SO MUCH TO SAY/WHERE TO START?

I have frequently mentioned my High School Latin teacher, Mrs. Reynolds. I learned the word "errata" from her--it more or less means mistakes as in oops I made one in my last post. Seems the conference held at Harvard only focused on the Palestinian state and not on a two state solution. An astute and erudite reader called me on that. But now I at least know he reads this shit.

Welcome to Wolf and not Blitzer who is one of the worst blatherers in the world. Wolf is a Rabbi who was on the trip to Cuba and has "blessed" me (get it?) with his readership. We need more readers on the "right" coast to counter what has become an increasing tilt to the left. Also want to thank John and Phyllis for getting me lists of Finnish mystery writers. Just need to select one now. Meanwhile, I have a new Swedish mystery by a person described as being as good as Stieg Larson.

Spent time in Philadelphia at the end of February with the Helmlings and their construction crew. Doing a bit of wall demolition they are amidst an already hectic life. The kids are great but truly I slept for 3 hours or so on the train ride home. To quote Babs--"There is a reason young people have kids". Then next week, we are off for our first visit to the Longhorn state to visit Anna. Right now she is in the middle of their South by Southwest festival but she missed seeing BRUCE who gave the keynote address. Anna has promised that I will get an audience with Rick Perry--I look forward to it.

Speaking of BRUCE, I love his new CD which is more than partially dedicated to Clarence Clemons. It was done without the E Street Band and is a lot like the Seeger sessions plus full of very sharp social/political criticisms. Also, saw a group called the Carolina Chocolate Drops and guess what--chocolate refers to their skin color--who knew. All acoustic with a heavy emphasis on the revival of old time banjo songs sung by slaves and others from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's. They were terrific. Bought one of their CD's already.

"Game Change" was just on HBO and is a behind the scenes look at the McCain/Palin campaign. Now of course there is a big debate about its accuracy (much of it coming from Sarah and I don't blame her considering how she comes off). But if only 50% is true, then she is dumber than we thought and it is soooo scary to think she could have been Veep for a guy older than me.

Continuing with this culture stuff--Jon Stewart continues to do two things. The first is that he is artful at his critiques. Not just of people like Rush (who he really blew out of the water over that student's contraception testimony)--but over failings of Obama. But he saves his best for Fox News and the talking heads over there. Second, he also must mention at least once a show his religion--he is a member of my tribe and I have never seen this kind of humor before. He had an interchange with Rachael Weisz (an actress I am not sure I know) about hamentashen that was hysterical. Do they represent Hamen's ear or his nose and if his nose, what does that mean about the stereotype about Jewish noses. I was on the floor and, as a friend used to say, I practically peed in my pants.

Then there is Doonesbury starting on 3/12 and continuing today. He is all over Rick Perry and the restrictive laws regarding abortions in Texas. So sharp and so on target. Remember he has been doing this for over 40 years and it continues to be timely, funny, and awfully pessimistic/sad at the same time.

Now that a Rabbi is on board, we are going to discuss my synagogue. I am 95% retired and a lot of people (not my readers of course) think that means I sit around in a blissed out state totally relaxed and in my own stress free world. NOT. Any- how, I enjoy going to Temple about 2 or 3 times a month and kind of just commune with whoever is up there in the sky listening or perhaps not listening. Temple Israel to be fair tries to be as inclusive as possible and tries also to be as flexible as possible with their liturgy in order (among other things) to entice new members--the kind who might object rather strongly to some of the more orthodox values. But last Friday I just about exploded (not a big surprise). People bring coffee in with snacks as if it were the neighborhood Starbucks. People clap and need to be told when not to. People walk out in the midst of prayers (how many times have I said midst so far?) and/or when the ark is open. Then a group of women (sorry but there were no men) did a dance performance as a prelude to the mourner's prayer. And they stunk and they danced in the aisles during he service and they sat in their Buddha poses during the service and they wore long red thingys with black scarves draped on their heads--so I was reminded more of Afghan women than Jews. I wanted to run out but I knew one of the people and being a great humanitarian, I stayed and am now trying to cancel my membership. I just want to "do my hour" in peace with some songs I know from childhood which carry the same tune and even hear a few rabbinic words. If I want dance I go to Jacob's Pillow or the ICA. Enough.

There was an ad on TV this week that more or less said something like: "the gang went out for pizza and beer". They were not talking about the Crips or the Bloods. They were talking about the 1950's when presumably you went out with friends who were your gang. This craze for "everything was better back then" is now seeping into everyday life and not just coming out of Ric Santorum's medieval head and mouth.

Then there is Scott Brown speaking of medieval. He is running ads which tout his interest in and knowledge of sports--skipping over all the people (mostly of the female variety) who are not interested and focusing instead on us guys and mainly us guys who are younger. The ads want you to vote for him not on any issues but because it is kind of a guy thing.

SPORTS TALK

So the Bruins are dying and it is clear that Chara and Thomas (as I said before) are not having the massive seasons they had last year. And injuries don't help. The Celtics will likely make the playoffs but having two guys out with heart problems probably dooms them (along with age) to an early exit. Not the guys; the team.

But we do have women's hockey. I saw the BU women play a game the other night on tv. They have already been eliminated from post season play. But since there is no checking, it is all about skating, passing, and shooting. It was wonderful and I am sure it is not just the BU women. This is a direct result of Title IX.

An incredible rumor. Asked someone who knows about golf if Tiger was back. He said yes but the other guys have caught him. Then he added this gem--Tiger is HIV positive and that is the real reason he is playing lousy. Oh my--my mouth fell open. What if it is true? It boggles the mind.

Sorry for the length.

Sayonara.