You know me, always a little late to the party.
So I just discovered Ruth Gledhill's Religion Blog at the Times, and there's a fascinating post about her views on a story intially reported in Manchester's very own Jewish Telegraph (a newspaper whose headline once ran "Average Age in Heathlands (old age home) 73") (scroll down on the Times site to her entry for 21 October, permalinks shaky).
It's about a boy who wrote a poem effectively praising the Holocaust, that has been included in a collection to be used in schools. The editor states:
"This poem shows a good use of technical writing and he has written his poem from the perspective of Adolf Hitler. Key Stage 3 history requires people to show knowledge and understanding of events and places, to show historical interpretation and to explain the significance of events, people and places, all of which World War II and the Holocaust is part of. The poem clearly states, I am Adolf Hitler and is not a reflection of the child's view, the editor's or the publisher's. The poem recounts a historical fact, something which Young Writers and Foreward Press are not willing to censor.'
I'm slightly at a loss for what to say, and am disinclined to say "PC gone mad" because people always say that.
Let's just say that I'm a little worried about the world I live in. Today, anyway. Oh, and yesterday (Blunketgate II).
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Today is - apparently - World Usability Day.
Although it sounds like a website usability thing, which I guess it is to some degree, it's more about geek stuff and stuff in general. For anyone who's ever asked “why doesn’t this work right? What am I supposed to do with this now?" (and as someone who rarely reads the instructions, that's happened to me quite a lot), it seems like a great idea that some people have got into, but there's a lot of noise out there on the web, and how do you fight for attention?
Maybe today's the today I get over my skype-inertia. Although Yoz tells me I should go open source. Skip? Obviously.
Although it sounds like a website usability thing, which I guess it is to some degree, it's more about geek stuff and stuff in general. For anyone who's ever asked “why doesn’t this work right? What am I supposed to do with this now?" (and as someone who rarely reads the instructions, that's happened to me quite a lot), it seems like a great idea that some people have got into, but there's a lot of noise out there on the web, and how do you fight for attention?
Maybe today's the today I get over my skype-inertia. Although Yoz tells me I should go open source. Skip? Obviously.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
I'm kinda excited about the UK Jewish Film Festival - bigger, better and with more stylish graphics and a new logo. Starts Saturday, with a couple of must-see films (for me, anyhow: Ushpizin, Divan, Bee Season). Check it out.
Let's face it, we're all pretty relieved that David Blunkett's had the guts to resign.
I'm not disputing the fact that people lead complicated lives, and seemingly more so if they're under the public gaze, but I want politicians with integrity.
Do I think every politician has to be lilly-white and angelic? No. Do I think that they have to be perfect? No. Do I think they have to get everything 100% right? No.
So while I'm prepared to give the benefit of the doubt, and forgive to a degree, David Blunkett has broken my trust. And the more he does, the worse it gets.
So he had an affair. I think maybe a lot of people do, and it may not be a hanging offence. But then there was that power-crazed stuff with Kimberly's nanny's visa, and that estate agent woman, the personal letter on government headed paper and now DNA Biotech, and I read a brief mention of some other thing he hadn't checked out with the committee.
I think that sometimes people in the public eye (and I think I bundle politicians with celebrities on this one) forget that they're not in a first class carriage where different rules apply and it's OK to jump the queue or whatever. My grandpa was a JP (magistrate) and he used to say "justice does not only have to be done, it has to seem to be done" and maybe those are words that David will reflect on in the time he will doubtless now be spending "with his family."
Here's a few things I'd like to say to people in public office who take the piss, (and celebrities who think the world owes them a living): no special rules apply. You're just a person elected to enact the people's will, (or a prat who thinks being on Celebrity Big Bonker gives you a licence to bore), and that comes before anything else.
I come from a long line of people who've done some kind of public service, and believe that making your contribution to your community, whatever it may be, might be one of the most important things we are here for. I remember as a kid, a friend of my Dad's who was a part-time chair of an NHS Trust describing himself as having an "outmoded sense of public duty", but I don't think it's outmoded. In the language of New Labour, you have rights and responsibilites, and you don't get one without the other. Public life is a delicate balance of the two. You can't just take, especially when there are very clear rules. I don't even care about the "letter of the law" stuff (he put the shares in his sons' names to replace the inheritance he spent on his younger son's custody battle).
Sometimes, the right thing to do is just very obvious, and no amount of weaseling and squirming can replace that.
Oh, and Steve Bell's said everything I want to say in one image.
I'm not disputing the fact that people lead complicated lives, and seemingly more so if they're under the public gaze, but I want politicians with integrity.
Do I think every politician has to be lilly-white and angelic? No. Do I think that they have to be perfect? No. Do I think they have to get everything 100% right? No.
So while I'm prepared to give the benefit of the doubt, and forgive to a degree, David Blunkett has broken my trust. And the more he does, the worse it gets.
So he had an affair. I think maybe a lot of people do, and it may not be a hanging offence. But then there was that power-crazed stuff with Kimberly's nanny's visa, and that estate agent woman, the personal letter on government headed paper and now DNA Biotech, and I read a brief mention of some other thing he hadn't checked out with the committee.
I think that sometimes people in the public eye (and I think I bundle politicians with celebrities on this one) forget that they're not in a first class carriage where different rules apply and it's OK to jump the queue or whatever. My grandpa was a JP (magistrate) and he used to say "justice does not only have to be done, it has to seem to be done" and maybe those are words that David will reflect on in the time he will doubtless now be spending "with his family."
Here's a few things I'd like to say to people in public office who take the piss, (and celebrities who think the world owes them a living): no special rules apply. You're just a person elected to enact the people's will, (or a prat who thinks being on Celebrity Big Bonker gives you a licence to bore), and that comes before anything else.
I come from a long line of people who've done some kind of public service, and believe that making your contribution to your community, whatever it may be, might be one of the most important things we are here for. I remember as a kid, a friend of my Dad's who was a part-time chair of an NHS Trust describing himself as having an "outmoded sense of public duty", but I don't think it's outmoded. In the language of New Labour, you have rights and responsibilites, and you don't get one without the other. Public life is a delicate balance of the two. You can't just take, especially when there are very clear rules. I don't even care about the "letter of the law" stuff (he put the shares in his sons' names to replace the inheritance he spent on his younger son's custody battle).
Sometimes, the right thing to do is just very obvious, and no amount of weaseling and squirming can replace that.
Oh, and Steve Bell's said everything I want to say in one image.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Mindblowing, heartwarming, Metafilter thread. I won't spill the beans, but let's just say it's got all the key ingredients: Jewish geneology, post-Holocaustness, warm cuddliness. Makes me happy to know there are nice people out there.
Friday, October 21, 2005
I have just discovered the Association of Jewish Culture Providers, which has 45 members. It's getting very New York, here. Although some of them are, y'know.
I can't help having more than a passing interest in the Frieze Art Fair which is this weekend (no, we're not related, although we did have a little bit of a tumble about frieze.com a few years back). When you go through Regents Park, the signage is huge.
The Guardian have a very insightful piece about modern collectors. But it's a lot of money. Although...
Anyway, I'm busy Sunday (and can't go Saturday). So that's my money safe, then.
The Guardian have a very insightful piece about modern collectors. But it's a lot of money. Although...
Anyway, I'm busy Sunday (and can't go Saturday). So that's my money safe, then.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Yep, you're right, I should explain Sukkot better: here's the wikipedia entry.
I will take a pic of my sukkah, I promise, but when you're squeezing a whole week into three days, stuff slips. And I'm chasing my tail trying to get my work done efficiently.
Here's a weird thing: I got on a 189 bus last week, and since 7/7 I try and make eye contact with drivers and say thank you, and when I looked at this driver he was all goth/Barbelithy: eyebrow piercing, little goattee, sardonic grin. And he had like goth gnomes on his Oystercard reader. No, really. We smiled at each other in a we-get-it way. I like it when people are individual.
When I got into town, I wanted to get off the bus at a non-stop which is against all bus driver rules, but usually, if I smile/show a bit of cleavage/whatever, they do. So I asked him to stop at some lights by John Lewis, and he said "who's a naughty girl?" which felt a little odd, but I smiled because I wanted to get off the bus, and well. You know. (Although had this happened in a workplace, it would have been way weirder).
So today, I get a bus back from town, and who's the driver? My, er, new buddy.
Coincidence factor: well, he drives the 189 bus route. Weird factor? 26%. World's-a-village factor? 78% at least.
Reason for posting this? No reason, it's a weblog.
I will take a pic of my sukkah, I promise, but when you're squeezing a whole week into three days, stuff slips. And I'm chasing my tail trying to get my work done efficiently.
Here's a weird thing: I got on a 189 bus last week, and since 7/7 I try and make eye contact with drivers and say thank you, and when I looked at this driver he was all goth/Barbelithy: eyebrow piercing, little goattee, sardonic grin. And he had like goth gnomes on his Oystercard reader. No, really. We smiled at each other in a we-get-it way. I like it when people are individual.
When I got into town, I wanted to get off the bus at a non-stop which is against all bus driver rules, but usually, if I smile/show a bit of cleavage/whatever, they do. So I asked him to stop at some lights by John Lewis, and he said "who's a naughty girl?" which felt a little odd, but I smiled because I wanted to get off the bus, and well. You know. (Although had this happened in a workplace, it would have been way weirder).
So today, I get a bus back from town, and who's the driver? My, er, new buddy.
Coincidence factor: well, he drives the 189 bus route. Weird factor? 26%. World's-a-village factor? 78% at least.
Reason for posting this? No reason, it's a weblog.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
It's National Giving Week - as well as being the first day of Sukkot. I made kiddish in my sukkah, and it's still standing, which given it's lightweight construction is something of a miracle.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Sukkot (Tabernacles, kinda the Jewish harvest festival and then some) starts tomorrow (Monday night) and I have just built - with the help of my anonymous assistant - my first ever Sukka.
Well, it's more of a pop-up sukkah, from Sukkahmart in Golders Green. The Safari Sukkah, with portable schach (roofing though which you can see the stars, made from bamboo). I was toying with this one (which fits on my newly crafted garden stairs but only fits two rather intimate people) or a bigger one, which would necessitate negotiating the use of our shared lawn with my neighbours. I took the easy option: knocking on six doors to explain that I want to build a temporary both in the garden seemed like interesting work. That I may leave for another year.
So, my first ever Sukkah. I feel like a kid. Kinda a big kid who grew so much they fit the whole sukkah.
I held off getting Arba Minim (four kinds: palm fronds and other stuff you wave around in shul. No, really.). But Sarah just sent me this link to telshemesh, who are creating earth-based traditions in Judaism, this about Ushpizin (welcoming guests for sukkot). Like, I'm not 100% sure what earth-based traditions are, but if we should do them anytime, I guess it would be sukkot.
Well, it's more of a pop-up sukkah, from Sukkahmart in Golders Green. The Safari Sukkah, with portable schach (roofing though which you can see the stars, made from bamboo). I was toying with this one (which fits on my newly crafted garden stairs but only fits two rather intimate people) or a bigger one, which would necessitate negotiating the use of our shared lawn with my neighbours. I took the easy option: knocking on six doors to explain that I want to build a temporary both in the garden seemed like interesting work. That I may leave for another year.
So, my first ever Sukkah. I feel like a kid. Kinda a big kid who grew so much they fit the whole sukkah.
I held off getting Arba Minim (four kinds: palm fronds and other stuff you wave around in shul. No, really.). But Sarah just sent me this link to telshemesh, who are creating earth-based traditions in Judaism, this about Ushpizin (welcoming guests for sukkot). Like, I'm not 100% sure what earth-based traditions are, but if we should do them anytime, I guess it would be sukkot.
radical cleric?
So, here's a thing.
I have a friend who wanted to know more about the world of Jewish-style things, and I got him a copy of Radical Then, Radical Now, a theological treatise by Jonathan Sacks, currently the Chief Rabbi of the UK.
Aside: in typical variegated-Jewish fasion, he's not Chief Rabbi to all the Jews; he's Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue, which is the largest, centre-rightist group, and, crucially, the one with the most money, so he gets a big office. Anyway, he's got a double first from Cambridge, and many older Jews like him because he's not "too-Jewish" like the former Chief Rabbi, with his mittel-European accent and long beard. Aside over.
So my friend has his current reading in his bag, and passing through Euston on Friday, gets stopped by the police as part of their standard (read: slightly scary) new anti-terrorist stop and search programme. The officer riffles through his bag, but when he gets to his reading matter, does something of a double take. Eyebrows are raised all round.
Then, of course, the officer says, "white British national?" as he ticks the correct box on his form, sending my buddy on his way. Gotta make up the numbers in this equal opportunity world.
Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase radical cleric.
I have a friend who wanted to know more about the world of Jewish-style things, and I got him a copy of Radical Then, Radical Now, a theological treatise by Jonathan Sacks, currently the Chief Rabbi of the UK.
Aside: in typical variegated-Jewish fasion, he's not Chief Rabbi to all the Jews; he's Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue, which is the largest, centre-rightist group, and, crucially, the one with the most money, so he gets a big office. Anyway, he's got a double first from Cambridge, and many older Jews like him because he's not "too-Jewish" like the former Chief Rabbi, with his mittel-European accent and long beard. Aside over.
So my friend has his current reading in his bag, and passing through Euston on Friday, gets stopped by the police as part of their standard (read: slightly scary) new anti-terrorist stop and search programme. The officer riffles through his bag, but when he gets to his reading matter, does something of a double take. Eyebrows are raised all round.
Then, of course, the officer says, "white British national?" as he ticks the correct box on his form, sending my buddy on his way. Gotta make up the numbers in this equal opportunity world.
Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase radical cleric.
Roasted vegetables
Last sunday (OK, it took a while to get them off my phone, but I've been busy being spiritually uplifted), I made roasted vegetables, with rosemary from the garden, and whatever was in the fridge, including some figs (left over from Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, where multi-seeded fruits are one of many customs). The figs gave the vegetables a slightly sweet hit, in the style of my favourite Elizabethan/middle eastern cookery. Thoroughly recommended.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
It's Yom Kippur's opening gig, Kol Nidrei, the most serious time in the Jewish year in about 90 minutes.
I've been feeling retrospective/introspective for the last few days, in preparation, and I guess my final bit of teshuva (repentance) is to say to you, dear reader, if I've written anything to hurt or offend you in the last year, please forgive me.
See you on the other side.
I've been feeling retrospective/introspective for the last few days, in preparation, and I guess my final bit of teshuva (repentance) is to say to you, dear reader, if I've written anything to hurt or offend you in the last year, please forgive me.
See you on the other side.
I have just discovered Canonist - blogging religiously.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Turns out my local MP, Glenda Jackson, may stand against Tony Blair as a stalking horse.
So it's Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) on Wednesday night/Thursday, and after that it's Sukkot, to my mind one of the weirdest of festivals.
To remind ourselves of the impermanence of life and the Exodus from Egypt and all sorts of other things, we eat meals in little booths in the garden. I've never had one, but this year I'm seriously/not-so-seriously thinking of getting a pop-up Sukkah.
To remind ourselves of the impermanence of life and the Exodus from Egypt and all sorts of other things, we eat meals in little booths in the garden. I've never had one, but this year I'm seriously/not-so-seriously thinking of getting a pop-up Sukkah.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
A lot of traffic..
There's been constant traffic outside my front door since Thursday afternoon - Thursday evening it took me an hour and a half to drive back from Hampstead (a journey that usually takes five minutes). West End Lane was totally solid, like a car park.
Turns out there is a burst watermain on the A41 (Finchley Road) and the whole of North West London has ground to a standstill. Found this picture on Flickr, it's not mine, and if you look closely you can see the bulge under the road.
It's quite amazing. Even the bus lane is full, and not just of buses. I'm hoping they get it fixed soon, but there's something strangely retro about leasving my car standing and just walking. Could be the future...
Turns out there is a burst watermain on the A41 (Finchley Road) and the whole of North West London has ground to a standstill. Found this picture on Flickr, it's not mine, and if you look closely you can see the bulge under the road.
It's quite amazing. Even the bus lane is full, and not just of buses. I'm hoping they get it fixed soon, but there's something strangely retro about leasving my car standing and just walking. Could be the future...
Friday, October 07, 2005
Oh, p-u-lease. I can't believe that today is National Courtesy Day.
I realise I'm turning into my Mum and Dad - but, just today?
I realise I'm turning into my Mum and Dad - but, just today?
Monday, October 03, 2005
You probably know it's Rosh Hashanah - Jewish New Year - tonight, and that's why I've been a little quiet. In the last week, I've:
made a dozen honey cakes
sought out pomegranates, figs, and other appropriate fruits for a shechiyanu
done to teshuva with a handful of people
called a number of old friends I've not been in touch with for a while to wish them l'shanah tova
cleaned my house
prepared tonight's meal for eight people
signed up for the shul's hospitality programme, so I have someone I don't really know coming as well
been out to play, too, obviously: dinner at friends, shul, Switch Triptych at the Soho Theatre (don't bother) and Pride and Prejudice (there was a woman in the row in front who was the only person in the universe who doesn't know the plot and was genuinely surprised by the turn of events)
dry cleaned my Yom Tov clothes
OK, the last one's a lie. I'm at that stage in my life where I don't get a "new suit for Yom Tov". I have a lot of clothes, and if I bought more every Yom Tov it would get silly. But I did buy a new pair of Victorian-stylee lace-up boots which are almost identical to the ones I had when I was seventeen.
And today, two clients have insisted on meetings. Like, great. It's the equivalent of Christmas Eve, and I need to be in shul at 6.15, and I won't get home till 4.
I'll say hi, later. But in the meantime: I wish you all a sweet, happy, creative new year, and shana tova tikatevu v'tikatemu - may we be signed and sealed for a good year.
OK, the last one's a lie. I'm at that stage in my life where I don't get a "new suit for Yom Tov". I have a lot of clothes, and if I bought more every Yom Tov it would get silly. But I did buy a new pair of Victorian-stylee lace-up boots which are almost identical to the ones I had when I was seventeen.
And today, two clients have insisted on meetings. Like, great. It's the equivalent of Christmas Eve, and I need to be in shul at 6.15, and I won't get home till 4.
I'll say hi, later. But in the meantime: I wish you all a sweet, happy, creative new year, and shana tova tikatevu v'tikatemu - may we be signed and sealed for a good year.
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