Incident at a Church

A physician had agreed to speak to a new club in Ridgewood, Health Matters. His subject: prostate problems.

When he came to our meeting place, he was disappointed to find that we didn’t have a projector. We hadn’t been told he needed one. So the physician asked if we could photocopy his slides.

We meet at the First Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood – we rent space.

Church workers were helpful. Let let us print out one copy. But our organization had stopped paying to use the church’s copying machine.

We asked: Could we print out 6 x 10 or 20 copies, on the church’s own machine?

Too many, said the church’s minister.

So the physician had to give his talk without slides. To a group of men on the subject of prostate problems.

I should have offered to pay. I should have taken a $20 bill out of my wallet and offered it to someone.

But I’m surprised at the unfriendly behavior of the church’s minister,

Satyagraha: Finally, a negative review

Won't anyone dare criticize this opera?
Shown at movie theaters all over the world on Saturday.
Dumb idea, having it sung in Sanscrit. Composer said he wanted to emphasize the music. I wanted to know what the hell the singers were singing.
Music was occasionally--very occasionally--pleasant. Mostly repetitive. Boring. Especially at the end. A relief when the opera ended.
Static, too.
And quotes from old Indian literature were soporific.
A friend who attended the opera told me that he had slept through half of it. Together, I told him, we had seen one entire opera.
Act II was exceptional. Imitation of cruel laughter. Colorful clothing of men early in the 20th century. Puppets were imaginative and interesting. Some action at last.
Did I mention that the opera was very, very long? Could have easily been cut.
Audience loved it. Pretentious people.
Give me Verdi and Puccini. Or even Wagner.
In fact, rather than Satyagraha, I'd even see Lulu or Wozzeck again.

Will the future king or queen of England be Jewish?

12 Jun 2011 | 10 Sivan 5771

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A journalist objected to the following story, which I published on a blog--the journalist insisted that it cannot be true--but I prefaced it by saying that it came from the Internet--nobody was libeled and the statement seemed reasonable--

From the Internet:

      Sent by an Orthodox (Sephardic) rabbi in Israel:

      It is interesting to note the following in the family tree of Kate Middleton, wife of Prince William:

      Kate’s mother is Carol Middleton, daughter of Ronald Goldsmith and Dorothy Harrison (both Jews)

      The parents of Dorothy Harrison are Robert Harrison and Elizabeth Temple (both Jews), the latter a descendant of the Myers family (traditional English Jews in the 19th century)

      Bottom line: Princess Kate is a Jew on her matrilineal side, and as a consequence, the future king of England will be a Jew according to Jewish Law and tradition.

Midnight in Paris

Enjoyable film by Woody Allen--I feel good that young people today will have some exposure to Zelda and Scott, Hemingway, Picasso, and so forth--

I had an encounter with Dali--Ralph Ginzburg, publisher of Eros magazine, contracted with him to write something for Eros--I was to do the research--so I researched something about...anality--sent him some leading articles on the subject--he submitted an utterly incomprehensible article-- we ran it, darkened by some paintings--Dali was utterly mad--

Re Hemingway, I prevailed about his widow, Mary, to write for Fact magazine--as I recall, she belittled the friendship of AE Hotchner with Hemingway--Hotchner had written about Hemingway as if he had been a special friend--she was a good writer, needed no editing--

I had thought Edmund Wilson was in the film, but he wasn't--I once wrote to Wilson, saying that I had heard that he wrote for every new magazine--he sent back his usual card, declining--but wrote, You have been badly misinformed"--

Sir Thomas Beecham, Baronet

An archetypal character. A narcissist. Rich and arrogant and rude and shallow--but with genuine musical talent. Opposed to foreign conductors working in England -- and to homosexuals in general. He referred to Benjamin Britten, the noted English composer, as "homo, sweet homo." I saw Beecham on a TV program with the humorist Victor Borge. Borge made a funny remark. Beecham loudly told Borge he was not a serious musician. Borge was in shock for the remainder of the program.
    Lesson: You can be a gifted artist, or a gifted anything, and still be an ass. (Richard Wagner may be the perfect example.)