Month: April 2016

Bei Mir Bistu Shein Though Time

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From Wiki:

“Bei Mir Bistu Shein” (Yiddish: בײַ מיר ביסטו שיין‎, “To Me You’re Beautiful”) is a popular Yiddish song composed by Jacob Jacobs (lyricist) and Sholom Secunda (composer) for a 1932 Yiddish comedy musical, I Would If I Could (in Yiddish, Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nisht, “You could live, but they don’t let you”), which closed after one season at the Parkway Theatre in Brooklyn, New York City. The score for the song transcribed the Yiddish title as “Bay mir bistu sheyn”. The original Yiddish version of the song (in C minor) is a dialogue between two lovers.

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Europe, Crowdfunding, and a New Publishing Model

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Claire Berlinski wants to write a sequel to her important book Menace in Europe, which I reviewed here.  She hopes to do this via a  self-publishing and investment model, under which people will make contributions toward the estimated $60,000 cost of the project and receive in return a percentage of the profits.

Obviously, it will take some work to structure a deal like this properly and in compliance with all relevant regulations.  In the meantime, Claire is doing some initial fundraising via GoFundMe–see the link at Brave Old World.  Contributions here, which will go especially toward development of the project website, are straight donations without expectation of any financial return.  However, you do get the benefit, as Claire notes, of helping to replace the New York Times and similar publications as gatekeepers of the news.

Omsk & Arkhangelsk (Archangel)

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Communism followed by oligarchy:

Omsk   (Map)

Arkhangelsk  (Map)

These are obviously depressed areas. Interesting, however, the number of comments along the lines of ‘Same here!’ I have no idea how representative this is, though I’ve read that things are very bad in Russia these days. Sanctions are currently biting in making things even worse. Remember to be grateful for where you live and what you’ve inherited.

(My browser auto-translates to English with the Google Translate for Chrome plugin.)