Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Beware of devilish Krampus tonight!

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You surely recognize good St. Nicholas.
But do you recognize his opposite, the evil devil Krampus?
Every child in Austria knows about this demon, but I first learned of him only a few weeks ago when my hosts in Vienna gave me these chocolate figures and told me to eat Krampus -- the one with horns, chains, and claws -- only on December 6.
Dec. 6 is St. Nicholas Day but the night before is Krampusnacht, which looks to me to be a scary night to be out on the streets of Austria and some of the surrounding countries.
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I can't begin to explain it well, having never experienced it, so I ask you to read some of these really interesting articles (with great photos!).
BTW, apparently this year there is a spurt of interest in all this in America too!

An explanation from the Archdiocese of Vienna, in German:  Der Krampus hat mit dem Hl. Nikolaus eigentlich nichts zu tun

In German:   Von altem Brauchtum bis Alpenerotik


From National Geographic:
 Krampus the Christmas Devil Is Coming to More Towns. So Where's He From?

Another from National Geographic:   How Krampus, the Christmas ‘Devil,’ Became Cool

Official trailer for the new American horror-comedy movie "Krampus"
("Legendary Pictures’ Krampus, a darkly festive tale of a yuletide ghoul, reveals an irreverently twisted side to the holiday.
When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers.
All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive")

Merisi Vienna's blog post: Saint Nicholas and Krampus: Were you naughty or nice?

Bolzano Daily Photo, South Tyrol / Italy offers a short video (narrated in Ladin language!) of the actual festivities on Krampusnacht in the village of Urtijëi / St. Ulrich / Ortise.
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Good luck. Be good.  Watch out tonight!
And tomorrow, a happy St. Nicholas Day! 
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Friday, September 12, 2014

Fiddler on the Roof stamps

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Brand new postage stamps celebrating 50 years since Fiddler on the Roof opened onstage!
How can it be half a century already?
We lived in Chicago then and my mother took me to the theater to see a live musical for the first time.

 Photos of the drawings are by Pini Hemou, Israel Philatelic Federation website

The three stamps in this set are based on drawings by Chaim Topol, one of the first actors to portray Tevye in Hebrew.



Everything you ever wanted to know about Tevye the Milkman is at Wikipedia.

See also Israeli blogger Jacob Richman who faithfully and beautifully updates us as new Israeli stamps appear.
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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Lawrence, Lawrence!

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Peter O'Toole, dead??
How can this be?!
I just assumed my hero would never leave us--my Lawrence, my General Silva, my Don Quixote . . .
He was the only movie star I ever cared about; he was very special; he was inspiring.

Go in peace, dear Peter O'Toole.
Thanks for all those moving moments on the screen that are often replayed in my heart. 
Your memory is truly a blessing.
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Sunday, December 2, 2012

Of Gods and Men

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Verses 6-7 of Psalm 82 are shown at the beginning of the film Of Gods and Men.
The movie's title (in the original French,  Des hommes et des dieux) also comes from this puzzling psalm of Asaph.
The movie is a must-see!


 1. A psalm. Of Asaph.

God stands in the divine assembly; among the gods He issues judgment.
 
2. “How long will you judge perversely, and to the evildoers show favor?   Selah.
3. Judge the weak and the orphan; the lowly and the poor, vindicate.
4. Deliver the weak and the needy; from the hand of the evildoers, save them.
 
5. They know not and grasp not; in darkness they go about; they totter, all the foundations of the earth.
6. I had set you as gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
7. but you shall die as a human does, like one of the princes, you shall fall.”

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You have Your heritage among all the nations.



Translation of Psalm 82 is  by Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal.  
See his interesting notes for the two very different ways of interpreting this psalm. 
He points out that 
"For over a millennium, until the advent of Christianity, the Israelite faith alone carried the banner of monotheism. As such, it had to confront, uniquely, for itself and for its adherents, apparent evidence of conflicting wills functioning in the universe.

A partial response is reflected in the assumed existence of semi-divine beings, somewhere between God and humanity, who sometimes function as a heavenly court, as it were. . . . "
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This post goes to PsalmChallenge at Daily Athens Photo, with thanks to Robert Geiss for keeping us going.
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Friday, September 2, 2011

Thar she blows!

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Captain Ahab grasps his harpoon, ready for Moby-Dick, the white whale.
I grasp my camera, in preparation for Weekend Reflections.
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And don't you love how the DVD acts as a diffraction grating for light?!
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I've seen more movies in the last month than I have in the last few years.
Why?
On the really unbearable hot days in July I sought a quiet, comfortable air-conditioned place, and I discovered the American Center in Jerusalem.
It's a section of the Office of Public Affairs of the American Embassy (which, like all embassies, are in Tel Aviv).
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They have a cozy corner to read journals, computers with WiFi to use, and lots of books to borrow.
AND you can take two DVD movies for one week. FREE.
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The Gregory Peck version of Moby-Dick came out in 1956.
How much did I understand of it then, seeing it as a child?
But I vividly remembered certain scenes and lines from seeing it half a century ago.
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Hats off to my daughter who is making time to actually read the big long book.
Either way, Herman Melville's classic is a powerful story.
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Sunday, August 21, 2011

"How should we approach Jerusalem . . ."

. Here is just the thing if you, like me, are in need of some uplifting of spirit right now. . Click here, click full screen, and treat yourself to 7 minutes of inspiring aerial video of Jerusalem and Israel. It is a foretaste of the movie JERUSALEM, which will be released worldwide to IMAX® and Giant Screen cinemas in 2013. At the same website of the producers, Arcane/Cosmic Picture, you can download their newsletter in PDF and see stunning photos and great information. . Enjoy! . UPDATE: Lots more details about the movie have just been published in the Jerusalem Post. .

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Jerusalem Cinematheque

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Welcome to Jerusalem's wonderful Cinematheque.

While you wait outside one of the screening halls for your film to begin, have a seat on the plush chairs all in a row.

Or sip a coffee in the corridor.

Each table has a different scene from a famous old movie.

Or stand outside on the patio by the row of flags and watch the Old City wall turn golden in the setting sun light
From Mt. Zion you can see just how big the red tile roofed Cinematheque is.
The green is the Valley of Hinnom.
Behind, to the west, is new Jerusalem.
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See a historic photo of the building at the website, long before the Cinematheque renovated and moved in in 1981.
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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Segways on the bridge

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Summer is for touring Jerusalem on Segways.
These three young people on the bridge were admiring the view to the east just before sunset.
The mountains of Moab in the Kingdom of Jordan, across the Dead Sea, were just visible in the haze.
Mount Zion is on the left in this photo.
Below is Gehinnom, the valley (guy) of Hinnom .

Here is their bridge as seen from the Jerusalem Cinematheque.

I posted here about the Bnai Brith Bridge and its famous handprints in the concrete.
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This post joins others at Robin's Summer Stock Sunday and Louis' Sunday Bridges.
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UPDATE: In response to comments I add some more information:
How does a Segway work?
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Mostly you only see these silent electric vehicles being ridden along the Armon HaNatsiv Promenade. A 1.5 hour guided tour costs $55. See their route on this map.
Me? I'd rather walk.
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Sunday, September 28, 2008

Thank you Paul Newman

Shalom Paul Newman. Rest in peace. Your character Ari Ben Canaan will live on.
The 1960 "Exodus," along with the epic "Lawrence of Arabia," were movies that fueled the fire in my idealistic teenage heart and pushed me to sail to Israel in 1968, with a one-way ticket, disembarking in Haifa.
For the dramatic story of the actual Haganah Ship Exodus 1947 see either Wikipedia (from which the above photo is borrowed) or a Zionist telling of the story here. A great old photo of the Exodus taken from the British ship that intercepted her is midway on the page of a Glasgow website.
Author Ruth Gruber called the Exodus "the ship that launched a nation."