)
Can’t beat my
Can’t beat my
No you can’t beat me pirate face
(He’s gonna get yer booty)
P-p-p-pirate face, p-p-pirate face,
(Yo, ho, ho, ho)
P-p-p-pirate face, p-p-pirate face,
(Yo, ho, ho, ho)
I wanna drink some rum and sail the tranquil seas (Arr!)
A little pirating is fun when done with glee (I love it)
A pirate ship is not the same without yer chums
And when we raid your ship if it's not rough it isn't fun, fun
Yo, ho ho, Yo, ho ho-O-o-o-o-o
I got a scar, brow to me chin
Yo, ho ho, Yo, ho ho-O-o-o-o-o
I got two legs, but only one shin
Can’t beat my
Can’t beat my
No you can’t beat me pirate face
(He’s gonna get yer booty)
Can’t beat my
Can’t beat my
No you can’t beat me pirate face
(He’s gonna get yer booty)
P-p-p-pirate face, p-p-pirate face,
(Yo, ho, ho, ho)
P-p-p-pirate face, p-p-pirate face,
(Yo, ho, ho, ho)
When my ship’s on the horizon
Hear me cannon
Take yer plunder with the thunder
I’m not askin’ I’m just takin’ with my musket gunnin’
I’m a pirate and won’t deny it
I like to party with the wenches
I promise this, promise this
I’m a pirate and I’m made for this
Can’t beat my
Can’t beat my
No you can’t beat me pirate face
(He’s gonna get yer booty)
Can’t beat my
Can’t beat my
No you can’t beat me pirate face
(He’s gonna get yer booty)
<Repeat>
P-p-p-pirate face, p-p-pirate face,
(Yo, ho, ho, ho)
<Repeat>
September 19, 2011
July 25, 2011
A Michigan Yankee in the United Kingdom - Part Four
The next day we were back on the plane heading home. It had been a wonderful trip, and I hope we can make it back there again in the not-too-distant future. I had been a bit nervous about aspects of the trip, most especially the driving part. But it all turned out really well, including the weather. While Julayne would have liked it to be a little cooler as temps were uncharacteristically in the 80's, we at least did not have the typically gray, rainy days to deal with.
Using British money wasn't too difficult. They use a decimal system like we do, only instead of dollars and cents it's pounds and pence. The bills are larger than US currency, and the 20 pound notes I carried suck out of my wallet. The coins were much different sizes from ours, with different denominations. There are no one or two pound notes anymore, just coins. There were also coins of all different sizes for fifty, twenty, ten, five, and one pence. By the end of the trip I found myself able to quickly pick which coins to use based on size instead of having to read each one.
The people we interacted with there were all very friendly. I became rather cognizant of the fact that every time I opened my mouth I branded myself as an American. Nonetheless we never had any issues because of that, and Julayne even had a brief conversation with a Starbucks employee in London who was delighted to be speaking with someone from the States.
Our plane ride was long but uneventful. We got fed some pretty good food, and I was impressed at the Delta flight attendants. they came by several times with food and/or drinks. It seemed they were always serving us, cleaning up, or preparing for the next service. I only slept for a half hour or so, and both Julayne and I spent a lot of time watching shows on the monitors set into the back of the seat in front of us. They also had music available, and upon finding the soundtrack from the movie Inception I looped through that several times while I read my Kindle. It was every bit as powerful as I remembered from the movie and I need to get it soon as I've been jonesin' to hear it again.
The plane landed in Detroit a bit after noon, and we were at least a half hour getting through customs. Most of that was standing in line or waiting for our luggage to show. Once out of there we headed home, after a brief stop at McDonald's for lunch and to see the daughter 'cause she works there. After getting home and unpacking we only made it until about seven before we were ready for bed. As far as our bodies were concerned it was midnight, so we gave in and hit the sack.
The next day was Sunday and we spent it in a fog of jet lag. We really didn't do much other than watch TV and take frequent naps. I felt more human on Monday when I returned to work, but I didn't feel totally acclimated until Wednesday.
So ends my impressions from the trip. I hope you enjoyed them. It was a fun place to visit, and I hope everyone reading this has the opportunity to go there some day. And until we can return I will bask in the memories of a great visit to an interesting land.
Using British money wasn't too difficult. They use a decimal system like we do, only instead of dollars and cents it's pounds and pence. The bills are larger than US currency, and the 20 pound notes I carried suck out of my wallet. The coins were much different sizes from ours, with different denominations. There are no one or two pound notes anymore, just coins. There were also coins of all different sizes for fifty, twenty, ten, five, and one pence. By the end of the trip I found myself able to quickly pick which coins to use based on size instead of having to read each one.
The people we interacted with there were all very friendly. I became rather cognizant of the fact that every time I opened my mouth I branded myself as an American. Nonetheless we never had any issues because of that, and Julayne even had a brief conversation with a Starbucks employee in London who was delighted to be speaking with someone from the States.
Our plane ride was long but uneventful. We got fed some pretty good food, and I was impressed at the Delta flight attendants. they came by several times with food and/or drinks. It seemed they were always serving us, cleaning up, or preparing for the next service. I only slept for a half hour or so, and both Julayne and I spent a lot of time watching shows on the monitors set into the back of the seat in front of us. They also had music available, and upon finding the soundtrack from the movie Inception I looped through that several times while I read my Kindle. It was every bit as powerful as I remembered from the movie and I need to get it soon as I've been jonesin' to hear it again.
The plane landed in Detroit a bit after noon, and we were at least a half hour getting through customs. Most of that was standing in line or waiting for our luggage to show. Once out of there we headed home, after a brief stop at McDonald's for lunch and to see the daughter 'cause she works there. After getting home and unpacking we only made it until about seven before we were ready for bed. As far as our bodies were concerned it was midnight, so we gave in and hit the sack.
The next day was Sunday and we spent it in a fog of jet lag. We really didn't do much other than watch TV and take frequent naps. I felt more human on Monday when I returned to work, but I didn't feel totally acclimated until Wednesday.
So ends my impressions from the trip. I hope you enjoyed them. It was a fun place to visit, and I hope everyone reading this has the opportunity to go there some day. And until we can return I will bask in the memories of a great visit to an interesting land.
July 22, 2011
A Michigan Yankee in the United Kingdom - Part Three
Edinburgh
We were once again in the city, this time in Edinburgh, Scotland. It wasn't quite as big as London, but it was busy enough. We rented another car at the train station, so I got to try my hand at city driving in the UK. It wasn't too hard since I had already had some experience with the whole "driving on the left thing" in Yorkshire. Our car was a VW Polo, and the gearshift gave me fits. I was constantly putting it in 3rd or reverse when I meant to put it in 1st gear. It was quite aggravating.
Our hotel was interesting. We had used hotel points for the room, so we were in a rather nice Sheraton hotel. It was rather modern in the rooms, with a series of light switches that would provide different illumination "scenes". I never did fully suss out exactly how the lights worked, but managed to at least figure out how to turn them off at night and on when I needed some light. There was a separate "mood light" in the bathroom, with colors that could be changed through another set of buttons.
The hallway was strange in that the lights would go out after a while, and then turn on automagically when someone entered it. The lights would come on in sections, so often the sections beyond our room would be dark except for a few lighted signs. It was rather odd, and a bit spooky. I kept expecting something from The Shining to come out of that darkness.
The day after we got there we spent most of the morning at Edinburgh Castle, which sits high up the tallest hill in the city. We took a twenty-minute guided tour and learned more history about more kings and queens. It was quite interesting. The castle also holds the Scottish crown jewels, and we saw them. Having just seen the English crown Jewels in the Tower of London, the Scottish version wasn't much to look at in my opinion.
The whole reason we got a car in Edinburgh was so that we would get out of the city and see a bit of the country. We decided to drive to Glasgow, a smaller city about an hour to the west. Julayne found something called the Falkirk Wheel on the GPS in this little town of Falkirk (imagine that) that was on the way. We had no idea what it was, only that the GPS thought it was an attraction. We decided to check it out, and were quite surprised at what we found.
The wheel is this construct that these tour boats drive into, and then the "Wheel" turns to lift the boat to the upper canals. It was quite interesting. We got to see it in operation twice. They had a nice little gift shop and cafe, and we had lunch there while we watched the wheel turn. The boats offer hour-long tours of the local canals and included two trips on the Wheel, but we didn't want to take the time so after lunch it was back in the car and onward to Glasgow.
When we arrived we drove around the city center at bit, just taking in the sights. Glasgow felt different to me than Edinburgh did, and bit less grand and more down to earth. While we were meandering through the city streets we came across a seemingly authentic New York Police Department car. It was even sporting NY license plates instead of the bigger UK plates. I have no idea if it was for a movie, but we saw no other signs of any such activity. Just the NYPD car parked on the side of the street. Strange. We got a picture of it for posterity, and you can see it in the Edinburgh Part II album. We found our way to a tall ship, and we got out of the car to look that over from the dock. The ship had been refurbished and looked very nice.
When we left Glasgow we decided to take a different way back through the country, as we had been on the expressway for the first leg. The road was somewhat reminiscent of those in Yorkshire, but they had a bit more room, so we weren't always being crowded by stone walls. We stopped at a small B and B with a restaurant along the way for dinner, where I had some deep fried haggis. the menu said it was made by a company that and that it was champion of a great haggis competition. That was enough to decide to give it a try. It was really pretty good, along with the proper British "chips". I had learned by this time the wonders of salt and vinegar on fries, and it was really quite good.
The next morning was our train back to London, and the Queen of England did her damnedest to make sure we missed it. She had followed us north to open the current session of Scottish parliament, and so that morning they were having a parade in her honor. That meant that all of the streets leading to where we needed to take the car back were closed. At one point we had passed an entrance to the train station itself which we finally got back to with just a couple of minutes before our train was supposed to leave.
The kiosk where we had done the rental paperwork was actually there, and so we literally had to leave the car and throw them the keys before running with our luggage (all of which I was carrying/dragging so Julayne could run unencumbered) for our platform. Thankfully the train was still there, even though we were both pretty sure we missed it. I had just got the luggage aboard and we climbed on after it when the conductor blew the whistle and we were off for London and home.
We were once again in the city, this time in Edinburgh, Scotland. It wasn't quite as big as London, but it was busy enough. We rented another car at the train station, so I got to try my hand at city driving in the UK. It wasn't too hard since I had already had some experience with the whole "driving on the left thing" in Yorkshire. Our car was a VW Polo, and the gearshift gave me fits. I was constantly putting it in 3rd or reverse when I meant to put it in 1st gear. It was quite aggravating.
Our hotel was interesting. We had used hotel points for the room, so we were in a rather nice Sheraton hotel. It was rather modern in the rooms, with a series of light switches that would provide different illumination "scenes". I never did fully suss out exactly how the lights worked, but managed to at least figure out how to turn them off at night and on when I needed some light. There was a separate "mood light" in the bathroom, with colors that could be changed through another set of buttons.
The hallway was strange in that the lights would go out after a while, and then turn on automagically when someone entered it. The lights would come on in sections, so often the sections beyond our room would be dark except for a few lighted signs. It was rather odd, and a bit spooky. I kept expecting something from The Shining to come out of that darkness.
The day after we got there we spent most of the morning at Edinburgh Castle, which sits high up the tallest hill in the city. We took a twenty-minute guided tour and learned more history about more kings and queens. It was quite interesting. The castle also holds the Scottish crown jewels, and we saw them. Having just seen the English crown Jewels in the Tower of London, the Scottish version wasn't much to look at in my opinion.
The whole reason we got a car in Edinburgh was so that we would get out of the city and see a bit of the country. We decided to drive to Glasgow, a smaller city about an hour to the west. Julayne found something called the Falkirk Wheel on the GPS in this little town of Falkirk (imagine that) that was on the way. We had no idea what it was, only that the GPS thought it was an attraction. We decided to check it out, and were quite surprised at what we found.
The wheel is this construct that these tour boats drive into, and then the "Wheel" turns to lift the boat to the upper canals. It was quite interesting. We got to see it in operation twice. They had a nice little gift shop and cafe, and we had lunch there while we watched the wheel turn. The boats offer hour-long tours of the local canals and included two trips on the Wheel, but we didn't want to take the time so after lunch it was back in the car and onward to Glasgow.
When we arrived we drove around the city center at bit, just taking in the sights. Glasgow felt different to me than Edinburgh did, and bit less grand and more down to earth. While we were meandering through the city streets we came across a seemingly authentic New York Police Department car. It was even sporting NY license plates instead of the bigger UK plates. I have no idea if it was for a movie, but we saw no other signs of any such activity. Just the NYPD car parked on the side of the street. Strange. We got a picture of it for posterity, and you can see it in the Edinburgh Part II album. We found our way to a tall ship, and we got out of the car to look that over from the dock. The ship had been refurbished and looked very nice.
When we left Glasgow we decided to take a different way back through the country, as we had been on the expressway for the first leg. The road was somewhat reminiscent of those in Yorkshire, but they had a bit more room, so we weren't always being crowded by stone walls. We stopped at a small B and B with a restaurant along the way for dinner, where I had some deep fried haggis. the menu said it was made by a company that and that it was champion of a great haggis competition. That was enough to decide to give it a try. It was really pretty good, along with the proper British "chips". I had learned by this time the wonders of salt and vinegar on fries, and it was really quite good.
The next morning was our train back to London, and the Queen of England did her damnedest to make sure we missed it. She had followed us north to open the current session of Scottish parliament, and so that morning they were having a parade in her honor. That meant that all of the streets leading to where we needed to take the car back were closed. At one point we had passed an entrance to the train station itself which we finally got back to with just a couple of minutes before our train was supposed to leave.
The kiosk where we had done the rental paperwork was actually there, and so we literally had to leave the car and throw them the keys before running with our luggage (all of which I was carrying/dragging so Julayne could run unencumbered) for our platform. Thankfully the train was still there, even though we were both pretty sure we missed it. I had just got the luggage aboard and we climbed on after it when the conductor blew the whistle and we were off for London and home.
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