Reflections: A Pirate's Life For Me, Savvy?

I cannot be certain if it is some disorder or the other, but I have always had a rather keen fascination with those who choose to spend their lives outside the law. Robin Hood is a childhood hero, along with his band of outlaws, and I simply idolize Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Green Arrow (Oliver Queen). Then I met the Dúnedain, the Rangers in the North, Aragorn and his kinsman from the Lord of the Rings, and I was completely enchanted.

Give me assassins, outlaws, vigilantes, and grim protectors in the forest, and I admire them all. Yet, most recently, I have found myself increasingly enthralled by the adventures of marauding pirates. Often enough, I can be found at my desk, enraptured with daydreams of a life upon the stormy seas. So I ask myself - why this sudden captivation? And I believe I can fathom the answer. I blame Jack Sparrow, Captain Flint, and Edward Kenway.

Yo-Ho-Ho

For I believe that it is not just me, but millions upon millions around the world, who have been so gripped with swashbuckling, adrenaline pumping, town looting, pirate mania. And why should we not? We have been treated, after all, to four Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the latest installment in the Assassin’s Creed saga - Black Flag, and a brilliant new TV show by Starz - Black Sails.

Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow was a truly refreshing delight in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and he has continued to entertain in the three sequels since. I for one, have completely enjoyed each installment, most particularly Depp’s performance in the second movie - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, even if the movie itself could arguably have been better. And while there has been widespread criticism, I relish each new sequel and simply cannot wait for the fifth - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - to come out.

Just in case you have lived on the moon this past decade, the other two movies in the franchise are: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (3^rd) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (4^th).

And a Bottle of Rum

From movies to games, and we discover Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the sixth major installment in the breathtakingly awesome series. The game follows Edward Kenway’s adventures in early 18^th century Caribbean, towards the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, and is the fullest world ever created for the game series. I cannot say anything about the game or the Assassin’s Creed franchise that hasn’t already been said before, so I’ll focus on what is relevant to this particular blog post.

If you weren’t already in love with a pirate’s life, you will be once you play this game. In addition to all else that is good about it, I loved the fact that they included Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Thatch, a character I could relate to from the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

A Pirate’s Life for Me!

If you, like me, enjoy following certain characters around on various entertainment mediums, you will definitely relish watching Black Sails while you play Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Captain Charles Vane, Benjamin Hornigold, John ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham, and Anne Bonny are characters common to both the game and the TV show.

Even with only 4 episodes aired so far, the show is excellent and promises to get better still. And if nothing else, it has made one fact abundantly clear for me - in Captain Jack Sparrow’s immortal words, ‘It’s a pirate’s life for me, savvy?’

Please, do feel free to comment below and share if you feel the same fascination with pirates, or submit your posts to me as guest bloggers at: umair.mirxa@gmail.com, regardless of what you choose to write about.

Writing: I Write Because I Must

The art of writing is as old as history itself, and it has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. It is an indispensable means of communication, and it does so much more than record the annals of man since he first began carving symbols on stone tablets. It represents language, promotes culture, spreads knowledge, and helps us correspond over long distances.

Why Must I Write?

Writing allows us to express ourselves, in ways more beautiful than the spoken word ever could. It presents us with unique opportunities, with power, and with abundant freedom. We can communicate and exchange information, or we can, for a delightful few hours every day, escape our individually morbid realities. For with writing, we can tell stories and create within those stories a world to our own liking, without grief and hardship and misery.

Thus, I write. I write to experience the joy of creation, of a power that is absolute and entirely glorious. I write for the freedom to do as I would, without the restraints of ridiculous society norms and traditions. I write to escape, and live through my characters a life of my own choosing, absent hypocritical judgment and prejudice. Quite simply, I write because I must, for if ever I don’t, I fear I would find it difficult to breathe.

Why Must You Write?

Thoughts and desires poured out in words are often hidden away in personal diaries, never to be shared with another soul. At other times, much as I’m doing right now, they are written out expressly for the purpose of being shared with the world - in the form of blogs, short stories, poetry, or novels. It is these desires that truly define us, even once we are gone, and it is in the writing of these thoughts that each of us truly becomes immortal.

Imagine, if you will, a world without writing - a world where Tolkien, Dickens, and Dostoyevsky had never taken up the pen, where Austen and Woolf had never sat down to write. Think about a world where Dante, Frost, Keats, and Poe had never given words to their thoughts. Consider then, a world where Homer, Plato and Aristotle were forever silent. I, for one, would not want to live in a world so miserably bland.

So, I invite all of you to write as well, to express your thoughts and desires, and to share your stories with the world. Do not get lost to obscurity, but write and shine, to attain immortality and to be remembered forever!

Please, do feel free to comment below and share your motivations for writing, or submit your posts to me as guest bloggers at: umair.mirxa@gmail.com, regardless of what you choose to write about.