Link roundup

1. This seems like a short story waiting to happen. Or maybe the start of the article is a short story all by itself:

In a small, windowless room in the bowels of the Westin St. Francis hotel on Union Square, Rob Holsen washes the hotel's money.

Every penny, nickel, dime and quarter.

Via.

2. The Chinese respect the Jews:

Last year’s Google Zeitgeist China rankings listed “why are Jews excellent?” in fourth place in the “why” questions category, just behind “why should I enter the party” and above “why should I get married?” (Google didn’t publish a "why" category in Mandarin this year.) And the apparent affection for Jewishness has led to a surprising trend in publishing over the last few years: books purporting to reveal the business secrets of the Talmud that capitalize on the widespread impression among Chinese that attributes of Judaism lead to success in the financial arts.

Via.

3. The Wall Street Journal's list of the best economics blogs.

Official Florida Panthers yarmulke

Tuesday, December 7, the Florida Panthers are giving away yarmulkes. Via these sites.

Oswald the unemployed rabbit (link roundup)

Oswald the Unluck Rabbit via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. Toy Story outtakes, perhaps.

2. Amsterdam's mayor has ordered the police to use "decoy Jews" in an effort to catch anti-Semitic attackers. Via.

3. Recipe for Toasted Marshmallow Shake. (!)

*Previously: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit desktop wallpaper.

*Buy Oswald the Lucky Rabbit toys at eBay.

International Federation of Shofar Makers (link roundup)

Made up Jewish union labels by Jewnion on sale here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. The founders of a high-performing charter school in the San Fernando Valley have been charged with embezzling $200,000.

2. The New York City teachers union has an office in Boca Raton, Florida.

3. A study indicates lots and lots of drinks marketed to kids contain lead.

*Previously: Jewish zodiac t-shirts.

*Buy Gustave Dore's illustrated Bible at Amazon.

Passover roundup

1. Download Exodus 2.0, a "special Idelsohn mixtape to help you celebrate Passover. Perfect for any seder." Via.

2. Download a 48-page Passover workbook. Via.

3. Matzoh Brei with Caramelized Apples recipe.

4. Apparently, the meal served at the Last Supper has grown in artistic interpretations over the last 1,00 years.

*Buy Moses toys at eBay.

You can be Jewish and study karate (link roundup)

You can be Jewish and study karate via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. Relatedly, Neil Gaiman responds to an article asking Why There Is No Jewish Narnia.

2. Reporters hired by the Church of Scientology to investigate the St. Petersburg Times express disappointment with the way their report is being portrayed by the Church. Via.

3. I haven't forgotten to announce the winners of last months two giveaways, I've actually contacted all the winners, but I'm waiting to hear back from two people. If I haven't heard from them by 5:00 a.m. this Friday, I'll pick two substitute winners.

*Previously: Advertisement for Chuck Norris' Action Jeans.

*Buy karate patches at eBay.

Rabbis with guns (link roundup)

Does any newspaper even come close to the NY Post in terms of irresistible covers and headlines? Click through to see the "Temple of Boom" and "Mazel-Tough Guys." Via.

And a few more links:

1. Great interview in which Alan Moore talks about the genesis of the Miracleman stories that he wrote. Looking back, he says the stories are so "grim and ugly" that he doesn't want his name on them when they're republished. He's certainly right, they are grim (and excellent) in the manner of Watchmen (Neil Gamain's Miracleman: The Golden Age is also frequently horribly depressing), but I wonder how he distinguishes them from the graphic rapes and other misdeeds that star in his League books. Via.

2. Photo gallery of the interior of the new LAPD headquarters downtown. Via.

3. Hot rod pedal car.

*Previously: Jewish Journal April Fool's cover.

*Buy Miracleman toys at eBay.

Superjew t-shirt (link roundup)

Superman logo/Star of David mashup t-shirt (worn by Seth Rogen in Funny People) on sale here.

And a few more links:

1. Why people who live in Manhattan live in Manhattan. (I think it would be a little more compelling before everyone had the internet).

2. Great photo of a guy diving near a waterfall.

3. Most Traveled Man.com is a site that allows people to track how many of the world's "762 countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups, and major states and provinces" they've visited.

*Previously: Dwight Howard as Superman sculpture.

*Buy Superman wind-up toys at eBay.

Cartoony Jack Sparrow (link roundup)

Cartoony Jack Sparrow by Jeca Esporro for the MojiZu battle.

And a few more links:

1. Photos of young Phil Jackson with and without mustache.

2. Sonia Sotomayor belonged to an all-women networking group called Belizean Grove. It's a "constellation of influential women." Via.

3. Koogle is a search engine with a web filter specifically designed to block sites that might be objectionable to religious Jews. If you try to use it on the Sabbath, when work is forbidden, it crashes. Via.

4. Now this is how to sell a dvd at Target.

*Previously: Haunted Hassid.

*Buy NBA bobbleheads at eBay.

Haunted Hassid

Haunted Hassidic Jew by Jan Kallwejt, which came to my attention because Jan has a t-shirt on sale at Threadless this week:



Lots more art on display at Jan's site, including Princess Leia as a graffiti artist.

And also on sale at Threadless this week is this goofy face by Olivier Fritsch Gomez:



*Previously: Religious ruling permits ultra-orthodox Jews to operate their mobile phones on the Sabbath and religious holidays with their teeth.

*Buy "The T-Shirt: A Collection of 500 Designs" at Amazon,

Clever signs on tip jars (link roundup)

Go here for a gallery of clever signs on tip jars. Although I liked this one better when I thought it said, "Yer change, leave it with us."

And a few more links:

1. Read what happened when Israeli newspaper Haaretz "sent most of his staff reporters home and sent 31 of Israel’s finest authors and poets to cover the day’s news." Via these sites.

2. Lost's Hurley as a Klingon.

3. "A religious ruling permits ultra-orthodox Jews to operate their mobile phones on the Sabbath and religious holidays with their teeth." Via Fark where the first few comments about sum it up.

4. World's oldest sunglasses, perhaps. Via.

*Previously: Instant anonymity with Black Bars sunglasses.

*Buy Dharma Initiative merchandise at eBay.

Found item Enterprise (link roundup)

Found item Enterprise. It lights up. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Sculpture of some creepy folks in love.

2. The crew of Futurama in their ship animated emoticon.

3. "The Vulcan greeting is based upon a blessing gesture used by the kohanim (koe-hah-NEEM) during the worship service. The kohanim are the genealogical descendants of the Jewish priests who served in the Jerusalem Temple." Link.

4. Little Big Planet's Sackboy dressed as Dracula, Lady Vampire, Werewolf, and Zombie.

*Previously: Sackboy as Kratos desktop wallpaper.

*Buy Futurama toys at eBay.

"Share" poster

The notes say this amusingly condescending image is a reproduction of a 1917 poster for the Jewish Relief Committee. Can you imagine the uproar if someone created an image like this today on behalf of the middle east? On sale at eBay.

*Previously: Newlyweds share a lightsaber duel.

*Buy propaganda posters at eBay.

Hauser or is it Quaid? (link roundup)

An homage to Total Recall, one of my favorite movies, by Jeff Ramirez. The prints are on sale for $60 each at Gallery 1998.

And a few more links:

1. Washington Post editor Doug Feaver says anonymous comments should be allowed . . . because it's important for everyone to remember that there are lunatics out there. Via.

2. So what hurts the Los Angeles Times' credibility more, that they ran an ad on the front page that looked like a genuine news article, or that over 100 staffers signed a petition criticizing the move? Via.

3. President Obama is the first president to hold a Passover Seder. Here's the guest list. I'd like to see a version of Exodus drawn by Mike Mignola. Via.

4. Star Wars Easter Bunny.

*Previously: Moses vs. Egyptian zombies flash game.

*Buy Moses toys at eBay.

"Jewish Zodiac" t-shirts

A few of the food-themed "Jewish Zodiac" logos available on t-shirts and other merchandise here. Via.

*Previously: Chinese Zodiac paper toys.

*Buy zodiac jewelry at eBay.

And You Shall Know Us By The Trail Of Our Vinyl

I received a review copy of "And You Shall Know Us By The Trail Of Our Vinyl" by Roger Bennett and Josh Kun. The book's description probably won't get anyone too excited (unless they're already excited about Jewish music) - - it's an overview of Jewish music in the 20th Century. But the book features hundreds of album covers, ranging from the famous to the obscure to the absurd, and sometimes a picture is worth 1,000 words. For example, the book's cover, which you can see above, is the cover of one of Sol Zim's many albums. Zim describes himself as a "gladiator on stage . . . I look and act just like Tom Jones."

Here's a few more, difficult to believe, lp covers featured in the book:






You'll have to buy the book if you want to see what the cover of "Some Like It Yiddish" looks like.

Here's the book's official site, which features photos and videos. You can listen to samples from a few of the albums here.

"And You Shall Know Us By The Trail Of Our Vinyl" would make an outstanding gift for anyone who loves music or art, and comes out just in time for Hanukah. It's currently 34% off at Amazon. And if you plan on giving the book as gift, pair it with a copy of the album Sexy Stories With A Yiddisha Flavor.

Rally Rabbi bobblehead

On sale at eBay. Here's footage of the real Rally Rabbi Langer blowing his shofar at a San Francisco Giants game:



The Rally Rabbi has his own blog.

Brought to my attention via Todd Lappin for Laughing Squid.