It's a parrrrrty

Arrrrr! It's Monday: Time to celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day

International Talk Like a Pirate Day creators Mark Summers and Mark Baur

Have y'all noticed the pirates out patrolling the streets today? Been poked by an errant scimitar?

Got a jokester in the cubicle across from you wearing a peg leg and an eye patch for purely recreational purposes? Have anyone in your office dressed up like Johnny Depp impersonating Keith Richards as Cap'n Jack Sparrow? Or heard any good pirate jokes lately?

It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day today. It's the day you'd be welcome to put your Jolly Roger in full view of the public today and annoy folks by calling them scurvy dogs and salty scallywags. Also, references to the poopdeck are absolutely encouraged.

The good-hearted holiday began with two ordinary guys, John Baur and Mark Summers, who talked like pirates to annoy their friends and crack themselves up. They picked September 19 as the day of celebration because, a) it was Summer's ex-wife's birthday, and b) nothing else was happening on that day that they knew of.

Without any real mission for Talk Like a Pirate Day, the two friends promptly forgot about the holiday until the following year when a friend reminded them about its impending arrival and asked how best to observe the day. They surmised that a national spokesperson was the right way to spread the word. And with fate and the sea on their side, it turned out Baur knew how to get ahold of nationally syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry.

With a slight bit of cajoling, Barry got back to them and agreed to write a column introducing Summers and Baur's swashbuckling brainchild to the American public. That was in 2002. Today, Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated around the world, with check-ins via social media in countries like Greenland, Nigeria and China. Of course, the pirate calls sound a little bit different in all those places. But the spirit of carousing, stealing and never showering is alive and well.

Over the last nine years, Summers (Cap'n Slappy) and Baur (Ol' Chumbucket) have made the pirate life their own, collecting stories, songs, personality tests and party kits for their website that will help everyone engaged in celebratory plunder collect a fine bit of booty. (The treasure kind. But, hey, maybe the other kind, too.)

If you're looking to find your own Jolly Roger or Black Pearl, we suggest heading over to Opal Divine's - Penn Field this evening to celebrate National Talk Like a Pirate Day the right way. Come dressed in your best pirate and/or wench attire and enter to win all the gold galleons in the costume contest. Enjoy the music of The Jolly GaRogers and the antics of emcee Quatermaster Griff. All of the proceeds from the door go toward helping Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas send cancer to Davy Jones' Locker.

So get out there, ya scurvy seadogs! And staarrrrrt talking like a blasted pirate alrrrrrready.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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