Pirates

… or “pie rats” as a friend says. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but a reference to pirates has been on my “about” page almost since day 1. There was also an early post about the hideout of pirates in the Meadowlands. Pirates hid there when that area was covered with a cedar forest; in fact, the cedars are gone because of the desire by the “authorities” to burn the pirates out. Great move, guys; makes us wonder sometime who the real pirates are. The pirates below were filmed on New York harbor in 2006… all shall remain nameless, however, or replaced by nom de guerre, in the great pirate tradition. That’s “greenbelt” at the brass canon.

All theater aside, named pirates had a New York chapter in their lives: Captain Kidd lived here as a respectable citizen in the 1690s. Here’s more. Even Ellis Island, as we now call it, has a pirate chapter, a surprising one.
Modern day pirates, though, are no laughing matter. Check out the links below. Scroll through this outline. See the recent MO‘s. And since we hear the word often enough as related to copyright violation, try out this usage. Finally, here’s a cruise ship angle. Notice the weapon; twas no brass canon.

Photos by Will Van Dorp.

Cruising and Tankering

Tankerin’ leaves me hankerin.’ That’s the gist of an interesting article in the Star Ledger on Sunday 2/25. Personal disclosure: my son works on a cruise ship.

Here’s a photo of Crown Princess in the Cruise Terminal in Red Hook just south of the container terminal there. Coming into New York as a seafarer just isn’t a treat. The bright lights do not beckon; the Statue doesn’t smile. There’s no “y compris” launch to the delights ashore.
While I’m sort of somber, here’s a glimpse into the life of those aboard Alice and their concerns. See donation list #14.  By the way, as we speak, Alice is back in Canadian waters for the first time since early January.  Yeah.
Less somber, enjoy the vestigial figurehead on CP; truth be told, it looks very navel . . . not naval. See photo context above just inboard of the docklines. Bet it ain’t carved of wood.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.