We are sure of a gun from each frigate we run from

spatch just read me a thing of beauty off the internet, namely this drunk history of USS Constitution vs. HMS Guerriere: "This is a big deal because the US Navy at this time consists of 6 dudes in a coracle with a rusted musket."

Now I want to rewatch Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) even though it's not quite the same war. (It is in the book.) I can't believe there were never any more of those. Short-sighted, Hollywood. I expected a sequel for years.

און מיר זינגען זיך אַ ליד פֿון אַ לאַנד, אַ וועלט, אַ נײַע

So a couple of weeks ago gaudior invited me to a Yiddish sing being held this afternoon at the Somerville Community Growing Center and it turned out to be run by the Boston Workmen's Circle and I knew about half the songs in their packet and had a wonderful time even with the ones I didn't and the upshot is that I kind of accidentally auditioned into their community chorus. Which was not how I was expecting this afternoon to go, but I will very definitely take it. I felt I had a somewhat fragmentary answer when asked where I learned my Yiddish songs: my mother sang some as lullabies to me even though she did not herself know Yiddish and we had Theodore Bikel's records in the house when I was growing up and then I got to college and discovered the Klezmatics and last year skygiants threw Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird at me and in the meantime I found and listened to a lot of different things on my own time and occasionally performed them professionally. I got Partisans of Vilna (1988) from selkie. It's a folk tradition. I interact with those. I have pointed out to Tiny Wittgenstein that they often come in fragments.

Afterward I had very nice dinner and conversation with Gaudior and walked home by way of Gracie's and a cone of cardamom and honey cornbread ice cream. I just got back to the internet.

Look at this kraken.