It Was Never Really A Whisper

One of my favorite bloggers has returned from exile. It remains to be seen as to whether he will fade away again or if he'll hang around. In the interim I strongly urge you to take a look at A Whispering Soul.

More Keyword KAOS

Yes, Agent 99 I used the KAOS spelling intentionally. Ok, some of the keyword searches to my blog were too good not share with you all. Here is a partial list:

Horny Hasid
Meaning of keep it to one side
big dumps- Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland
Jewish Blues Brothers
Jewish Sperm Shooter (What the heck is this about?)
Men and Emotions
Children deal with death
Sexy sheep
Beef Jerky
screw you meaning
i think too much

HH #123- Take a Swing Edition

Click here.

The iPhone

Earlier this week Robert wrote a nice tribute to the iPhone. I am a gadget guy. If it beeps and whistles and does all sorts of other cool things there is a good chance that it will catch my eye. So it is not going to surprise anyone who knows me to hear that the phone caught my eye.

However paying tuition for my children's education has a much firmer hold upon my wallet so it was a virtual lock to say that I would not buy the phone any time soon. Even more so because I don't want to use AT&T as my provider. Been there, done that and could write the book about why it was unpleasant.

In spite of all these things I had to check out the phone. I needed to take a gander at it and see if the phone was worth the hype. My answer is that I think that it is. Now, I haven't had the opportunity to conduct any sort of call with it. I can't tell you whether it meets the prime directive. My cell phone is a critical business tool. I cannot afford to use one that has communication issues so we'll have to wait and see what we hear about that.

However, I can see unequivocally that the screen on the iPhone makes my Treo jealous. The fact that it also works as an iPod is more than a nice bonus. As a matter of fact I'd be afraid to leave my Treo anywhere near an iPhone as I suspect that it might get ugly.

Long story short, I want one.

Terror In Britain

A few random thoughts about the events of the past couple of days.

Unless you have been trapped beneath a heavy object you probably are aware that Britain narrowly avoided a sizable terror attack when two car bombs were discovered.

This was followed by an attack upon the Glasgow airport in which a flaming SUV tried to ram the main terminal.

CNN is reporting that new Prime Minister Gordon Brown and company have raised the terror alert to its highest level meaning terror attacks are imminent. I don't mean to sound obnoxious, but "DUH!" It has progressed beyond imminent, now there are a host of questions.

Did they have any forewarning about any of this? How far along are they in their investigation? Is there knowledge of additional attacks or is the terror level alert system merely a response to the past days? Is this being done to suss out Gordon Brown's intentions or is the timing coincidental?

Stay tuned, more to come on all of these matters. Updates are on the way.

The Land of Lost Luggage

Most people are familiar with tales of lost luggage. You check it in at the curb and six hours later are more than a little aggravated to learn that somehow it didn't make the trip over with you. Sometimes it is located and sometimes it never catches up with you. So you may wonder what happens to those lost pieces. Well you might be surprised to learn that it is possible that someone purchased your bag and is selling the items within.

Unclaimed Baggage is a one-of-a-kind store snuggled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and bordered by the 70,000 acre Lake Guntersville. Founded in 1970 by Doyle and Sue Owens as a part-time business, it soon became a full-time venture. In 1978, the Owens incorporated the company and watched it prosper as one of the great 'hidden' bargain centers for savvy shoppers.

While I can't fault people for trying to make a buck I do find it a little disheartening to read about all of these lost items.

Over one million items pass through the store annually. About 60% of the merchandise is clothing with the balance of the store dedicated to cameras, electronics, sporting goods, jewelry, designer optical, books and of course, luggage. The vast majority of items are from unclaimed baggage which, after at least 90 days of intensive tracking by the airlines, are declared unclaimed. However, lost and unclaimed cargo is also now available in special areas of the store.

I'd like to say that I wouldn't be irritated or upset by any of this. It is just stuff, but there is something that bothers me about this. I irks me to think that because of someone else's mistake my stuff is being parceled out to whomever is willing to pay.

It is hard work breaking clothes in so that they achieve maximum comfort. What do you think?

Hamas- Teaching Children to Hate

GAZA CITY (AP) -- A Mickey Mouse lookalike who preached Islamic domination on a Hamas-affiliated children's television program was the victim of a pretend beating death in the show's final episode Friday.

In the final skit, the "Farfour" character was killed by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour's land. At one point, the mouse called the Israeli a "terrorist."

"Farfour was martyred while defending his land," said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed "by the killers of children," she added.

So happy to see that these noble people are teaching such strong values to their children. And people ask why there is no peace.

Early Morning Agitation

My mother called it waking up on the wrong side of the bed. I am referring to my mood. Cranky, agitated and irritable do not do it justice. The day started off poorly and the sad thing is that the reasons for it are trivial.

Somewhere in the middle of the night my son climbed into my bed and proceeded to try and discover new and creative ways to create bruises all over my body. I received multiple punches and kicks to my head, nose, neck, groin and legs. Did I mention that he stole the freaking covers too.

This is not a normal occurrence. He almost never wakes up anymore and on the odd occasion that he sleeps with us he normally holds still. For whatever reason this time he did not. So interrupted slumber is a big factor in why I am unhappy, but that is not all. The next door neighbor is having a new roof placed on his home. Did I mention that I hate the sound of hammers and saws in the morning. Ok, that is not entirely true, but on this morning it is making me crazy.

It doesn't help that this is being done right outside of my office so it is making it much harder to work. As a side note let me add that I hate the noise that vacuum cleaners make. My folks say that as a baby it used to make me cry. Now it just irritates me. Something about that squeal makes me want to run screaming into the forest.

Last night I chased away a couple of teenagers who are using my street as makeout point. I know that I have blogged about them before, but I am too cranky to go searching for the post. The music in their car was so loud that it was preventing my kids from sleeping. So I headed over to the car. They were so involved that they didn't notice me standing there, nor did they realize that the rapping on the window was not being created by them.

I explained to the dear lad and lassie that while I appreciate young love I am not interested in witnessing it in such graphic detail and that it would be wise to move along. The young buck started to mouth off then thought better of it when I asked him how he felt about being arrested. I pulled this off a la Fletch.

"Are you the police?" He asked.

"As far as you know" was my response.

I absolutely hate feeling this irritable so early in the morning. It is a lousy way to start the day so I am doing what I can to set a new tone.

Updated: Some of our yeshivas are doing a piss poor job of educating our children, at least when it comes to English skills. Their posts make them look like exceptionally ignorant. The number of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors is inexcusable. I can't believe that they are not more embarrassed by just how poor their skills are.

It is a sad, sad thing.

Harry Potter & Children

Here is a general question for the moms and dads. How old do you think a child should be before they start reading Harry Potter books?

Hardwood Floors- The Joys of Homeownership

I often sing the praises of hardwood floors. I love them. They exude warmth, beauty and unlike carpet they don't hide all sorts creatures. However, hardwood floors do present some challenges of their own. The primary issue is trying to prevent them from being scratched or marred.

If you have young children you can appreciate just how challenging this is. They throw, drop and bang toys on the floors. They drag chairs and other items through the house and inevitably the floors begin to show signs of the presence of said children.

In my own home there are some spots that are downright embarrassing. I very much want to have my floors refinished but I am hesitant to do so because I am concerned that the kids are going to scratch them up again.

Here is the thing, I don't want my house to be treated like a museum. I want the kids to play. I want them feel comfortable here. It is their home too. So the trick is trying to find a balance so that this is not used as a playground but not treated as a hospital ward either.

And there you have my dilemma. I am beginning to hate the way that the floors look but I don't want to throw away money either. What to do, what to do.

The Quest For Parental Validation

I wonder, do we ever reach an age at which we are no longer interested in parental validation. This is not to suggest that I have never gone against my parent's wishes or suggestions. My life is a long list of going against the grain.

But nonetheless I'd be lying if I said that I prefer to receive my parent's approval. I do.

I suppose that what makes me think of this is because as a father I see my own children seeking my own approval. They're always asking me to watch them do something. "Abba, come see what I can do!" "Abba, look at this!" It really is nice. They make me smile.

I love my children. Sometimes it is tough to keep up with them. They have endless amounts of energy and I'd be lying if I said that sometimes it is hard to look at every little thing they do. So every now and then I slip out of father mode and back into the son.

And then I remember how it feels and I am rejuvenated. It is my wish that I always remember to give them the time they deserve even when I am tired. They deserve it.

Hanging Out At The Muqata

I received a few emails from some readers asking me why things seem slow here. The answer is that I am still hanging out at The Muqata. Check it out, there are some pretty good posts over there.

Howard Cosell Interviews Lynda Carter

Sorry, this just made me laugh.

Tonight We're Serving The Baby Jesus

Talk about a special barbecue. This is not exactly what you might expect to find at Jeff's Sausages. Speaking of Jeff's Sausages if you perform a Google search for Jeff's Sausages you'll find that the Gun Slingin' Chopped Liver Chef is almost top dog.

Hat Tip for the photo goes to: Oranchak.com

Pick Up His Leg

Nobody knew that the painter had a prosthetic leg on, at least not until it fell off of him...while he was standing on the ladder.

Fortunately the fearless five-year-old boy had no problem picking up the false leg and returning it to his owner. Who was that fearless five-year-old? Well, that boy was me.

Of course if I saw it happen now I would still be willing to hop up and grab it, but I won't lie and say that I wouldn't laugh. I hope that I wouldn't laugh, but I can't guarantee it. I know, it is not very nice but it is kind of funny.

Eight Things About Me

The Babka Nosher has tagged me with the Eight Things About Me Meme. Every time I see the word Meme I imagine some opera singer singing "Me Me Me Me." Here is some information about me before I start.

Every time I do one of these things I have to decide how to answer the questions. Do I want to try and provide the cool, insightful answer that make people wish they were as cool as me. Do I want to give the funny response.

You know the one that makes you chuckle out loud so that your coworkers know that you are not really working on the spreadsheet you said you were. Or do I go with option three, you know just answer the question.

Babka is a nice lady so I'll try to set aside my insouciant nature and just answer the questions. Ok, on to the rules:

The Rules are:

Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.

At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Ok, I tag my entire blogroll, the blogosphere and anyone else who might be interested in this. Ok, that is not really fair, but it is close to midnight and I don't have the energy to think about tagging.

1) Can I use my intro for this one. You know about how I decide to answer memes. No really, I mean it.

2) If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning. I'd hammer out danger and I'd hammer out warning. But mostly I'd hammer copies of The Sound of Music. Feh on that movie.

3) I was on my high school swim team. By the time I hit my senior year I had a full set of washboard abs and bodyfat that was around 9%. Vain old Jack pulls out that picture and stares at it as incentive to get back into shape.

4) When I play Hearts I always try to shoot the moon. I have a gambling streak a mile wide in me, but I don't go to Vegas all that often.

5) If I was one of the Wonderpets I'd be the Turtle. He is cool. If I was a Backyardigan I'd be Tyrone. If I had to be one of the characters on Sesame Street I'd be in trouble. I can't decide if I want to be Oscar, Ernie or Cookie Monster.

6) I don't know how to play a musical instrument but If I could I'd want to play the guitar and the piano. Ok, maybe the bugle too. I'd belt out reveille outside of my friends homes. I am a giver.

7) I have 7 other blogs and practice writing in different voices.

8) I'd like to live to be a thousand or so. I figure that would give me enough time to live in all the places I want to visit, try all the careers that interest me and then no one would give me a hard time about having had 17 wives.

I Still Look For Him But He Is Not There

It is 366 days since I said goodbye to my grandfather. A year and a day. My life is so very different in so many ways. It is not a secret to say that I miss him. I do. We shared more than a surname. We spent so many hours together. There are endless stories that I could tell about him. My grandfather was a colorful man who lived life.

He lived. He loved. He was. And in many ways he still is.

Sometimes I pick up the phone and start to dial his number because I want to tell him about my day or ask him for his advice and then I remember that he is gone and I stop. To paraphrase Bogart in Casablanca I am sure that I look like a guy standing with a comical look on his face because his insides have been kicked out.

Grandpa wouldn't appreciate all the fussing over him. He wouldn't want me to feel badly about his having died. If I close my eyes I can see him smiling at me, a twinkle in those baby blues. That twinkle used to get him in trouble because you just couldn't help but wonder what he had done. I am told that I have the same thing.

But this is my blog and my thoughts. I like sharing memories with my father about grandpa. It is nice to hear his memories but sometimes it is hard too because I see the pain in his eyes. At grandpa's funeral my dad said that he had lost his hero and that is true. I know it is because my father is my hero too, so it makes sense to me.

Sometimes when I walk into my parent's house I go looking for him. He spent the last few years of his life living in the room that I grew up in. Sometimes I close the door and just sit there, trying to catch a glimpse of him. Sometimes I think that I can smell his scent.

I have had a few dreams about him. I remember bits and pieces of them. He protected me from something, can't really say what because I don't remember. I just know that he did. I don't if it was real or not because it makes me feel good.

What I know for certain is that as long as we don't forget him he won't ever really die. My son still looks at the pictures we took, four generations of the men of our family. He asks me to always tell him stories so that he won't forget who he was.

It would be easy to write more, but I think that is enough for right now. Time never stops moving and much as we might to stop it we can't. All we can do is live the best way we know how.

The Shack Speaks- A Round Up of Posts

Decided to provide a round up of posts that have appeared here:

What Qualities Should a Rabbi Have?

If Life Ended Today What Would You Regret

A Question About The Dead

Frantic Blogging Comments

My Son & The Strip Club

Evolution

Where Are You From?

Defenestrate

Morality Without Religion- A Comment to The Self-Righteous

Haveil Havalim #106- Terrible Twos Edition

Filed Under What Was She Thinking

The Sound of Music Sucks

I Am A Master Of Yard Work

You can call it Jack Versus The Oleander. Located in a corner of my yard there is a large Oleander with shrubitude. For years now it has loomed menacingly over the yard, a threatening presence. The only thing that held it in check was its healthy fear of my shrub cutting skills.

Armed with a lopper I can do an enormous amount of damage, especially when provoked. For a while there was a standoff. The Oleander maintained its position but only because every so often the lopper and I would engage in a little chop-off round the perimeter. But I think that we both knew that one day it would come to blows.

Sometime last fall the old lopper gave it up the battle. It crapped out, bought the farm, met its maker. Yes, I know that I am going on about a yard tool, but sometimes a tool can be more than just a tool.

I couldn't help but mourn the loss of the lopper. It took close to six months for me to go out and find a replacement. Koheleth said that for every thing there is a season and now is the season of the lopper.

Earlier this week I paid a visit to Home Depot with the intent to purchase a lopper and nothing more. Sadly the Depot Demons got a hold of my wallet and I was forced to purchase other items but that is a story for a different day. On this day I shall only speak of the lopper, the mighty lopper.

If I didn't know better I would say that the Oleander shrank back in fear of the lopper for it knew that in my hands it was a mighty tool. And in a matter of a few hours that overgrown Oleander shrank in size. It went from being Big Plant On Campus to just a mere shrub again.

Ok, enough of this nonsense. Apparently this is what happens when I spend 1,987 hours doing yard work in the sun.

Rod Beck- R.I.P.

He went to a rival high school, made it to the show. Interesting guy to say the least. Rest In Peace Rod.

Terrorism Awareness- Watch This

What Really Happened There.

What Qualities Should a Rabbi Have?

In a post that is already buried on the page I made the following remarks:

In fact I suspect that if you conducted a survey of traits required to become a rabbi piety and devotion might not even make the top of the list. Right up there at the top would be stories and story telling. Just for kicks I'll address that question to several of the blogging rabbis:

Rav Fleischmann, RWAC, Fly Fishing Rabbi, Rabbi Sedley and any other rav who wishes to answer. I look forward to your replies.

(I'll have some remarks about what qualities I think are most important at the bottom of the post.)

I am pleased to say that there are a number of responses that are worth looking at, or should I say all of them are. This is the kind of interaction that I appreciate about the blogging world. As I have mentioned before every now and then I have an interest/urge to go get smicha. I haven't spent as much time exploring it as I probably should. I suppose that you could say that it is because I am not really interested or because I am and am afraid of it.

Really it doesn't have to be an answer that is relegated to the either/or pile. There are shades of gray. I suspect that one of the reasons is that I find davening to be so darn challenging. Some days I am completely engrossed and others it is the furthest thing in my mind.

I know for certain that part of it is because the title brings a lot of expectations along with it and I am not sure that I am willing to wear that mantle. This is why I consider the qualities a rav should have because it helps to define what sort I would want to be.

I have experience working at several shuls. I know the politics. I hear the stories that my friends tell me (did I mention that I know many rabbis) and it doesn't excite me. I don't care what denomination you are, we all share certain things in common and politics is right up there.

As a result of all this I have kind of placed getting smicha on the back burner...for now. I am still young. I don't see a need to rush. I know myself well enough to know that if I want to do it, I will.

If I were to become a rabbi I think that this is the kind of rabbi I'd want to be. A good listener. A great storyteller. Worldly and knowledgeable about life and Judaism so that I could provide solid, well thought out answers. Warm and friendly, so that people would feel comfortable sharing their thoughts/problems with me.

That is the rough outline and obviously it is subject to modification. More on this at a later date.

Music Meme- Furious five

Chaim wants to know the 5 songs that are stuck in my head. So here they are:

Hotel California: The Gipsy Kings
Maybe I'm Amazed- Paul McCartney
The Letter- Joe Cocker
Suspicious Minds- Elvis Presley
Ghost Riders In The Sky- Johnny Cash

If you spend any time reading the blog then you know that I can't pick just five, so here is another set just because:

Chiri Bim- Craig Taubman
Love Reign O'er Me- The Who
Knock The Cover Off of The Ball- Soundtrack from The Natural
Lux Aeterna- Clint Mansell
More Than This- Roxy Music

And yes I have been listening to Don't Stop Believin, but then again Journey's greatest hits is already loaded on my iTunes. If you are of a certain age it is a virtual guarantee that your sister/girlfriend whatever would go nuts every time Faithfully came on the radio.

Haveil Havalim #122

Click here.

Some Masada remains questioned

MASADA, Israel - An Israeli anthropologist is using modern forensics and an obscure biblical passage to challenge accepted wisdom about mysterious human remains found at Masada, the desert fortress famous as the scene of a mass suicide nearly 2,000 years ago.

A new research paper published Friday takes another look at the remains of three people found at the site and given a state burial by Israel as Jewish heroes. The remains, the study says, could actually be those of the Jews' Roman enemies.

The remains of two male skeletons and a full head of woman's hair, including two braids, were found in a bathhouse by archaeologists in the 1960s. They were long thought to belong to a family of Zealots, the fanatic Jewish rebels said to have killed themselves rather than fall into Roman slavery in A.D. 73, a story that plays an important role in Israel's national mythology.

The bathhouse remains became a key part of the site's story. Yigael Yadin, the renowned Israeli archaeologist in charge of the first dig, thought they illustrated the historical account of Zealot men killing their wives and children and then themselves before Roman legionnaires breached Masada's defenses.

Upon finding the remains, the crew "relived the final and most tragic moments of the drama at Masada," Yadin wrote in his book documenting the dig, mentioning that the woman's "dark hair, beautifully plaited, looked as if it had just been freshly coiffeured."

"There could be no doubt that what our eyes beheld were the remains of some of the defenders of Masada," he wrote.

Along with other bodies found at Masada, the remains were recognized as those of Jewish heroes by Israel's government in 1969 and given a state burial, complete with Israeli soldiers carrying flag-draped coffins.

But anthropologist Joe Zias and forensics expert Azriel Gorski write in a paper in the June issue of the journal Near Eastern Archaeology that the remains buried with honors may not have been those of Jews at all, but of Romans.

For the full story please click here.

A New Way To Use The Telephone

In the course of my travels I stumbled onto a company called GrandCentral. I haven't signed up yet but I think that I will. Here is some information about them:

What is GrandCentral?

Get all the same calls, but in a whole new way.

GrandCentral doesn't replace your phones; we just link them together and help them do more. How do we do that? We give people One Number...for LifeTM - a number that's not tied to a phone or a location - but tied to you.

With GrandCentral, you can be reached with a single number, answer a call at any phone you want, seamlessly switch phones in the middle of a call, and even know whether a call is important before you take it.

What else can I do with GrandCentral?

We're not your typical phone company. And these aren't your typical features.

* Check your messages by phone, email, or online
* Keep all your messages online for eternity
* Record and store your phone calls (just like voicemail)
* Quickly (and secretly) block an annoying caller
* Click-to-dial from your address book
* Surprise your callers with a custom voicemail greeting
* Turn your Mp3s into the ring tones your callers hear
* Forward, download, and add notes to your messages

Are any of you familiar with them?

Love To Read? Check out BookMooch

I stumbled onto BookMooch care of Ann. It sounds pretty darn interesting.

I have fallen in love with BookMooch. It's a book trading site wherein you create an inventory, gaining 1/10 of a point for each book you include. Then you get points (3 if you're sending internationally) for books you agree to send out. You are deducted 2 points for each book you have sent to you. Simple, but effective.

Of course I do have a small problem with this. I hate getting rid of my books but that is a different story.

Things Rattling Around My Skull

I used to do these long introspective posts much more frequently. Back in the good old days when the blog was safe. A refuge that felt like a secret hideaway. Br'er Rabbit's laughing place. In those days the blog was so very bright and shiny. It felt so much more comfortable to tear down the walls and just let the river flow.

That changed. It changed. It changed. It changed. I can't place my finger on one exact reason. There is nothing in here that I cannot discuss with anyone. But that doesn't mean that I want to.

Last week I had the privilege of attending the Ariel Avrech Memorial Lecture 2007. It gave me an opportunity to meet a number of bloggers. It was a new experience for me as I have intentionally maintained my distance but I am quite glad that I went. It was nice speaking with them and I was pleased to see that we had more to talk about than just blogging.

As Judith of Kesher Talk mentioned blogging can provide unexpected intimacy with others. If you consider your relationships usually you work up to feeling comfortable sharing your innermost thoughts with others. Bloggers just skip this and let loose.

I am not surprised by any of this. In spite of the picture I painted I wasn't unaware that others were reading my thoughts. But for whatever reason it just didn't bother me. Lately that is not the case. I find myself being far more reserved than I used to be.

Can't say if this will continue or go away. We'll just have to see what happens. For now I seem to have lost my voice.

Guest Blogging

If you don't see me here it could be because of my guest blogging responsibilities here.

A Few Movie Thoughts

In my life I have learned that there a few things that hold true. Cub fans are serious masochists, the Olympics were better when they came every four years and Red Sox fans were blessed with the appearance of an aberration similar to Halley's Comet. Once every hundred years or so they win a championship.

I also believe with perfect faith that LA will again experience a sports year like 1988 in which the Dodgers and Lakers won the championship and even the Kings were exceptionally competitive.

That brings me to the topic of the moment, movies. David smartly remarked that a person's taste in movies can be quite revealing about whether they might be the kind of people you want to hang out with. Now much as I'd like to spend a few minutes discussing the list of movies he came up with I am going to go a different direction and refer back to another old post called

Too Many Sequels

I won't rehash the entire thing here, but suffice it to say that I am still irked about something. During the past few years we have been inundated with remakes of old movies. Very few of them have been any good. With all of the so called creative people around you would think that we might see something new.

If I remember I'll have to come up with a post that expands upon this further.

Summer Solstice 2007

(Another recycled post. This one ran here.)

Today marks the Summer Solstice. Wikipedia provides this explanation:

"The summer solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the sun in relation to the celestial equator. At the time of the summer solstice, Earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is most tilted towards the sun, causing the sun to appear at 23.45 degrees above the celestial equator, thus making its highest path across the sky. The summer solstice is the day of the year with the longest daylight period and hence the shortest night. This day usually occurs on June 21/June 22 in the northern hemisphere and on December 21/December 22 in the southern hemisphere. The actual date changes due to differences between the calendar year and the tropical year."

I have been rather fond of the day for years, primarily because it marks the beginning of summer. Summer is easily my favorite season, especially early in the summer. There is something about early summer that just makes me smile. Maybe it is because it is filled with so much potential.

I also find the summer solstice to be interesting because of Stonehenge.

"Stonehenge (stōn'hĕnj') , group of standing stones on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, S England. Preeminent among megalithic monuments in the British Isles, it is similar to an older and larger monument at Avebury. The great prehistoric structure is enclosed within a circular ditch 300 ft (91 m) in diameter, with a bank on the inner side, and is approached by a broad roadway called the Avenue. Within the circular trench the stones are arranged in four series: The outermost is a circle of sandstones about 13.5 ft (4.1 m) high connected by lintels; the second is a circle of bluestone menhirs; the third is horseshoe shaped; the innermost, ovoid. Within the ovoid lies the Altar Stone. The Heelstone is a great upright stone in the Avenue, northeast of the circle. It was at one time widely believed that Stonehenge was a druid temple, but this is contradicted by the fact that the druids probably did not arrive in Britain until c.250 B.C. In 1963 the American astronomer Gerald Hawkins theorized that Stonehenge was used as a huge astronomical instrument that could accurately measure solar and lunar movements as well as eclipses. "

I don't know about you, but there is something very cool about the place. I haven't been there, but it is on my list of places to visit.

New Bruce Willis- Live Free Or Die Hard

I love action movies and am a long time fan of Bruce Willis. I am definitely going to check this out. One of these days I'll have to blog about Die Hard and why it means a bit more to me than other action flicks.

Anyhoo, if you are interested here is the first eight minutes of the movie and some additional clips.

Blogging for Ego, For Experience, For What

(Grabbed another old post from the archives.)

One of the things that I love about the blogosphere is that I am a part of community.

Community, not one, but many.

I rise up into the ether and find myself a part of a community of bloggers, of those who share my faith, interests, goals, objectives and so much more.

It is a place that I find fascinating. I frequently speak about how I love the interaction and sometimes the voeyeuristic component of this. I peak into lives and see people who I think are just like and I watch others who are so very different.

I learn about them and myself and I really believe that I am growing, at least that is the hope. I know for certain that this has been a positive experience for me if for no other reason than the outlet it provides as well as the chance to work on my writing. I need the practice.

And I know that the outlet provides me with a certain freedom to say things I might not say and to admit things that I might not otherwise. So here is my confession of the moment.

I check my stats way too frequently. I look at Technorati to see if people have decided that I am a necessary part of their daily diet, have they blogrolled me or have they unblogrolled me. I am interested, but in truth I am more touched when someone writes a post because of something they said, wrote, saw or experienced here.

I am sometimes frustrated when there are no comments, especially on posts where I really feel like I have hit a homerun.

So the reality and the truth is that there is some ego involved here, a bit of a come love me component, but I accept that. Is it wrong to admit this, should I be ashamed that I would like for people to look to my blog for this and that.

I don't think so. I feel a little foolish admitting it, but as I said, this is the place where I let those things out, where the dark corners get to see a little light.

I am still a dreamer, a person who lives in the stars. I am not just a father, not just a mealticket or provider.

I am still that boy who dreams of playing a professional sport, who wanted to be part of some amazing story like a Harry Potter or LOTR book.

Blogging really has done a lot for me, I am truly thankful. And if the time comes when I decide I need to hangup my spikes I likely will not announce it. I will probably avoid making a big deal of it because I don't want a bunch of people begging me to stay and if they do not I will be pissed off and mildly hurt.

Silly ego.

Better to walk away and leave a little mystery to where I have gone and if I will return.

Foreign Currency- Looks Like Monopoly Money to Me

(originally posted here)

Call me what you will, but every time I see foreign currency I can't help but think of it being Monopoly money. It is hard to take it seriously, especially those wacky Canadians and their looneys and tooneys.

A pocketful of those and you'll weigh an additional 18 pounds beyond your standard weight.

Americans Are Growing Shorter

New research shows that Americans are coming up short, but not in terms of money or lifestyle. Our growing problem is with our height.

The study, conducted by the University of Munich and Princeton University, found that the United States had the shortest population in the industrialized world, and the reason may have to do with the way people live.

America's first president, George Washington, stood a commanding 6-foot-2. In Washington's day, our country's residents were the tallest in the world.

"It's well known that the Americans held the title for 200 years," said University of Munich professor John Komlos. "Ever since the colonial times, the Americans were the tallest."

Today the Netherlands towers above the rest of the world as the tallest country, with an average height of 6-foot 1, without the wooden shoes. In 1850, Americans were two inches taller than the Dutch.

In Denmark, men average 6 feet in height, a couple of inches taller than the American male average of 5-foot-10.

For the full story click here.

Some Posts That Deserve More Attention

Here are some links to some posts that are worth checking out again. Some of them are pretty good and others are just so-so.

Some of my Cars
Have You Made Friends Through Blogging?
Toilets & Stamps
How Did You Become a Blogger?
Two Kinds of Pain

It is Official Carter Has Lost His Mind

This is just ridiculous commentary.

The Blues Brothers

Figured that I'd post a few more clips of scenes from some of my favorite movies:



You can try this one and this one too.

It Gives Me Goosebumps

I love the scene in the video below.


Here is a link to the trailer for the movie. Here is a link to the post that initiated all this. And since we are talking baseball here is a link to a clip from Field of Dreams.

I Hate Leftovers

I am a socially conscious individual. I am well aware that there are many people in the world who are far less fortunate than I am. I am a very lucky man who has been blessed with many different things.

I do what I can to contribute to society. I teach my children to give back and remind them that there are starving children around the world who would love to be able to eat those yucky items whatever they may be.

All that being said, I hate leftovers. Call me a hypocrite, call me whatever, I prefer not to eat them. Ok, that is not entirely true. I have yet to meet the leftover pizza that I couldn't eat and truth be told leftover chocolate cake isn't all that bad either.

Given a little bit more time I could probably come up with some more items that I don't eating, but why do that. It would ruin my post. I still don't like leftovers.

Some Links That Caught My Eye

Here are some links that caught my eye:

Over at Jewbiquitous they have Blog Apathy. Although it looks like their definition is a bit different from my own.

Meryl has an interesting story called The son of a Nazi converts to Judaism. Over at Israel Matzav you can read about how Israeli Hospitals are taking care of some of the Palestinian wounded.

Who knew that Johnny Sack and Hilary Clinton eat at the same diner.

Google has thrown its hat into the alternative energy ring and is pushing a 100 MPG car.

One more reason not to live in cleveland. It contains the number one zipcode for foreclosures in the nation.

Interested in a $10 DSL plan? Click here. This woman is the sausage queen.

Study Debunks Myth That Women Want Sex Less

Bachelors might have sex on their minds more than their single female counterparts, but once in a committed relationship, men and women have similar attitudes toward the act, a new study finds.

The results, published in the April issue of the journal Sex Roles, reveal how sexual stereotypes, in which guys want to go for it and gals tend to resist, don’t hold when romantic feelings come into play.

“Men experience a lot of pressure in our society to have sex with a number of different partners,” said one of the study’s researchers, Paul Perrin, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Florida, “the opposite of what women experience as kind of the gatekeepers of sexuality.”

Past studies, the scientists point out, have shown that compared with women, men are more sexually permissive, endorse casual sex at higher rates and masturbate more often.

And even in dreamland, men are from Mars and women from Venus. A recent study showed men were more than twice as likely as women to report dreams about multiple sex partners.

Click here to read the whole story.

Keyword Search- How You Found Me

In an ongoing feature here at the Shack we bring you a partial list of keyword searches that led here:

random thoughts
dennis wolfberg
sopranos finale meaning
ranking the nba finals teams, from best to worst
why is it called terrible twos
you raise me up on my ipod
$10 airline
sailing around the world
men and emotions
chewbacca bathroom
yevamos pilegesh
appropriate greetings
morality and religion
how do they have sex
how to pee like a boy
use visualization to get a bigger penis
yerushalayim lyric
the meaning of the song mustang sally

Pepsi Cucumber- It is Refreshing?

I like Pepsi and I like cucumbers, but Pepsi Cucumber? I don't think so.

Hat Tip to PureLandMountain.com

The Perfect Post- Or Quality Control Of The Blog

Somewhere in the deep dark depths of the remnants of what was once an exceptional memory are fragments of of stories I once knew and I knew many. Those stories are probably the foundation of the man that some people said should become a rabbi.

In fact I suspect that if you conducted a survey of traits required to become a rabbi piety and devotion might not even make the top of the list. Right up there at the top would be stories and story telling. Just for kicks I'll address that question to several of the blogging rabbis:

Rav Fleischmann, RWAC, Fly Fishing Rabbi, Rabbi Sedley and any other rav who wishes to answer. I look forward to your replies.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Sometimes I wonder if I have tarnished the image of my blog by posting virtually every silly post that I create. There is no question that the quality of my posts is not uniform. Some are very good and others are relatively bad. So the question remains, do I do myself a disservice by posting everything.

This reminds me of a tale about the Preacher of Dubno that I once read. I am not going to attempt to relate why that is relevant because I have already unsuccessfully tried to do three different times. I wasn't happy with any of them which is why you don't see anything about it here.

I'd continue this but I have run out of steam or maybe it is because I am going to watch Big Love now. Aww heck, if you want more of my thoughts on this try reading this old post. Here I am repeating myself, I thought that it would be a few more years before I turned into my father.

Krofft Superstars

This show reminds me a bit of my youth and no that was not in cleveland.

Some of my Cars

One of these days I need to scan in photos of the cars that I have owned. I have three photos below of cars that are similar to those that I used to drive. None of them are exact so I cannot paint as close a picture as I would like to, but this will do for now.

1977 Chevrolet Impala Station Wagon. The old family hand-me-down. It was plain white and since it was a family car not one that I wanted to drive. However since I didn't have enough money to buy my own it worked.

It even made an appearance at my university. I can remember showing up at more than one even with no less than 18 guys in the car. It was a traveling party. I especially remember going on some late night food runs. The guy at the drive-in window didn't quite believe me when I told him that I need 54 hamburgers, 36 cokes and 28 orders of fries.


1969 Dodge Dart Swinger with a Slant 6 225- My Dart was brown and a bit dinged up. Technically it is my first car because it was the first one that I actually purchased. I bought it from a friend of my grandparents. It was about a week before my senior year of high school.

I loved that thing. Used to go down to the pick-a-part so that I could pick up some cheap parts to fix it up.

When I bought this car I gave my folks the station wagon back and had the darn thing held up better it would have come to college with me. Instead the Brown Bomber went through a series of mechanical mishaps draining my meager savings faster than I could replace it.

It holds a special place in my heart. I remember doing donuts in the quad in it and using the enormous trunk to help some juniors sneak out to lunch. Rascal that I was I kept them in the truck for a good quarter mile while making sure to hit a few dips and fishtail around some corners.
1977 Chevrolet Camaro- I didn't have T-Tops in mine, but it was a similar powder blue. I loved that car. It was fast and fun to drive. I took it everywhere. That Camaro was a witness to some of my best moments even some of my lowest.

I drove it up and down the coast and halfway to Vegas on more than one occasion. This car went through mudslides, fires and the LA Riots with me. Let me tell you that driving through some of the char-broiled sections of town was an experience, but the steel bumper and knowledge that I could make it fly made me quite comfortable.

Over time it eventually began to suck me dry. New suspension, new transmission, new A/C, new tires and more began to take the fun out of it. Eventually the power steering unit blew and I reached my limit. I sold it and moved on to a Toyota Camry.

It was 1993. If I had only managed to hold on to it a little bit longer we would have weathered the 1994 Northridge earthquake together. Sigh. I still miss that car. Actually I miss things about all of them.

Haveil Havalim #121- Thank Your Father Edition

And he said, "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then.
It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen."
George Strait

Welcome to the June 17, 2007 edition of Haveil Havalim. It is Father's Day so you'll have to indulge me as I jump in with links to two of my own posts called A Father's Day Post and Father’s Love Their Daddies Too.

For many reasons it has been a particularly difficult week so I apologize that this edition is not up to snuff. But per my own father's guidance I have given it my best effort. Sometimes that is all you can do.

And now on to the show:

As our opening act I offer for your consumption Question & Answer With MoChassid - Are You A Good Father? To which I add my own question. At what point do we make our analysis of our performance as fathers. Do we have an annual review. Should there be some sort of report card. Ok, it is a bit tongue in cheek, but still I wonder about this kind of stuff. It is good blog fodder.

Judaism

Frum With Questions presents How many Rabbits does it take to make a black hat?
Sometimes Rafi wonders how honest are we really? Orieyenta reminds us that Jews Come in All Colors.

Fortunately I have never suffered from Simcha Blisters. Cosmic X presents The Joy Of Doing A Mitzvah. Nuch Epes Ah Chosid presents Hut Bitachon. Vet Alles Zein Gut – (Have belief everything will be ok)

Ari's blog presents Are Out-Of-Town Communities Viable? Yitzchak Goodman presents The Clearance Sale on Silver Linings. Avrohom offered PILEGESH - Yevamos 37 - Daf Yomi and Dixie Yid presents Chochma vs. Bina - Practical Manifestations.

Dag presents Standards for Jewish schools and organizations. A Simple Jew presents Theft Or Tax Evasion? - Getting To Bottom Of A Chassidic Story. Malachi Rothschild presents When Relevance Trumps Tradition.

Every now and then we all wish we had superpowers. Maybe that is why Mom blogged about The truth about the Jewish superwoman. I think that this would make a great name for a band: Ten Minutes A Day For Tikkun Olam With "The Five Tibetans."

I don't know, maybe we should ask the guy who wrote Jewish Music Insider: Shwekey: Sibling Rivalry?

A lack of sleep might make you Babel Brained and Bobble Headed by: Schvach Yid. Someone once told me that California would be the setting for a modern version of Korach. Muse has her own thoughts Korach, a Kadima kind of Guy.

Jewish Atheist provides an explanation called Why We Leave Orthodoxy. Maybe he just wanted to Upgrade to Cohen. If nothing else we know that he escaped the Yeshiva life. The title of this next post just begs you to read it. I'm an Orthodox Jew, my brother-in-law is a Fundamentalist Christian - Shawarma brought us together

Mark Freedman, MD presents A CUT BELOW posted at Bunk.

Israel

Soccer Dad presents The Endless Car Chase. muse presents Yoni's Photos of the pilgrimage to the graves of Yehoshua Bin Nun & Calev Ben Yfune and HOMELESS in Jerusalem!

Yid With Lid offered Barak, Peres and Olmert, the Trifecta of Israeli Disasters and Palestinians Finally Support a Two State Solution.

I thought that the X-Ray machine is supposed to help prevent terror attacks. Elder of Ziyon blogged about The Calm in Gaza. The good people went to visit Arafat's old homestead. Meryl covered that little ditty here.

Solomonia covered the chaos in Gaza too. Gail has a good cartoon about the situation.

Gilad Shalit is not forgotten as Olah Chadasha presents One Year Since You Been Gone. Israel Matzav blogged about this too Gilad Shalit's kidnappers, murderers of Americans on 'Palestinian Authority' payroll.

Ben-Yehudah presents Peres wins Presidency and The S'deroth Conspiracy. Speaking of Peres here is Israel's new President - in his own words.

The title of this next post reminds me of the old movie Poltergeist. They're Still Here. Muse presents Nothing exciting can be good news! posted at Shiloh Musings.

Friar Yid presents Hamastan Good for the Jews? Not likely. Daled Amos offered his thoughts here.

SnoopyTheGoon presents Now for some carefully expressed glee and What a punch line!

Bookworm provided a link to a Must See Internet Slideshow and Has Israel got the Palestinians where it wants them?

Daniel Pipes wrote about The Soviets Six-Day War.

Assorted Topics and Miscellanea:

Here is an example of a real mensch. Me-Ander came face to face with.... a famous jblogger. This next post is heart wrenching. I still love you more than life itself...

Ocean Guy discussed War With Iran. Jameel offered a post about this too. Robert Avrech offered Home and Tolerance In Indonesia.

Some would say that What Was Lost Might Yet Be Found. Or perhaps Lost and Found is the way to go.

And now it is time for an Announcement & Blog FAQS. What were you doing Ten Years Ago.
Have you ever met Flat Shloimie?

Ezzie blogged about cleveland winning the championship. It was a tremendous victory.

Jewlicious found a boy who doesn't have a career in singing, perhaps performance art. Perhaps you'd be interested in seeing Homer versus the Golem. Irina presents In Which I See a Painfully Familiar Face.

Where Would You Honeymoon? After 30 years do they still remember their honeymoon. Go say Mazal Tov to Shira. Do the same for Psychotoddler. Is it just me or does he look like a baby in those pictures. Whoa. At least we know that in Mrs. B he didn't make a poor choice.

The Second To Last Day Of School used to make me crazy. I couldn't wait for vacation and the opportunity to go to a Summerfest. Or maybe I'd attend a blogger meet and greet. It is a Roomba not a Rhumba.

Call me crazy but I think that there just might be a problem with stealing home in the holyland. I also wonder Have You Made Friends Through Blogging?

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of haveil havalim using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

P.S. This may be updated throughout the day so be sure to check back in and don't forget to help promote this on your own blogs.

For My Next Birthday Party

This looks like a hell of a lot of fun. The firetruck is pretty cool too.

One Of My Favorite Baseball Movies

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite baseball movies is "The Natural" starring Robert Redford. Something about it just grabs me. I suppose that some of it is because there is a certain innocence tied into the movie.

Part of the movies appeal is the soundtrack. I love it, especially the music that accompanies some of the home runs.

Maybe the real appeal is that baseball is still a sport in which the average Joe can imagine having a shot at the big leagues. You don't need to be exceptionally tall, fast or strong. Now while all of those things can be assets, they aren't requirements.

Although I am beginning to wonder if baseball is going to become a generational thing. It appears to me that it doesn't hold the same popularity as it did when I was a kid. I wonder if baseball cards hold the same appeal that they did for us.

Perhaps I'll cover some of these thoughts in a later post.

Does Size Matter?

A Note About Haveil Havalim

This is a general housekeeping note about Haveil Havalim #121 and submissions. Folks I very much appreciate your participation and am glad that so many bloggers are sending in posts for inclusion.

As a general rule of thumb I usually do not include more than two or three submissions from a single blogger. The purpose of the roundup is to showcase multiple blogs, not just a few. This time around some of you have gone overboard.

It is not just one or two. It is closer to ten or 12 of you have sent me between eight and 15 submissions. Other hosts may not care, but I do. I am not going to include 15 submissions from a single blogger. Not going to do it, isn't going to happen.

I respectfully request that you send me whatever you really want to be included. Otherwise I am going to just grab the first few and delete the rest. My time is limited and as I mentioned I try to get around to multiple blogs.

Good Shabbos to all.

The Simpsons- Jewish Humor

Hat Tip: How Do You Jew.

A Real Mensch

Honor And Revenge

Well worth a read.

We're Not Jews

I am jammed for time so I have but a moment to respond to The Middle's post at Jewlicious.

And I thought to myself, Middle, he’s a good man. He’s a kind man. He’s the kind of person who could be your friend.

But I was also thinking, Middle, there is no peace because this good man who understands the ugliness of this violence and seeks to stop it, does not lament in the same way and does not call out for his Palestinian brethern to stop when the violence is directed at Israeli civilians.

Imagine, just imagine, dear Middle, I kept thinking, if there were a non-violent demonstration inside Gaza, attended by hundreds of unarmed men, women and children calling out for the end of suicide bombings, sniper attacks, Qassem rockets, and the denial of Israel’s existence. Imagine such a group calling out for peaceful negotiations and a compromise solution with Israel. Aah, then, I thought sadly, then my little Middle, then we will be on the road to peace and until that day, despite my deep sympathy for this man’s plight and despite my strong desire to help him, how can I see him as anything but a man who sees far less injustice when Israeli civilians are attacked? I mean, every single day he has the opportunity to speak out against Qassem rockets being launched at Israeli civilian neighborhoods. Yes, he speaks out like this when Palestinians are killing other Palestinians but where does he speak out when Palestinians target Israelis? And where are all the other Palestinians like him? Will I ever see a demonstration for peace and reconciliation in a Palestinian area?

I appreciate your sentiment and wish that things were different. It seems so easy, so logical to put down the weapons and go a different route. I agree with most of what you wrote. It makese sense.

But the thing is that I have limited faith, if any. This quote from the Daily Telegraph sums it up for me.

“They’re firing at us, firing RPGs, firing mortars. We’re not Jews,” the brother of Jamal Abu Jediyan, a Fatah commander, pleaded during a live telephone conversation with a Palestinian radio station.

Minutes later both men were dragged into the streets and riddled with bullets.

Words fail me. You can't make peace with people who say things like this. Look at that line and replace "We're not Jews with this: "They're firing at us, RPG, firing mortars. We're not animals."

This sort of thought provides all the explanation you need for how terrorists are able to slaughter children, women and men with reckless abandon.

If I Had To Go To Church

If I had to go to church I would undoubtedly pick Our Lady Of Blessed Acceleration. Love that movie.

Computers Killed My Penmanship

I can't say that I ever had the finest penmanship. In fact the reality is that unless I really concentrated on making my writing legible it was questionable as to whether anyone else could decipher it.

To be clear I am referring to writing in simple printing. I don't even want to tell you how bad my cursive was and now it is even worse. But I have an easy excuse for why it has gotten so bad. It is called computers.

Yes, computers are responsible for helping me lose the limited ability that I had to write. Thanks to the wonderful world of word processing I almost never spend any time writing anything of any length with a pen or pencil.

I have noticed that I have virtually no stamina for it anymore. I am afraid to see what would happen If I had to fill out a blue book. I have had this discussion a few times now and am glad to report that I am not the only one that this has happened to.

And I cannot help but wonder if one day we'll see handwriting disappear. Let me clarify that, I wonder if cursive is going to go the way of the Dodo bird. I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen. I must admit that it is kind of a sad prospect.

Does anyone handwrite letters anymore or do we all rely upon email?

What do you think?

The Joys Of Home Ownership

Playing on iTunes- I Heard it Through The Grapevine- CCR version

In August it will be six years since I purchased this home. It is strange to think that the only place that I lived in longer than this home is my parent's place. There were apartments and a condo before this, but I never did stay in any of them longer than five years.

It is a good house. It is smaller than I'd like it to be, but that is to be expected. When we bought is back around the turn of the century I was concerned about not over extending myself so I made sure that the mortgage was not the maximum that I qualified for.

If I had to do it all over again I would have stretched a little farther. An extra $50k would have made it possible to be South of the boulevard, made public school an option and provided more room. At the time of the purchase I figured that it would be a good starter home, two or three years and it would be used to leverage a bigger place.

Playing on iTunes- Let's Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas

But who knew that the real estate market was going to go crazy. It exploded and made it really hard to move. It is easy to sell, but not so easy to find a home for a reasonable price. Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy my home. It is an excellent neighborhood. The neighbors look out for each other and we all work hard to maintain our homes.

The reality of home ownership is that there are always going to be projects. It doesn't matter how new or how old your home is there are things to be done. Last summer I survived a kitchen remodel and a bathroom. Actually it was a very good experience and it added a ton of value to the house. Not just financial, but practical value. Now the kitchen is not only beautiful but such a pleasure to cook in.

Still the kitchen doesn't make up for the bedroom I want, the living room that I need for a big screen television, the library I want for my books and the gym that I want to build inside my home.

Right now there is a list of about 15 items that need to be taken care of:

• Exterior Paint
• New side gates
• New sprinklers in the front and backyard.
• More shelves in the garage

And that is just a partial list of the items I want to take care of. I can do everything on that list myself. There is not a single item there that I don't know how to do, but in the end I won't do any of it myself. I just don't have the time to devote to these projects, at least not if I want to have a life of my own.

Have You Made Friends Through Blogging?

So the question of the day is have you made any friends through blogging. I'll start by saying that I have made several. If I have time later on I will expand upon this, but for now I am interested in hearing what you have to say.

The floor is now open.

The Wiggles Have Been Banished

If you are the parent of young children at some point in time you have probably been forced to listen to The Wiggles. As kids music/television go The Wiggles aren't all that bad, at least they are certainly less annoying than that freaking purple dinosaur. Not to go off on a tangent but the theme to the big lizard makes me want to punch someone in the nose. Something tells me that this is not the desired response.

However after having discussed this with multiple people of various backgrounds and ethnicities I have discovered that it has this effect on many different people. In fact if we really want to catch Osama the best way to do so is to blast the hills of Pakistan with this song. In less than a week the man will come down from the hills and beg to be taken into custody. Or alternatively 300,000 Pakistani tribesmen will be so annoyed with us that they will all join Al-Qaeda. It is a big risk, but it just might be worth it.

Anyhoo, here at The Shack we used to be subjected to all things Wiggles for what felt like eternity, also known as a weekend in cleveland. For a while my eldest couldn't get enough of those wacky Aussies. And then one day he decided that he had enough and didn't want much to do with them anymore.

For a brief time the home was free of Dorothy the Dinosaur and Wags the Dog. No more songs about Fruit Salad, a big red car or Captain Feathersword. It was a pleasant respite. I almost was beginning to believe that the nightmare was over and then the almost three year old cyclone got into them and the process started all over again.

However, the beauty of the younger sibling is that sometimes they are so anxious to emulate the older one they will do anything. In this case that means that one day she decided that she also was too old for The Wiggles. Since that time I haven't heard hide nor hair of them. No Henry the Octopus, No Play Your Guitar With Murray etc.

Of course there is a replacement. An obnoxious little girl whose name rhymes with Snora, but that is a story for a different day.

Harpoon may prove whale was at least 115 years old

Biologists, long stumped at figuring out how old whales are, lucked out when a 50-ton bowhead caught off Alaska came with a telltale clue: fragments of a harpoon lodged in a shoulder bone.

The weapon was used more than a century ago by whalers from New Bedford, enabling researchers to estimate that the whale was at least 115 years old and providing more evidence for their long-held belief that the bowhead whale is one of the longest living mammals on earth, surviving for up to 150 years.

"It's pretty rare that you get the chance to date the age of a whale," said John Bockstoce, the whaling historian at the New Bedford Whaling Museum who analyzed the fragments.

"We're all finding it very interesting," he said yesterday.

A biologist in Alaska spotted the pieces of the projectile as they were being pulled from the whale's blubber by Eskimos who had killed the animal last month.

He sent them to Bockstoce, who identified them as parts of an exploding lance made in New Bedford in the late 1800s, when the city was the world's whaling capital. Hunters would spear the animal with the weapon, which would detonate once inside.

Hunters used a similar modern device to kill the whale.

Anthropologists have analyzed hunting devices found in whales before, said Scott Kraus, vice president for research at the New England Aquarium in Boston.

It was often difficult, however, to determine when the weapon was fired.

"What you don't know is if some Yankee whaler had a harpoon made in 1830, traded it to an Inuit, and the Inuit or his offspring used it 40 years later," Kraus said.

For the full story click here. It is amazing to think that such a large creature could live for so long.

250 British academics against Israel boycott

Ynet reports the following:

A statement from more than 250 distinguished British academics condemning the British boycott of Israeli universities as “bad for Britain, bad for academic freedom, bad for Palestinians and bad for peace”, was published on Wednesday. The statement was published as a full-page advertisement in The Times, and included the signatures of the heads of some of Britain’s leading scientific and learned research organizations.

Professor Robert Winston, a fertility expert, called the academic boycott proposed by the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) Congress in protest of the continued occupation of the Palestinian territories, “utterly inappropriate”.

“The academics in Israel are the very people we should be working with, rather than against if we want to promote better understanding,” Winston said, adding that he felt the boycott only had the support of a tiny proportion of British academics.

In a separate story we learn the following:

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called on his country's main academic union to cease its boycott of Israel on Wednesday, according to a report by the BBC.

Speaking to the House of Commons, the British prime minister said, "I hope very much that decision is overturned because it does absolutely no good for the peace process or for relations in that part of the world."

Indeed.

I am Hosting The Next Haveil Havalim

I get to play Pat Sajakowitz this coming Sunday as the host of the 121st edition of Haveil Havalim. If you are into Gematria you know that 1+2+1 equals four. There are four cups of wine, four horsemen and four more years of war.

Altogether that equals 12 which we know is the number of the tribes of Israel, months of the year and times that Jameel and I have feasted upon a tasty waffle breakfast at The Muqata.

What does all this mean? It means that if you wish to be included in the upcoming edition of Haveil Havalim you need to send in your submissions via blog carnival, carrier pigeon or stage coach.

A couple of notes. If you send me 25 submissions from your own blog I am unlikely to include all of them unless you pay me very well in which case I'll consider that. Barring that, in the unlikely event that cleveland pulls off a major upset I will gladly use all of them.

Please do not mistake my insouciance as being insincere. Some bloggers have tried to bombard me with a ridiculous number of submissions. Pick the two that you think are best. If you need more than that let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Any questions?

The Sopranos Finale- "Journey" Gets a Boost

A CNN report said that Journey has received a big boost from The Sopranos Finale. When Tony flipped on "Don't Stop Believin" he exposed the band to all sorts of potential new listeners. Of course it also helped take a few of us back in time.

Journey released the song in 1981, and it reached No. 9 on the singles chart. It has taken a life of its own since then, often reflecting the attitude people had toward Journey itself. "Don't Stop Believin"' brings back fond memories for many, is unbearably cheesy for others.

Somewhere in the archives there is a post about Journey and some other old bands from our past. As I recall it generated a fair amount of interest, but since I am far too tired to find it I may have to recreate it.

In the interim I'll leave you with a link to an older post in which there is a karaoke version of "Don't Stop Believin."

Toilets & Stamps

(Updated below)
Many of you probably don't associate toilets and stamps but that is because you do not have a small child enjoys interior decorating. Because of this you have never had the pleasure of having said child use ordinary household items to beautify your home.

I would hate for you the reader not to be able to enjoy this so I'll see if I can help you. I am fan of using of specific examples so here are some things that you can do in your home.

1. Lipstick on the floor, walls, duvet and face of small child.
2. Postage stamps on the toilet, walls and various walls.
3. Magic Marker can be used to decorate ordinary furniture. Give the ordinary an extraordinary sheen.

One of the key ingredients in decorating your home like this is the joy you'll receive in finding out that your own small child defeats all of the child proofing efforts you have implemented for their own safety.

Some people are outsmarted by a fifth grader. I laugh at them. They must have ordinary fifth graders. Hah! They're missing out on the nachas generated by an almost 3 year old girl.


Updated with a small picture to protect the almost innocent.

Goodbye Mr. Hooper

This was long after I stopped watching, but sad nonetheless.

Bad Blogging

I feel like I have been guilty of a spout of bad blogging. It feels like it has been a while since I have come up with a post that I have really been proud of. Granted I am still pumping out quite a bit of content, but still I feel like I am in a blogging malaise.

Part of this stems from real world activities that are preventing me from focusing on some of the posts that I'd like to come up with. And of course I am irked that I am not farther along with Fragments of Fiction.

One of the other contributing factors here has to do with my dwindling anonymity. It is growing harder to produce the posts in which I allowed myself to be most vulnerable, but the anonymity is only aspect of it.

I need to spend some time thinking about it in more detail. I will guarantee one thing. I am going to blog myself right out of this funk. When I get caught up in muck I wade through it until I get to the other side. I am too freaking stubborn to just give up.

All I have to say is bleah.

A Couple of Housekeeping Notes

Sometime this week I am going to try and find some time to make a few changes in the template. If things go well you won't experience any major interruptions in normal blogging operations around here.

OTOH, if there are any hiccups you can expect to hear all sorts of colorful language and would be advised to watch out for flying keyboards.

When You Need More Than Pepto-Bismol

You can always count on your friends to help you out of a rough spot or to do their part in trying to see that you are thoroughly embarrassed. On second thought perhaps the people responsible for these pictures are not the kind of friends you want.

Ezzie's New Tattoo

Who Knew that Ezzie Was Such A Die Hard Fan.

Roller Coaster Riders Hung Upside Down

This is not my idea of a good time.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) — A dozen riders on a roller coaster spent half an hour hanging upside down — 150 feet above the ground — after a power outage shut down the attraction.

It took about 30 minutes for the city Fire Department to rescue the riders using a ladder truck Saturday evening, said Aundrea Crary, spokeswoman for the Springs & Crystal Falls amusement park.

Meaning Of The Sopranos Finale- Say Goodbye To The Family

Earlier this week I offered a few comments about the upcoming finale of The Sopranos. Well, the day has come and the moment has passed. So here are a few thoughts about it.

I didn't really expect to look at this and find great meaning in it. No symbolism, no foreshadowing or regrets. Just another episode and that is what we got. Sure, I expected to see Phil get whacked and that there would likely be some kind of bloodbath. That was a little bit off of the mark.

But the more I think about the show the more I realize that this really was true to form. Chase hasn't struck me as being a sentimental guy, at least not where the show is concerned. The characters are who they are. There may be some growth and some evolution, but the core stays the same.

I am sure that some people found this to be less than satisfying, but for me it is fine. Maybe if we had some more consistency between seasons I might feel differently, but I just don't. In fact I kind of appreciate the loose ends. It feels...right.

Field Test: GPS phones for kids

Want to know where your children are at. Try this:

No. No. No. You have told your tween a thousand times. You will not allow him or her to have a cell phone. Your mobile bills are high enough without adding $200 a month to let her text her friends all weekend about "Shear Genius."But wait. Would you reconsider if the phone not only let you speak to your wandering offspring at will but also told you exactly where they were at any moment? The power to do that is at hand. All it takes is the right GPS-enabled phones and the right service plan.

Already every Disney Mobile phone is equipped to be used as a tracking device, as are most of the handsets offered by Verizon Wireless and Sprint.

The kid-finding phones on the market today plot your child's whereabouts on a map on your phone's screen or on your computer, offering up city, street name and sometimes landmarks such as an airport or a mall. GPS is typically accurate to within a few yards, whether your kid is at the end of the block or running away to New York City.

For the full story please click here.

Haveil Havalim #120 Is Live

Sashay on over and take a look here.

What The World Eats

Click here and watch.

What I have Been Listening To The Last Three Nights

Click here. If you want to know what it says in English you can click here. If you want a partial list of some of the other stuff that has come across the old player you can keep reading.

The Hustle
Van Mc Coy & The Soul City Symphony
Broken Hearts
Living Color
Hard Times
Ray Charles
I Heard It Through The Grapevine
CCR (Marvin does it better)
Faithfully
Journey
The Wind Cries Mary
Hendrix
Change
Tears for Fears
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles
Numb / Encore
Jay-Z & Linkin Park
Hero Of The Day
Metallica

Israeli Real Estate- Buy A House Now

If you have ever considered buying a home in Israel and are interested in learning more about how to do it, where to go and what is available I have an opportunity that might be of interest to you.

The Israel Real Estate Exhibition is going to be held in New York and New Jersey from June 17-20.

Now if you live in New Jersey than I am certain that you understand the desperate need to get the heck out of dodge. No point living on a turnpike or a place in which jughandles are considered a normal part of driving.

Many New Yorkers have the opposite problem in not understanding that there is life outside of the boroughs with better weather, better food, better housing etc...

In all sincerity, if I lived close enough I would certainly take the time to go visit the show. It is worth taking a few minutes to learn about what options are available.

Paris Receives Justice

Ok, I hadn't intended to post anything about Paris Hilton. I find her to be vapid, uninteresting and undeserving of any attention. What did she do besides have the good fortune to be born into a wealthy family.

But when I stumbled onto Time's feature I decided to try it out and voila, here you go. As long as I commenting let me say a couple of things. First, I truly don't feel badly for her. I may not always agree with the law, but it needs to be doled out fairly and equitably.

I suppose that some could argue that she is receiving more because of her notoriety, but that comes with the territory. She worked hard to put herself into the public sphere and has to live with the consequences of doing so.

In the end it is still hard to try and work up any sympathy. I am a lucky man with a lot of things to be thankful for. But at the end of the day I am busting my ass for everything I have. I earned it all, whereas I don't see her as having done much of anything.

Call it jealousy, call it whatever you want. She made her bed and now she has to lie in it.

State school standards vary dramatically

This is a very troubling study.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government's first-ever comparison of how states test for student progress in school shows big variations across the nation.

For example, a reading score that rates a fourth-grader "proficient" in Mississippi would be a failing score in Massachusetts, according to a report released Thursday by the Education Department.

I am very concerned about the quality of public education in this country. We don't pay our teachers enough and in my experience we are not working hard enough to get the best teachers. A poor educational system impacts us all.

That is not to say that one cannot find good schools in every state, but there are too many weak spots for my taste. Not good, not good at all.

How Did You Become a Blogger?

The original post is here. This is one of those questions that I think makes for interesting blog fodder so I thought that I would run it again.

How did you become a blogger? Or if you are not a blogger what made you start reading blogs and why?

Paratroopers At The Wall

I am jumping on board the wagon and publishing this picture. Treppenwitz has a link to this as does Avrech and I am sure many others. Since I am so late in coming to the game I debated whether to post this or not, but upon reflection it made sense to join in.

One of the main functions of this blog is to serve as a journal of my thoughts and things that are important to me and this is meaningful for a variety of reasons. If you click here this a story about the three soldiers.

As a Jew it is hard not to get emotional about this picture. The reunification of Jerusalem, control of our holy sites is exceptionally meaningful. But part of the reason that this is special to me is that I met the soldier on the far left side.

It was January of 1995. I had gone to Israel for business and was in the process of trying to find a job that would allow me to stay. I had been staying in the North and was getting ready to head back Jerusalem when a friend asked me if I was interested in meeting one of the paratroopers from the famous photo.

I didn't hesitate and said that I absolutely wanted to get a chance to shake his hand and listen to his story. The meeting took place at a kiosk in Afula. Over a falafel and a Coke I listened intently as Ziggy described the war and that particular day. I found it fascinating.

It would be nice to say that I could repeat that story here for you. It would be fantastic to try and share the tale so that you could follow it too, but I can't do it. I can't do it because it is not my story to tell and more importantly I can't do it nearly as well.

All I can do is tell you that it is a special memory for me.

The Sopranos Finale

In just a short time The Sopranos Finale will have come and gone but I suspect that it will leave us with a bunch of questions. In case you are curious, this is not going to be a long analysis of the show and what I think is going to happen. It is just a two minute ramble down Soprano lane and now for a few thoughts.

I am one of those diehards who has been watching the show since the beginning. At that time HBO had a bunch of series that I really enjoyed, including Oz and Arliss. I even admit to having watched Sex In The City, but only because I am hiding behind this computer screen.

Oz was great. I miss that show, but this post is about The Sopranos.

I still want to know what happened to the Russian guy that Paulie and Christopher were chasing in season three. The last we saw he was running through the snow. That was one of the better episodes from an inconsistent season.

Inconsistency is a theme of The Sopranos. There have been some outstanding episodes, just brilliant and there have been some that fell flat. IMO part of the problem came from the long periods of time in between seasons. All that momentum that had been gained was lost.

Here is my prediction for the finale. Tony is not going to get whacked and I don't really expect to see Paulie get whacked either. I think that Phil goes down hard.

I don't expect that we are going to see anything that tries to redeem Tony. There aren't going to be any major changes in which you see him turn over a new leaf. Instead we will see a continuation of a complex character. There will be the combination of the loving father and mob boss. We'll see more of the insecurities and the sociopathic qualities.

I am curious to see if they do any sort of flashback or montage about some of the past characters like Adriana and Big Pussy.

And there you have it a few thoughts about The Sopranos. I may add to this later, or maybe not.

Ranking the NBA Finals teams, from best to worst

ESPN columnist John Hollinger has lost his mind. He has a column in which he ranks the top NBA finals teams. His ranking is just nuts. Here is an excerpt.

1. 1996 Chicago Bulls

Hands down, the greatest team of all time. How can you choose another when these guys won 72 regular-season games and 14 of their first 15 in the postseason? The Bulls were so good they were first in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and outscored their opponents by 12.2 points per game.

With names like Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and Toni Kukoc, not to mention a coach like Phil Jackson, this team was pretty much unbeatable -- in fact, seven of its playoff wins were by 17 points or more. The only nit to pick was the Bulls' consecutive losses to the Sonics in the Finals, but they were up 3-0 by then and seemingly bored with how good they were.

The Bulls would never have beaten the 1985, 1987, 1988 championship Lakers teams. They wouldn't have beaten the '86 Celtics or the '89 Pistons either.

For that matter none of the Jordan championship teams could have matched those '80s teams. They didn't have enough depth.

Look at Hollinger's comments about the '87 Lakers

Fittingly, the great Lakers and Celtics teams are in a virtual dead heat for second place. (You'll note that I just call the Lakers "Los Angeles" in this list -- no risk of confusing them with the Clippers here.) This L.A. team nudged ahead of Boston by virtue of winning 65 games in the regular season and then trashing the West -- 11 wins in 12 games -- to make the Finals. The Lakers beat the Celtics in six, and for the playoffs as a whole outscored their opponents by 205 points -- the best of any team on this list. Seven different players averaged double figures, led by Magic with 23.9 points per game.

Sigh, modern teams just don't compare. Some fans argue that the teams today are more athletic and there may be some truth to that. But they are fundamentally less sound. You couldn't leave players alone because they could hit outside shots. It wasn't all dunking. Now I love that athleticism, but c'mon now.

Worth A Second Look

Thanks to the JIBs, hosting HH and good fortune I have recently picked up a slew of new readers. So I thought that it might be nice to grab a random sample of old posts for you to read, if you so choose.

As always feel free to comment, I appreciate the feedback.

Twenty Five Years of Torah Reading

He Put a Gun To My Head

I Don't Always Believe In Happy Endings

The History of Sewers

A List Of Things About Me

As The Bodies Fell- He Played

D-Day

Again I offer my thanks to those who fought so that we could live as we do today. Here is a link to what I wrote last year.

The Church of Darwin

The problem is that everyone knows that the real creator of the universe is The Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The Mighty Suicide Bomber

The other day I listened briefly to the foolish and misguided ramblings of a young man about the bravery of suicide bombers. For a moment I considered the merits of kicking him in the balls as hard as I could or alternatively punching him in the nose. I wanted to see if he considered my actions to be as brave as those he lauded.

Granted I wasn't trying to murder anyone. I wasn't hooked up to a bomb nor hopeful that my actions would bring me a houseful of grateful women. In fact about the only thing that we could say that we shared was a willingness to engage in a an unprovoked attack.

Being a peaceful fellow and someone that really doesn't want to go to jail I opted not to try use my field goal form to stick his nuts up around his neck. Nor was I going to provide the free version of a nose job.

Instead I asked him to tell me about the brave leaders that send the bombers out. Tell me about these brave and noble men who send children to die while they lounge. He tried to convince me that there was no difference between them and the generals in the US army. When I gently reminded him that his comparison was inaccurate he became upset. Maybe it was because I reminded him that the soldiers weren't human bombs and that there was a plan to try and bring them home.

Or maybe it was because the ignorant fop understood that his blarney and blather was bullshit. It doesn't matter all that much to me. All I know is that we have yet to receive the gift of Meshaal, Haniyeh and Bin Laden serving their causes this way. With any luck these fine men will all fall down the stairs and break their necks.

Former Marine Subdues Man on Flight

Not only does this story have a happy ending, it has a bit of humor to it. His wife was more interested in finishing her book than watching her husband in action.

"The woman sitting in front of us was very upset and asked me how I could just sit there reading," Katie Hayden said. "Bob's been shot at. He's been stabbed. He's taken knives away. He knows how to handle those situations. I figured he would go up there and step on somebody's neck, and that would be the end of it. I knew how that situation would end. I didn't know how the book would end."

For the full story click here.

The Dentist Loves Me

Apparently I have done a piss poor job of brushing and flossing. As they say in Andy Capp &$&*E&^^$ fillings makes me ^^$#%*&^&$Y& angry.

You'll excuse me while I go brush. Time to get a little bit more serious about protecting my investment.

Are Women More In Touch With Their Feelings?

I am curious to find out what you think. Are women more in touch with their feelings than men? The floor is open.

My Funeral

Have you ever considered what you want your funeral to be like. In my short 38 years I have lost count of the number of funerals that I have been to. I am not a mortician nor have I ever worked in a funeral home. I am not a door to door coffin salesman either. And just to be clear I am not now nor have I ever been employed as a member of the clergy, social worker, hospital or hospice.

It just so happens that I have known a lot of people who have died. That sounds kind of bad, but it is true. Buried more than a couple of friends and more than a handful of family. Yep, I really have lost count of how many funerals I have been to.

If you are curious I don't have any immediate plans to die. Don't plan on catching any communicable diseases by flying with TB patients, haven't any interest in absorbing any sort of carcinogens that will have an immediate impact either. To be clear I have a plan for dealing with the grim reaper. When the Angel of Death comes from me I am going to listen to my grandfather's advice and take him out. I'll kick him in the balls, punch him in the throat and if necessary gouge his eyes.

The dude better watch out, I have been watching The Three Stooges for years and have mastered the moves.

Nonetheless in the few quiet moments that I have stolen I have managed to find time to consider what I want my funeral to be like. I have mulled over the idea of a very somber affair full of heart wrenching tales of just how much the world has lost. I have an image of stricken mourners sobbing over me.

But then again I kind of like the idea of one big party. I think that as much as my ego might enjoy the thought of people crying over me I prefer that it be a celebration. Tell stories about me. Share the good and the bad. But consider this, those few of you who know the really good ones, if you share those with my children I will come and find you. I will claw my way out of the earth and come looking.

One day you'll open your front door and wonder why the floor is muddy and then you'll stumble upon me and know. Believe me, under the best circumstances I am not pretty, but covered in mud and rotting is probably going to be much worse.

So take a portion of the billions and throw a good party. Celebrate. Eat. Enjoy. Don't cry over what has been lost, but look to the future. Look inside yourself and listen and you'll find me there.

My children and loved ones know what I am speaking about. Shed some tears, but make them happy ones. Life is meant to be lived. It should be enjoyed and at times devoured. Carpe Diem.

I am going to have to come back to this post every so often and see if my feelings have changed. It should be interesting, dontcha think.

UK Boycott

Hat Tip to the Deadhead by the Bay.

Look the reality is that it is always easy to point fingers. No country is without blame, but the question comes back to a question of balance and in this situation the Brits lack that.

cleveland Enemy #1- NBA Finals & Sports in General

What Do You Mean You Are Rooting For The Spurs

I received a blistering email from a person who shall remain unknown in which they expressed their displeasure with my disinterest in rooting for the lowly cavs. They seemed shocked that I would side with the team that is going to win the championship.

So my friends here is a short synopsis of how I determine allegiance to sports teams. In baseball I always root for the N.L. The Dodgers are my first choice and have always been. The sole time I can remember rooting for an AL team in the World Series is when the Angels defeated the hated Giants.

On a side note Dodger fans know that they did this playing Dodger baseball using former Dodgers as their coaches such as Mike Scioscia and Mickey Hatcher.

When it comes to the NBA I am a die hard Laker fan and have been my entire life. One of my fondest memories is watching the Lakers beat the hated celtics. Somewhere among these posts I described what that was like as well as the great LA-Boston waterfight in Hezekiah's Tunnel.

In the NBA if the Lakers are not playing for the championship I always align myself with the West, especially now. The Eastern Conference as currently constructed is filled with inferior teams. If you moved many of those teams to the Western Conference they wouldn't even make the playoffs.

But to be fair I will admit to having rooted for the Cavs to beat the flash in the pan over rated pistons.

In response to comments/questions about LeBron James I have this to say. James is a fine player and it appears that he may become a superstar, but he is not there yet. He plays in the weaker conference and has yet to show that he can play at the higher level consistently. In my book you don't get to be a superstar until you can play that way day in and day out.

And just to cover one other thing, the suggestion that James performance against the pistons was superior to Magic's rookie year performance against the '76ers is laughable. Magic was the first rookie to win the MVP Finals award.

When Kareem was hurt Magic started in his place and put up some truly amazing numbers:

42 points, 15 boards, seven assists and three steals.

That was in the final game of the NBA championship against a '76ers team that is so far superior to the current pistons team.

But to be fair I have to admit that part of what I like about LeBron is that he is very similar to Magic.

Anyhow, that is enough on this. Duncan, Ginobli and Parker are going to run away with this and raise another tropy.

The iPod & I Are Going Back To School

A short time ago Apple began offering iTunes U. Here are two excerpts about it:

iTunes U has arrived, giving higher education institutions an ingenious way to get audio and video content out to their students. Presentations, performances, lectures, demonstrations, debates, tours, archival footage — school is about to become even more inspiring.

and

already, more than half of the nation’s top 500 schools use it to distribute their digital content to students — or to the world. Any school can open all or part of its site to the public, from alumni to parents to anyone.

Sounds interesting to me.

The Incomplete Soundtrack for Fragments of Fiction

The Incomplete Soundtrack for Fragments of Fiction. This is tied into this.

Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Bob Dylan
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Bob Dylan
Whiskey Lullaby
Brad Paisley
In My Life
The Beatles
Golden Slumbers
The Beatles
Forever Young
Rod Stewart
Young Turks
Rod Stewart
Always on My Mind
Willie Nelson
Gone Away
The Offspring
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Green Day
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Green Day
My Way
Frank Sinatra
It Was A Very Good Year
Frank Sinatra
What's Going On
Marvin Gaye
As Good As I Once Was
Toby Keith
How Do You Like Me Now
Toby Keith
I Want To Break Free
Queen
Float On
Modest Mouse
Beautiful
Moby
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Led Zeppelin
Nobody's fault but Mine
Led Zeppelin
Mr. Brightside
The Killers
Visions of Paradise
Mick Jagger
Suspicious Minds
Elvis
Burning Love
Elvis
Boys of Summer
Don Henley
Born to Run
Bruce Springsteen
Tunnel of Love
Bruce Springsteen
Come Talk To Me
Peter Gabriel
Secret World
Peter Gabriel
Cry
Faith Hill
The Fire Inside
Bob Seger
A Song for You
Ray Charles
Crazy Love
Ray Charles & Van Morrison
If You Could Read My Mind
Gordon Lightfoot
Love Ain't for Keepin
The Who
Ring of Fire
Johnny Cash
Hard To Handle
Otis Redding
Where The Streets Have No Name
U2
Walk On
U2
Uninvited
Alanis Morrisette
Mustang Sally
Wilson Pickett
Hey Jude
Wilson Pickett
The Planets Op. 32 (Mars The Bringer of War)
Gustav Holst

Two Kinds of Pain

Life offers two types of pain, one physical and one mental. Man still hasn’t found a tougher prison than the one he encages his mind in. There is no greater pain than the mental anguish we inflict on ourselves and there is no tougher warden than the person we see in the mirror. For some there is no midnight reprieve, the governor doesn’t offer clemency. There is only one way out and no two people can share the path.

We all live in our secret worlds, but some of us never have the strength to leave our shelter and walk under sunny skies.

I used to.

I used to live in a place I called paradise. I could look out on the world and from my window and gaze upon waters that called out to me. Deep blue seas that embraced me like a child in the womb. The seas were always calm and at night they would gently rock me to sleep.

But it wasn’t real. I didn’t live on a boat. I didn’t live on the beach or remotely close to the water. It was all an illusion, a mindfuck that I created to make myself happy. The problem was that I hadn’t realized it. I didn’t have a clue as to how precarious my own happiness was and once that was shattered I knew nothing but darkness. I wandered aimlessly in a fog, not knowing where I was going or what I was doing. It didn’t matter, I didn’t care.

I said it before, there are two kinds of pain and mental is far worse than physical. You can always find a way to escape physical pain, but you can’t run from your own mind. Philosophers had long ago figured out that hell existed, that there was a devil, except he wasn’t a guy with horns, a pitchfork and a tail. The church had made that guy up. The devil was someone familiar with you, someone who knew your most intimate secrets and your darkest fears. The devil knew you, knew how to torment your soul.

The devil knew all this because he was, he is…you.

That’s right, the devil is not supernatural. There is no Lucifer, no Satan, and no Beelzebub. It would be better for us all if he did exist. No, the devil is just a man, a person that lives inside us all.

See when they wrote the bible and told the story of getting banished from the Garden of Eden they were not talking about a mythological place, they were referring to the end of innocence. They were talking about that time when life hits you in the mouth, knocks you down and beats you senseless. They were talking about getting hurt in places that bandages don’t stick, cuts that you cannot stitch, they just keep bleeding. And even if you manage to stop the bleeding that stinging sensation never really does go away.

As I mentioned earlier. I am busy trying to get this story moving again. This is part two, but you can find virtually the whole thing here.

Share a Blogging Tip Sunday

As you know we have a relatively new weekly special called Share A Blogging Tip Sunday in whcih we all help our fellow bloggers by providing tips that can be used to improve our blogs.

The first two editions can be found here and here.

The floor is now open. I look forward to your responses.

A Universal Fight Between Mothers & Daughters

I suspect that most of the women that read this blog have had this fight with their mothers and or had this fight with their own daughters:

Mom: If you don't hold still and let me brush the snarls out I'm going to cut it all off.
Daughter: Crying

Rinse and Repeat.

Fred Thompson- Your Next President

People, mark my words, if Fred Thompson drops his hat into the presidential circus ring he will have an outstanding chance to win. I don't base that upon any sort of careful review or analysis of his policies.

I say this because he is an excellent communicator and in this day that counts for an awful lot. You can call me a cynic but I don't believe that large portions of the voting population spend significant time trying to understand how the candidates promises can be translated into reality.

There is a dearth of logical thought and critical reasoning that makes it easy for people with a pleasant manner and an air of educated import to use. Don't get me wrong, I do not agree with many who maintain that most Americans are stupid or ignorant. It is a stereotype that people fall back upon when it suits their own positions.

However, that doesn't change my gut feeling that Thompson could very easily become the next president. After the polarization of the country through two Bush admins, a war that is highly unpopular and so much other mishegahs the time is ripe for someone who can deliver a message effectively.

I am curious to see how things develop.

The JBlogosphere Evolves

I try to make an effort to check out every blog on my blogroll on a consistent basis. The theory is that anything that makes the blogroll is worth reading. Not to mention that I try to purge the 'roll of dead blogs on a regular basis.

In addition I take a look at who is on the 'roll of my favorite bloggers to see if there are any hidden gems there. During the morning stroll it became apparent that it is time to say kaddish for some more blogs and shalom to some new ones.

One of these days we'll have to start our death clock for blogs. Some of the high fliers" make me wonder. You know, the bloggers who post throughout the day. How can they possibly keep up that pace.

Anyhoo, it is time to go back to work. See you all later.

Banned Commercials

Commercials remind me a bit of blogging. The advertisers face similar challenges to us. You have one shot to try to catch and retain the reader.

Some of these aren't too bad. Be aware that some of these are designed for a mature audience.

The Effect of Beer on Men
Be Careful What You Carry in Your Purse
Shark Attack
Learn English
Carry Protection
Blind Man and Levis
This Would Never Happen

Haveil Havalim #119

It is the weekly roundup of the JBlogosphere and it is live at Soccer Dad's field.

Where Do you Keep Your Bread?

In a bread box, in the refrigerator, freezer? So, where do you keep it?

Apple's New Shemote

A Beginning

I was almost 25 when I left the city of my birth. It was time to go, time to move on and get away. There were new experiences to be had and the pain of what I had once been, what I had once had was too much. Everywhere I looked there were signs of the glory and the fall.

For most of my life I had been a scrapper, never afraid to fight, never willing to give up and not smart enough to get out. It was a self imposed punishment for sins that I had committed but was unwilling to discuss.

It is not much of a description, not very colorful at all. In fact it is rather ordinary, but that is ok, I am ordinary and I prefer it that way. If you stuck me in a crowd full of people you would be hard pressed to pick me out. It was like that in school, never did or said much in class. No need to draw attention to myself I did what I needed to do to get through and nothing more.

And for the longest time that had been enough, an average, nondescript existence. It suited me fine to be a guy who punched a time clock. But sometimes even the average man find himself in a situation that is beyond his control,a time in which he becomes something more than he has been.

But the question is not what he does to elevate himself but how he handles the elevation.

It was Friday night and I had just finished my shift at the plant. There was no rush to get home because there was no one to get home to, no wife, no family, no girlfriend, not even a dog. Just an empty house that was sparsely furnished.

Friday nights were not much different than any other night of the week. I'd go home, pop open a can of beer and stare blankly at the television screen content to let my brain turn to mush.

On this particular night I decided to stop at an ATM. I wanted to order a pizza and I had nothing but the spare change from the last time I had visited the liquor store. It wasn't enough to buy a pack of gum, so I was forced to go to the bank.

There were two people ahead of me in line, a man and a woman and behind me there were a couple of teenage boys.

I didn't see him approach. I didn't notice anything about him including his presence until he was standing in front of us, waving a gun and shouting for our wallets. I have a bad habit of giggling when I am nervous. I don't like being the center of attention and now was certainly a bad time to laugh, but laugh I did.

5'8 or so and about a buck twenty sopping wet with a bad haircut and a Judas Priest shirt, that is all he was, oh and he had a big gun and an even bigger attitude. He grabbed my collar and asked me what was so funny. Before I could answer he had grabbed the woman in front of me.

She cried as he pulled her in front of him and asked me if I thought that this was funny. I choked back a snigger and told him that it wasn't. He told me that if I so much as smiled he would kill her. I wiped the smile off of my face.

It was the wrong thing to do, but I didn't know it. The jackass cuffed me in the side of the head and laughed. It infuriated me, brought back memories of years of being teased and tortured by my someone who had been like an older brother to me. So I just reacted. I kicked him in the balls and smacked him in the head.

In the movies the gun falls and the hero (there has to be a hero) grabs it. Not here, not in my world. In my world when I slap him there is a flash of light and a loud noise. I am splashed with something, but it feels like hours before I realize that he just shot the woman, and that he did it involuntarily. The wetness I feel on my face is her blood.

I stand there in shock, numb and not really aware anymore of what is happening. The guy she had been with is beating the crap out of the jackass, the Judas Priest shirt is stained now, but it is with his blood.

There is a cop speaking to me, but I don't answer. The real hero is lying, telling the officer that I saved everyone's life, that if I hadn't hit him the guy would have killed us all.

I didn't hit him, I hit Georgie. It was Georgie I saw in front of me. It was Georgie taunting me, I just snapped and reacted. But I guess that somewhere inside I began to hear and to believe that I had been the hero, that when the bell rang I had come out swinging.

And that was really the beginning of the end.

I am trying to get this thing moving again.

June 2006 Retrospective

Just for kicks I decided to take a look back at some of the posts I wrote last June. Here are some that caught my eye:

My Grandfather Laid Tefillin

The Couple That Pees Together

Dear Soccer Hating American

You Never Really Die

Pictures, Videos and Memories

No, You Cannot Cancel AOL

Too Many Sequels

It is A Process Part II- The Daughter

Whew. That is a partial list. Looks like a lot went on last June. Sometimes you don't realize how much has happened until you take a moment to look back.

Forced Sterilization

Stories like this make me angry:

When it comes to children, one Dallas mother knows about having them in pairs.

The odds are one in 500,000 but she's giving birth today to her third set of twins at Baylor University Medical Center.

But with the joy comes great challenges.

Inside the wood frame house, life resembles the nursery rhyme of the old woman who lived in a shoe.

But here, young mom Amanda Gonzales cares for four-year-old Natalie, three-year-old twins Adam and Sebastian and two-year-old twins Rachel and Raquel.

Two more twin girls are scheduled for a c-section birth today.

"I've always taken care of kids since I was little, I think that's where I got it. When I used to babysit a lot of kids, I wanted to have my own, a lot of kids," she said.

Gonzales enters the rare club of having fraternal twins three times.

She took no fertility drugs.

The father of the latest set of twins hopes he's ready.

"Just focus, trying to have my mind right. Try to have my mind right, you know," said Joshua Brown.

But with neither the 21-year-old father nor the 20-year-old mother employed - all the children are supported by welfare - the young family faces financial and emotional obstacles.

It is selfish and irresponsible. WTF is wrong with this girl. If you are on welfare what the hell are you doing having more children. I believe in being socially responsible. I believe that we need to do what we can to help others who are less fortunate.

However there are limits. We have to have guidelines that help those who are receiving aid graduate into a place where they no longer have to be on it. Obviously there are going to be some exceptions as some people will never be able to get off of welfare.

But the sheer idiocy and selfishness here infuriate me. It is completely unfair to the children to place them in a situation like this. And as I mentioned there comes a point where it feels like the public is being taken advantage of. I hate the idea of forced sterilization but when I hear stories like this I wonder.

Mincha/Maariv Musings- Music

There was a time when my davening was consistent. Day in and day out you could guarantee that I would make the minyan. For a variety of reasons that stopped a while ago. I won't say that it is never going to start again, but right now it is a bit sporadic. Nonetheless it is not out of the question to find me there.

Today was one of those days in which I made it to minyan. I have mentioned on more than one occasion that davening can be tough. It is sometimes hard to focus. During Shacharit I often place my tallis over my head during the Shmoneh Esreh because it is just easier for me to focus. In fact I would consider wearing it over my head all day long, but it is wool and summer has hit. It is just too darn hot to that.

So today I did my best to focus. I almost managed to ignore the grumpy old men who find it necessary to suddenly shout/mutter various lines. It is a universal practice that I have seen done in shuls in LA, Jerusalem, Toronto, New York etc.

Another thing that I have noticed in every shul is the prevalence of people who daven off key, or should I clarify that by saying that they sing poorly, loudly and with reckless abandon. In most shuls it is considered bad form to help correct the situation by smacking them across the face with your siddur.

Since we somehow wandered over to the topic of music here is an abbreviated list of what I listened to this evening.

I Melt
Rascal Flatts
You Raise Me Up
Josh Groban
Blue Monday
Orgy
The Bad Touch
Bloodhound Gang
Bring Me To Life
Evanescence
The Hand That Feeds
Nine Inch Nails
Bullroarer
Midnight Oil
Cornflake Girl
Tori Amos
Adagio For Strings
New Zealand Orchestra
The Lonesome Kicker
Adam Sandler
May This Be Love
Emmylou Harris
Let's Fall In Love
Frank Sinatra
The Mighty Quinn
Bob Dylan
Without Me
Eminem
Rappers Delight
Sugarhill Gang
Master of Puppets
Metallica

Japanese Priest Makes Aliyah

YNET has an interesting story, or should I say video. Here is a snippet of text from YNET about the priest-turned-rabbi.

Rabbi Moshe Hatori is a learned scholar from Jerusalem who dedicates most of his time to studying Torah. Only few people know that the Japanese-born convert, who is an expert on the writings of the Vilna Gaon, used to be a priest and the head of a Christian congregating in Japan less than 20 years ago.

For many years, Hatori led a double life as a Christian pastor who observed Torah and mitzvot in secret. On Friday evenings, his wife would bake challot and he would say Kiddush, and on Saturday the couple would refrain from working. After havdalah on motzei Shabbat, Hatori would rush to prepare his church sermon for Sunday.