Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Pirate day started as friendly insults

ALBANY, Ore., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The men who created Talk Like a Pirate Day in Albany, Ore., say the idea began as a string of pirate insults and grew to become a worldwide celebration.

Matt "Cap'n Slappy" Summers, 46, who still lives in Albany, and John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baur, who now lives in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, said Talk Like a Pirate Day, which falls on Saturday, began in 1995 as pirate-style bantering on an Albany racquetball court, CNN reported Friday.

"We just grew up in a time and place where we saw the wrong movies, read the wrong books," Baur said of the pirate fixation he shares with Summers.

The men said they decided to turn their idea into an annual Sept. 19 event and the holiday gained major national attention in 2002 when it was the subject of a Miami Herald column by humorist Dave Barry.

"This is not what my parents would have chosen for me, but when the wave comes up, you ride it," Baur said. "We do it for fun. We don't pretend that this is serious."

Woman, 75, shoots burglar, rescues son

PETROS, Tenn., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Authorities in Tennessee's Morgan County said a 75-year-old woman shot and wounded a man who allegedly broke into her son's home and fought with him.

William Angel, chief sheriff's deputy, said Jesse Williams, 28, allegedly broke into the Petros home of David Brandenburg, 43, Thursday night and the men began fighting, the Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel reported Friday.

Angel said Ruth Robbins, 75, Brandenburg's mother and next-door neighbor, heard the commotion when the fight spilled into the yard. The deputy said Williams assaulted Robbins when she initially tried to intervene, leading her to shoot him in the leg.

Williams was treated and released from a hospital. He was charged with burglary, aggravated assault and simple assault.

Angel said Robbins will not face any charges.

Gay weddings held in mobile sweater museum

AMES, Iowa, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- An Iowa woman says she has begun marrying gay couples in a recreational vehicle that also serves as a museum for plastic jewel-encrusted sweaters.

Leslie Hall, an aspiring rapper from Ames, Iowa, said the $299 "Gem Sweater Wedding of Grands" package includes a ring bearer, a cake from Dairy Queen, two songs performed by Hall and a ceremony in any style chosen by the couple, CNN reported Friday.

"I mean, talk about Iowa business opportunities popping up at even the darkest of times," Hall said of same-sex marriages in the state, which began in April.

Hall, whose music group, Leslie and the Lys, has recorded five albums, said the 1974 Starcraft RV also serves as a museum for her favorite plastic jewel-encrusted sweaters, which she models on her Web site, lesliehall.com.

"I was sifting through clothes and I found this sweater and the beadwork and craftsmanship were unbelievable," she said. "And that's what sparked my interest for collecting them and making a Web site based on my love for these beautiful garments."

New Jersey city replacing metal boardwalk

VENTNOR, N.J., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The city of Ventnor, N.J., said it is replacing the aluminum planks installed on a two-block section of boardwalk in 1972 with traditional wooden planks.

Officials said the switch to aluminum was made in 1972 as a way of keeping maintenance costs down, but the metal proved an unpopular surface for walkers, joggers and bike riders who complained the planks were slippery when wet, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Friday.

Town public works employees said they have begun prying up the planks and will soon begin replacing them with cumaru hardwood boards.

"I've already gotten calls from people that are thrilled to death to get rid of the aluminum," said Stephen Weintrob, Ventnor's public works commissioner. "It's a boardwalk, not an aluminum walk."

"We'd hear of bikes skidding and runners and walkers falling. Senior citizens would walk up to that section and turn around. We had enough complaints," he said.