26 September 2007

A Little Cajun Music at the Kennedy Center

Last night I saw The Lost Bayou Ramblers at the Kennedy Center. It was part of Millenium Stage, which puts performances on 365 days a year free of charge. There is quite a variety of music, as you can see if you check out the calendar.
The Lost Bayou Ramblers not only sang in French, but also spoke to the audience in French too. I think it's neat that over 200 years after we bought Louisiana from the French, there is still so much French culture in Louisiana that there are still people that speak French and preserve this excellent music.
You can catch a recording of the concert here, and there are free downloads of music at The Lost Bayou Ramblers website.

17 September 2007

People Who Think Rules Are For Other People

People like these people annoy me. Short story:
People from my synagogue parked in front of a fire house in a no parking zone so they could do this ceremony where they throw bread crumbs (symbolizing sins) into the water. This was on a Jewish holiday -- Rosh Hashana -- the Jewish New Year.
It is a no parking zone so the fire trucks can get out. The fire department asked them to move. The congregants didn't, because they thought an exception should be made because it was a Jewish holiday.
They (rightly) got ticketed. I wish their cars were towed, the extra fees might have made an impression on them. It's not as if Cold Spring Harbor was enforcing some strange ordinance. It's just common sense. You don't park in front of a fire department, because, if there's an emergency, the fire trucks need to get out. Did the congregants think that there wouldn't be a fire because it was a Jewish holiday?