Arr, schwab the decks!
I was informed by Yahoo! this morning that today, September 19, is officially Talk Like a Pirate Day. Has such a cool non-holiday day ever existed? I think not. I have always been fascinated by all things pirate even though I closed my eyes through the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World until I was about 10. So, in honor of this day (and also because I have nothing to do for the next hour before I leave to go to Orlando), I give you a pirate-themed post. Arrr.
Find out about how this day came about. I only wish I hadn’t spent so much time rambling on last night with my post or else I could have seen the pirate-themed Wife Swap! Life is so cruel sometimes.
Some of you know that last Halloween I fulfilled a life-long dream of spending the night as a pirate. After weeks of prep work with Kelly, sifting through every last fancy dress shop and the majority of the chavtastic shops in West Acton, I had a pretty darn stellar pirate costume. I had the black and white striped top, waistcoat, red and black striped stockings and even some pirate boots. Oh, and a plastic sword and scabbard–lethal. But the one thing that could not be located, despite hours of scouring, was a parrot. What good is a pirate without a parrot? I tried everything I could think of to get a stuffed one, and it turned out that live ones were just as hard to come by:
(E-mail transcript between Serengeti Ranch, an animal rental service used mostly for the entertainment industry, and me last year)
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—–Original Message—–
Sent: Oct 19, 2005 6:27 AM
To: serenranch@earthlink.net
Subject: Parrot rental
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am e-mailing to enquire about renting a parrot from Serengeti Ranch. I will be attending a Halloween party soon, and as I will be going as a pirate I think it would be a nice touch to have a live parrot as part of my costume. I have been assured by a friend who once rented an otter from you that your business is the best. I’d like to have a parrot that can speak, and, preferably, one that is toilet trained. Do you think you’d be able to help me with this request?
Reply-To: hayden rosenaur
Subject: Re: Parrot rental
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 14:12:21 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
Thank You for your inquiry.
Yes we do have parrots, however a toilet trained, speaking parrot may be a tough one. Our birds do talk but will not talk on command from the shoulder, nor will they speak in a party like environment. They are accustomed to all sorts of things, but they must be extremely comfortable with the handler. We also do not let animals go without their trainers. We would love to offer our services but this is really not something we do. We mainly rent animals to the motion picture and commercial industry. I appologize for any inconvenience.
Kind Regards,
Hayden Rosenaur
Honestly. Is it too much to ask for a talking toilet-trained parrot?
Tags: Acton, Halloween, London, pirate, Travel
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