Talk Like a Pirate Day

September 19 be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, invented by Mark Summers and John Baur (or Captain Slappy and Ol' Chumbucket) of Albany, Oregon, and popularized via a column by Dave Barry. Basically, it's a day when one is supposed to talk (and dress, and act) like a pirate. Why? Because Pirates are cool, and because it's fun. Baur and Summers have written several books about how to talk like a pirate, as well as increasing one's "piratitude." Basically, the awesomest silly holiday ever invented.

On rare occasions, such as in 2009, TLaPD and Rosh Hashanah fall on the same day, and are thus merged into International Talk Like a Jewish Pirate Day. Oy, me mateys! The Jewish calendar repeats every 19 years, so the next time this will happen will be 2028.

September 19 also happens to be the birthday of Hermione Granger, leading to such things as filk singer Tom Smith's song "Hey, It's Can(n)on".