alexist

( I am an angel, apparently )

(Though I should qualify this by saying that in some cases I wanted to answer "It depends"; possibly I'm slightly less chaotic. Who knows :) )

I think I've caught that lurgy too :-/ I have that ticklish feeling in the back of my throat.

This is not good timing; I'm supposed to be on a 7+hour flight on Saturday...

I went to see The Aristocrats tonight. (usual arrangement: Neil plays bridge, I go see odd film. :) )

I wasn't sure how funny it would be--the American reviewers loved it; the British ones thought it was repetitive. I think the Brits missed the point on this one. Yes, the movie was all about one joke. But the joke wasn't repeated verbatim for 90 minutes--it was everyone doing their own riff on it and talking about it.

My complaint was more that they did too many snippets, and didn't let enough of the comedians really develop the joke and get into their groove. On paper, it doesn't sound funny at all--it's a basic setup, a 2 word punchline that isn't particularly funny, and a middle that's up to the comedian. The laughs are all in the telling. And it's not just about making up as many filthy obscene things as you can think of, either. A stream of curse words will amuse an 11 year old, but you need to go beyond that for real laughs. It's all in the description and delivery. Sara Silverman's take on it was great--she did a first person version which completely subverts it.

The audience certainly seemed to find it all very funny--people were laughing their heads off.

Today I got my Halachic Organ Donor Society card. (I have a regular one and am on the NHS registry as well.)

Although I'm not strictly observant, I wanted this for a reason. While Neil would have no problem with donating my organs, my family would. Jews are traditionally very reluctant to donate organs, for several reasons:

1) Judaism prescribes utter respect for the dead and forbids desecrating a corpse. Many people erroneously believe that organ donation is desecration. (Rabbis have ruled that pikuach nefesh, saving a life, overrules this consideration.) This is why Jews rarely permit autopsies.

2) People believe that this will prevent you being resurrected when the Messiah comes. (Also untrue--as is obvious if you think about it. Surely God can replace your kidneys?)

3) For observant Jews, there's also the issue over time of death, and whether halachic (Jewish religious) death corresponds with brain death. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has ruled it does, and so all organs can be transplanted. If death is only cessation of heartbeat, most organs can't be donated.

For my family, it would primarily be the first issue--it's simply become a huge taboo. By carrying a HODS card, I'm sending the message that this is religiously acceptable, and hopefully easing any objections my family might have.

We're flying Saturday afternoon. I have to:

1) get my hair cut and colored (appointment tomorrow afternoon). Alex Haley jokes may be a little much, but I cannot go to my sister's wedding with my roots in their current state.

2) Pick my prescriptions up from the surgery and get them filled.

3) Take my dry cleaning in tomorrow.

4) Try to sort out undergarments for bridesmaid dress. (It's got skinny straps)

5) Get book(s) for plane trip.

6) Go to the synagogue and get Yomim Noraim tickets (Rosh Hashana is right after we get back). (Most synagogues operate a ticket arrangement for non-members on the Yomim Noraim, as they're the most popular days of the year. It's partly to encourage people to join properly, partly to deal with increased attendance and make sure they have space. I haven't joined not because I'm a lazy mooch but because we do plan to move and we don't know exactly where that will be.)

On a totally different note, London Transport appeared unable to decide where its trains were going today. The board kept changing! Very annoying when I didn't take a Bank train because a Charing Cross one was showing, then that slipped back 5 minutes and changed to Bank anyway... At least on the way home it was better. The board said Mill Hill East 5 (then Mill Hill East and Edgware) and a High Barnet train the board didn't know existed arrived 2 minutes later. :)