Edmund

Evitamania

Word has it that Evita is going to be revived on Broadway. If it is true, then I’m really going to see it this time around. When it was revived in London four years ago, all I was able to do was get the T-shirts and souvenir program. When it was done in Manila in 1986, after the EDSA Revolution, I was too young to go. Although Don’t Cry for Me Argentina and I’d Be Surprisingly Good for You were played a lot on radio from 1979 to ’80, the show wasn’t performed in the Philippines until after the Marcoses were ousted from power—there were whispers back then that Imelda didn’t like Evita.

And speaking of Imelda, Here Lies Love, a concept album by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim about the life of Mrs. Marcos, is finally coming out in April. Evita started out as a concept album before it evolved into the beloved stage musical. (I still believe that Evita: An opera based on the life story of Eva Peron 1919-1952 is the best Evita recording ever.) Will Here Lies Love be performed on stage eventually?

Shushan Purim begins at sundown today. It commemorates the day when the Jews of Shushan, the capital of Persia, finally rested after defeating their enemies. I love the feast of Purim. For me it’s a reminder that anti-Semitism—and indeed racism itself!—should be fought aggressively. For Haman is still alive, and he is as mighty, powerful and wicked as ever—and he comes in many forms and guises.

The day after Ash Wednesday

Revenge, an out-take from Madonna’s great 1998 Ray of Light CD:

There is no such thing as revenge.
You will not give as good as you got.
There is no such thing as an eye for an eye.
If you think you're the giver, you're not.

There is no such thing as regret.
There is no point in placing the blame.
Hate destroys the one who hates
and everyone suffers the same.

What you see
is not necessarily what you get.
Eyes are the window to the soul.
Take your judgements
and let them go.

There is only love and respect.
To thine own self be true.
When you point the finger,
there are three fingers pointing back at you.

What you see
is not necessarily what you get.
Eyes are the window to the soul.
Take your judgements
and let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.

Recognize that God is alive in everyone.
Recognize that love lives in us all.

What you see
is not necessarily what you get.
Eyes are the window to the soul.
Take your judgements
and let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.

What you see
is not necessarily what you get.
Eyes are the window to the soul.
Take your judgements
and let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.

Teshuvah

Lent is fast approaching. I’m sick and tired of people blabbering about giving up all kinds of stuff for the holy season. I really find this kind of talk ignorant, fake, insincere and hypocritical. How about repenting, turning back to the Lord and circumcising your hearts and actually doing something useful and helpful for yourselves and others for a change, eh?

Why I (still) study the Torah

We won’t always be young, beautiful, strong and healthy. We won’t always have money, jobs and security. So we should always cling to Ha Shem and embrace His goodness.

A song of ascents

It was awful driving through the Gros Morne area this morning. I was scared—very scared. But then I remembered my favorite psalm:

I lift my eyes to the mountains—from where will my help come?
My help will come from the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot falter;
your Guardian does not slumber.
Indeed, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
The LORD is your guardian;
the LORD is your protective shade at your right hand.
The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will guard you from all evil;
He will guard your soul.
The LORD will guard your going and your coming from now and for all time.

And so I made it home safely.

Signs

I’m fast becoming a fan of the (interesting) slogans posted regularly at our neighborhood Pentecostal church. I check the billboard every time I drive by. Though I sometimes disagree with what most slogans say, I find most of them cute and really inspirational. Last week it was “No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.” This week’s sign really uplifted my drooping spirit: “God answers knee-mail.”

’Oy vey!

Here’s one reason why we (especially Christians!) should learn more about Judaism.

From Yahoo! Buzz™:

A 17-year-old passenger inadvertently caused a scare aboard a US Airways flight from New York to Louisville on Thursday morning. The young flyer, an Orthodox Jew, was wearing an article of clothing that some on the plane feared might be an explosive device.

In reality, it was a simple religious item called phylacteries. Here’s what happened. According to Reuters, another passenger mistook the phylacteries, also called a tefillin in Hebrew, for a bomb. Phylacteries consist of two leather boxes with straps attached. “Observant Jewish men are required to place one box on their head and tie the other one on their arm each weekday morning.”

When the alarmed passenger saw the phylacteries, he alerted the crew, and the plane was immediately diverted to Philadelphia. Once on the ground, authorities questioned the boy, and quickly determined the incident had been a false alarm. No arrests were made.

In the wake of the news, online searches on both “phylactery” and “tefillin” both surged from nothing into breakout status. Other related queries also quickly popped up. “What is a phylactery” and “tefillin pictures” were on top of peoples’ minds. Those who researched the religious item learned that the phylactery boxes contain prayers inside them.

Leo/Lea

The name Lea[h] is not the feminine variant of the male name Leo. Leo, which means “lion,” is of Latin origin, while Le’ah is Hebrew, meaning “weary”—as in the biblical matriarch, Jacob’s tiresome yet rather blessed first wife. (I don’t know, however, if “Leia”—as in Princess Leia Organa— is a variant of Leah/Lea. George Lucas would know.)

And speaking of tiresome, check out any parish’s baptismal register—you’ll never believe the excruciatingly outlandish (and oftentimes cruel and meaningless) names parents give their children . . .

Bras

I wonder where this story came from . . . :

A man walked into the ladies’ department of a Macy’s, walked up to the woman behind the counter and said, “I’d like to buy a bra for my wife.”

“What type of bra?” asked the clerk.

“Type? There’s more than one type?”

“Look around,” said the saleslady, as she showed a sea of bras in every shape, size, color and material. “Actually, even with all of this variety, there are really only three types of bras.”

Confused, the man asked what the types were.

The saleslady replied, “The Catholic type, the Salvation Army type and the Baptist type. Which one do you need?”

Still confused the man asked, “What is the difference between them?”

“It’s all really quite simple. The Catholic type supports the masses, the Salvation Army type lifts up the fallen, and the Baptist type makes mountains out of mole hills.”

By their headdress ye shall know them . . .

The Nativity Story was on TV last Friday night. You can easily tell that one is an awful Bible movie when the characters wear headgear like these—the kind you can easily find at any costume rental shop: