How cool does the Midwives Coexistence Project sound? Funded by Circle of Health International, a community-based NGO that works with grassroots women’s health organizations around the world, the midwives work in both Israel and the West Bank. They share resources and best practices, work on strategies for lobbying the Israeli Ministry of Health to allow Palestinian midwives to practice within Israel and help women — including a growing refugee population from Eritrea and Sudan seeking sanctuary in Israel — have safe and un-scary births. In this video, Palestinian and Israeli Jewish midwives work in Mithaloon, the only birthing center in the West Bank. (Thanks to Israel 21C for the tip.)
My uncle, Michael Krepon, tells quite a tale over at Arms Control Wonk. Uncle Michael is a scholar, think-tanker and international-peace-fighter-for. And the video, despite musical accompaniment that is cheesily dramatic (and unnecessary — the content does the job just fine), terrified me. It’s about American nuclear testing in the Aleutian islands, and I promise this is no boring history lesson. [click to continue…]
I love when the Tablet magazine folk let me indulge my obsessions. I had a particularly awesome time writing this week’s column, about the 1978 Israeli Eurovision Song Contest winner, A-Ba-Ni-Bi. Does ANYONE remember the dance? Come on, Jews!
Here it is as performed by a vast clutch of Toronto school children in 2009 (same choreography as Camp Ramah in 1981):
And here it is enjoying its new life as an extensively re-recorded, re-choreographed multicultural sensation. This time it’s in Mandarin, sung by a Taiwanese singer, with the addition of surf guitar.
As I say in the piece, it’s been performed a gazillion languages (seriously, go click on all the links in that Tablet piece — I’m quite proud of them). My fave covers are the Spanish trance version and the version for marching band.
I had just laughed merrily — OH HO HO HO HO HO, thusly — at A Little Pregnant’s post about Crocs™. In general, Crocs™ are an easy punchline. Any hacky would-be jokester with a modicum of fashion sense can do a little spew about Crocs™ and we will all nod sagely. They are hideous. They are a symbol of having given up; they are adult infantilism in action. WE KNOW. But A Little Pregnant made me feel unfamiliar new laughy feelings about Crocs™, and this is an achievement in our jaded age. [click to continue…]
Cynthia Rowley is creating a designer diaper for Procter & Gamble’s Pampers. Quoth the press release: “The diaper collection, which will be available in pastel designs including madras, stripes and printed ruffles suited specifically to babies and toddlers, delivers the perfect blend of utility and aesthetics.” [Translation: Utility = holds poop. Aesthetics = status-anxiety source for label-whore parents.] Rowley adds, “It’s the first piece of clothing your baby will ever wear, and it should be special.” Note special designer label avec discreet Pampers logo. Klassy.
Next press release: Jeff Koons will introduce a paint-by-numbers kit for use with your baby’s excretions.
I found this essay by designer Jessica Helfand, “Why is this font different from all other fonts?” fascinating. Designer Len Small of Tablet called the phenomenon of “Jew-ish” typefaces “the vague ghetto-izing of Latin letters to Hebrew handles; the pouring of shmaltz onto font.”
I just finished next week’s Tablet column (as usual, it’ll be published Monday), which deals with American Jewish camps and their love of Israeli folkdance. I think there’s a parallel to the font thing here. Seeing all these very young Jews waving their arms in the air, snapping, doing the “mayim step” — it’s like this fetishization of an Israel that doesn’t exist. Like the kova tembel, the bucket hat associated with the quintessential Israeli out in the fields, it’s a faux personification of Israel clung to by Jews in the diaspora who want to connect with a romanticized idea of Israel rather than the real thing. It’s well-intentioned but vaguely condescending…and utterly unreal. Just like the fonts Sholom, Hebrewish, and (shudder) Circumcision.
Kids going to overnight camp today don’t have trunks. Nowadays you gotta use a giant duffle.
My Tablet magazine column this week is about about how Josie’s sleepaway camp experience in 2010 is different from my own summers in the late ’70s and early ’80s. In a nice change of pace, I’m LOVING the comments, almost all from other former campers: Packing Sun-In! Seabreeze! Wet n Wild blue eyeliner! Baby oil for tanning! Good times.
(Of course, it wouldn’t be Tablet if someone weren’t hating on me — someone posted on Tablet’s Facebook page about how my values are disgusting because I let my kid pack an iPod and Silly Bandz. She allowed that MAYBE it was OK to pack Josie’s inhaler. Gee, thanks.)
My fave then vs. now in the piece: my generation’s rubber “goomi” bracelets vs Josie’s generation’s Silly Bandz…as modeled by Madonna and Maxine. I do not know how to put these closer together, but:
In further Anne Frank fanfic news, Roger Sutton, editor of the Horn Book (a schmancy journal of children’s literature) officially confirms that Anne and Peter do not have sex in Annexed, the forthcoming YA novel by Sharon Dogar based on The Diary of Anne Frank as retold from Peter’s point of view. (Hoo boy, that SENTENCE deserves to be annexed, AMIRITE??) [click to continue…]
I was thoroughly blown away by this post by Tom Colicchio on Bravo’s Top Chef blog. In two pages he pretty much covers all the barriers to improving school lunch, and even touches on one of my hot-button issues: making sure we don’t demonize fat kids or their parents for their “poor choices,” but rather working to improve nutrition (and recess and gym, and I’d add safe play spaces) for ALL kids. [click to continue…]
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