The vibrations of the lips, focused and amplified by the mouthpiece and directed into the tube, cause the column of air inside the tube to vibrate, and as in all wind instruments, the vibrating air column produces the sound of the instrument.

NPR: Young Tuba Player Gets Nod from Phila. Orchestra

Given the importance of the growing Hispanic vote and the Republican Party's increasingly strained relations with Latino voters, Florida has a chance to wind up in the Democratic column for only the second time in 30 years.

NPR: Florida Democrats Penalized for Early Primary

But it wasn't until humorist Dave Barry caught wind of the idea and threw his support behind it in a September 2002 Miami Herald column that this rickety ship took sail.

CNN: Ahoy! 'Tis time to talk pirate, me hearties