"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
I opted not to write a whole post on this topic. I wanted to. I thought that I might but I am lacking the passion. So instead you can go to Treppenwitz and see what prompted my thought.
One more comment about this. In my experience Havdalah and Adon Olam were the most frequent targets of being sung to an alternative tune, such as the theme to Cheers, Oklahoma or Back In The Saddle Again.
Newsweek has an article about a list that was compiled of the Top 50 Rabbis in America. Here is the intro to the story:
“April 2, 2007 issue – Last fall, Sony Pictures CEO and Chairman Michael Lynton got together with his good friends and fellow power brokers Gary Ginsberg, of Newscorp., and Jay Sanderson, of JTN Productions and started working on a list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. They had a scoring system: Are the rabbis known nationally/internationally? (20 points.) Do they have a media presence? (10 points.) Are they leaders within their communities? (10 points.) Are they considered leaders in Judaism or their movements? (10 points.) Size of their constituency? (10 points.) Do they have political/social influence? (20 points.) Have they made an impact on Judaism in their career? (10 points.) Have they made a “greater” impact? (10 points.) This system, though helpful, is far from scientific; the men revised and rejiggered their list for months, and all three concede that the result is subjective. Here, then, published for the first time, the top 50 rabbis in America:”
Click here for the list. On a side note I was surprised at how many of these rabbis I have interacted with through camp, work, shul, volunteer activities etc. Not that any of it matters, it just reminded me of how my own life crosses denominations.
As a native of Los Angeles I have been privileged to listen to some of the greatest announcers you could ever find, Dick Enberg, Chick Hearn and the great Vin Scully. I could easily dedicate an entire post to each man in which I could laud their skill and their ability to paint a picture with words, but it is Spring Training now and that means baseball.
And if you are talking about baseball you have to think of Vin Scully. Scully is an artist. He is a virtuoso, a true wordsmith and he doesn’t suffer from the problems that so many other announcers have. He is able to tell stories without detracting from the game. He knows when to speak and when not to speak.
At a later date I might write a longer post praising Scully but right now I want to go in a different direction and share a memory.
The year is 2001. It is a warm summer evening and my seven month old son is teething. Inside the condo I am doing all that I can to try and ease his pain. I sing, I dance, I give him a teething ring to gnaw on. The singing and dancing are so bad he screams louder. I think that his eyes and ears hurt now too.
I am exhausted. Normally I have help but not this night. Smart man that I am, I have sent his mother out for some girly fun. I figured that it would be fun to hang out and do “man stuff” together. Now I realize that at seven months he can’t do all that much, but I figure you are never too young to start learning.
Eventually I turn on the stereo and hope that I can find some music to soothe our nerves. Lo and behold the unit is set to the Dodger’s home station and the game is on. To be honest I can’t remember who they were playing or what the score was.
What I do remember is that almost as soon as Scully started talking my son stopped crying. He lay there with his head on my shoulder and together we let Vinny take us to Dodger stadium. It was a magic moment and a special memory that I’ll always have.
(Here are a couple of links to some Scully clips:
From The Radio Hall of Fame and announcing Koufax’s perfect game.)
Newsweek has a special section called Voices of the Fallen. It is composed of letters/videos/audio recordings that the families of fallen vets shared. Regardless of what you think of the war it is worth taking a moment to look/listen.
These people gave their lives. We can honor their memory.
Turn the page here.
Instead of listing each song I listened to I’ll provide a list of the artists.
Van Morrison with Roger Waters
Bruce Springsteen
Ray Charles
Danny Elfman
Elton John
Billy Joel
Limp Bizkit
Daler Mehndi
Robert Plant
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Killers
Tom Jones
Bob Dylan