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!

Pole Dancer Cracks Glass Ceiling

Irresistible headline from the Daily Rotten:

A United States man is suing a Florida strip club after he says a performer's shoe flew off during a pole dance, shattering the mirrored ceiling and causing glass, as well as the shoe, to hit him.

The Booby Trap breached "its duty when its employee failed to perform her routine in (a) reasonably safe manner,'' according to the Broward Circuit Court lawsuit filed by Charles Privette, 35. He is seeking at least $15,000 in damages.

Privette's attorney, Omar Demetriou, said his client suffered a small laceration to his eyebrow, headaches and nose bleeds as a result of the Jan. 14 pole dance.

Booby Trap general manager George Gettinger acknowledged paramedics were called. ``A quote from the paramedics was, 'I can't believe you even called us for this,' '' Gettinger said.

John McCain, Jihadist's Tool

The latest from friends of Al Qaeda:

Al-Qaida supporters suggested in a Web site message this week they would welcome a pre-election terror attack on the U.S. as a way to usher in a McCain presidency.

The message, posted Monday on the password-protected al-Hesbah Web site, said if al-Qaida wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, "impetuous" Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This requires presence of an impetuous American leader such as McCain, who pledged to continue the war till the last American soldier," the message said. "Then, al-Qaida will have to support McCain in the coming elections so that he continues the failing march of his predecessor, Bush."

The Best Man

The Russians Are Coming!

Intrepid explorer Jim McElroy visits the East Coast:

I just returned from a fly/drive trip to the East Coast, where I drove from Bay Ridge Brooklyn to Ithaca New York, across Northern NJ and a corner of PA into Central Upstate NY. I thought that the attached photo is of interest. It is located just off Exit 4 on I-280 in Northern NJ. The date was Oct 20.

One would think this station was a outlying discounter, but I saw at least three of them on the trip, all with the same prices. Other stations in the area were displaying prices from $3.339 to $3.399, except for the Chevron station just across the street which showed $2.939. I'd never heard of this company before so I Googled it and found their web page, which was very interesting. It is a Russian Oil Company, which as far as I was able to determine only had refineries in Russia and a few Eastern European Countries. They refine the gas in Russia, ship it to the US by tanker, probably landing it in the New Jersey Ports. They seem to be setting up a chain of retail stations, undercutting the US oil companies by about 50 cents per gallon. There are so many questions about how this happened, or is happening, that it is worthy of further investigation.

In other related topics, the road systems in the East are in way better shape than California roads, especially the smaller state and county road systems. This is in spite of the much more severe weather conditions. They actually maintain the roads. The flip side of this is that you encounter a lot more construction delays, especially in fall before the first freeze. Traffic load is about the same.

The weekend before this trip was spent driving from San Jose to San Diego and back via Santa Barbara and I was amazed at the reduction in traffic relative to a year ago. On a Friday afternoon about 6PM we traveled the speed limit between US101 and I-5 over Pacheco Pass. Most of that was due to the new overpass at 152/156 but even so traffic was very light. The traffic along I-5 south was representative of a mid-week day, not a fall weekend. Also, the endless stream of trucks were all traveling at 60 mph or slightly lower, and few cars were going over the 70mph speed limit. It has finally sunk in that slower travel costs less. The reduction in travel and the slower speeds are sufficient explanation for the reduction in fuel consumption. I am however, still predicting a noticeable bump in prices shortly after Nov 4, maybe as much as 10 percent. We'll see.