Pages

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Scholastic Book Fair





It's been a great week at my children's school book fair.  I am co-chairing it with fellow mom and friend Shira.  It is a first in a long time for their school.  BH sales have been great and parent volunteers have been generous with their time.  

But it is many hours to co-chair an event like this.  I don't know how serial non-profit volunteers do it!

Like I told my friend Tova today:  the book fair did well and so did my babysitter.  

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Walfredo and 127 and If You Will It It is No Dream (Tour) #hashtagitbagit

Phish played the song "Walfredo" the other night, a very rare occurrence from their repetoire, at the Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco.  It was played based on a fan request.  It was played in honor of the memory of phan Adam Berger, who passed away earlier this year.

I have waxed poetic in the past about various reasons why I love the number 127.

Or variations of it.


Photo from a Flickr post
Is it simply coincidence that they played this tune on  the date 10/27?

I doubt highly that any of this was planned.
But I like to think that it's all there for a reason.

Do I think Trey was all like, "let's do Loony a favor and get all whack and play this song as a tribute to a dedicated fallen fan on her favorite number day."

Nah.

I didn't know Adam Berger but his blog is called Walfredo.  Clearly he was a huge phan.  He loved Walfredo.   And Phish, probably the best musical outfit out there today, played it.  In San Francisco, the town where he lived for many years.  May his memory be a blessing.

And thanks NYCJAMGAL for posting this nice video of the historic happening.





Back to 127...
Despite them not playing in Israel on 12/8 a few years ago (if you read my lengthy post you'll see originally it was to be 12/7, but couldn't be due to various reasons), I keep the dream alive....

#ifyouwillititisnodreamtour

Which is way too long of a hashtag.

That's why ya gotta #hashtagitbagit

But a girl can still dream, right?

Whoa whoa whoa whoa, before you get all, Loony is whack, Phish ain't gonna do no show in Israel, let me alert you to what Jambase reported on this show in the 2nd set, and I quote:  "Trey introducted on Fishman as Moses, "here to take you across the Red Sea for "I Didn't Know."

Some may call that Comic Relief, I call it, coming all together.  It's just that people don't know it, yet it's *right in front of their eyes!"  People may laugh at this idea, but I know that the Nunever won't when he reads this.  And that Zaney Laney is on board if she would only read this darn long blog.  And of course my dear husband who supports all of my efforts.  Do I need anything more?  Oh, wait, yeah, I need the guys to decide that it's time to take the living fish into the land "Vayidgu l'rov," but as I'm not a bible thumper, but could possibly be perceived as such, I don't know how that would fly in the greater world, ya know?

And, no, Ariela, (and all my awesome smart friends who like to read this but can't follow the Phish stuff and I don't hold that against them but indeed they're still missing out on tremendous music) this isn't a Phish blog, haven't I said that all along?

Yay for purple girls and little ragers and glitter and sparkly friends and hoopers and curlicues and laughs and soul sisters and birth sisters and bobos and hello kitty and cleaning help and gel manicures and kind veggie burritos and my sweet kinderlach and the moon and for meeting a dude named Stango.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Where do Science, Philosophy, and Religion all Exist as One?

Only in one place.


In Gamehendge.



We have the great Icculus to thank for recording the story that talks about this land.


Apparently the land is in danger, if you take this sticker I purchased a few years ago at all seriously.



And today the Prince of Music (that's Levi to the layman) joins the cause with his Fly Famous Mockingbird shirt.




You may think it's Adar with my silliness, but it's Elul and it's time to get out into the field because there is where science, philosophy and religion sits right in front of us as one.  



I personally can't see it, so maybe it's time to read the book.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Pre Rosh Hashana Music in Philly with Shlomo Katz

An intimate concert leading up to Rosh HaShana with quality people, holy words and tunes of inspiration.  What more could we ask for on a Monday night?



The very special Shlomo Katz visited our neighborhood tonight with Pey Dalid as his last stop in America on the way back to Israel.  He shared songs and stories.  He gave over melodies (niggunim) from R' Shlomo Carlebach.  He brought down words of Torah in the name of the Alter Rebbe, Rav Weinberger, the Izhbitzer Rebbe and more.




Thank you Lisa and Michael Wachs for opening your home and bringing Shlomo to town.  Thanks also to Ben Weitz Photography for allowing WholePhamily to post your photos of this special evening.  Not only is Shlomo musically talented, but he is good friends with our very good friends (all former Bronx residents).  So there is no more apt place than to share what we enjoyed tonight than on WholePhamily.  We are all connected.

Ganse mishpucha mamish!



Shlomo talked about the idea of repentence - tshuva, the theme of the month of Elul leading up to Rosh haShana which is in just a couple of weeks.




He said that the Alter Rebbe said that choosing to have compassion on your own soul (neshama) is the first step towards tshuva.




Shlomo then talked about his own rebbe - Reb Shlomo Carlebach.  He said in his name that Reb Shlomo gave over a Torah in the name of the Izhbitzer (yeah, a lot of giving props there).  All year I am fixing the things that I did wrong, but in Elul I am doing tshuva for all the things I did right but I could have done so much better.


He continued on the idea that I'm already keeping shabbat, I'm already eating kosher food, I'm already sending my children to Jewish schools.  But the idea is that you could be even more plugged in and going deeper and doing things with more meaning.

This is the idea of "Bina" which has the same gematria (Hebrew letter numerical equivalent:  Jewish numerology) as the name of this month :  Elul.

Shlomo said that this gematria is 67, and my add is ...1967 was an important year in our history.  This was the summer of love, the summer of be-ins, psychedelia, and the birth of the modern day hippy.  This connection is so relevant because, ultimately, Shlomo Katz was playing inside a room of many Jewish hippies, both young and old.

The dream of the 60s is alive and well.
Well, a little more polished, and the free love thing didn't really work out, but the ethos is here.
Well, at least the music is, and really the music is what is at the core.


He then continued with some Torah from Rav Kook.  When you have compassion for yourself and start doing tshuva you start to lose the fear of death.  Rav Kook also stated once that he is Rebbe Nachman.  Pshhhhhhhh.  What is THAT all about???




Last but not least is a short video I took.



Shlomo said he felt totally welcomed and at home at the Wachs family home.

I couldn't agree more!

Feeling pretty grateful that this happened, that Stango was able to make it after a long day hard at work, that I met some lovely people and saw some friends from the hood, and that I made the effort to slap it all here on to this corner of the Internet.


Time for a Tweezer Reprise, if you ask me!


Sunday, August 3, 2014

This is Phish Couch Tour

If you ever were curious about what Phish couch tour looked like, look no further.





Oh.  Waitwaitwaitwaitwait.

(so embarrassed I'm such a silly one I put 7/3/14 and not 8/3/14 not like anyone is gonna actually search for that video, right? or notice my mistake in dates?  Not like this is going into any database, PHEW!!!)

Do you know what couch tour means?

Sorry again I apologize.
This isn't a Phish blog.


me and Trey Anastasio on couch tour (photo taken 8/3/14)

My favorite band is so generous to Live webcast their shows.  Usually you have to pay.  Sometimes we buy the shows and watch.  Tonight is the last night of their summer tour.  Unofficially called Deep South Tour.  Or at least that was the poster Mike was holding earlier tonight.  (sorry, can't find the pic someone tweeted of it...yeah I know dems da breaks).

Anyhoo it's a free show tonight.  Not live music but I know what some of you fellow landsman and women are thinking.  That's ok, everyone's entitled to their thoughts.  I'm entitled to my actions.  Let's leave it at that.

So incredible that their last show of the Summer Tour is in Alpharetta, GA.  As we know this is where Rashi Mincowicz z'l may her memory be a blessing, ran her highly successful Chabad house.  Let's think this show is for her.  Even though I doubt the musicians know her story.


Friday, August 1, 2014

I'm Lighting Shabbat Candles For Israel, Meatballs and Meatstick

"Can I have meatballs," the Wolfman's Brother said just now.  "It smells so good," he continued as the smells of Shabbat are wafting through our house.  

So happy for our cozy home.  
So sad for the news from Israel today.

Some of you may have heard of this, but over 2,000 women are Lighting Shabbat Candles for Israel tonight.  Specifically have in mind 23 year old Hadar Goldin from Kfar Saba who was abducted today.

His name is Hadar ben Hedva Leah.
Go ahead please write down his name or print this page.  
Have him in mind. 

(The name hedva appears in the traditional wedding blessings and is often sung out loud "gila, rina, ditza v'hedva, ahava, achva, shalom v'reut")

May Hadar, a Givati soldier, get home safely and may he have a Shabbat shalom.
Let's hope that one day the smell of Shabbat and even just maybe the good tunes unite us all.

photo from kveller.com


Friday, July 25, 2014

Journeys of Wandering Tribes

As is well known, the name given to a weekly Torah portion reveals its major theme and this week’s parsha, Masey, is quite a trip. 

Masey are journeys – and this week the Torah details the journeys of the Children of Israel "bnei yisrael" during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after the exodus from Egypt.
 
אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים לצבאותם ביד משה ואהרון

I would like to show some parallels between our own people’s journey  - a people that pursues truth and light, a marginalized people that perseveres and succeeds despite small numbers - and other journeys of modern-day wandering tribes who also seek truth and light.   

There is no research and few data to support my claims, but these tribes feature a very high ratio of Jews.  This group of people embodies an energy that should be harnessed to bring positive change to the world just as The Children of Israel has done since its formation.  These are the people who are the dedicated and devoted live-music fans of a slew of exploratory bands known as “jambands.”   Having just seen my favorite jamband play 2 nights in a row right here, live in Philadelphia, my thoughts on the convergence of Torah and jamband music are still fresh.

The beginning of the Torah portion "parsha" lists a litany of locations – venues, as it were. These are the stops on the tour out of exile.  As the verses, "psukim," say:

“vayisu……..vayachanu….. vayisu, vayachanu…….”

The portion repeats this cadence of "vayisu," they left, and "vayachanu," they camped, for each of the numerous locations. Some sound familiar, some less so, places like Rimmon Peretz, Terach, Chashmonah, The Western Plains of Moav.  This is how we wandered through the desert for 40 years – from one place to another, always temporary, always seeking out the next place until we were ready to enter our promised land.

Similarly, fans of Phish and other jambands, and back in the day, the Grateful Dead, follow their favorite musicians to numerous locations.  Some sound familiar, like Madison Square Garden and The Mann Music Center,  and  some less so, like Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, Deer Creek, The Mothership, The Gorge, and more.  While there are many fans, like myself, who are married with children and live relatively rooted lives, others follow their favorite bands perhaps for a week or a whole tour.  Some in the scene look like they have been wandering for even more than forty years!

The crews pick up and leave to reach the next venue, and camp out for at least a while in the parking lot and tailgate.  They are always looking for the next location, the next venue, the next show, following the good vibes. 

Before I get to my point, I acknowledge some disconnects.  These disconnects include that between Jews on tour and Jews not on tour / "on the bus" (which I imagine is most of the Jewish community).  There is a disconnect between Jews on tour who are connected to traditional Judaism (aka "yiddishkeit" which includes me, a few friends, my husband) and Jews on tour not as connected to our traditions (which includes many friends and would-be friends, wonderful people who live for the live music yet rarely if ever light Shabbat candles, prefer things like pagan gatherings, have xmas trees, marry non Jews, or otherwise shirk anything that seems too “Jewish”).  Of course, this overly simplifies things are there are many shades of gray in between.    

Shortly after the Torah portion details the list of locations, it takes us to a higher level

והורשתם את הארץ וישבתם בה כי לכם נתתי את הארץ לרשת אתה

Clear out the land and live in it, since it is to you that I am giving the land to occupy.
Then we learn that the land is distributed to the families by a lottery system,

והתנחלתם את הארץ בגורל

Similarly, to score the insider’s jamband tickets, one enters a lottery months before tickets are made available to the public through traditional outlets.  In this way, tickets are distributed to the various different inner networks of friends and families, often overlapping circles, that are so dedicated to their bands.

I’m not the first one to try to connect these seeming disconnects.  From 1968-1972 Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach ran the House of Love and Prayer in San Francisco with this in mind.  Many since and many still are on tour with their service to Gd "avodat hashem."  My own experiences at shows are enriched and enhanced by my traditional Jewish vantage point.  At the same time, there have been countless fellow Jews I have chatted with at shows who claim they aren’t religious and say things like, “being at a show is my church,”  and yet this is their most intensely spiritual experience.

Like myself, people go to shows to leave life behind for a while and have a taste of what it feels like to be 17 or 21 or otherwise carefree again.  Yet they are striving to see through the light (lines).  Indeed, there is a lot of fog that surrounds.

The way I see it, light is most illuminated through Shabbat, beginning with Shabbat candles and ending with Havdallah.  Personally I can't see how Shabbat candles can glow brightly at the stage of a live music show, but to each her own.  Lighting candles far away from a festival stage, however, in one's tent, cabin, hotel room etc, has its own merit.  I must add that no mention of Shabbat candles in our generation is complete without gratitude towards the work of the Lubavitcher Rebbe who initiated a widely succesful campaign to encourage Jewish women and children to light Shabbat candles.

I acknowledge the challenge presented in bringing in the light from both worlds - the Jewish and the jamband.  A most memorable Havdallah at a jamband festival did exactly this a few years ago.  Amidst the beautiful music, a small group of us who connect to both these worlds brought down the light of Havdallah.  And yet all the while my friend's crew who was elsewhere on the festival grounds was texting her to return to them, perhaps not realizing the goodness that was happening in our family tent area.  The push and pull tension of both worlds are real, and yet we can harness the best of each.

But where is the journey taking us?


אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים לצבאותם
לצבאותם


We left exile in organized groups, in tribes, as crews, and we need to connect the dots, bring together our collective energies and fulfill our mission, arrive at our destination.  When we do this we will all make it to the ultimate show and will merit the ultimate encore.

Then we will be picked up and leave:  Vayisu

And we will be taken on the wings of eagles:  V'Yachanu

And all of us wandering tribes will camp out together in our land forever.

Theodore Herzl famously said, "If you will it, it is no dream."  Especially in these heady times of unrest in Israel, we need to hold onto this modern-day expression of our Gd-given promised land.  And of a time when all will be good.

The light will be bright.
The music will ulnite.
We will all be kind.
We will be redeemed. 

The jam will be epic.

GOOD SHABBAS!
SHABBAT SHALOM!
me at a Jones Beach Phish show , June 2009

Monday, July 14, 2014

Uh Oh

Look at me, all bragging about Title 17 and I Love Lot Shirts and I haven't watermarked a.single.photo with my name!  Ok looks like I have some work ahead of me.  As if I had nothing else to do but sip lemonade and meet up with my girlfriends.  When will those family photo albums get done, I'd like to know.

Might as well share yet another original photo while I am at it. This was seen right in my hood.  I followed the car to the supermarket so I could get a good image of it.  Yes, I waited till the driver was in the store so I wouldn't freak them out.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Keeping Things on the DL, (aka close to the vest)

You want to share your big secret but maybe you shouldn't.  Just keep it under wraps.  That's my suggestion.

As a former legal industry applications consultant for LexisNexis, I am clearly aware of Intellectual Property law.  Go ahead, ask me a question about Title 17 of the USC.  And yet I am fascinated by one part of the subculture of musical bands like The Grateful Dead and Phish who continue to innovate and find inspiration from classic American brands.

This is why I take photos of these shirts and share them in I Love Lot Shirts.  I am neither selling nor buying, just sharing in the groove.  It wouldn't be worth it to litigate against any of these people:  they're all tiny operations.  I don't even know who the people are behind them.  But I love that people create these images and they print them on shirts (and hats, capes, etc).


National Phish Association.  Trey shreds it up at half court.



It would be a good year if you jibboo-d, too!



It happens all the time




Thank you so much, Phish, for Winterqueen.  It really speaks to me.




Wednesday, June 25, 2014

That Just Happened but Whatever Happened to Shake and Bake?


As is so often the case with my popular cultural prowess, I am late to the game.  Over the past few months I have noticed more frequently people using the phrase "that just happened."  I wanted to know where it comes from, so I naturally turned to Google and pulled up the reference on Urban Dictionary that it comes from the 2008 movie "Talladega Nights."  Doing the basic math, I am 6 years behind.  So sue me.




Which leads me to realize how sorely behind I am in my movie watching responsibilities.  I truly love the movies.  But these days are filled with other things and I don't even find the time to watch at home.

So, project #127 this summer is to catch up on Will Farrell movies.  He's so funny.

But event #1 as you might know is seeing Phish at The Mann.  Does anyone out there realize this my first show was at the Mann on 6/25/95 with pal o'buddy of mine Mik the Fish and they haven't returned there since that date?  That sounds a little hashkacha pratise-sque if you ask me.   But I didn't think you were asking me.

You know what else just happened?  Nistar had a gig today teaching/playing recorder and flute to the Green Bubbie's crew.   She was well-received and I heard the children all had a super duper time.  And learned a bunch too.  Nistar told me she explained her curved headjoint.  (Phish heads, don't get any ideas).  The curved headjoint is totally what enabled Nistar to play flute at the youngish age of 1st grade.


So, that just happened.

You know what else just happened?

I just realized that I am writing this on 6/25/14.  That is 19 years to the date after my first Phish show.

All in the affirmative, that's what Stango tells me with regard to my reverence for my favorite band.  All I gotta say is we must get the Steinerman Family Band show on the road.  Like the Wolfman says, we don't have a song.  Ok, mama, get on that.  Gotta pick a song.  We have Concealed Light on flute.  Wolfman on drums (which by the way, he is doing great at...you *must* hear his overplay of a Nirvana tune his music teacher played for us today).  The Wolfman's Brother on keyboard.  Tattie/Stango on sax/harmonica/guitar.  Supposedly Mama's gonna learn the uke, as we just picked one up in the ADKs.  I don't know how that will happen exactly as I still have to pack up 2 children for 3+ weeks of camp and prepare a shabbos meal for 10 and pump milk for Levi so I can get out to the shows at the Mann for a good portion of the day two days in a row and make lunches and put away the school papers and put up for sale on Craigs List the life preserver we don't need and all the baby gear we don't need and oh yeah what about Main Line Tech Coaches?

Maybe I have come down with some kind of disease when I tell myself that I keep waiting for the time when I can finally say that this has all been wonderful but now I'm on my way.  That would be a really terrible disease because I love love love my whole phamily and I don't want to be on my way but all this typing and writing and lists and stuff to do and stuff to clear out and stuff and stuff and stuff and give away bags and the weeds in the lawn that are prickly and invasive and the car that has tons of pollen on it and the numerous bottles of sunblock used halfway...well, it's all so much that I'd rather be Phishin'!

And yet, sweet baby Levi is nearly a year old!  Cutie pie he is.


Time on the clock is ticking and I gotta post this before Cinderella turns into a pumpkin and I miss out on the opportunity for this to be published on 6/25/95.  Since all of you devoted fans are keeping tabs on that.



Seriously, now, anyone wanna do the camp packing and clothing labeling for me?  And tell me what I need to go out and get last minute?

Friday, June 13, 2014

School's Out and The Wolfman Found the Mother's Day Card he Made Me

It really doesn't matter that this comes to me a month late because it is priceless.   Especially the "Red Velvet Sea."


It may not get him into college, but my 3rd grader has made my day!

Stango and I caught Marco Benevento last night here in Philly.  What a treat:  funky sounds, creative experimental skilled keyboarding, welcoming and small venue. I added lots of great photos to I Love Lot Shirts:  folks there wore some good ones, including Thelonious Monk and Eveready Batteries. 






Tuesday, June 10, 2014

BDE R' Meir Nissim (Michel) Abehsera: Pioneer of Macrobiotics and Jewish Spirituality

May his memory be a blessing - R' Meir Abehsera passed away this week at the age of 80 after an illness.  I had not until tonight heard of him but have been now reading up on him.  What a special and unique individual.  He was a descendant of a luminous Moroccan mystical family.  He taught healthy living through healthy eating.  He became close with the Lubavitcher Rebbe and followed his teachings, ultimately becoming the Rebbe's whistler.  Yes, he whistled for the rebbe, eventually getting blisters on his lips at times.

He lived in Binghamton , NY among what sounds like a communal Jewish chevre in the late 60s or early 70s.  He sounds like he was a very sweet, kind, soulful person who opened his home to all.  He passed away on Shavuot.  What a holy time to leave this world. He wrote this book on Zen Macrobiotic Cooking.




We don't hear the word macrobiotic so much these days, but eating vegan unprocessed foods and a lot of plants is still what it's about and still good for us.  Healthy living is connected to healthy feeling and sure there are naysayers who say they don't like religion but call it what you will:  connecting to place of peace, tranquility, calm and oneness is satisfying and brings meaning to life.






Friday, May 30, 2014

Fiddy Cent and Portlandia....HOLLA!

As you know I don't like to post bad language here, but today at the gym the familiar spin tune "In Da Club" by the rapper/hip hop artist 50 Cent came on, and it reminded me yet again why going to spin class keeps me checked in with current music.

How timely, since Mr. Curtis Jackson was all over my Instagram feed today.  I'm not gonna research it, but my guess is he has a new album out.  He was on Good Morning America this morning.  No, I didn't watch it.  Yes, I saw some photos on Instagram.

I really love the beat of "In Da Club" and despite the cursing, here is the video which I have no idea what it looks like.  View at your own risk.

Remember when I mentioned my friend's husband Chad, who referred to this blog as hyper liberal?  If I were uber liberal I wouldn't post the lyrics to this tune, which I'm not.  But maybe it is pretty liberal of me to post this video.

So I will state again:  View at your own risk.  Not exactly wholesome stuff.





This week I finally started catching up on this season's episodes of "Portlandia," and while it is all so ridiculous, and I mean that in the best of ways, one of the funniest sketches is when Fred talks about how he missed hip hop.  And then he gets all academic on Carrie and learns all about hip hop.  That's how I feel:  I missed hip hop, too.  All 25 years of it.  I was busy with figuring out how to transcend my Phish newbie status by studying the Helping Phriendly Book.  I think I have graduated.  More so than Fred, at least I knew that it originated in NYC.  More like da Bronx.





Seriously.  So ridiculous.  So funny I want to pish in my pants.

Which leads me to Eminem's new tune, "So Far."  Gotta love how he samples the classic Joe Walsh tune "Life's Been Good" whose riff is so familiar to me, having been reared on classic rock.

Eminem sings (?) about staying true to his roots.  He likes staying in Detroit, eating Hamburger Helper, and just wants to be a normal dude shopping in his local grocery store (Kroeger).  Gotta respect that.  Though it would be healthier for him if he ate more healthful options and shopped at an organic market.  Point being, he isn't all about the shmancy food delivered on silver platters despite his success.

Again, lots of cursing, but he has a good message:  he's got the fame but he wants to just be true to his humble roots.





Here's the original tune it samples, which is along the lines of what I listened to in high school before I got to the better stuff later in life.





Back to Portlandia, I had the good fortune because of Instagram this week to meet (online) the very lovely Kittee Bee Berns.  She is a Portland resident, blogger, vegan, cookbook author, clothing maker, and overall funky hip person.  Her design style, from what I can see of her online photos, is vintage 50s inspired.  She knits (I think?), wears cool glasses, and takes colorful gorgeous photos of her life.  She's the real deal indie-sassy-funky-DIY type (not to label or anything)  and I told her that we decided numerous years ago that a move to Portland wasn't going to happen for us.  She gave me an infusion of creative energy that I simply rarely get to see and experience while living in the suburbs where the focus is on the soccer mom life.

Just when you thought you heard it all and thought I was hyper liberal, check out this lovely LV Damier zip around wallet I found today.  And gosh darnit if I wanna still wear flowers in my hair, I will.



Good Shabbos, homies.  Time to holla about some delish home baked challah.








Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Spiderman and the Mailman

Look folks, this is America.  The land of Capitalism.  This is the place where dreams are made and anything can happen in this beautiful democracy of ours.  I happen to like that.  Even if I do sometimes like to wear flowers in my hair.

So, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised today when I saw a mail truck that looked like this:

Spiderman and the USPS co-brand, license, blah blah blah.  Everyone makes a buck. photo courtesy of the USPS

I'm all for that.

Big Bucks no whammies.

I'm just glad that my children know the original Spiderman 1960s TV show theme song.  And I have Uncle Goalie to thank for singing it over and over when I was little that it stuck in my head.




Uncle Goalie taped himself on our Panasonic tape recorders with one of our cousins.  I recall the day my dad brought home that amazing black piece of technology.

photo courtesy of Prop Hire

There was something  lasting with those tape recorders.  Oh, kids these days what with all the digital stuff.  The tape recorders had a finite supply of tapes, so inevitably you listed to the same tapes over and over again.  Or you recorded over them.   But not the good stuff.  Not the recording of you and your cousin joking around singing "Spiderman."

Over the weekend, a friend's husband who I don't think has ever viewed my blog called it "hyper liberal."  I was a bit taken aback by that.  I mean, most of you know I don't get into politics.  Sure, I have mentioned Pete Seeger, tofu, and other things someone might associate with a liberal person.   But at the beginning of this blog I'm all about Capitalism.  Aren't the pinko lefties very much *not* into The Man?  Aren't the Hippies *not* into the big bucks?  Truth be told, I'm a mixed bag, Chad (name has been changed).

I'm into the hippy chic and so is the wonderful designer Jonathan Adler






Sunday, May 25, 2014

Travelin' Prayer

Some people are travelling this holiday weekend.  How apropros, then, is this video I finally uploaded from a few years ago.  In it, you will clearly see the early childhood educator and seasoned Music Together parent in me that gives my then-3-year-old child instruments of his own to use to play along with while his father plays the tune.

Such a bummer that where I live now doesn't have a Music Together franchise that is convenient.  Now, that is a quality program.




You'd think that I would have known that tune in the 80s since I was supposedly a big Billy Joel fan.  Leave it to Stango to pick the good, lesser played, more gemstone quality tunes from the repetoire.

I didn't own the Piano Man tape where "Travelin' Prayer" was on.  In fact, I didn't have all that many tapes.  My disposable income was limited and so I only had perhaps a box of tapes.  My music education continues even in 2014.

































Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The Volvo Station Wagon

My freshman year college roommate pulled up in one on the first day.  My first friend had one growing up.  My husband did, too.  Some of my earliest memories are of riding in the back of my childhood friend's rust colored Volvo station wagon with the bench seats facing each other.  It was probably a 1976 model.  Nothing replaces the unique look and feel of a vintage Volvo station wagon.  I'm not the only fan:  check out what these people had to say about it.   If you add on college decals, bumper stickers or, today's incarnation, magnets, you've got yourself one nifty vehicle.

Here's one I spotted around town recently. 

I wonder if I am supposed to blacken out the license plate.  I would but I don't know how to do that.  I don't know whose car this is; just saw it around town.

My personal preference is to see dancing bears or skeletons adorn the bumper of a vintage earlier than this example (which I am guessing is a '92 model.  Someone correct me if I am wrong), but it is still a lovely specimen.

And naturally what type of music sounds best coming out of a Volvo Station wagon?  You got it.  Some good ole Jerry.  For some reason I just don't think hip hop works.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

You say MOT, I say Landsman

When I learned the term "landsman" as a colloquialism for a fellow Jew, I really liked it.  For whatever reason, the more widespread term -- Member of the Tribe, or MOT -- didn't resonate as well with me.  Landsman just sounds better.

You can say landsman with a long "a" as in "Land's End" or with an "ah" sounding letter a like when you open your mouth at the doctor:  say ahhhh.

Roz Chast signing her new book

Here is a fellow landsman I met last night.  Roz Chast, illustrator and New Yorker cartoonist, came to Philly to talk about her new book Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant.  I love her work, and oh do we have what in common.  Brooklyn, Connecticut, even November birthdays!  As a landsman, she peppers in a lot of cultural Jewish stuff.  Sortof like Larry David or Woody Allen. Quite culturally Jewish.  And yet she appeals to a wider audience than just Landsmen.

Clearly from a secular background, she talked about how she doesn't believe in hocus pocus yet when she joined her children in a Oujia Board game and asked a question regarding the health of her ailing father, the board spelled out "heaven beckons."  She didn't say she's a believer because of that, but she did express a sense of "not sure how to make sense of that."  Hmm...truly a landsman with a spark inside no doubt.  Thanks Roz and way to go!

I tweeted that I felt like a youngin' among the crowd and that tweet was favorited by WHYY Radio Times.  Wow.  I am famous. 


Friday, May 9, 2014

Ribbit Robot on Goldeleh's Birthday

Here was us yesterday morning.

It was rainy.

Blueberries were involved.



Here is what 1st grade looks like.


Wow...Goldie is 1 year old!  Happy Birthday Goldeleh!

And while we're at it, my favorite Stevie Happy Birthday.  



What is a post without the good tunes?

Shabbat Shalom folks.  Parshat Bahar.  Shmita and it's a shmita kinda year coming up.  Speaking of which, check out my friends at The Shmita Project.  All good there.  For those of you unfamiliar with Shmita, you may save your expletives or jokes on that word.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Hey Mama, What's the Matter Here...Why You Treat Me Mean?

Well, Robert, if you want the answer to that, maybe it's as simple as:  No means no.  Perhaps said "mama" threw the beer in your face because she just didn't want to have anything to do with you.  And you didn't listen.

Of course, I'm just postulating.

But it's a good guess.  We all know the male species is driven by testosterone.

Even in 1972 when you recorded that tune, no meant no.  But maybe there wasn't a lot of awareness about it back then.  Contrary to today when accountability of universities regarding campus sexual assault is a timely news topic.

Still, I enjoyed "Black Country Woman" on the elliptical machine today.




 I do hope, though, that my boys won't have this attitude when the time comes.

Back when I had two boys.  Summer 2010.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Long Time Gone for a Baby To Nap

As my poor sweet baby cries away in his crib because he is so tired and can't continue sleeping without his mama by his side, I am grateful for this video I took just yesterday of him playing so peacefully.  He is engaged, interested, and curious.  He is human and healthy!  So grateful.  So not grateful for the sleep-deprived state we are both in at the moment.




Never saw CSN in concert.
Always wanted to.




That video is from the famous Woodstock concert you might have heard about.  It's the one my parents couldn't make due to my mother being pregnant with my brother.  At least that's the joke we always say.  No way my dad would have hung out with all those hippies.  My mom was busy singing along with Peter, Paul, and Mary and my guess is that if she was hanging out with other people at the time, she might have gone.  Reba's mother-in-law went.  So, that counts, right?  She still carries her ticket around in her wallet!

You know what they say, Man plans, Gd laughs.  The irony the irony.  They say things skip a generation?

Which reminds me there is a fun-sounding family and kids gathering this Sunday in Philly called Kidstock at Liberty Lands.  Just in case you had any pre-conceived notions that I might be a (cough, cough) hippy, no real earth mama would let her baby cry this long during the day to get down for a nap.

Since you asked, no that isn't a Moby Wrap, but good guess.  It is a NeoBulle and it is from Switzerland.  There are many, many wraps out there and the babywearers of the world are grateful for the Moby and its popularity!  Full disclosure:  I am not even terribly a huge wrapping geek, and only own 2 wraps!  The serious mamas out there are fully stashified and I am far from that.  But, I *am* in the market for a nice dressy slate or gray wrap for shul, so be on the lookout next time you see me at your friendly neighborhood synagogue.

BH.  Sleeping baby.

Friday, April 25, 2014

The Key to Good Hollie

Hollie is what my Grandpa Al called the traditional Sabbath bread also known as challah.  You know, that gutteral "ch."  Hollie to me is actually Holly, who is a new friend of mine.  (Hi, Holly!)

This week is the first Shabbat after Passover and an old but only recently popularized custom is that of the "shlissel challah" or , key challah.  The idea is that you bake a challah in the shape of a key, or, alternately, bake a key directly into the challah.  One of the explanations given is that the key will open up the gates of heaven for the next 7 weeks until the holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. 

Early this morning I remembered the shlissel challah, whipped up some dough, and even got the big kids to shape some loaves.  Glad they fit it in before the bus. 

I wonder if Grandpa Al knew of this custom or learned about it during his youth at Chaim Berlin Yeshiva.  For some reason, I doubt it.  But I know he would have chuckled at the joke my dear husband Stango offered up this morning as I pulled out the last loaves from the oven.  Something that I should do more often.  Shlissel while you work. 


no keys in here, but these are the loaves shaped by the 3 children shown above.  Nistar's is the top.  Ezra's is the bottom left, with help from his big sis.  Eli's is the bottom right.

Kinderlach's challahs baked and finished product

will be needing this spare house key!

for those who care about sepsis, indeed we wrap the key

I do the traditional three strand braid

wow, I had a manicure last week!

peekaboo, I see you, key!

I braid from the center.  See the key?

moving right along...


almost there
I flipped it over after braiding
I also shaped one in the shape of a key.  I brushed the loaves with an egg-oil-chopped onion-salt mixture.  Yummy onion taste, thanks again to dear Leah Shemtov for that tip

Whelp, that's all folks.  Thinking of Grandpa Al, and Grandma Martha, all of blessed memories, since I mentioned Grandpa Al above.  Hope they enjoyed my handiwork!  Good Shabbes to everyone on the planet and in the past in the future and all the energy bodies everywhere.

Here are my Grandma Martha and Grandpa Al, at my bat mitzvah, sitting in center.  Other dear family members include, from left to right, by couple:  Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Murray , Aunt Henny and later husband Dave, aforementioned Grandma Martha and Al , and Grandma Mayme and Grandpa Archie .  May all their memories be for a blessing.  Miss all these good people.  What a nice representation of families.