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The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

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  • About Jack
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Archives for September 2006

Do You Have An Accent?

September 29, 2006 by Jack Steiner 19 Comments

So here is the question of the moment, Do You Have An Accent? Not clear on what the meaning is, take a look at this link.

accent

The latter part of the definition is really what we are talking about.

The word accent in English is also understood to mean the pronunciation and speech patterns that are typical of a speech community;

As a child I never realized that all people have accents, or should I say that it never occurred to me that people would think that my own speech has an accent. I grew up on the West Coast, Los Angeles born and bred. We didn’t sound like people from Long Island, Brooklyn, Nashville or Alpharetta.

And we certainly didn’t sound like we had rolled out of Tel Aviv, JoBurg, Sydney or Mexico City. To be clear, I have always enjoyed accents. It tickled me pink to hear people speak English yet sound so different. In fact, there was a point in time in which I was disappointed that I couldn’t speak with an English accent, but that was short lived.

It was during that famous summer of 1985 trip to Israel that I learned that people thought that I had an accent. I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but I do remember some Israeli boy telling me that I speak Hebrew with a thick American accent.

Whoa. What do you mean that I have an accent.

One of the other people with me confirmed it. He was a Jewish kid from Buenos Aires. He said that I sounded like an American.

I was truly dumbfounded by this because until that point, I had never thought of myself as having an accent, that was something that other people had. But I had to admit that it made sense, it hadn’t ever come up before.

In the years that have passed I have been told by others that I have an accent and I am sure that many of my international readers would agree with this. Upon occasion people tell me that they can hear some East Coast influence, or that pronounce some things like a Chicagoan.

I laugh when people think that I am from New York. IMO, my voice doesn’t sound like that at all. If I am around people with a thick Southern accent it is not unusual for me to start to affect a drawl. I have been asked if I am from Texas.

As for Chicago, well half my family is from there, including my mother so there is probably some truth to that.

One of the funnier occasions came during a wedding I once attended. The bride was Irish and quite a large number of the guests had come to the states to help her celebrate her nupitals. During the reception I walked over to the bar and placed an order for a drink.

The bartender smiled and began preparing it. While he was doing so he looked at me and said:

“I have Irish relatives. What part of Ireland are you from?”

I laughed and said “Hollywood.”

The bartender scratched his head and said “Wow, you know that we have a city called Hollywood too.”

Now I’d like to say that it was an easy mistake to make. I’d like to say that he was competing with the band and that some trombonist was especially loud, but that wouldn’t be true. The band was on a break. It was relatively quiet so I said,

“Begorra, this ale do taste mighty fine.”

It probably sounded more like pirate than Irish, but it fit my mood and was lot kinder than asking him if I looked like Lucky the Leprechaun from the Lucky Charms cereal box.

And while we are on the topic of accents let me share something else. Someone once told me that Australian women loved to hear American men speak. The legend said that if you found a nice Australian girl your voice would give you an edge. As a scientist I have always been disappointed that I couldn’t test that theory. In the interest of discovery and human development I would have enjoyed running a lab on that.

Anyhooo………………………………………….

Let’s go back to the topic of the post. Do You Have an Accent?

Well, do you? And if so, how would you describe it?

Filed Under: People, Random Thoughts

My Theme Song

September 29, 2006 by Jack Steiner 10 Comments

Someone once suggested that life would be far more fun if we could walk around with a theme song. I kind of like the idea. If I could do it than I would want to have a rotation of songs to use.

For example, here are the top five I would want right now:

  1. O Fortuna– Orff
  2. Hurt– Johnny Cash version
  3. Raiders Of The Lost Ark: The Raiders’ March– John Williams
  4. Jaws Theme– John Williams
  5. The Empire Strikes Back: The Imperial March– John Williams

Filed Under: Things About Jack

Do You Have Blog Envy Part II

September 28, 2006 by Jack Steiner 10 Comments

It is close to a year since I wrote part I and not much has changed. I’d like to say that I have grown and matured a lot, but I am not so sure that it is accurate.

I still have feelings of frustration. My best posts are often overlooked and for the most part there is at best a smattering of comments. That is not always the case. There are posts that draw quite a bit of attention and a chunk of comments from the readers, but not always.

My position on why I blog hasn’t changed. I don’t do it for the comments. I don’t do it with the hope of receiving a book deal. I do it because I enjoy it.

But….

I am like so many others. I appreciate the comments. If someone wanted to give me a book deal I would certainly have to entertain it, why not.

As I sit here in mobile office I can say that I was wrong. The blog has matured and has grown. I feel like I have a real rhythm and style. I know that I have a set of readers who visit repeatedly. I am still surprised that so many people do and that so many of you enjoy the crap I spew out here, but I appreciate it.

So in the midst of another new year here is my number one goal for this blog. I want to improve upon my writing. I want to try and raise my game and make the words just sing. I want the text to shout. I want it to feel like there are layers upon layers of texture and color. I want to write well enough that you feel like you are standing next to me, experiencing these tales together.

In the end I have to strive for this because I believe it to be true and because this is what I teach my children. You have to work hard and you have to practice. So I cannot give up on my writing. I cannot close this outlet, not yet.

Now is when I need to dig in and try harder. And there you have it, my confession. I want more. I need more from myself and if I can do that successfully everything else will come.

Do I have blog envy? Yes, I do. I admit it. But I am going to use it to motivate me. So if you are still up for another spin on the carousel I invite you to climb on pick out a horse or pony to ride.

Get comfortable, the ride will be starting soon.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Just Some Links to Some Old Posts

September 28, 2006 by Jack Steiner 2 Comments

There is a lot going on, so much to say and so much to write about and so little time. If you are bored with the current selection try one of these:

What Do You Call Your Blog?
The Story of Two Souls
My Daughter’s Favorite Book
A Little Digestive Distress- Chicken Vindaloo
I Had a Dream
The Search For Answers About Ourselves
The Most Time Consuming Part of Blogging
Cheap Sunglasses
The Supermarket
Why I Blog

Filed Under: Blogging

Funny Newspaper Clippings

September 27, 2006 by Jack Steiner 5 Comments


Hat Tip here and here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Road Show, Israel Style- Daniel Gordis

September 27, 2006 by Jack Steiner Leave a Comment

Daniel Gordis released another dispatch that is worth reading. Take a look at these selections.

“Sometimes, a simple drive on a highway in the Jewish State is all is takes to restore perspective, to revive hope. A road, its exits, the places to which they lead and the history they recall – and you suddenly find yourself with faith in the future restored. If only all of us could take those drives. For especially light of these past months of grief and of disappointment, of coming to terms with the war that we lost (as a senior IDF general admitted publicly yesterday), what we need is perspective, a reminder of where the Jewish people was just decades ago, and how far we’ve come.”

And

“And then, one day in the middle of the war, I was driving the Jerusalem – Tel Aviv highway. This time, staring aimlessly out the windshield, I found myself looking at the metal remains scattered alongside the road. I drive the road so often that I hardly ever notice them anymore, but this time, I did. Immobile, but carefully painted so as to preserve them, lay the shells of the trucks that were destroyed as Jews tried to break the Jordanian siege on Jerusalem in 1948. The carcasses of these trucks were a reminder, a source of perspective. If you had told someone in 1948, when Jews in Jerusalem were besieged and out of food, water and medicine that we’d be OK, you’d have sounded like a dreamer. You’ve have had nothing on which to base your confidence. Except, perhaps, for perspective, and for the knowledge that in the end, the Jews have always figured out how to survive. That there is something about our people that defies explanation, but which is real, no less real than any of the challenges we face.

The highway is a reminder of that. The road from Tel Aviv to the capital road still snakes its way up through the hills to Jerusalem. And Israel is still surrounded by enemies. But the difference? Jerusalem is rebuilt, and thriving. And the main problem that we have on that road now is the traffic. Sixty years after the siege, our problem is too many Jews in Jerusalem. Jerusalem overflowing with Jews, living in and visiting the Jewish State. It’s a good problem to have. And not one that we thought we’d have back in 1945.

Further on down the road, I pass the exit for Latrun, the site of devastating battles in the War of Independence, the same Latrun that Ariel Sharon tried to conquer when he was a young commander. But he failed. His troops literally dying of thirst in the sun-scorched battlefield because they didn’t even have canteens, Sharon had to withdraw. And today? There’s a tank museum there. And at the amphitheater there, Israeli soldiers are inducted into their army units in ceremonies overflowing with pride and with confidence, a reality wholly other than what witnesses of Sharon’s battle would have believed the future would hold. “

Perspective- think about it.

Filed Under: Israel

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