songbird's crazy world

We went to the Bronx Zoo’s  Holiday Lights Show  Saturday night. The Lights Show was a popular annual event in the late 1990’s.  The zoo stopped presenting this show about 15 years ago, but brought it back this year.  And I am very happy they did. The zoo is open 365 days a year.  In December the zoo closes around 4:30, when it starts to get dark.  The holiday show is a separate admission, and starts at 5:00.  But if you get to the zoo anytime after 3, you can have a quick look at the animals before the evening’s festivities begin, There’s a man made waterfall in the Bronx River, at the entrance to the zoo. We saw bison We saw a bear. And we saw birds.  Lots of birds.  Some were outdoors, on the pond.  Others were in the World of Birds exhibit. This guy stood up and trumpeted as soon as I put my camera away. I love exotic birds. We didn’t get to see...

Some more music for Hanukkah.  Let’s start with the Barenaked Ladies. You’ll love this one by Michael Feinstein, it’s funny. This isn’t a Hanukkah song, but I love it and felt I needed to include it. And since we’ve done Yiddish, how about Ladino? The Maccabeats are cooking ... And this one, by Six13, is the video everyone is talking about. Here are the lyrics, taken from the Hanukkah blessings and traditional songs. Lyrics: (CHANUKAH BLESSINGS) Baruch ata Hashem Elokeinu, ברוך אתה יי אלהנו Blessed are You, Lord our God, Melech haolam מלך העולם King of the universe Asher kidishanu bemitzvotav אשר קדשנו במצוותיו Who has sanctified us with His commandments Vitzivanu lehadlik ner shel Chanukah וצונו להדליק נר של חנכה And commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light She'asa nisim la'avoteinu bayamim שעשה נסים לאבותינו בימים Who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days haheim baz'man hazeh ההם בזמן הזה at this time (SEVIVO...

A joyous Hanukkah to all. It's a low-key, but festive occasion, commemorating the victory of the Maccabees over  the invading Greeks. You can read all the details here . So...the symbols of Hanukkah.  We light a menorah, one candle for each night, to remind us of the miracle of the oil -- when the Maccabees reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem, there was only enough oil in the Temple to light the sacred lights for one day, yet miraculously the menorah burned for 8 days, long enough to process more oil.  A dreidel (also called a sivivon) is a top with Hebrew letters.  The letters stand for the phrase "A Great Miracle Happened There".  In Israel they change it to "A Great Miracle Happened Here".  Children play a game by spinning the top. And, speaking of oil...we eat a lot of fried foods, most notably potato pancakes (latkes) and jelly donuts (sufganiyot). Here is some of the music of Hanukkah. You'll like the harmonies in this a capella tune: ...

Seen in the neighborhood

It's the winter solstice today, the shortest day of the year.  Tomorrow we gain another smidgen of daylight, then another, then another...and soon it will be spring again.... Though I shouldn't be wishing my life away, right? Really annoyed ....we had our office Christmas party yesterday.  It was lovely.  At the end, the boss gave each of us a bottle of wine.  I dropped mine as I was fumbling for the keys to Drew’s front door. His porch enjoyed a fine white. Seen on a NYC taxi: Very interesting ad. I saw the show on Broadway 3 times, memorized the cast album,  even named my cat Mr. Mistoffeles.  (Yes, it was the 80's, what can I say?). But the reviews of the movie ... maybe I’ll wait for the DVD ... This review was way too funny ...   https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/dec/19/cats-review-tom-hooper-judi-dench-idris-elba-taylor-swift#maincontent But we're definitely going to see the new Star Wars movie.  We have tickets for to...

When New Yorkers refer to “the tree”, they mean the one in Rockefeller Center. #skywatchfriday

History was made last night in Washington, DC.    But I’m not going to talk about it here.  I try to limit my political rants on the blog,    I’ll be semi frivolous and talk about reality TV instead. Survivor , a reality TV series, had its premiere May 31, 2000.  I didn't watch the show back then, didn't become a fan until much later in the show's run.  But I have to admit it's become a guilty pleasure. Last night was the season finale and reunion show for Survivor:Island of the Idols , the 39th season of the show. Notice I didn't say "live reunion".  Breaking with tradition, the reunion was taped yesterday afternoon, and aired several hours later. It's because of the scandal. #Metoo has hit Survivor . Kellee Kim complained to the producers that Dan Silo was touching her inappropriately, making her uncomfortable, and wouldn't stop even though she'd asked him to.  The producers stepped in, had off camera discussions with the cast, ...