the numbers game

several years ago i took an acting class at makor . there was a fun game that we would play. we would all close our eyes. someone would start with the number one and someone else would say two and we'd try to see how high we could count to. if two people would say the same number at the same time we would have to begin again. it was quite fascinating. even with one's eyes closed one can be in tune to the social cues of who should speak next. we actually were able to get up to the number seventy or so and there were about twenty students. i think that this game would be amazing to play for people who constantly interrupt others . although , im not sure they would even understand the rules of the game.

lost islands

i attended the israeli film festival last evening and i saw lost islands. it was an amazing film. its a movie about a family with five sons in the early 1980's . they feature many great american songs from that era. the whole family sings the song tainted love as well as the theme song from the love boat. there's a wedding in the movie and they dance to the hustle. what nostalgia!!
the two main characters are twins who both vie for the same girl. one twin is the bookish type and the other is a hot sephardic stud with beautiful blue eyes. the film shows how no one is all good or all bad. erez is a goody -goody who made some bad choices and ofer is a sensitive hottie who takes charge when tragedy befalls his family . the scenes of ofer taking care of his family are most touching.
i dont want to give away the whole movie, so definitely go see it. if you cant catch it at the israeli film festival it will mostly likely show up at the quad ,the jcc, film forum , the angelica , Lincoln plaza cinemas etc at some point. if its a well received movie it will. at some point.

unwanted advice

the worst kind of advice is that of the unwanted variety. unless i think the other person will be receptive to what im telling him or her , i hold my tongue. no one likes criticism , including myself. unsolicited advice can ruin friendships.
when giving unsolicited advice to a friend, its best to be brief and calm. dont run down a litany of misdeeds. unless of course one is looking to say goodbye to that friendship.
and of course many can dish out unsolicited " advice" , but cant take the heat. if you can dish it out you better be able to take it. after all , it works both ways.
ultimately the only person one can truly change is oneself. but we all know this....
so much for unwanted advice!!!

noise pollution

on my train ride home tonight i was treated to an assault of my eardrums by 4 pro-obama african american youths. the youths were rapping at the top of their lungs how happy they were that their homey won. when asked to hold it down 10 decibels , they decided to get even louder. if this is what the next 4 years look like... im going to have to invest in state of the art earplugs.

old fashioned voting booths

when i was a kid i used to go to the polls with my mother when she voted. i remembered really digging those old fashioned voting booths with the curtains . by the time i registered to vote they got rid of them where i grew up and replaced them with the punch cards with the chads etc...
when i finally registered to vote in nyc , i was able to live out my childhood dream of voting in the old fashioned voting booths of my youth. in new york they still have the old fashioned voting booths with the privacy curtain. when voting in the old fashioned booths you push a lever which puts an x by the candidate's name and if you accidentally x'd the wrong candidate you can un-ex your selection, and later x the one you really wanted all before moving the voting lever to the left to place your vote.
after the election in 2000 we learned that technology isnt always better. long lived the dinosaur voting booths in nyc!!!

the women's minyan

i just read naomi ragen's play the women's minyan. despite the controversial title, it was more sad than controversial. it was a play about divorce and spousal abuse in the haredi community in israel . often when haredi women want to divorce their husbands the husband ends up with the children. or at least according to this play. i dont really know what the truth is. i do believe that a woman leaving her husband due to spousal abuse would be courageous in a community that shuns psychological help and doesnt always admit it needs psychological help. to admit there was spousal abuse in a family would be too open and that would prevent many from seeking help. in general abused women often stay in abusive relationships longer than they should.
divorce in general can deprive both men and women of their children. sometimes people stay in relationships far too long for this alone.
the issues raised in this play certainly are food for thought and hopefully a catalyst for change.

the israeli film festival

its that time of year again. its the israeli film festival. its being held in nyc through november 13 and it started october 29. this year its being screened at the clearview cinema on 62nd and broadway. this year seems to be a little more organized than last year. thank goodness. there was such chaos last year that i almost didnt want to come back this year. thankfully the staff at the clearview has been somewhat defanged and the ticket holders line moved smoothly.
i saw the controversial movie the secrets . the filmmaker avi nesher was there for a q&a after the screening.
the movie is about a young woman who decides to postpone her wedding after her mother dies to go to seminary . at the seminary she meets a free-spirited rebel and the trouble begins . surprise, surprise the two young women explore their sexuality together. why does a movie about independent frum women have to have them explore switching teams? despite this, i still thought that this was a good movie. though it tries to titillate a bit too much, it doesnt completely demean the orthodox community either.
i plan to see a few more of the screenings at the festival. i plan on seeing srugim which is about modern orthodox singles in israel. just up my alley. ill let you know if i like it....