Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Buy Militant Mom tee shirts, tank tops and CDs and SAVE NOW!


'Tis the season to get a unique gift for your loved ones!

I am offering a nice price on my merchandise especially for Guitargirl's Digital Diary readers. The following information comes from my website, www.militant-mom.com. I will give you top priority because you are so nice. :)

NOTE! For now, until I get the Paypal working on the website, contact me through the website and we will take your order manually. Thanks for your patience!

The "Fetching Militant Mom Tee Shirt"

In your Fetching Militant Mom tee shirt, your place will be in public! Nikki of British mom band The Mothers, her son Elvin and husband Neil (pictured) agree! Elegant and egalitarian, our high-quality tee shirt is the perfect shirt if you:

* Are a Militant Mom
* Live with a Militant Mom
* Are the child/ren of a Militant Mom
* Know a Militant Mom!

Flashy, Fabulous and -- of course -- Fetching, it's a head turner for casual wear or even a night on the town. Our Fetching Militant Mom tee shirt is 100-percent cotton and made by Anvil. Available in S, M, L and XL. Silk screen imprint. Machine washable. Cuts are perfect for all, so pick your favorite size. SPECIALLY PRICED AT $12 EACH! Buy now at http://militant-mom.com/store.php.


The "Militant Mom Boy Nurturer"

Here's Claire, also of the British mom rock band The Mothers (and Callum's mum), sporting the Militant Mom Boy Nurturer. Go ahead -- make your statement! You'll be the mom who's got it going on in our eye-catching Militant Mom Boy Nurturer. We hope you like attention. You'll get a lot of it when you wear this flattering tank top, because every day is Mother's Day when you wear this little heart-stopper. Our Boy Nurturer is a 100-percent rib-knit cotton tank top made by Classic Girl. Available in M, L and XL. Washable with a silk screened imprint. Sizes run small. SPECIALLY PRICED AT $15! Buy now at http://militant-mom.com/store.php.




Militant Mom CD

This sampler CD features two songs which were unleashed at Mamapalooza 2005 festival during Lynda's appearance at Arlene's Grocery in New York City. SPECIALLY PRICED AT $5! Buy now at http://militant-mom.com/store.php.

Prices are in $US. Please add $3 for s/h on US orders. Canadian orders please add $5 for s/h.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

A bloated, er, belated Thanksgiving wish
for my friends who worship at the altar of
Urban Legends

I received this Thanksgiving message and thought I would share it with you. If you cut and paste it, and send it to EVERYONE YOU KNOW, they say I will receive a date with Joaquin Phoenix and will be entitled to give him a lifetime's worth of free guitar lessons. And you will receive a coupon redeemable for free groceries at your local supermarket. At least, that's what the e-mail from my friend's mother's cousin's co-worker said. So don't blow this for me, okay? :)
xoxoxo
moi
____________________________________________

*I wish to express my thanks to all those who forwarded such informative e-mails, for instance, the one about rats in the glue on envelopes because I now have to get a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.

*Also, I scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

*I want to thank all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me your chain letters over the past 12 months. You have made me feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy. Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

*I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper, since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans.

*I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

*I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with HIV/ AIDS.

*I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

*I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

*I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

*I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

*I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

*I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

*I no longer date the opposite sex because they will take my kidneys and leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.

*I no longer have any sneakers -- but that will change once I receive my free replacement pair from Nike.

*I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neimann Marcus since I now have their recipe.

*I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl who is about to die in the hospital (for the 1,387,258th time).

*I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

*I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me and St. Theresa’s novena has granted my every wish.

*Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

*Yes, I want to thank you so much for looking out for me that I will now return the favor!

*If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM (CST) this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband’s cousin's beautician!

Monday, November 21, 2005

Weizmann Institute President Ilan Chet, me, Marty and outgoing Weizmann chairman Stuart Eizenstadt. Taken at Cipriani's in NYC during the recent American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science's New York Gala. It was a beautiful event. Kudos to all who delivered this memorable evening.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

My dear friend David Amram asked me to share this with the world. This show is a rare opportunity to celebrate a musical legend and raise money for Katrina victims!
Lynda

DO NOT MISS!
···Amram 75th Birthday Gala Tribute!! ···
Nov. 19, 2005 - 8 PM - Tarrytown Music Hall
13 MAIN STREET, Tarrytown, NY 10591

Amram Jam II - 75th birthday tribute to David Amram, celebrating his music and his pioneering work and collaborations with stars from the worlds of music, theater, film and literature, celebrating FIFTY YEARS of Amram's collaborations since moving to New York in 1955.

The first half of the program celebrates his symphonic and operatic compositions as well as his music for the theater, films, opera and what 48 years later is known as Spoken Word, Classical saxophonist from the BOSTON SYMPHONY Kenneth Radnofsky will perform a movement from Amram's saxophone concerto "Ode to Lord Buckley," and Metropolitan Opera violist Midhat Serbagi will play instrumental excerpts from Amram's opera "Twelfth Night" with a libretto by Joe Papp. Also featured in Amram's lifelong work in championing what is now called World Music are Oud virtuoso George Mgrdichian, and Native American flautist David Little Eagle.

In addition, celebrating Amram's work in the theater and films, are ACTORS John Ventimiglia ("The Sopranos"), Keir Dullea ("2001"), and Jerry Stiller, with whom Amram worked for the very first summer of the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1957. Prize-winning author Joyce Johnson will recount Amram's ground breaking collaborations with Jack Kerouac in 1957 at New York's first-ever Jazz/poetry readings. Amram's three children, Adira, Alana and Adam will also perform.

The second half of the program, AMRAM JAM II, features MUSICIANS Paquito de Rivera, Jerry Dodgion and Vic Juris, in an all star jam session of Amram's jazz, Latin and World Music compositions, with surprise guests sitting in. A portion of the proceeds from this concert will be donated to the Jazz Foundation of America for Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts for New Orleans and Gulf Coast area jazz musicians. For tickets, call Jazz Forum Arts at 914-631-1000. For further info and ticket info, see http://www.jazzforumarts.org/amram.htm


DAVID AMRAM BIO

David Amram has composed more than 100 orchestral and chamber music works,written many scores for Broadway theater and film, including the classic scores forthe films "Splendor in The Grass" and "The Manchurian Candidate;" two operas, including the ground-breaking Holocaust opera "The Final Ingredient;" and the score for the landmark 1959 documentary "Pull My Daisy," narrated by novelist Jack Kerouac. He is also the author of two books, "Vibrations," an autobiography, and "Offbeat: Collaborating With Kerouac," a memoir.

A pioneer player of jazz French horn, he is also a virtuoso on piano, numerousflutes and whistles, percussion, and dozens of folkloric instruments from 25 countries,as well as an inventive, funny improvisational lyricist. He has collaborated withLeonard Bernstein, who chose him as The New York Philharmonic's firstcomposer-in-residence in 1966, Langston Hughes, Dizzy Gillespie, Dustin Hoffman,Willie Nelson, Thelonious Monk, Odetta, Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, Charles Mingus,Lionel Hampton, E. G. Marshall, and Tito Puente. Amram's most recent work"Giants of the Night" is a flute concerto dedicated to the memory Charlie Parker, Jack Kerouac and Dizzy Gillespie, three American artists Amram knew and worked with. It was commissioned and recently premiered by Sir James Galway, who alsoplans to record it. He is also completing his third book Nine Lives of a Musical Cat.

Today, as he has for over fifty years, Amram continues to compose music while traveling the world as a conductor, soloist, bandleader, visiting scholar, and narratorin five languages. He is also currently working with author Frank McCourt on a newsetting of the Mass, "Missa Manhattan," as well as on a symphony commissionedby the Guthrie Foundation, "symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie."Amram and his son live on their family farm in upstate New York, when not on tour. Visit www.davidamram.com

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

After 10 years, Marty still finds the way to pleasantly surprise me ;->


In honor of my mother's memory, my sweet husband dedicated a plaque and sculpture at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, this past Monday. Housed in the Belfer Building for Molecular Genetics, the sculpture was created by an Israeli artist who specializes in scientific renderings. Yes, it's hard to miss the fact that it's a very erotic sculpture, but life is and should be erotic and sensuous and delicious and scrumptious and pleasing and happy.

I know that Mum is smiling down from the heavens, as Suzette said to me when she heard about this dedication.

And anyway, when you see the context of the pieces, it is apparent that, like life itself, these erotic little statues are part of something much, much bigger. I am glad that we are able to help advance science just a little bit through my family's generous gesture. Maybe one day we will eradicate the killer disease that took my mother from us, and other diseases that rob families and friends of their loved ones. One day soon those who elude these killers will be able to take a bite of the yummy, sexy, big ol' life that they might otherwise have missed.

Way to go, Marty. You got me where it counts.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Pink and Black Flamingos

I'm back! I spent the past few days in Toronto. While I was up, enjoying the amazing weather, tending to family biz and seeing friends, I got back into my winter sock knitting mode. This is my latest creation. I call it, "Pink and Black Flamingos." They were inspired by my best friend's daughter, who asked me to make her a pair of house sox. Within 24 hours (with time in between to socialize, eat, sleep, get to the airport, commute from Toronto to Newark, make it to the house and do some grocery shopping), they were complete.

In case you're interested, it's a Sherman toe-up pattern which is so easy to do and so mindless that you can actually watch TV and yell at the kids at the same time. I made them up on bamboo double pointed needles (size U.S. 2) using my favorite sock yarn, Red Heart Lustre Sheen in flamingo and black colours. The trim is done by mixing Lustre Sheen black with Bernat Envy. If you want the pattern, get in touch. :)

On Halloween, the night before I left for TO, I took a run with Miriam down to Staten Island where we cavorted with guitar god John Castellano and his family. His son Richie, who is also an incredible guitarist, is the bass player for Blue Oyster Cult. We had been invited to see Richie's own band this night. The costumes were a riot and it was great to get my kid into a club where great music played by gifted musicians is appreciated. Here's a pic of Mir with Richie. Two chips off the ol' blox.

TO notes: I took Dad to see our cousin Brenda and her family. She is a great pianist whose son is also a great pianist. We are a very musical bunch on all sides! At the lunch table Dad started singing an old song that he and Brenda's mother used to sing in the old country when they were little children, before the Nazis. He started to cry. This is the second time in my life I've ever seen Dad break down. I guess this is what happens when you are 91 years old and memories of a world lost come swelling up.

It was Holocaust Education Week in Toronto and there were many programmes taking place most days and evenings. My mother had to cancel her appearance at last year's event due to her illness. It was hauntingly empty to be here during this week and not have her around. I found myself seeking her out, wanting to tell her what I saw or heard. A very, very raw nerve.

Our other cousin, Larry Anklewicz, is the programming coordinator of Toronto's Jewish Film Festival. We bacame very close this past year. As a sort of welcome to TO, Larry took me to a special screening of The Protocols of Zion with director Marc Levin in a Q&A afterward.

It's more heartening than it sounds, although I'm sure you're getting shades of Woody Allen taking his date to see The Sorrow and the Pity in the movie Annie Hall. This is the kind of thing that children of Holocaust survivors do for one another as a friendly gesture -- they take you to programmes that address anti-semitism and the Holocaust.

(To wit: Later in the week my girlfriend would take me to see Helen Epstein who gave a very creative and informative how-to presentation on collecting family memoirs. Helen wrote the landmark book about people like us called Children of the Holocaust. She did much of her research in Toronto, where a critical mass of survivors and their families came to live.)

After the screening of Protocols, on the way home, Larry informed me that his son Mike, who is also a great musician, has just completed a project called The Golem of Bathurst Manor. He gave me a copy and what can I say? It's killer avante garde jazz klezmer, and should be on your compulsory listening list! Having just written a song about Bathurst Manor called "Manor Girl," I was astounded by Mike's choice of title. Back in The Day, the Manor was a Holocaust survivor enclave. But when we were growing up, who knew?

Also while I was in TO, the Hadassah Bazaar was on. It's been called the world's largest one-day flea market, although it's mostly new items for very cheap. My mother was a perennial president of the Masada chapter. Every year, the night before the Bazaar, Mum and I would go down to the Automotive Building at the Exhibition grounds to take the last-minute donations in. You needed special ID to get in that night. We were special! We would also get to shop around to see what everyone else was selling. Sometimes they would sell stuff to each other. That was the best part. Masada was the largest chapter and rented three booths. I always got interesting and fun stuff there. In fact, I still have a pair of leather and down ski mitts that I bought for a buck years ago.

All that aside, let's face it: I was the child of a celebrity -- a chapter President! -- and I went down cruising for my mother's friends. I was not successful -- although I did manage to buy a few lovely things for the girls. While waiting at the streetcar, I bumped into Mrs. Kurtz, a fellow chapter member and old friend of my mother's who had met my folks before I was born. We rode together all the way back up north. She told me stories about my parents and about their friends. Then she reached into one of the immense shopping bags, which were filled with things for her grandchildren, and handed me a bag of cookies for my girls. She gave me a big hug and kiss before she got off at her stop. That was worth the whole trip.

The rest of my trip was spent in the joyous, uplifting labour of planning Yona's bat mitzvah and the less joyous also equally spiritual purchase of my mother's headstone and planning of her unveiling. These events will take place on the same weekend in June, and the following week the girls will be off to camp, if all goes according to the plan.

Of course, there's also Mamapalooza news. But more on that later.

Back to the grind.