September 19th. A day for fun. A day for food. A Wednesday. A day… for talking like a pirate. Yes, the 19th of September is International Talk like a Pirate day, a day where scads of people temporarily lose their sanity entirely in favor of strange clothing and an even stranger manner. Strange, however, in that curiously awesome way.

This year, for the first time, ITLAPD (an acronym to tie the tongue of any scurvy cur) was hosted by the Quarterdeck, with a full spread of nautical nourishment, fresh crab and calamari, and of course the shameless ‘pirattitude’ to go with it. Dave McColl, the QD’s manager, said they were trying to start a new tradition for the school, something that he hopes “will be around long after I’ve gone.”

On a side note, during the annual pirate takeover, the crew reserves the right to refuse service to ninjas.

The phenomenon of ITLAPD, however, goes beyond just this year at the QD – according to the website (www.talklikeapirate.com) the tradition was started “in a moment of temporary insanity by John Baur and Mark Summers; two men who are also known as “Cap’n Slappy” and “Ol’ Chumbucket”, respectively. The two wound up contacting a writer and columnist named Dave Barry (who later wrote a book called Pirattitude, making the earlier use of that word in this article a not-quite-shameless plug), and so the phenomenon got it’s start.

 Of particular interest, however, is Pat Kight (a.k.a. Jezebel), the web designer and a ’74 LSSU alumni – one of the big reasons the entirely made up and nowhere near government-sanctioned holiday has flourished so at the Lake State campus.

While the actual reason for the day’s creation is – by the creator’s own admission – still more than a little unclear, ITLAPD (as the name would suggest) has turned into an international phenomenon, celebrated by millions worldwide. The date itself is also mostly random – being essentially the only day the guys could remember that wasn’t Christmas or Superbowl Sunday.

Back to our actual campus, festivities on ITLAPD went beyond just the food, grub, grog, or whatever you want to call it – there were contests for the best pirate costume, and also for the best pirate attitude. The costume contest was jointly won by the four best-dressed students, and three ninjas who received the award by demand after the kidnapping and attempted assassination of Karl Robins, a.k.a. the Dread Pirate Robins, a play on a character from a movie no one has heard of.

“We Japanese tourists. You take picture?” said the ninjas. When asked for comment, Robins replied “Arr!”

Sean O’Mara won the second contest, for making some aspersions about the hosting pirate’s mother.

Whatever else one cares to say about ITLAPD, in can surely be said that the spirit of the day lives on strong - interrupted only briefly by the diabolical ninjas – and that the holiday will certainly be returning next year, perhaps grown even larger (Government approval still seems out of reach). For LSSU, however, many, especially those who made the feast and fun at the QD happen, September 19th, 2007 may just mark the inaugural year of the schools newest yearly tradition.

Scurvy curs…

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