Whistling in the Dark - Latest Comments

Re: Darlington Cultural Conversation – 21 April 2012

Michael Chitty — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:44:13 -0000

I really enjoyed my first ever visit to Darlington. Some great conversations and some really lovely people too...

Re: Jim Gilliam: The Internet Is My Religion

High School Diploma — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:49:59 -0000

Thanks for taking
time for sharing this article, it was excellent and very informative it’s my
first time that I visit here i found a lot of informative stuff in your article
keep it up thank you.

Re: Photos of the Hartlepool Jewish Cemetery

Yaffa — Sun, 08 May 2011 14:47:20 -0000

Thanks for the kind words. If you want more information about the History of the Jewish community in this area a great site is: http://www.kmbro.org/

There are many places in the world with Jewish cemeteries in locations with very few Jewish people remaining. I decided to put these online with the information on the stones to help people doing research on their genealogy and just to honour the community that was once here.

Hope you enjoyed your visit to Hartlepool.

Re: Photos of the Hartlepool Jewish Cemetery

Kejori — Thu, 05 May 2011 02:22:14 -0000

Your photographs are very good. I came across this Jewish cemetery during a weekend break with my wife. We had just gone to see the coast when we came across it. The cemetery is isolated at the top of a beach between the sea and a council housing estate. It seems a strange place for members of the lost tribe of Israel to end their days but maybe the area was very different in the past. The chimney in the derelict works next door still stands but the rest is just rubble and strewn with rubbish. On the seaward side the skelital remains of a long wooden jetty run out into the sea. The place seemed so lonely especially with the wall dividing it from the rest of the cemetery which is now a nature reserve. Your photographs reflect the feeling of the place very well. I took some photographs myself thinking at the time I would be the only one who had done it until that is I decided to research it on the internet and found your posts.

Re: Photos of my grandfather

Yaffa — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:38:19 -0000

Thank you so much for the information on the photos.

Re: Photos of my grandfather

Vita Shaldova — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 05:57:31 -0000

on the first photo they are reading "The latest news", newspaper in Latvian. on the last he is reading "The Life in Dvinsk", in Russian. Dvinsk, or Daugavpils, is a town on the East of Latvia, close to the border with Russia. it's more than 350 km far from Tukums

Re: Paul Heaton’s poem from The Beautiful South Show at Cake Shop + Videos

Corey — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:25:20 -0000

Listening to this on YouTube, while reading the (close) lyrics, I see this song as genius & a sad commentary on the state of reality...

FUCK ALL!

Re: Funny representations of internet browser users

Yaffa — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:51:17 -0000

tee hee, I thought it was funny that he could say it with a straight face : )

Re: Funny representations of internet browser users

tacet — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:47:54 -0000

What is going on with the firefox lady? Also interesting that Balmer cites IE as the most "compatible" browser, with what?...itself? ...it's certainly not compatible with the various international stantards of modern times. IE8 is border line, 5,6,7 forget it.

Do youself a favour and opt for Chrome, Firefox or Opera. Try them all and see which one you prefer.

Re: Fun day in Sunderland

Amanda — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:31:12 -0000

Wow. Sounds like a lot of fun. Great pictures!

Re: Fun day in Sunderland

Amanda — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:30:40 -0000

Wow. It sounds like you had a lot of fun. Great pics!

Re: Muslim Women – Hijab vs. Niqab, Plans for Peace, NYC

Yaffa — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 09:24:56 -0000

Alaykum Salaam Khadijah. Thank you for taking the time to comment. I find the hijab and niqab similar to Jewish Orthodox women who cover their hair or whose custom it is to wearr stockings even in summer or some Orthodox Jewish men who wear dark suits even in summer as it is their custom.

This blog post was mostly an ode to tolerance and diversity in NYC. People get on with their business. A woman in a niqab can be sitting in the same subway car as a woman in a mini-skirt and people from dozens of different cultures and nationalities and mostly the people don't bat an eye.

There is an openess to a niqab as well as other cultural norms, or at least a benign neglect of it under the assumption that most people do not have ill intent and that force or threat is not involved. There is no necessity felt to impose one culture's norms over the other.

At least this is the way it should work and on that day it did.

Re: Muslim Women – Hijab vs. Niqab, Plans for Peace, NYC

Khadijah — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:34:21 -0000

Salaam alaykum (Peace be upon you) Yaffa. I have seen many blogs about women in niqab. Often they are closed minded, saying something that comes across with \I don't like this so it should be made illegal.\ I really appreciate your thoughtful approach to the subject. I have read a lot of blogs...mostly full of snipes about the niqab wearers intelligence or social skills, to downright prejudice about the wearers motivation for wearing it...namely that the wearer represents an inexcusible \security risk.\ However, I should point out that I do not have an inability to recognize a sister who is wearing a niqab. Let me give a real life example. I went to a restarant once before I started wearing niqab. ONE TIME ONLY!!! Then several months elapsed, I had started wearing the niqab and several months after this one time I was there, I came back. The sister who owns the restaurant IMMEDIATELY recognized me. She smiled and said \Oh sister, you are wearing niqab now!\ This was only my second time visiting this restarant. People who know me can recognize me. Children in countries where all the women wear niqab will walk right up to their mom...because they recognize her. People with whom I do business recognize me on sight.

In short, I really appreciate your thoughtful and non judgemental remarks. BTW, summer can be hot, but I handle it by staying hydrated. And contrary to popular opinions, anyone who actually has taken even 5 secounds to get to know me will tell you...I'm quite friendly, and I really think I am speaking for the vast majority of niqabis.

Re: Wuthering Heights marketed to Twilight fans

Joy — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:36:40 -0000

No. People who are twilight fans will not understand Wuthering Heights and will be severely dissapointed.

Re: We’re in NY Dec. 9-16.

Yaffa — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:45:17 -0000

Thanks Scott! Hopefully you'll get a chance to see them one day with Nigel and Ian - they're good fun. It's scary to think that I've been going to see them for over 20 years now.

Re: We’re in NY Dec. 9-16.

Scott — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:50:47 -0000

Have a safe trip! (I would love to go see They Might Be Giants, and son would our son Nigel.)

Re: Whistling in the Dark Lyrics

Kevin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:02:27 -0000

Welcome back, luv xo :D