I have a discovery to share with you all. It is Pirate Gangsta Rap.

In recent weeks, I've been listening to a lot of Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew. They arre "the only rap crew with buccaneer technique" and their influences arre "davey jones, scurvy, hip hop, tupac, eminem, blackbeard, sailling" [sic]. It is, as one review says, all the attitudes of gangsta rap, 300 yearrs earlier. It is the best, nay, the only gangsta rap to which I have listened willingly. It is hilarious.

Highlights of the first album, Authentic Pirate Hip Hop, arre Flintlock Glock (the title alone...), Blackbeard's Treasure and the unabashedly misogynistic Round the Corner Sallies.

Here is the epic quest for Blackbeard's treasure. Die, Corsair!

As for the second album, Rimes of the Hip Hop Mariners, the title track is goofy fun, as is the timber-shiveringly detailed description of a keelhaul. We'll ignore what appears to be a song about World of Warcraft. But the winner, oh yes, has to be the rap battle between a shipful of pirates and the British Navy.

If that sounds delightful, listen to Broadside.

And finally, if rap isn't your thing, here's a more traditional kind of sea shanty. Very educational if you didn't know what Round the Corner Sallies are.

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US orchestra conducted by robot

Universe twice as bright as known

Birdsong CD helps rescue starling

Zoo's escaped orangutan attacks keeper

Herms works in the centre of Manchester! Sometimes, like last night, that's not so terribly great.

Transport was insane. Slen and I, along with a friend of his, were in town, and we decided to eat there and not even attempt to travel during the worst of it. It was quite fun, actually, because the Pizza Hut was lying very low indeed, even locking their doors and opening them individually for customers. Other places were 'closed for stock-taking' or had their blinds down. We saw a mob outside the windows of a bar that was showing the match on tv.

People were drinking before 08:00 and continued all morning, afternoon and evening. They were sitting swaying on the steps outside my workplace, crowding around the Spar shop over the road... and as for the square at Piccadilly Gardens, where the screen is, Slen walked through there and said it was unbelievable.

Calm returns to Manchester (video)

This morning the pavements are covered with plastic bags, broken bottles, discarded fried chicken and chips and all sorts of other rubbish. Not just that. They're discoloured and sticky. It's... ugh. The street cleaners and police have been doing a fantastic job.

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Perhaps it's the sunshine, but it's absolutely dead in terms of religious and 'ethical' news. There's tons for animal lovers, though.

UK software piracy rate declines

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Want your very own knitted Ood or Adipose? Well, tough luck, it seems.

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AWESOMEST TRIBUTE EVER.

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How to Say: Chinese names

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*earprick*

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Starved dog ready to be rehomed

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Police officer collars the wrong man (om nom nom)

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Dead badgers dumped at roadside

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Police apologise for claiming Channel 4 misrepresented people in a mosque exposé.

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Are girls getting more violent?

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Music 'can enhance wine taste'

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Animal conservation trawl

So much cute, it gets its own subheading. Yes, it definitely must be the weather.

US lists polar bear as threatened and pledges to... uh... do nothing whatsoever about it.

Pilot whales are 'cheetahs of the deep'

Bypass newt search draws a blank (one has to suspect murder, doesn't one?)

Lighter woods 'boost butterflies'

Bid to boost eel numbers in East

Water project could help wildlife (stoat!)