Happy hannukkah everyone...

[mando83]

Just I sit here by my menorah lights, eating latkas, and playing the dreidel song on my MANDOLIN (bet y'all didn't know how I was going to get that in there)...I just wanted to wish all a Happy Hannukkah.

<Comment edited. Please refrain from the use of political references/jokes within this forum. --Scott Tichenor, Board Owner>

[Avi Ziv]

Happy Hannukkah to you too. Or is it Chanukah? Or Hanukka? or... I just spell it in Hebrew

Avi

[mando83]

It's sort of like the joke our Rabbi tells all the time about the Jew named Sam Sing. They asked him how he got his name...as he was next in line, he was affraid they wouldn't let him in this country because he was Jewish, and he heard the guy in front of him say that his Johnson...so when he got up to the window and they asked him his name he said in his broken dialect, "Same Sing".. (you know instead of Same thing?)...yeah maybe you have to hear it to be funny...so ya heard the one about the guy bidding on the horses? ..Ya know, Whats a Yalmulke?

Boy I crack myself up like and egg

[Eric Selinger]

Or the guy who asks his buddy at the bar, "Say, how'd a Jewish guy like you end up with a name like Sean Ferguson?" "It was at Ellis Island," he replies. "I was so nervous that they'd send me back, when they asked my name, I couldn't remember it, so I just said 'Shoyn Fergessen!'"

[Translator's note: That's "I've forgotten," in Yiddish.]

Now if only I had the gelt to buy this Paul Newson <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Yiddish-Mandolin-by-Paul-Newson_W0QQitemZ180188675129QQihZ008QQcategoryZ101 79QQssPageNameZ
WDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">Yiddish Mandolin</a> on Ebay. (Note mando content.)

Happy Hanukkah, y'all!

[Zako]

Hey, fellow Joosh dudes, and Happy Chanuka!

[jk245]

Unfortunately there are all to few Hanukkah tunes.

I hope that someone can write out Adam Sandler's SNL tune(s) for mando.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/02/02fchanukah.phtml

and

http://vids.myspace.com/index.c....9132755

[Brad Weiss]

On Statman, on Grisman, now Apollon, and Bandolim! All mandolin content- Happy Hannukah, one and all!

[Marcus CA]

It's a great time of year to celebrate the tradition of magnificent Jewish mandolinists, from Dave Apollon to David Grisman to Andy Statman. Eight nights; eight strings.

[brunello97]

Or the guy who asks his buddy at the bar, "Say, how'd a Jewish guy like you end up with a name like Sean Ferguson?" "It was at Ellis Island," he replies. "I was so nervous that they'd send me back, when they asked my name, I couldn't remember it, so I just said 'Shoyn Fergessen!'"

[Translator's note: That's "I've forgotten," in Yiddish.]

Now if only I had the gelt to buy this Paul Newson <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Yiddish-Mandolin-by-Paul-Newson_W0QQitemZ180188675129QQihZ008QQcategoryZ101 79QQssPageNameZ


WDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">Yiddish Mandolin</a> on Ebay. (Note mando content.)

Happy Hanukkah, y'all!

Take it from a Mick, that's funny!

Mick

[MikeEdgerton]

Or the guy who asks his buddy at the bar, "Say, how'd a Jewish guy like you end up with a name like Sean Ferguson?" #"It was at Ellis Island," he replies. #"I was so nervous that they'd send me back, when they asked my name, I couldn't remember it, so I just said 'Shoyn Fergessen!'" #

[Translator's note: #That's "I've forgotten," in Yiddish.]

That story (or a variation of it) was actually used in a display at Ellis island. I saw it on my first visit several years ago. I believe in the story the immigrant was Russian. The long story is that it wasn't true but I've never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

The Ellis Island Name Change Myth

Happy Hanukkah to all that celebrate the days and I wish you all the best in the New Year.

[ApK]

Had some good latkas last night.

My son wanted to know why there were Christmas songs on the radio and Christmas movies on TV if it was Hannukka? # I may need some help coming up with a good Hannukka movie, but I'm sure we come up with some good songs.

As I say when visiting my wife's family in Texas:
Shalom, y'all!
ApK

[PhillGreen]

Last year, XM had Radio Hanukkah, XM 108. No sign of it this year unfortunately.

[Mike Beatty]

XM is indeed running Radio Hanukkah again this year. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet but I plan on it.

[mando83]

I need XM radio, shucks, I've done played every Hannukkah song I know on the mandolin. And if my 9 year old sister wants me to sing the dreidel song one more time I'm gonna cry...and we still have 7 more nights to go!

You know there are actually several great Hannukkah cartoons for kids. Some can be seen online.

I got two other funny cards, one came in the mail today. It had a little dreidel on a stage...and three judges...it was called American Dreidel...Randy was like, "Dawg, I like your spin, that's hot"... Paula was like, "Beautiful, you are so beautiful I'm crying over here"...and Simon was like, "That was bloody aweful".

Then I got one titled, "Hannukkah Songs that Never Made It"... like Oy to The World.... after listening a bunch that were familure to Christmas songs...you open it up and it says, Silent Night? I wish.

So do y'all need my address to send me my mandolin related Hannukkah gifts?

[PhillGreen]

How odd, I turned on Channel 108 last night around 6pm eastern and didn't get anything. I'll try again tonight. Now I am happy.

[Eric Selinger]

"Eight nights; eight strings." Brilliant! And the shammas candle is the pick.

And of course, the traditional mandolin tuning is really a mnemonic: God Defeated Antiochus Epiphanes.

Hey mando83, I don't know if you already know all these, but there's a set of songs here, mostly clips in low-fi RealAudio. It's no XM, but maybe something worth playing in there?

[otterly2k]

Somewhere (I forget but maybe one of you will know) there's a wonderful klezmerization of melodies from the Nutcracker... a perfect cultural fusion / cultural trainwreck...

Chag Sameach, everyone... eat latkes (forget the applesauce vs. sourcream debate...the best way is with a little of BOTH!) and enjoy a little mando klezmer...

[powercat]

And of course, the traditional mandolin tuning is really a mnemonic: God Defeated Antiochus Epiphanes.

Like the mnemonic.

[jk245]

My son wanted to know why there were Christmas songs on the radio and Christmas movies on TV if it was Hannukka? I may need some help coming up with a good Hannukka movie, but I'm sure we come up with some good songs.

Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights (2002)

"Davey Stone is a young man who hates the holidays and is determined that no one else in the town of Dukesberry is going to enjoy them either. On the first night of Hanukah, the perpetually grumpy Davey goes on a rowdy rampage and is arrested." ..." It is only by confronting the ghosts of holidays past, and an act of selfless kindness, that Davey is able to overcome his demons and enjoy the holidays again. " (RE: movies, yahoo)

[sean808080]

Happy hannukkah !! i'm a goy but i sure do love my matzo ball soup! oy!!

[Philip Halcomb]

Happy hannukkah from Philip the gentile...

[Marcus CA]

My son wanted to know why there were Christmas songs on the radio and Christmas movies on TV if it was Hannukka? # I may need some help coming up with a good Hannukka movie, but I'm sure we come up with some good songs.

The best of the two Chanukah movies that I know of is "Full-Court Miracle," which was a Disney t.v. movie from a few years ago. #The kid's mother is a doctor and wants him to become a doctor, but he just wants to play basketball. #Go figure! #I don't remember any mention of mandolins or clarinets, and the ending is cheesy rather than meaty, but it's a fun flick.

[Avi Ziv]

Of course there is the classic Rugrats Chanukah movie....

Avi

[PhillGreen]

Don't forget The Hebrew Hammer. It is low budget and silly, but it sure is funny.

[allenhopkins]

Unfortunately there are all too few Hanukkah tunes.

Did a Chanukah program today with my partner Bonnie Abrams and our band Love & Knishes. We played Maoz Tzur; Sevivon, Sov, Sov, Sov; Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel; Who Can Retell; Chanukkah, Oh Chanukkah (also with the latkes verses); plus a write-off of Those Were the Days called Eight Days of Chanukah, and a Ladino song, Ochos Candelichos (pardon my lack of Ladino spelling skills).

So, a modest repertoire, but enough to get 'em up and dancing at the Jewish Community Center here in Rochester. A fun thing to do with The Dreidel Song is to have the audience suggest materials for dreidel construction:
I had a little dreidel, I made it out of ____

Then the band has to find a word that rhymes:

I had a little dreidel, I made it out of plastic
It was the best I ever had, in fact it was fantastic

Lots of fun, especially if there are kids there. Mando content: played the Gibson Army-Navy and the Sobell mandola, as well as banjo, concertina and harmonica.