short takes

[cellio]

Happy 05/05/05. (First pointed out to me by lensedqso.)

Harkening back to a recent entry: how lightsabers work (link from ralphmelton and mabfan).

Ridiculous food challenges just got even weirder: 15-pound burger challenge -- if you and a friend can eat it in three hours it's free; otherwise it's $30. Ugh. On the other hand, if you go into it blowing off the challenge from the start (and get the wet condiments on the side), it's not a bad price for a week's worth of meatloaf for the right person. (I got the link from nsingman.)

Emails 'pose threat to IQ' (link from brokengoose). Well, at least a threat to the ability to write correct English. "Email" is not a counting noun! C'mon, journalists should know better! (I know -- many of them don't. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to criticize.) Easy way to tell that the phrase "an email" is wrong: substitute by analogy. Do you send "a mail" (physical) to your pen-pal? Email is the mass noun, like mail; it is not the instance, like a letter.

I was reading something recently and saw a reference to Rabbi Micha Berger. Rabbi? When did that happen? I feel bad that I failed to notice somehow. (While we don't talk often, we're occasional correspondents and I have been a guest in his home. He wasn't a rabbi then.)

Comments

[cahwyguy.livejournal.com]

Micha (who is the primary person I rely upon for Orthodox answers for the FAQ, by the way) rarely refers to himself that way, but I do think he has the title in his community (Aish). One of these days I would love to meet him and personally thank him for all his help to me.

A real good guy.

[cellio]

I know Micha from soc.culture.jewish and the occasional encounter since (and now his blog, aspaqlaria, which I know you already know about but I mention for others who might care). When I was several months into my studies of Judaism and we'd been having a long email discussion about orthodoxy, he invited me to spend a Shabbat with his family. It was a fabulous experience! He's one of those people I would try to visit fairly frequently if we lived in the same city but we don't so we don't.