An interesting story appeared in the Jerusalem Post yesterday, penned by a woman using the pseudonym "Oranit." In the article, she describes her experiences at the funeral for her cousin in Yavne last month. Among the items she describes: Then the body of the deceased was carried out to the men's se...

Back in January, we all recoiled a little bit at the news that Neil LaBute was remaking Death at a Funeral -- a nice little British movie that only just came out in 2007, making a remake seem even more superfluous than they usually are. The fact that he was making it with Chris Rock made the whole t...

A friend sent me this amusing obituary from last week's paper: Anna May Flynn, 90, went home with the Lord to join her husband, Ralph, and kick his butt for leaving her alone for 15 years after his passing to deal with their trouble-making, heathen children. After a long fight with old-age that wore...

Yesterday was baptism day. We have baptisms on the last Sunday of the month. We take turns, which means each of us gets to preside four times a year. I really enjoy it, even with all of its ritual chaos and the depressing presence of those who are only "cultural Catholics." It's a beautiful ritual w...

"Fourth Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" featuring Danny Federici, Bruce and E Street, Indianapolis 3/2008. Danny rejoined the band one last time. Hard to watch but lovely performance. At the very end of the song Bruces gives Danny a buss......

Today is March 3rd, and today happens to be my 28th birthday. I never thought 28 would come so quickly. Just a few years ago, 28 seemed so far away. But it’s here, and i still feel like i could be 21. I guess maybe that is a good thing. I celebrated my 28th birthday by going to work, to the gy...

Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Independent, MGM, New on DVD, Home Entertainment, Cinematical Indie My indie pick of the week is Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited ; which our own Monika Bartyzel has already reviewed elsewhere. My next pick is a film that Cinematical's Scott Weinberg recommended: Dea...

This weekend has been kind of a blur. I am in a funk about Amira's passing. No, we all knew she was dying, it wasn't a surprise, but she was such a giving person. We wanted to go down and see her service (tomorrow at 6pm in Buchanan, Virginia) but there was no way to get down there, drive for 3 hour...

A friend of mine called me a couple of nights ago to tell me that a girl we'd gone to high school with had passed away. This woman and I weren't friends, but I'm from a small town so when someone dies, an all points bulletin of sorts is issued. As my friend told me about this woman's death, I tried ...

The funeral is today. I cant decide if I want to go or not. Selfish? Probaby!   The family is having an open casket viewing before the service. I am not able to attend that. Not because I have other committments but because I, personally, cannot do it! I am not comfortable seeing him that way. ...