אַ ניקל פֿאַר זיי, אַ ניקל פֿאַר מיר

[sovay]

Apparently I can no longer re-toast myself a signature half pastrami, half corned beef sandwich from Mamaleh's without spending the rest of the evening singing the same-named hit from a 1917 American Yiddish musical. The Folksbiene never seems to have revived it and if the rest of the score was as catchy, they really should. (I am charmed that the composer clearly found the nickel conceit tempting enough to revisit in a later show, but that line quoted about the First Lady, didn't I just ask the twentieth century to stay where we left it?)

At the other end of the musical spectrum, spatch maintains it is not American-normal to be able to sing the Holst setting of "In the Bleak Midwinter," which until last night I had assumed was just such seasonal wallpaper that I had absorbed it by unavoidable dint of Christmas—it's one of the carols I can't remember learning, unlike others which have identifiable vectors in generally movies, madrigals, or folk LPs. Opinions?

Thanks to lunisolar snapback, Hanukkah like every other holiday this year seems to have sprung up out of nowhere, but we managed to get hold of candles last night and tomorrow will engage in the mitzvah of last-minute cleaning the menorah.

P.S. I fell down a slight rabbit hole of Bruce Adler and now feel I have spent an evening at a Yiddish vaudeville house on the Lower East Side circa 1926.

Comments

[mrissa]

Of course I can sing "In the Bleak Midwinter." But I think that "wood as hard as iron/ water like a stone/snow is falling, snow on snow/snow on snow" has special resonance here.

I once did holiday cards that had an ice picture T had taken and said "wood as hard as iron/water like a stone." I am festive. It sounds like many people didn't know what I was quoting. Welp. Ope.

[sovay]

Of course I can sing "In the Bleak Midwinter." But I think that "wood as hard as iron/ water like a stone/snow is falling, snow on snow/snow on snow" has special resonance here.

I mean, under formerly normal climatic circumstances, so would it in New England.

I once did holiday cards that had an ice picture T had taken and said "wood as hard as iron/water like a stone." I am festive. It sounds like many people didn't know what I was quoting. Welp. Ope.

So it may be American-normal by region? Intriguing.

[mrissa]

It may also be, and I hope that you are braced for this theory, as it May Shock You, that your parents and my parents are nerds.

[mrissa]

But no, Pastor Schaff had us sing it, so clearly it can't be--

Oh, beg pardon, I'm getting word that my late beloved childhood pastor Bob Schaff may not be evidence against the "taught by nerds" theory.

[sovay]

Oh, beg pardon, I'm getting word that my late beloved childhood pastor Bob Schaff may not be evidence against the "taught by nerds" theory.

I checked in earlier this afternoon with Existential Comics and felt personally attacked.

[mrissa]

I feel like Existential Comics is just an across the board "just @ me."

(Trust me, this will not be a spoiler.) Yesterday when we finished watching Wake Up Dead Man, M started laughing, and I said, "What?", and he said, "Well, you know, Marissa, it's easy to forget that the average person only knows one or two policies of church governance," and I said, "And the bishop's sphere of influence, of course," and he said, "of course!" (cf https://xkcd.com/2501/ )

[sovay]

"Well, you know, Marissa, it's easy to forget that the average person only knows one or two policies of church governance," and I said, "And the bishop's sphere of influence, of course," and he said, "of course!"

To lend credence to your metatext, I didn't even need the citation.

[mrissa]

I...kind of knew, but sometimes other people read comments.

But they're the other people who are friends of you/this DW, so. well.

[sovay]

But they're the other people who are friends of you/this DW, so. well.

It's just good manners to cite your sources.

[asakiyume]

*raising hand*

[asakiyume]

(Bystander reading this thread and now giggling harder)

[asakiyume]

(Bystander reading this thread and giggling)