Last night, the folks at Flying Lab software hosted a pirate party at the Seattle Aquarium; they rented the place out and had game stations set up, swashbuckling music blasting, and the Seafair Pirates along with their mighty ‘sailing’ vessel, the Moby Duck. Notable Flying Lab galley slaves fraxl and gehn were not present as they decided visiting Boston was more important than piratical activities, which says SOMETHING about their priorities. Pft.
After people had a little time to consume food and beverage (I abstained as six bucks for a beer is highway robber–er, piracy!) they had a video presentation in this room from The Pirate Guys (the guys who started International Talk Like a Pirate Day), declaring that Pirates of the Burning Sea is the official game of Talk Like A Pirate Day. The CEO of Flying Lab was supposed to give a short talk after the video, but had had been captured by irate Seafair pirates! 
Their demands were simple: Put them in the game, or the pitiful corporate ‘captain’ would be keelhauled under the Moby Duck that night. My vote was for keelhauling, but since the Earth does not revolve around me (yet), the Seafair Pirates will now be making an appearance in POTBS.
The aquarium folk gave us a nice after-hours tour; we saw them feed the otters and sea lions, and they pulled out a sea otter pelt that was on loan to the aquarium from the federal government for everyone to touch. With up to a million hairs per square inch, the fur is amazingly plush and luxurious. This winter, if the power goes out again, I’m going otter hunting at the aquarium.
After the tour, it was time for another Moby Duck drive-by, meaning that a bunch of us piled unto the Moby Duck, and we went screaming through downtown, siren wailing, shouting at everyone we passed. ARRR! and AVAST! and SURRENDER THE BOOTY! and SCURVY DOG! (at tiny dogs) and PREPARE TO BE BOARDED! and WALK THE PLANK! and just about anything else piratey you could imagine. I called one group of ladies ‘buxom bilge whores’. I invited one gentleman to join the fine porno pirate crew of ARRRdor, Inc–all of it as loudly as I could possibly shout. I’m having a little trouble talking and swallowing today, but I swear that it was all worth it.
As you can see, Moby Duck is like a large parade float that goes entirely too fast considering everyone aboard is standing up and waving at least one arm to threaten passersby.
All of these pictures would’ve been way better in the daytime, I think, but I guess we’re like…night stealth pirates or something. Only with a siren. And lots of yelling.
All ARRRBoard!
AVAST ye scabarous dogs or flintlocked into next week via yer face ye be!
I’ve met this guy on several different occasions, and I still can’t remember his name. Luckily, our Boston correspondents, fraxl and gehn should be able to fill you in if it’s important that you know. I would hate for any of you to lose sleep over it!
Look at those exhilarated faces!
The pirate captain is working his pirate mojo. “Me sword be lookin’ fer a sheath, tis true!”
This is the last photo taken on a discarded camera found near the Seattle Aquarium. One can only assume that the photographer, lovely as she must have been, was…captured by pirates.
It looks like Moby Duck is named thusly because it may be similar to the Original Wisconsin Ducks.
We’ve also got the ducks here. I haven’t been able to bring myself to take the tour, but I hear it’s a good time!
has everyone but filthadelphia missed the memo that Duck Tours are unholy contraptions birthed by satan?
“And to your right, we have a restaurant… I hear it’s very good, but it appears to be closed. If you look to your right, you’ll see the farmers market! Actually, it seems to be closed for the day.”
stupid ducks.
Honestly, until DJ posted about the Wisconsin Ducks, I thought the Duck Tours here were just a form of local Seattle retardation, much like Kenosha’s 3-block trolley.
nope. they actually started in Boston, where it MAKES SENSE TO HAVE WATER-TO-LAND CONVERSION VEHICLES, then spawned the crust of their loins over the rest of the country. and those QUACKERS. AUGH.
Every time the duck people go by, quacking at me, I kind of want to give them the finger.
do it. it is a philadelphia-sanctioned response. feel free to yell at them to stop gawking.
From what I remember about philadelphia (I’ve tried to block it as much as possible) the people there are MUCH more aggressive than in seattle. Still, the faces of shocked and appalled tourists is almost too great a temptation to resist. Hmmmmmmm.
At what point do I get to go to a double-bird?
the second they quack AT you.
I love the Pirates. Once, we had a rollergirl meeting at Andy’s Diner, and the Pirates crashed it and sang us dirty songs. It was the best meeting we’ve ever had.
I want to join the Pirates but I don’t have all the time available that they demand. 🙁 Every Wednesday and every weekend is too much.
DAMN IT I WANT TO SERENADE ROLLERGIRLS WITH DIRTY SONGS!
Wow, that is a big time commitment. Almost as bad as being a rollergirl.
I don’t know how you manage to balance career, rollergirl, and other activities–I’m continually impressed by it because I figure I’d die after about a week!
You get used to it. The first year was hell, I never saw my friends. I’m making a concerted effort to balance everything, these days, though. Well, that, and I have a slacker job that doesn’t pay much by industry standards so that I can have some semblance of a life while doing roller derby.
That, and lots of caffeine.
How long have you been a derby girl?
I joined way back when the league was first forming in 2004. It seems like forever. It’s worth it, though, for now. I’m sure my priorities will change at some point, and that’s okay.
I think derby is a completely awesome and worthwhile commitment and I’d love to give it a shot myself except I can’t commit to ANYTHING for that many hours a week. I’m going to start a lazy (wo)man’s derby.
Yep. I miss Seattle a little bit.
It’ll still be here, should ye choose to come back. Til the typhoon, yarr!
it misses you too, darlin 🙂
Ahg! Mystery person! Mystery person! Who are you? I’m going to spend all day thinking about it! AhG!
Man, you have all sorts of cool shit happening in Seattle! Isn’t Miami supposed to be a hip town? Nothing ever happens here. =(
Pssst–we could use nurses out here, where the cool shit is happening! 😉
No, no, no! Memphis is the happening town for nurses! Especially if they’re bored with that whole “coastal breeze” nonsense.
PFT. Memphis is like, SO last week. You…you…’orange coke’ drinker!
Orange Coke? What manner of abomination is that? We’re not Knoxville!
I ENJOY APPLYING RANDOM STEREOTYPES I HAVE HEARD TO AREAS I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT! It is what I do.
Knoxville is far enough from Memphis that, to drive the equivalent distance from Seattle, you’d be in Montana. We have other zones of rabid sports devotion between the University of Memphis zone and the University of Tennessee zone.
that’s Tim… or Officer Rip, if you wanna get fancy.
jodie is the girl with the gun.
i’m so glad you went and that it was fun! i cant believe i missed otters 🙁
You work with fun people. I’m jealous! :\
it’s true… they’re awesome!
(also, sorry about that anonymous comment- stupid not logged in!)
I figured it was you. Erik knows everybody. 😉
Well, the mystery is over. 🙂
No so much the Livejournal Comments version of an Agatha Christie novel, was it?
Man, I want to become a pirate now. I’ve always been a ninja girl, but ninjas are cold and standoffish and rarely do things of this caliber. Ninjas are like the cool in-crowd or the secret college frat cult that selects its members from a small applicant pool they deem worthy enough to run their gauntlet of fire and snakes with knives for heads.
Pirates, on the other hand? Does not seem like a selective group concerned about appearances.
“HAVE YE DONE ANY SAILORIN’?”
“Nope.”
“WELL, HAVE YE RUN A MAN THROUGH WIT’CHER BLADE?”
“I haven’t.”
“…WELL, CAN YE HOLD YER RUM?”
“HELL YES I CAN.”
“ARRRR, YER IN. GRAB YE A CUTLASS AND GET TER PLUNDERIN’.”
I like that level of accessibility.
Also, singing lewd shanties at rollergirls? Riding through the streets on a ship? SIGN ME UP.
Come to the drunk side!
I’m sort of secretly jealous of the whole stealth ninja thing, if only because I’m not coordinated enough to be quiet, much less perform silent backflipping assassinations. When you lay those two requirements for joining next to one another: silent backflipping assassinations vs drinking on the job, the choice seems rather obvious to me.