Jewish History & Culture
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The Kid Still Stays in the Picture (Robert Evans)
Tommywood was expecting a Hollywood moment. Publicity guru extraordinaire Michael Levine had arranged for me to meet legendary Producer Robert Evans at his longtime lair, Woodland, the former home of Greta Garbo. I turned north of Sunset Boulevard and, like William Holden, wondered what I was getting myself into. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate […]
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Playing in Uketopia (Jim Beloff and the ukelele)
It’s Sunday night and a half-dozen people are onstage at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. Jumpin’ Jim Beloff and his wife, Leapin’ Liz, are leading the sold-out crowd as they strum their ukuleles and sing “Farewell.” This is the climax to Uketopia, Beloff’s annual celebration of that four-stringed wonder: the ukulele. It is an […]
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Most of the Best (S.J. Perelman)
Among the allergens being released this June is a remake of “Around the World in 80 Days,” the Jules Verne novel that launched a thousand travel articles. Perhaps Jackie Chan will inhabit the role of Passepartout in a fashion that surpasses the achievements of Cantinflas, “the world’s greatest comedian,” according to Charlie Chaplin, a person […]
Breaking the Mold (Eric Lax's book on the discovery of penicillin)
Earlier this month I attended the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation research benefit for stem-cell research. Although James Taylor’s five-song set and Nancy Reagan’s acceptance speech were each memorable and moving, what I found myself thinking about most that evening was Eric Lax’s new book “The Mold in Dr. Florey’s Coat” (Henry Holt & Company, $25), […]
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The End of 'Friends'
The last episode of “Friends” airs May 6, and while we may all express a collective sigh of relief at the end of more than a year of shameless hype and exploitation, it doesn’t mean that we can’t stop to reflect on this moment in American cultural history. Or that we don’t care about whether […]
The Escapist (MIchael Chabon's "The Escapist" as metaphor)
Jewish history has tradition of escaping and escapism It’s Sunday and I’m rushing over to my local comic book store, Hi De Ho, in Santa Monica to buy issue No. 1 of “The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist.†If the name is familiar, it’s not because you used to collect “The Escapist†in your youth, […]
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