The moke of stridnight

Last night I joined a crowd of Bittyfriends in celebrating her birthday with an excursion to the Medieval Manor. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a kind of variation on dinner theater, with performances threaded throughout.

The room was ruled by the king (I wondered if his English accent helped him get the job), and he had a jester, many serving wenches, a minstrel, and a drudge. There was an emphasis on humor, though a lot of it was to a lower common denominator than I tend to enjo y. Everyone else seemed to like it, though, so I guess I'm in the minority (especially a couple of the other large groups, who seemed to be consuming rather more beer than at our table)(I kept on being surprised at the lengths to which they went in pursui ng sexual innuendo. Though at some point it stopped being innuendo...). There were some excellent bits, though, that I'm glad I got to see, including Bitty's performance on the horn. Also, the retelling of the story of the slass glipper, and how the sugly isters couldn't make it fit [Now, if I could get the text of *that* to read at the next story reading, it would be cool. Though I'd not be able to read it nearly as well as it was performed.]. And the music was excellent, performed by minstrel Bill (I was not the only one who found this stage name slightly incongruous) on the guitar, with percussion done by some instruments he tapped with his feet.

And I seem to have found more crocheting to do/teach, as well. Cool.

Oh, and it was nice to have a chance to wear the jester hat (a gift from King Richard's back in college); those who tried it on looked good.
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Local filmmaker's movie screenings

Exerpted from the weekly announcements. Not sure if I'll end up going to these; thought they might be of interest...

Local filmmaker and TBS (Tremont Street Shul) regular Marlene Booth will be showing her films in a series at Temple B'nai Brith in Somerville. Marlene will be present at all screenings. Here is the schedule.

February 9: The Forward: From Immigrants to Americans. (1989).
The remarkable history of The Jewish Daily Forward, America's foremost Yiddish language newspaper. Michael Katz and Linda Gritz, Yiddish activists and board members of The Workmen's Circle, will join Marlene in leading discussion about the past, present and future of Yiddish language and culture.

March 23: Raananah: A World of Our Own. (1981).
Sixty-five years ago, a group of idealistic Jewish immigrants formed a summer refuge, Raananah (which means .young, tender, fresh.) near Monroe, NY. Avi Soifer, Professor at Boston College Law School, and a third-generation member of Raananah, will be present, along with Marlene, to answer questions about Raananah, and to lead discussion about the vision and practice of community.

April 6: Yidl in the Middle: Growing up Jewish in Iowa. (1999).
Marlene's personal account of her odyssey as a Midwesterner and a Jew.

All showings begin at 7:00 pm.
Adults: $5 per evening, or $12 for the series.
Children (12 years and under): Free.

Shabbat menu

grape juice
rolls
egg drop miso soup with veggies / whitefish salad
green salad (red leaf lettuce, scallions, halved grape tomatoes, balsamic vinaigrette)
steelhead trout fillet baked with gingery cranberry chutney / lemon chicken with thyme
roasted root vegetables (onion, potato, carrot) with rosemary

Still feel like I should've managed to make more veggies. And I wonder if I should've gotten those frozen apple turnovers, too. Ah, well.

Not-quite-new, but noteworthy: I'm using the glass candlesticks for the first time in years. I hope they don't break again.

A good Shabbat to those who observe it, and a good start to the weekend to those who don't.