"Pirates" news and stories

Participants in North Carolina's Museum of the Albermarle's "Dine With a Pirate" program this weekend will have the opportunity to feast on hot dog telescopes and golden chicken nuggets in the company of Blackbeard impersonators. But what might aspiring buccaneers who want to dine like a pirate eat?

Pirate foodways aren't particularly well documented, partly because most serious academics aren't too keen on high seas crimes (A spokesman for Mystic Seaport, which bills itself as "The Museum of America and the Sea," says institutional policy prohibits its employees from commenting on piracy. "Have you tried Google?," he asks.)

Still, David Moore, curator of nautical archaeology at the North Carolina Maritime Museum, says it's fair to assume the pirates who terrorized the Atlantic Coast probably ate "pretty much everything that everyone else ate." As Moore explains, the parasitic nature of the pirate profession meant its members typically subsisted on whatever they found in the holds of the ships they hijacked.

It's baseball season, and we're a little obsessed 'round these parts. The MLB kicked the season off on Sunday when the Braves beat the Phillies, but for us Slashfoodies baseball is as much about beers and brats as it is about worrying how our teams will fare.

With that in mind, this week's Slashfood Ate (8) is dedicated to recent brew-related stadium stories.

1. Philadelphia Daily News' Joe Sixpack hints at some of the new draft beers at the Phillies stadium.
   
2. D.C. Sports Bog brags about the beers at Nats Park this year. And rightfully so. Do any other ballparks offer up Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA?
   
3. Not too far up the road in Bal'more, Kasper on Tap reflects on what Camden Yards is serving.
4. CNBC breaks the story on which stadiums boast cheapest beer prices in the league (the Pirates) and which are the most pricey (thanks a lot, Red Sox Nation).
5. Raucous Yankees fans can once again purchase beer in the bleachers. ...
6. ... But in a sign that the new Yanks stadium is still out of touch with the times, 24-ounce cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon will retail for an absurd $9.
7. The New York Mets turn up their noses at such piracy, lowering beer prices at their new stadium, Citi Field.
8. Sports fans, keep your boozin' in line or all of the above will be a moot point: Alcohol sales were banned for game two of the Tigers-Blue Jays series after drunken revelers ruined a rowdy opener.
   

Seen any interesting new suds offerings as your local ballpark? Can you even afford MLB beer prices in this economy?