"Literature is you know, good stuff yeah?!? Hey."
This pursuant a quote that came to mind earlier (which by now you may have seen elsewhere).
The quote is not from Kipling, but from William Ernest Henley (1849 - 1903).
"When that one great scorer comes, to mark against your name,
It matters not who won, or lost, but how you played the game."
I am not overly familiar with obscure English poets (obscure Dutch poets yes), nor for that matter good with quotes. I remembered the Henley quote from a recording of Beyond The Fringe, which was a British comedy show from the early sixties, specifically from a very Church-of-England-ish inspirational sermon ('Take a Pew') by Alan Bennet. I reproduce it below - read it with a middle-aged Oxbridge accent.
TAKE A PEW
"First verse of the 14th chapter of the Second Book of Kings (1): "And he said, ‘But my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a smooth man.’ And he said, ‘But my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I...., am a smooth man.’"
Perhaps, I might say the same thing in a different way by quoting you those words of that grand old poet, W.E. Henley (2), who said: "When that one great scorer (3) comes to mark against your name, it matters not who won or lost, but how you played the game...., but how you played the game …." Words, very meaningful and significant for us here together tonight. Words we might do very much worse than to consider (4). And I use this word consider advisedly (5), because I’m using it, you see, in its original Greek sense of con-sider (6), of putting oneself in the way of thinking about … to put ourselves in the way of thinking about, what we OUGHT to be putting ourselves in the way of thinking about!
As I was on my way here tonight, I arrived at the station, and by an oversight (7) I happened to go out by the way one is supposed (8) to come in. And as I was going out, an employee of the railway company hailed (9) me: "Hey, Jack (10)", he shouted, "where do you think you're going?" That, at any rate, was the gist (11) of what he said. But, you know, I was grateful to him. Because, you see, he put me in mind of the kind of question I felt I ought to be asking you here tonight: "Where do you think you are going?"
Very many years ago, when I was as old as some of you are now, I went mountain climbing in Scotland (12) with a friend of mine, and there was this mountain, you see, and we decided to climb it. And so, early one morning, we arose and began to climb. All day we climbed. Up and up, higher and higher, and higher. Until the valley lay very small below us, and the mists of the evening began to come down and the sun to set. And when we reached the summit we sat down to watch this magnificent sight of the sun going down behind the mountains. And, as we watched, my friend very suddenly, and violently, vomited (13)!
Some of us think life’s a bit like that, don’t we?
But it isn’t. Life, you know, is rather like opening a tin (14) of sardines (15). We are all of us looking for the key.
And, I wonder, how many of you here tonight have wasted years of your lives looking behind the kitchen dressers (16) of this life for that key?
I know I have.
Others think they’ve found that key, don’t they? They roll back the lid of the sardine tin of life, they reveal the sardines, the riches of life, therein (17), and they get them out, they enjoy them.
But, you know, there’s always a little bit in the corner you can’t get out.
I wonder, is there a little bit in the corner of your life?
I know there is in mine.
And so now, as I draw to a close, I want you, when you go out into the world, in times of trouble, and sorrow, and hopelessness, and despair, amid the hurly-burly (18) of modern life, if ever you’re tempted to say "Stuff this for a lark (19)" - I want you, at such times, to cast your minds back (20) to the words of my first text to you tonight: "But my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a smooth man." "
It's kinda like talking to Ronald Reagan near the end, isn't it?
------------------------------
NOTES:
1. Not from 14th chapter of the Second Book of Kings, but from chapter 27 of Genesis (Bereishis).
2. William Ernest Henley (1839 – 1903), English poet, critic, essayist, and editor.
3. Scorer: the person who counts the goals scored in a game or competition.
4. we might do very much worse than = Wij zouden toch slechter kunnen doen dan.
5. Advisedly = After due consideration, met doordachte rede.
6. Consider = Not Greek, but Latin 'considerare', overdenken, overwegen.
7. Oversight = By mistake; per abuis, per lakuun.
8. Supposed = Accepted as true or normative.
9. Hailed = Greeted, Attracted the attention of; to come from, to get from. Aanroepen.
10. Jack = Yakov. Yankif. Zoals men op z'n Brabants zou roepen 'hee Sjaakie!'.
11. Gist = From Old French: Cest action gist - 'this action lies'. In de algemene betekenis van.
12. Scotland = Place of origin for a large portion of the North-American population. Compare with Flanders.
13. Vomited = Kotzde, kokte: overgeven, kotzen, kokken, maaglozen, uitspuwen, braken.
14. Tin = A container of tinned metal. A can or cannister. Een blikken doosje, een blikje. In deze kontekst 'n ouderwetsche sardien-blikje deswelks men met een sleutel opent, daarmede de deksel terug vouwend.
15. Sardines = Pilchards. Sardinia pilchardus. A fish that swims in tins. Sardien.
16. Kitchen dressers = Aanrechten, keuken kasten.
17. Therein = Er in, daar in.
18. Hurly-burly = Gerons, getuimel, het heen en weer gedraaf.
19. Lark = In deze context, een vermakelijkheid of uitspatting. Als ware het een opluchting. Stuf this for a lark = Dit alles kan mij gestolen worden.
20. Cast your minds back = Letterlijk: 'Kaatst uwe geesten terug'. Zich aan iets herinneren. Aan iets terug denken. Iets herinneren.
Please note that the mention of sardines shows a positive attitude towards this comestible, which marks the speaker as an English person - 'Sardines on toast, isn't that a great thing?'
Sardines were considered a delicacy in the immediate post-war period, and the English have learned to utilize them in all their national dishes - sardine vindaloo, sardine tikka masala, deep-fried sardine fritter. One presumes. Not actually having tasted. Any one of these three. Ever. One has learned not to delve too deeply into English cooking. It isn't like Belgian food.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
VAN HARTE - SINCERELY
Old joke: 'Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, after he dies, arrives in heaven. Saint Peter shows him around, past all the sights, the place looks fantastic. Finally they come up to a great high wall. "Gee", asks Gandhi, "what's that all about?"
"Shhhh!", exclaims Peter, "that's the Europeans - they think they're the only ones here!"'
Oud grapje: 'Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi komt na zijn dood in de hemel. Sint Pieter lijdt hem rond, laat hem zien hoe prachtig het allemaal is. Komen ze op den duur langs een groot afgemuurd gedeelte van de hemel. "Sjee", vraagt Gandhi, "wat is dat nou?".
"Sjjjjt, wees effe stil!" zegt Petrus, "dat benne de Europeanen - ze denken dat ze de enigen zijn hier".'
THIS JOKE IS DEDICATED TO THE STUCK-UP HARAMZADAS IN THE NETHERLANDS, WHO ARE EVER CONVINCED OF THE RIGHTNESS OF THEIR OWN OPINIONS.
DIT GRAPJE IS OPGEDRAGEN AAN DE UIT-DE-HOOGTE KIJKENDE HARAMZADEN IN NEDERLAND DIE OVERTUIGD VAN HUN EIGEN GELIJK BLIJVEN.
Feel the love, boys. Nothing but love.
"Shhhh!", exclaims Peter, "that's the Europeans - they think they're the only ones here!"'
Oud grapje: 'Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi komt na zijn dood in de hemel. Sint Pieter lijdt hem rond, laat hem zien hoe prachtig het allemaal is. Komen ze op den duur langs een groot afgemuurd gedeelte van de hemel. "Sjee", vraagt Gandhi, "wat is dat nou?".
"Sjjjjt, wees effe stil!" zegt Petrus, "dat benne de Europeanen - ze denken dat ze de enigen zijn hier".'
THIS JOKE IS DEDICATED TO THE STUCK-UP HARAMZADAS IN THE NETHERLANDS, WHO ARE EVER CONVINCED OF THE RIGHTNESS OF THEIR OWN OPINIONS.
DIT GRAPJE IS OPGEDRAGEN AAN DE UIT-DE-HOOGTE KIJKENDE HARAMZADEN IN NEDERLAND DIE OVERTUIGD VAN HUN EIGEN GELIJK BLIJVEN.
Feel the love, boys. Nothing but love.
EEN ANDER GELUID
Merkwaardig dat men, in Joodsche en zelfs zionistische kringen, keihard kan schreeuwen dat men anders moet denken, ja zelfs actief vrede moet stichten met de andere zijde, maar dat men dat nauwelijks durft in Arabische kringen.
Aan Joodsche zijde luistert men naar andere opinies, men durft te discussieren en disputeren (en dat is zelfs traditie - 'twee Joden, drie meningen').
Waarom is er, bijvoorbeeld, geen Arabische Ha'aretz?
Waar blijft 'een ander Arabisch geluid'?
Ik ken, overigens, veel meer Arabieren dan Joden, en ik ken die Arabieren ook veel langer dan de Joden die ik ken.
Met Joden kan ik discussieren over Arabieren, zelfs positieve dingen zeggen over Arabieren.
Positief over Joden spreken waag ik allang niet meer met Arabieren - daar ben ik te laf, en lang niet geschift genoeg voor, om dat nog te doen.
[Ook met menig Europeaan, Pakistani, of Berkeleyite is dat nutteloos, en zal men worden uitgescholden (of erger) zo men dat doet.]
Da's ongeveer het zelfde als anders denken of anders zijn in Nederland - men realizeert zich dat het geen nut heeft aan ieder te laten blijken dat men een ketter is, en dat men echt niet dagelijks hoeft te horen dat men naar de hel zal gaan.
Mischien is het onderhand ook tijd voor 'Een Ander Nederlands Geluid'.
PS: Het is aan Nederlanders te wyten dat ik een levenslange hekel aan kristenen heb - van 1965 tot de dag dat ik opdonderde hoorde ik dat ik als niet-hervormd of niet-katoliek naar de hel zou gaan. Instede daarvan ging ik terug naar Amerika - en sindsdien heb ik van mijn linkse "vrienden" in Nederland ook niets meer gehoord.
Mischien zou "Een Ander Nederlands geluid" toch nog te veel geluid uit de Nederlanden zijn.
Aan Joodsche zijde luistert men naar andere opinies, men durft te discussieren en disputeren (en dat is zelfs traditie - 'twee Joden, drie meningen').
Waarom is er, bijvoorbeeld, geen Arabische Ha'aretz?
Waar blijft 'een ander Arabisch geluid'?
Ik ken, overigens, veel meer Arabieren dan Joden, en ik ken die Arabieren ook veel langer dan de Joden die ik ken.
Met Joden kan ik discussieren over Arabieren, zelfs positieve dingen zeggen over Arabieren.
Positief over Joden spreken waag ik allang niet meer met Arabieren - daar ben ik te laf, en lang niet geschift genoeg voor, om dat nog te doen.
[Ook met menig Europeaan, Pakistani, of Berkeleyite is dat nutteloos, en zal men worden uitgescholden (of erger) zo men dat doet.]
Da's ongeveer het zelfde als anders denken of anders zijn in Nederland - men realizeert zich dat het geen nut heeft aan ieder te laten blijken dat men een ketter is, en dat men echt niet dagelijks hoeft te horen dat men naar de hel zal gaan.
Mischien is het onderhand ook tijd voor 'Een Ander Nederlands Geluid'.
PS: Het is aan Nederlanders te wyten dat ik een levenslange hekel aan kristenen heb - van 1965 tot de dag dat ik opdonderde hoorde ik dat ik als niet-hervormd of niet-katoliek naar de hel zou gaan. Instede daarvan ging ik terug naar Amerika - en sindsdien heb ik van mijn linkse "vrienden" in Nederland ook niets meer gehoord.
Mischien zou "Een Ander Nederlands geluid" toch nog te veel geluid uit de Nederlanden zijn.
Monday, October 09, 2006
STANDARD ENGLISH & BALKAN BLENDS
[Please note: this post will seem pointless unless you are a pipe-smoker. If you are NOT a pipe-smoker, rest assured that our regular haphazard programming will return tomorrow. And this blog loves you anyway. Despite.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Three decades ago, Rattray's Red Rapparee, Balkan Sobranie (white tin), Dunhill 965, and John Cotton's were the standards by which all other English and Balkan blends were judged.
[Defining Balkan as being Oriental-leaf dominant (both Latakia and Turkish, sixty to seventy five percent), with the proportion of Latakia being somewhat greater than the Turkish, no Perique. A full English blend usually has twice as much Latakia as Turkish, but slightly less Oriental overall, with an optional touch of Perique.]
All of these blends had brothers - Rattray's Black Mallory, Balkan Sobranie Black, Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium and Dunhill London Mixture (etmultcetera), and other John Cotton mixtures.
McConnell's Oriental also had its following, Dobie's Foursquare Blue was still being made, and there were a number of other rather dependable English and Balkan mixtures.
[Twenty years ago Samuel Gawith's Squadron Leader hadn't really penetrated much beyond the British cities.]
Nowadays Rattray's has been farmed out and has gone down in quality, Balkan Sobranie has disappeared, and John Cotton's is no longer made. McConnell's went downhill a while back - I think it is still made, but it is probably only a dark-shadow of what it was.
The Balkan Sasieni, which was blended to fill the gap caused by the disappearance of Balkan Sobranie, has a great aroma but lacked the wonderful flavour of the original - Isadore Redstone probably knew the process, but not being able to get hold of superb Turkish leaf or a steady supply of Syrian Latakia, chose to rely on and overemphasize the process (a brief steampress treatment that melded the flavours).
[Balkan Sasieni is very suitable for breaking in large bores, though it palls if smoked much. But like most Balkans it offends the delicate noses of the women, bless 'em, so it does have its amusing side.]
Dunhill has farmed out manufacture of the blends to the Danes, and the Dunhill mixtures now are significantly better than they were in the eighties. Far less twigs and crud, far better tobaccos.
Dunhill Durbar is maybe the best widely available Balkan Blend out there at present.
For smokers of English - Balkan - Oriental blends, the current standardsetters are (in no particular order) Dunhill, G. L. Pease, Samuel Gawith.
For Virginia smokers: McClelland, Samuel Gawith.
[Note: McClelland also produces English blends, which are much liked by people who are closet-Virginia smokers. Samuel Gawith's relatives at Gawith-Hoggarth also produce some fine tobaccos, though as the steampress process is much stressed, the flavours at the edges of the range are muted - which turns their Balkan Mixture into a mellow heavy Latakia blend, albeit with a wonderful heady creosote perfume.]
GL Pease is very good - his reputation is stellar. Pity about his warehouse with the batch of superb Latakia going up in smoke. Blackpoint and Kensington are particularly good mixtures, Abingdon is also very nice. All three are medium to medium-full English, veering into Balkan.]
Butera's Pelican is a damn fine smoke, but heavy on the Latakia - I prefer just a touch more pale Virginia and Turkish.
The Esoterica Tabaciana products are all very interesting, and I have a number of them stashed away, but I don't often smoke 'em.
[At present I have about three dozen cans of Pease, about fifty or so McClelland, another three dozen odds and ends, and over two hundred cans of various Dunhill mixtures - both to mature, and precautionarily to stockpile in case that meshuggene tax gets voted in. Which I very much fear might happen. California is a puritanical state, and there are too many nuts here who want to tell us what we shouldn't do and how we're supposed to think. I've been smoking mostly London Mixture, Durbar, and EMP of late. ]
Cornell & Diehl is apparently also very good - but I haven't ever tried any of their stuff, and so cannot judge.
TOBACCO INDEX
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Three decades ago, Rattray's Red Rapparee, Balkan Sobranie (white tin), Dunhill 965, and John Cotton's were the standards by which all other English and Balkan blends were judged.
[Defining Balkan as being Oriental-leaf dominant (both Latakia and Turkish, sixty to seventy five percent), with the proportion of Latakia being somewhat greater than the Turkish, no Perique. A full English blend usually has twice as much Latakia as Turkish, but slightly less Oriental overall, with an optional touch of Perique.]
All of these blends had brothers - Rattray's Black Mallory, Balkan Sobranie Black, Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium and Dunhill London Mixture (etmultcetera), and other John Cotton mixtures.
McConnell's Oriental also had its following, Dobie's Foursquare Blue was still being made, and there were a number of other rather dependable English and Balkan mixtures.
[Twenty years ago Samuel Gawith's Squadron Leader hadn't really penetrated much beyond the British cities.]
Nowadays Rattray's has been farmed out and has gone down in quality, Balkan Sobranie has disappeared, and John Cotton's is no longer made. McConnell's went downhill a while back - I think it is still made, but it is probably only a dark-shadow of what it was.
The Balkan Sasieni, which was blended to fill the gap caused by the disappearance of Balkan Sobranie, has a great aroma but lacked the wonderful flavour of the original - Isadore Redstone probably knew the process, but not being able to get hold of superb Turkish leaf or a steady supply of Syrian Latakia, chose to rely on and overemphasize the process (a brief steampress treatment that melded the flavours).
[Balkan Sasieni is very suitable for breaking in large bores, though it palls if smoked much. But like most Balkans it offends the delicate noses of the women, bless 'em, so it does have its amusing side.]
Dunhill has farmed out manufacture of the blends to the Danes, and the Dunhill mixtures now are significantly better than they were in the eighties. Far less twigs and crud, far better tobaccos.
Dunhill Durbar is maybe the best widely available Balkan Blend out there at present.
For smokers of English - Balkan - Oriental blends, the current standardsetters are (in no particular order) Dunhill, G. L. Pease, Samuel Gawith.
For Virginia smokers: McClelland, Samuel Gawith.
[Note: McClelland also produces English blends, which are much liked by people who are closet-Virginia smokers. Samuel Gawith's relatives at Gawith-Hoggarth also produce some fine tobaccos, though as the steampress process is much stressed, the flavours at the edges of the range are muted - which turns their Balkan Mixture into a mellow heavy Latakia blend, albeit with a wonderful heady creosote perfume.]
GL Pease is very good - his reputation is stellar. Pity about his warehouse with the batch of superb Latakia going up in smoke. Blackpoint and Kensington are particularly good mixtures, Abingdon is also very nice. All three are medium to medium-full English, veering into Balkan.]
Butera's Pelican is a damn fine smoke, but heavy on the Latakia - I prefer just a touch more pale Virginia and Turkish.
The Esoterica Tabaciana products are all very interesting, and I have a number of them stashed away, but I don't often smoke 'em.
[At present I have about three dozen cans of Pease, about fifty or so McClelland, another three dozen odds and ends, and over two hundred cans of various Dunhill mixtures - both to mature, and precautionarily to stockpile in case that meshuggene tax gets voted in. Which I very much fear might happen. California is a puritanical state, and there are too many nuts here who want to tell us what we shouldn't do and how we're supposed to think. I've been smoking mostly London Mixture, Durbar, and EMP of late. ]
Cornell & Diehl is apparently also very good - but I haven't ever tried any of their stuff, and so cannot judge.
TOBACCO INDEX
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
Friday, October 06, 2006
LIPMANESQUE! -- A VERY INTERACTIVE POST (CLICK YOURSELF!)
Fellow-blogger Lipman (http://lipmans.blogspot.com/) wrote an addendum to an article ('Some Thoughts on My Father and on German Jewry': http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/SCS67features2.htm) by Rabbi Mordecai Plautz (editor@shemayisrael.com) originally in Yated Ne'eman(http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/subscribe/subscribeYN.html) which was reproduced in Dei'ah ve Dibur (http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/archives5765/bo/index.htm).
[NOTE as of October 11th, 2006: LIPMAN'S AMENDMENTS TO THE GLOSSARY HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED IN LARGE TYPE, ITALIC, UNDER THE RELEVANT ENTRIES (Baaltefille, Baaltekeye, Klikôdesh, Medine).
I HAVE ADDED ONE OR TWO NOTES IMMEDIATELY UNDERNEATH IN SMALL TYPE BETWEEN SQUARE BRACKETS.]
Lipman's addendum to Rabbi Plaut's article is here: http://lipmans.blogspot.com/2006/10/jews-in-rural-germany-again.html
Please read it. And go ahead and read his other posts too while you are there. Thank you.
Lipman indicated that some of his words might be difficult to understand - he adheres to a transcription of mediene pronunciation which though transparent for a reader of Dutch and probably a reader of German might prove opaque to one accustomed to Yeshivish (not all of us are Litvaks or Gallitzianers).
Mar gavriel (http://margavriel.blogspot.com/) suggested "You might want to define some of the terms in the "glossary" post on Mis-Dakdek. "
To which Lipman replied "Good idea! So, if somebody hasn't a clue what I was talking about, kindly drop by again after yontev [here: the upcoming holiday]. I'll try to find the time and link the terms to translations or explanations. "
[Note: Mis-Dakdek ("Miscellaneous Diq-dooq from Chevras HamMis-dakdekim") is here: http://mis-dakdek.blogspot.com/]
I'm afraid some of the clue-less cannot wait.
[By which I mean that I hope that such is the case, as I encourage impatient enthusiasm, and the material in both Lipman's post and in Rabbi Plaut's article relate in a number of ways to some of my own posts - see here:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/03/short-history-of-jews-of-eindhoven.html
&
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/03/short-history-of-jews-of-eindhoven_23.html &
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/04/short-history-of-jews-of-eindhoven.html &
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/04/dutch-wwii-myth.html &
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/10/ollandim-brief-description-of-origin.html .]
So, jumping the gun, I present a glossary to Lipman's addendum to Rabbi Plaut's article about his father and German Jewry. And take the opportunity to invite comment - especially from but not limited to Lipman and other geekei-diqdeq.
Aggev orche = Aggav - On the back (Aramaic), used to mean 'by the way', in mittn drinnen. Agav orche - on the back of these matters layed out here, meaning that I'm mentioning this because the subject makes it convenient that I do so.
Baalkrie = Master of reciting (ba'al keria); the Torah reader or reciter in a synagogue.
Baaltefille = Master of prayer (ba'al tefillah); the prayer leader in a shul, more likely in a shtibl (small study and prayer 'room', which in cities is closer than the synagogue, and often caters to a very specific subgroup of Yidden, such as, hypothetically, carters and coopers from Brisk living in Minsk, or Litvaks cutting diamonds in Mokum.
Lipman writes: I think the difference to a chazzen (= cantor) is the level of professionalism. A baaltefille (or baaltfille, or baalpfille) can be a layman as well as a professional full-time chazzen.Whoever the guy is that ores fore, he's the baaltefille. To ore fore = to lead the congregation.
[Note: in many smaller kehillos out in the Dutch Mediene, the chazzen was also shochet, meyl, and melamid - and frequently, if hired from outside, somewhat frustrated, at somewhat low remuneration, as funds were chronically short among dorpsjidden.]
Baaltekeye = Master of the blasts (ba'al tekiyah); the person who blows the shofar (ram's horn trumpet) during the high holy days.
Lipman writes: Same meaning, but from ba-al toukea. Ba-al tekiyo would be baaltekiye with an i.
Beheimes = Beasts (behemos), meaning cattle which are kosher.
Davke = Definitely, exactly, precisely, specifically.
Godeler mokem = Larger place. Gedol - large; mokem - makom, place, locus.
Klikôdesh = Holy vessel; repository of wisdom and sanctity, as a profound Talmudic mind was assumed to be. Appellation for a great and venerable scholar (such as Rabbi Pinky Schmeckelstein, shlita).
Lipman writes: Rather holy device/tool/thingy, so firstly things like tefillin, or a crown on top of the Toure scrolls, and then also ministers ("Kultusbeamte") such as a rabbi, a chazzen etc.
[Note: Tefillin = phylacteries; two boxes with four passages from the Torah – one is tied to the forehead, one to the left arm. The Torah passages are the Shma Yisroel (Devarim 6:4 – 9; speaking of the oneness of G_d), Ve Hayah ( Devarim 11: 13 – 21; rewards for observance of the mitvot, consequences of not observing), Kadesh ( Shemos 13: 1 – 10; the obligation to always remember the redemption from bondage in Egypt), and Vehaya ( Shemos 13: 11 – 16; the obligation to accordingly instruct one’s children). Tefillin are worn during the morning prayers on weekdays. The wearing of Tefillin is a mitzva: Devarim 6:8: u keshartam le’ot al-yadeikha ve-hayu letotafot bein eineikha - and you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and as a frontpiece twixt your eyes.
Teimani tfillin have an excellent reputation because of the cleaness and precision of manufacture, the leather being free of doubtful treatments and the product being sturdily made. But note that you should have your tfillin checked periodically, as wear and tear may damage them in ways that would render them not kosher - rounded corners, cracks, water damage, and particularly damage to the scrolls or the lettering written thereon. Non-kosher tfillin are batel. ]
Koshe = Difficult, complicated; kashe - a difficulty, a quandary, a puzzling halachic matter best left to the experts.
Lehrer = Teacher, from German.
Malled = Circumcised; from the same root as 'mohel (pronounced moyel or mayel - ritual circumciser).
Medine = State, hence the countryside as inhabited by non-urban Jews in Germany and the Netherlands.
Lipman writes: Or just "geographical region", including urban life. But also, as you said, "countryside" as opposed to mokem = "town", "city".
[And note hereto: Mokum Alef (Amsterdam), and Mokum Vav (affectionate appellation for Valkenswaard, a town in which there were almost no Jews until it became a bedroom community for Eindhoven, after the war - but since then also having several speakers of Amsterdamsch dialect, in which the West-Yiddish influence perfumes every conversation.]
Melammed = Instructor, teacher; usually an instructor of youngsters at a village cheder (room, small Jewish grammar school); from the same root as lomdus (learning, knowledge, wisdom) and Talmud (that which is learned).
Mereine brif = Rabbinic credential. Literally "'our teacher' brevet".
Môre-tzedek = Righteous teacher, mora meaning master-teacher, authority, and tzedek meaning righteousness, which is the quality your actions and your soul are supposed to be imbued with.
Paskened = Decided a matter of halacha (Jewish law, which is based on the Talmud and the later commentaries, along with precedental decisions by famous poskim (decisors, plural; singular is 'posek') of the past.
Pre-chareidi Judaism = The countryside orthodox Judaism before the reaction against the schismatic division into orthodox, conservative, reform, and totally insane… I mean reconstructionist. Hhareidism took shape among people from the pre-war environment in the post-war period. The word refers to those who tremble (before G-d).
Raaf = Rav, rabbi.
Shaales = Yiddish plural of 'shailah'; questions relating particularly to Halacha and minneg.
Shechted tarnegôlem = Slaughterer of cocks; the one who shochets (slaughters in a kosher manner) the birds eaten by the community.
Shliech-tzibber = Leader and representative of the community. Shaliach meaning representative or emmisary (related to shlicha - emmisarate) and tzibbur, meaning community, congregation.
Shômer mitzves = Shomer mitzvos; guarding the commandments. Shomer from a word meaning to guard or watch over, and hence to keep or preserve; mitzvos meaning commandments, of which according to several authorities there are exactly 613 - although there is disagreement over some of those, and a number of those no longer hold since the destruction of the beis hamikdash.
Yated = Yated Ne'eman; a Hareidi daily published in Israel and Monsey which many read on the internet. Yated Ne'eman weighed in on the Slifkin controversy, and has been quoted by authors from all sides of the spectrum, both in support and in dispute of their points of view, on many issues. The name means 'tent-peg of the faithful'; the reference is to a verse in Yeshayah. Yated is also translated as a shovel or digging impliment in certain contexts. Ne'eman is from the same root as faith (emunah) and true (amen).
Yelodem = Children, plural; singular is yeled. Same as Arabic 'walad' (child), from whence 'walid', a parent.
OLLANDIM: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF DUTCH JEWS
This material relating to Dutch Jewry is excerpted from a very long previous post, and presented here as a convenience for the interested. Please let me know if you have questions.
OLLANDIM
The First Arrivals in Amsterdam
In 1593, over twenty years after the Netherlands rebelled against the Spanish king Philip (who had inherited the united provinces), ten families fleeing Spain landed in Holland, and learned from Mozes Oerie Asjkenazie (Rabbi Moishe Uri, a Rabbi from Germany) that while the Dutch were suspicious of Spaniards, they were not so about Jews. Upon his advice, they took lodging in Amsterdam, and shortly afterwards all the males underwent Bris Millah, with the oldest of them, Don Jacob Tirado, going first.
Within months, their numbers had been augmented by other Iberian refugees, and that autumn the new community observed Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in a safety that they had not enjoyed in Spain in generations.
Within a decade, in 1602, they built a synagogue which they named Beit Jacob after the man who had taken them up from Spain.
More synagogues followed - Neve Shalom was founded between 1608 and 1612, Beit Israel in 1618. The Grand Synagogue (the ‘Esnoga' or 'Gran' Esnoga') was built between 1671 and 1675.
The Rotterdam Community
A similar pattern occurred in Rotterdam, when Abraham De Pinto (Don Gyl Lopes Pinto, born Lisbon 1588, died Rotterdam 1668) fled from Antwerp with his entire family and his dependents to the north in 1647, and converted back to the faith of his ancestors.
Less than three years later the Yesiba De Los Pintos was inaugurated in Rotterdam, with Chacham Josiau Pardo (son of David Pardo, and grandson of Yoseph Pardo, chief Rabbi of Amsterdam) as Ros Yesiba.
Like Jacob Tirado, Abraham De Pinto was a converso nobleman whose family had fled to Portugal when the heat of the inquisition became too fierce in Spain. And like Jacob Tirado, he brought wealth plus business skills and commercial relationships with him when he came, having prepared his escape over a period of many years.
The Ets Haim Library
In the centuries following, more synagogues were built, printing presses founded, Rabbis educated (among them Menasseh Ben Israel (Manoel Dias Soeiro), 1604 - 1657). At the height of the community there were nearly five thousand Dutch Sefardim, at present a scant eight hundred.
In addition to the Esnoga, one other Sefardic treasure of note remains in the Netherlands, namely the Ets Haim library (which contains also the Livraria Montezinos, being the private library of David Montezinos, donated to Ets Haim in 1889), which is in the Esnoga complex, and was part of Yesiba Ets Haim (Academia Y Yesiba Ets Haim, fundado en 1616). It is one of the world’s great book collections. Six incunabula, five hundred original manuscripts and over thirty-thousand printed books, on many subjects, in over a dozen languages.
In relation to Ets Haim (the tree of life, as the Torah is to all who cleave to her), it is appropriate to quote visitors to Amsterdam who were amazed by the freedom enjoyed by Jews there, and the brazen effrontery represented by so splendid a building as the Esnoga.
Let us start with the Papal Nuncio of Cologne, Lazaro Opizio Palavicino, who wrote: "Fra i nuovi edificii, viddi la synagoga degl’Hebrei, fabrica veramente magnifica e della quale non è degna quella gente vile" (between the new buildings I saw the synagogue of the Jews, truly magnificent, and which so odious a people do not deserve).
A pox on his name.
The next is Rector Johannes Schudt of Frankfurt, who wrote as follows: "Eine allzu grosse Juden Freyheit in Holland is es, dasz man denen Juden verstattet, so gar kostbahre magnifique Synagogen zu bauen, die selbige noch als Gottes Haus lobet" (a too great freedom in Holland is, that they permit the Jews to build a maginificently expensive Synagogue, that even may represent the house of G-d).
He continues "Es setzet uns billig in die gröste verwunderung, is aber auch recht schändlich und unchristlich, dasz gar Christen für die Juden Freyheit gesucht, solche synagog erbauen dürffen" (It easily causes us the greatest wonderment, being however downright scandalous and unchristian, that even Christians should have sought for the Jews the freedom to dare build such a synagogue). It was his opinion that the officials of Amsterdam were a disgrace, and degeneratim for permitting such an affront.
A pox on his name.
On the other hand, an Italian nobleman, Guido De Bovio, who visited Amsterdam in 1677, had nothing but praise for the synagogue, describing it as splendid building, well designed, and full of light, which he delighted in visiting.
His name remains fragrant.
The final word on the Esnoga, deservedly, goes to the engraver Romeyn de Hooghe, who kvelled:
Dits ‘t leerhuys van de Wet, ‘t gebeedenhuys der Jooden,
Een bouwmans meesterstuck, de eer van ‘t nieuwe werck ,
Aan d’Aemstel en het Y; dees Godt gewyede Kerck ,
Vreest geen gewetensdrang, noch pijnigen noch dooden.
Wast eedle Juddaestam en laet uw looten bloeyen ,
Wat doet de kracht van ‘t land als burgers aenwas groeyen.
[‘This is the academy of the Law, the prayer house of the Jews, An architect’s masterpiece, and pride of the new projects At the Amstel and Y (rivers); this sanctified kirk Fears no forced faith, nor torture, nor killings. Wax, noble trunk of Judah’s tribe, and let your new growth flower, That shall strengthen the country as her citizens thrive.’]
Ashkenazim
Sefardim from Spain (and Portugal and Livorno, where many of the Sefardim had originally sought refuge) were not the main, just the first Jewish population in the Netherlands.Shortly after the Sefardim established themselves in Mokum Alef (Amsterdam), Ashkenazim from Germany flocked in, primarily to get away from the sumptuary laws, residential restrictions, and vile treatment that was traditional in Germany as regards Jews. The first Ashkenazic synagogue in Amsterdam was founded in 1635.
Even so, real equality had to wait till the Napoleonic era, though the House of Orange (ancient princely family of the Netherlands, hereditary stadtholders from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, monarchs since 1815) consistently over-ruled local government when some city fathers sought to keep Jews out (which did not prevent certain cities whose legal ties to the Princes of Orange was 'ally' rather than 'subject' from restricting them). The States General had generally legislated tolerance, but left it up to the cities and states to 'enforce' same.
By the end of the seventeenth century most Jews in the Netherlands were Ashkenazim, in proportions that, roughly speaking, have been maintained ever since – over 90 percent Ashkenazim, scarcely 3 percent Sephardim. The remainder? Mixtures of differing Jewish background, plus mixtures of Jew and Gentile.
Demographics
Most Jews lived in the Amsterdam - Rotterdam axis (about 80%), with the largest block outside being in Groningen and Drenthe provinces. A noteworthy development in many places was the gradual take-over of Jewish institutions by Ashkenazim, especially as the easterners rose in social class, and the Sefardim faded in proportion and prominence. In some areas, synagogues were fought over for three or four generations or more.
In Naarden, for instance, the Ashkenazim formed their own 'illegal' synagogue (the Sefardim had the only permit, and were the officially acknowledged leaders of the community there), and by the time the last absentee keepers of the keys (Joseph Teixeira de Mattos Henriques de Castro, David Henriques de Castro, Rachel Henriques de Castro, and Hanna Henriques de Castro, having succeeded Abraham van David Teixeira de Mattos) yielded their authority over the main synagogue (Beit Shalom) in 1885 it was nearly two centuries later, the ceiling had partially caved in, the walls were mildewed, the Ark had many years since been removed for safekeeping, and there were only about half a dozen resident members of the Sefardic kehilla left.
Another odd development were the so-called marginal or bog-Jews (similar to the hedge-Christians during the Spanish oppression): unregistered to any kehal (and so not paying any fees or dues), who, to the local Gentiles, were often just ‘those folks who don't go to our church'. Some of these were so utterly unconnected with any officially constituted Jewish bodies that a fair number were 'under the radar' during the war years. An old friend of the family named Chaim was birth-registered as Harry, because local officials did not know what a 'Chaim' was... Same situation with uncle Henry, also Chaim, who like Harry also survived those years under Gentile colours.
The middle class provincial Jews, however, who formed the link between the bog-Jews and the wider Jewish Oilam, were largely extinguished during the Shoah, and with their disappearance, many of the surviving marginal Jews disappeared from Jewish radar entirely.
Post-War Remnant
In 1945, barely twenty percent of the Jewish population of the Netherlands (over 140 thousand in the nineteen-thirties, approximately thirty-thousand in 1945) had survived the war; they returned to communities which did not recognize them, and which were not particularly happy to see them back (as their betrayers often had survived the war unscathed, and many people at all levels of society had profited from the destruction that befell the Jews). There are now approximately 45 thousand Jews in the Netherlands, of whom 35 thousand can be said to be unquestionably Jewish, with the remaining ten thousand being mixed, mostly vader joods (father-Jewish).
On September 29th, 2005, the Dutch Railway Company officially apologized for having fully co-operated with the Germans in the deportation Dutch Jews. It was because of their efficiency, professionalism, and sheer dedication that the Germans could boast that the destruction of Dutch Jewry happened with greater ease than was the case anywhere else. It couldn’t have been done without them.
Thanks for the apology, dudes.
It’s a little late.
Anecdote
Ma’ase shehaya, kach haya (a tale that happened, as follows): Many years ago, on a wintry Friday evening, a family in Den Haag has one of the kids keep an eye out for a passerby to ask to stoke the stove for them (though it is beastly cold, shabbes-melacha is out of the question). A very dignified looking gentleman comes strolling down the street, is asked in, the situation explained, and the request made. Of course he will light the stove for them, with pleasure! When he has done so, they thank him, and as was customary give him an apple for his 'labour', asking his name at the same time.
He introduces himself, and hands them his card, on which can be read that their shabbes goy is a chief justice - and, coincidentally, a fellow Jew!
ADDENDUM
Catholicism = An all-embracing and yet all-excluding religion known by Ollandim as the tofel emunah (the ‘old religion’), because so many of the first Yidden in the Netherlands were refugees from Spain and Portugal, where they had been forced to convert. It is a religion with some bizarre rituals – white smoke means "we have another pontiff", black smoke means "we’re burning down the Gran’ Esnoga, again". Pax vobiscum.
Jacob Tirado = Original name: Guimes Lopes Da Costa. He is described in correspondence as "Al muy illustre senyor Jacob Tyrado, parnas de la naçion Portuguese que reside en esta muy noble y opulenta villa de Amstradama" (The greatly illustrious gentleman Jacob Tirado, administrator of the Portugese nation, residing in the very noble and rich city Amsterdam). It should be remembered that ‘nation’ in those days did not have the connotation it has today, but referred to ethnic or national group, often residing among other such groups, much like tongue (lingua) could mean the speakers of a particular language in the armies of kings.
Ollandim = Netherlandish Jews.
OLLANDIM
The First Arrivals in Amsterdam
In 1593, over twenty years after the Netherlands rebelled against the Spanish king Philip (who had inherited the united provinces), ten families fleeing Spain landed in Holland, and learned from Mozes Oerie Asjkenazie (Rabbi Moishe Uri, a Rabbi from Germany) that while the Dutch were suspicious of Spaniards, they were not so about Jews. Upon his advice, they took lodging in Amsterdam, and shortly afterwards all the males underwent Bris Millah, with the oldest of them, Don Jacob Tirado, going first.
Within months, their numbers had been augmented by other Iberian refugees, and that autumn the new community observed Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in a safety that they had not enjoyed in Spain in generations.
Within a decade, in 1602, they built a synagogue which they named Beit Jacob after the man who had taken them up from Spain.
More synagogues followed - Neve Shalom was founded between 1608 and 1612, Beit Israel in 1618. The Grand Synagogue (the ‘Esnoga' or 'Gran' Esnoga') was built between 1671 and 1675.
The Rotterdam Community
A similar pattern occurred in Rotterdam, when Abraham De Pinto (Don Gyl Lopes Pinto, born Lisbon 1588, died Rotterdam 1668) fled from Antwerp with his entire family and his dependents to the north in 1647, and converted back to the faith of his ancestors.
Less than three years later the Yesiba De Los Pintos was inaugurated in Rotterdam, with Chacham Josiau Pardo (son of David Pardo, and grandson of Yoseph Pardo, chief Rabbi of Amsterdam) as Ros Yesiba.
Like Jacob Tirado, Abraham De Pinto was a converso nobleman whose family had fled to Portugal when the heat of the inquisition became too fierce in Spain. And like Jacob Tirado, he brought wealth plus business skills and commercial relationships with him when he came, having prepared his escape over a period of many years.
The Ets Haim Library
In the centuries following, more synagogues were built, printing presses founded, Rabbis educated (among them Menasseh Ben Israel (Manoel Dias Soeiro), 1604 - 1657). At the height of the community there were nearly five thousand Dutch Sefardim, at present a scant eight hundred.
In addition to the Esnoga, one other Sefardic treasure of note remains in the Netherlands, namely the Ets Haim library (which contains also the Livraria Montezinos, being the private library of David Montezinos, donated to Ets Haim in 1889), which is in the Esnoga complex, and was part of Yesiba Ets Haim (Academia Y Yesiba Ets Haim, fundado en 1616). It is one of the world’s great book collections. Six incunabula, five hundred original manuscripts and over thirty-thousand printed books, on many subjects, in over a dozen languages.
In relation to Ets Haim (the tree of life, as the Torah is to all who cleave to her), it is appropriate to quote visitors to Amsterdam who were amazed by the freedom enjoyed by Jews there, and the brazen effrontery represented by so splendid a building as the Esnoga.
Let us start with the Papal Nuncio of Cologne, Lazaro Opizio Palavicino, who wrote: "Fra i nuovi edificii, viddi la synagoga degl’Hebrei, fabrica veramente magnifica e della quale non è degna quella gente vile" (between the new buildings I saw the synagogue of the Jews, truly magnificent, and which so odious a people do not deserve).
A pox on his name.
The next is Rector Johannes Schudt of Frankfurt, who wrote as follows: "Eine allzu grosse Juden Freyheit in Holland is es, dasz man denen Juden verstattet, so gar kostbahre magnifique Synagogen zu bauen, die selbige noch als Gottes Haus lobet" (a too great freedom in Holland is, that they permit the Jews to build a maginificently expensive Synagogue, that even may represent the house of G-d).
He continues "Es setzet uns billig in die gröste verwunderung, is aber auch recht schändlich und unchristlich, dasz gar Christen für die Juden Freyheit gesucht, solche synagog erbauen dürffen" (It easily causes us the greatest wonderment, being however downright scandalous and unchristian, that even Christians should have sought for the Jews the freedom to dare build such a synagogue). It was his opinion that the officials of Amsterdam were a disgrace, and degeneratim for permitting such an affront.
A pox on his name.
On the other hand, an Italian nobleman, Guido De Bovio, who visited Amsterdam in 1677, had nothing but praise for the synagogue, describing it as splendid building, well designed, and full of light, which he delighted in visiting.
His name remains fragrant.
The final word on the Esnoga, deservedly, goes to the engraver Romeyn de Hooghe, who kvelled:
Dits ‘t leerhuys van de Wet, ‘t gebeedenhuys der Jooden,
Een bouwmans meesterstuck, de eer van ‘t nieuwe werck ,
Aan d’Aemstel en het Y; dees Godt gewyede Kerck ,
Vreest geen gewetensdrang, noch pijnigen noch dooden.
Wast eedle Juddaestam en laet uw looten bloeyen ,
Wat doet de kracht van ‘t land als burgers aenwas groeyen.
[‘This is the academy of the Law, the prayer house of the Jews, An architect’s masterpiece, and pride of the new projects At the Amstel and Y (rivers); this sanctified kirk Fears no forced faith, nor torture, nor killings. Wax, noble trunk of Judah’s tribe, and let your new growth flower, That shall strengthen the country as her citizens thrive.’]
Ashkenazim
Sefardim from Spain (and Portugal and Livorno, where many of the Sefardim had originally sought refuge) were not the main, just the first Jewish population in the Netherlands.Shortly after the Sefardim established themselves in Mokum Alef (Amsterdam), Ashkenazim from Germany flocked in, primarily to get away from the sumptuary laws, residential restrictions, and vile treatment that was traditional in Germany as regards Jews. The first Ashkenazic synagogue in Amsterdam was founded in 1635.
Even so, real equality had to wait till the Napoleonic era, though the House of Orange (ancient princely family of the Netherlands, hereditary stadtholders from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, monarchs since 1815) consistently over-ruled local government when some city fathers sought to keep Jews out (which did not prevent certain cities whose legal ties to the Princes of Orange was 'ally' rather than 'subject' from restricting them). The States General had generally legislated tolerance, but left it up to the cities and states to 'enforce' same.
By the end of the seventeenth century most Jews in the Netherlands were Ashkenazim, in proportions that, roughly speaking, have been maintained ever since – over 90 percent Ashkenazim, scarcely 3 percent Sephardim. The remainder? Mixtures of differing Jewish background, plus mixtures of Jew and Gentile.
Demographics
Most Jews lived in the Amsterdam - Rotterdam axis (about 80%), with the largest block outside being in Groningen and Drenthe provinces. A noteworthy development in many places was the gradual take-over of Jewish institutions by Ashkenazim, especially as the easterners rose in social class, and the Sefardim faded in proportion and prominence. In some areas, synagogues were fought over for three or four generations or more.
In Naarden, for instance, the Ashkenazim formed their own 'illegal' synagogue (the Sefardim had the only permit, and were the officially acknowledged leaders of the community there), and by the time the last absentee keepers of the keys (Joseph Teixeira de Mattos Henriques de Castro, David Henriques de Castro, Rachel Henriques de Castro, and Hanna Henriques de Castro, having succeeded Abraham van David Teixeira de Mattos) yielded their authority over the main synagogue (Beit Shalom) in 1885 it was nearly two centuries later, the ceiling had partially caved in, the walls were mildewed, the Ark had many years since been removed for safekeeping, and there were only about half a dozen resident members of the Sefardic kehilla left.
Another odd development were the so-called marginal or bog-Jews (similar to the hedge-Christians during the Spanish oppression): unregistered to any kehal (and so not paying any fees or dues), who, to the local Gentiles, were often just ‘those folks who don't go to our church'. Some of these were so utterly unconnected with any officially constituted Jewish bodies that a fair number were 'under the radar' during the war years. An old friend of the family named Chaim was birth-registered as Harry, because local officials did not know what a 'Chaim' was... Same situation with uncle Henry, also Chaim, who like Harry also survived those years under Gentile colours.
The middle class provincial Jews, however, who formed the link between the bog-Jews and the wider Jewish Oilam, were largely extinguished during the Shoah, and with their disappearance, many of the surviving marginal Jews disappeared from Jewish radar entirely.
Post-War Remnant
In 1945, barely twenty percent of the Jewish population of the Netherlands (over 140 thousand in the nineteen-thirties, approximately thirty-thousand in 1945) had survived the war; they returned to communities which did not recognize them, and which were not particularly happy to see them back (as their betrayers often had survived the war unscathed, and many people at all levels of society had profited from the destruction that befell the Jews). There are now approximately 45 thousand Jews in the Netherlands, of whom 35 thousand can be said to be unquestionably Jewish, with the remaining ten thousand being mixed, mostly vader joods (father-Jewish).
On September 29th, 2005, the Dutch Railway Company officially apologized for having fully co-operated with the Germans in the deportation Dutch Jews. It was because of their efficiency, professionalism, and sheer dedication that the Germans could boast that the destruction of Dutch Jewry happened with greater ease than was the case anywhere else. It couldn’t have been done without them.
Thanks for the apology, dudes.
It’s a little late.
Anecdote
Ma’ase shehaya, kach haya (a tale that happened, as follows): Many years ago, on a wintry Friday evening, a family in Den Haag has one of the kids keep an eye out for a passerby to ask to stoke the stove for them (though it is beastly cold, shabbes-melacha is out of the question). A very dignified looking gentleman comes strolling down the street, is asked in, the situation explained, and the request made. Of course he will light the stove for them, with pleasure! When he has done so, they thank him, and as was customary give him an apple for his 'labour', asking his name at the same time.
He introduces himself, and hands them his card, on which can be read that their shabbes goy is a chief justice - and, coincidentally, a fellow Jew!
ADDENDUM
Catholicism = An all-embracing and yet all-excluding religion known by Ollandim as the tofel emunah (the ‘old religion’), because so many of the first Yidden in the Netherlands were refugees from Spain and Portugal, where they had been forced to convert. It is a religion with some bizarre rituals – white smoke means "we have another pontiff", black smoke means "we’re burning down the Gran’ Esnoga, again". Pax vobiscum.
Jacob Tirado = Original name: Guimes Lopes Da Costa. He is described in correspondence as "Al muy illustre senyor Jacob Tyrado, parnas de la naçion Portuguese que reside en esta muy noble y opulenta villa de Amstradama" (The greatly illustrious gentleman Jacob Tirado, administrator of the Portugese nation, residing in the very noble and rich city Amsterdam). It should be remembered that ‘nation’ in those days did not have the connotation it has today, but referred to ethnic or national group, often residing among other such groups, much like tongue (lingua) could mean the speakers of a particular language in the armies of kings.
Ollandim = Netherlandish Jews.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
KWIE KWIE
Usually corydoras are assumed to be Kwie Kwie. Hoplosternum (various types of armored catfish) are also Kwie Kwie.
CORYDORAS
Aquarium corydoras include the following, all of which are (should be) available at exotic aquarium centra, though the majority may require special orders:
Corydoras aeneus, Corydoras amapaensis, Corydoras approuaguensis, Corydoras baderi, Corydoras condiscipulus, Corydoras guianense, Corydoras heteromorphus, Corydoras oiapoquensis, Corydoras punctatus, Corydoras solox, Corydoras spilurus.
They range from small to large enough that their tank should be two or three meters in length at least.
They breed well in captivity.
A friend reports that the roe is initially adherent to the lower abdomen of the fish, near the rear fins. Then later it apparently falls or drifts off in clumps and sticks to plants or rocks. Something like that... I'll take his word for it, seeing as all I know about these fish is that they taste good.
COOKING
For culinary purposes, one needs the Kwie Kwie of the Surinamese estuaries and the Amazon basin - medium sized fresh-water fish, plump and round. Hoplosternum.
One prepares Kwie Kwie like Meerval or Djarabakka.
MASALA KWIE KWIE NANGA ANTRUWA
[Spiced Kwie Kwie with Antruwa. Feeds four]
Two pounds fish, cut in eight pieces.
A few antruwa (substitute one or two Asian eggplants), cut in chunks and quick blanched.
A smallish onion, chopped.
A few cloves garlic, minced.
A few Madame Jeanette peppers (substitute Scotch Bonnets), left whole.
Half a Tablespoon each of salt and sugar.
One teaspoon ground coriander, half a teaspoon ground cumin, and half a teaspoon turmeric.
Hefty pinch garam masala, goodly pinch powdered funugreek.
Gild the onion and garlic in a generous splash oil. Add the chili-peppers, salt, sugar, spices, stir briefly, and add the fish. With the spatula turn the fish a couple of times, to distribute the other ingredients and seal the outsides of the pieces. Do the same with the antruwa as with the fish. Add a splash of water, stir to loosen bottom crusties, cover the pan and let the fish and antruwa gently cook in steam till they are done. Take off heat and add some chopped herbs for sparkle. Serve with rice, and a sambal on the side.
Note I: If one has purchased whole kwie Kwie, remove the spines and fins, as well as lips and moustache. The scales can be left on. What you wish to do with the guts is your own lookout - some people leave them in.
Note II: Kwie Kwie are also excellent served with tomatoes cooked along in the pan juices.
Note III: Many people of a wonder-bread cultural persuasion, whose familiarity with fish is limited to canned tuna and the cast of Sponge-Bob Squarepants, may want to especially avoid Kwie Kwie - it has many fine bones, and may require concentration to eat.
Note IV: If, like me, you do not live anywhere near the Saramacca, Suriname, and Marowyne rivers, or even the Albert Cuyp street, you will want to use catfish instead. The recipe above is more or less the form in which I heard it, presented here for the curious. But go ahead - use catfish.
CORYDORAS
Aquarium corydoras include the following, all of which are (should be) available at exotic aquarium centra, though the majority may require special orders:
Corydoras aeneus, Corydoras amapaensis, Corydoras approuaguensis, Corydoras baderi, Corydoras condiscipulus, Corydoras guianense, Corydoras heteromorphus, Corydoras oiapoquensis, Corydoras punctatus, Corydoras solox, Corydoras spilurus.
They range from small to large enough that their tank should be two or three meters in length at least.
They breed well in captivity.
A friend reports that the roe is initially adherent to the lower abdomen of the fish, near the rear fins. Then later it apparently falls or drifts off in clumps and sticks to plants or rocks. Something like that... I'll take his word for it, seeing as all I know about these fish is that they taste good.
COOKING
For culinary purposes, one needs the Kwie Kwie of the Surinamese estuaries and the Amazon basin - medium sized fresh-water fish, plump and round. Hoplosternum.
One prepares Kwie Kwie like Meerval or Djarabakka.
MASALA KWIE KWIE NANGA ANTRUWA
[Spiced Kwie Kwie with Antruwa. Feeds four]
Two pounds fish, cut in eight pieces.
A few antruwa (substitute one or two Asian eggplants), cut in chunks and quick blanched.
A smallish onion, chopped.
A few cloves garlic, minced.
A few Madame Jeanette peppers (substitute Scotch Bonnets), left whole.
Half a Tablespoon each of salt and sugar.
One teaspoon ground coriander, half a teaspoon ground cumin, and half a teaspoon turmeric.
Hefty pinch garam masala, goodly pinch powdered funugreek.
Gild the onion and garlic in a generous splash oil. Add the chili-peppers, salt, sugar, spices, stir briefly, and add the fish. With the spatula turn the fish a couple of times, to distribute the other ingredients and seal the outsides of the pieces. Do the same with the antruwa as with the fish. Add a splash of water, stir to loosen bottom crusties, cover the pan and let the fish and antruwa gently cook in steam till they are done. Take off heat and add some chopped herbs for sparkle. Serve with rice, and a sambal on the side.
Note I: If one has purchased whole kwie Kwie, remove the spines and fins, as well as lips and moustache. The scales can be left on. What you wish to do with the guts is your own lookout - some people leave them in.
Note II: Kwie Kwie are also excellent served with tomatoes cooked along in the pan juices.
Note III: Many people of a wonder-bread cultural persuasion, whose familiarity with fish is limited to canned tuna and the cast of Sponge-Bob Squarepants, may want to especially avoid Kwie Kwie - it has many fine bones, and may require concentration to eat.
Note IV: If, like me, you do not live anywhere near the Saramacca, Suriname, and Marowyne rivers, or even the Albert Cuyp street, you will want to use catfish instead. The recipe above is more or less the form in which I heard it, presented here for the curious. But go ahead - use catfish.
ARMADILLO
Het volgende moet ik echt met u allen delen, daar ik het werkelijk niet laten kan.
Twee 'Aggies' (dat zijn dus studenten aan A & M Universiteit in Texas) lopen op straat. Zij komen de plaatselijk rabbijn tegen, die met zijn arm in gips sukkelt. "Goeie Goh!", zegt de ene Aggie, "wasser toch met u gebeurd?" Och, zegt de rabbijn, ik verslipte mij in de badkuip".
Hij loopt door, en na enkele minuten vraagt de ene Aggie aan de andere: "Badkuip? Wat is dat?".
De andere antwoord met verontwaardiging: " Hoe zou ik dat moeten weten, ik ben toch geen jood!"
En natuurlijk, daar ik het weer niet laten kan....
Question: How many Texans does it take to eat an Armadillo?
Answer: Two..., one to eat the Armadillo, the other to look for oncoming traffic.
So, does anybody have any suggestions what I should name the stuffed armadillo in my cubicle at work? I've had him for quite a while, but only recently realized that without a name he isn't a real person.
Twee 'Aggies' (dat zijn dus studenten aan A & M Universiteit in Texas) lopen op straat. Zij komen de plaatselijk rabbijn tegen, die met zijn arm in gips sukkelt. "Goeie Goh!", zegt de ene Aggie, "wasser toch met u gebeurd?" Och, zegt de rabbijn, ik verslipte mij in de badkuip".
Hij loopt door, en na enkele minuten vraagt de ene Aggie aan de andere: "Badkuip? Wat is dat?".
De andere antwoord met verontwaardiging: " Hoe zou ik dat moeten weten, ik ben toch geen jood!"
En natuurlijk, daar ik het weer niet laten kan....
Question: How many Texans does it take to eat an Armadillo?
Answer: Two..., one to eat the Armadillo, the other to look for oncoming traffic.
So, does anybody have any suggestions what I should name the stuffed armadillo in my cubicle at work? I've had him for quite a while, but only recently realized that without a name he isn't a real person.
CLARIFIED SHEEP-TAIL FAT
A little linguistic excursion, for your entertainment.....
The major languages of Afghanistan are Pashtoon and Dari, both closely related to Persian. Substantial minorities speak Tajik and Baluchi (the later esp. in the area near the Boland pass. Both of these languages are also related to Persian.
These languages are also spoken in Pakistan (Persian used to be the literary language from Kabul to Delhi and Lucknow).
Tajik and Baluchi are also spoken in some areas of Persia, and Persian is still sometimes used as a literary language in parts of Central Asia, including the Turkic speaking regions.
Dari and Tajik can both be considered merely dialect versions of Persian.
In a phrasebook which I read awhile ago I encountered an interesting error.
The English speaking co-author inadvertently mistook the word 'rogan-e domba' to mean black pepper. It actually means the rendered tail-fat of a fat-tailed sheep, which is much used in certain parts of the Islamic world the same way lard is used here.
Here's a sentence, constructed with the "help" of this phrasebook, completely clear and intelligible in Persian, Dari, and Tajik:
"Ohe, pesh-khizmat (...oh waiter.....), ba man (...to me.....) lazeem ast (...is needed.....) namak (...salt.....) o rogan-e domba (.....and boiled sheepfat!!!)."
Imagine the poor American soldier in Kabul who thinks he just asked for salt and pepper......
The major languages of Afghanistan are Pashtoon and Dari, both closely related to Persian. Substantial minorities speak Tajik and Baluchi (the later esp. in the area near the Boland pass. Both of these languages are also related to Persian.
These languages are also spoken in Pakistan (Persian used to be the literary language from Kabul to Delhi and Lucknow).
Tajik and Baluchi are also spoken in some areas of Persia, and Persian is still sometimes used as a literary language in parts of Central Asia, including the Turkic speaking regions.
Dari and Tajik can both be considered merely dialect versions of Persian.
In a phrasebook which I read awhile ago I encountered an interesting error.
The English speaking co-author inadvertently mistook the word 'rogan-e domba' to mean black pepper. It actually means the rendered tail-fat of a fat-tailed sheep, which is much used in certain parts of the Islamic world the same way lard is used here.
Here's a sentence, constructed with the "help" of this phrasebook, completely clear and intelligible in Persian, Dari, and Tajik:
"Ohe, pesh-khizmat (...oh waiter.....), ba man (...to me.....) lazeem ast (...is needed.....) namak (...salt.....) o rogan-e domba (.....and boiled sheepfat!!!)."
Imagine the poor American soldier in Kabul who thinks he just asked for salt and pepper......
STENENGOOIENDE ROTJONGENS - REACTIE OP STOMME NEDERLANDSTALIGE OPMERKINGEN OVER DE PALESTIJNEN
Waarom word ieder die het niet met Araabsch huigelaardij geheel eens is, onmiddelijk als jood bestempeld? En waarom beschouwen Arabieren en linkse Europeanen dat trouwens als een verwijt? Racisme, mischien?
Als die stomme Palestijnse keinders werkelijk niets beter te doen hebben dan als schild voorop te gaan voor sluipmoordenaars heb ik geen bezwaar als er enkelen sneuvelen. En blijkbaar hebben de Palestijnen zelf daar ook niet zo'n bezwaar tegen.
De moffen hebben in een halve decenium vijf miljoen joden vermoord. De Israelieten hebben in een halve eeuw minder dan vijftigduizend Palestijnen het paradijs in geholpen. Dat's stukken minder dooien dan toen Irak en Iran, bijde vrome Muslim staten, elkaar tegen het lijf gingen. Ik zou eerder zegen dat wat jegens de Koerden gedaan werd en nog steeds word een 'modern holocaust' zal blijken. Evenals wat tegen de Berber volkeren word gedaan (men zou zelfs kunnen zeggen dat ieder die zich 'Arabier' noemt per definitie een racist is). Dus de terminologische keuze omtrent de Palestijnsche kwestie is wel bijzonder overdreven.
Als die stomme Palestijnse keinders werkelijk niets beter te doen hebben dan als schild voorop te gaan voor sluipmoordenaars heb ik geen bezwaar als er enkelen sneuvelen. En blijkbaar hebben de Palestijnen zelf daar ook niet zo'n bezwaar tegen.
De moffen hebben in een halve decenium vijf miljoen joden vermoord. De Israelieten hebben in een halve eeuw minder dan vijftigduizend Palestijnen het paradijs in geholpen. Dat's stukken minder dooien dan toen Irak en Iran, bijde vrome Muslim staten, elkaar tegen het lijf gingen. Ik zou eerder zegen dat wat jegens de Koerden gedaan werd en nog steeds word een 'modern holocaust' zal blijken. Evenals wat tegen de Berber volkeren word gedaan (men zou zelfs kunnen zeggen dat ieder die zich 'Arabier' noemt per definitie een racist is). Dus de terminologische keuze omtrent de Palestijnsche kwestie is wel bijzonder overdreven.
GERMANY, FRANCE, ISRAEL? THREE GLIB COMMENTS MADE IN A DISCUSSION WHEN THE WAR WAS STILL BEING FOUGHT
Germany, probably out of a sense of guilt, tends to be less hypercritical of those mean violent Israelis when they repress the pacifistic puppy-loving Palestinians.
France, on the other hand, because of its deep sympathies with the socially conscious and noble desert-dwellers whom they once ever-so-gently administered in North-Africa and the Levant, tends towards a very negative view of Jews with guns.
Military strategy is only acceptable if non-Jews do it. Otherwise, it is Zionist-Imperialist scheming, and must immediately remind right-thinking people everywhere of Deir Yassin and the King David Hotel.
France, on the other hand, because of its deep sympathies with the socially conscious and noble desert-dwellers whom they once ever-so-gently administered in North-Africa and the Levant, tends towards a very negative view of Jews with guns.
Military strategy is only acceptable if non-Jews do it. Otherwise, it is Zionist-Imperialist scheming, and must immediately remind right-thinking people everywhere of Deir Yassin and the King David Hotel.
GOOD RANT
[Recycling an e-mail to a friend. I am not above recycling my own stuff. It's not like wine, however. It does get better with each regurgitation - is that actually the word I'm looking for?]
ISRAEL - JERUSALEM - ROADMAP
[Spleen and bile, generally speaking. I just had lunch. Spleen and bile.]
Many "nations" only exist as minorities of larger states.
I'm sure the Tibetans would like their independence back - are there no calls to boycot China?
The Kurds were promised their own country at Versailles. Never mind that half of the Kurdish "freedom fighters" are sadistic bombers and thugs - I don't see anyone getting their knickers in a twist over the Kurds.
Anyone care to mention the Sudan? The list of ethnicities getting whacked there includes probably most of the population. Well, by default we are boycotting the Sudan (what exactly do they produce that we buy?), but we ain't boycotting the folks who enable them.
---
When it comes to Israel, whatever drive there was towards a solution of the conflict has been sabotaged by Arab recalcitrance and international diplomacy.
Remember the roadmap? That puppy was sick to begin with.
Remember the quartet? Sure you do.
"The quartet will evaluate the parties' performance."
And the quartet comprised (drum roll, please):
The United Nations (mostly failed states and gangster regimes).
The Europeans (allegedly better than the U.N., but with a far worse record vis-à-vis Jews and Muslims).
Russia (a failed economy, a failed political system, and a failed society - which has never shown impartiality or lack of bias).
The United States (big oil, small minds, and military-industrial interests all combined to set policy).
Oh yeah, this really inspires me with confidence. I especially like how all parts that make up the quartet have such beautiful records of keeping self-interest out of the equation. Bravo, bravo.
The United Nations and Europe said jacksh.. about the annexation of Timor L'este for a quarter of a century. They haven't done crap-all about Kashmir. How about the Chechens? Tutsis? Any other noticeable successes?
Srebenicza is hardly an example.
If Clinton hadn't pushed the Euros against the wall, they and Russia and the UN would have cheerfully sat back while the Serbians pogrommed Bosnia and Albania off the map.
Of course, the United States itself is, at this point, notorious for making a ghastly hash of international affairs - even at the best of times we have not been known for our subtle touch. Probably best if we recuse ourselves.
Which leaves....?
The only logical reason to include Europeans and Russians (as interested parties) in the process might be because of the absolute importance of Jerusalem. Which ab initio should mean that the status of Jerusalem is not negotiable.
Do I hear someone say that Jerusalem is also a Muslim holy city?
Let's go into some details.....
1. The Temple Mount is only of very minor importance to Muslims. Yeah, I know that the prophet is alleged to have ascended to heaven on lailat el qadr from there, but that's a load of h-pucky - the mosque was built to mark conquest and dominance, and then named Al Aqsa to assert a claim to the place and to mark the extent of Muslim power at the time; no connection whatsoever to the night journey.
2. If they're so hepped up over holy places, what the devil were their mujahids doing in the Church of the Nativity? That was a nauseating incident, even for non-believers.
3. Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia.
4. Who are they to claim special privileges, and why should that mosque be different than any other house of worship?
Besides, they've already got their special privileges - The Haram esh-Sharif (Temple Mount) was captured (liberated) during 1967 Middle East war, but Israel still allows the Muslims to continue controlling day-to-day affairs there.
The Islamic authority (Waqf) has kept it off-limits, more or less, to non-Muslims since October, 2000, and intends to continue barring non-Muslims from praying at the site.
Better the Muslims should maintain silence. Examination of the issue would bring too many Islamic worms to light.
World opinion?
At this point the list of morally bankrupt ideas from the rest of the world when it comes to holy land is so extensive that it would be best if they too just shut up. They already said whatever they have to say, they said it very badly, and they said it with a giant smelly foot in their mouth.
ISRAEL - JERUSALEM - ROADMAP
[Spleen and bile, generally speaking. I just had lunch. Spleen and bile.]
Many "nations" only exist as minorities of larger states.
I'm sure the Tibetans would like their independence back - are there no calls to boycot China?
The Kurds were promised their own country at Versailles. Never mind that half of the Kurdish "freedom fighters" are sadistic bombers and thugs - I don't see anyone getting their knickers in a twist over the Kurds.
Anyone care to mention the Sudan? The list of ethnicities getting whacked there includes probably most of the population. Well, by default we are boycotting the Sudan (what exactly do they produce that we buy?), but we ain't boycotting the folks who enable them.
---
When it comes to Israel, whatever drive there was towards a solution of the conflict has been sabotaged by Arab recalcitrance and international diplomacy.
Remember the roadmap? That puppy was sick to begin with.
Remember the quartet? Sure you do.
"The quartet will evaluate the parties' performance."
And the quartet comprised (drum roll, please):
The United Nations (mostly failed states and gangster regimes).
The Europeans (allegedly better than the U.N., but with a far worse record vis-à-vis Jews and Muslims).
Russia (a failed economy, a failed political system, and a failed society - which has never shown impartiality or lack of bias).
The United States (big oil, small minds, and military-industrial interests all combined to set policy).
Oh yeah, this really inspires me with confidence. I especially like how all parts that make up the quartet have such beautiful records of keeping self-interest out of the equation. Bravo, bravo.
The United Nations and Europe said jacksh.. about the annexation of Timor L'este for a quarter of a century. They haven't done crap-all about Kashmir. How about the Chechens? Tutsis? Any other noticeable successes?
Srebenicza is hardly an example.
If Clinton hadn't pushed the Euros against the wall, they and Russia and the UN would have cheerfully sat back while the Serbians pogrommed Bosnia and Albania off the map.
Of course, the United States itself is, at this point, notorious for making a ghastly hash of international affairs - even at the best of times we have not been known for our subtle touch. Probably best if we recuse ourselves.
Which leaves....?
The only logical reason to include Europeans and Russians (as interested parties) in the process might be because of the absolute importance of Jerusalem. Which ab initio should mean that the status of Jerusalem is not negotiable.
Do I hear someone say that Jerusalem is also a Muslim holy city?
Let's go into some details.....
1. The Temple Mount is only of very minor importance to Muslims. Yeah, I know that the prophet is alleged to have ascended to heaven on lailat el qadr from there, but that's a load of h-pucky - the mosque was built to mark conquest and dominance, and then named Al Aqsa to assert a claim to the place and to mark the extent of Muslim power at the time; no connection whatsoever to the night journey.
2. If they're so hepped up over holy places, what the devil were their mujahids doing in the Church of the Nativity? That was a nauseating incident, even for non-believers.
3. Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia.
4. Who are they to claim special privileges, and why should that mosque be different than any other house of worship?
Besides, they've already got their special privileges - The Haram esh-Sharif (Temple Mount) was captured (liberated) during 1967 Middle East war, but Israel still allows the Muslims to continue controlling day-to-day affairs there.
The Islamic authority (Waqf) has kept it off-limits, more or less, to non-Muslims since October, 2000, and intends to continue barring non-Muslims from praying at the site.
Better the Muslims should maintain silence. Examination of the issue would bring too many Islamic worms to light.
World opinion?
At this point the list of morally bankrupt ideas from the rest of the world when it comes to holy land is so extensive that it would be best if they too just shut up. They already said whatever they have to say, they said it very badly, and they said it with a giant smelly foot in their mouth.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
MORONS IN GEORGIA
Jack's Shack (aka 'random thoughts' - http://wwwjackbenimble.blogspot.com/)
directs my attention to the following article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061004/ap_on_re_us/potter_protest
In case you do not feel like clicking, it's a news item about some poor confused soul in Gwinnett County (somewhere in the hinterlands of Atlanta) who wants the board of eddikayshon to ban Harry Potter from the schools.
Quote: "Laura Mallory, a mother of four, told a hearing officer for the Gwinnett County Board of Education on Tuesday that the popular fiction series is an "evil" attempt to indoctrinate children in the Wicca religion."
You know, most people do not act like their stereotype. Most blacks are not jumpin' jiveasses, most Asian-Americans have no problem pronouncing "fried rice", most Dutch are not penny-pinching cheapskates (although many actually are 'dike-fingered cheese-snarfing clog-weasels').
Most Mexicans are not leaning against a cactus. Ever. Prickly.
Most Frenchmen bathe once in a while. So I've heard.
Many Canadians can go a whole day with-out saying 'eh'.
What this article illustrates is the crying need for positive news about Southerners - stuff that proves that not ALL of them are iggerunt hicks and rednecks, not ALL of them have brains rotted from too much corn-likker and anti-freeze.
Not ALL of them are unwashed slackjawed slump-backed slope-browed bleary-eyed pimpled hayseeds standing in a ditch next to the interstate staring at the roadkill wondering how to cook it.
Fried, deep-fried, or Bobby Cue.
Really.
Why is it that news-organizations only mention Southerners when they do something dumb? Why do we even need to know, again (for the umpteenth time!), that some Southern Fanny-Sue has done gone and put her hairy foot in her mouth, and done something monumentally stooooooopid?
Do we really need to know exactly what example of American uncivilization half of Western Europe will be giggling about over their croysun..... croissen..... cruissand...... sticky-buns, and idiotically strong coffee, early tomorrow morning?
No one NEEDS to know this stuff. We need to focus on something brighter.
Let us instead celebrate the fact that somewhere in the South there are libraries and schools, and people think that there is a good chance their kids might read.
directs my attention to the following article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061004/ap_on_re_us/potter_protest
In case you do not feel like clicking, it's a news item about some poor confused soul in Gwinnett County (somewhere in the hinterlands of Atlanta) who wants the board of eddikayshon to ban Harry Potter from the schools.
Quote: "Laura Mallory, a mother of four, told a hearing officer for the Gwinnett County Board of Education on Tuesday that the popular fiction series is an "evil" attempt to indoctrinate children in the Wicca religion."
You know, most people do not act like their stereotype. Most blacks are not jumpin' jiveasses, most Asian-Americans have no problem pronouncing "fried rice", most Dutch are not penny-pinching cheapskates (although many actually are 'dike-fingered cheese-snarfing clog-weasels').
Most Mexicans are not leaning against a cactus. Ever. Prickly.
Most Frenchmen bathe once in a while. So I've heard.
Many Canadians can go a whole day with-out saying 'eh'.
What this article illustrates is the crying need for positive news about Southerners - stuff that proves that not ALL of them are iggerunt hicks and rednecks, not ALL of them have brains rotted from too much corn-likker and anti-freeze.
Not ALL of them are unwashed slackjawed slump-backed slope-browed bleary-eyed pimpled hayseeds standing in a ditch next to the interstate staring at the roadkill wondering how to cook it.
Fried, deep-fried, or Bobby Cue.
Really.
Why is it that news-organizations only mention Southerners when they do something dumb? Why do we even need to know, again (for the umpteenth time!), that some Southern Fanny-Sue has done gone and put her hairy foot in her mouth, and done something monumentally stooooooopid?
Do we really need to know exactly what example of American uncivilization half of Western Europe will be giggling about over their croysun..... croissen..... cruissand...... sticky-buns, and idiotically strong coffee, early tomorrow morning?
No one NEEDS to know this stuff. We need to focus on something brighter.
Let us instead celebrate the fact that somewhere in the South there are libraries and schools, and people think that there is a good chance their kids might read.
ANTWERP - WARM WITH ALL KINDS
Three news-items in the Antwerper newspaper (Gazet van Antwerpen) caught my eye today as indicating that a city which had been glibly dismissed by mediaeval writers as suitably the abode of the evil one now embraces a much broader category of inhabitant.
1: Four Frenchmen arrested for vandalism
[http://www.gva.be/nieuws/Antwerpen/default.asp?art={81C2828F-D818-4B6B-8E2D-F09098B0C152}]
Four young Frenchmen were arrested for overturning terrace-chairs of a cafe and an eatery, breaking the glass of a bus stop, smashing the glass in a terrace wind-break, destroying fences, vandalizing traffic signs, throwing parked bicycles into the roadway, and overturning garbage receptacles.
[See, it's because of French behaviour in the past that Flemings do not like Frenchmen. Wasn't that message perfectly clear already? ]
2: Allochthonous youths attack pregnant girl
[http://www.gva.be/nieuws/Antwerpen/default.asp?art={785EC11D-57CC-4158-8028-09E8E008B098}]
A sixteen year pregnant old girl was assaulted by a group of allochthonous (non-native, in this case meaning Moroccan) youth, who cursed her, threw cans at her, kicked and hit her in her stomach. This happened in a schoolyard during recess. The school administration promptly sent her to the hospital, and had the police remove the miscreants from their classes.
[What makes this really interesting is that the pregnant girl's family is active in a watchdog group that organizes against, and tracks the ultra-right, particularly Vlaams Belang (the latest incarnation of the ethno-nationalist Flemish Block) - which, of course, agitates against the very same ethnic group that attacked his daughter.]
3: Two Yeshiva bocherim assaulted by anti-Semites
[http://www.gva.be/nieuws/Antwerpen/default.asp?art={AD70F663-EABB-4F64-9869-FF46C159D72A}]
Two British Yeshiva bocherim, waiting for the bus at ten-thirty in the evening, were beaten up by four men, who after finishing their task gave a brisk Hitler salute before fleeing into the night. It is believed that the perpetrators were skinheads or neo-Nazis.
[The article mentions that they fled ahead of the arrival of the police. Not to cast aspersions at the Antwerper cops (though that is exactly what I am doing ), but I'm very suspicious when cops do not arrive till after such incidents are over. ]
Some rather rotten Flemings
Over the last few decades Antwerpen has become a hotbed of resurgent Nazism, with several incidents that are brutal proof of hardened attitudes.
The racist who shot and killed an African nanny a few months ago was but a recent and minor example - Antwerpen is one of the cities where in the eighties and nineties rightwing students made a sport out of drinking themselves into a violent rage, then going out to beat leftwing students to a pulp.
Names particularly associated with Flemish rightwingers and racists: Siegfried Verbeke, Dieter van Parijs, Pieter van Damme, Geert Neyrinck. These gentlemen have a history, shall we say.
What must be particularly mentioned about such people is that they often masquerade under legitimate colours in political parties and local government while maintaining strong ties to such shadowy organizations as Bloed Bodem Eer Trouw (the Flemish branch of Blood and Honor).
According to some pollsters, over twenty-five percent of the Flemish support the Vlaams Belang (formerly known as Vlaams Block - Flemish Block - hence the name Blokwatch for the organization that keeps an eye on neo-Nazi activities). The Vlaams Belang is to the Flemish racists, skinheads, and neo-Nazis what Sinn Fein is to the Ira. Vlaams Belang Chairman Flip De Winter has more name recognition than most other Belgian politicians.
Flemish neo-Nazis want North Africans and Muslims expelled, demand official recognition and pensions for the soldiers who served with the SS on the Eastern Front , and want non-native cultural elements suppressed. Xenophobia and anti-Moroccan sentiment have fuelled the growth of both the front organizations and the underground activist network.
At present they do not often overtly manifest their anti-Semitism, except for supporting revisionists and holocaust deniers. They are primarily focused on the Muslims, secondarily on Southern and Eastern Europeans. Like all good Flemings they have always despised and hated the French, and want the French language banned in Flemish provinces. Communists, socialists, and liberals are considered traitors and hence fair game for gangs of neo-Nazi thugs.
Jews, however, are strictly a backburner issue - for the time being.
1: Four Frenchmen arrested for vandalism
[http://www.gva.be/nieuws/Antwerpen/default.asp?art={81C2828F-D818-4B6B-8E2D-F09098B0C152}]
Four young Frenchmen were arrested for overturning terrace-chairs of a cafe and an eatery, breaking the glass of a bus stop, smashing the glass in a terrace wind-break, destroying fences, vandalizing traffic signs, throwing parked bicycles into the roadway, and overturning garbage receptacles.
[See, it's because of French behaviour in the past that Flemings do not like Frenchmen. Wasn't that message perfectly clear already? ]
2: Allochthonous youths attack pregnant girl
[http://www.gva.be/nieuws/Antwerpen/default.asp?art={785EC11D-57CC-4158-8028-09E8E008B098}]
A sixteen year pregnant old girl was assaulted by a group of allochthonous (non-native, in this case meaning Moroccan) youth, who cursed her, threw cans at her, kicked and hit her in her stomach. This happened in a schoolyard during recess. The school administration promptly sent her to the hospital, and had the police remove the miscreants from their classes.
[What makes this really interesting is that the pregnant girl's family is active in a watchdog group that organizes against, and tracks the ultra-right, particularly Vlaams Belang (the latest incarnation of the ethno-nationalist Flemish Block) - which, of course, agitates against the very same ethnic group that attacked his daughter.]
3: Two Yeshiva bocherim assaulted by anti-Semites
[http://www.gva.be/nieuws/Antwerpen/default.asp?art={AD70F663-EABB-4F64-9869-FF46C159D72A}]
Two British Yeshiva bocherim, waiting for the bus at ten-thirty in the evening, were beaten up by four men, who after finishing their task gave a brisk Hitler salute before fleeing into the night. It is believed that the perpetrators were skinheads or neo-Nazis.
[The article mentions that they fled ahead of the arrival of the police. Not to cast aspersions at the Antwerper cops (though that is exactly what I am doing ), but I'm very suspicious when cops do not arrive till after such incidents are over. ]
----------------------------- -----------------------------
Some rather rotten Flemings
Over the last few decades Antwerpen has become a hotbed of resurgent Nazism, with several incidents that are brutal proof of hardened attitudes.
The racist who shot and killed an African nanny a few months ago was but a recent and minor example - Antwerpen is one of the cities where in the eighties and nineties rightwing students made a sport out of drinking themselves into a violent rage, then going out to beat leftwing students to a pulp.
Names particularly associated with Flemish rightwingers and racists: Siegfried Verbeke, Dieter van Parijs, Pieter van Damme, Geert Neyrinck. These gentlemen have a history, shall we say.
What must be particularly mentioned about such people is that they often masquerade under legitimate colours in political parties and local government while maintaining strong ties to such shadowy organizations as Bloed Bodem Eer Trouw (the Flemish branch of Blood and Honor).
According to some pollsters, over twenty-five percent of the Flemish support the Vlaams Belang (formerly known as Vlaams Block - Flemish Block - hence the name Blokwatch for the organization that keeps an eye on neo-Nazi activities). The Vlaams Belang is to the Flemish racists, skinheads, and neo-Nazis what Sinn Fein is to the Ira. Vlaams Belang Chairman Flip De Winter has more name recognition than most other Belgian politicians.
Flemish neo-Nazis want North Africans and Muslims expelled, demand official recognition and pensions for the soldiers who served with the SS on the Eastern Front , and want non-native cultural elements suppressed. Xenophobia and anti-Moroccan sentiment have fuelled the growth of both the front organizations and the underground activist network.
At present they do not often overtly manifest their anti-Semitism, except for supporting revisionists and holocaust deniers. They are primarily focused on the Muslims, secondarily on Southern and Eastern Europeans. Like all good Flemings they have always despised and hated the French, and want the French language banned in Flemish provinces. Communists, socialists, and liberals are considered traitors and hence fair game for gangs of neo-Nazi thugs.
Jews, however, are strictly a backburner issue - for the time being.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
OOOH! I WANT ONE OF THOSE!
.
.
.
I've seen what people eat.
.
.
I've seen what people love to eat.
.
.
What they cannot get enough of.....
.
.
So, great idea for a snack at the county fair...
.
.
.
Stick-of-butter-on-a-stick.
.
.
Two flavours.
.
.
Garlic. And chocolate.
.
.
I've seen what people eat.
.
.
I've seen what people love to eat.
.
.
What they cannot get enough of.....
.
.
So, great idea for a snack at the county fair...
.
.
.
Stick-of-butter-on-a-stick.
.
.
Two flavours.
.
.
Garlic. And chocolate.
THE END OF THE WORLD
No, I'm not stopping blogging.
I'm actually referring to the nut I saw while sitting in the smoking corner of the local tobacconists.
Let me explain - the tobacconists, realizing that the change of ownership of another local tobacco shop created opportunities for increasing their own traffic, rebuilt the window-corner of their store which looks down Market Street into a nice, comfy nook, with several comfy chairs and a lovely coffee-table, for the benefit of us cigar and pipe smokers.
This wasn't really unfair to the other tobacco shop, because coupled with the change of ownership came a renewal of the lease, and since then smoking on the premises was no longer allowed at that location..... which meant, given the rabid anti-smoking crowd in this blinkered burg, that several of us no longer had much reason to go there. Especially after the new staff was seen energetically scrubbing out the humidor with Lysol to get rid of that tobacco smell (imbuing the cheroots with a subtle, lingering fragrance of cleaning fluid - righteous!).
Almost all of the downtown reeky crowd now drop by the Market Street tobacconist every day - one or two even conduct much of their business there.
It's a good place for people watching.
Today, outside, in full view, and very audible, a preacher-type was yelling that we "should harken unto him and be aware of the coming apocalypse, which shall engulf the world of the flesh in fire and blood, with the thundering of horsehoofs and the beating of great celestial wings, as had been shown in a vision. All majestic like. Most impressive."
"Beware, beware, sinful people. The exact date is only known to those who join up and confess their sins (a wonderful opportunity!), everybody else gonna be horribly surprised (real soon too!) when the heavens are rent and the lamb of god with seven eyes and seven horns comes down in a fiery glow."
It was very entertaining.
His god is not a forgiving deity.
A powder (corduroy!) blue blazer over blue-jeans is really spiffy, and adds gravitas to the message.
As does the drooping paunch.
A few weeks ago I wrote to a friend "It's intriguing how many people possess different and conflicting blueprints of the end-times. Only they and their group of ten, twenty (or even only one!), have miraculously been vouchsafed this momentous secret.
Curiously, they all seem to predict that it will happen during their lifetimes. One might conclude that their presence is essential......"
Predicting the end of the world is an artform that requires a generously proportioned ego.
Please note: I do not actually know for certain that he was a nut. That requires the diagnostic capability of a trained psychiatrist. I am not a psychiatrist. Calling him a nut is only meant descriptively, to add colour. He may have been stone-cold sane and sober. It's possible.
I'm actually referring to the nut I saw while sitting in the smoking corner of the local tobacconists.
Let me explain - the tobacconists, realizing that the change of ownership of another local tobacco shop created opportunities for increasing their own traffic, rebuilt the window-corner of their store which looks down Market Street into a nice, comfy nook, with several comfy chairs and a lovely coffee-table, for the benefit of us cigar and pipe smokers.
This wasn't really unfair to the other tobacco shop, because coupled with the change of ownership came a renewal of the lease, and since then smoking on the premises was no longer allowed at that location..... which meant, given the rabid anti-smoking crowd in this blinkered burg, that several of us no longer had much reason to go there. Especially after the new staff was seen energetically scrubbing out the humidor with Lysol to get rid of that tobacco smell (imbuing the cheroots with a subtle, lingering fragrance of cleaning fluid - righteous!).
Almost all of the downtown reeky crowd now drop by the Market Street tobacconist every day - one or two even conduct much of their business there.
It's a good place for people watching.
Today, outside, in full view, and very audible, a preacher-type was yelling that we "should harken unto him and be aware of the coming apocalypse, which shall engulf the world of the flesh in fire and blood, with the thundering of horsehoofs and the beating of great celestial wings, as had been shown in a vision. All majestic like. Most impressive."
"Beware, beware, sinful people. The exact date is only known to those who join up and confess their sins (a wonderful opportunity!), everybody else gonna be horribly surprised (real soon too!) when the heavens are rent and the lamb of god with seven eyes and seven horns comes down in a fiery glow."
It was very entertaining.
His god is not a forgiving deity.
A powder (corduroy!) blue blazer over blue-jeans is really spiffy, and adds gravitas to the message.
As does the drooping paunch.
A few weeks ago I wrote to a friend "It's intriguing how many people possess different and conflicting blueprints of the end-times. Only they and their group of ten, twenty (or even only one!), have miraculously been vouchsafed this momentous secret.
Curiously, they all seem to predict that it will happen during their lifetimes. One might conclude that their presence is essential......"
Predicting the end of the world is an artform that requires a generously proportioned ego.
Please note: I do not actually know for certain that he was a nut. That requires the diagnostic capability of a trained psychiatrist. I am not a psychiatrist. Calling him a nut is only meant descriptively, to add colour. He may have been stone-cold sane and sober. It's possible.
Friday, September 29, 2006
SHLUGN KAPORES
The custom on the day before Yom Kippur of atoning, with a substitute - in this case, the scapegoat is a chicken.
[Scapegoating in a religious context is best described in Vayikra (Leviticus) chapter 16.]
Shlugn kapores = 'Whacking atonements': the waving of a live chicken (or its monetary equivalent) three times over one's head, while chanting: "zeh khalefosi, zeh tamorosi, zeh kaperosi. Zeh hotarnegol yelekh le misoh, va'ani elekh le chayim tovim arukim ve shalom" ('This is my substitute, this is my commutation, this is my atonement. This rooster will go to death, and I will go to a life both long and peaceful').
[Chickens are notoriously loose in the bowel department - expect to feel sincere regret after doing this.]
The father of the family first does this for himself, and once he has 'atoned', and is newly 'guilt-free', he can do it for all other members of the household, using a chicken of the same gender as the person underneath. For a pregnant woman one uses two birds, one of each gender, for both the woman and the unborn child in the womb.
I recommend that pregnant women wear an old wig (an alte farshlepte sheitel) they didn't much care about anyway on this day. Or maybe borrow one from their mekhutenista ('di alte kokhlefflerin').
[Two panicked chickens, with their respective bowels. You may be much surprised.]
The birds are then sent to be slaughtered, and the flesh or its monetary equivalent given to the poor.
[To be really machmir, one should wave a goat instead. Trust me, you will feel different this year if you do.]
Note that many people nowadays think of using the live chickens as an irrational and superstitious custom, barbaric even, and quite probably cruel to the chicken. I'm not voicing any judgement until I see you do it. After that I'll be plenty judgmental. I'm only interested in your spiritual welfare.
[Scapegoating in a religious context is best described in Vayikra (Leviticus) chapter 16.]
Shlugn kapores = 'Whacking atonements': the waving of a live chicken (or its monetary equivalent) three times over one's head, while chanting: "zeh khalefosi, zeh tamorosi, zeh kaperosi. Zeh hotarnegol yelekh le misoh, va'ani elekh le chayim tovim arukim ve shalom" ('This is my substitute, this is my commutation, this is my atonement. This rooster will go to death, and I will go to a life both long and peaceful').
[Chickens are notoriously loose in the bowel department - expect to feel sincere regret after doing this.]
The father of the family first does this for himself, and once he has 'atoned', and is newly 'guilt-free', he can do it for all other members of the household, using a chicken of the same gender as the person underneath. For a pregnant woman one uses two birds, one of each gender, for both the woman and the unborn child in the womb.
I recommend that pregnant women wear an old wig (an alte farshlepte sheitel) they didn't much care about anyway on this day. Or maybe borrow one from their mekhutenista ('di alte kokhlefflerin').
[Two panicked chickens, with their respective bowels. You may be much surprised.]
The birds are then sent to be slaughtered, and the flesh or its monetary equivalent given to the poor.
[To be really machmir, one should wave a goat instead. Trust me, you will feel different this year if you do.]
Note that many people nowadays think of using the live chickens as an irrational and superstitious custom, barbaric even, and quite probably cruel to the chicken. I'm not voicing any judgement until I see you do it. After that I'll be plenty judgmental. I'm only interested in your spiritual welfare.
YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M A LOUSY WRITER
I just reread what I wrote last-night.
Man, that's garbage.
Sounds like a questioning fifteen year old. One with 'issues'. And 'angst'. Who also thinks he's a deep thinker.
Instead of referring to it as random thoughts, I should've called it scattered trash.
I'm going to try to rewrite all that stuff in a more readable way. When I've had more sleep, not nearly so much caffeine, and have thought it over and out better. I might be older then too.
Man, that's garbage.
Sounds like a questioning fifteen year old. One with 'issues'. And 'angst'. Who also thinks he's a deep thinker.
Instead of referring to it as random thoughts, I should've called it scattered trash.
I'm going to try to rewrite all that stuff in a more readable way. When I've had more sleep, not nearly so much caffeine, and have thought it over and out better. I might be older then too.
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GRITS AND TOFU
Like most Americans, I have a list of people who should be peacefully retired from public service and thereafter kept away from their desks,...
