An Icy Jerusalem

Cold weather is unusual in Jerusalem—but in March of last year a snowstorm briefly coated the city in white. It was Jerusalem’s first snow in 4 years, and Israelis from all over the country crowded the roads to the city so they could frolic in the winter weather. Later that month they had another opportunity to enjoy some icy entertainment, but this time, it was inside.

A team of Chinese ice sculptors was brought to the holy city to create "The City of Ice," a 1500-square-meter exhibit of ice carved into everything from giraffes and pandas to windmills and bridges. The show featured a fairy tale world, an ice bar, ice skating, and a miniature model of the city of Jerusalem, complete with all its famous attractions. Thousands of Jerusalemites crowded into the exhibit donning heavy coats and hats.

Producing the exhibit was hard work, and required bringing in translators and figuring out how to create, store, and transport the huge blocks of colored ice to the Old Train Station compound in Jerusalem. The project consumed more energy than the local soccer stadium, so it wasn’t exactly an environmentally-conservative endeavor. But, as this video shows, for a country that rarely sees snow at all, the results were jaw-dropping and truly memorable.

Don’t Call Me Mommy

I’ve wanted to write this vent for a long time, but felt like it would be a waste of time. Who cares, I told myself, about me objecting to getting called “Mommy” all the time–by people who aren’t my kid? I’m called “Mommy” constantly by random people who are looking for my attention as a parent–people like marketers, conference coordinators, headline writers, product developers, book authors, kids program creators, and bloggers.

PLEASE stop calling me “Mommy.”

Maybe my anger over being called “Mommy” by people I don’t parent strikes you as weird. If you know me personally, it might sound particularly odd coming from me–the same woman who tells my own boys, ages 7 and 8, that they can keep calling me “Mommy.” Apparently, the transition from “Mommy” to “Mom” happens organically somewhere around this age for boys. Somewhere in the depths of elementary school–whether in the boys’ rooms where kids don’t flush, or on the playground, or in carpools–they figure out that “Mom” is cool and “Mommy” is not.

While I realize that I’m going to have to go with the flow eventually, on a personal level, I’m resisting the transition to “Mom.” “Mom,” after all, is what is said before things like, “Can I borrow the car?” or “I’m dating this really cool person,” or “I’m at the police station.” I may be turning 40 next year, but I find that I’m just not ready to be “Mom” yet.

Continue reading.

Disney’s Anne Frank

A death-defying chase down an Amsterdam sewer. A theme song called “Living Free (Until the Nazis Find Us Again)” that’s just begging for an Academy Award. A nest of musical rats living in an attic who meet Anne Frank and her family and help them escape the Nazis…

These are just a few of the tropes of Disney’s Anne Frank, a production that never really existed. Lindsey Ellis, a blogger who operates under the moniker “Nostalgia Chick,” came up with the idea for the film, which she describes as “parodying the Disneyfication of real events (such as Pocahontas) and serious-toned stories (such as Hunchback of Notre Dame).”

Ellis didn't actually write the film, but she wrote an impeccably-detailed entry on the website TVTropes.com describing her proposed plot, including a Nazi sorceress, a dance routine titled “Life is Heil-arious,” and a “critically-panned” ending in which Anne single-handedly liberates Auschwitz.

In the real world, Walt Disney actually did produce anti-Nazi propaganda films during WWII. We wouldn't say that this (admittedly hilarious) teasing is warranted…but we won’t say it isn't.