So I was reading Nick Belardes' post about locals going all-out for last weekend's opening of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.  He's got a bunch of great photos and some video, and then in the middle of all that, he casually goes, "Then I saw a bunch of folks from the local Kern County Pirates Guild."

The who-what-now? I mean, I knew we had a starbase, but I didn't know about the pirates!  But yes, a quick Google search revealed that not only did we have some pretty creative and organized pirates around these parts, but that the Kern County Pirate Guild has a MySpace page.

Check out their page for how to join up, or just to listen to some cool pirate music.  But be sure to read their costume guidelines before you try to show up to an event in something you got off the sale rack at the party store, 'cause these folks aren't playin' around--you're gonna get yourself keelhauled for historical inauthenticity.

Oh, and they'll be at KGET's Kidfest at Yokuts Park this weekend, running a pirate camp for the young'ns.  Who said pirates were antisocial?  (Not me!)


More pirate fun:
- The folks behind "Survivor" are premiering  what looks basically to be "Survivor-on-a-pirate-ship" tonight on CBS.
- Need to stock up on pirate supplies while simultaneously helping kids improve their writing skills? Visit 826 Valencia's Pirate Supply Store.


--Jason Sperber