My blog: an excuse for a personal ad? just kidding.

my laser mouse moves really fast. eden raised a good point. it's funny how old stuff seeped though into an ad I had written in 10/06. I may write a new ad, one of these days. I have no idea.

(hardcore)

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance 5
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade, 10
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate: 15
I am the captain of my soul.

-William Ernest Henley, 1849–1903

from Wikipedia: At the age of 12, Henley became a victim of tuberculosis of the bone. In spite of this, in 1867 he successfully passed the Oxford local examination as a senior student. His diseased foot had to be amputated directly below the knee; physicians announced the only way to save his life was to amputate the other. Henley persevered and survived with one foot intact. He was discharged in 1875, and was able to lead an active life for nearly 30 years despite his disability. With an artificial foot, he lived until the age of 54. "Invictus" was written from a hospital bed.

Us and Them (lyrics)

Inspired by (start reading here)

Us, and them
And after all we're only ordinary men.
Me, and you.
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do.

Forward he cried from the rear
And the front rank died.
And the general sat
and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.

Black and blue
And who knows which is which
and who is who.

Up and down.
But in the end
it's only round and round.

Haven't you heard
it's a battle of words
The poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun
Theres room for you inside.

(spoken: I mean, they're not gonna kill ya, so if you give 'em a quick short,
Sharp, shock, they won't do it again. dig it? I mean he get off
Lightly, 'cos I would've given him a thrashing - I only hit him once!
It was only a difference of opinion, but really ... i mean good manners
Don't cost nothing do they, eh?)

Down and out
It can't be helped but
there's a lot of it about.

With, without.
And who'll deny
it's what the fighting's all about?

Out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind.

For the want of the price
of tea and a slice
The old man died.

-Pink Floyd

cheese kugel -- it's blintztastic!

same basic recipe as my applesauce kugel, just cheese instead of applesauce.

It's not shavuos without luchos pudding pie

There is a manic person with a Southern accent who lives inside of me. lol

re: Pru U'revu and 39 melachot

I want to read this later.
and this

A bissel Kipling

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!

-Rudyard Kipling

pee wee lipa?

Today's secret word is: pilegesh. (Just kidding, though I wound up using that in conversation at work yesterday, and that amused me very much. I wish I could remember the context.)

Sefiratastic, indeed!

Hey, a capella-only people! Check this out, from Lyrics Born (there is some not-a capella stuff here, but it's all clearly labeled). Below is a copy/paste of their email newsletter.

L-Beezies,

106 KMEL in San Francisco has been playing "Differences" pretty regularly, but they have yet to add it to the rotation. That's where y'all come in!

We need ALL the L-Beezies out there to call in and email KMEL to request "Differences".

(800) 955-KMEL

kmelequest@gmail.com

Make as many requests per day as you can. Even if you're not in the Bay Area you can still participate. If you don't want to call, make sure you email your request.

Together we can get LB on major rotation on KMEL. Let's do it up, do it big!!!

Here's a special message to all of y'all from LB himself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZg0u7VPADs

================

The latest LBTV clips are right here:

4.22.08 was the date of release for the new record from Lyrics Born, "Everywhere At Once". This is the fourth in a series of exclusive video clips showing a day in the life of Lyrics Born -- this being the day his new album dropped.
The day continued as LB hit Rasputin Music in Berkeley, CA for an exclusive in-store performance and album signing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxVUM99_BwY

Lateef The Truthspeaker (Latyrx, Mighty Underdogs), Trackademicks (Honor Roll) and DJ D-Sharp (Quannum Projects, Urban Republic) discuss the new record, "Everywhere At Once".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQdnv4eggOM

=================

We've got somethin' very special for all of the L-Beezies; a capella versions of the current LB singles, "I Like It, I Love It", "Hott 2 Deff", "Differences" and "Top Shelf". LB wanted to share these with y'all as a thank you for everything.

Feel free to use these vocals-only tracks to make your own remixes. If you think you've got a hot mix go ahead and send it in and who knows -- maybe LB will throw your mix on his next Variety Show mixtape.

Download the clean a capella versions here (right click and "save target as"):

"I Like It, I Love It"

http://www.lyricsborn.com/mp3/acapella/ilikeitiloveit_acapella.mp3

"Hott 2 Deff"

http://www.lyricsborn.com/mp3/acapella/hott2deff_acapella.mp3

"Differences"

http://www.lyricsborn.com/mp3/acapella/differences_acapella.mp3

"Top Shelf"

http://www.lyricsborn.com/mp3/acapella/topshelf_acapella.mp3

Send in your mixes to lbmusic@lyricsborn.com

This month LB got the honor of being NPR's artist of the day on May 16th with "I Like It, I Love It".

"...at a time when too much rap feels grim and cumbersome, the throwback vibe of "I Like It, I Love It" speaks to simple, often distant pleasures — a moment when hip-hop, pop, R&B, and a sing-along hook rolled together as one."

click here to view the entire article and hear the song

The song continues to get international exposure on radio and the web with no signs of slowing down. Look for a video of the song coming very soon directed by Neon (the same people who have done videos for Common, Kanye West and others).

As LB himself would say, "...they can't stop us!"

-JB

I really feel for this woman

I wish I had an answer.

Excerpt from link above:

Autism is a developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. It is more severe in some people than others. Adam has limited verbal skills.

Walz did not return calls seeking comment, but Jane Marrin, who works for the Diocese of St. Cloud and is acting as a spokeswoman for the parish, said the church board tried working with the Races to find "reasonable accommodations." That included offering a video feed of Mass that could be watched in the church basement.

The family refused all suggestions, she said.

"It's a difficult issue," Marrin said. "There are no easy answers."

Carol Race dismissed the church's suggestion that Adam watch a video feed in the church basement, saying that "does not have the same status as attending Mass. Otherwise we could all just sit home and watch it on TV and not bother to come in."

"It's considered a sin in the Catholic church not to attend Mass on Sundays and every holy day of obligation," she said. "And that's what this is about. I'm just trying to fulfill my obligations."

Chillulim U.S. / "Where will you spend eternity?"

Iraqis say Marines handed out Christian coins

I missed the story about someone using the Quran for target practice. That's reprehensible. Nobody's holy books should be used for target practice. That's not right. And not while in uniform. What's that line (was it in the g? I don't remember) about how if you've got to go to a whorehouse, you should ditch your clothes and don't mistake your plate for your toilet, to put it in not-obscene terms? And I disagree vehemently with any use of that line of thinking to excuse inappropriate behavior -- people just shouldn't behave inappropriately, period -- but I, too, am human, and I certainly can't make rules for anyone but me.

re: (from article above, and in general) "Where will you spend eternity?"

more to come shortly ...
sorry. today got very busy. maybe later in the weekend.
okay, I'm back; got word a loved one isn't well. That sucks. Anyway ...

Why do people care what happens to them after they die?
To me, the heaven/hell thing (and if it works for you, that's great; I just mean for me) is a tool used to control the behavior of people who don't know/understand to just do the right thing. Now, don't get me wrong; I was in Tzivos Hashem, filling out Mitzvah Mission forms when I was little, racking up points and stuff. But somewhere along the way I heard of the concept "saving up in the bank of heaven," and that's what it is, to me. And that doesn't jive with Olam Haba, and I don't buy it. I think it's kind of insulting, actually. We should do the right thing because it's the right thing, not because you get any sort of reward after you die. That's silliness (or I'll find out when I get there, but no rush).

pants, pants revolution

just a thought. And, yay, I have a bunch of freelance work lined up over the next week or so. If you'll be in midtown on Sunday afternoon and want to grab a slice of pizza at JII, give me a holler. I'll be working next door, in the afternoon/evening, probably.

Gaucho pants from the Gaiam website:

related to women studying gemara

Designated Heimish <--check out the comments (talkbacks). There's some high comedy in there.

Hirhurim I
Hirhurim II

This entry is related to this.

I'm boycotting certain words

Goy, goyim, shiksa, shaigetz. (I don't say schvartzeh, but if I did, I'd stop using that, too.) There are too many people who use those words in a not nice way. It's not cool, and I don't want to be associated with that. I can't change people, just my reaction to their actions, so there it is. Besides, people manage to learn that I'm Jewish. I'm glad to learn what their belief system (or lack thereof) is called. That's just simple respect and courtesy toward my fellow (hu)man.

Disclaimer: If I write man, it's short for human, if I'm not referring to someone in particular. There's nothing sexist about saving keystrokes.

This is kind of a stupid post. I've been having lots of fun over at Heshy's place (blog). And working. I need to do that more.

More stuff about women and pants

(because if I post a link on Frum Satire, I have to wait for Hesh to moderate it for it to show up)
Question & Answer With Miriam Woelke - Retaining One's Essential Character
Check out the comments, particularly by William Kolbrener.

Link #2: Scroll down to 10 Elul 5764

Fun with Pirkei Avot

Alice's Restaurant

name I want to remember: ben ish chai. not to be confused with chazon ish.

If anyone wants to discuss cultivating tzniut in today's youth and daily life, I'd be glad to.

Where I go for Parshat HaShavua stuff

Shirat Devorah
She picks cool stuff to share.
There are some other good sites in my list of links for that, too.

I want to unpack my apartment this weekend

That's hilarious. Most of my stuff is still in boxes. Life is good, though. I am thinking nice things. It feels good. I did some research on music and sefirah, earlier this week. I'll try to remember to grab it and paste it here, too. I'm sleepy. Good night.

A good article / kosher croutons?

Here.
Thanks to Baal Habos, who posted the link to it in this piece.

Seriously! Please let me know. The ones I got just don't cut it. I should probably make my own.

Life is good.
The weekend, shabbat, judo, chasing away congestion, medical qigong, all good. I'm happy.
---

Criminy, it's Thursday night, now. Nobody makes good kosher croutons? lol No. Nobody reads this. That's okay. :)

words and relationships (side of funk and Homer)

for the sake of time, I'm not really putting this into sentences right now, but it's my basis for supporting the notion that sefirah is related not only to counting, but to middot. Yeah, yeah, I know it's just Hebrew being Hebrew. I'm having fun, and I'm not hurting anyone.

"I'm learning." -Ralph Wiggum
sefirah
sefirot
tonight's (h)omer
fun with numbers and shemita year and stuff
Jubilee is a fun word.

A blog with great funk goodness

My Sefirah Challenge (side of AC/DC Bag and Big Cypress)

As mentioned not far from here, I learned that the "plague" was lack of v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha, and I don't know about you, but not listening to music doesn't teach me to be good to people; not cutting my hair (or any of the other usual mourning 'cause people died stuff) doesn't remind me to be nice to people; and everyone mourns differently, so this is my way of "mourning."

Time to put the spiritual money where the mouth is. Ha yom yom challenge -- for every day of sefirah, I am making an extra effort to do something to the tune of VLK. There are myriad things one can do (of course, everyone is always good to everyone because they're so darn respectful, right? Right.); it should be easy.

All of this came together over the past few days, so I will double up to complete it in time for Shavuos (still shouldn't be hard). Did yesterday; did today. Un, deux, trois - cha, cha, cha!

Lyrical accompaniment: excerpted from AC/DC Bag (Phish)

... Time to put your money where your mouth is
Put 'em in a field and let 'em fight it out
I'm running so fast my feet don't touch the ground
I'm a stranger here I'm going down

Let's get down to the nitty gritty
Let's get this show on the road
I'll show you mine if you show me yours
I'm breathing hard - open the door ...

I was at this show; it was awesome. Note: Live music footage of song excerpted above contained in video below. There are many longer versions of this tune on youtube.


The other super-memorable AC/DC Bag that comes to mind was at Big Cypress, in the middle of the night, 1/1/2000. I went to get a sandwich shortly after midnight and couldn't find the folks I was with afterward. So I wandered.

I was at my car, feeling alone in the world, figuring that was appropriate (born alone, die alone, year has three zeroes alone, why not?). I heard them go into AC/DC Bag, and remembered why I was there, and headed back to the concert field, and everything in the world was fine. I didn't see anyone I knew until after sunrise.

Now that I think about it, it might have been David Bowie; let me check the set list. It was very powerful. And I was wrong! It was David Bowie. lol Here it is, anyway (all of Big Cypress).