Arrr, Talk Like a Pirate Day Sucks
All good things come to an end—but things that weren't that great to begin with seem to take far longer to go away.
While I should have jumped on this bandwagon earlier to do something about this year, let's all agree right now that we're going to give up on International Talk Like a Pirate Day in 2012. We have 12 months to kill it, and if we band together, we might just be able to pull it off.
Sure, pirates are hilarious, with the jokes about booty and the extended "rrrrr" sounds and whatnot, but according to the handy newish Facebook feature that groups posts together by subject, as I write this, there are 22 posts in my newsfeed about Talk Like a Pirate Day, and all of them are from companies, likely all with Vice Presidents of Social Media who think the idea is still edgy and hilarious.
Listen, Motel 6, I'm a fan of affordable lodging, but I don't need anyone to tell me that I can change the language on my Facebook page to "English (Pirate)." Despite my best efforts, I still remember 2008. But thanks anyway.
I don't want to be the fun police and ruin what's enjoyable for others, but it seems like there's an abundance of new funny things on the Internet, and therefore, we need to accept that the time for some ideas has come and gone.
I have to run now; there's a cat video I need to post.
The week on The Range
We followed the Freaky Friday non-invasion of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base; brought you the latest in the battle over the Tucson Unified School District's ethnic-studies program; watched as Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney stormed the desert; brought you the first episode of KUAT Channel 6's new Political Roundtable, featuring Tucson Weekly senior writer Jim Nintzel; watched a record-breaking storm hammer Tucson; were sickened by Michele Bachmann's anti-vaccine nonsense; and looked in on the UA's OSIRIS-REx space mission.
We urged you to check out Calexico and Jairo Zavala at Plush; eat Thai food with Wat Buddhametta; hear poetry at the UA Poetry Center; see Shut Up Little Man! at the Loft; Pray the Devil Back to Hell at your local library; adopt a dog from the Humane Society; and listen to our music selections of the week on Wednesday.
We told you about the new location of Cora's Café; eyed the mega-dog at the new Tako Burger; celebrated the lowly dishwasher; felt a little too full after hearing about a Sonoran-hot-dog-eating contest at Sir Veza's Taco Garage; thirsted for some beer from Borderlands Brewing Company; and wondered about getting together a local food-truck festival.
We wondered about the big business of college sports; had nothing but praise for FX's Louie; defended Yuma; were freaked out by Toddlers and Tiaras; pointed out that local military recruiters needed a spell-check program; talked about Action Comics No. 1; shared some angry anti-Tucson Weekly tweets; and wondered if the end of the world was finally at hand.
Comment of the week
"That wasn't a misquote; that was my own original thought about what you had said, so don't misquote someone as misquoting someone. It's bad taste." —TucsonWeekly.com commenter "BURNIE MAK" is undoubtedly trying to make a point here, although we're not entirely sure what ("Someone Must Do Something About 'Toddlers and Tiaras,'" The Range, Sept. 15).
Best of WWW
The main focus of this week's content is, of course, our annual Best of Tucson® extravaganza. Feel free to go to BestofTucson.com, go through the various categories, and comment, adding your own opinions about where we and your fellow readers got it right or wrong. It's an interactive experience, and you can start the campaign for your favorites to earn top spots a year from now.
Speaking of Best of Tucson®, three-time winner Heroes and Villains is back this week with another Talking Comics clip, as the immediate hype over the DC Universe-reboot wears down.
Unrelated to Best of Tucson® (although maybe it'll emerge as a winner next year), Josh Morgan provides a video look at a furniture store turned bike park, Premises Park, which Mari Herreras covers in this week's TQ&A.
