Bat Mitzvah

 

Sally likes to orchestrate and organize things. 

The Rabbi at Temple Reyim notes the joy it brings.

Family and friends bear witness on this day.

The girl enters adulthood in her own special way.

Apps and micro brew at Trillium - hearty;

Newton is abuzz, while Boston reenacts a tea party

Shaboozey and more on an art makers' space dance floor

Into the night, you couldn't ask for more.

We all know it's all about you;

But - What will baby sister do?

I'm sure it will be no surprise; 

By your example, she too will rise.

Time does fly, or so it seems; 

I want to thank the Academy for all it means.

When it's Nora's turn to take the spotlight;

Once again we'll dance into the night. 

Note: Sam and Norman were brothers. They married Toby and Muriel, respectively. Sam and Toby beget: Randy, Lynn and Deborah. Norman and Muriel beget: Peggy, Jane and Hope. Peggy married Bill and they became parents to Sydney. Sydney married Tal - Noe they are parents to Bat Mitzvah girl Sally and her younger sister Nora. Mazel Tov, Sally!

Dem Kids is 8

 

2016 was a banner year us. Lawton was born in Tampa and James was born in Saint Louis. Both boys turned 8 in 2024. They mark time for me as I recall some of those special moments that just kind of happen. 

Lindsey brought Lawton to Saint Louis to see Andrew Morstein in the Saint Louis Opera Company's production of The Barber of Seville. During that weekend visit Lawton showed his creativity in Papa's apartment studio. He created a mosaic that turned out to be a cardinal. 

Visiting New Jersey for Father's Day weekend over the Summer I was able to enjoy a trip to Purple Glaze in Asbury Park with James and Ben.  

Meanwhile, Dave Shogren honored Wes Morgan Mosaic Art with a commission for cover illustration for his CD Album release. 

I was most fortunate to receive and accept an invitation to Sally Gross Bat Mitzvah in Boston (Newton) on March 1, 2025. It created a perfect opportunity for me to to roam the halls of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The Bat Mitzvah itself was nearly 3 hours long but I had to express to the Rabbi gratitude for making the occasion joyous and welcoming for me (Catholic from Saint Louis).

Lawton is a ball of energy who started referring to me as "old man" as in "come on old man". He also conned me into drafting a Will in which I promised him: NOTHING. Ha. His mom made sure he got to see a number of historic sights and more than sufficient experience to please his teacher with a Power Point presentation. 

James smiles with a show of a missing baby tooth. He fits in with cousins and all at the kids table. I was compelled to grab his shoulders and look him in the eye to say, "James, You are amazing!"

at the busy Bat Mitzvah party venue. His response: "Why?" Therein it a point of difference between 8 year-olds. One would recognize such a compliment with a shrug and an implied "I know" and the other is just starting to find his super power. 

 

 

Becoming Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin formed in London in 1968. The band comprised Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones (bass and keyboards) and John Bonham (drums). With a heavy, guitar-driven sound and drawing from influences including blues and folk music, Led Zeppelin are cited as a progenitor of hard rock and heavy metal. They significantly influenced the music industry, particularly in the development of album-oriented rock and stadium rock.

Interviews, performances and never-before-seen footage provide insight into the origins of Led Zeppelin and their meteoric rise to musical stardom.

Release date: February 5, 2025 (USA) Director: Bernard MacMahon Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics Music by: Led Zeppelin Production companies: Big Beach; Paradise Pictures

I really enjoyed this movie. I laughed to myself recalling the Zeppelin tribute band I saw with John Kristofeld and his brother last year at the Lake of the Ozarks. (We also enjoyed boat ride courtesy Chris Galloway with Melissa). 

And I enjoyed seeing Galloway's band, Tiny Moose as opening act for Robert Plant and Allison Krause at the Ozark Amphitheater on June 4, 2024 with Dave and Linda Shogern and Al Funk. (Tiny Moose also performed at the LHS class of 74 Reunion at the Music Box in Cleveland Friday night July 26, 2024). 

As luck would have it, Lisa Grimm of Integrity (and the UMSL Marketing Review Board) got me a ticket to see the Celebration of Led Zeppelin show at the Pageant in University City on Saturday February 22, 2025. It will be fun to again immerse in that music and that time. 

Note: I actually got two tickets to see the Led Zeppelin Celebration at the Pageant but I didn't know I had the extra ticket until I picked up at Will Call on Friday. Tom Shaughnessy declined because his son was home from school (family). Darryl Vandever regrets because he wasn't feeling well (flu), Dave Shogren was beat after returning from trip to India (jet lag). 

Malaprop

The Pallisades by Ashcan School Artist Ernest Lawson from early 20th century. (on view at the Saint Louis Art Museum)

   

mal·a·prop

/ˈmaləˌpräp/

noun

1. the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect, as in, for example, “dance a flamingo ” (instead of flamenco )

Comedian Norm Crosby* used to say "I resemble that remark" which is a good example of a malaprop when delivered brings a smile but is pretty plain to understand what the speaker meant.

My wife once chided me when she didn't like something I said or did with the phrase "Your attitude is rancid". When I pointed out that word was not communicating what she wanted to say, she tried to defend it with a more comprehensive flurry of adjectives that told me that my behavior was rotten, tainted or just not right. It makes me smile still when I think of her using that phrase. I try now to have a sweeter disposition that might never again be so repugnant as spoiled meat.

I have had quite a few conversations about fine art with friends since I am big fan of art available for public viewing in my hometown art museum and whenever I have time as I travel to other cities. Janie has one of those predicable art responses at times. She is not impressed with a Mark Rothko color field painting, saying that she feels that as a viewer, she is entitled to know what she likes. Never mind how this tends to discount the study of art history, art criticism, curators, popular culture and perhaps hundreds of factors that qualify a work as art (or not). She reduces her experience of the Rothko with a cousin to "a child could do that" with her summary review - It looks like a lampshade. This is a fair comment I suppose but It might be dismissed in an intellectual discussion of of post war artists commenting on the New York School and/or on the heels of the breakthrough of the action painting of Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock. 

Never mind the art talk. I find myself preaching about the importance of the story teller. Janie has heard me preach about this nearly as often as my references to fine art viewing. It might be precisely why she's inadvertently cooked up her own malaprop. (I think she is unaware of it, but here goes.) Janie, in the middle of a conversation of no specific purpose, states "Like you say: the truth is in the eye of the beholder." Well this one kind belongs in a safe among the best examples. It feels like I am the origin since my insistence the "the truth belongs to the teller" and her insistence that art is determined by "what I like" as in "the eye of the beholder". 

So the expression gets a bit jumbled but in an artful way when she says - "As you say, truth is in the eye of the beholder." (Maybe this is more a mixed metaphor than a malaprop. It's amusing nevertheless.)

*Norman Lawrence Crosby (September 15, 1927 – November 7, 2020) was an American comedian born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was often referred to as "The Master of Malaprop".

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