I usually blank a couple of months during the hottest period of the summer for parties, so figured this Saturday so late in September would be cool enough to cook and have The Great 2010 Talk Like A Pirate Backgammon Tournament And Bilge Swill Stew Grub.

But: surprise! It was actually hot out. I had all the windows open and by early evening a cool breeze made sitting out on the deck and sipping some pre dinner beers made it really nice. I almost turned on the air conditioner, but refrained.

I had gone shopping at 3:00pm so I could start prep work by 4:00pm. But with all the chit-chat and beer tipping, I didn't finish with all of that until about 5:30; just the prep work. Gad.... I had decided to make that same Peruvian Beef Stew that Sue and I had made last week because it was so good. Well, I tweaked it a little so that it would be different; came out just super.

The movie of the night was Batman: The Dark Knight which I didn't get started until later than I wanted because some folks just kept banging away at backgammon. So, movie didn't get over until a little after 11:00pm. Whew! Great time! Thanks all!

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"Arrrrr, Matey! I be ol' Backgammond Jack, and I be a-watchin' yuh fer any a-tempt at foolishness in the movement of the back-gammon checkers on them boards ye will be a-playin' upon. Arrrrr...."

I hung this flag on the front door so the players could find their way here.

Hey! The cook doesn't have to dress up; all he has to do is... well, cook! Pretty lame excuse for a pirate costume but then as they say about me at work: "Peter? Heck, he doesn't give a shit..."

Scott was first on the scene and wasted no time in cracking open his bottle of Cabernet. Sorry, Scott, for stealing some of that for the stew.... well, not too sorry. Not enough not to have done it; just enough to say so! It's a pirate's life! Arrrrr!

The cooking process in full gear. You may be asking yourself where the chef is... Yeah, well Sue hadn't arrived as yet to orchestrate a picture of the chef at work so it was the aforesaid mentioned chef that had to take the f'n picture by his own-self. Sob.... the life of the pirate.

And then when Sue did show up, she was so disgusted with herself for not providing the appropriate adult female supervision required of her to get a picture of the chef in the throws of dinner preparation that she was rendered to this fetal posture of "...quiet desperation" - to para-phrase Henry David Thoreau ("Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."). Actually, she just didn't want her picture taken. Too bad... the life of the pirate. Er, the life of the pirate's girlfriend? Whatever...

Rick on the deck and ready to play some backgammon. Did he mention that he was 7 up on me from Thursday night? No? Well, he was telling everyone else....

Brian and Tara in full pirate party gear. Nice job!

Tara, Brian, and Eleanne in a brief pause in the action between the games that Tara and Brian were playing. Playing? Really? No, Tara has her trash talk down just fine and did her best to make that clear to Brian. We were all rooting for her to vanquish Brian. A later picture will demonstrate her ability to do so....

Eleanne trying to explain to Brian that he was lost. Or is that he was going to lose? We're not real sure....

This is not good when these two get together. Who knows what they'll be plotting....

"Ooooo!" Tara exclaims after hitting one of Brian's checkers. "That's sooooo bad," she continues just before droping it solidly onto the bar. Nice. Tara, you can come back and play in our sandbox anytime. You are just our speed....

And these two guys banging away at their games were the reason we got a late start on the movie of the night. Not sure how the end score came out, but they had fun.