My head is like a Crockpot... It cooks Cholent, Has lots of meat, Takes a long time to cook and leaves tons and tons of LEFTOVERS!!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Eh-eh post
Having our own laptop (donated obviously) means that we have more leeway to do with it what we want.
For starters, we are able to take the laptop into the bathroom with us when we are 'busy'. When we borrow someone else's laptop, it's not that simple.
We can even sort of set up a permanent desk at the toilet, so that we can spend all day on the seat and use out the precious time wisely, instead of counting the tiles on the walls (866 square ones and 37 of them that are painted on)
Well, Josh didn't give it to me... But it still falls into a Josh of the week category.
"Weight Watchers should not make meetings on second floors"... To prove my point, the article it here.
Weight Watchers clinic floor collapses under dieters
The floor of a Weight Watchers clinic in Sweden collapsed beneath a group of 20 members of the weight loss programme who were gathered for a meeting.
As the dieters queued to see how many pounds they had shed, the floor beneath them in the clinic in Växjö, in south-central Sweden, began to rumble, according to a report in The Local, Sweden's English-language newspaper.
"We suddenly heard a huge thud; we almost thought it was an earthquake and everything flew up in the air.
"The floor collapsed in one corner of the room and along the walls," one Weight Watchers participant told the Smålandsposten newspaper.
Soon, the fault lines spread around the room, and other sections of the floor gave way.
Luckily, all of the dieters escaped uninjured and managed to move the scales to the corridor, which was not damaged in the accident, and were able to complete their weekly weigh in.
The cause of the floor's collapse remains under investigation.
Pictures of the last month or so... Sorry so late for some of them.
El Arco from the Pacific side of town.
And the whale. Magnificent.
I wish pictures can adequately portray a witnessed moment in life. But they can't. They are but a glimmer (or in Kabbalistic terms; Ziv) of the real thing.
Much bigger than the picture makes it to seem.
While Mushky snapped, I made as if she was missing something cool. It was a good joke, and the picture came out quite convincing too.
Coming closer to the great whales for the first time.
Our first glance of the whale.
Our driver. Since he did take us there, he does deserve merit to be mentioned on this blog.
On the way to whale watching. The stone sticking out of the water on the left is called 'land's end'. It is the last piece of earth on this peninsula of Baja California. We are on the Cortez and as soon as we cross to the other side of that rock, we are in the Pacific.
The end of the world...
The banadana I am wearing is actually Menny's blanket. I needed something to hold my Yarlmuka on my head.
The benefits of the glass bottom boat.
Several days ago, there was a small and abandoned, shivering kitten all alone in our backyard. But it was terrified of me. While trying to feed it, it escaped.
I had no idea where it was and thought that it would certaily die.
Later on that night, I closed the door of the Shul, only to find it cuddling up in the corner and trying to sleep a little.
After much chasing and trapping, I finally caught the kitten and forced it to eat something, which it did... All amidst it's terrified and skeptical uncertainty.
After it ate a bit, I let it go outside, only to find out that it had a mother. It also has another kitten sibling, who are all terrified of me. Only they've started living in our backyard.
Oy!
Getting the kitten to eat.
Oy Menny Menny... Bli Ayin Hora, Boruch hashem.
The only picture of the grilling. It was delicious.
The pointy thing on my head was my emergency use of a hat for Davenning (I'm still wearing my Gartel too)
yish!
Oish... This is part of a beautiful life that Hashem has granted me. For that I will never stop being grateful. May he continue to shower me with these blessings.
And the sunset.
The grill getting warmed up on the beach, while the sun slowly drops behind the horizon.
I call this one Veheishiv lev avos al bonim.
Father and son... Did I mention that I love Kovi.
At 12pm on Thursday night several weeks back, we were busy making Challah's for Shabbos, when all of a sudden we heard the fireworks go off to welcome the new year.
We quickly snapped this picture as a memory of our 2010 celebrations... hehe.
Stir fry for Shabbos.
I'm helping out with the Challah's
If I put two pictures of me helping in the kitchen, does that mean that I'm helping double??
Sonia and her kitchen...
While putting Kovi to sleep one night, I happened to doze off... Sonia came in and thought it was all funny that I'm passed out while Kovi is jumping all over the place. I shoud really be embarrassed to display this so proudly on m'blawg.
I think I have a picture just like this of myself, taken when I was about the same age... I look sort of similar.
Take 2...
Still busted...
Shopping on Tuesday for our weekly supply of fruits, vegetables and other goods. Kovi always stands in the wagon and helps pack up.
The red carpet... Right before Shabbos, we snapped these pictures.
The 3 of them together. Adorable.
Mention and a shout out to one of the coolest nephews on earth. I am truly blessed with amazing plumeniks.
Reizy is absolutely adorable. This is a real picture. I love it.
Kovi gets some exclusive time with his younger brother. He's actually been real gentle with Menny lately. It's something that we did not expect.
And there was light!
Forget the Menorah. Look at that hot car!!!!
What a picture!! My son!!! And Cabo!!!
Really?
The car Menorah bringing light, without even the need to drive it around town.
Oy! So beautiful and such Nuchis.
And finally, just a shout out to today's Chitas, in chapter 6, verse 19, there is some dude named Mushy... haha! (I don't actually find that funny. My conscience does though)
We are renewing pledges from the people here and launching membership from the community for 2010. It's difficult, time consuming and requires loads and loads od self motivation... But, we need to do what we need to do.
- I have a CABO'lah class tomorrow night. - Learning with a kid for his Bar Mitzvah tomorrow afternoon as well. - San Jose breakfast club on Wednesday morning. - Taking Sonia around for appointments and other stuff on Wednesday afternoon. - Meeting with the Marquis hotel on Thursday morning for our 'One Shabbos one world' event, to be help there on January 29th... It's going to be expensive, but... We needs to do what we needs to do. - Need to call Moshe Nunez to confirm with him that we're on with him as a guest of honor for Shabbos. - Need to do some major fundraising this week... Yeah!! - Need to work on the Cabo Jewish Center raffle. Working on sponsors. - Need to speak to the El Dorado beach club about asking their Jewish memebers for financial assistance to our center... After all, our community is now truly ready to enter the next phase.
But in other, amazing news... Since Thursday night, I've been working on launching a new website for Sonia's Kosher meal service to tourists here. Well, tonight it's finally ready to be made public and available to all. We are proud of it and hope that with Hashem's brochos, we will be able to survive and perhaps even thrive because of it. We give you... www.cabokosher.com
There are certainly things that need to be changed and altered, but it's pretty much everything there.
...
Menny is Kein Ayin Hora adorable, and he's getting on just fine. We looked at some old video's of when Kovi was little... They look the same. It's such a pity that we seemed to have misplaced our camera, otherwise I would be posting pictures of the kids now...
...
Kovi is also Kein Ayin Hora unbelievably cute. I've never loved someone so much in my life. It's the most amazing feeling inside... I wish I was able to describe such a feeling... But the best description seems to be Yedias Hashlilah. That means describing it precisely as 'indescribable'.
...
Mushky left. What a shame. She helped out tremendously around the house and I have no idea what we would have done without her... A real shame that she is leaving... But I'm sure it won't be the last time she is going to be visiting.
On Sunday, we finally decided that since it's Mushky's last day in Cabo, we need to do something cool that she'll remember. BiHashgocho Protis, this is the perfect time to go whale watching. Out on the Pacific ocean, the whales are now travelling through, as they head on over to warmer waters in the Sea of Cortez. One of the big attractions here in Cabo during this time of year is to go out by boat, find a pack of whales and watch them do their magic in the sea. And I mean magic. They are unreal. So graceful and tremendous.
We got some good pictures of it. I will post a pictorial update on the next post... All the good pictures from Mushky's camera that she left for me.
Otherwise, I need to get to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day and it's most certainly going to be Gohr andersh.
It's 5:02am. I woke up this morning at 4:20am. Why? I'm not sure.
Lately, I've been putting Kovi to sleep. The thing is, when he goes to sleep, someone needs to be in the room with him, or else he puts on a tantrum that wakes up the 430 dogs sleeping on our street (Don't believe that we have 450 dogs on our street? come to Cabo and see for yourself! No seriously... Come to Cabo... We're waiting!). So, I usually lie down on my bed next to Kovi and wait for him to fall asleep. But the past few days, the most incredible phenomenon takes place. Instead of Kovi falling into a deep sleep, I usually end up waking up in the morning with my clothing still on, not knowing where I am and how I got there, feeling all Tzublechert and everything. So last night I fell asleep before Kovi, naturally. I woke up at 4:20am this morning and remembered that I needed to call some Rabbi in Budapest, to find out how to confirm the Jewish identity of some woman here... Oy! Shlichus.
Tonight is our CABO'lah class, which is really awesome. I love teaching Tanya. Tomorrow we're once again resuming the S. Jose breakfast club, with bagels and lox breakfast, and the weekly Parsha... I hope people show up and it woiks out.
In other news, my brother Zvi recently asked me to post my top ten Jewish singers list... In my last post, Zvi commented with his own top ten list. It's nice to see how every person defines and enjoys their music based on talent, or principles, or musical style. My brother it seems, enjoys singers who have principles. He does not like singers who copy from Goyish songs... Which is why my brother puts Avraham Fried before MBD, because MBD has been known to copy several hit songs from Goyim. Interesting I say.
However I am slightly different. I will try and focus on pure, raw talent when I make my list. So here goes...
1 - I will choose MBD. I think that he is the king and it will be extremely difficult for anyone to ever take that away from him... Be it due to the fact that he was around when nobody else was, or that he is simply that good. I have never heard him go even slightly off tune when singing live and his voice just carroes the world with it. He is amazing. The older albums especially. Nowadays, his voice isn't as powerful as it used to be, but he makes up for his lack of range with his attention to detail on his modern albums. Every one of his latest albums are arranged and mixed perfectly.
2 - Avraham Fried. I think that he was the second one to ever come into the music scene on such a grand scale. He is incredible. His albums are all hits and there's a reason why he is the most sought after (and expensive probably) Jewish singer out there nowadays. I personally don't like his live performances, as he always seems to be slightly off pitch... But I never was at a live performance of his. I'm basing my opinion on the youtube clips that I've seen. Nevertheless, he has a wonderful stage presence and I think he's just that good.
3 - Shlomo Carlebach. I don't like listening to his music and I personally don't like his voice. From his 100+ songs that he made, many of them are well known and awesome... But I don't think every song of his was a hit. However, there is no disputing that he changed Jewish music forever. Since he never really had such a tremendous voice, neither were his guitar playing skills too great (I can't really imagine him playing guitar behind his back, let alone scratching his own back). I do think that what made him so big what the fact that he was real. In the hippie years, he was exactly what everyone was looking for. Some spiritual, interesting and real person. It inspired them to come back and all... He was the right guy and the right time. I think that if someone like him would come out nowadays, he wouldn't make it half as big. I also think that all the people nowadays who are trying to copy him... are horrible. But that's Nogeah to my previous post. There are not many Jewish people in the world who haven't heard of him and like Zvi said, Minyonim around the world are based on his music... That definitely takes something. So, while I don't personally listen to his music and can't be critical, I do acknowledge that he is one of the most talented Jewish singers ever. He's my number 3.
4 - Abie Rottenberg. Like Zvi said, second to Shlomo Carlebach. What he lacks in vocal talent, he makes up in song writing and emotional expression. He is unbelievable. Again, out of every ten songs that he make, two of them I like... Listen to his Aish albums and others... Lots of the songs are nothing special. But when he makes a good song, it is darn good!
5 - Yaakov Shwekey. Although I don't like giving the man credit for where he is, he deserves it. Yes, he may not be Lubavich or a friend to Lubavich. In fact, I've heard from someone who's actually heard him make some nasty comments about Lubavich, however as far as talent is concerned. He is extremely talented. I don't like his voice. He has amazing stage presence. He is entertaining on stage. He is dramatic and intense. People respond to his music and of each of his albums, a good 40% of the songs are hits. That's very hard to accomplish.
6 - Lipa. One of the most talented Jewish singers in the world by far. I personally don't like his voice. It's nothing special. But his Yiddish songs are original. He's extremely musical and he also has lots and lots of personality. I've seen one of his performances live. I wasn't very impressed to be honest. While every appearance was in another style dress, I didn't find him very charismatic or anything... I personally am not a major fan of his. But I do see why people go crazy for him and he is definitely talented. I also love his Pushiter yid album.
7 - Moshe Yess. The only reason I'm putting him so low, is because I don't know him too well. I'm basing this all on what I heard as a kid and a video of him that I once saw. I was not around during his prime... But watching the one video of him was enough evidence of his talent and charisma on stage. He is also one of the most amazing guitarists I've ever seen. Piamenta I don't relate to, because they play electric guitar, but Moshe... Oy Moshe... If only he would not have stopped, this world would be in a whole different place.
8 - Gad Elbaz. With all his Goyish copied songs and everything, which I can't stand. It's not ever like he tries to cover up the Goyish song with some other words... He copies the Goyish song to the 'T', except that instead of Baby, he'll stick in the word Brother or something like that... But nevertheless, his voice... I don't think there are any other Jewish singers nowadays who can do what he does with his voice. He has amazing range. He is dramatic and emotional... He also does some amazing Shtik with his voice. I think that if he weren't in the frum crowd, he would still be a superstar.
9 - Piamenta. They are undoubtedly the most talented Jewish musicians out there. I personally am not a major fan of their style music, but I will give them their due credit.
10 - Are you ready?... Eli Gerstner. I know. I know! You're all shouting at me and think I'm crazy. I think that although I cannot stand his music anynmore and will probably not buy any more of his albums. I know that as soon as I hear any of his albums for the first time, I will be able to finish every song on the cd... I still thionk that he has made a considerable effect on Jewish music now. He is talented like anything... He produces his own performers and albums. He composes all the songs on each album. He arranges all the music on the albums. That takes lots of talent. Lot and lots of it. I respect him for that. I don't think anyone else in the Jewish world does that. So, he gets number 10.
Other singers of mention:
Glantz - I love him. He's electric on stage.
Benny Friedman - I think he has a golden voice. I'm also rooting for him because he's Lubavich.
Moshav - Don't like them. Don't listen to their music, so I can't judge them.
Matisyahu - Don't like 98% of his songs. Only listen to the three that I do like. I think the music and video producers are better than his talent. But, he's at the top of his game and I respect that.
Oif Simchas - I shouldn't even put them up here. I know they may have brought dance groups to the Jewish world... But they are over and done. I think they had their moment of fame.
I also stayed away from choirs.
If we were doing choirs, I only know of Miami Boys and Yeshiva boys.
But the choir that would take the cake, is definitely Montreal boys... Sholom Aleichem, oy yo yoy!
And finally, I'd like to take a shout out moment to mention a former classmate of mine from Argentina who, in my opinion will be winning the Jewish star.
He sings the right song, right music and doesn't overdo it at all.
He sings a very easy song to sing. I don't think he has anything phenomenal to show. But if he would enter the Jewish world and stick with this style, he would be perfect. Ithink that as soon as he sings a difficult song, it wouldn't be as nice as his audition video is.
Choni Grunblatt.
One of these days, I will post my criticisms and thoughts about the Jewish star thing-a-bob on the internet. I have lots of opinions on it.
