We were very busy on Friday because the children had a pirate convention in Mahone Bay. They have been official pirates for over a year now -- membership is a complicated process involving a treasure hunt and a special vocabulary test among other things, which they completed at the Victoria, British Columbia branch. Of course when they heard pirates were invading nearby Mahone Bay, long a haunt of pirates, for the weekend, they knew they would be expected to be there. This is a photo of them on their way. (Modern pirates sometimes go by car. And they use the carseats with the very highest safety ratings, just in case they have to run someone off the road.)
Actually, modern pirates use a variety of modes of transportation. This one hijacks her own father and demands to be carried. She has to almost put out his eyes several times with her plastic sword in order to make him comply.
The pirates, along with their grandfather, survey the government wharf before the other pirates show up.
In the pub, Luke meets up with another pirate (a local politician, which makes perfect sense) who shares some of his booty with him. The pirate/politician relishes saying the word "booty" and also asks Luke if his sister is for sale. Um, perhaps he should stick to kissing babies. Only not mine.
After a nice pub dinner, we go down to the wharf to watch more pirates sail in.
I'm thinking this one is a ghost pirate.
These pirates arrive by SUV, which they park in front of Grandpa's house.
Luke checks out the pirate treasure beside another young pirate in a fetching red and white polka-dotted kerchief.
Two pirates checking out the menu at the Mug and Anchor Pub. Hey, pirates have to eat, too, and some are even allergic to shellfish.
One can always fall back on the official pirate chip truck.
This is a possible William Gilkerson sighting. He is the renowned Maritime artist and pirate expert who wrote the excellent (and Governor General's award-winning) Pirate's Passage
I highly recommend this festival, which is still in its infancy (its second year) precisely because of that fact. The town isn't as crowded as it gets for say, the Scarecrow Festival held in October -- lately the streets have been as crowded as New York's for that. And because Mahone Bay has a rich history of pirates (including the renowned Oak Island mystery), it's the perfect place to take kids interested in this stuff.
*What, you didn't know yurts had anything to do with pirates? Well you learn something new every day.
I started a bit of moon-surfing after discovering there's a supermoon on Saturday. We were outside after supper enjoying the spring-like weather when Sylvie and I noticed the moon seemed brighter and larger than normal. When we came in we googled for the date of the full moon and learned that it is going to be a bit closer to the earth this month than it usually is. Some astrologers believe this means there will be natural disasters -- like the earthquake in Japan. Apparently the big tsunami in 2004 happened just three weeks before a supermoon. But scientists say there is no truth to the notion. These events were just strange coincidences, I suppose.
Somehow I got onto paper moons -- I think it would be fun to set up a paper moon photo booth at a street fair or some other event this summer -- and found a number of fun old postcards, including the one up top. I've just emailed Todd, a friend who is a graphic designer, to see if he could insert Sylvie's little head onto that girl's body. I love her polka-dotted dress and striped tights and the very faint colourization in yellows and pinks.
And then I ended up on youtube, listening to various versions of the song -- what zippy, catchy, perfect little lyrics. "Paper Moon" is a great title for something, a poem, short story, novel or, obviously, movie (which I have not yet seen). "Canvas Sky" and "Cardboard Sea" would also make great titles.
My money's on Ella for the best version but it's a really hard song not to sing well.
Some say the song belongs to Nat King Cole. James Taylor has a very mellow version. Lena Zavaroni looks just right singing it and doesn't sound half-bad. Although Fiona Apple and her sister Maude Maggart's version starts slowly, the second half is almost perfect and their voices sound like they belong in a 1930s musical. Abbie Gardner's slightly more warbly version is set to a slideshow of the postcards.
I checked amazon
This weekend I got to indulge in two of my questionable obsessions. I got to put amusing things on my children's heads and I got to visit the Anne of Green Gables/L. M. Montgomery headquarters of the world, Cavendish, P.E.I. where there are at least three sites featuring historical re-enactors. My favourite moment was when the teenager playing Diana Barry at Avonlea staggered drunkenly out of a house and up the empty street in front of Sylvie and I. Obviously she'd just ingested some "raspberry cordial" at Anne's urging but if I hadn't been familiar with the story I'd probably have rushed to help her. It was surreal and camp and lots of fun.
I have more to say, particularly about our dear friends' gorgeous wedding, but Sylvie is trying to commandeer my computer. Either she wants to rip off the keys and eat them or she's desperate to update her facebook status.
Here is Luke with his microcephalic snowman. He wanted it to have a carrot nose but we didn't have any carrots in the house so he had to settle for a giant seed pod from a basket of potpourri we keep in the entryway. Luke is winking in this photograph and in all the others of this particular snowman. I'm not sure why. Artistic vision, I suppose. As the lowly photographer, I was simply informed that he planned to wink for the photos. And wink he did.
And then he smashed the snowman to smithereens. David and I were told that the snowman bled snow blood and real red blood, too. We found that as charming as I'm sure you do.
Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez perform his hit song.
Luke and his dad saw the movie on Sunday. They loved it. We finished the book
Luke has added a Wild Things stuffed animal