Have to leave the house ridiculously early tomorrow. Have loads to do before we leave.

Please ask for a reprint of the T:



Link to Rene Magritte's "The Treachery of Images" (This Is Not a Pipe)

After spending the last few months in NY, working at my old job, including a few weeks in Poland and Israel, I am back home in Hartlepool for 10 days or so until we head out to Israel for a friend's wedding. Will be writing older entries I should have put up ages ago in random order.

Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels
Give this book a chance, wanted to throw it down after few pages thinking I knew what to expect, ended up enjoying a well-written window into a generally off-limits world.

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters
On what young female athletes endure at elite levels - shocking and eye-opening.

Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library
For book/library geeks an entertaining tale of the public library's goings-on from the other side of the desk/counter.

Rashi's Daughters, Book I: Joheved (Rashi's Daughters)
Half novel of Medieval France from a female, Jewish scholarly/Talmudic perspective and half romance novel. Will especially appeal to those that would enjoy both.

We Need to Talk About Kevin: A Novel (P.S.)
Fiction, from the perspective of the mother of a high school killer. Really engrossing, disturbing and intense.

THE CAP: OR THE PRICE OF A LIFE.
Holocaust memoir, unsentimental, powerful, well-written - highly recommended.

It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken
Great graphic novel.

Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human
On a chimpanzee taught language and raised from birth in a human family and what happened after. Sad and fascinating.

Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages
Enjoyable experience novel (a la Julie and Julia, The Know-It-All, Self-Made Man, etc.) with fantastic words the author comes across featured in each chapter.

I Can't Be Good All the Time
Fun artwork from Ann Taintor - amusing captions attached to vintage illustrations.

We usher in the Sabbath and Festivals by kindling lights. Our aim is to unite the practical benefits of light with its spiritual component.

We who have lost our sense and our senses – our touch, our smell, our vision of who we are; we who frantically force and press all things, without rest for body or spirit, hurting our earth and injuring ourselves: we call a halt.

We want to rest. We need to rest and allow the earth to rest. We need to reflect and to rediscover the mystery that lives in us, that is the ground of every unique expression of life, the source of the fascination that calls all things to communion.

We declare a Sabbath, a space of quiet: for simple being and letting be; for recovering the great, forgotten truths; for learning how to live again.

May the brightness of these candles banish all gloom, anxiety, and care from my heart and from the hearts of my loved ones.

May this Shabbat festival bring us peace and serenity, joy and rest. Keep aglow within us, O God, the spirit of gratitude for Your many blessings, so that we may know the sweet taste of contentment and the rich harvest of sharing.

Kindle in our home and temple a deeper love for one another, for our people, and for all Your children.

Amen

The quoted bit in the middle is from “Only One Earth,” a United Nations Environment Programme publication for “Environmental Sabbath/Earth Rest Day,” June 1990; UN Environment Programme, DC2-803 United Nations, New York, NY 10017.

The full text was given to me by a colleague on a Taglit-birthright israel program as a reading before lighting Friday night candles. I am looking at different texts as I create my own traditions for my home. Please comment with any additional texts, links or traditions you find or practice.

Beastie Boys Music Has Power™ Benefit Concert benefiting The Institute for Music and Neurologic Function. Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Doors: 7:00 PM, Terminal 5.

This event was poorly organized, and if you bought tickets at the presale for this show you were screwed - they charged $100 and after were only charging $75, oh well it goes to a good cause.

Doors opened at 7:00. The Beasties did not come on until 9:15. Other than a random DJ opening (who was called the night before), and Moby playing a song with a man with no hands, there were no special guests as promised by the press release.

There were some technical difficulties in the middle of the show and crappy banter, some kick-ass songs, some long meandering 70's mellow bullshit in the middle that went on way too long...they did perform Sabotage, 3 MCs and 1 DJ, Intergalactic. Did not perform "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" - is that legal in NYC? I wish the show was cut down to just the good bits.

Overall an enjoyable evening because I had fun catching up with my friend Josh.

Plug Awards feat. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, St. Vincent, Dizzee Rascal, José Gonzalez Thursday, March 6, 2008, 8:00 PM at Terminal 5

A bunch of people I enjoy were playing so I got tickets even though I'm usually not a fan of the song or two per act format. Went with Eduardo and had a decent time.

St. Vincent and Jose Gonzales (whose CDs I love) were mostly drowned out by the apathetic chattering, crowd. It seemed most people were there to see Nick Cave. It was a bit amusing to see Patton Oswalt try to drum up some interest in the crowd for UK hip-hop act Dizzee Rascal - it was really not the target audience.

Eventually Nick Cave came on. First there was a video summary of his career so far and then a killer set. By killer I don't just mean awesome, he embodies a malevolent charisma on stage - it is definitely an intense thing to experience - though I don't know that I feel the need to see him again. New CD is worth a listen. Below are the CDs referenced above on Amazon mp3 plus some CDs of nominees at the Plug Awards that I llike. Enjoy.

Neil Gaiman's American Gods will be available free online for a month.



Start reading it online if you must or just take my word for it and buy it - it is that good. Amazon link below.

American Gods: A Novel (Book) Authors:Neil Gaiman Manufacturer:Harper Perennial Released:02 September, 2003

According to this article in The Marker the ASUS EEE will be released in Israel. The article is terrible since it doesn't actually list which specs people will be getting.

Confirmed on Bezeq's website it is the standard 4G that have been the first releases.

The prices in Israel are terrible - They will be sold for 1436 ILS (approx. $400) including Windows XP for new Bezeq ADSL customers.

Existing Bezeq customers who upgrade their speeds will have to pay 1796 ILS (approx. $500) and the ones released later with Linux will cost 1800 NIS (approx. $500).

So Windows is being subsidized by a telecom - it's not even Widnows XP (misreported in the article) - According to the Bezeq site it is Microsoft Windows Home. This seems like a poor man's google distro gone wrong, and Israelis are getting screwed on the price of a 4G.

I would hope most Israelis who would be interested in the machine won't be "friars" and will find some way to get this from the US.

Asus Eee 4G Ultra 7” Micro Laptop PC (800 MHz Intel Celeron Processor, 512 MB RAM, 4 GB Hard Drive, Linux Preloaded) Pearl White (Personal Computer) Manufacturer:Asus Released: