Dave Lefkowitz interviews University of Northern Colorado’s The Mirror newspaper editor, Benjamin Welch
Topics include: journalism, University of Northern Colorado.
Segment originally aired May 7, 2011 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Interview segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast: Full Episode
All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
Shalom, Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon, with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of May 1, 2011.
Mazel tov, mazel tov – it’s over. Finally, it’s over. The biggest merger since A&P took over Waldbaums in 1986. I’m talking, of course, of the wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, which, barring someone not forever holding their peace, happened Friday in England.
I have to say, I feel terrible. Not for the bride and groom; he’s rich, she’s hot – they’re set for life. No, I feel bad for the morning TV news shows. What will they talk about now that they have to send their cameras back across the Atlantic? How will they fill twenty minutes out of every half hour if they can’t stop English people on the street and say, “Hey, aren’t you excited?” If they’re not careful, these news programs are gonna have to resort to something drastic – like reporting news.
I know, I’m being a killjoy. But find me a Jew who isn’t!
More to the point, I do have mixed feelings about the overdose of media coverage for what is, at its core, a simple ceremony between a man and a woman. Or, if you’re in Massachusetts, a man and a man. Or if you’re in Rhode Island, a woman and a woman…which is my favorite. But turning this semi-sacred ritual into an international media circus rankles, mainly because so much pomp and circumstance and money is frittered away on a one-time event.
Pundits have said the marriage of Billy and Kate is just another distraction, a shiny bauble that hypnotizes us into briefly forgetting just how screwed we are by every corporation in the world. It’s the media saying – “Don’t look at that gas pump with five dollars a gallon on it; look at Buckingham Palace with the horses, pretty horses. What? You’re worried that your home value just depreciated another ten percent? Come watch a princess shop for a dress that’s 30 times the value of your house! Doesn’t that make you feel better?”
Now, I’m not saying there aren’t positives about the whole marital megilla. Certainly England is getting tons of tourism and free publicity, and part-time jobs for people willing to stand on street corners and hawk souvenirs that say, “He gets to bone her in the Palace, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”
And I will also say that while the wedding is definitely a mindless distraction, it’s also happy news. How much of that do we get? Every day it’s Syria this and Democrats-versus-Republicans that, and a fire in the foothills and a serial rapist in the suburbs, and Tokyo melting down and Charlie Sheen melting down, and cancer victims throwing up and glaciers thawing out until you just wanna pack it in.
So for once, we get a big, bright, beautiful happening: a ritual that upholds tradition while giving everyone a parade and a party. Two nice young kids, the gorgeousness of London, and the old woman can die now, she has an heir – it’s all good.
So while the temptation is to be a sourpuss and go, “millions of people are homeless and starving, and these bluebloods are eating cake; the reality is, people are gonna be homeless and starving no matter what, and a few hours of nuptial noodling isn’t gonna make a farthing’s worth of difference.”
And hey, for those of you who are really jealous of the prince and princess and their billion-dollar wedding just remember: They had one of these 30 years ago – and we all know how that turned out. Let’s just hope this time, when the princess gets slammed in the tunnel, it’s only a metaphor.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches, in Great Neck, NY. To the happy couple, L’chaim!
Click above to listen to the episode (audio only).
Here is the 353rd episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, May 7, 2011. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Host: Dave Lefkowitz Guests: editor Benjamin Welch (UNC Mirror) and author John Ruane, radio host Bob Cudmore
Featuring: Dave chats with college newspaper editor Benjamin Welch and political pundit John Ruane (“The Wizards of Spin”). Plus: Inside Broadway (news, nominations & reviews), Saturday Segue (mother songs), Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (mothers), Dave’s appearance on WVTL’s “Coffee with Bob Cudmore,” and Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on the death of Osama bin Laden.
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN 00:08:00 DAVE GOES OFF – Osama 00:22:30 GUEST: Benjamin Welch 00:45:30 DAVE on “Coffee with Cudmore” w/ Bob Cudmore (WVTL-AM 1570, taped 5/3/11) 00:58:00 INSIDE BROADWAY, pt. 1 – Tony Nominations 01:14:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (mothers) 01:40:00 GUEST: John Ruane 02:30:30 Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection – Dead! Dead! Dead! 02:40:00 INSIDE BROADWAY, pt. 2 – Obits (02:40:00) & Reviews (Potato Needs a Bath (02:52:00) & War Horse (02:55:30) 03:04:30 SATURDAY SEGUE: Mothers 03:17:30 Friends & Thank Yous 03:23:00 DAVE GOES OUT
May 7, 2011 Playlist: (part one) “Gimme Some Truth” (00:18:00; John Lennon); “Ain’t That News” (00:43:30; Tom Paxton); “Tell Me, Momma” (01:14:30), “Mama, You Been on My Mind” (w/ Joan Baez; 01:19:30), “Shake Shake Mama” (01:22:30), “Tough Mama” (01:26:00); “Call Letter Blues” (01:30:00) & “Clothes Line Saga” (01:34:30; Bob Dylan); “Turn on the News” (02:26:00; Husker Du); “Small World” (02:37:00; Gypsy 1959 Bway cast w/ Ethel Merman); “A Fact Can Be a Beautiful Thing” (02:48:00; Promises, Promises, 1968 Bway cast w/ Jerry Orbach & Marian Mercer); “Your Mother Should Know” (03:04:30; rehearsal version); “Your Mother’s Here to Stay” (03:07:30; Allan Sherman); “Mother” (03:10:00; Tiny Tim); “Mother Dear” (03:12:30; The Divine Comedy); “What Would My Mama Say” (Roger Miller; 03:24:30).
Pictured from top: John Ruane, UNC Mirror newspaper, Osama bin Laden, 2011 staff of the UNC Mirror (Dave – front row, second from left; Benjamin Welch – back row, third from right), Bob Cudmore, Tony Award, John Ruane’s “The Wizards of Spin,” War Horse, Shona Reppe in Potato Needs a Bath.
Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews comedian Shecky Greene
Topics include: comedy, show business.
Segment originally aired April 30, 2011 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Interview segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast: Full Episode
All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com
Click above to listen to the episode (audio only).
Here is the 352nd episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on UNC Radio, April 30, 2011. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Host: Dave Lefkowitz
Guest: comedian Shecky Greene
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with legendary comedian Shecky Greene. Plus: Inside Broadway (NY musical reviews), Saturday Segue (green songs), Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (green), Dave Says Bye to Phoebe Snow, and Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on the royal wedding.
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN 00:15:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – green 00:31:00 INSIDE BROADWAY – Broadway news & reviews (Anything Goes (00:50:00) & How to Succeed in Business… (00:56:00)) 01:02:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later: green 01:30:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Shecky Greene 02:19:00 DAVE SAYS BYE – Phoebe Snow 02:33:30 DAVE – Sponsors 02:42:00 Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection – royal wedding 02:57:30 DAVE GOES OUT
April 30, 2011 Playlist: (part one) “Green Onions” (14:30:30; Booker T. & the MG’s), “Green Shirt” (00:17:30; Elvis Costello); “The Leaves that are Green” (00:19:30; Simon & Garfunkel); “Little Green” (00:22:00; Joni Mitchell); “Green Rocky Road” (00:25:30; Tim Hardin), “It’s De-Lovely” (00:47:00; “Anything Goes” 1962 off-Bway cast); “Wiggle Wiggle” (01:03:00), “House Carpenter” (01:05:00) “Let Me Die in My Footsteps” (01:09:00), “Baby, Where are You Tonight?” (01:12:30) & “Three Angels” (01:18:30) & “Copper Kettle” (01:21:00; Bob Dylan); “Shecky Greene at Italian Earthquake Benefit” (01:27:30; youtube excerpt), “Somewhere That’s Green” (02:14:00; Little Shop of Horrors, off-Bway cast), “Poetry Man” (02:20:30), “Every Night” (02:25:00) & “Majesty of Life” (02:28:30; Phoebe Snow), “Wedding Bells” (02:46:30; Benny Bell); “Bein’ Green” (02:57:30; Van Morrison).
Shecky GreeneAnything GoesHow to Succeed in Business . . . Phoebe SnowgreenRabbi Sol Solomon
RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #13 (4/24/2011): Easter
Aired 4/23/11 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgmT5qW-5Vc
Shalom, Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon, with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of April 24th, 2011.
April 24th is a big day for our Christian brethren because it is Easter Sunday, the day that commemorates Jesus rising from the dead. According to the story, Jesus was crucified, pulled off the cross, and buried in a tomb. Three days later, they move away the rock – because that’s what you always do after you bury someone, you go back in and make sure they’re dead – and lo and behold, no corpse. The cave was empty.
And then, depending on which gospel you read, Jesus started appearing to his followers. He returned from the dead and visited his old pals. He saw the apostle Peter, and Paul, and Thomas – the famous “doubting Thomas.” Jesus said to him, “You don’t believe I’m dead? Stick your fingers in my wrist holes.” That’s actually in the book of John. Jesus telling Thomas, “You don’t think it’s me? Why don’t you blow in my feet like an ocarina? What? Disgusting? I spend seven hours bleeding to death on a cross, and you don’t wanna get goo on your face? Forget `doubting Thomas’; I’m gonna call you `asshole Thomas.’ How do you like that, ha? Pussyboy asshole Thomas. Now shut up and put your thumb in my ankle.”
I dunno. Obviously, I don’t believe in the whole resurrection thing, or any part of the Jesus story. But what intrigues me is the accepted idea that Jesus rose on the third day, and on the 40th day, he ascended to heaven. That leaves 37 days – nearly a month and a half – when he’s the walking dead, strolling around Bethlehem and wherever.
Wouldn’t that have been enough time to…I dunno…do anything? The gospels are very cryptic about his whereabouts all those weeks. Which is another reason they’re so suspect. If somebody rose from the dead, wouldn’t you follow them everywhere? Wouldn’t you take notes on every single thing they did? Instead: one visit here, an appearance there, a possible sighting in New Mexico.
And what if you were Jesus coming back to earth – what would you do? Was he still wounded? If he was part-human; maybe he went to a hospital, got himself re-hydrated, a couple of splints, maybe a chest x-ray.
And when he felt better… I don’t think they had guns in those days, but don’t you think he would’ve grabbed a sharp sword and gone looking for some people?
If I were Jesus, I’d be like, “Hello, there. Remember me? Oh, that’s right, you didn’t see my face. You were too busy looking at my back while you were whipping it 39 times. Ohhh..no hard feelings. You were just doing as you were told. But, see, I’m the son of God now. So you have two choices: I can either put this sword through your head, or you can take me to Herod, and then I’ll put this sword through your head. Who? Pilate? Oh, I’ve been to Pilate. His courtroom, as a matter of fact. Let’s just say I put his gavel in a very interesting place.”
Now, see? If the New Testament read like that, I’d believe in it. Here you’ve got the son of God coming back with six weeks on earth to wreak havoc, get revenge, maybe get a little somethin’-somethin’ from Mary Magdalene. Or the reverse – maybe he uses his post-mortem super powers to unite everyone on the planet, prove that he’s divine and turn the whole world Christian.
But no. He comes back, a few people see him, and then he goes off to God. What a wasted opportunity! Which is why I’d sooner believe in the Easter Bunny than Jesus. But that’s just me. I certainly wish our goyische friends and neighbors a happy holiday, with lots of good family gatherings and frilly bonnets and chocolate bunnies.
Although speaking of food, it does occur to me that if the last supper was, as they say, a Passover Seder, that means for his final days on earth, Jesus could eat only Kosher-for-Pesach meals. Forget all the other tortures of the crucifixion; can you imagine how constipated he was? That poor bastard.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches, in Great Neck, NY.
Dave Lefkowitz interviews actor and director Ari Gold
Topics include: The Adventures of Power, filmmaking.
Segment originally aired April 23, 2011 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Interview segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast: Full Episode
All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com
Click above to listen to the episode (audio only).
Here is the 351st episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, April 23, 2011. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Host: Dave Lefkowitz
Guest: filmmaker Ari Gold Featuring: Dave chats with filmmaker Ari Gold (“The Adventures of Power”). Plus: Inside Broadway (NY reviews), Saturday Segue (NY songs), Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (Bard on Bard) and Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on Easter.
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN 00:12:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – New York City 00:34:00 DAVE GOES OFF – Back in NY 00:59:30 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later: “Bard on Bard” 01:32:00 GUEST: Ari Gold 02:24:30 DAVE – Sponsors & weather 02:37:00 Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection – Easter 02:46:30 INSIDE BROADWAY (Arcadia (02:46:30), Jerusalem (02:49:00), Good People (02:52:30)) 02:56:00 DAVE – Friends 02:59:30 DAVE SAYS BYE – Ross Higuchi 03:04:00 DAVE GOES OUT
April 23, 2011 Playlist: “Dirty Boulevard” (12:30:30; Lou Reed), “Spring in New York” (00:16:00; Tony Bennett); “New York City” (00:18:30; Suzzy & Terre Roche); “New York, New York” (00:22:00; Tiny Tim); “Manhattan” (00:25:30; Jim Caruso); “The Only Living Boy in New York” (00:30:30; Simon & Garfunkel); “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” (live; 00:59:30), “Lone Pilgrim” (01:05:30), “Desolation Row” (alternate take; 01:08:00), “Floater” (01:19:30) & “Po’ Boy” (01:24:30; Bob Dylan); “New Jersey Nights” (01:28:30) & “We Are Power” (02:23:00; Ethan Gold).
Frances McDormand in Good PeopleMark Rylance in Jerusalem
RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #12 (4/10/2011): Killer Whale
Aired April 9, 2011 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube: Rabbinical Reflection #12 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StApRbPeamA
Shalom Dammit, this is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of April 10th, 2011.
If I go to a pet store and bring home a poisonous rattlesnake, at some point, if I make one little boo-boo, I’m dead.
I could feed it a thousand times with no problem. But there’s gonna be one time that I’m dangling a tasty mouse in front of the snake. The mouse wriggles away, I instinctively grab for it, and my hand goes in the terrarium. Before you can say Moishe Rabenu, a pair of venomous fangs will sink into my knuckles. At which point, my hand will swell up bigger than J-Woww’s boobies, and my blood would be so contaminated, you’d think I’d gotten a plasma transfusion from Rip Torn.
Is there a moral to this story? Yes. This is why we don’t bring home poisonous snakes.
But tell that to the yutzes who keep snakes and lizards and tarantulas and have no problem until the day they have to evacuate the whole apartment complex because a cobra’s on the loose.
Much as I sympathize with the agony Roy Horn must have felt when they were re-attaching his face, I still would have shouted into his reconstructed ear: “IT’S A TIGER! That thing with stripes on it and razor-sharp claws? It’s not a goldfish. It’s not a puppy, you moron, it’s a tiger. It’s a man-eating tiger. Now I know you’ve been eaten by men before, but this is different!”
And so we come to the story of Dawn Brancheau, a pretty, athletic young girl who was a trainer at Sea World in Florida. In February 2010, she was doing her usual act with Tilikum the Whale. You know: roll over, jump for the fish, ride on your back, thrash me underwater until my lungs explode. That kinda thing.
As you may recall, Dawn Brancheau slipped in the water, and Tilikum went into a frenzy. By the time he was done, Dawn was dead.
Shocking and horrifying for the spectators; public-relations nightmare for Sea World. After all, if it weren’t for putting wild things in captivity and making them perform like Dumbo, Sea World would just be a fish-tank with a gift shop. So what did they do?
Despite the fact that Tilikum drowned one trainer, and was involved in the deaths of two previous trainers, they not only put the whale back in public view, but onstage! As of last week, Tilikum was once again flipping, rolling, dancing, doing magic tricks and reciting passages from Othello.
Oh sure, new safety measures have been put in place. Like trainers can’t wear ponytails anymore – which I know makes all the difference. But how many people does this demon dolphin have to murder before Sea World thinks, “Ya know… Maybe we should have a laser show instead?”
I mean, the name of this mammal is Orca – killer whale. This stupid fish has a reputation so violent, they put “killer” in its name. Nobody says, “The depressed and vaguely poetic whale.” Or, “come see the mathematically gifted and hilariously flatulent whale!” No, it’s a killer whale. It kills! It kills trainers. If it had a rifle with a telescoping lens, it would kill presidents.
And you can say, “Oh, they’ve worked with Tilikum. He’s had a year’s hiatus from performing, he’s been in confinement, he’s been punished.” Let me tell you what he’s been doing for a year – that fish has been lifting weights, making weapons out of mackerel bones, he probably joined the marlin brotherhood… We should not be trusting this animal no matter what precautions they think they’re taking.
Look at Jaws. Scary, wonderful movie, but there’s one piece of logic that you have to check at the door when you see it: If you don’t go in the water, you’re fine. You could dance a jig ten feet from the shoreline; all the shark can do is growl at you and give you the middle fin. Now granted, the shark had to be dealt with because fishermen, cruises, coast-guard patrols need to be in the water. But nobody needs to see a fish twirl a basketball. It is a non-essential activity.
And so here’s my recommendation if we really want Tilikum to be a productive member of society: take him to Japan and let the whalers have at `im. It’ll be a fair fight, and if he loses, you get to feed a million homeless earthquake victims on blubber.
As for Sea World, well, you take a frog, you put him in a dress and you make him jump through a hoop. Hours of entertainment, and nobody gets hurt.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches, in Great Neck, NY. Ribbit.
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Dave Lefkowitz interviews comedian Pat Cooper
Topics include: comedy, families, growing up Italian.
Segment originally aired April 9, 2011 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Farewell to our Friend of the Daverhood, Pat Cooper, who passed June 6, 2023 at age 93.
Please Note: Interview segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast: Full Episode
All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
Pictured from top: John Ruane, UNC Mirror newspaper, Osama bin Laden, 2011 staff of the UNC Mirror (Dave – front row, second from left; Benjamin Welch – back row, third from right), Bob Cudmore, Tony Award, John Ruane’s “The Wizards of Spin,” War Horse, Shona Reppe in Potato Needs a Bath.
