Don't Look Back. Or Maybe I Should!

Grant Hall intercepts a Wolves attack

This is a photo taken from my season ticket seat in the upper tier with a compact camera at the last QPR home game. It's not bad. It's probably not as good as I used to be, but I don't get to practice that much. 

Why do I still take pictures, even though nobody uses them and they are mostly rather pedestrian? I say to myself that I am keeping my eye in. I think it's probably being a bit of a fangirl. I suspect I may kind of miss the good old days when I used to be on the pitch, and had a proper photographer's view of the action.

Possibly it is time for a kick in the pants, ravaj! If I had wanted a longer career as a football photographer, why did I give it up and go to rabbi school? I was very clear at the time, saying to anyone who would listen that when I was older and looked back on my career, I didn't want to see that all I had done amounted to some random bits of newspaper floating in the wind. I wanted to look back and see a life that had been useful and hopefully made a positive difference.

It's all very well being nostalgic for the "good old days". However, if I'm going to look back, then perhaps it's better to agree that I had some great experiences, enjoy some of those memories, and then turn to the question - if I am waxing so nostalgic, what is that telling me about now? What is the problem that needs to be addressed!

John Elway at Wembley Stadium

Nu, hurrah that I got to see the Denver Broncos play at Wembley in 1987 (1987, how can that be 29 years ago already?!). 

I've seen great moments at the Oval ...

Sir Viv clean bowled

... photographed icons at Wimbledon ...

Jimmy Connors

...  & in the theatre.

The Cherry Orchard 1989 with Dame Judi Dench

I've been welcomed by people at their office ...

Kermit with his boss

... and have been thrown out of Hammersmith Odeon by another (I'm looking at YOU Joan Baez).

accidental double exposure after reusing Baez slide film for Arlo

Lots of stories to tell. Meanwhile, it's time to stop procrastinating, look forward, and go do my Italian prep for my class on Monday. A presto!

Tu Bishvat Greetings

an oldie but a goodie!

Nu, yesterday I was interviewed by a class of 7-year-olds in their Religion School who wanted to know what rabbis do. They asked some great questions, the very first of which was 'do you ever make mistakes in your Hebrew?' (Of course, I said, but the more I practice, the fewer there are!)

A girl at the back asked why I'd wanted to become a rabbi. I found that both easy and terribly difficult to answer. The easy part was telling them that my father had been a rabbi and rather a good one IMO so I wanted to follow his example. At some point, I don't remember when, I must have mentioned that he had died some time ago.

What felt more difficult was how to explain why I love what a rabbi does. I looked at the class, and saw the plastic pots on the tables filled with dark earth into which they'd just planted cress and sprout seeds. I said to them that the best part of being a teacher was that you get to plant seeds and help them to grow, but instead of putting them in the earth, we get to plant them in the hearts and minds of our students. I wasn't sure if I'd explained it well enough. A boy in the middle raised his hand with what looked like an urgent question. His teacher called on him. He looked at me and said gently, "I'm sorry about your Dada."

Happy Tu Bishvat!

Cool David Bowie Tributes

When Elvis died there was no Internet. We read the newspapers and cut out the reports and obituaries. And we watched the news on TV. For a couple of days.

David Bowie has died. The first single I ever bought was Space Oddity (the second time round). I listen to at least one of his songs on the radio most days of the week. Everyone has such a lot to say about this death. What a lucky man, to be so loved and respected. How lucky we are, those of us who have enjoyed and will enjoy his work.

Here are a couple of photo tributes that caught my eye:

(What used to be called the) Hammersmith Odeon

The many incarnations of David Bowie from a Whovian perspective

kol hakavod to those who thought up this stunningly brilliant liturgical play on Lecha Dodi

Finally, he's just so charming when Jonathan Ross tries his best to get something juicy out of the interview:

With condolences to family and friends who knew and loved him, may his memory be a blessing.

PS  follow the link for Space Oddity for an unexpected treat
PPS Just seen link and wanted to share it with you all:

In Memoriam: David Bowie, 1947-2016 from Billboard

Angouleme Grand Prix Lacks Women Nominees

Who is going to start the French branch of Laydeez Do Comics?

Shared from the BBC website:

French comics festival marred by sexism row

• 6 January 2016
 
• From the section Europe

Image copyrightAFP/Getty Images

Image captionOnly one woman has ever won the Grand Prix award in the Angouleme festival

A prestigious award for graphic novelists in France is facing calls for a boycott after its long list of nominees failed to include any women.

The 42-year-old Grand Prix at Angouleme has long faced criticism for its failure to recognise women cartoonists.

This year, a pressure group is calling for a boycott, saying "it is no longer tolerable" that "renowned female creators" are left off the list of 30.

At least three male nominees have publicly backed the protest.

They have asked for their names to be removed from the list.

The Grand Prix is a highly prestigious prize, recognising the lifetime achievement of a cartoonist. It is handed out each year at the Angouleme International Comics Festival.

In its long history, only one woman, Florence Cestac, has ever won the prize.

A group called BD Egalite, or Women in Comics Collective Against Sexism, said the prize was significant, because as well as being honorary it could also boost an artist's career and book sales.

"What is the message sent to women cartoonists and those in the process of becoming such?" it asked on its website. "We are discouraged from having ambition, from continuing our efforts. How could we take it otherwise?

"It all comes back to the disastrous glass ceiling. We're tolerated, but never allowed top billing. Will we require women in comics to perpetually play second fiddle?"

A number of cartoonists on the long list have since asked for their names to be removed.

'Ridiculous, embarrassing'

American Daniel Clowes called it a now "totally meaningless 'honor'."

"What a ridiculous, embarrassing debacle," he added. 

Riad Sattouf on Facebook listed a number of female cartoonists he would "prefer to cede my place to", including Rumiko Takahashi, Julie Doucet, Anouk Ricard, Marjane Satrapi and Catherine Meurisse.

The Festival's Franck Bondoux was quoted in French media as saying that Franco-Belgian graphic novels, known as "bande desinee", had traditionally been dominated by men.

"The festival cannot distort this reality, although I concede that the list might contain one or two female names," he said. 

But he rejected accusations that the festival ignored the contribution of women artists, giving examples of steps it was taking to promote their work.

Piglet is Back!

It has been a while since Piglet visited a new city and posed for his adoring fans. However, the opportunity to go to Barcelona and see the Sagrada Familia church with his own eyes was irresistible.   For more photos from his trip, do look at his FB page here. Piglet is back!

Lives of Interesting Women 2015

At the turn of the secular calendar year lots of people make lots of lists. Having always loved lists, I'm in the mood to recall notable women whose lives have ended in the past year. It's not that easy to find them, but I'll have a go. Meanwhile, the start of the search brought me to a list of women scientists that should be better known. I'd not heard of any of them except Rosalind Franklin. Have you? Have a quick read about:

Emilie du Chatelet
Caroline Herschel
Mary Anning
Mary Somerville
Maria Mitchell
Lise Meitner
Irene Curie-Joliot
Barbara McClintock
Dorothy Hodgkin
Rosalind Franklin

So many admirable women, often discouraged from studying science, often not acknowledged for their contribution.

In 2015 we also lost:

Claudia Alexander 
(geophysicist & top NASA scientist) Astronomy Magazine obituary

Grace Lee Boggs
(philosopher & feminist) obituary

Eugenie Clark aka "The Shark Lady"
(ichthyologist) Telegraph obituary

Ronnie Gilbert 
(singer, the Weavers) obituary

Mary Ellen Mark
(photographer) Vogue retrospective, obituary

Melissa Mathison
(screenwriter, best known for ET the Extraterrestrial) obituary

Cynthia Robinson 
(trumpeter for Sly & the Family Stone) obituary

Dorothy "Dottie" Thomas, considered the mother of bone marrow transplantation.
Obituary

This is, of course, a tiny and random selection of names. I present them for consideration and possible inspiration. Happy 2016!

Nivchar shem may-osher rav - a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches (Proverbs 22:1).