Daniel Gershin's Bar Mitzvah Celebration

Left: Mazeltov to Daniel Gershin! On the left is his Uncle, Sam, and on the right is his Father, Ira.


Pleasant and fun celebration with the extended Gershin clan at the Santa Fe. Two DJs/MCs led lots of party games, including Coke/Pepsi races across the dance floor, the Limbo, a Conga Line, and numerous other diversions.

Barack Obama Music CD

I bought a CD with Obama music from Chad Wildwood, a volunteer (about age 18) from San Diego, traveling with the Obama campaign. The music is quite nice: this CD flash-freezes this particular moment in time better than anything else can.

The most interesting piece is a John F. Kennedy presidential campaign song, mashed up to remove Kennedy and insert Obama in its place (here is the YouTube link).

There are number of songs that are quite uplifting, and affecting. (one even made me cry!)

The CD leads off with the Black-Eyed Peas:



And includes this spirited song from the Mariachi Aguilas de Mexico:

Barack Obama For President Rally, Bonanza High School, Las Vegas, NV, October 25, 2008

As the minutes passed at the bar mitzvah service, I knew I was getting later and later at traveling to the Saturday afternoon Obama for President rally at Bonanza High School. So, when Obama took the stage, I was still in the security line. We frantically did whatever we could to hurry through the metal detectors.

When I finally entered, Obama sounded peeved at something John McCain has recently said, regarding his supposedly socialistic intentions.

"Senator McCain has been throwing everything he's got at us, including the kitchen sink -- all seven of those kitchen sinks," Obama said. "He's even called me a socialist for suggesting that we focus on tax cuts not for corporations and the wealthy, but for the middle class."

"That's right, John McCain has been really angry about George Bush's economic policies -- except during the primaries, when he said we've made 'great progress economically' under George Bush," Obama said. "Or just last month, when he said that the 'fundamentals of our economy are strong.'"

McCain attacking Bush on economic policy, Obama said, "is like Dick Cheney attacking George Bush for his go-it-alone foreign policy. It's like Tonto attacking the Lone Ranger."

Obama noted that on Friday, President Bush filled out a Texas absentee ballot for McCain, according to the White House.

"That's no surprise," he said. "Because when it comes to the policies that matter most to middle-class families, there's not an inch of daylight between George Bush and John McCain."

My estimate of crowd size was 5,000, but I was informed later that the Las Vegas police estimated the crowd size at 13,000. This link places the number at 18,000. It was an odd-shaped venue, like the letter "P", with Obama in the loop of the letter, and the crowd along the stroke of the letter, and so crowd estimates were hard to make on the ground.

On Sunday afternoon, with the Gershin clan, we had a wide-ranging discussion, including the importance of appropriate role models in the education of children. At that instant, I didn't want to change the subject to the election, and partisan politics, but there really has been no better role model for African-American children than Barack Obama - ever! After all, like far too many, Barack had a rootless childhood, and look where he is now!

Leaving the field, a number of us were pinned against a fence while waiting for the entire departing crowd to funnel through a narrow gate. The wait was interminable, the afternoon was hot and the crowd was tired. Nevertheless, the crowd kept its cool.

There was a noise in the distance, and a little African-American child, age about six and too short to see over the crowd, eagerly asked: "Daddy, is that Obama? Do you see Obama?" Very touching!


As the rally dispersed, there was an abrupt cone of silence in the crowd: about ten Republicans were protesting, including one woman holding a sign with bar crossing out the word "socialism".

In a helpful, rhetorical sense, a tall black woman asked the signholder to "Define socialism." I was irritated, because these folks seemed immune to the irony of the recent $700 billion bailout. "Hell, the country is already socialist!" I shouted. I meant the $700 billion bailout, but the Republicans, with different reasoning, and starting from different premises, eagerly agreed, and started replying to my shouted words.

Suddenly I felt a giant grizzly paw on my back, a hand stretching from shoulder blade to shoulder blade, and a deep voice in my ear said, "You would like to move on now, wouldn't you?" I had forgotten there were four policemen on horseback immediately behind me, plus several others on foot. I agreed this suggestion was eminently reasonable.

So, despite the heat of the afternoon, there were no hard words at the rally to speak of, except those I myself shouted.

Summerlin Idyll

The Bar Mitzvah Service At Chabad Of Summerlin

Left: Chabad of Summerlin's home (the building is just 2 1/2 years old).


Driving up to Chabad of Summerlin, I could see a rabbi on foot heading towards the building. I suppose I could have offered him a ride, but it would have broken Orthodox Shabbas practice for him to accept, so it was just as well.

In the parking lot prior to the bar mitzvah, I met a couple who knew Daniel Gershin through school. The fellow, C., builds sets, and sometimes acts and directs, for Las Vegas Little Theater. A non-observant Jew, he offered to steer me through the service.

The service started at 10:00 a.m. The bar mitzvah is incorporated into the service, so I figured it would take a while to get through. I was right: we broke for food at 1:00 p.m.

I was a bit intimidated by the full-blown Hebrew Orthodoxness of it all, and didn't want to make faux pas. As a non-believer, C. advised me not to wear a tallis, and to remain seated even when others stood.

Gabe helpfully located this definition of tallis:

Main Entry: tal·lith Pronunciation Guide
Variant(s): or tal·lit or tal·lis also ta·lith or ta·lit or ta·lis \täls, tl-, tal-, -t(h)\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural tal·li·thim or tal·li·tim or tal·li·sim \tälsm, -t(h)m\; or tal·lei·sim \tälsm\; also ta·li·thim or ta·li·tim or ta·li·sim \tälsm, -t(h)m\; or ta·lei·sim or ta·lai·sim \tälsm\
Etymology: Hebrew tallth cover, sheet, cloak, from Aramaic telal to cover: a woolen or silk rectangular or square shawl with fringes at the 4 corners and black or blue stripes at the ends that is worn over the head or round the shoulders by orthodox and conservative Jewish men and boys over 13 usually during morning prayers -- called also prayer scarf; see ZIZITH; compare ARBA KANFOTH [tallith illustration]

Still, we had to be prompted to stand when the Torah was brought out to congregation. But mine wasn't the worst mistake. One fellow at the very front was momentarily distracted by being asked to carry the Torah, and he removed his yarmulke in response.

For being very traditional, the congregation was nevertheless rather relaxed, and very spirited. Occasional blunders occurred: towards the end of the service, several little girls ran through the pews on the men's half of the floor, but there wasn't any profound irritation at the error.

It seemed to me that there were an unusual number of rabbis at the service - at least four, and maybe more. It was hard to tell for sure because so many others present just happened to look like rabbis.

Afterwards, I asked Ira how many rabbis there had been at the service, and he said he didn't know. His family knows people in both Conservative and Orthodox schools and synagogues, and so having a plethora of rabbis at this service was quite expected. Like many Jews of late, he has been gravitating to the Orthodox traditions. "I always worry about whether food is kosher or not, and here at Chabad, there is no question!"

Very nice service! Daniel's voice was clear and strong!

Head Towards The Light

Friday night, there was no luck at blackjack. Losses totalled roughly $660.00. The Luxor was bad. Dick's Last Resort in the Excalibur (where I'm told that, if you go inside, they insult you Don-Rickles style) was bad too, despite the excellent table-top dancers outside that kept me forking out dough for more play.

Nevertheless, life wasn't all bad. For example, here is a photo of the big light beaming straight up from the Luxor Hotel and Casino. This light can be seen from far away. Once, I remember seeing the light driving in from as far away as (the appropriately named) town of Searchlight, NV. You can probably see the light from Arizona. I'm sure you can see it from space. But what is the environmental impact of the light?

Friday night, looking closely at the light, I could see a bat swooping periodically through the beam every five seconds. How clever! After all, if someone has built the best insect tractor beam in the Western Hemisphere, what is a bat to do except take full advantage of the opportunity?

Sunday night, the bat was still there, but the period was more like every twenty seconds. That must be one happy, out-of-control, fat bat up there!

Life can be good in Vegas, for people and animals alike, but as in all things in Vegas, it's mostly a matter of luck.

Happy 28th Birthday, Kim Kardashian!

Left: Kim Kardashian (on the right). I don't know my celebrities, but I think the woman on the left is Robin Antin, director and choreographer of the Pussycat Dolls.


Friday, October 24th was Kim Kardashian's birthday celebration, and she held a party at the LAX nightclub in the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. I happened to be passing by when she came out for photos by the ravenous celebrity press.

But who, exactly, is Kim Kardashian? I know her vaguely as a pal of Paris Hilton, and famous for being famous (here's more from Wikipedia). Since I don't watch TV, I was unaware till this moment of "Keeping Up With The Kardashians."

Here is more at Kim Kardashian's blog. Here are better photos of this photo opportunity.

Vegas Hiatus

Yes. It is time.

A brief blogging break, so I can travel to Las Vegas tonight and attend the bar mitzvah of Daniel Gershin.

And no, I will not do the "Bottle Dance" at the bar mitzvah, because it will just cause trouble with Daniel's relatives.

I hope to blog intermittently, but I will return on Tuesday of next week.

Atheist Bus Campaign

Send us money, not your prayers.

Blubber Lover

The loudest-sounding thing in the Arctic.

The Bottle Dance At Phoebe Hearst

As part of a section regarding traditions, George Morales, Lindsay Carpenter, and myself did the "Fiddler On The Roof" Bottle Dance at Phoebe Hearst Elementary School, in front of George's son Chris' second grade class (taught by Mr. Yee).

We discussed with the class what traditions they follow at home. Most students decribed Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's traditions, but one girl described a summertime camping tradition, whereby she gets to eat large amounts of cotton candy. This tradition, I thought, would be best followed in moderation.

The linoleum dancing surface was actually smoother than the stage, and easier to deal with.

A good time for everyone!

In the parking lot, I struck up a conversation with a fellow who turned out to be the cousin of Amanda Yount (who played Tzeitel in DMTC's most-recent production of "Fiddler") and also met Amanda's aunt. It's a small world after all!

The Scariest Man In Davis

Jason Hammond, who frequently does theater at the Woodland Opera House and DMTC, heard that they also do theater at the UC Davis campus, and he went ballistic!

Here is marvelous video footage from KCRA TV-3.

God forbid that they actually do musicals at UC Davis, or Jason *SMASH* Hammond might really get mad! FIRE! BAD!

Or maybe it was this tidbit from UCD researchers:

From partisans at a political rally to fans at a football game, groups that engage in pompous displays of collective pride may be trying to mask insecurity and a low social status, suggests new research led by University of California, Davis, psychologists.

Were they talking about WOH or DMTC? Maybe that's what set him off!

And just who is this "Maria"?

But whatever it was, it was just a drill! It was just a drill!

Under that actor's tough exterior shell, Jason is a sensitive soul. Just don't make him mad! (And please don't tell him about them doing musicals at UC Davis!)

Here's the Davis Enterprise article:

This one's only a drill

Lauren Keene
Enterprise staff writer
Published: October 23, 2008

The call from Vallejo police came at about 8 a.m. A man there had just beaten his mother-in-law, and was on his way to UC Davis to confront his estranged wife.

He was armed with a gun, and due on campus in 10 minutes or less.

Campus police promptly alerted the Cowell Student Health Center, the wife's workplace, where employees put into action a formal lockdown procedure that would protect the hospital's patients and staff until officers could arrive on scene.

Fortunately, the scenario that played itself out on the UCD campus Wednesday morning was not an actual threat. It was a training exercise focused on securing an older or historic building that lacks electronic access, such as card-key entries, automatic locks and sophisticated alarms.

The exercise arose from the UCD Police Department's "active shooter" training program, which Lt. Matt Carmichael created last year following the mass shooting at Virginia Tech that killed 32 people.

Now taught at colleges, school districts and police agencies across the country, the program teaches strategies for surviving a shooting incident in a school, workplace or other public setting.

Michelle Famula, director of the Cowell Student Health Center, said the training prompted some of her employees to question how they could make their 56-year-old building safer in the event of an external threat.

Working with police, those employees developed a draft policy and tracked down the low-cost equipment — such as walkie-talkies — that were needed to carry it out.

Highlights of the plan include a hierarchical incident-command structure, the strategic location of equipment to lock doors, and an emphasis on communication among the hospital's 120 employees.

"It's an impressive plan," said Carmichael, who added that a lack of communication can be one of the biggest failures in an emergency situation.

"That causes panic, and that causes people to react with not the best judgment," he said.

Organizers of Wednesday's training exercise opted for a domestic violence scenario because "this is, unfortunately, a common call," Carmichael said. "We know the leading cause of death for women in the workplace is homicide."

Administrators from the Yolo County and Vacaville school districts, as well as California State University, Dominguez Hills, and Santa Clara's Mission College were on campus to observe the drill.

Famula, the Cowell Student Health Center director, called the exercise a success.

"I think it went very well," she said. "It was a real opportunity to assure our staff that we can do this, if we keep our heads cool."

— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8048. Comment on this story at www.davisenterprise.com

Copyright, 2008, The Davis Enterprise. All Rights Reserved.

McCain Muzzles The Muslim



No good deed goes unpunished:

CNN host Rick Sanchez said he was "mystified" by a last minute decision by the McCain campaign to pull a Muslim grassroots organizer from appearing on his show.

The aide, Daniel Zubairi, had been scheduled to appear on Sanchez's mid-day program after he was caught on video talking down an anti-Muslim protester outside a McCain rally in Woodbridge, Virginia. But, even after telling the network that an interview was "good to go," the McCain shop pulled Zubairi at the last minute, leaving Sanchez in limbo on live TV.

Weather, From The Onion

Ticket Blunder

Through an Internet blunder, I have accidentally purchased two tickets for Kylie Minogue's concert in Auckland, New Zealand on December 9th. I'm thinking of giving the ticket away to a charity for distressed Southern Electro Fans, or the like, but if you know anyone else who will also be there then, and who likes Kylie Minogue, let me know.

[UPDATE: I'll just get a refund - too complicated!]

So Who Does Alan Greenspan Blame?

For months, Wall Street has been blaming Alan Greenspan for the financial crisis. Alan Greenspan returns the favor, and blames Wall Street:

The truth is, Alan Greenspan made a very important point in his initial testimony that bears repeating. The blame for the credit crisis belongs to Wall Street.

The evidence strongly suggests that without the excess demand from securitizers, subprime mortgage originizations, undeniably the original source of the crisis, would have been far smaller and defaults accordingly far fewer. But subprime mortgages pooled and sold as securities became subject to explosive demand from investors around the world.

...That's right. Alan Greenspan went before Congress and did not, at least in his initial statement, blame Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or the Community Reinvestment Act or stupid homeowners or fraudulent lenders for the subprime meltdown and the ensuing credit crisis. He blamed the demand for risk from both the banks who would repackage the dodgy loans as exotic securities and the investors whose taste for these hotcakes could not be satisfied.

The private sector created the incentive to make bad loans. The private sector, despite its vaunted reliance on a "vast risk management and pricing system [that] has evolved combining the best insights of mathematicians and finance experts supported by major advances in computer and communications technology," failed to properly judge the risk inherent in those securities. The private sector, voracious for high-yielding risk, and unmindful of history, steered the global economy right off the tracks.

Alan Greenspan said it. It must be true.

Predicting Exercise Program Success

So, the main factors pointing towards exercise success are:

self-efficacy (the belief that one can perform in a specific way to succeed or meet goals),

plus:

Having access to home exercise equipment was a big predictor of starting an exercise program.

Now, I can see self-efficacy as an important motivating factor - I feel good when I (more or less) get the aerobics routine. It's important to have reasonable, achievable goals.

But I also see exercise partly as a social activity. If I felt I could do serious aerobics at home, I wouldn't do it at all - better to relax and watch something other than Denise Austin on TV. Like theater, I do aerobics specifically because I can't do it at home.

The money I spend on aerobics is probably the best-used money I spend on anything, including things like food, electricity and water. My goals are achievable and in sharp focus. And I know that, by hopping around in the company of beautiful women, if I work hard enough, I too can become a beautiful woman.

Johnny Cash - I Am The Nation

Amazing Migration

Can't even begin to fathom the focus and energy expenditure required:

A wading bird has spent more than nine continuous days in the air to cross the Pacific, without ceasing to flap. Bar-tailed godwits fly from Alaska to Australia and southern hemisphere islands each year to breed and this has now been shown to be without stopping. Nine of the birds, Limosa lapponica baueri, were fitted with electronic tags before flying between 4,355 miles (7,009 km) and 7,258 miles, depending on the route. They took from six to nine days. The bird that flew for nine days covered 6,230 miles to reach the Solomon Islands. The study, reported in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, was carried out by an international team of scientists. “This far surpassed previous maximum flight-range estimates for birds with flapping flight,” they said.

I'm Going To Buy Everyone I Know One Of These

They are just the coolest toy ever!