Last night’s band was Gephilte (as in phish), led by Josh Dolgin aka Socalled. They came down from Ottawa and rocked the house, or, I guess, the book center. They are experimental and come at klezmer from the funk side, and other sides. Not all of their experiments worked, but it was a fun night overall — very energetic, for sure. Some Fiddler on the Roof tunes were played as if by a Motown band, stuff like that. Dolgin’s mom came down from Canada for the show. He said she’s turning 80 tomorrow, kinahora.
We have one last show, today at noon, but then we have to start the drive back and will miss the finale tonight (boo!). Overall, we loved the festival and can definitely see making it an annual event. This was the 12th Yidstock. Long may it live and prosper!
Speaking of “coming back,” the puzzle today was palindromes — expressions that read the same in both directions. The most famous, of course, was uttered by the very first man, to the first “first lady.” Madam, I’m Adam.
The ones in the puzzle were much longer and a bit tortured. For the clue “Voice-activated order for cabbage or soda bread?” the answer was IRISH SIDE DISH, SIRI. See how it works? Read it in both directions. There were six like that. The prolific Jeff Chen was the constructor.
I was discombobulated (you know, the opposite of combobulated) at 24D when the clue “Foe of the Bolsheviks” turned out to be CZAR. I knew it was the Czar, but the answer flouted a Crossworld convention. It was always TSAR in Russian history, and CZAR for, like, a modern “energy czar,” or “drug czar.” Jeff Chen casually tossed that overboard – so where does that leave us? Out to tsea, apparently. Is nothing tsacred?
Other ‘dromes from the puzzle were “Humble postgame summary from an Indiana basketball player?” PACER’S SELFLESS RECAP.
Headline regarding a children’s author controversy? SEUSS IGNITING ISSUES
What happened when the bust went sideways? NARC, IN A PANIC, RAN.
114D: “Skinny pieces of clothing:” TIES
Phil! What are you doing!? Why is she looking at you like that?? We talked about this!! Just take the shot and back away!!
Years ago, I was at an event at our temple and a very nice guy, Dennis, was wearing a beautiful tie. It had a dark blue background and little children were floating around in it, very colorfully. I said Dennis, that’s a very nice tie, and he looked down and said, “Oh, yes, this is my ‘Save the Children’ tie.” He explained that he made a $300 donation to the Save the Children Foundation and they thanked him with that beautiful tie. So I said, “Well, that’s very generous of you, and it is a gorgeous tie.”
Less than one week later, we were down in Washington DC on a little family trip. On The Mall, where dozens of sellers are set up to hawk t-shirts, hats, and little Washington Monuments, one fellow had a table loaded with ties. Glancing at it, I noticed one similar to Dennis’s. There was the dark blue background with children floating around. The only difference was the children were larger.
I asked the man: How much are these ties? He said $4. I said: This tie with the children costs $4? He said yes. So I bought it. And I call it my “Save the Money” tie.
We are back home from Yidstock, sadly. It was such a good time. The last band, today at noon, turned out to be our favorite: Daniel Kahn (from Detroit!) with a violinist and drummer. Beautiful, funny, meaningful songs. My favorite may have been one he introduced by saying: “We have a song about the future on our first album. It’s bright — the children are happy; there are flowers and birds. This is not that song.” Then he sang (in Yiddish) a great and very dark Leonard Cohen song: I have seen the future: it’s murder.
Here’s Daniel Kahn with some of his friends singing a Yiddish version of a song you know. Then Leonard Cohen sings in English his song about the future that Kahn sang for us in Yiddish. Kahn also performed a beautiful Springsteen song in Yiddish, about going back to his childhood home. I’m going to keep an eye on Kahn’s website and try to catch him again.
Good night! See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 