La Luta Continuaa sugary selection from SimonFirst things first: For you L.A. peeps, VHJ and genius comic Jill Kushner will perform Tues. night at a strike support show with several other funny persons. If you've got five bucks — and I know you just spent at least that much on a venti half-caf no-foam soy macchiato — head on down to show strike support at the strike support show.
Details can be found on this flyer, which is so classic-labor in its spartan layout that it gives me a rush of righteously indignant nostalgia:
OK, it's Small Jewy World time. We got a super-sweet note from Elaine, one of the two Portland, Ore., Jewesses behind the extremely funny and acerbic
GirlGoneChild blog, which suggests what
Sex and the City would be like if it were about real chicks in a real city, rather than newspaper columnists who are somehow able to afford sprawling Manhattan digs and stuff their regal walk-in closets with Jimmy Choos (I'm keeping up the "writers don't get paid nearly as much as some people think" theme as best I can, in case you hadn't noticed).
Anyhooze, Elaine writes in and says, we're two of the 12 Jews in Portland, and I'm all, uh, there are a lot more than you think — in fact, Jules and I just had a lovely visit from our Portland-based pal Joanna Miller, a ravishing Semitic goddess (and inspired
candy blogger). And Elaine's like, nope, I've known J-Dog since we were micro-'brews at Camp B'nai Brith together. She's one of the 12.
So I stand corrected. All I know is, I have even more reasons to revisit the town where I spent my undergraduate years becoming lysergically attuned to Pink Floyd and learning my one true skill: dancing to the B-52's without spilling my beer.
Oh, that Joanna Miller. In addition to being the only person I've met who can converse as volubly as Julia and her littlest sister (also Joanna) about the relative merits of "real" vs. "fake" buttercream frosting (the true adept will prefer the latter) or the best way to eat candy corn (hint: keep those incisors sharp), she also engaged us in an endlessly enjoyable sitcom-trivia game. Where did
Full House take place? Huh, you don't say.
And who dreamed up those countless sitcom scenarios? That's right, the writers. And what do they want? A little cheddar from the new-media taco stand, bub. The struggle continues.
7 comments:
First of all, may I just say what a lovely candy corn portrait that is? Is it the caramel candy corn, or Indian corn? Oh, sorry,I mean "Native American" corn. Anyway, it's gorgeous and making me salivate onto my keyboard.
Secondly, Elaine is totally exagerating, perpetuating the stereotype of Portland being Jew-less. This is simply false; there are about 10 (TEN!)shuls in town. But I must admit it would be really nice to live someplace where, EVERY FUCKING YEAR I don't have to explain to the SAME FUCKING friends that Jews do not, in fact, celebrate Christmas. And that, while it may indeed have become a secular holiday, it is most certainly not a JEWISH holiday. And, mercifully,that Jews don't believe we will go to hell for referring to our friends as "Fucking."
Speaking of Jews in U.S. Cities...
Thirdly, in which city did Square Pegs take place? (I don't actually know the answer to this.)
Bonus question: What band played at Muffy Tepperman's (Jami Gertz) bat mitzvah? (I do know the answer to this.)
Whoohoo, post about my town. Of which I love very very very much.
And Very Hot Jews.
Of which I must admit to being one.
I'm getting all verklempt.
pdx isn't Jew-less - we're all just hiding out in S.E., wearing birkenstocks, crunching on granola, and helping the schoolkids make paper-art menorahs.
OK maybe not.
But I am in an all Jewish dodgeball league, on a certain footwear company team. Jew Dodgeball! Think of the Yiddish insults...
So there are a few of us here in town.
Simon, you should totally visit! Fujin, has sweet and sour eggplant to die for; awesome Chinese food, how could you resist?
And Joanna, I am totally gonna dig out my old Dynamite magazines to get that Square Peg trivia. I heart me some 80's Jami Gertz.
Solarbabies forever!
I neglected to mention that my lifelong pal Dan, Bay Area-based author/barkeep of the superlative blog The Chucklehut (visit chucklehut.org, why dontcha), will be visiting PDX for Thanksgiving, making P-Town a veritable capitol of Blogosity. And with him and J-Mil potentially in the same kitchen at the same time, I have no doubt there will be a mad grip of sugary comestibles.
I may be exaggerating a bit on the numbers but at times, it feels like there are only 12 of us.
Where else would I get asked on a regular basis, "Do Jews celebrate Thanksgiving?"
It may sound evil, but in response to little old ladies at Target asking my daughter what Santa is going to bring her this year, I derive great pleasure in responding: "Santa does not come to our house. We're Jews."
Was Square Pegs in Chicago, Joanna?
Joanna, we've gotta know...
My guess is somewhere near, but outside of L.A.
Because they had Steve Sax on for an episode on his way to 'the city'.
Like I said, I don't know the answer to the question of where Square Pegs took place, but I'm guessing it's Southern California because I remember one episode in which the valley girl (played by Tracy Nelson,daughter of Ricky, sister of Gunnar and Matthew) was asked by her drama teacher to think of a sad moment from her life from which to draw, in order to affect authentic sadness in her acting scene. She then told of the time that she went to the beach and then came back to the car and found that all of her makeup had melted onto the seat.
Valley girl + hot beach = Southern California (probably).
The band that played at Muffy's bat mitzvah was Devo. It was, needless to say, awesome.
Next question:
James at 15, starring Lance Kerwin, took place in which city?
What band regularly played at the soda shop/hangout after school?
Aha! I know this one (partially.)
Our dear protagonist continued the long standing Boston-Oregon connection by moving from Oregon to Boston in the first episode.
On a side note, did you know that Portland Oregon almost was Boston Oregon; it is so named because of a coin toss. A coupla guys flipped a coin to decide whether our fair city should be called 'Boston' or 'Portland'.
Not being able to come up with anything more original, or leave it as the indigenous tribe name apparently. So we are named after a small town in Maine, and not the home of Red Sox nation.
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Additionally I just saw this in the jewishjournal:
Just itching for a good Chanukah tale? Check out "Chanukah Stories" on KCET on Sunday, Dec. 2, 8 a.m. Actors Jami Gertz and Bob Saget narrate "The Tie Man's Miracle" and "Moishe's Miracle."
How can you go wrong with Jami's memorative Muffy voice and Bob Saget (whom has lost the Full House nostalgia for me with his turn in 'The Aristocrats'. Did you hear that sick sick twisted man?! omg.)
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