MY URBAN KVETCH

Your Tweets: The Book!

[Repost from ROICommunity.org]

If you're a fan of Twitter and fancy yourself a writer who really ought to be a published author, now you can be! Tweetbookz, the brainchild of the Definitely Something team (ROIer Jacob Shwirtz and business partner Asael Kahana) now binds your Tweets of 140 characters into a softcover or hardcover book for your friends, family members and bookshelves. You can follow this project on Twitter at @tbookz.

Some facts about TweetBookz: 5.5 inches high and 8.5 inches wide, the books are composed of up to 200 tweets, one per page, starting from your most recent. You can chose to remove any tweets you don’t want included. All covers are printed in full color, and all insides of books are black-and-white. You can choose a hard cover ($30) or soft cover ($20) for your book, and the books can support characters in English, Hebrew, French and Spanish.

Personally, I can't wait for My Tweets: The Book to be turned into "My Tweets: The Movie," and eventually, of course, "My Tweets! The Musical."

The endeavor has been covered in the Wall Street Journal and Gawker today, but otherwise, you are among the first to know of this endeavor...check out their video to see if you notice any other ROIers namedropped in the video. We'll give you a hint: if you enjoy social media, this could be the Best Week Ever.

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The Second Coming of "My Jesus Year"

Of course that's what they're calling it. Benyamin Cohen, rabbi's son and intrepid explorer of churches nationwide, announces the paperback release of his book, "My Jesus Year." The trailer (yes, even books have trailers these days) promoting the release has it all: footage of Cohen on the talk show circuit, Jesus puns, and, of course, a nod to the recession. Check it out here!

In Honor of a Majorly Cool Jew

My friend Lisa Alcalay Klug, she of the indefatigable enthusiasm and energy who has become the darling of Jewlicious Festival and many other "cool Jew" ventures, published her book, "Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe" last week. Jewish TV Network did an interview with her about the book--see her in action in the clip below, buy the book at Amazon.com, BN.com or directly from the publisher; and check out her extensive list of book tour related events, coming to a venue near you...

Tel Aviv Intermezzo

Welcome to Tel Aviv!

We kicked off our tour of Tel Aviv with a trip to the beach, of course. Then we glammed up for a Tel Avivi party in honor of the publication of Tel Aviv City Guide, which was written by friend and journalist Lisa Goldman. It took place at Beit Kastiel, which we can best describe as a beautiful, fancy, high-end furniture store in a bad neighborhood (Florentin/S. Tel Aviv). I also met SavtaDotty and Liza from SomethingSomething, and had a lovely reunion with Harry (The View From Here, Jerusalemite). I believe it was SavtaDotty (although might have been someone else) who told me that Florentin today is like SoHo used to be back when it was dirty and dangerous. (Not her exact words.) This basically means that property costs are soaring and there are very few available apartments. What's the book like, you ask? It seemed cool, but since Ketel Vodka was sponsoring the event (which had begun with champagne and many unkosher hors d'oeuvre), I can't say that I actually remembered to pick one up...(At any rate, Kol Hakavod to Lisa.) Then we went out with Ori from Coolooloosh, which was really nice, catching up on the band's progress since the Israelity Tour over a drink at Bugsy's.

Then we headed out with a friend to the Ben-Gurion Museum, two places which we visited yesterday. We kicked off our day with the Pulver breakfast at Aroma at the Namal (that's the port of Tel Aviv), where we begin our morning sipping our "hafuchim" and networking with web-savvy, creative individuals. I met many folks, including Brian Blum, whose blog (This Normal Life) I've been reading since the early days, my new Twitter pal IsraLuv, Nir Kouris and one of his young partners at EcampIsrael, and others (apologies for not linking to all). We wore our names and catchphrases (ex, Lindsay's "I refuse to Twitter") and then with stickers, "tagged" ourselves with keywords (mine included "Blogger 4 Hire," "pop culture," "Jewish life," and others). Very creative and a good icebreaker. (Unite that with drunken brainstorming, and we could really have something!)

Other highlights included driving around Tel Aviv while listening to great music, dining at a fabulous restaurant overlooking the sea and with great views of the city, and hanging out with a friend and his kids at a campfire and learning Hebrew from Israeli children. (Best way to learn Hebrew, I'm convinced.)

Today we took an early swim and headed into meetings for the rest of the day before returning to Jerusalem. Or, as the TA locals reacted, "You're going back where? Why?"

Shut Up, I'm Talking! New Book about Israeli Diplomacy

A friend of a friend has published this book, the title of which makes me laugh...It's called Shut Up, I'm Talking : And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government--A Memoir. The author, Greg Levey, was the speechwriter for the Israeli mission to the United Nations and then made aliyah and became Ariel Sharon’s English speechwriter. (And he's a Taglit-birthright israel alum.)

The book will appeal to anyone interested in international politics, the U.N., Israel, or political humor. Here’s how the publisher described it: "How does a New York law student apply for an internship at the Israeli Consulate and wind up writing speeches for Ariel Sharon during one of the most turbulent times in Israeli history? Wit and wisdom mingle in this hilarious real-life adventure."

The book comes out officially on Tuesday April 22--those in NYC are invited to attend the launch event at Borders  (see the book's website for all additional info). Here's a summary:

Shut Up, I'm Talking is a smart, hilarious insider take on Israeli politics that reads like the bastard child of Thomas Friedman and David Sedaris. When twenty-five-year-old law student Gregory Levey applied for an internship at the Israeli Consulate in New York, he got way more of an education than he'd bargained for. The speechwriter for the Israeli delegation to the United Nations was quitting, and Levey was asked to step in to fill the vacancy. Suddenly he found himself, like a latter-day Zelig, in the company of foreign ministers, U.S. senators, and heads of state. Much to his surprise, he was soon attending U.N. sessions and drafting official government statements. The situation got stranger still when he was transferred to Jerusalem to write speeches for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Pre-order this book on Amazon.com.

 

The Jewish Blogger Recipe Virtual Collective

Of course, your favorite bloggers tickle your emotional palates with scintillating and refreshing posts about all aspects of their Jewish identity and theorizing, providing you the lists of ingredients that compose the complicated insouciance of their daily, contemporary Jewish lives. But, to paraphrase Joan Rivers' standard red carpet inquiry, "What are they eating?"

Thanks to the 92y blog (shoutout to Krucoff, he of the Jerusalem bar mitzvah and subsequent rejection of rumor-mongering Gawker for the more wholesome life of Jewish nonprofit blogging), I now have Jewcy president/editor-in-chief Tahl Raz's famous Israeli salad recipe. It's part of the 92nd Street Y Cookbook. Which I didn't really know existed. But now I can pair Tahl's salad with Gael Greene's Orange Fruit Soup, or if I prefer, have a dessert-off between F. Murray Abraham's Choco Dot Pumpkin Cake and Dr. Ruth Westheimer's Hamantaschen. (No, that's not a euphemism.)

I wonder what my favorite bloggers have been hiding, recipe-wise. And if I can get some of my recipe-smitten gal pals to step up and organize a recipe collective for Jewish bloggers...

"Guilt" in Translation

The bestselling "Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt," authored by friend and colleague Ruthie Ellenson, is now available in Israel in Hebrew.  It features essays from Jewish women writers about the concept of guilt and how it figures into their lives--from a woman repeatedly mistaken for Monica Lewinsky because she's dark-haired and Jewish, to a woman for whom JDate is both addiction and albatross.

What? You're a man, and feel like you have no need of a Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Anything? Wrong-o, buddy. This book provides a vital glimpse into the Jewish woman's mind and heart, and what SJM couldn't benefit from that?

For a page that describes the book in Hebrew, click here.

The book will be available in stores in February, so if you're in Israel go to Steimatzky's and demand your fix.

Can't wait? Click here and order from the publisher.

Shoutout to Ruthie for all she's achieved with this book and her international touring. Here's to much success, and a reduction in the guilt we all feel, mostly just because we're Jewish women.

Harry Potter and the Nefarious Sabbath-Violators

On Saturdays, most Israeli businesses are closed, some of them in observance of the Jewish Sabbath, which runs from Friday night to Saturday night. But now a young wizard, to whose adventures many Israeli children are addicted, threatens the sanctity of the Sabbath. Sabbath candles or no Sabbath candles, some Israeli bookstores are going to defy the public law and supply Potter crackheads with their last dose of teen wizardry. (From the Miami Herald)

With Israelis already clamoring for "Deathly Hallows," many bookstores are planning to launch the book at the appointed hour. That has drawn fire from Orthodox Jewish lawmakers, including Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai, who threatened to fine any store that opens Saturday."Israeli law forbids businesses to force their employees to work on the Sabbath, and that applies in this case as well. The minister will fine and prosecute any businesses which violate the law," said Roei Lachmanovich, a spokesman for Yishai, of the ultra-0rthodox Jewish Shas party. [...]

Steimatzky, Israel's biggest bookstore chain, is holding a gala event in Tel Aviv beginning Friday night to launch the book, and the company has no plans to change the time, said spokeswoman Alona Zamir.

"We're required by our agreement with the book's publisher to launch the book at the same time as everywhere else in the world," Zamir said.

Wingardium leviosa!!

For Beliefnet's rendition of this story, see here.
 

"New" Tolkein Book Has a Hebrew Title

Well, maybe. According to CNN.com, the "new" Tolkein book is called "The Children of Hurin." Maybe it's just me, emerging from a magical Passover Sederland, but that title sounds a lot like the Haggadic "benei chorin," meaning "free people."

The story is set long before "The Lord of the Rings" in a part of Middle-earth that was drowned before Hobbits ever appeared, and tells the tragic tale of Turin and his sister Nienor who are cursed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord.

I'm tempted to conjecture that Morgoth is Pharaoh and that the drowning was in the Red Sea, and to conjecture that Turin tries to save the people and then Nienor dances and shakes timbrels after Morgoth's armies drown in the sea. But I haven't read the book, so that would just be irresponsible reporting.

Catch a (Jewish Literary) Rising Star

You might think that since the Oscars are over, all awards have been distributed to all deserving artists the world over. But you'd be wrong, because when it comes to Jewish literature, it's still Awards Season; and when it comes to the the Oscars of the Jewish literary world, the Annual National Jewish Book Awards, you're invited to attend.

On March 6th, when NY's Center for Jewish History hosts the 56th Annual National Jewish Book Awards, admission will be free and open to the public as the People of the Book celebrate the people who write books. There might not be a red carpet or fancy and taxable gift bags, and the paparazzi will likely be very civil and nonintrusive, but the event will feature attendance by Jewish literati, like Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, winner of the Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year Award for his most recent opus, A Code of Jewish Ethics, Vol. 1:  You Shall Be Holy), and winners in sixteen other categories, like Dara Horn (The World to Come), Daniel Mendelsohn (The Lost: A Search for Six of the Six Million), David Cesarani (Becoming Eichmann: Rethinking the Life, Crimes and Trial of a "Desk Murderer") Shuly Rubin Schwartz (The Rabbi's Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life) and others.

The event is said to be one of great spirit, and will be hosted by the famous journalistic duo of Ari Goldman and Sam Freedman (both professors at Columbia School of Journalism). The program is followed by a literary schmoozefest and book signing with the authors.

Your only excuse for not going is if you're already in California for Jewlicious at the Beach. Everyone else will want to report to the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street) at 7:30pm for this evening with the Jewish literary stars. More information about this event and a full list of the authors being honored is available here.

(This event is brought to you by the Jewish Book Council.)

Cross-posted at Jewlicious.