Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
All over Prague, posters for Pirati Z Karibiku kept teasing me–now at last, back in the USA, I got to see the new pirate movie.
It is awesomely silly fun–and the awesomely silliest is Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp says his portrayal was inspired by legendary bad boy Keith Richards, and by legendary cartoon skunk Pepe Le Pew.
Super special effects and sword fights, too. For more raves, read Rotten Tomatoes. For fun trailers, see the official website. For one gripe, listen to this: inspired by rum-drinking characters, I went out and bought myself a bottle of rum, and it doesn’t taste good at all. It tastes (to me) like medicine.
Yo ho, ho ho, ho ho, ho–I guess the laugh’s on me.
5 responses so far ↓
1 jr // Jul 18, 2003 at 7:25 pm
It only tastes bad until the third of fourth drink.
2 Betsy Devine // Jul 19, 2003 at 9:27 am
Maybe rum is one of those things like black coffee that tastes a lot better when mixed with other stuff. I remember liking butter rum Life Savers when I was a kid. I bet liquid rum would taste better if mixed with a large white beach and a Caribbean sunset.
3 The Children's Liberation Front (actually, Yule) // Jul 19, 2003 at 10:55 pm
“…inspired by rum-drinking characters, I went out and bought myself a bottle of rum…”: Hmmm, proof of the persuasive power of the media and its ability to spark imitation?
If I watch The Thin Man and hear William Powell’s famous line, I always feel like I’m “getting behind in my drinking,” too…. Have you ever noticed how much drinking (and smoking) was going on in those older films? How come it’s mostly replaced now by gratuitous violence? Boozing to excess seems somehow much more benign (although I guess that’s praising suicide as preferable to murder: not good choices!).
As for “Pirates,” the Keith Richards-Pepe le Pew pairing sounds inspired — who could ask for more? A Rolling Stone tough guy with a big striped tail… Oh boy!
4 NatureIsProfligate // Jul 23, 2003 at 1:33 pm
Tastes like medicine, you say? Maybe you’ve got the wrong rum, mum. Liquors are normally out of my area of expertise, but my recent excursions in Cuba and the Dominican Republic have exposed me to many an incarnation of the fair liquor. Ah sugar cane, is there anything you can’t do?
If you’re looking for a drinking rum, stick to the more expensive aged, dark rums. If it’s a mixing rum you’re after, the light (clear) rums will do. On its own, light rum does indeed have a medicine tang. Throw in a little cold pineapple juice, however, and you’ll feel transported to a sunny clime. Watch out for dark rums that are merely colored, not aged. These are _bad_.
This guy has written a little treatise on rum — check it out: http://www.frogspad.ca/articles/aug2002.html
5 Betsy Devine // Jul 23, 2003 at 1:59 pm
Dear Yule–Yes, I am often inspired by fun movie characters, although rarely to crazy stuff like trying to make my car jump a ravine or wearing a pillbox hat. Dear Amity–Who’s been peeking in Mom’s refrigerator? I did indeed buy light rum. It cost $1 a bottle more than the same brand of dark so I figured it was better. But I don’t think I better drink straight rum anyway, so maybe we can invent some new rum drink. Apple cider, mint leaves, a little blue food coloring….Or maybe not, what do you think?