my sister n. has just made a page for our father (who art in heaven, we hope) on wikipedia. while searching for it, i also found the following on a website for jewish humour, and thought you may enjoy it:
Rabbi Albert H. Friedlander of England's Westminster synagogue, who is known for his soft, melodious voice, often tells this story when visiting a community and preaching a sermon.
"Before I begin my sermon (talk), I must make a confession. It is not really a confession, because you have already begun to realize that I have a soft, quiet voice. To be honest: IT PUTS PEOPLE TO SLEEP. And why not? A fifteen minute snooze might help a congregant far more than anything else I can do for him or her.
However, I really object when the president of my congregation always falls asleep within two minutes of my starting the sermon. Once, I challenged him: "Max, WHY do you always fall asleep as soon as I begin to preach?" "Rabbi," he said firmly, "I trust you."
he told this story to the congregation at my installation in virginia a few years ago. a couple of weeks later, as i stood up to begin my sermon, mrs clayman called out from her seat in the second row, "don't worry, rabbi - i trust you!"
Monday, July 31, 2006
what the ****?
yes i am biased since i am a jew but i am neither absolutist nor fundamentalist. how are these incidents going to help the growth of peace?
berlin holocaust memorial vandalised
sydney synagogue attacked
the passionate anti-semitism of mel gibson
attack on seattle jews - one death
berlin holocaust memorial vandalised
sydney synagogue attacked
the passionate anti-semitism of mel gibson
attack on seattle jews - one death
fear the oink
ok - i need to know - who are the ariel ballhogs? found nothing on google. we were driving around the florida mall, and i saw this slogan on the truck. upon closer inspection there was another van which said 'go ballhogs' and had a sticker for the ariel ballhogs. it's a great piglet pic. i just need to know more!
piglet meets his disney friends
last but not least, classic piglet makes peace with his disney counterparts.
epcot piglet
awwww look how sweet mickey & goofy are being - holding piglet's paws.
have to admit that i've always been more of a warner brothers sista.
have to admit that i've always been more of a warner brothers sista.
guess where we've been all week!
what can i say? when you get a bargain on a week at a resort just by sea world, and you really need a holiday, and when you get there it is all marshes and gators and timeshares and themeparks, and you are on holiday so you can do whatever you want ... and piglet's never been there ... yes, we have just given many dollars to disney.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
reggae boy
finally for today here is a pic of damion stewart. he played against england for jamaica in a world cup warm-up. i scanned the screen intently each time he appeared, and came to the conclusion that he has an oddly-shaped head. this has nothing to do with his official nickname, which appears to be "stew-peas".
the boy from oz
i've always felt that i only really know my team when i can recognise players from a distance by the way they hold themselves and move.
there are so many new faces at qpr this season, so i am posting a couple of shots by nico from the dot org to help me begin to learn.
this is nick ward who just signed from perth glory.
there are so many new faces at qpr this season, so i am posting a couple of shots by nico from the dot org to help me begin to learn.
this is nick ward who just signed from perth glory.
pre-season prep
yes the world cup is only just over and they are still debating how to punish the head-butter and the trash-talker but in less than a fortnight the championship season begins again and my beloved qpr start to play for real. with a new manager, and several new players, we have no sense of how the team might be this year. this photo is from an inter-squad game, and the guy on the left is our new striker from poland. i am hoping that the ball is out of picture on the right rather than the left. still, before a ball is kicked in anger, one may hope, eh?
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
kudos to the freeway blogger
and thanks echidne of the snakes for the link:
check this out
there are still a few civil disobedients out there
check this out
there are still a few civil disobedients out there
peter hawkins r.i.p.
it is said that jesters have a place in the world to come. peter hawkins was not famous, but he entertained millions. my favourite characters that he voiced included the daleks, bill and ben the flowerpot men, and the laughing martian robots in the smash ads. thank you sir.
family matters
this is a photograph of my great-grandfather, samuel hoschander. he came from a religious family in poland, but emigrated to berlin at some point possibly after WW1. he was a sofer, and i have a small wooden yad that he carved.
yesterday i received a call from california in response to a letter i wrote to a kibbutz in israel a couple of months ago. more hoschanders! they also are descended from a samuel who went to berlin maybe around the same time. our excitement is palpable!
yesterday i received a call from california in response to a letter i wrote to a kibbutz in israel a couple of months ago. more hoschanders! they also are descended from a samuel who went to berlin maybe around the same time. our excitement is palpable!
tables are turned :-)
d. took this picture with her mobile of me taking a picture of the pig at holy blossom temple in toronto. possibly looks a bit like i am paying homage ...
Sunday, July 16, 2006
octavia e. butler
d. lent me this book to read a couple of days ago, and i just sat down with it this afternoon. would not have stopped to write here, except i am trying to savour the last few chapters and not finish too greedily.
"A lot of people seem to believe in a big-daddy-God or a big-cop-God or a big-king-God. They believe in a kind of super-person. A few believe God is another word for nature. And nature turns out to mean just about anything they happen not to understand or feel in control of.
Some say God is a spirit, a force, an ultimate reality. Ask seven people what all of that means and you'll get seven different answers. So what is God? Just another name for whatever makes you feel special and protected?" Parable of the Sower pp 13-14
and if it helps, and does not hurt anyone else, what is the problem with that?
she also writes a few pages later:
"God is Power -
Infinite,
Irresistible,
Inexorable,
Indifferent.
And yet, God is Pliable -
Trickster,
Teacher,
Chaos,
Clay.
God exists to be shaped.
God is Change.
This is the literal truth.
God can't be resisted or stopped, but can be shaped and focused. This means God is not to be prayed to. Prayers only help the person doing the praying, and then, only if they strengthen and focus that person's resolve. If they're used that way, they can help us in our only real relationship with God. They help us to shape God and to accept and work with the shapes that God imposes on us. God is power, and in the end, God prevails.
But we can rig the game in our own favor if we understand that God exists to be shaped, and will be shaped, with or without our forethought, with or without our intent." ibid p 24
kind of alongside the buddhist idea that all our suffering derives from attachment to material things ... as if having stuff makes us real, because we own it, have power over it ... what i hear her saying this evening is we should shed the illusion that god is a deity that may indulge our whims upon supplication. god has god's own plan. our choice is to accept that and deal with the hands we are given, or not. if we do not, shit still happens. if we do, things may be different. or not. but at least we take part in our own destiny.
off to play ping-pong. small objects that may be struck with great force and yet suffer no damage nor cause it to other persons and objects. excellent.
"A lot of people seem to believe in a big-daddy-God or a big-cop-God or a big-king-God. They believe in a kind of super-person. A few believe God is another word for nature. And nature turns out to mean just about anything they happen not to understand or feel in control of.
Some say God is a spirit, a force, an ultimate reality. Ask seven people what all of that means and you'll get seven different answers. So what is God? Just another name for whatever makes you feel special and protected?" Parable of the Sower pp 13-14
and if it helps, and does not hurt anyone else, what is the problem with that?
she also writes a few pages later:
"God is Power -
Infinite,
Irresistible,
Inexorable,
Indifferent.
And yet, God is Pliable -
Trickster,
Teacher,
Chaos,
Clay.
God exists to be shaped.
God is Change.
This is the literal truth.
God can't be resisted or stopped, but can be shaped and focused. This means God is not to be prayed to. Prayers only help the person doing the praying, and then, only if they strengthen and focus that person's resolve. If they're used that way, they can help us in our only real relationship with God. They help us to shape God and to accept and work with the shapes that God imposes on us. God is power, and in the end, God prevails.
But we can rig the game in our own favor if we understand that God exists to be shaped, and will be shaped, with or without our forethought, with or without our intent." ibid p 24
kind of alongside the buddhist idea that all our suffering derives from attachment to material things ... as if having stuff makes us real, because we own it, have power over it ... what i hear her saying this evening is we should shed the illusion that god is a deity that may indulge our whims upon supplication. god has god's own plan. our choice is to accept that and deal with the hands we are given, or not. if we do not, shit still happens. if we do, things may be different. or not. but at least we take part in our own destiny.
off to play ping-pong. small objects that may be struck with great force and yet suffer no damage nor cause it to other persons and objects. excellent.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
multiculture
way way back many centuries ago not long after the internet began, i lived in toronto for a bit. one of the things they used to say was that it was the most multicultural city in the world. this does not, of course, mean that everyone mingles and shares and learns. rather it seems that there many neighbourhoods abutting each other. here, piglet visits the hamlet of swinetown :-)
the power of thought!
n's friend mark really does write about some interesting subjects in the science pages of the times. today it is about a chip in the brain of a paralysed man that helps him to operate machinery. here are some extracts:
The man who can open his e-mails by power of thought
By Mark Henderson
Paralysed knife victim says implant has changed his life
A MAN paralysed from the neck down has learnt to move a computer cursor and an artificial arm by the power of thought alone. The brain implant that has allowed him to do so could be used eventually to control wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs.
The first detailed scientific report on the case of Matthew Nagle, 25, whose spinal cord was severed in a knife attack, shows how sensors that measure brainwaves could allow paralysed patients to improve their quality of life greatly.
Mr Nagle, from Massachusetts, has been fitted with a 4mm-square chip that reads signals in the primary motor cortex of his brain, the region that would control movement if he had the use of his limbs.
When he imagines moving his paralysed body, the implant’s 100 sensors record the activity in his brain and transmit these signals to a computer that controls various devices. In nine months, he has learnt to move a cursor on a computer screen, open e-mails, play simple computer games and adjust the volume of his television. He has also learnt to operate a simple robotic arm.
A paper published today in the journal Nature describes his progress. He can move a cursor to a target on a computer screen with 75 to 85 per cent accuracy. He can also perform many of these actions while conducting a conversation. This suggests that total concentration will not be necessary to operate mind-controlled prosthetic limbs, a critical factor if they are to become part of everyday life.
A second patient, a 55-year-old man with a spinal injury, has also been implanted with the device, called BrainGate, though he has yet to achieve similar results.
Mr Nagle had been paralysed for four years before the study. The results indicate that brain activity involved in motion persists long after spinal injury and can be channelled to control computerised devices. This is important, as many scientists had predicted that the necessary nerve cells might wither with lack of use, making it difficult to harness their signals.
“What is also encouraging is the immediate response from the brain,” Dr Donoghue said. “When asked to ‘think right’ or ‘think left’, patients were able to change their neural activity immediately. And their use of the device is seemingly easy. Patients can control the computer cursor and carry on a conversation at the same time, just as we can simultaneously talk and use our computers.”
i guess it's a toss-up between being excited at the amazing things we humans can learn to do, and going all 1984 on it.
i just finished reading 'never let me go' by kazuo ishiguro which is a tale told by and about a clone developed for organ donation. for me the part that really got to me was the shrinking horror of the 'normal' people when coming into contact with the clones ... not willing to give up the longer lives and greater health they receive from this scheme, they have to demonise these other living beings.
today, however, i am excited that mr nagle, while rooted physically to the spot by his injuries, may now surf the world through his computer.
The man who can open his e-mails by power of thought
By Mark Henderson
Paralysed knife victim says implant has changed his life
A MAN paralysed from the neck down has learnt to move a computer cursor and an artificial arm by the power of thought alone. The brain implant that has allowed him to do so could be used eventually to control wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs.
The first detailed scientific report on the case of Matthew Nagle, 25, whose spinal cord was severed in a knife attack, shows how sensors that measure brainwaves could allow paralysed patients to improve their quality of life greatly.
Mr Nagle, from Massachusetts, has been fitted with a 4mm-square chip that reads signals in the primary motor cortex of his brain, the region that would control movement if he had the use of his limbs.
When he imagines moving his paralysed body, the implant’s 100 sensors record the activity in his brain and transmit these signals to a computer that controls various devices. In nine months, he has learnt to move a cursor on a computer screen, open e-mails, play simple computer games and adjust the volume of his television. He has also learnt to operate a simple robotic arm.
A paper published today in the journal Nature describes his progress. He can move a cursor to a target on a computer screen with 75 to 85 per cent accuracy. He can also perform many of these actions while conducting a conversation. This suggests that total concentration will not be necessary to operate mind-controlled prosthetic limbs, a critical factor if they are to become part of everyday life.
A second patient, a 55-year-old man with a spinal injury, has also been implanted with the device, called BrainGate, though he has yet to achieve similar results.
Mr Nagle had been paralysed for four years before the study. The results indicate that brain activity involved in motion persists long after spinal injury and can be channelled to control computerised devices. This is important, as many scientists had predicted that the necessary nerve cells might wither with lack of use, making it difficult to harness their signals.
“What is also encouraging is the immediate response from the brain,” Dr Donoghue said. “When asked to ‘think right’ or ‘think left’, patients were able to change their neural activity immediately. And their use of the device is seemingly easy. Patients can control the computer cursor and carry on a conversation at the same time, just as we can simultaneously talk and use our computers.”
i guess it's a toss-up between being excited at the amazing things we humans can learn to do, and going all 1984 on it.
i just finished reading 'never let me go' by kazuo ishiguro which is a tale told by and about a clone developed for organ donation. for me the part that really got to me was the shrinking horror of the 'normal' people when coming into contact with the clones ... not willing to give up the longer lives and greater health they receive from this scheme, they have to demonise these other living beings.
today, however, i am excited that mr nagle, while rooted physically to the spot by his injuries, may now surf the world through his computer.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
for eddy
this is a photograph from 60 years ago. one of the recent successes of my family tree project was to find the young man in this picture. i tried to e-mail the photo to him but it didn't work out so i am putting it here instead. greetings eddy, and i hope the rest of you enjoy this lovely photo for itself!
where have all my cousins gone?
i have a little time on my hands for the next few days, and so i have decided to declare officially that my dabbling in researching my family tree is now my hobby. i haven't had a hobby for a long time. this is something from which not only do i derive great pleasure, but also it has no calories whatsoever.
a couple of years ago i did quite well with the hoschander family from my father's mother's side (except for one guy in london who probably thinks i am stalking him but all i want is to see if we have any shared past).
now i am looking at my mother's father's family. it takes time, but i find it so exciting when i get a lead.
i was wondering why i am so drawn to this?
first of all, i think the detective work is appealing ... and the idea that with a methodical approach one may build the picture. there is no fantasy here, except perhaps that coming from such a small family i am somehow building it up if only on paper.
o, that was the second thing! the relatives that were cut down by nazi evil, and those that therefore never got to exist ... i want to know who they were, or at least where they were born and lived.
i know that birth families are not necessarily the most nurturing kind, and that we may create our own. there is a lot that i know, and of course much more that i do not. this has more, however, to do with feelings, i think :-)
since i am unlikely ever to become a parent, (i know i know but time marches on etc.) and am currently denied access to my niece, i wonder who will remember me in the following generations. egotistical perhaps, but i feel sad about it. nu - maybe part of the finding family members is so i can remember them and thus also have a little hope that i may one day be remembered also even if only for being a girl with a boy's name.
a couple of years ago i did quite well with the hoschander family from my father's mother's side (except for one guy in london who probably thinks i am stalking him but all i want is to see if we have any shared past).
now i am looking at my mother's father's family. it takes time, but i find it so exciting when i get a lead.
i was wondering why i am so drawn to this?
first of all, i think the detective work is appealing ... and the idea that with a methodical approach one may build the picture. there is no fantasy here, except perhaps that coming from such a small family i am somehow building it up if only on paper.
o, that was the second thing! the relatives that were cut down by nazi evil, and those that therefore never got to exist ... i want to know who they were, or at least where they were born and lived.
i know that birth families are not necessarily the most nurturing kind, and that we may create our own. there is a lot that i know, and of course much more that i do not. this has more, however, to do with feelings, i think :-)
since i am unlikely ever to become a parent, (i know i know but time marches on etc.) and am currently denied access to my niece, i wonder who will remember me in the following generations. egotistical perhaps, but i feel sad about it. nu - maybe part of the finding family members is so i can remember them and thus also have a little hope that i may one day be remembered also even if only for being a girl with a boy's name.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
wimbledon women's final
i remember sitting down with my little sister to watch evonne goolagong that was (although being smartarses we liked to call her evonne dinnergong ... and then of course there was jelly bean king my other favourite) and saying we had to support her because she was a mother and a mother hadn't won wimbledon before. she was also a bloody good tennis player. i wonder whatever happened to her? hang on a sec ...
well, correction number one (thank you google) is that she was the first mother to win in 66 years.
i also found:
"When Evonne's mother, Linda, died in 1991, Evonne realised she didn't know much about her Aboriginal history. Since then, she's discovered a great deal about her past and has written a book about her life.
"I didn't have a history before when I did my first book and found out about my family. I want something else to pass down to my kids so that they have a history there to pass down to theirs. To me, it's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me.""
and
"She returned to Australia to live in 1991 at Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and has travelled around Australia, coming to understand the importance of her Aboriginal heritage and introducing her American born children to their indigenous culture. She was a member of the Board of the Australian Sports Commission from 1995-1997. Since 1997, she has held the position of Sports Ambassador to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Communities."
o, and i'd really like mauresmo to win, because, well a lot because she's queer and a lot because i like seeing people getting over their insecurities and becoming mentally and emotionally tougher. i suspect, however, that since henin-hardenne already is that much tougher, she will probably make her career grand slam. now, though, i should go to bed to have any chance of waking up in time to listen to some of it live!
well, correction number one (thank you google) is that she was the first mother to win in 66 years.
i also found:
"When Evonne's mother, Linda, died in 1991, Evonne realised she didn't know much about her Aboriginal history. Since then, she's discovered a great deal about her past and has written a book about her life.
"I didn't have a history before when I did my first book and found out about my family. I want something else to pass down to my kids so that they have a history there to pass down to theirs. To me, it's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me.""
and
"She returned to Australia to live in 1991 at Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and has travelled around Australia, coming to understand the importance of her Aboriginal heritage and introducing her American born children to their indigenous culture. She was a member of the Board of the Australian Sports Commission from 1995-1997. Since 1997, she has held the position of Sports Ambassador to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Communities."
o, and i'd really like mauresmo to win, because, well a lot because she's queer and a lot because i like seeing people getting over their insecurities and becoming mentally and emotionally tougher. i suspect, however, that since henin-hardenne already is that much tougher, she will probably make her career grand slam. now, though, i should go to bed to have any chance of waking up in time to listen to some of it live!
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