Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Avast Ya Scarvy Scum, I’ll make you walk the plank if you don’t join me in talking like a pirate! A fellow friendly pirate, Iron Anne Flint, sent me this quiz that will help you determine your pirate name…

My pirate name is:
Captain Grace Rackham
Even though there’s no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you’re the one in charge. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Arrr, a few more pirate-friendly sites for you landlubbers:
Talk Like a Pirate Day Blog
Facebook, Google, FriendFeed (Who Else?) Dives Into Talk Like A Pirate Day
Pirate Sayings

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by email.
Sometimes I feel annoyed at the stack of online articles I’ve saved for future reading.
Sometimes I dread seeing my Google Reader display (1,000+) indicating unread posts from my favorite blogs.
Then something comes along and reminds me why I love the Internet.

and Holly’s favorite,

Mesmo the Magnificent Singing I’m With You from Fluff & Such.

HBO has a special summer program called the HBO Documentary Films Series where they premiere a documentary every Monday night. I watched Resolved on Monday night and was totally impressed. It covered modern debating, changes in debating practices, diverse opinions about what debating should be. The real compelling aspect of the film was the comparison of two debate teams; a team of 2 black debaters challenging the major principles of modern debate, and the other team of 2 upper class white kids in Texas. The topic sounds boring but it was totally intriguing.

Favorite factoid of the film - learning about Paulo Freire and the “banking” concept.

I wish I had debated in high school - I wish I were a debate nerd!

Okay, so you probably guessed that it isn’t a real meatloaf but pretty darn close! It has been cold around here lately and I haven’t cooked a good old fashioned Sunday Dinner in a while. Steph mentioned she might be around for dinner so I pulled out this recipe for Lentil Loaf that I had on stand-by for a Sunday like this. This recipe is one of Josh’s from his site, My Vegan Cookbook. Sounds like I know Josh, but I don’t. I guess you could call me a secret admirer of his blog (not so secret now!) I recently read his ‘About’ page and realized how much we have in common; he’s a twin, he cares about health and nutrition, he blogs, and his veg-love is something he shares with his brother. So cool. Back to the meatloaf, it was very good and very filling. Steph and I made it together. She made it look pretty.

Since every meal needs some green, I whipped up a quick batch of my ultra-favorite, Rainbow Chard with Cherries & Pinenuts from Tiny Morsels. This recipe is definitely in my personal Top 5 as you can probably tell from this previous post and this previous post. My husband is a wonderfully honest critic, and with this one he freely admits that it just tastes great.

Dinner was ready with plenty of time for Steph, R, and I to hang out before the last episode of The Wire. I would normally rave about how much I love The Wire but according to this hysterical blog, that would make me a typical white person. So now that I’ve accepted that I am a typical white person..The Wire seriously is one of the best shows on television. I recommend renting all seasons, watching them consecutively, and highly recommend taking the time to watch the ‘making of the wire’ pieces. The producers of the show went the extra mile to include real Baltimore people in many many episodes. Loves it!

I realized that most of my favorite TV shows are on cable. Right now my top 4 shows are Entourage (HBO), Flight of the Conchords (HBO), Top Chef (BRAVO), and The Office (Network - NBC). I blame Steph for Top Chef.

Entourage
I strongly believe that one of the writers of Entourage is a Howard Stern fan and a yoga fan. I already heard that Ari (the actor who plays Ari) is a total yogi in real life. In last week’s episode (7/1/07), Johnny Drama, Vince’s older brother and previous personal chef, gets on a “health kick”. He starts stocking his fridge with healthy food. The rest of the guys were reminiscing to the days when Johnny wasn’t working and he would cook them a huge gourmet breakfast. Johnny enters the scene saying “Namaste”. Later he says he needs to do “pranayama breathing”. Steph - I know you said you tried watching this show once but didn’t get into it. I think it is worth renting the DVDs of the past seasons to catch up. It is only 30 minutes on Sunday nights and Ari is the best character on TV..other than Dwight Schrute.

Flight of the Conchords
This is a show about 2 friends (maybe their brothers I’m not sure) they live in NYC and they are from New Zealand and have a band together. They have a band manager, Murray, and they are trying to get gigs. They literally have 1 fan and she is a hysterical stalker. They are so funny and each episode they break into song about 2 times but it is HYSTERICAL. I googled them and found out that they have been around for years and have a huge fan base. Anywho - one song from last night was rap and they used their rapping names “Rhyme-nocerous” and “Hip-Hop-ottamus” and I was dying. I wasn’t sure if I liked this show at first, but now I love it because it makes me laugh every time I watch it. They are bringing silly back.

P.S. -
“Be more constructive with your feedback - please!”
“Ain’t no party like my Nanna’s tea party!”