As I told ye, mateys, ye be lookin' at Brian Messing, portrayin' yers truly, wi' Mike Miller as King Neptune! Tony Ronzio from VillageSoup.com be the landlubber what shot us two bold briny sea dudes as we wuz takin' over the Coast Guard schooner USS Wasp durin' the 2006 Maine Lobster Festival @ Rockland!
Alas, on its 60th Birthday, the Festival found itself victim o' two major bits o' bittersweetness. First, after some 22 years as Master o' Ceremonies for the Maine Sea Goddess Coronation, Hope resident Ken Bailey announced his retirement from a post that he'd held firm to since 1986. Then, on Coronation Night itself, another veteran of the Lobster Festival publicily decided to call it a career: thus, 2007 Maine Sea Goddess, Megan Ranquist, was the last to be crowned by Miss Kay Warren, who, at Festival's end, resigned from her 20-year volunteer position as Director of the Coronation Pageant.
In 2006, as ye knows, lads n' lassies, NBC's Tonight Show w/Jay Leno featured Neptune n' meself (Mike n' Brian) in Jay's popular Headlines segment; I has ta tell ye, mateys, ye couldn't ask fer a better adventure for a Pirate like me!
But now, I got to be a-sayin' this ta the folks what be runnin' the Lobster Fest: Now that we knows what ye did fer 2008, just be thankful, sez I, that ye didn't leave us good-guy Pirates in the lurch like that! At least, ol' Teach had the good sense to fergive Davy Jones for that'n! (Besides which, ol' Squidbeard's still a hot, sexy commodity, thanks ta them Pirates of the Caribbean sequels!) But the point is, the Maine Lobster Festival won't be the same. Aye, Brian an' Mike will still rule th' waves as me n' Neptune, respectively, but that still don't answer the Big Question: what'll ye do now to put the next Maine Sea Goddess onto her Lobster Throne? And how's this gonna impact Neptune's Court?
Believe me, folks, those be some purty good questions, sez I. Hope that ye folks in Rockland be ready to take off them thinkin' caps o' yourn, sez I! Brainpower ain't me strong point, that I grant ya --- but it might have ta come into play when the Festival kicks off later this summer. All I can say is: stay tuned, shipmates!