« News Flash: Israelis Reach Consensus! | Main | Keeping the Yentes* at bay »
Friday, November 19, 2004
Photo Friday (Vol. III)
As advertised, it's once again Photo Friday here at treppenwitz.
Today's lucky contestant hails from 'G-d's waiting room'... that's right, the great state of Florida. Give it up for the captain of the good ship 'Oceanguy'!!!
His requests were:
1. A bookshelf.. the most prominent bookshelf at home
2. How about your favorite kippah
3. Something like your Shabbat candlesticks
Aye Aye, captain!
First comes the bookshelf. If you were sitting on the long couch featured in Photo Friday (Vol. I) , this is the wall you'd be facing on the other side of the room:
No, you aren't mistaken... that is a Muppet on the TV. Three guesses who is crawling on the floor just out of the camera frame.
The next picture is sort of a let down (for me) since my real favorite kippah (which my lovely wife crocheted for me years ago) is so tattered and dirty I was embarrassed to take a picture of it. This is my current runner up (also in need of a good scrub, I might add):
For those of you suffering from vertigo, no you didn't just develop x-ray vision... the kippah was sitting on one of the Plexiglas shelves on my laptop stand.
And last up this morning is our family collection of candlesticks. The big 5-branched one is my wife's which she inherited from her maternal great-grandmother. If you were to lift up the base, you would see an inscription on the round silver tray. You see, the tray is actually a shooting trophy... one of many that Zahava's maternal grandfather won for shooting trap and skeet at his gun club. Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? :-)
The two smaller pair up front belonged to my maternal great-grandmother. When we first got married, my wife lit Shabbat candles on the set I had inherited. When the kids started coming along she moved up to her family treasure (our family tradition is to light one candle for each person in the family... 5 at present). My pair is kept in reserve for when we have guests who need to light Shabbat candles. For a little more detail about how our family traditions have evolved, feel free to read this post from the archives.
Yes, I took this picture at the breakfast table in the kitchen... and yes, that is an Israeli box of Frosted Flakes (called 'Frosties' here). I usually fix a big breakfast for everyone on Friday mornings since I don't have to run off to work (my work week is S-Th). Usually it's eggs to order or cheese toast. A couple of weeks ago I even surprised everyone with GetupGrrl's Endless Apple Pancake! But this week I was rushed for time and really wanted to polish up the candlesticks before photographing them... so the kids lucked out and got to have a sugar cereal that is normally reserved for a Shabbat morning treat.
If you look closely, Jordan can be seen lurking in the background waiting for the inevitable windfalls from Yonah's breakfast tray.
Well, that's it for today's installment of Photo Friday. Anyone who hasn't yet requested a set of photos can feel free to do so. As always, feel free to provide questions or comments about anything you see here.
Note to Jack: Since you had also requested a shot of the bookshelf, I'll grant you one more wish.
Shabbat Shalom!
Posted by David Bogner on November 19, 2004 | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c581e53ef00e55051ff5c8834
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Photo Friday (Vol. III):
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
OK:
1) The most crowded outdoor place you go with any regularity (park, marketplace, pedestrian mall...)
2) Your Havdala set
(For the Judaically challenged, Havdala is the ceremony that ends the Sabbath, it involves a multi-wicked candle, wine, and fragrant spices. Many families have a beautiful wine glass, candle holder and spice container that they use for this.) Bonus points for taking the picture while it is being used.
3) The Mediterranean
(If you're never near the beach, scratch that and substitute the most expansive view you have during a typical week.)
Shabbat shalom.
Posted by: Doctor Bean | Nov 19, 2004 10:58:51 AM
I have decided with much thought that I dont care what your toilet looks like I would rather have a recent family photo....one where you have to set the timer and run in front the camera cause no one is left to take the picture.
Posted by: jason | Nov 19, 2004 12:26:41 PM
Doctor Bean... You're on the list.
Jason... I can appreciate the difficulty of the decision; a picture of a toilet or me?! So as a reward for your honesty, when your turn comes up here at Photo Friday, you will get 4 pics instead of the standard 3. See? Everyone wins!
By the way, on an unrelated matter... can I ask if the widely publicized incident with the Marine shooting the wounded man in the mosque over there in Iraq has had any impact on moral? Is there another side of the story that perhaps is not getting out through the media? I'd be interested in your opinion about how the military should be adjusting rules of engagement to deal with this kind of thing (if they should at all)... not some news reporter.
Posted by: David | Nov 19, 2004 12:38:17 PM
David,
I was sitting back listening to the story on the news and several thoughts went through my mind. First off I thought about how wrong it was for the Marines to leave a man bleeding for 24 hours without medical treatment. I was listening to a retired Infantry General on the news say that if the media was not there to capture that moment, then most likely the Marine would have been ordered to get a “few hours of sleep” for being so jumpy on the trigger. Should media be imbedded with troops or should some things remain seen only by troops? The words the Marine spoke were kind of hard to interpret. “He is (sic) faking dead”. It is assumed that the Marine thought an Insurgent snuck into this room full of dead people and was “faking” an injury so he could get close enough to kill a Marine. I have asked people how they feel about what happened and the feedback is pretty varied. Some see the Marine as someone who acted out of pure hatred because he was shot in the face the day before, and dehumanized an Iraqi. Others feel that he was well within his right to kill that Insurgent given the “rules of war” they are playing by (none). Do you sink to the level of shooting a child because they have a grenade in their hand? Maybe they are coming at you with that grenade because they want only to turn it in and get some cash. Some of these ethical and moral questions become very blurred in war. Another difficult one for the gate guards because of all the car bombs…..How long should I wait to open fire on a car if they aren’t slowing down for our check point? I have seen so many kids shot because of this. I wonder if in the process of fighting animals if we are becoming animals ourselves. What is worth doing to protect our own lives? I can only see this hurting Morale if it enrages the Insurgents like the prison abuse scandal and causes more battles, and a loss of American soldiers. I would say the media leans hard towards the humanitarian side of this debate, but the military leans hard towards the self protection side….so I guess right answer is somewhere in the middle. A compromise of sorts between humanitarians and warriors…..stranger things have happened. My opinion is that I will hate to see this Marine punished, but I think he will be.
Posted by: jason | Nov 19, 2004 3:43:27 PM
Jason: Thank you for protecting me and my family. My rear end is safe in California. I hope yours stays safe till you get back home.
Posted by: Doctor Bean | Nov 19, 2004 4:18:11 PM
I do appreciate the look into Casa Bognor. I loved the bonus shot of Tony the Tiger... Does he say "They're GREEEEAAAAT!?"
I do have a humble request, though. I was not clear with my request... I tried to ask for one particular shelf... the point being to see the individual volumes and read the titles on your favorite or most prominent shelf in the bookcase...
I've always enjoyed looking at the books that people choose to display in their homes. Since very few people display all of their books, it's interesting to see which books take front stage...
So maybe when some other requests are granted you might choose a shelf for a close-up.
Shabbat Shalom.
Posted by: oceanguy | Nov 19, 2004 4:59:07 PM
Note to Jack: Since you had also requested a shot of the bookshelf, I'll grant you one more wish.
Ocean Guy has the same thought as I do. I am curious to see what books you have on the shelf or shelves.
Posted by: Jack | Nov 19, 2004 6:57:02 PM
Jason... Thanks for sharing your insights. I feel privileged to be able to ask someone in Iraq about what they think is really going on. I hate having to rely exclusively on the various news services.
Dr. Bean... I would hope that most Americans echo your thoughts and wishes for Jason and his comrades.
Oceanguy... Doh! [slapping head]. Yeah, now that I look at your request it could have been read that way too. OK, so when I get around to Jack's request I'll try to zero in on one particular shelf. However, that is going to take some extra direction from you guys. We have bookshelves all over the house! I chose the living room bookshelves because you used the word 'prominent'. These books in the picture are mostly Judaica (Talmud, Torah, Prophets, philosophy, Jewish Law, various commentaries, etc.) but other bookshelves contain everything kind of literature imaginable. One warning, Zahava and I don't go in for 'coffee table books' much so whatever you see on our shelves will probably be a bit dog-eared. :-)
Jack... Read my reply (above) to Oceanguy. If you want to zero in on a particular genre... subject... just let me know and I'll try to accommodate you.
Posted by: David | Nov 20, 2004 9:35:04 PM
I find two points about Jason's reply interesting. First is that the take stateside is not universal condemnation, but concern over the physical and mental taxation of our troops that would cause such a mistake.
Second is that Jason's other insights mirror almost exactly what we hear from Israeli soldiers about their work, especially in West Bank checkpoints and similar locations.
Posted by: Jordan | Nov 21, 2004 12:57:20 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.