Well, pirate security or not, I’d have asked that guy for some specific reasons why the parcel of land in the back is off-limits. It’s Las Vegas, not the Nevada Proving Grounds (I’m ignoring the land’s more bureaucratic official nomenclature). Cherry’s demeanor lacks the feisty “in your face” quality that Jules Rivera first gave her when she took over the strip in late 2020. I’ve mentioned it before, right? She had her own landscaping business and her own independent streak. Then she gave that up to became a contracted employee of her initial rival, the Sunny Soleil Society. Over the past several years, Cherry has become less assertive, more domesticated. More boring.

Ironically, that is what happened to the original Cherry Davis that Ed Dodd first imagined back in the late 1940s. She was a real outdoorsy gal with a pet bear and a self-assertive personality. She was capable of going camping without Mark. Over time, those 1950s societal pressures (as mirrored in TV and magazines) pushed her character more and more into a traditional stay-at-home wife who happened to live in a cabin. And the evolution of Rivera’s “Cherry” character seems to be roughly parallel. I thought Rivera was supposed to take her in a whole different direction!

On a more positive note, I’m quite impressed by her image in panel 3. That’s easily one of her best depictions, suggesting there is still something of a personality inside that head.  Rivera did a fine job putting some attitude in that drawing.

Words have meaning: People sometimes get Pirate Talk wrong, but Rivera clearly paid attention. The actual 17^th and 18^th century pirates didn’t really talk like they do in the Treasure Island movie, so historians tell us. In fact, the expression “AAR!” (or “YAAR!”) is not even in Robert Lewis Stevenson’s novel. That phrase was created by the actor who played Long John Silver. It’s like the legendary phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson,” ascribed to Sherlock Holmes. But that phrase never appears in any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s books. It’s a slightly later invention, though notably showing up in the popular movies starring Basil Rathbone. Sometimes phrases we associate with a real or fictional character or group of people are actually the result of mythologizing (e.g. “I cannot tell a lie, Father,” said the young George Washington in Parson Weem’s collection of fictional morality stories). “But so what?”  you ask. Well, I forgot the point.

“WAGH!”, on the other hand, is not Pirate Talk. Is it an expression of guilt? Surprise? Profanity? So, what’s it mean? The Urban Dictionary website says it is used as a response to a stupid or clueless statement by somebody. Doesn’t seem likely, here. We can probably dismiss its use as a Marathan surname in India, or a location in Pakistan.

Interestingly, the encyclo.co.uk web site proposes three definitions, the third being applicable: “An exclamation, used by both Mountain Men and Indians, usually denoting admiration or surprise. ” Who knew Rusty was so historically literate!?

Let’s get back to the story: Why would hotel security be concerned about anybody walking on the hotel grounds? Is this an actual hotel or a secret government agency masquerading as a resort? If there was anything actually dangerous, I would expect to see stricter measures in place, even a warning from the Check-In Desk personnel; but certainly not just a vague “Forbidden!” sign taped to a simple chain. So what gives here? Is Rivera just playing around with some make-believe security nonsense for the sake of one of her jokes? Frankly, I’m still of a mind that this combined “Olympic Event” and Pirate Hotel is part of a giant con job set up by one of Mark’s well-known rivals, though I have no idea what the purpose or goal would be.

You still with me? Am I just looking for something to say? Am I trying to turn another silly Mark Trail story into something dramatic or suspenseful? Or am I creating fake headlines like a YouTube video, to attract gullible readers? Sometimes I’m not even sure. What do you think?