My Pirate Crew

In celebration of Book Bloggers' Collaborative Arggghsome Contest, I've decided to become a pirate and head to the waves, trolling the seven seas for booty. I have my eyepatch, my grog, my parrot, and my hook all ready. 


Plus I have a cool ship that I'm going to call The Fluffy Underpants.


I do need a crew, though. Here are my own 'orrible lot:


1. Errol Flynn - Because nobody does Gay Blade like Errol.

2. Captain Haddock - I'm a huge Tintin fan, as I've said before, so the Captain must come along.

Anyone who can curse like this needs to be on The Fluffy Underpants.

3. The Pirates! Band of misfits looked sort of like Wallace and Gromit so I'll take them on board.

4. Oh for crying out loud, Google! ALL RIGHT!!!!!

5. We need a good pirate wench, so I've selected Geena Davis from Cutthroat Island:

6. He's nearly a cliche now, but Long John Silver is an amazing literary creation. And he was the first one to say this: 


“Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest 
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! 
Drink and the devil had done for the rest 
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” 


7. And to round out the crew, let's have Anne Bonny, the famous Irish pirate lass who is played here by Jean Peters:

If you just can't get enough pirates, do go and check out Book Bloggers Collaborative. They are running a cool Rafflecopter contest with prizes  fearsome hidden bounty to celebrate the release of A World Apart by David Brown.


Demetrius makes his first mistake when he lets his best friend Halcyon marry Eleyna, the love of his life, without saying a word. On the day of the wedding, he walks away from the Elencheran town of Dove’s Meadow and joins the army.

He makes his second mistake when the pirate Black Iris tricks him into letting dozens of men, women and children die in a fire. Demetrius is imprisoned in grief and disgrace.

But he can atone. The Black Iris is dead. The Ivory Rose has risen to the top of the pirates and is leading brutal raids on the coast. If Demetrius can capture and kill her, he’ll win his pardon.

And then Demetrius discovers the Ivory Rose is Eleyna. He must decide which will be his third mistake: losing his last chance at a pardon, or destroying the one woman he’s ever loved.

The Adventures of Tintin

I for one look forward to the Tintin movie. I've always been a Tintin buff, and here is why:

1. The characters. Tintin himself is such an original creation. He is between a teen and an adult, and his closest relationship is with his dog, Snowy, and his friend Captain Haddock. That's it. No girlfriend, no love interest at all, in fact.

Then there is the Captain, who is always on the lookout for whiskey or his pipe. Plus, he has a wonderful way with curse words. No drat or dang for him; no, Captain Haddock is all:

No one does Anger like the Captain.

And Snowy the dog, who at times has a wonderful continuing conversation with the readers. My daughter loves him.

I can relate

2. The adventures: My favorite was always Red Rackham's Treaasure, and it is featured prominently in the movie! Hurray! There is a treasure search, underwater explorations, pirates, and a submarine that looks like a shark. YESSS.

3. The art: Herge, the author and artist of the Tintin stories, was an incredible draftsman. His neat, detailed drawings are not only beautiful but  also advance the story.

4. OK, here's the rub: The books aren't all PC. In fact, some of them are pretty darn UN correct. Alas, Herge was a product of his times and used cultural stereotypes that were simply appalling. I refuse to read, for example, Tintin in the Congo. Not only is it dreadful, socially, but it's one of the weakest Tintin stories.

5. Now that I've made that point, back to the adventure. If you never have read a Tintin book, do yourself a favor and read The Secret of the Unicorn or Cigars of the Pharoah or Explorers on the Moon or The Castafiore Emerald. And let me know if you plan to see the movie.