It had sounded interesting when it was released but, since it never made it to Modena, I soon forgot about this film. Then L & I were looking for something to watch together one Shabbat afternoon, and up it popped!
L had loved "The Frisco Kid", so I thought we should try "An American Pickle"! (no spoilers!) An Orthodox Jew who emigrates to New York in the early 20th century accidentally falls into a pickle barrel and is preserved for 100 years. Upon awakening, he has to deal with the modern world.
What can I say? This movie is clearly a child of Woody Allen, in the days when it was ok to love his work because nobody knew. I can't tell you how many times I watched "Sleeper", in which a different type of stereotypical Jew is frozen for 200 years and wakes up to deal with the future. However, it has its own identity, and I laughed, I cried, and I loved it. Bravo Seth Rogen!
I am a couple of weeks behind in my Only Connect viewing, so I only saw this ep this evening. The connection between these clues is that they are all part of the Passover Seder. The contestants guessed the clues were things that were all considered responsible for causing aggressive behaviour.
?????
Anyway, am proud of Ms Coren Mitchell. Not because this clue was on her show (and as a script consultant presumably she has some say in the content), but because she referred to the bitter herbs as maror in a natural way that suggests she knows her onions. Brava!
We are in the Hebrew month of Elul, and looking back at our actions over the past year in order to identify what needs teshuvah (restitution, if possible, and apologies) and healing. We want to repair our world and take better care of it, and ourselves.
L & I decided last week that we need to stop buying chocolate at the supermarket. The supermarket decided last week to import probably my all-time favourite UK chocolate confection: Maltesers!
I am glad to say that, after picking up a packet, showing it to my friends and explaining how delicious they are, I was able to put it back and walk away. However, I may now need to change supermarkets.
Wishing everyone the strength to overcome their temptations, and when they slip up, to forgive themselves and then have another go!
Looking through some old pics I found this one of Piglet in Barcelona in 2015 when we visited the Teatre Grec amphitheatre. In fact, it's not very old. It was built in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exposition. It fell out of use for a while but these days it is the focal point of the summer GREC Festival. The place was completely empty on the crisp December day we visited. Piglet was thus able to be the focal point of the photo!
The books of Raymond Briggs, who died yesterday at the age of 88, have always taken pride of place on the bookshelves of my home. Although most obituaries will probably identify him first and foremost as the author of "The Snowman", my heart was captured by "Fungus the Bogeyman". Thus it was that I dragged my 6-year-old sibling to the Puffin Exhibition, to stand in a queue to say hello to Mr Briggs and get my copy signed.
Somehow, the books that followed really expressed my youthful perspective on the world, particularly during the Cold War when there seemed to be a real prospect of nuclear disaster. "Where the Wind Blows" was utterly depressing and terrifying, but made total sense:
and his drawings for "The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman", about the Falklands War, had large and powerful illustrations, including possibly the most pornographic depiction of Margaret Thatcher I've ever seen!
The work of Raymond Briggs has always been part of my life, and I hope always will be. I am grateful for his talent, and sorry for his passing. May he rest in peace.
NB The Times notes that:
"He never had children and showed no sign of even liking them. When he was considered for the role of children's laureate he turned it down and left the job to Quentin Blake. "I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole," he said. "I don't want to go to schools and give talks on children's books. I don't actually know anything much about children. I try to avoid them whenever possible."
Just found this happy happy photo taken on holiday in Cornwall with friends a few years ago and wanted to share the joy. Hoping you may find something to smile about today!
This news makes me really sad. As always, this is not a person I've ever met, but her music has been a part of my life for nearly 50 years. Dame Olivia Newton-John has died of cancer at the age of 73. Her voice and songs will continue to soothe my soul, but those who knew and loved her have lost their dear one. I am sad for them. I am sad she died relatively young. I am sad she won't sing any new songs. And I am grateful for the joy she has given me. May she rest in peace.
Although we weren't able to attend an actual football match, there is still something to be said for visiting an iconic stadium. The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza is the biggest stadium in Italy, and home to both Milan teams. I don't really have a preference, although in the era of the great Dutch footballers that played for A.C. Milan (Gullit, Rijkaard & Van Basten) I was definitely more red than blue. And now they have Zlatan, my (not-so) secret love. So ...
Anyway, it was a thrill to get to see the San Siro in its concrete flesh, and thanks to Ire for driving me there and Piglet for posing.
From May to the beginning of July there are quite a few anniversaries in my family. Here is the last before the summer break - 61 years ago this couple posed on Upper Berkeley Street after their chuppah at West London Synagogue. They look a bit tentative here, but I can promise that they will have over 40 years together to figure things out. Remembering with love the wedding anniversary of Evelyn & Albert.
Eighteen years seems like a long time, almost a generation. That's how long ago and far away my lovely father died. And yet he is often present in my life. His essence may be evoked in myriad ways, e.g., memories, Piglet, old friends, particular places, QPR, certain movies, music, and photographs.
Here's the thing, and it's happened a couple of times now. Sometimes he pops up in photos unexpectedly. For example the shot above we saw first in the Shoah museum in Washington DC. It is a Jewish Schools Sports Day c. 1937, in Berlin. We looked at it briefly as we walked by, and then my mother exclaimed, IT'S ALBERT! Bottom right-hand corner with the glasses. That's him.
Today I was once again looking at images from the 3rd march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. I've shared previously some shots that vindicated my father's claim that he was close enough to MLK to have a chat and share a snack. This time I had a look at some video footage I found online.
Would you believe it, there he was again! Blink and you will miss him, but near the end (just below the YouTube arrow in the screen grab above), pale and bespectacled, his face appears briefly right behind Dr King.
I'm not ascribing any great meaning to this. But I do find it comforting to see him giving me a little wave now and then.
The loss is not so acute after 18 years, but he is still profoundly missed. On a quotidian level, just being able ask questions or to share things I've done, or to get a hug; and in terms of life, the universe, etc., to hear his thoughts on all that's going on in the world these days.
Meanwhile, I was able to visit the graves of both my parents last week. L & I said kaddish, and spent some peaceful time there amid the stones and the roses.
HaRav Uri ben Alexander Ziskind v'Sara Dina, zichrono livracha.
Eighteen years ago was the final Father's Day with my father still alive. Of course we didn't know that then. Although he may have.
Eighteen years is quite a long time, but it still pinches each time the algorithms try to sell me on this day.
Meanwhile, the pic above shows AHF in the city he said he loved the most. And the pic below shares an unsung achievement of his, becoming a Knight of Mark Twain.
Sometimes I get Auntie Dorrit's age wrong. As a woman of a certain age, she didn't like people to know exactly what that was, even going as far as editing her brother's draft of his autobiography to change her date of birth. However old she would have been today, I'm thinking of her, and continue to miss her. In honour of her anniversary, and to stand alongside the other pics of graduation I'm seeing at the moment, here she is in the Vicksburg media of that era!
Dear Bruce is gone. A good friend of my father's, both gentle of nature but fierce in their desire to heal our world. In this pic he had kindly offered to pose for my first portfolio. The little white dot on the edge of his cardi is a CND badge. We are poorer without him. My condolences to his beloved Valerie.
You may not be a baseball fan, but if you are a fan of a team in any sport, and/or enjoy writing that is more than just a simple description of who won and how, then Roger Angell was and is someone to read.
The BBC report of Angell's death quotes from a 1982 interview in which he said:
"I think the real fans are the fans of terrible teams, because they know what good baseball is and they know how far their own players fall short ... The rallying cry that has always struck me as so poignant and beautiful is, 'Come on, you bum!' which means, 'We know you're no good but we want to win.'"
My one true love is, of course, QPR. But I have followed my Yankees for many decades, and have in inkling (enough to translate, for example, 'you bum' into 'you w@nker'). I have greatly enjoyed Angell's work, and wish him eternal peace.
It is World Bee Day today. Why is there a World Bee Day? Because people do not seem to understand the vital role bees and other pollinators play in the survival of the human species. And if we do not act to save these creatures, we will soon see far-reaching results.
Learn more about our pollinators and how we may help them!
BUILD A BEE BATH! On any windowsill or balcony place a small bowl of water with something in it upon which a bee might land, e.g., pebbles, marbles etc. They can drink and also bring a drop home with them!
NB 20th May was chosen because it was the day that Anton Jansa, a pioneer of modern apiculture, was born!
It is nearly midnight here in Modena, halfway through the month of May. The current temperature is 29 C/85 F. In the middle of the night. In May.
Sigh. Soon it will be Lag B'Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer that takes us from Pesach to Shavuot, from redemption to revelation. L & I discussed what we might do to celebrate this day. It is customary to make bonfires, and L suggested a barbecue. To which I replied that the barbecue has already begun, pointing to the redness of my body in this heat.
I am frying tonight. Hence the above clip from my favourite Carry On film (Screaming). Stay frosty y'all!
95 years ago today, my father and his brother were born. Apparently my grandmother had no idea she was having twins, so after the first boy was born, she got out of bed for coffee and a cigarette. The midwife was almost out the door when Mutti called for her once more!
They lived good lives, and were greatly loved. They are missed by so many people. My only regret is that Lior & Albert never got to meet in person. But I know how happy he is that I got to meet her!
As I write, many of my classmates are at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, receiving their honorary doctorates for 25 years of service to the Jewish people. This is actually the 26th year since the above photo was taken. We had an online ceremony last year, but with the return to in-person gatherings, we were offered the opportunity to join this year's honourees.
I have written elsewhere about the celebrations. I would like to note that at our online Kaddish minyan this morning, whilst I was delighted to be congratulated by my minyan mates, I also had the honour of leading Kaddish for our service.
In the photograph, in the back row, with the white hair and beard, you see Rabbi Ariel Walsh. In the front row, second from the right, you see Rabbi Suri Friedman. The two of them were present last year at our Zoom ceremony, but they have both died since then. In the front row on the far right you also see Rabbi Joel Braude. He died in 2014.
As we celebrate our contributions, and hope that we have the chance to continue, we remember our classmates. And so we said Kaddish for them at the minyan today. May our memories of them continue to bless us.
Our flourless chocolate cake, matzah balls and Ashkenazi charoset are ready, and we are about to head out for the Or 'Ammim Seder, which will be in person this year. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing or not doing, let's hope that this detox experience will give us what we need to go back to the work of healing our world.
This year our festivals coincide, so best wishes to all who are observing and celebrating at this time of spiritual purification.
