After riding the tip from Jewschool, we got seriously caught up in Ben Stein‘s E!Online essay that asks the rhetorical question “Do Jews Run Hollywood?” Written in response to the late Marlon Brando’s weird bigoted ramblings on Larry King Live in 1996, we soon realized the article was at least seven years old (no, Sherry Lansing is not head of Paramount anymore. No, Michael Ovitz and Michael Eisner no longer share the top positions at Disney. And Seinfeld been in syndication land for a long time now…) Stein touches on the anti-Semitism of the question itself and answers it “Yeah, and what the hell of it?” but he has left a trail of disaster in the wake of this article, giving fodder for research nasties (this site is confusingly titled, watch out) who believe the “Jews of Hollywood” are an actual cabal of little old men trying to run the world. Uck. If it were true, we hope we’d have a better-paying job.

Adorn your favorite cranky princess (or queen) a la Carrie Bradshaw with this necklace designed by Rabbi’s Daughters for White Trash Charms. Available in sterling silver or 14K gold.

Bored and restless? Why check out our new Test Your Remedial Jewish Knowledge Quiz? And for those of you with a bit more time on your hands and space in your t-shirt drawer, tell us in 500 words or less about your worst date ever. The best (or worst, rather) tale wins a Jmerica shirt and prominent placing in our magazine!

JTA reports that Will Eisner, the father of the graphic novel, died last week in Florida at the age of 87 after complications from heart surgery. Eisner’s colorful format inspired Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Maus” as well as legions of other Jewish and non-Jewish artists. His legacy is a library of gorgeously illustrated novels featuring characters fighting against anti-Semitism and for truth, justice and humanity. For more on the Jewish presence in comic book art, click here.

For those of us who are looking outside and seeing rain, snow, sleet and/or generally crap weather, we may have a hard time remembering the colorful gifts of the Lord’s bounty. But today is Tu B’Shvat, the “New Year For Trees,” a day for honoring nature and all that it provides. It may seem strange to do this in the dead of winter, but perhaps that’s when we most need to be reminded of the privilege and responsibility of living on this great green planet.
Jewish super site Aish.com has a terrific template to make your own Tu B’Shvat seder by feasting on the seven species of fruit native to Israel (figs, dates, pomegranates, olives, grapes or raisins and grains- all available at your local grocery, even if you live in Alaska) as well as nuts, seeds and wine. This holiday also cues us to increase our awareness of our consumptive habits; there are always opportunities to recycle and reduce the burden on the trees (yo, you at the coffeeshop! You only need one napkin, ‘k?)
So though the big maple in our yard lost its last leaf a month ago and looks like a gnarled old crone, we’re going to bundle up and venture outside to press a cheek to its bark, having faith that it will return from its slumber to emerge in a cloud of green come spring.

Rob Morrow, who will forever be “Fleischman” to us Northern Exposure fans, has a new series beginning next Sunday on CBS: Numb3rs features Morrow as an FBI agent who recruits his math genius brother (played by fellow J. David Krumholtz, last seen by us as another nerdy brother in Slums of Beverly Hills) to help him solve tough L.A. crimes. Rounding out the cast is Judd Hirsch as their curmudegonly (could he play it any other way?) father, making this the most Jewish non-Jewish show on television.
Oh, and in other Morrow news, we have confirmed that his daughter’s name is indeed Tu. We expect to see a reality show twelve or so years from now where Tu Morrow, Apple Paltrow and Coco Cox are sent to a celebrity boot camp for wayward teens.

Our favorite Jewish hottie, Natalie Portman, scored the Best Supporting Actress award at last night’s Golden Globes for her role in Mike Nichols’ sexy drama Closer! This ups her chances for an Oscar nomination, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed…
(Thanks to Daily Jews for the photo that captured the moment!)

A couple of Israeli scientists may have achieved what all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not: Gelrin, a newly engineered gel developed by Haifa’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology that mends bones at the molecular level and speeds healing, could have far-reaching benefits for the accident-prone. Reports J.:
With some one million orthopedic bone substitution procedures performed annually in the United States alone, Gelrin could have widespread applications. It could reduce the need for bone transplants and heal bone defects caused by cancer, trauma or age-related degeneration; be used to treat sports injuries; and aid in spinal fusion operations.
But can it put Humpty together again?

So, we’re glad the weird rumors about the exhumation of Bob Marley’s body and its subsequent reburial in Ethiopia have proved to be untrue. We’ve always felt a kinship with our Rastafarian brothers and sisters and some of us aren’t ashamed to admit we occasionally partake of the sacred herb to better appreciate God’s creation. And now, thanks to Jewschool, we know we’re not the only ones: He’s only written one post, but we hope to learn more from blogger Yoseph Leib’s crazy Kabbalistic exploration of the Jewish cannabis connection. Let’s just hope he’s not too big of a stoner to neglect his blog.
Wishing all a good Shabbos, however you choose to observe it.

Prince Charles is said to be “incandescent with rage” (that’s proper English for royally pissed off) regarding his second son’s grossly inappropriate costume choice of last week and is demanding that Harry visit Auschwitz to make amends. The half-wit prince has apologized (lamely, as if caught smoking in the boys’ room) for attending a party dressed as a slacker Nazi, but hopefully he’ll find out what “sorry” really is after one of the most harrowing tours we’ve ever taken.