In Honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day...

Whether it was Johnny Depp and his Black Pearl, internet piracy sites like Pirate Bay, or something else entirely, there's no denying that pirates' coolness factor has been on the up and up.

At first, it was skull & crossbones popping up on hipster t-shirts in Silverlake boutiques. Then the people I play beach volleyball with started hanging a pirate flag to mark our court. (Okay, so I'm the one who bought the flag...but celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day at the beach this Sunday isn't my idea.)

But after awhile, pirate clothes made it to Hot Topic, the second Pirates movie was painfully bad, and it seemed like maybe the pirate thing was getting kind of tired.

But don't worry--it's not over for the pirates yet! Hal Willner has put together a compilation of Pirate songs featuring Nick Cave, Sting, Bono and more. Check out the clips on the NPR website. And with Talk Like a Pirate Day receiving national news coverage and a new book just out on Pirattitude...I'd say it's about time you downloaded a Pirate ringtone to you cell phone.

FTT!