I’ve never liked golf. Sure there’s loads of skill involved in hitting 1in ball 400 ft and into a tiny cup, but I daresay it’s even more boring then NASCAR which livens things up with a crash or two.
My uncle took me to the driving range once when I was in high school and that was a disaster, but at least then you had the fun of trying to hit the moving target of the ball collector truck. Maybe the PGA can somehow incorporate the truck-guy for bonus points, and even then I’m not sure I can bring myself to care.
But every so often, the PGA invades the tiny hamlet of Springfield New Jersey with one of their major tournaments. Twelve years ago we had the US Open and now we’ve got the PGA Champoinship. Back then there was loads of traffic, a goodyear blimp, and blatant profiteering. We’ve still got all that stuff, but now I have access to a digital camera.
Warning – large pictures ahead

It seems that the audition was just a ruse to get me to sign up for the Arts Festival; there is no audition and I’m apparently on the bill. This means that choice 1 with 86% of the vote wins in that I’m playing, as does choice 3 with one vote in that I get to slap the person who suggested it.
The next question is what to do…

It looks like the upgrade went off easier than expected. Of the improvements, you should notice faster load times and we now have an atom feed if you’re into that sort of thing.
The downside is that all the links in the archive are changed. I caught most of them and set up a redirect, but it’s likely I missed one or two. If you find any bad links out there or any other bugs, please drop me a line.

I was just asked to audition for the End The Madness! Talent Show on Aug 25. Sure I can play a bit and figure out chords, but I’ve never really considered myself a performer and this isn’t the same as an open mic night or a random talent show.
I could use some help here, especially from people who have heard me play. Whaddaya say?

Keep in mind that if the audition does go well – or at least better than everyone else – I’d probably have to actually perform.

SIW e-mails me about a quiz show he’s doing with some other folks and he’s looking for the looking for the funniest Jewish jokes.
You read that right – someone is actually asking me for jokes.
Of course, this meant I drew blanks. While I may contribute to Purim shticks or throw in a few lines in situations, I was never good at coming up with jokes on the fly nor have I memorized the collected works of Henny Youngman. But while I couldn’t help Steven out directly I did start thinking about what constitutes “Jewish” humor.
The obivous angle is that the comedian is Jewish – which seemed to the the basic theme of a Comedy Central special on the new Jewish comedians. This connection isn’t surprising considering that “Jewish” jokes are cultural if not stereotypical and as Sienfeld has taught us, only Jews can get away with these jokes without being considered anti-semetic.
The problem is that as cultures change, the stereotypical references become less significant. The classic Jewish jokes from the Borscht Belt were mostly based on a European “old country” mentality of Jewish culture and Jewish history. But as Jewish life moved out of the shtetle, so too must the humor.
One option is to identify and contemprize the familar themes. For example, topics such as mothers, guilt, and anxiety are are still things relavant to most people. The persecution complex may have to be toned down a bit, but there’s plenty of paranoia to go around. Or you could turn the stereotype dial up to 11 like Hebrew Hammer, which in the style of blaxploitation provided a fresh take on old ideas. Of course, some things would work better than others and through differnt comedic formats.
The other direction would be to satarize the modern societies of Judaism. There are websites and plays dealing with the modern professional Jewish world, and of course, there is no shortage Yeshivish jokes out there. The problem is that while these jokes may reflect the current reality, most of these are far too specialized to be funny for outsiders.
At any rate I’m at a loss for now, but I’m sure some things will be percolating in the back of my head.

For those who didn’t believe…

And no, I’m not that good in photoshop. Were I to make a fake smikha, it would look something like this.

Lots of stuff going on in the greater YUTOPIA-land area in the next few weeks. Some of the highlights:

• Shaya will probably be moving us to MovableType 3 and there may be some glitches as a result.
• Thesis is finally looking decent.
• There’s a good chance I’ll actually be employed soon.
• I’m coming along on some posts I’ve been thinking about, including (partially) explaining my prolonged absences.
• I’m also planning on toning down the intensity dial a bit from the recent manifestos – looking for a better ballance like in the “old days.”
• Personal milestone coming up on Thursday.
• And of course, the niblings and family invading homestead.

Life is…well, busy. Stay tuned for details.