Back from Gloucester

Does anyone else think that bit at the beginning of “Redemption Song” sounds like Marley’s singing about pirates and rabbis?

I’m back from Massachusetts, Thanksgivinging wth bugsybanana’s family in Gloucester. On the drive back to Boston (for the Chinatown bus, natch) I had pointed out to me various local claims to fame: the statue of the Gorton’s fisherman, the spit of land where Clarence Birdseye (born a Brooklynite) invented frozen food, and the general direction of the Phillips Screw company where Phillips-head screws were born and had their fontanels pushed in.

(“Who goes down to the sea in ships?” I asked. “Ships are what you take once you get to the sea.”)

Bugsy’s family has a pretty high geek ratio, so I’m pretty comfy there. And they set a tasty Thanksgiving table. It did seem, at one point, almost like a Passover seder. Except for the ham. And the butter. And the bread. But the cranberry relish reminded me a lot of haroset.