Guns ‘n Rabbis

The latest movie I got from my area Redbox (using another free code from the website I linked to previously, of course) was Lucky Number Slevin. In the movie, there are two mob bosses, the Boss and the Rabbi, and they go after each other in the movie.

The movie itself was excellent. Great action, lots of interesting and unpredictable twists, shooting, great plot, etc. The only thing I didn’t like was the way they portrayed the Rabbi. Now I don’t know if they’re making it so ridiculous that it is supposed to be obvious that it is fake, or if this is what they think we actually do. For example, two of the Rabbi’s henchmen are supposed chassidim. One of them has a buzz cut (I’m talking about a zero), with a yarmulke that looks, plain and simply, silly on the guys head. The other guy also has the buzz cut, but he also has a Chassidic hat with the curled payos. The only problem with the second guy is that he doesn’t have a beard, just a five o’clock shadow. Since when do chassidim shave their beards? (BTW, I see this was brought up here).

Later, when Slevin walks in on the Rabbi, the scene shows the Rabbi with his yarmulke suddenly on, and he is reading from a seemingly real sefer torah, using a yad. The room is also filled with things that are significantly Jewish. The walls have Hebrew lettering, there’s a menorah in plain sight, etc.

The whole way they portrayed Judaism is just plain and simply weird. But either way, it was a fun movie and I recommend it to all.

Official Graduation Countdown

150 days.

Mary Christmas

Link:

Don’t bother making jokes. This family has heard them all. No, they don’t communicate directly with Santa Claus. They don’t celebrate the holidays year-round, and they certainly have some not-so-cheerful days. The smirks and the wisecracks are just part of life when your last name is Christmas, and especially so when two of your family members are named _ no joke _ Mary.

“People ask me all the time, `What were your parents thinking?’” said the younger Mary Christmas, 30. “I never minded. It’s a conversation piece.”

Wow.  I would definitely mind!

Song suggestions needed

I just found out that since I’m a student at Towson Univeristy, I have access to over 2.5 million songs, all of which are free for me to download.  My school has partnered with Cdigix, which has its own music player that you download.  Once you log in using your school email address, you have access to over 2.5 million songs.  They’re all downloadable for free.  The downside, of course, is that you can’t download them to your mp3 player.  However, you do get to keep the file permenantly on your computer (and up to one other I think).  There is an option to pay $6.95/month to be able to transfer files to your mp3 player, but my iPod only holds 2gb, so I don’t need any more songs on there.  But I am looking to increase my song collection on my computer.
I don’t have a radio in my car, so I’ve been kind of out of the loop on all the latest music, so if you have any song suggestions, feel free to let me know in the comments. No rap or too much heavy metal please.  I don’t mind country either.

Tipping the mailman; yes or no?

Do you typically tip your mailman?  Please discuss in the comments.

This is carryover from my previous post where Lanie asks:

I thought that mail men aren’t allowed to accept cash gifts. Is that wrong?

Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

The ongoing debate that is out there this time of year is whether to greet someone with Merry Christmas or with Happy Holidays. It has been my belief for the longest time that people should stick with Merry Christmas. After all, in the US, 88% of the population is Christian (all denominations), and only 1.4% of the population is Jewish (source). When the Christians are in such a majority, why should things change just because of us Jews? Yes, I know we’re special, but we have to remember that we’re living in golus.

I know that we’re living in an age of political correctness, but with the kind of Christian:Jewish ratio that we have, I think that this is just silly. I understand that some people only say Happy Holidays because they’re not sure if the person they’re talking to is Jewish or not, but if you know for sure, why not say the right thing for whatever holiday they’re celebrating. For example, I know that my mailman isn’t Jewish, so when I handed him my annual Christmas holiday tip, I said Merry Christmas. And of course he knows that I’m Jewish, so he responded with Happy Chanukah.

Reminds me of a funny story. A couple years ago, I was on some mailing list and when they sent out Holiday cards in the mail, it said, “Happy _______ (fill in the blank)”

Update:

See Yid with Lid’s post on this.  I agree with this a lot.

Pre-fab Menorah kits: Not safe

A friend of mine sent me the following:

Please pass this on as you see fit.

I’m writing this letter to raise awareness about a fire hazard with
commonly used menorah accessories. Tonight, the pre-filled glass cups
in our menorah became so hot, they literally melted, causing fire to
leak out from the menorah and on our table. The glass cups were so
hot, they fused together. Luckily my wife noticed the fire almost
immediately and I was able to put it out. But had we been in another
room, there’s a good chance the fire could have been catastrophic.
The pre-filled oil glass set was purchased at AtoZ Savings, and it’s
also available at Perns. It may be available at other retailers in
Baltimore and throughout the nation.
I am including a link to pictures of the menorah and glasses after the
fire. Also in the photo album is pictures of the box of the pre-filled
oil glass set.
The set is called “Chanuka Oil Candles” (Item OCCL-25/44) and is
distributed by Ahron’s
Judaica in Brooklyn, NY.
After speaking with someone who is more familiar with using glass
cups, I was informed that the metal wick holder actually conducts
heat, thereby raising the temperature of the fire. Perhaps a recall is
in order.

Please see the following URL for pictures
http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/Menorah_fire

Chanuka Sameach and stay safe.

Pretty crazy photos! I also use a pre-fab menorah kit, but mine has no metal pieces. Still, its a good reminder on how we really should be staying home until the Menorah’s are completely extinguished. People have the false sense of security that since things are burning smoothly, they can leave their house. What happened to Shalom was only on the third night. Imagine if it had been on the 7th or 8th night, where there are a lot more oil things lit…the heat would be a lot stronger.

Time Person of the Year: Aishel

I’ve been trying to fill up space in my awards section on my resume, so luckily, Time just awarded me Time Person of the Year:

 Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I’m not going to watch Lost tonight. I’m going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I’m going to mash up 50 Cent’s vocals with Queen’s instrumentals? I’m going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?

The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME’s Person of the Year for 2006 is you.

When the sun goes down, Hannukah’s on!

Today’s woot.com podcast features a cool song about Chanukah starting tonight:

Click to play

OnlySimchas Rant

I see this happen all the time on OnlySimchas (OS), and for some reason, I get upset about it every time. Basically, people find out their friends get engaged so they rush to post it on OS. Problem is that they don’t know the fiance’s name, so they tend to write “Engagement of Shira Cohen and Lucky Guy!” or “Engagement of Shlomo Stein to Devorah T.” (made up names). My theory is that if they don’t know the name of one of the sides in a simcha, they should not be posting it on OS. The OS terms of service clearly states: “I have the permission of the celebrants to post this information on OnlySimchas.com” If they don’t even know the names of the people involved, how can they have gotten permission to post it in the first place?

It’s a small thing, but it irks me to no end.

New theme

Let me know if you like the new theme on the blog.

Beautiful Montage from Avraham Rosenblum

Baltimore’s very own Avraham Rosenblum, of Diaspora Yeshiva Band, has put together a montage of pictures of recent events from Israel and beyond set to the tune of Kedem, which is the title song of his latest CD.

Check it out:

Sweet Potato Soda

Jones Soda has once again put out their holiday soda for this year. So run to your nearest Target and pick up a gift pack! It’s kid friendly…so gross, they just have to try it! And since we like to have nutrition in mind, it has zero calories, zero caffeine, and zero carbs. And of course 100% kosher.

Redbox

Another great invention has come to Baltimore. Redbox. Redbox is a DVD kiosk system where you can rent movies. The Redbox concept is actually quite genius. Basically, they set up the kiosks in many very accessible and public locations. Until recently, I only knew about the one at McDonalds next to the Knish Shoppe. They charge you $1 per movie per night. No late fees ever. So if you’re in the mood for a movie, go to your local Redbox kiosk, get your movie, and return it the next day for only $1. It’s a lot cheaper than going to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, which charges you at least $3 or $4 per rental. And even if yoy have it for two or three days, it can still be cheaper. And since they put them in such publicly accessible areas, they’re available just about anytime, even when most stores are closed. They recently put in a Redbox at Shoppers, and since they’re open 24/7, you can get movies from there just about anytime (although, I think effective end of December, Shoppers will start closing at midnight).

Also, if you go to the Redbox website and sign up for their mailing list, they’ll email you a code for you to get a free nights rental for a DVD. Alternatively, you can go to Inside Redbox for a whole list of codes for free DVD rentals (hat tip: WM). The only thing I ask of you is that you park the right way when heading to Shoppers.

Update on 12/4/2006 at 10:22am:

I forgot to add that they have a pretty good collection of DVD’s with about 40 titles.  You can even reserve the titles online and pick it up at your convenience.