Cuppacafe

So, a couple of months back, my Father-in-Law, Max, gave me this very funny little book entitled Yiddish with George & Laura. The book is a primer in the Yiddish language, as told through a visit with the still President Bush, his wife, Laura, and the Bush clan.

For the uninitiated, Yiddish — according to Wikipedia — (י’דיש yidish or א’ד’ש idish, literally “Jewish”) is a non-territorial High German language, spoken throughout the world but, unlike other such languages, is written with the Hebrew alphabet. It isn’t as prevelant as it was a generation ago, but it is experiencing something of a comeback.

Anyway, the book is rather cute, and tells a story about George and Laura utilizing Yiddish words liberally sprinkled throughout the tale. There is also a glossary of terms at the back of the book so that you can flip back and forth from the story to the glossary so that you can understand what is going on in the story.

The authors of the book, Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman previously wrote a similar book Yiddish with Dick and Jane. To be sure, you don’t have to be Jewish (or have Jewish In-Laws or friends) to appreciate the humor in these books, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

To get something of a feel for how the book reads, check out the following video (sound required).

that is told in the same fashion. I never saw that book, but if it is even half as funny as this one, you should get both.

The Perfessor

So, I was watching the Tee Vee the other night and, well, “When I'm watchin’ my TV,
And that man comes on to tell me,
How broke I can be,
But he can't be a man ‘cause he doesn’t drink,
The same kinda beer as me.
I can't get no, oh no no no.
Hey hey hey, that’s what I say...”

“I can't get no, satisfaction.
I can’t get no, girl reaction.
‘Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try,
I can’t get no, I can’t get no...”

With apologies and stuff to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger.

Ghod, I so totally love the Intertubes!

The Perfessor

Come this August, filmmaker Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street, Nixon, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK and others), will release his latest outing, a little film that is guaranteed to toss something of a money wrench into the electoral process. The film’s title?

W.

Well, former LA prosecutor and prolific author Vincent Bugliosi seems to think so, and has written a very compelling case for this bold action in his book “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, which lays out a legal case for holding President Bush criminally responsible for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq.

Bugliosi as a prosecutor in Los Angeles won 21 convictions in 21 trials, including that of Charles Manson. His recent book was recently discussed in the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog. In a video on his site, Bugliosi explains why he thinks that the President is criminally negligent and should be prosecuted for these crimes. USA Today, also wrote about Bugliosi’s book.

While I haven’t read the book, I’m seriously thinking that I’m going to have to pick up a copy and check it out; especially after yesterday and I had the chance to visit the Bush Legacy tour bus that stopped by my home town the other day. After seeing what the still President Bush is leaving to us after his eight years in the White House, I have to say that we are surely in sad shape as a country.

According to info on the site:

Today, George W. Bush has the approval of only roughly one in three Americans according to most polls with two out of three disapproving of his performance as President. Across the board, Americans reject everything from Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq and fighting terrorism to his handling of the economy, education, the environment and health care.

I gotta say, I don’t feel safer, I don’t feel better off, and I’m not at all happy with my government these days. Say what you will about President Clinton, I was working all through his administration, gas was cheaper, and the economy was much better off then it is now.

The Perfessor