Ilene Springer at Jewz.com says the key to shedding pounds is tied into traditional Jewish values, a subject she explores in her article, The Jewish Diet. Apparently stubborness combined with neurosis equals weight loss- take that, Dr. Atkins!
We saw this truly tasteless ad for the VW Polo last week but didn’t post it ’cause suicide bombers aren’t funny and well, we drive a VW (which is kind of funny.) But here it is; watch it and judge for yourself.
The JPost reports today that not only is the ad a spoof, but that Volkswagon wants to sue its creators, “who claim their ad was only meant to reach a small professional audience.”
In any case, it’s false advertising, since anyone who has ever owned a VW knows they’re crap.
A drumroll please for Gunnery Sergeant Kenneth Wolin and Staff Sergeant Jonathan D. Bisesi, two Jewish Marines who play percussion for the United States Marine Band. The pair played front-and-center at George W. Bush’s inagural festivites yesterday, including the swearing-in, the parade and the multitude of parties. In an interview with The Washington Jewish Week, the two recount their Jewish histories and musical backgrounds, but do not address that their gig in “The President’s Own” band gives them all the perks of military enlistment and none of the bummers. Beating a drum beats being in Iraq; these are some smart boys!
c/o Jews In Green.
Belle de Jour, a purported London call girl of Jewish origins who loves to show off her literary prowess while recounting her trashy trysts, has signed a deal with Britain’s Channel 4. This follows on the heels of her six-figure book contract (Belle de Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl will be released sometime this year) so perhaps Ms. Trollop can stop shtupping for money now.
There are some who believe Belle (who has remained anonymous) and her tales are just a load of bullsh*t and that the popular blog is just a fictional fantasy created by some sex-starved journalist. We promise it’s not us, Mom.
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.
A drawing by schoolboy Petr Ginz, killed in Aushwitz in 1944, will be featured on a new stamp to be unveiled in Prague on Thursday, reports BBC News. The pencil sketch depicts mountains on the moon with the earth shining in the distance and is part of Yad Vashem‘s permanent art collection in Jerusalem. That it was drawn 25 years before such an image was confirmed by astronauts makes us wonder sadly what else Ginz might have accomplished. May his vision of of one planet inspire us to keep peace in mind.
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.
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.
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.
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!