JDub Records

You know, I’ve taken a lot of crap from the Kosher police in my lifetime: marshmallows, select Dunkin’ Donuts locations, fancy cheese, and while I was growing up, Oreos!  All verboten by the munchy-hatin’ rabbis that make the Kosher rules.  But now they are going after my beloved lox, and I am putting my foot down.

Gothamist reports that though the OU denies it, ultra-Orthodox group Chevra Mehadrin is revoking the hechsher (stamp of approval) of all lox, due to a parasite that sometimes infests wild salmon.  Personally, I’m willing to risk a few worms here and there if it means chowing down on that perfect bagel on a Sunday morning!

Sure, I might be falling prey to the sensationalist nature of internet news, but I can’t help starting a call to arms when a Jewish delicacy is threatened: save the lox!

Just when you thought TSA couldn’t get anymore brilliant, they’ve admitted to sanctioning an emergency landing of a Chautauqua Airlines flight headed to Louisville from LaGuardia for somewhat dubious reasons: before the plane could reach it’s destination, a teenager wrapping Tefillin was mistaken for having “wires strapped to his head and fingers”, and was thus deemed a “disruptive passenger” by the flight crew, who then contacted the TSA and were instructed to divert the plane to Philadelphia.

What’s next?  Dreidels of mass destruction?

On the blog Gothamist today, the blog takes issue with a Sukkah that has been built in Bryant Park by Chabad in celebration of the holiday.  In the post the writer comments: “isn’t the structure taking away precious park space for religious purposes, and violating the constitutional separation of Church and State?”

Is a Sukkah in the park really that big a deal?  I am all for separation of church and state, I think it is one of the most important tenants of our US government, but don’t we allow all other religions to also publicly celebrate their holidays?  What about the Christmas tree every december in almost every public place?  Is a post like this Journalism or sensationalism?

Gothamist and Time Out NY both have great slideshows of photos from yesterday’s Make Music New York. Celebrating a third year, MMNY is an all-day festival that brings live music out from the confines of traditional venues and into the public sphere. The day boasts hundreds of musicians, of varying genres and types, playing in all five boroughs. More along the lines of theory that applies to contemporary visual art, MMNY plays on the intersection of music and shared space. I may be putting words in the mouth of MMNY’s organizers, but I am nearly certain that the events, besides brightening up the city landscape, are a statement on the way that live performance is radically altered by audiences that haven’t bought tickets; instead, they are confronted with music along routes they frequent in their everyday life. The change demands listeners become active participants in the music, or at least experience music in a new and dynamic way. Likewise, the process of playing and creating music is changed for the musician, as there is no divide by stage or studio.

Plenty of bold players braved the horrible weather to participate in this year’s MMNY. Girls in Trouble’s Alicia Jo Rabins was part of X Violins and the Women Who Love Them yesterday, of which there is a photo above. Personally, I stumbled upon lots of little events going on throughout the day, and spent a good part of my evening at Le Poisson Rouge’s MMNY afterparty. Did you see any great music yesterday? Tell us about it!