No Fidel at the Party

There's an irony here, that can't really be stretched too far, but here it is.
The three important boats that American kids have to memorize: The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
The boat that (I assume) Cuban kids get to memorize: The Granma.

From the WaPo (from an article pointing out that Fidel was too sick to attend today's 50th anniversary of the arrival of "the Granma"): Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces, which replaced the military that existed before the Cuban Revolution, traces its roots to Dec. 2, 1956, when 82 rebels landed on the island on a yacht _ the Granma _ that sailed from Mexico.

In German, a fiddle is "eine Fidel" (pronounced differently, of course) and to be carefree and happy is "fidel sein" (pronounced differently again). I shudder to think of all the punny headlines in German newspapers.

Interesting sideline (to me): My birthday, August 14 (I share it with Steve Martin and Gary Larson - no pressure; it's also the date, I think, of Berthold Brecht's death). Castro's, August 13 (also the birthday of the Berlin wall, I believe). I must have a very messed-up star-chart.