In Jersey

Well, I'm in Jersey. Drove all day. Ate at a new shwarma place called 'ShuShan'. Good grub. I'll post more soon, and hopefully I'll be able to include photos too. Posting at the Shul is going to be a little patchy until I return. Until then, hang tight and enjoy the vast Shul of Rock archives.

Peace and Love.

- Avi

A Chanukah Gift

Here's a video gift for all of you Shul visitors out there. Have a safe and happy Chanukah!

Post #202

We did it! We passed the 200 mark for blog posts. That's exciting.

According to MTV News, Baron-Cohen got a Golden Globe nomination for Borat. His response was quite funny:

"I am extremely honored [and] very proud," Baron Cohen boasted. "I have been trying to let Borat know this great news, but for four hours both of Kazakhstan's telephones were engaged. Eventually, [Kazakh] Premier Nazarbayev answered and said he would pass on the message as soon as Borat returned from Iran, where he is guest of honor at the Holocaust Denial Conference."

R.I.P. Marty Nodell

From CBGXtra:

Mart Nodell, whose creations ranged from Green Lantern to the Pillsbury Doughboy, died this morning.

His son Spence called to let me know, adding that his father had had “a very good life.” Part of that life was bringing pleasure to legions of fans, both fans of Marty’s work and of Marty himself. He and his wife, Carrie, were mainstays of conventions around the country; Carrie died in April 2004, but Marty continued his convention appearances until this spring, when failing health made such appearances too difficult. His last show was the Motor City Convention in May.

Born Nov. 15, 1915, he made his career in art and created Green Lantern for the company that is DC Comics today. Recently, the page that was his initial proposal for the character was discovered to have survived. He was a wonderful man who lived to have his work acknowledged and celebrated by people who loved him.

Including me.

- Maggie Thompson

Attacked at Borat

Want to hear something serious? My friend and I were the targets of an anti-Semitic act today.

Want to hear something funny? It was at a screening for the movie Borat.

My friend Meyer and I were busting our guts laughing as Kazakhstan’s funniest fictional reporter poked fun at American life, small-town Eastern Europe, and prejudice. As the film was reaching its conclusion and jokingly ‘anti-Semitic’ scenes washed across the screen, mixed with perverse nudity and wild animals, I felt something whiz past my head and land on the plastic bag resting on my lap.

I didn’t pay much attention to the object, since the movie was so funny, and the impact was so ridiculously light. I didn’t even stop to think about it. Then the lights came on.

Sitting on my lap was a penny. There were a few more on the ground in front of me, as well as one in the cup holder as well. Someone had targeted us with pennies.

Now for those of you that are blissfully unaware, a classic act of Jew-baiting is to throw pennies at a Jewish individual. It plays off the classic ‘Jews are cheap’ stereotype/myth, and asserts the racial/ethnic/religious superiority of the penny thrower. If you have a hard-on for Hitler, you’ve probably tried it.

Throughout the film, our kippot (skull caps) were exposed, marking us as ‘members of the tribe’. After having experienced my first penny toss, I could not be prouder to wear a kippah (skull cap) in public, that is when I’m not wearing one of my favourite grungy ball caps.

But I digress.

After discovering the pennies, I turned to see if I could locate the culprit. There were two guys in the rows behind us. One was an ‘Eminem’ wannabe chatting up his date. Borat on a first date? That’s classy.

The other guy was a 40-something Iranian dude, slouched low in his chair, staring at me unblinkingly with a look of poorly disguised satisfaction on his face. There was no way to confirm that he was the culprit, so Meyer and I made our way out of the theatre and headed to the subway station.

Do I think this incident would have happened if the movie shown was Bond rather than Borat? No. Do I think Borat caused an individual to transform into an anti-Semite? No. Rather, I believe that the movie provided an idiot with the encouragement he needed to commit this cowardly act, but I don’t believe it sowed any fresh seeds of hatred – it just reminded him of the ones that were already there.

Borat is a riotously funny movie, filled with great laughs and social satire. If the penny-thrower realized he was watching a film featuring a Jewish guy run around shouting Hebrew while making fun of anti-Semites, I think he would have wanted his money back.

I would have been happy to give it to him. Every penny.

Hot Dog!

Noam and I decided to embark on an adventure last week. This is a short, heartwarming tale about hot dogs. Here goes:

It isn’t always easy to find food on campus that meets the dietary needs of Noam and myself. Hillel has a weekly BBQ, and a Chicken Wings night, plus the occasional pizza thing, but last Wednesday, Noam and I wanted a full meal.

I had heard a rumour about a secret underground cafeteria in the local Mount Sinai Hospital. We ventured forth.

After braving the harsh Canadian winds, the hungry heroes of this tale spun through some zany revolving doors. We found ourselves in the main foyer, but where were we to go from here?

After ducking down some stairs, we snaked through the catacombs, ever fearful that we would accidentally stumble into the morgue. We wandered past the radiation therapy labs, and a staff room, and VOILA! The unmarked, hidden cafeteria lay before us!

Inside, we were treated to beef hot dogs (with all the fixings, including mustard!), all on toasty Hermes buns. I also had a potato latke, while Noam had a soup. The meal was delicious, and we still had enough time to make it back to class.

I know, I know – you are white-knuckled, at the edge of your seat with excitement. I hope this story didn’t thrill you too much. I know, it was pretty intense, but you’ve got to get a hold of yourself! Relax! Take a deep breath. Have a hot dog. You’ll be OK.