Random Thoughts- Do They Have Meaning?

I can't believe that summer has come and gone. Here we are just one day out from the start of school. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised as I have heard a steady stream of mothers beg for school to start, each of them claiming exhaustion as a result of trying to entertain/educate children. As part of the grand summer sendoff we spent the majority of the day at Universal Studios. It was exceptionally fun watching the children experience it. Little Jack kept asking me to tell him what it was like when I was his age. It wasn't all that hard, I don't think that I have been there in close to 30 years. Although the more I think about it the more I realize it had to be a bit less. I remember going to the Hulk show and the whole Battlestar Galatica area. That probably means that I made it there at least once during the early '80s. Anyhoo, the day was action packed. My folks had the pleasure of watching all of their grandchildren attempt to turn the park into their own privat

In my travels throughout the web I often search for interesting gadgets and inventions that will change our lives. A while back I stumbled onto MedGadget . It is an interesting site that discusses technological advances in medicine. Here are a couple of things that caught my eye: MIT Technology Review is reporting on new metal and polymer microgrippers that can be chemically activated to grab or cut tissue deep within the body without requiring any incisions. The scientists that developed the device envision swallowing a bunch of these and then guiding the particles using magnets to specific spots in the body for microsurgeries or doing biopsies. From MIT Tech Review: A gripper based on the current design could respond autonomously to chemical cues in the body. For example, it might react to the biochemicals released by infected tissue by closing around the tissue, so that pieces can be removed for analysis. Gracias [David Gracias, biomolecular and chemical-engineering professor at

It is hard to believe, but we have reached the 180th edition of Haveil Havalim. Go take a look and don't forget to tell your friends and neighbors .

Don't Let It End - Styx Always On My Mind - Elvis Presley Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley Forgive Me -Evanescence I am Sorry - John Denver

Hi folks, I am Jack and I am the admin for Haveil Havalim, the blog carnival of our community. Now that the dust has settled somewhat from the conference I wanted to take a moment to promote H.H. again. If you are unfamilar a blog carnival is a sort of blog event in which a series of posts are highlighted/promoted about a particular topic. In respect to Haveil Havalim it is a weekly event that is hosted on various blogs within the JBlogosphere. Each week the host serves a variety of different posts that deal with Israel, Judaism, Torah, Culture, Politics and Personal. If you are new to the JBlogosphere or interested in finding out what is going on it is a great way to gain some insight. It is also a fantastic way to gain more exposure for your blog and to learn about other blogs that you might find to be of interest. One of the things that I like about it is that it is inclusive and not exclusive. It is one of the few places in the world where you will find all Jews interacting wi

In theory this is tied into In The Weeds . The real question is if I can tie them together in a neat little package. We'll take a moment to wade into it and see what happens. Johnny stared at the computer screen, the frown on his face made it clear that he wasn't happy. If that wasn't enough of a hint at his mood the edge in his voice and the vein bulging in his forehead made it pretty clear that he was aggravated. In his right hand he gripped a little exercise tool he used to strengthen his grip. "Hi Johnny. Your hands must be really strong now." With a loud sigh Johnny turned around and faced the source of the comment. Mark Kelling was a socially awkward colleague of Johnny's. A little over six feet tall he had an enormous head that sat upon a very thin neck. It wasn't nice, but Johnny used to wonder if Mark had to do neck exercises to support the pumpkin that he called his head. Johnny made a mental note not to call him pumpkin head. It wasn't ni

Believe it or not, I sometimes choose not to blog about a topic or decide that I need to rethink a post. When that happens I save it as a draft with the intention to revisit it later on. Every now and then I forget to revisit the draft and the post languishes in limbo. Anyhoo, I just "discovered" this half finished post and from June and decided to finish it and share it with you. The New York Times is running an article about a couple of married couples and their experience having sex every day. It generated some discussion among various people I know so I thought that I'd throw it out here. So let's grab a couple of excerpts from the article. "Or would you turn to your mate and say, “Honey, you know, I’ve been thinking. Why don’t we do it for the next 365 days in a row?” That’s more or less what happened to Charla and Brad Muller. And in another example of an erotic adventure supplanting married ennui, a second couple, Annie and Douglas Brown, embarked on

Relationships Change I Hate Meetings OH MY LORD! And a few old posts: It is Ray Charles Cover Songs- Part 1 Why The Baal Teshuva World Irritates Me How Personal Should A Blog Be?

I had intended to write this clever post about computers and relationships. I was going to do this bit about how I had to buy a new computer and how it impacted my relationship with my old computer. And then I was going to do some sort of story that was similar to the one Dr. Seuss did about the Sneetches, but I am far too tired. Not quite tired enough to say that Windows Vista aggravates me. It works and in a number of ways it works well. But it has enough idiosyncratic crap to make me dislike it. I need to make a point to spend some more time reviewing the manual. In the interim I'll stop bitching and try to catch some shut eye.

"They say that time Heals a broken heart But time has stood still Since we've been apart" I can't Stop Loving You- Ray Charles Tonight I was the lucky recipient of a seat inside the Bat out of hell tour bus. Had I more common sense I would have recognized that a bat out of hell is no different than you or I, they just want to go home. But preoccupied as I was I didn't think of this and as a consequence I got on the bus and ended up in a four hour meeting. Four hours. The damn meeting was interminably long and as Mr. Charles said above, time stood still. Inside that room I sat patiently and tried to achieve that peaceful, easy feeling the Eagles used to sing about. I listened and waited and watched. It was the watching that got me into trouble. It was the watching that made me realize that the clock appeared to be broken. Or maybe it was the listening and the realization that I wasn't gaining any new information that got me into trouble. Or maybe it was the c

I must be in need of serious help. Got the old iTunes playing in the background. It is on shuffle and I am busy doing some odds and ends around the house. Sinatra comes on and I do an impression of him crooning a few tunes. He is followed by Elvis and I spend a couple more moments pretending to be the king. And then I lost my freaking mind. I just belted out a few lines from Weekend in New England by Barry Freaking Manilow. WTF! So off I go racing to the garage to smear myself in grease and power tools. In a moment I'll head off to the liquor store to grab some beer, yes beer. If you see my walk out with a wine cooler please kick me in the ass as hard as you can. Something is very, very wrong with me. The next thing you know I'll find myself watching The Sound of Music or booking a flight for cleveland. And now if you'll excuse me I am off to find Barney and head out to the next meeting of the Loyal order of Water Buffalos.

The nastier side of politics has been around a long time.

Before I head off to bed I want to take a moment to mention that that the discussion of what makes a community. As a starting point you can read these posts in the following order: Haveil Havalim & The JBlogger Conference I think not The JBlogosphere Community? Let me know if you think that there are other posts that should be included.

Someone once told me that if more than a couple of person say that you are a jackass you should turn around and look for a tail and hooves. Not the most profound introduction, but I liked it better than saying people want to know why my posts are so depressing. Well folks, not all of my posts are depressing, but they aren't all uplifting either. This joint is what I like to view as my refuge. It is not quite my Fortress of solitude, at least I hope not. Because if it is a Fortress of Solitude I have to talk to the guards because they are doing a lousy job of keeping people out. Life has its moments. Some of them are happy, some are sad and some are somewhere in between. Now if you know me well than you know that any time I say that life has its moments is code for things are not what I'd like them to be. But that is not indicative that I am in need of a gallon of Prozac. It doesn't mean that I am evaluating razors and nooses. The funny thing about life is that as a kid

Played two hours of ball today. Spent the first chunk trying to run with the twenty-somethings. Did pretty well, gave it all I had. Threw my body into the breach again and again. Now a few hours later I feel it. Let's take a moment to review: 1) Bruised tailbone. 2) Aching back. 3) Sore knees 4) Two jammed fingers. 5) Multiple bruises throughout my body. 6) Several comments from the youngsters about how hard I play and grudging respect that the old man is stronger than he looks. Conclusion: Tired, achy and feeling victorious. I am Jack. I am an animal and I will eat you, or at least gnaw on a leg.

My question dear reader is this, Do you live your dreams or dream your life?

Old Traveling Jack managed to hit the road for a quick weekend getaway. It was short and sweet and had I the desire I could write a dozen posts about what happened. Yes, I said a dozen and I could do it with my eyes shut. The thing is that I just don't have that same feeling about blogging like I used to. Questions about anonymity plague me, oops almost said plaque me. Fortunately I brush my teeth so that the plaque monster doesn't totally control my mouth. Or as far as the blog goes maybe I should say that sometimes it pays to check your writing. Elsewise you write foolish things like the point is mute when you meant to say moot. But I digress. Before we get any farther let me address anonymity. If you want to know more about some of my thoughts there you can read: Anonymous Blogging Blogging About Blogging Life Has Its Moments Anyhoo, because it was a short trip I made a point of packing quite lightly. I took, one backpack, pair of shorts, pair of Crocs, running shoes,

You can find the latest edition of Haveil Havalim right here . And for those who are lazy, here are links to a number of the most recent editions. Aug 17, 2008 Rechovot: A Place to Expand Aug 09, 2008 SimplyJews Aug 02, 2008 Little Frumhouse on the Prairie Jul 27, 2008 Frume Sarah's World Jul 20, 2008 Esser Agaroth Jul 05, 2008 Daled Amos Jun 29, 2008 Ima on (and off) the Bimah Jun 22, 2008 Soccer Dad Jun 15, 2008 Writes Like She Talks Jun 08, 2008 Random thoughts Jun 01, 2008 Frum Satire May 25, 2008 Frume Sarah's World May 18, 2008 Ima on (and off) the Bimah May 11, 2008 Random thoughts

During a recent conversation with my daughter she asked me why people call me different names. She may be only four, but she is a keen observer of the world around her. Here is a short recap. It is not quite verbatim, but it is close enough. Daughter : Daddy, why do people call you different names? Dad : What do you mean? Daughter : Why do some people call you Jack and others call you Mr. Jack? Dad : That is because we have different relationships with people. Some people know me better than others do, so they feel more comfortable using a more familiar name. Daughter : Ok. Dad : We're teaching you how to do this too. You'll call some of the people you know by their name and others will be a more formal version, like Mrs. Loren or Mr. Saltzman. Daughter : But how will I know who to do this with. Dad : Mom and I will help you figure it out. Don't worry about it, we'll help you teach your friends what to call us too. Daughter : What should my friends call you? Dad :

Sorry, I am not interested in purchasing any sort of torture device for the purpose of trying to keep the old goat clean. It looks like he is wearing some sort of muzzle or meat grinder. Just not my thing. Hat tip: Ingrid

Maybe I am Amazed - Paul McCartney Can't Get it Out of My Head - Electric Light Orchestra Hold on Tight - Electric Light Orchestra God Only Knows - The Beach Boys Annie´s Song - John Denver Have you ever seen the rain? - Creedence Clearwater Revival " Ain't no Mountain High Enough "-MARVIN GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL National Anthem - Marvin Gaye Thank You -SLY & THE FAMILY STONE The Letter 1981 Live - Joe Cocker "Have A Little Faith"- Joe Cocker Sex Machine - James Brown Wicked Garden -Stone Temple Pilots Thunderstruck -AC/DC Hero of the Day -Metallica

Thanks to the joys of having to make a buck earlier this week the family left sans dad for a short vacation and so I have found myself in an empty house. While it would be untrue to say that I don't miss them, it is also true that I rather enjoy the break. For a brief moment in time I am revisiting the Jack of years past. Alone and apart I eat quiet meals without any concern about having to set an example. No company, no reason to use real plates. Paper works just fine. No company, no reason for glasses. I can drink straight from the bottle and I do. In fact the kitchen has a display of the victims of a recent visit to Trader Joes and other guests. Watching The Olympics is far more fun with pizza and beer. The newspaper is scattered in key places. I have watched movies that are inappropriate for children during hours that they would normally be awake. Trips to the gym last longer. No reason to rush because my dinner companions me, myself and I don't need to take a bath befo

Actually it is after 2 AM and I should have made it to bed hours ago. Why, oh dear lord why I am awake on a work night. In years past the explanation was simple. I was coming home from a night out with the boys, a date or just enjoying the cool air of the evening. Tonight is different. Tonight I find myself awake because of a number of different issues. Tonight I find myself awake because of five separate challenges. They aren't quite the same as those that were faced by Hercules , although at times I felt like I was fighting the Hydra. And I should add that I did take a short unscheduled nap on the couch. But again my dreams were fitful and disturbing, so I woke up in a bit of a foul mood. But since I found myself awake I decided to tackle some of the crap that I have been forced to deal with. I began by attacking a few of the technological issues that have been foisted upon me. I won't bore you with all of the details, suffice it to say that there is an old computer and a

Many of you know that I was supposed to attend the Nefesh B’Nefesh International Jewish Bloggers Conference in Jerusalem. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control I was forced to back out at the last minute, and I do mean the last minute. Much has been written about the conference. Jewlicious has a roundup of the roundup that is worth taking a look at. I may provide my own feedback in a separate post, but for now I'd like to focus on a few comments made by Rabbi Gil Student of the Hirhurim blog . I don't have a clear transcript so this is going off of what was seen in the feed , which means it may be off a bit. The good rabbi said that he does not like Haveil Havalim because he is uncomfortable with some of what is presented within. Presumably he doesn't want to appear to be endorsing positions that he disagrees with For those who are unfamiliar, Haveil Havalim is the Jewish/Israeli Blog carnival. It is a weekly roundup of posts from the Jewish/Israeli Blog

This may not be Leviathan , but it is pretty damn big. "A man-sized grouper that trolls the tropical waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean for octopuses and crabs has been identified as a new fish species after genetic tests. Called the goliath grouper, the fish can grow to six feet (1.8 meters) in length and weigh a whopping 1,000 pounds (454 kg). Until now, scientists had grouped this species with an identical looking fish (also called the goliath grouper , or Epinephelus itajara ) living in the Atlantic Ocean. "For more than a century, ichthyologists have thought that Pacific and Atlantic goliath grouper were the same species," said lead researcher Matthew Craig of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, "and the argument was settled before the widespread use of genetic techniques."

I didn't sleep well. It was fitful and punctuated by dreams that were both disturbing and frightening. Can't quite remember exactly what happened, just fragments of things. And when I woke up I was a bit disoriented, not really sure where I was or who I was with. The thing is, I didn't have anything stronger than a glass of water and Alka-Seltzer before bed so I can't attribute this to alcohol or narcotics. What I can say is that somewhere around 11 PM I began to get this feeling of doom, this strong sense of foreboding just enveloped me. It made me feel edgy and nervous. I tried to let it go. I tried to let the feelings just wash over me like water off a duck's back, but it didn't work. I tried a number of other tricks, everything that I have taught the children, but to no avail. When I get that feeling it usually comes in two parts, fear and anger. There is the fear about the unknown and the potential impact and then the anger. The anger is an alloy of the

I thought that this was interesting . BTW, I picked the title because I thought that it was cool, I am not related. Here are some excerpts: Ellensburg, Wash., is home to a truly unique young man: 12-year-old Brenden Adams, who is more than seven feet tall and, incredibly, still growing..... ....Amazingly, his dad, Willie Adams, said there was no hint of any of this when Brenden was born at 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 19 1/2 inches in length. His mom says they first started to notice something was different at his 2 month check-up. "They said, these measurements just aren't right. He's too long," Ezell said. "And at four months, he had all of his teeth." Then mom and dad got the news that any parent would dread. Doctors and medical experts told them they had no idea what was causing the problem with their child. "I still haven't seen anyone like Brenden," says Dr. Melissa Parisi, his geneticist at Children's Hospital in Seattle. Parisi has bee

That's the old saw isn't it, bad things come in three's. At least I hope that is the case. If this were a twelve round fight I'd have to say that the other guy is winning. I have been beaten up, down and around the ring. My legs are wobbly, I have two black eyes and one hell of a concussion. The only reason that I am still on my feet is that I am too stubborn or perhaps too dumb to go down. So I keep fighting because I don't know what else to do. I stagger around the ring, trying not to collapse. I search the crowd for my Adrian, knowing that if I can see my girl's face I'll find the strength to continue. But she's not there. Alone in the dark I hear things, the echoes of the past and whispers of the future. She is gone. Can't say if it is for good or for what. Silly 70's songs like Just When I needed You Most play in the background, but I can't focus. I try to buck up, be a man who can shrug it all off and maintain that edge, but I fai

A friend described me as being consistent in my inconsistencies, a dichotomy of personalities. I can switch gears very quickly. I go from play to business and back to play in just a moment. Call it moody, call it cranky or just call me a curmudgeon. It doesn't matter. The reality is that I am who I am and the quiet passivity you sometimes see masks the man who will rip off of your head and kick it into the street. Do you remember when the banking industry introduced ATMs. The automatic teller was a wondrous convenience. No longer would you have to go inside the bank and wait in line for your money. Suddenly it was a two minute procedure and the height of convenience. Unfortunately the convenience for some became a siren call for malfeasance. You no longer visited certain ATMs because there was no interest in having to pass along your hard earned cash to some low life. At least that is how some people looked at things, there were those others who considered themselves to be bulle

Every now and then I like to take a look at what the old stats say are my most popular posts. One of the things that I find to be of interest is that the trends do not always follow the most recent posts. In other words, it is not unusual to find posts from prior years still generating traffic. You'll also notice that Haveil Havalim posts are consistently among the most popular. If you are looking for a way to generate traffic, well you should host the damn thing. Here is a brief snapshot of some of the most popular posts here. Weird Signs What Are Your Favorite Song Lyrics? The Duggar Family Revisited The Worst Album Covers- Ethel Merman Disco Mix Cheeseburger Leads to 911 Call Haveil Havalim- The Almost Purim Edition Alone In The Dark HH #155- The Falling Asleep At My Computer Edition Haveil Havalim #151- The P.S.D. Edition The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants HH #165 Happy 60th Birthday Israel

Several people have recommended that the best way to pass the time on a long flight is to sleep your way through it. Now I have to admit that there is a certain attraction to this. I remember one flight to Israel in which I got to watch Forest Gump about 1,293,098 times. It was just great. Nice plane, with the personal movie screen on the seatback in front of me. It was kind of cool to have my own personal screen, until I heard "Run Forest Run!" so many times that my legs began to twitch. So I spent a few minutes considering the advantages of taking an Ambien. As I mulled it over I wondered if there was a way to try and program my brain to dream about a particular topic or two. If I was going to sleep for that long it might be kind of nice to really enjoy my dreams. Now mind you, I am renowned for snoring. There are even a few rumors that the primary reason why a relationship or two ended was because of my ability to imitate a chainsaw. Anyhoo, I decided to do a little re

This is the kind of thing that would make me crazy. "Qantas has been hit by another embarrassing flight incident, this time diverting an aircraft because the plane's toilets were full. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that flight QF571, flying from Sydney to Perth, was forced to stage an unplanned stop in Adelaide in order to empty the toilets. The flight had originated in Honolulu, but ground staff forgot to empty the toilets when the plane landed in Sydney. An hour into the plane's next flight, three of the toilets had stopped working. "They told us that under any reasonable calculation, the rest of them would go pretty quickly," one businessman told Fairfax Media during the plane's cleaning stop in Adelaide. "All this discussion of toilets triggered an urgent need to go in just about everyone," he said. "We did ask for more red wine to be brought on board, but it was felt not to be a priority." The incident came after another Qan

"She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette She broke his heart he spent his whole life tryin' to forget We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind Until the night 1st Chorus He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger And finally drank away her memory Life is short but this time it was bigger Than the strength he had to get up off his knees We found him with his face down in the pillow With a note that said I'll love her till I die And when we buried him beneath the willow The angels sang a whiskey lullaby" Whiskey Lullaby-Brad Paisley/Allison Krauss Just finished listening to some of the songs from Name A Song That Makes You Cry . Whiskey Lullaby has been a favorite of mine for a long time, it just resonates with me. Can't say that I was ever suicidal, but I know what it is to have your heart ripped out. Been a long and hectic day, not exactly the

Thanks to Cake Wrecks I now have a few ideas for cakes to give to special friends. ;)

Here is a quick snapshot of some recent posts: Haveil Havalim #178 - The Tu b'Av Edition Confession of the Day A Gold Medal Couple Sudden Death and Aging Some Links That Caught My Eye Heart Breaker or Heart Broken Thanks For Nothing NBC I Want To Die Name A Song That Makes You Cry Dad Did It Better

It is time to enjoy another edition of our weekly carnival. Come read Haveil Havalim #178 - The Tu b'Av Edition .

I had nightmares after watching the video below. I couldn't believe that my hero, Steve Austin, The Bionic Man couldn't take this hairy beast from cleveland. It is a good thing that I was only 20 or I'd really be embarrassed about sharing this with you. Did I mention that because of shows like this I have always wanted to have my movements accompanied by sound effects. It would be really cool if every time I run or jump or punch something there was some kind of appropriate noise to go along with it.

I thought that this was kind of interesting : A few weeks ago, FPM's Pat Imig told us about Katerina and Matt Emmons , a pair of Olympic shooters who met during the Summer Games in Athens four years ago and were married in June, 2007. Shooting for the Czech Republic, Katerina captured the first gold medal of the Beijing games when she won the 10 meter air rifle. She followed that with a silver in the 50 meter three positions rifle. Matt, an American who lost his chance at two golds when he shot the wrong target in Athens , took silver yesterday in the men's 50 meter rifle prone position. He has a chance to equal his wife's record tomorrow in the 50 meter three positions competition. For the sake of marital harmony, I know I'm cheering for him. ("Matt, honey, could you polish the medals, please? Both of mine are getting a little dusty.") To be fair, Matt won gold and Katerina bronze in Athens, so exactly what the score is depends on whether you are counting

If you asked me to describe the most frustrating aspect of blogging it would not be the struggle to come up with content or the fight to develop of a community of readers who comment. For me those things are mild irritants. What really bothers me is when I have trouble writing the actual post. Sometimes the words just flow from fingertip to keyboard and sometimes they come in drips and drabs. I picture it as water flowing through a pipe with various kinks and obstructions in it. Or maybe it is because some of these topics are harder to write about. Maybe it is because they're more personal and my ability to share some of those things has been compromised. That could be it, I don't know and I am not sure if I really care. Does it matter. In the end there is just the keyboard and my struggle to try and give life to the story because some of these tales deserve more than they get. This is one of those, or at least my attempt. Death is something that sometimes preoccupies me. I

Miriam Shaviv's blog- Miriam's old blog Bloghead was one of the first blogs I discovered and one of my favorites. So I was pleased to see that she has a new blog. You can find it here . One of the liberators of Buchenwald has died. Thank you James Hoyt . Hoyt had rarely spoken about that day in 1945, but he recently opened up to a journalist. "There were thousands of bodies piled high. I saw hearts that had been taken from live people in medical experiments," Hoyt told author Stephen Bloom in a soon-to-be-published book called "The Oxford Project." "They said a wife of one of the SS officers -- they called her the Bitch of Buchenwald -- saw a tattoo she liked on the arm of a prisoner, and had the skin made into a lampshade. I saw that." Goodbye Sandy Allen It is TU B'Av - Let the loving begin. What is a JBlogger? They call it Smart. I call it a Death Wish . A Japanese Fiddler On The Roof - Still cracks me up. Sushi and Gefilte fish

She told me that there are two kinds of people in the world, the heart breakers and the heart broken. I remember asking her if that wasn't a little bit too black and white of a description of dating. Her response was that it was exactly how life worked. Some people were very lucky and others were not. You were a Sneetch with a star or you were a poor shlub who didn't have one. And for the most part once you fell into one category you were pigeonholed there for life. I never could accept that as being a legitimate description of how life worked. In large part it came from my own personal experiences. I had been through some bad breakups in which women had done their best to destroy my sense of self worth and trampled upon that black thing that pumps the blood through my veins. Yet, I also knew that there were women whose memories of me might not be so sunny. A few might have far more colorful descriptions of what they thought about me. The experiences on both sides of the fe

I don't know about you but I enjoy following The Olympics, always have. I like watching the various events and learning little bits and pieces about the athletes. You can depend upon the networks to do a couple of profiles that are really interesting. And you can also depend upon the networks to do something really dumb. In their infinite wisdom they'll hit a bulls eye in the boneheaded move category. This year NBC has repeated some of the mistakes of the past. There is one in particular that chaps my hide. The suits have this nasty habit of showing events hours after the results have been posted on the Net. Look, I understand that Bejing is 15 hours ahead and that they are trying to do the best they can to help sell advertising by trying to push games into primetime. That was fine when you hadn't any access to the Net. When the best you could do was a string a couple of tomato cans together no one knew what was going on across the world and you could get away with tape