Simcha Levenberg @ the HaHa Cafe 8/19/08

This is my rabbi, y'all. He's hilarious.

Blind In Paris (Mark Gonzales/Jason Lee/Danny Way)

I wonder why some of this footage never made it onto Video Days. NB Jason Lee's frontside airs and that kickflip 50-50. And, of course, his 360 flips. Mark Gonzales and Danny Way are also rad, but I'm too tired to go into it.

The Crown Heights Branch

Haven't been able to update as much as I'd like, but fortunately it's because my friend Roma hired me to do some part time data entry on his jewelry website.

Went to the Crown Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library today with Leah and Menachem. I needed to print out a bus ticket, but there was a two-hour wait for a computer. Some girl was playing a tetris-type game at one of the computer stations. Those flash games are real important. There was a magician there who was pretty funny, except he was kind of manhandling his rabbit. I went outside to make a phone call and ended up getting into a conversation with a kid named Jay, who was practicing his kickflips on his skateboard. I impressed him with my (in)ability to do a casper, and he showed me how to ollie better. Evidently, using your toes rather than the balls of your feet makes a big difference.

I Feel Like Less of a Criminal Now

Turns out that lady who gave me a hard time outside of Kol Tuv has a reputation for being difficult. I know a few people who've had trouble with her. She once told my friend's wife that she wasn't helping to bring the geulah because she didn't give her enough money. I forget if that was the first or the second time she yelled at my friend's wife, but the second time she gave this lady money, she yelled at her again. So she told the lady to get a job! When my friend was telling me this story he ended it with, "That's my girl!" I wasn't sure what to make of that until I actually had to deal with that woman making me feel like a criminal.

Shacharis at 1pm

Shacharis felt like it took forever today. It was only an hour or so, which is not bad considering we heard krias hatorah today, but lately I've become impatient with my davening. Davening has become like a race for me. I can't get it out fast enough. I have friends who really take their time and daven with kavana, but mine is more of a "knock it off" kind, like Rabbi Wircberg once described it. I just wanna get it out of the way. It's just a phase I'm going through, I think, because I'm still getting a geshmak out of learning chassidus. I'm not worried, more like frustrated, but not enough to force myself to slow down. We'll see what happens.

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah

This is the whole song. Not sure what's up with the video, but the song is hilarious. Listen and giggle.

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah!

I love 30 Rock.

This No-Music Bidness Is Killing Me

On my way back from Kol Tuv this evening, I stopped to give some change to a lady sitting outside on a milk crate. Shnorrers are commonplace in Crown Heights, and they let us fulfill the important mitzvah of tzedaka. Sometimes they bother me, though. I had a couple pennies in my hand. This woman did not want pennies; she said if I couldn't give her like a mentsh, not to give her at all. So I gave her a quarter in addition to the two pennies. So she yelled at me as I walked away. I told her that was all I had. So she threw a penny at me. I felt badly.

Some Recent Handywork

I've been trading text messages with a friend whom I've gotten hooked on TMBG's "James K Polk" song. Made this to send him a pix message.

Comics Crusader: Remembering Jackie Ormes

Comics related segment on NPR about the late Jackie Ormes. Check it out here.

Oh, the pain!

We're in the last nine days of a 30-day period right now during which it's prohibited to listen to music. Do you know how hard that is? These last nine days are especially stringent. I was pretty lax about it up until now, but I'm doing my best to refrain from prohibited activities during the Nine Days. It ends with Tisha B'Av, or the Ninth (Day) of (the Month of) Av, a fast day for the Yidden. I don't fast well.

The fast is not the main point of a fast day. Rather, one should focus on doing teshuva, a concept similar to repentance, though the actually word means return. I'm a fool, though, so I concentrate more on not eating and how miserable I am.

The Goonies

Shneur lent me his copy of the Goonies recently. Can I just say i haven't watched a movie that fun in a while? And the commentary was just as awesome; I couldn't believe they were able to get the whole cast back for that session.