Lev Raphael's Blog, page 49

Rebuilding The House of Mirth: A Blog for Edith Wharton's Birthday

Singing about marriage, two of Steven Sondheim's characters in A Little Night Music condemn it for inflicting so much pain: "Every day a little death....every day a little sting."



I felt a bit like like that in college, not because I was married, but because I was an English major. Time after time, I'd find a book I was reading and enjoying stung me because of an anti-Semitic portrait. There was Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby, a Jewish antiques dealer in The Golden Bowl, and many more, to...

Why Don't Jewish Lives Matter More?

The Charlie Hebdo massacres highlighted two different cultures to Americans. The first was already way too familiar: Islamic fundamentalism that drives disaffected young men and women to insane violence -- in this case, the massacre of cartoonists who they felt mocked their religion.



The second was something much more recondite: a French tradition of vulgar, obscene, juvenile satire that's completely unlike anything we know (or would likely be comfortable with) here in America. South Park isn'...

Why Don't Jewish Lives Matter?

The Charlie Hebdo massacres highlighted two different cultures to Americans. The first was already way too familiar: Islamic fundamentalism that drives disaffected young men and women to insane violence -- in this case, the massacre of cartoonists who they felt mocked their religion.



The second was something much more recondite: a French tradition of vulgar, obscene, juvenile satire that's completely unlike anything we know (or would likely be comfortable with) here in America. South Park isn'...

My Doctor Made Me Smile

I used to be able to relax in a doctor's waiting room. I'd bring a book and immerse myself.



Now, they all play music I don't enjoy and way too loud; or have CNN on; or worse, Sanjay Gupta telling me how to be healthier. After five minutes of his shtik I usually feel more miserable and worried that I might be sicker than I think.



So I bring my earbuds and play my music loud to drown it all out, and often don't hear the nurse who likely as not mispronounces my name. But last week the dermatologi...

Doctors Can Be People,Too

I used to be able to relax in a doctor's waiting room. I'd bring a book and immerse myself.



Now, they all play music I don't enjoy and way too loud; or have CNN on; or worse, Sanjay Gupta telling me how to be healthier. After five minutes of his shtik I usually feel more miserable and worried that I might be sicker than I think.



So I bring my earbuds and play my music loud to drown it all out, and often don't hear the nurse who likely as not mispronounces my name. But last week the dermatologi...

Doctors Are People,Too?

I used to be able to relax in a doctor's waiting room. I'd bring a book and immerse myself.



Now, they all play music I don't enjoy and way too loud; or have CNN on; or worse, Sanjay Gupta telling me how to be healthier. After five minutes of his shtik I usually feel more miserable and worried that I might be sicker than I think.



So I bring my earbuds and play my music loud to drown it all out, and often don't hear the nurse who likely as not mispronounces my name. But last week the dermatologi...

How to Win the Goodreads Reading Challenge

Melanie Jo Moore just wrote a funny blog about failing the 2014 Reading Challenge. She only read 13 books of 36. Sad, right? But life, you know, it kind of intervened.



Well, there's a secret to never failing the Goodreads Challenge that I can share with you: Don't take it.



The whole idea is flawed. Why should you set yourself up for failure as so many people end up doing? They think it'll make them better readers, people, dog owners, parents, citizens, whatever -- and they end up feeling misera...

How to Beat the Goodreads Reading Challenge

Melanie Jo Moore just wrote a funny blog about failing the 2014 Reading Challenge. She only read 13 books of 36. Sad, right? But life, you know, it kind of intervened.



Well, there's a secret to never failing the Goodreads Challenge that I can share with you: Don't take it.



The whole idea is flawed. Why should you set yourself up for failure as so many people end up doing? They think it'll make them better readers, people, dog owners, parents, citizens, whatever -- and they end up feeling misera...

Russell Crowe, The Creator, and Climate Change

Sometimes I avoid controversial movies until the brouhaha has died down, dried up and blown away like a tumbleweed in an old western.



I like to watch those movies with a fresh eye, but with Noah, it turns out the fuss last Spring was actually much more entertaining than the film.



I'm not sure how it was pitched to the money men, but it struck me as Close Encounters of the Third Kind meets Transformers meets Apocalypto meets The Lord of the Ring meets Braveheart. And man, wouldn't it have been...

Russell Crowe's "Noah" Proves That Mud is Thicker Than Water

Sometimes I avoid controversial movies until the brouhaha has died down, dried up and blown away like a tumbleweed in an old western.



I like to watch those movies with a fresh eye, but with Noah, it turns out the fuss last Spring was actually much more entertaining than the film.



I'm not sure how it was pitched to the money men, but it struck me as Close Encounters of the Third Kind meets Transformers meets Apocalypto meets The Lord of the Ring meets Braveheart. And man, wouldn't it have been...