Friendship found, friendship lost...But how would you Know?

Have you ever had a friendship where it seems like there is more effort from one person to keep the friendship up?  I'm sure you have. We all have.  In general, I enjoy the company of most women I meet and can always find something to chat about.  I always try to find something good in everyone.   But the deeper friendship...there aren't too many people in the world that I have been friends with whom I have felt a really deep connection.  One that you can't really put into words.  All it really takes is one or two really good friends.

There is one person that I have known for close to twenty years, but I guess it had to take me to my 40th birthday to really let it sink in that we're not BFFs, to borrow a teeny bopper term.  Naturally, since we haven't lived in the same town for a while, I knew that we weren't best of friends.  Yet I am the person who always went to seek her out, visited her at her place, made the effort to make plans.  Maybe that's a sign of maturing, getting older, that I am trying to deal with this.  The whole Facebook thing doesn't really help.  We see each other every once in a while, maybe once a year, at events of mutual interest.  Usually we just bump into each other.

It's not fun and it's not easy.  I would rather we be closer friends.  I'd rather her visit or call.  I guess that's just not in the cards.  40 is good like that:  my life is otherwise full and vibrant.  Who needs the sadness of a friendship that was never really what I thought it could be?

And yet, after all these years I continue to think about it.

The 1st verse from Dylan's "He Was a Friend of Mine" makes me think of her.  She is alive and well, so the rest doesn't really apply.  But the 1st verse does.

(s)he was a friend of mine
(s)he was a friend of mine
Every time I think about (her) now
Lord I just can't keep from cryin'
'Cause (s) was a friend of mine



"Light," by Phish, a favorite tune of mine especially performed live, also reminds me of this friend.  Especially the less-often heard verse

Obstacles are stepping stones
That guide us to our goals
Fences are filters
That purify our souls

The song has great hope.  It makes me feel like whatever happens in life, this friend and I continue to be connected.  The obstacles that exist in the friendship are there for a reason and perhaps the reason why our friendship hasn't been more than I'd hoped is purposeful and the right thing for me.  Who knows, one day we may cross paths in a meaningful, lasting way.  Doesn't everything happen for a reason?

First There is a Mountain

"Then there is no mountain, then there is."  -Donovan

Pretty sad that I can't make it to Mountain Jam this year, which I really enjoyed last year and wrote about in my first and only piece on Kveller.

This quotation comes from the song "There Is a Mountain" which my friend Adam, ever the joyful Rainbow tribe family member (and holy hassid) introduced me to via his Happy Tapes.  Here is Donovan performing the tune in its original form.




And, further to my late-bloomingness (but who's really counting anyway), little did I know that the Allman Brothers did a pretty famous jam improvisation on their album "Eat a Peach" that they called "Mountain Jam"."  Hence, the name for the music festival that I am missing at Hunter Mountain.

Better late than never.  People write about this album and this jam like they were life-changing musical experiences.  I don't doubt that.

Reason #127 Why My Favorite Band Should Play in Israel

It has taken his entire career to make it to Israel, but former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart will be playing in Jerusalem this August.  He is performing as part of the Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival.  He is the only Jewish member of the Grateful Dead.

Mickey Hart  photo from Jpost.com

No doubt, Jewish Deadheads worldwide are kvelling.

I have said it before and I will say it again:  changes a' comin'.  This gives me hope that one day, my favorite band will make it to Israel.  (this isn't the time and place to say how the Grateful Dead leads me to Phish.  For just one convo on that topic, go here)

And despite that my sort of silly sort of not silly calculations that led me to predict that Phish would play there last December didn't come true, it still gives me hope.

Phish is celebrating 30 years this year...the time is now.

If not now, when?  -Hillel

It's Not About the Nail

Going viral as we speak.  Totally awesome short movie about male-female communications.

 

The Rebbe Elimelech

It's an old-world Yiddish tune, and we love it.  Here's Concealed Light on flute playing "Der Rebbe Elimelech," which, incidentally, was written in 1927.  And that year is a permutation of a number we hold so dear to our hearts (yeah yeah, we know the  prediction in that link didn't come true last Chanukah.  Still doesn't matter.  127 totally rocks).




Here are the words (in transliterated Yiddish...Stango will be very unhappy to see "nisht oys"...not a single Hebrew letter...so it goes) if you didn't check out the Wiki link I included above

Az der Rebbe Elimeylekh

Iz gevorn zeyer freylekh,

(Iz gevorn zeyer freylekh, Elimeylekh,)

Hot er oysgeton di tfilin

Un hot ongeton di briln

Un geshikt nokh di fidlers di tsvey.

Un di fidldike fidlers

Hobn fidldik gefidlt.

Hobn fidldik gefildt hobn zey!

(x2)

Az der Rebbe Elimeylekh

Iz gevorn mer nokh freylekh,

Iz gevorn mer nokh freylekh, Elimeylekh,

Hot er opgemakht havdole

Mitn shames Reb Naftole

Un geshikt nokh di payklers di tsvey.

Un di paykeldike payklers

Hobn paykeldik gepaykelt.

Hobn paykeldik gepaykelt hobn zey!

(x2)

Az der Rebbe Elimeylekh

Iz gevorn GOR SHTARK freylekh,

Iz gevorn gor shtark freylekh Elimeylekh,

Hot er oysgeton dos kitl

Un hot ongeton dos hitl

Un geshikt nokh di tsimblers di tsvey.

Un di tsimbeldika tsimblers

Hobn tsimbeldik getsimbelt.

Hobn tsimbeldik getsimbelt hobn zey!

(x2)

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Tonight we held our now-annual Cinco de Mayo fiesta supper celebration.  Exactly the type of stuff the kids are going to be embarrassed about in years to come.  (Or maybe they already are?)

Whatever Happened to Arsenio Hall?

Just as I'm sitting down to watch some classic "Coming to America," I couldn't help but wonder:  Whatever happened to Arsenio Hall?

I must have some vibe or something because just a couple of weeks ago, he posted the following video that shows him doing a focus group for his new syndicated show to appear on 9/9/13.




Doubtful that I'll watch it, but I'm glad to know he's alive and well.

Meantime, I think I need some Soul Glo

Remember Cinco de Mayo this Sunday!

Here's a relic from a couple of years ago.  And the first time here on Whole Phamily you see me, Ms. Rachel Molly Loonin, on video.  As I have expressed many times over, my blog is a combo of a lot of different things.  Here's a glimpse into Stango and Loony's life.  Let me know what you think.

When you post things of your kids they wouldn't appreciate

I like to think of myself as a loving mama.  I love my children and I love so much of what they do.  I respect their privacy but I am also so proud of some of their things.  Naturally, in this day and age I want to share them on the holy grail of the Internet.

For example.  After test-running the following image created by my beloved near-8 year old the Wolfman with our very special kin The Nunever, I made the executive decision to share on Facebook and Twitter.   The Nunever said it must have been one of my proudest mothering moments.  Indeed, I was kvelling.  Did the Wolfman specifically say don't share it?  No.  But if I asked him would he be happy?  Don't think so.

Still, mama's got to take liberties some time...

Nice...it got retweeted by YemBlog!

This is pretty darn good stuff for your typical Phish-loving mama.  Just don't tell the Wolfman about this.  And, if you do, tell him it's the least he can do for his mama who doesn't even celebrate the upcoming Hallmark holiday of Mother's Day.

Classic Tune All Jazzed Up

Growing up, I never heard the name Shlomo Carlebach.  Unknowingly, I knew one of his classic tunes "Veha'er Eineinu."  I think I heard it at a Chassidic Song Festival that my parents took me to in the late '70s.

Stango, my musical husband, raged this tune tonight on the piano.   Not to be missed!

Here is Shlomo singing his tune, just for comparison sake.  My preference is Stango's funkier one.

 

What? Me? Persnikedy?

As I mention from time to time, this isn't a Phish blog, but as a huge fan, I feel compelled to share this wonderful 2 minute clip from a recent interview on CBS Sunday Morning with Phish's lead guitarist, Trey Anastasio.  It shows Trey in such a real way - he loves his fans and that they give him the ability to feel  "openmindness...encouragement to take risks...a desire to go at least a little bit somewhere that is new and unexplored."

As I told the Nunever, the only persnikediness I feel is that I haven't been consulted personally on what I think are great ideas for the band, and that's no joke.

Which leads me to remembering a great lesson I learned this week..."Who is rich?   One who is happy with her lot." -Pirkei Avot

And though I have heard it many times over, the lesson learned is that everyone has a lot, or a portion.  No one will ever have everything.  We all get a portion.  So, perhaps my portion with regard to Phish is simply to enjoy where I am and what I have already experienced with this incredible musical outfit.

Trey Anastasio with CBS Sunday Morning's Anthony Mason     photo courtesy of liveforlivemsic.com

A Couple of Years Behind Schedule

I'll be truthful:  I don't know much about current popular culture.  For whatever reason I decided to finally catch up on the entire 8 years of Entourage, the hit HBO show about life in the Hollywood fast lane.  Putting aside the profanities and sex, I am actually pretty grateful for a lot of the stuff I'm learning from it.  And I'll be ready for the film they're making as a follow-up to the show.  It's been green-lit, so we should hope to expect it soon!

Put aside as well the question that looms through your mind, which is, "Why does Loony really need to poison herself with this meaningless shtuss?"

I don't really feel like defending myself, but first and foremost is all of the music I am hearing for the first time.    From Blind Melon to Jane's Addiction to LL Cool J, I am hearing some familiar tunes but also tons of music that I should know but don't.

With that, I leave you with some Funkadelic circa 1971, which appears at the end of Season 5.  Ya'd think a girl who loves going to see music would know this stuff already.  Think again.  And yet it's never too late to learn new things.  Indeed, I did see Bernie Worrell, an original Funkadelic member, perform a couple of years ago.

me with Bernie Worrell at a Steve Kimock show I think end of December 2011

Mama, I'm Hungry

Here is Stango the other day at the piano, playing "Al HaNisim" which is sung on Purim and Chanukah.  Purim is in less than two weeks, so we're getting ready.  Watch (or, yes you can admit it, skip) till the end when The Wolfman whispers a little thing to me.

Yidl Itzik aka Ed Koch, Of Blessed Memory

Just caught a glimpse of the most over the top Jewish funeral I have witnessed, that of the former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch z'l.  I had the privilege of working a temp job in the late 90s where Mayor Koch was renting some office space, so for a couple of weeks there I saw him come in and out of the office.  He was a great mayor.  I liked him.  The funeral was held at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.  I always know it was a shmancy Reform synagogue, and I was happy to see that the rabbi was wearing a kippa.  The irony, though, was that most of the other head-cover bearing men were members of the NYPD.  Not even Bloomberg was wearing one.

And then the casket escort of the synagogue out to the songs "New York, New York" and "Lullaby of Broadway."  As my friend Emily mentioned, it was like a Liza Minnelli concert.  We all joked how we couldn't help think about the Milford Plaza.

I'm glad I was able to catch his name during the memorial prayer.  Baruch Dayan emet to Yidl Itzik.

Stevie, You've Been on my Mind

A bit less than a year ago, I had Stevie Wonder on my mind, and now he's crept back in.  Why didn't I know his funky '70s stuff back in the day?  Stango said it's because I knew his newer stuff in the 80s, Ebony and Ivory and the like.

Now that I know it, I'll stick with the '70s funk.

 

This is from later, but it's got that leftover disco beat from the late 70s





And of course as a Phish loving mama (cuz they cover this tune), I can't forget Boogie On...





If you've gotten this far, here's the inspiration for this blog post title.  Bob, the prophet and poet, yet again saves the day.





Speaking of getting this far, if you're reading this, why not give a shout out and let me know your thoughts.  I feel like Rodney Dangerfield..."I don't get no respect!"  (meaning, I get little feedback and desire it!)

xoxo

Loony

It's a Fruit Rap

Every year around this time I try to find something fun for my children to watch about the birthday of the trees.  Usually  there's nothing great.  Not this year!

With Tu B'Shvat just around the corner this Friday night and Shabbat, you gotta check out this video.  My old friend Elana Greenspan is the talent behind it.  Actually she is my old friend Chana's friend but who's counting.

So cute!

And funny!

This is one great mama doing good things for her family and the world.  Love you Elana!

Only thing to improve is:  Let's see your smiling face, Elana!

Too Jewy For Youie

Really loving the newish neighborhood here in Philly, but I can't get Albert Brooks' line of being "too Jewy" from This is 40 out of my head.

Didn't sit well with me, but hey, that's Hollywood.  Hollywood's just Jewy enough to not be too Jewy.  Just ask good ole uncle Ralph about not being too Jewy.  What Wasp is gonna buy into Lifshitz?  Or wannabe Wasp who hides her Jewyness so well (Yes, Tory, I'm talkin' bout you, sister).

Lest you think I didn't like This is 40, stop right there.  Judd Apatow is basically a genious and I love his writing.  Boy can write.  And of course you might know by now my love for Paul Rudd.  All those years of drooling over Adam Sandler?  Gone?!  Now, finally, ever since I saw him on our honeymoon in Hawaii in 2002, it's all about the positive.  With Adam it was just so much negative.  With Paul, it's all happy and good.

I keep telling Stango that it would be nice to find some more like-minded friends around these parts.  Anybody else too Jewy around here?  The problem is most folks who are too Jewy are just too Jewy.  I'd need you to too earthy, too brainy, too pop culturey, too Gen-Xey, too hippy and still be all good with luxury and Louis.

Ok, if you dig Bottega, that's all good too.








And just because I can, here is the man who I have a very silly Hollywood crush on.  (Yes, I told Stango and he laughed).

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Jewperhero

Leave it to the clever Chabad youngin's - dare I say hipsteresque -  to come up with something like Jewperhero.  Moshe Kravitsky is putting out weekly videos of "The Moshe Show," in which he pounds the New York pavement and does Jewish outreach in his somewhat outlandish, extroverted heimish mitzvah-seeking, light-spreading comedic style that only a Chabad chassid can pull off.  Yasher koach, Moshe!


This video where he goes to Union Square and passes out dreidels is pretty funny.  Love the guy who spins the dreidel upside down on the subway, as if he's saying, "yeah yeah, I know the drill."  Moshe has chutzpah, stamina, and doesn't take no for an answer.  And he does it all in such a mentschluch way!

What a breath of fresh air in light of the Weberman verdict this week.  B'h that animal is going to the slammer where he belongs.  Sorry to bring you down but, as Deborah Feldman said, this court case was a true Chanukah miracle.  Ken yehi ratzon.

Good shabbos!  My challahs are just cooling off and it's fer sure time for bed!

Blues For Challah Setlist Recap

We're nearly done unpacking from Blues For Challah:  The Second Set, and what a weekend it was.  The Whole Phamily was so grateful to have the opportunity to provide social media services and onsite kids' programming to this weekend.  I hope that these efforts were successful.  Here are some highlights:

 Seth Rogovoy's presentation on Bob Dylan's link to Judaism was polished, well-delivered, and entertaining in its own right.  I wrote about Rogovoy's book earlier, but had no clue that his presentation would include live performance.  How happy was I when he confirmed my suspicions regarding the messianic theme of Quinn the Eskimo?!?   And even happier when I shared that Phish's rendition brings Quinn to a new level.





Meeting Michelle Esrick, the brainchild i.e. filmmaker behind the Wavy Gravy movie Saint Misbehavin', was a real treat.  We sat at the same table on Friday night and I was thrilled, since I am connected to challah baking, to be asked to explain the symbolism behind using two challot and salt at a shabbes table.  Her sister and I connected on mindfulness meditation.  I lamented I have yet to read Jon Kabet-Zinn's book on it that Stango gave to me already a few years ago.  Michelle's film was educational about Wavy Gravy's life and mission.  Because of the weekend's intimate setting, I couldn't have imagined a more perfect scene.  I loved that Concealed Light asked after the film's screening, "what's the big deal about Wavy Gravy?"  This film, therefore, opened the door for my 9 year old regarding the whys behind the 60s counterculture.  Sure, she knows we love Dylan and the Dead, and that we read plenty of books about MLK, Jr in February, but a two sentence explanation (end of Camelot, fight for Civil Rights, end of Baby Boom, the Beatles, Vietnam) was a good start.

Me and Michelle Esrick, producer/director of Saint Misbehavin'

Of course, I loved that Michelle expressed that her presence at this weekend was bashert and from Hashem (two terms she learned just this weekend).  Doesn't everything happen for a reason?  Hakol bashamayim hi.  (you can ask your rabbi what that one means).

Meeting Rabbi Moshe "Mickey" Shur finally was inspiring.  He grew up with Stango's close childhood friend's father.  We had long-heard of Berman's dad's hippy cum frum friend.  I was thrilled to see that, even though I didn't know him when he knew Wavy Gravy while living in San Francisco in the 60s, he maintained his open, loving, laid-back, funny, warm vibe that was clearly a product of those years.

Saturday night jam:  a bunch of participants brought out their guitars, drums and voices for a really fun homegrown Dead jam.  What an interesting mix of people.  The diversity of Jewish folks is captured in this brief video where we see Rabbi Moshe "Mickey" Shur's son on vocals (long payos dude).





Stango was most impressed by Arthur Kurtzweil's presentations on lyrics.  He was also the keynote speaker.  Stango liked that he got to the real truth on a high intellectual plane without fluff, pretense, or glamour.  That's my husband for ya.

I ran the kids groups for which I received positive feedback.  We made centerpiece tablescapes for the dining room tables with Duplos .  We acted out a play about the parsha with the parts of Yaakov, Eisav and Hashem.  We read the parsha story.  We visited the goats.  We ate fantastic snacks provided by Isabella Freedman.  We dressed up as turtles, pirates and creative play silk creatures.  We read books about being a young farmer.  We played Uno and Zingo.   We enjoyed Pez as a Shabbes treat which was cleared ahead of time with the program director (since I am sensitive to the healthy food vibe at Isabella Freedman; I am, after all, an advocate of drinking raw milk and eating fermented foods), though it wasn't for everyone.

photo from jkrglobal.com

Pez at a Dead show is just so much fun, so that was where I was going with that.  Or just a couple of Mike and Ike's.  But I don't know if the kids fully understood that this was very specific to being at a Dead show.  They likely just saw it as candy.

Here are some more photos and footage.

Stango and Concealed Light at Dead Jam

Stango and The Nunever.  Rodeo!  Note the lovely Gucci scarf.

these guys knew how to jam!  Another son of Rabbi Shur and Rabbi Jeff Hoffman

Concealed Light felt stifled that she couldn't read chords.  Clearly was too tired to improvise and jam, which I know she is capable of.

 And how is it that I always thought this was a Peter, Paul and Mary song?

 


What a success!  Hope to join again next year!

Jewish Relief Agency: A Miesian Out of the Box Concept

This video brings a lump to my throat.
I am so honored that I know some of the folks responsible for this amazing food-relief agency in Philly.
And I know that if ever we needed the help, we could get it from JRA.

 

Just tonight I was looking at a book entitled 50 Bauhaus Icons You Should Know.  Not too impressed, but I always thought that Mies van der Rohe coined the concept of thinking out of the box.  Didn't think my memory was shot yet, but I found little online to back myself up.  Not that I'm wrong.  And isn't he also credited with "form follows function"?  Yet the wiki entry gives credit to Louis Sullivan.  Must be my 40 year old brain talking.

JRA calls their video Beyond the Box, and I'm good with that.

But the founders of the agency are out-of-the-box thinkers, whether they're interested in the Bauhaus or not.

Lawsuit Filed Against Gay Conversion Therapy Group

Chaim Levin, along with three other gay plantiffs, filed a civil suit today against a JONAH, a New Jersey-based therapy organization, claiming their methods of trying to change their sexual orientation were fraudulent.  The New York Times writes, " the former clients said they were emotionally scarred by false promises of inner transformation and humiliating techniques that included stripping naked in front of the counselor and beating effigies of their mothers."

I have known of Chaim Levin for about a year now.  He is doing very important work and I have the utmost respect for him.  It was very recently that I ruminated over how to keep my children safe from child predators.  As I told Chaim on his Facebook page this evening, I admire him for his kind, level-headed, peaceful demeanor.  No one likes an angry activist (tendencies which I have and need to work on, admittedly), but Chaim is such a wonderful orator and writer.  I know he will succeed no matter what the outcome.  He's a real mentsch.  

I do worry about how the world will view Orthodox Jews as a result of this press.  Naturally, I believe this therapy is a terrible thing and that this awful experience should be given justice.  Yet there are those folks who jump at every opportunity to put down Jews, especially the Orthodox ones.  Don't you have a cousin who thinks that all Orthodox Jews are smelly swindlers who force their wives to shave their heads?  Evidence of forcing young adults to try to change their gay orientation with quackery therapy doesn't look good.  But that doesn't mean it should be kept locked up in a box.  Quite the contrary, as Chaim and his co-plaintiffs are proving.

My hope is that this will ultimately help strengthen the Jewish community.  And that those rabbeim crooks individuals who have gotten away with abusing innocent kids in yeshivas for years, thereby turning people away from their rich heritage, will be exposed and excommunicated.  And that the vibrant percentage of our world that is gay can live in health, happiness, success and harmony.  Because we all deserve to get to the Garden of Eden.

As I mentioned in the past, it is the Golden Age of Miracles, right?

The Green Bubbie and I Wish You a Happy Thanksgiving

I loved the Green Bubbie's photo wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  She just took a trip out to Utah and became buddies with Smokey.

courtesy of The Green Bubbie (tm)

And now the Whole Phamily wishes you a Happy Turkey Day.

The Wolfman's Brother from 2008; handmade Turkey costume by aunt Reba

Sadly we won't be spending the holiday with Reba, my dear sister, who made these fantastic festive costumes 4 years ago.

Concealed Light, then age 5, with her aunt Reba, the best sister and aunt a girl could ever dream of!

Thankfully though, we have our special spot at the parade.
Praying that it is still accessible.

Stango at least year's parade with the cross-dressing clowns.

And we'll be missing our first cousins who normally join us at the parade.  This year they are heading to a warm spot for Thanksgiving.  As I told my sis-in-law, drink a strawberry daquiri.  Have me in mind.  I'm yotzay.

Goobers and The Wolfman's Brother, then age 4.  And Spiderman.

In case you  missed my Thanksgiving chocolate lollipop post a while back, I'll be so proud of my forward-thinking-ness when I bust these out tomorrow morning.

Gobble gobble!  

And we of course remember our brothers and sisters in Israel who are not having it easy right now.

Had To Cry Today, Yep I Got the Faith!

Looking at that subject heading, you thought I cried today?  Had a g'shrai?

I'm talking Steve Winwood sang the life-changing "Had To Cry Today,"  the other night at The Greek.

It's already written that today will be one to remember
The feeling's the same as being outside of the law
Had to cry today
Well, I saw your sign and I missed you there

-Blind Faith

Many thanks to Mr. Bob Lefsetz who continually informs about the music industry.  He heard Steve belt this one out the other day.  About it, Bob says: 

"it connected in a way regular life never did...so as to believe that everything truly could be right with the world, that someone got it, and if we could just go on the road with the band our lives would be perfect."     -Bob Lefsetz

These are pretty powerful words.  Bob knew the scene back in '60s and, from my layperson's perspective, knows the commercialized music scene today.  Music wasn't just a magic carpet ride to an imaginary place, but the young music fans believed wholeheartedly that the music would transform their existence, their country, their planet.  The messages found in music like Winwood's are still fresh and powerful.  Maybe we're not roadies, but we can still apply these words to our daily lives.  Anyway, I like my flannel sheets from the Company Store.  They don't have those on tour.

Do you see or not see someone's sign and ever "miss you there"?

I wonder if Jason Flom, a music industry executive whose daughter I had the pleasure of teaching in the late '90s, respects Bob's insights.  I mean, I  think they're good.  I think historically Jason has been a successful outside-of-the-box thinker in the music biz.   

But, Jason was there, too, well, at least in the 70s. He gets the spirit of the '60s, for sure.  Just don't have peanuts on your breath if you ever have the chance to meet him because he's got a severe peanut allergy.  You'd know that, too, if you kept up with your New Yorker readings.

Here's an incredible preservation of Blind Faith's only live recording of "Had to Cry Today," and their first gig, to boot!

This is an important video for all peoples to view in its entirety.

 

Note Steve's purple shirt.
If you can groove along to this tune, we have stuff to talk about.

Stand With Israel

What a week for the Jewish people and our brothers and sisters in Israel.  Especially a pregnant woman.  "Must be careful with the information coming out from Hamas," is what Mark Regev states.  How true.  I am amazed by all of the wonderful information I get via my friends' Facebook posts.  This one in particular came highly recommended and is worth a watch.

Shabbat Shalom parshat Toldot.

Elmo, the Count and Sesame Street Connections

Of course, the news of sexual allegations by Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash is disturbing, and I certainly hope and pray that these are, indeed, just allegations.  As you know, lately I have been ruminating about child predators and how to keep my own children safe.  I remind myself of the old dictum "innocent until proven guilty."

Yet, H. Melvin Ming, the president and chief executive of Sesame Workshop assured the New York Times that, as with the passing of Jim Henson and, this year, the Count, the brand will endure after this incident.

Wait...that Count passed away?

That's right, folks, Jerry Nelson, the man who played Count von Count for nearly 40 years, passed away on August 23, 2012, at the age of 78.  That makes me sad, very sad.  And, how exactly did I miss that last summer?

courtesy of HLNTV.com

(no need to worry about the Count, he lives on via the expertise of Muppeteer Matt Vogel)

And, now...the connections.

Mr. Nelson debuted his character on November 27, 1972. Just two days before my birth!
And he passed away just one day before Concealed Light's birthday.

I'm no brain scientist, Torah scholar or musical prodigy but this is the kinda stuff that pretty much blows me away.

And just because this video is 1:27 in length (a number I simply love, see here for more despite that my prediction is null and void and yeah I'm ok with that), I shall share it with you:



If you thought I was gonna share an Elmo video, you gotta be kidding me.

Whole Phamily Takes the Crew on the Road

In case you might have missed our most recent gig Camping with My Kids & a Whole Bunch of Jam Bands  last June, you all have a second chance to join up with the Whole Phamily crew in just a few weeks!

We are so thrilled to be a part of Blues for Challah:  The Second Set, a "weekend-long workshop exploring the spiritual and mystical aspects of the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan," writes Seth Rogovoy on his Rogovoy Report.  Whole Phamily is heading up the programs for children on Friday night and Shabbat morning.

In case you were wondering, my friendly friends, this is a pluralistic event, welcome folks of all persuasions (but a love of the Grateful Dead is sorta the point...). You don't have to be Jewish, but it don't hurt to be, neither. And, in case you were wondering, my frum friend or relative (yep, Heshy, I'm talkin' to you), this is, indeed a shabbaton.  Just different than my 8th grade experience.   I have desired to attend an event at Isabella Freedman and its affiliate Elat Chayyim since the mid '90s, living as a single working woman on Upper West Side.  It is finally, baruch hashem, coming to fruition!  And on the cusp of mine and Stango's 11th wedding anniversary and right after my birthday, no less.  Someone is surely watching over us for the good.

 C'mon Children! Shabbat Fun for Kids

Pipe cleaner creations and a fun food craft are among just the many exciting things we have planned for kids of all ages.  Concealed Light, The Wolfman and the Wolfman's Brother will be there ready to have a whole lot of fun with all the kids.  We'll sing classic tot-shabbat tunes, do puppet shows and read stories.  We will talk about that week's torah portion, Vayishlach, in an interactive way and maybe even make up a skit about it!  Who knows, maybe kids will even get to borrow their very own Pez dispensers as a shabbat treat on Friday night.  Parents, just be chill with the food coloring, ok?  It's 12 tiny pieces of candy!  And if the goats are willing, maybe we'll take a walk over and say 'mehhhhh!  So much more can and will happen.  Anyone under the age of 21 who is shlepped along for this epic shabbaton is a lucky one and for sure should be grateful!

Stango will likely be found during those times in the shul, but off-the-record will be available for any brain-talk-walk therapy and of course discussion of chassidus and Jerry that folks might be interested in.

For more info, read what Seth Rogovoy wrote on his blog regarding the event.
(remember when I reviewed Rogovoy's book on Dylan?)

Or what Josh Fleet wrote in his Huffington Post coverage.

All-inclusive prices, which include farm-to-table food and wine and lodging, begin at $233 for the 2-night event.  EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION DISCOUNT EXTENDED UNTIL TODAY NOVEMBER 9, 2012!

For more info check out Blues for Challah:  Second Set.

Have a good Shabbes, have a good show!

Nor'easter this week...Cold, Rain & Snow

My heart goes out to those folks who are still without power due to Hurricane Sandy.  The conditions are unfathomable.

And now we're expecting a nor'easter in Philly?  I'd rather be where those chilly winds don't blow.

Here's a little ditty from 32 years ago, almost to the date...

Baruch Dayan Emet: Larry Bloch

The man who created the club the Wetlands in lower Manhattan, Larry Bloch, passed away on Sunday of pancreatic cancer, the Bratteboro Reformer reports.  The Wetlands was a place that allowed me to get my own feet wet in the jam band scene.  Admittedly, I didn't go nearly as much as I should have, but I knew that it was the place to be and wished I went more.  Still somewhat in-the-box and not having a group of friends to venture with to Tribeca from the Upper West Side, I saw just a handful of shows in my early 20s at The Wetlands.  But these shows provided a foundation from which I was able to build and grow strongly in the appreciation of live music.

Larry Bloch was a trailblazer and built an institution in a neighborhood that, at the time, was so undesirable that who knew Tribeca would become what it is today.  He created a space that allowed people to learn more about two great things in life:  environmental activism and good ole' fashioned rock-n-roll.

May Larry Bloch's, son of Ephraim and Miriam, memory be for a blessing.

I loved flipping to the ad section of The Village Voice and looking at the bands where were playing that week.   Usually it was the Zen Tricksters.  Often it was bands I had never heard of and never went to hear.

Thank you for being an enabler.
Larry enabled folks to hear great music.
Larry enabled folks to care about the earth.

These are two very good things, and for those who are in the know, you know what I mean.

Come Together, Right Now, Judæo-Tat

Y'ave heard of Yiddish.
Y'ave maybe heard of Ladino.
Ya've less likely heard of Judæo-Tat aka Juhuri.

My friend Zita came to this country at the age of 3.  Her family is from Azerbaijan.  This is where Jews of the eastern Caucasus mountains lived.  She grew up speaking Juhuri.  Not Russian, as I mistakenly thought.

Neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi:  Zita is of Mizrachi descent, from a country that was Arab-ruled.  Her family comes from no place of European origin:  like Indian, Iranian, Syrian and other locales, she comes from a community of the East.

Having studied in Israel during college, I learned of mizrachim years ago, but it is a sad state of my affairs that I have simply forgotten about them.  It has just been too long, and perhaps I have become so America-focused to my detriment.  Plus, the presence of mizrachi Jews is overshadowed in the United States greatly by the prevalent Ashkenazi culture.  Most Americans know about matza balls.  Savvy New Yorkers (who aren't so strict with their kashrut) certainly know of the scrumptious chicken in the pot at 2nd Avenue Deli.  But who knows about tchorba?

Remember when Amit Women used to be called Mizrachi Women's Organization of America?  I wonder and sortof doubt that any of my new friends at the recent Amit Women Saks' event discoursed about this.  Why would they?  Belts and bags are a lot more interesting!

For thousands of years we have been dispersed.  We have so many various cultures and customs.  All this is nice and dandy, but isn't it time we just merge back together so we're just Jewish?

Teach Your Children Well

Thanks, David Crosby, Steven Stills and Graham Nash for that reminder.  My latest and greatest fear?  Child predators.  I can't shake the infamous Diff'rent Strokes molestation episode from my childhood.

Why, then, you might ask would I slap my sweet children all over the Internet with yesterday's post that I might consider posting a video a day of them on Whole Phamily?

Because I'm worried not about the Internet psychos but the folks we already know. We all know by now that kids are often abused from within - the pervy family friend, coach, teacher or uncle.  Or, in this case, the Bicycle Man.

In the past few years, numerous stories have surfaced within the Jewish community, mostly in New York that I have heard, and my thought was:  what are people doing to spread awareness among Philly frum Jews?  By now, we have heard the plights of Chaim Levin, Deborah Feldman (both of whom were distanced from Yiddishkeit and were sexually abused)  and The Agudah's attempts to downplay any mention.   I applaud the work of Rabbi Mark Dratch and Jsafe (Rabbi Dratch was my first teacher of gemara - excellent at that - we learned Baba Mitziah with Cabbage Patch Dolls as the example); indeed there are those who are addressing the issue.  (btw I realize a lot of my info comes from the NYTimes and therefore I have a wacky, warped view of the world especially when it comes to sleazy men who touch innocent children's bodies and covet pictures of them from disgusting, pathetic child porn sites that, baruch hashem, I have never laid eyes on.  Yuck.  Big yucky stuff.  Can't I just get cozy with a bowl of split pea soup and flanken under my flannel sheets?).

Since Philly frum is a traditionally a heavily Agudah-influenced community (I have zero desire for my sons to study at the Talmudical Yeshiva of America, the  "Harvard of yeshivas," as it were.  Considering they are a legacy at the Harvard of Harvards, they have a better chance of getting in the Cambridge, Massachussetts institution anyway), my concerns aren't unfounded.  The Agudah pushes controversial issues like this under the rug, encourages its community to follow the herd and erect higher fences behind which to live as frum.  Now there are more "modern" people here, and you know what happens then:  people have ideas.  Uh-oh, time to get thee to Pier 1 Imports for a larger rug.  (Note:  I know of zero cases and I hope and pray that no kids are getting abused or have gotten abused in the Philadelphia frum world, I'm just saying it is a statistical possibility.  Just sayin'.)

(By the way, I gotta say I love that line that my husband went to the Harvard of Harvards.  I love that I daven for the day my husband will learn at the Yale of yeshivas in Israel, or, chus v'shalom, the Princeton of Yeshivas.  Perhaps the Gush qualifies?  I imagine he will seek out the revered and very learned Rabbi Daniel Sperber, a Talmud chacham in his own right.  Or perhaps Rabbi Weiss-HaLivni.  Or perhaps he will find a chavrusa  in mamaloshen in Meah Shearim, which would really float Stango's boat!   Please god one day we will make it, and it's too bad he'll never get to the Harvard of Yeshivas but they wouldn't want him anyway because his wife is too much of a rabble-rouser.  Anyone reading this drek, anyway?)

Which leads me to a wonderful article which appeared last week by Lenore Skenazy where she recommends her always-level headed approach.  Her central idea is to teach our children to:

Recognize it:  no one can touch you where your bathing suit covers
Resist it:  Scream.  Fight.  Run
Report it (and that we will never be upset if they do)

Leave it to Lenore to put it all in perspective...my kids have a greater risk of (god forbid) dying in a car crash than being sexually abused.  Reminds me of our pediatrician's similiar thought process that kids have greater risk of dying in a car crash than getting chicken pox (we still gave varicella because PA law requires it).

Easier said than done, and I'm still worried, but I will heed CSN's advice and remind myself that as a parent I am my children's most important teacher.  Instead of writing to rabbis and community leaders to be aware of the issue of child predators and what are you doing in your Orthodox environments to protect the kids, (I wasted a whole morning and afternoon collating, formatting and putting together the 10-page contact list of Philadelphia rabbis and shul executive directors), I will worry about my own daled amot and attempt to teach my own children well.

Glad to "whisper words of wisdom" and just let this issue be  (see below).  And if you don't like "Mother Mary" just substitute in your own mind the words "Mother Miriam".  Since this blog is an Internet whisper anyway.  Though I do think my ideas are full of wisdom.  Consider that, talmudic scholars.  That includes you, Rabbi Kaminetsky (no implications, again, however the organizations with which you align repeatedly seem, at least to my innocent bystander eye, to want to not let the cat out of the bag).

Oh, I forgot to mention:

GOOD SHABBES!    Shabbat shalom.  May it be gevaldik, leibidik, the holiest, the most menuchadik, any -dik (just don't tell that to the child molester) sabbath that you have ever experienced.  May it give you a taste of m'ayn olam haba.  Yeah, right, all that jazz.

Perhaps I can learn from this week's parsha Va'era where Abraham our forefather, Avraham Avinu, had the ultimate commitment to and belief in God, when Hashem said jump, Avraham said, "how high?" and was about to sacrifice his own son just because the holy one above said said.  Maybe I should just have more faith that this will all be ok and my children will be protected and safe and good and even if they don't get into their father's alma mater that is ok, too (trust me, the legacy comment earlier was somewhat ridiculous...it's not like we're blue bloods or have a long legacy, and don't they even say now that legacy doesn't really do diddily squat anyway, and yes my oldest is is 4th grade and no I am not a helicopter parent and I disdain all of the homework out there these days and tell my children don't do it all if it's too much).

They could always do what I did, anyway, which is marry in to the ivy league, to which I honestly do believe, what is the BFD?  In all honesty to tell you the truth I prefer what James Altucher believes which is college ain't that great anyway.  Make a buck and be able to pay your bills (those are my words).

I just hope they never get molested.

Whole Phamily Features Her Family!

Original content is always coveted...

till now Whole Phamily has been my original ideas, connections, etc...

maybe that's not working.

How about featuring short videos of my family?  Who the heck is interested in that?  I mean, my children's art teacher *did* recently write how wonderful they all are...




And for those of you who didn't catch the "gum gum" reference...
(note;  poor quality, likely not fer realz on YouTube due to copyright issues...

Rachie, I Got a Feelin' We Ain't in Kansas Anymore

This lovely catalog arrived at my Philadelphia suburb door today.  More than a year out of New York City living, and I have never seen Stanley and Saul Zabar looking so geshmak.

From the cover of the Zabars catalog

With all of the stories today of the post-Sandy hard times people are having getting around via mass transit (what?  you're riding around in a Lincoln Town Car?  Escalade?  fuhgetaboutit), I admit I am glad to live in relative ease on the Main Line.  I told my own sister, Reba, just to stay home and don't even consider her 4 hour commute (yes, one-way) from Brooklyn to the Bronx for her pre-grad school course at Lehman College today.

Still, I miss The Big Apple tremendously, and the arrival of this piece of mail from the iconic New York food store brought a huge smile to my face.  I can almost smell the freshly-sliced Jarlsberg.

Times They Are a Changin'

Just read that Fire Island was devasted.  No storm since 1938 has caused more damage than Sandy.  I can't help but think that this hurricane is a reminder that we are in a period of change.  Call it climate change, call it whatever you want.  The times, they are a changin'.

Here is Stango doing a Whole Phamily cover of that iconic tune when we were apple picking a couple of weeks ago.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

An industrious Gen-Z-er is liveblogging the hurricane here, where I read a post that Dylan's tune Hurricane is the best hurricane song ever.  Except that it is a protest song, nothing to do with the weather.

Still, check it out. And remember how good we've got it when put in perspective.

Thank you, John Travolta.

In all seriousness, keep safe and sound as we weather what Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy stated tonight as "the largest threat to human life our state has experienced in anyone's lifetime."  I hope and pray for my family who lives there, as well as for everyone in the vicinity of Hurricane Sandy.

And now it's time for some Greased Lightenin'.

Plucked an eyelash from a very unsuspecting place

Due to youthful genes, physical signs of aging have alluded me until very recently.  Until a few months ago when I started conveniently ignoring the eyelash that started to grow from the inner corner of my eye.  You know that place, the place where all the crusty stuff gathers.  But in my aging body, an eyelash decided to grow there.  Every time I looked at it I would say to myself, "say it ain't so!"  But, so it is, and I took out my super duty pointy tweezers, risked poking myself in the eye, and plucked that sucker out.  Good thing my hands are steady.  For now.  Who knows, as I get older maybe I'll develop parkinsonian (PD) tendencies and get the shakes.  Or maybe more eyelashes will grow in more unsuspecting spots.  Or my eyesight will, god forbid, get worse and I won't even be able to see that close up.

I guess it could be a lot worse.  A lot.  At least I have discovered threading.  Now *that* is a godsend!

And so, dear, friends, this reminds me about the crux of it all...if we can't physically be youthful, we can surely embody it in spirit.  The Nunever said to me recently that I am 40 going on 14.  I'll take it!

Naturally I turn to my favorite band which, as the PurpleGirl said in recent memory, makes her feel young when she listens to them.  Couldn't agree more.

"All my vasoconstrictors, they come slowly undone.

Can't this wait 'till I'm old, can't I live while I'm young?"

Click on 1:55 to get to that very youth-inspiring lyric and most excellent energy. 

Good Shabbes!  Lech lecha on tap.

Blackbird Pizzeria: Philly's 1st Vegan Pizza

Why it has taken us more than a year of living in Philadelphia to get to this gem of a restaurant is beyond me. Yet, as I often stress in this teensy corner of the blogosphere, I do believe all in its right time.  Everything happens for a reason and there must be a reason why it has taken us this long.

Coming from a love of Cafe Viva in New York, Blackbird Pizzeria takes the proverbial cake (I mean pie).  Clean.  Delicious.  Eco-friendly (they actually compost their compostable disposable cutlery, cups and plates!).  Nice bathroom.  Soy-free friendly (the vegan cheese used on pizza is scrumptious, even the Wolfman said he couldn't tell the difference except a little bit of texture, AND I can eat it because it is soy-free!).

Did I say delicious?
That everything we ate tonight was delicious?

That everything included:

• Harvest pizza
• plain pizza
• sauteed greens
• full basket hand-cut fries
• creamy sweet potato soup
• root beer bbq wings with pineapple salsa
• mint cream whoopie pie

Did I say the staff was friendly, kind, courteous, patient with our questions regarding soy ingredients?

Just a ditty of other reasons why Blackbird is AMAZEBALLS

• They filter their tap water!  (we're good with plain 'ole, but whoo hoo on the filtering!)
• The whole-wheat crust is tasty, tasty, tasty!
• Ample healthful choices of pizza that even our children loved!
• Amazeballs sauteed greens as a side.
• Even more amazeballs hand-cut fries.  ("Oh, they're just fried in canola oil," said a nice chef.  Just.  JUST.  On this vegetable-oil laden east coast we live in, this is a soy-free mama's dream!)
• It's kosher*!
• They have a washing cup at their sink (for kosher folks this is a huge plus)

*naysayers, feel free to scroll down to the bottom for my comments on that

Can we just order the whole menu please?

Yeah, we'll take that, too.

I know these blurry menu photos don't do it justice, but every.single.thing.on.the.menu is outta this world!

And now at the end of this blog I address you, the Kosher naysayer.  Here's what I got to say, and I put it small because it is not to deter you from eating at Blackbird...a REAL gem of a place that any smart kosher consumer who likes delicious, wholesome, and yes kosher food should patronize:

Stango and I are all good with the "questionable" hashcacha.  Yes, we are well aware that the "IFC" which is what certifies this joint is akin to a mail-order Chinese bride.  Ok, ok, not really.  But you get my point.  No, there is no on-site maschkiach there.  Already we are now way outside the mainstream that we're good with that.  Do I really need to rant on my feelings about the kosher politics out there?  Or should I say politricks?

We need to come together in these dark days, not separate, in order to get towards the light!

The composting of their items is a huge boon on my book...what kosher place have you ever seen that does this?  (I mean, on the east coast, and in the mainstream frum world?)
Of course I believe fully their food is kosher.
The issue of bishul akum, pas yisroel, and insect-checking in vegatables are, well, issues, but that doesn't stop us from eating at Blackbird because, well, because we are very comfortable with the standards held by the proprietors.  We also keep in mind that the frum world at-large has taken on more and more chumras and general stringencies.  


Blackbird Pizzeria

507 South 6th Street  Philadelphia, PA 19147 (215) 625-6660 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            (215) 625-6660      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Utica Club Beer & A Concert

Far from being a beer-lover, I wonder where exactly did my fascination with Utica and its epynomous beer begin?

1999:  When I worked for LexisNexis, I went to Utica, New York for a business trip that included a two-night stay.

Needless to say, the best hotel in town wasn't the Four Seasons.  At the time I wasn't aware of the Matt Brewing Company.

Matt brews the more contemporary Saranac Beer.  I could have gone to the brewery after my work day of training attorneys on executing legal research on a fun brewery tour, but to no avail.

 Instead, I drove out to the local suburb of New Hartford that my mother (who grew up in Syracuse) told me about and found little excitement.  Not much going on in Utica...why I didn't know about Matt Brewing Company then is beyond me!

2000:  Stango and I drove through Utica to enter the Adirondack State Park, and I shopped at a Kmart for a last-minute bathing suit.

2009:  Sat next to a guy at a Phish show wearing an original vintage Utica Club delivery shirt.  Nice specimen!  Thought I might procure a similar one on Ebay, to no avail.  Sadly I didn't take his photo.

2010 (January) The New York Times features Utica's Union Station, which still stands.

2010 (summer):  Meet older gentleman in former community house in town of Bloomingdale, NY who runs antique store.  He grew up in Utica and grew up drinking this beer.

He didn't like big city life and married a girl from the Adirondacks where he raised a family and retired.  He had his wedding ceremony in this community house (looked like an old social hall) 50 years earlier.

2010  (fall):  Phish performs a show in Utica at Utica War Memorial.

 Trey Anastasio mistakenly mentions "Genesse beer factory" which is an old beer from Rochester but meant "Matt Beer Factory" in "Cities"

2011, 2012:  Look in many stores in Adirondacks for Utica Club, to no avail, it is not found.

We bought a Genesse beer instead and I used it in my cholent last week.

I know there is something brewing with Utica Club, I just can't say exactly what!

Indeed, I just learned that.moe, a jam band I have never seen perform, (but have listened to a bit and like) is playing near Utica this weekend, sponsored by the Matt Brewing Company.  Last weekend they played at the brewery itself.

Smith Opera House
82 Seneca Street
Geneva, NY  14456
315-781-LIVE

You can get tickets here