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September 13, 2006
Sam Yashinsky made the Michigan Baseball Team and Other Important Information
He is my hero. (Ian)
As always, tonight’s Shmooze meeting was catered. We had cinnamon babka cake and pomegranate seeds. Ari separated the seeds from the fruit. As our resident rimon (pomegranate in Hebrew, but I wanted the alliteration) expert, Ari said that today's fruits are good for early in the season but will not work in a few weeks.
Icebreaker Introduction: With the pennant race in full swing, 
Ian decided on a “basebally” icebreaker to open up the meeting.
“What would be your at-bat music?”
- Ian was about to introduce himself, but his phone rang (Someone needed to be let into the building) THEN
- Comment from the crowd: Damn these pomegranates are good THEN
- Ian: "Air Force One" by Nelly or "The Baseball Song" from Sandlot. ("Air Force Ones"…best hip hop song ever according to Ian Robinson) THEN
- Deb: I’m still thinking
- Sam (not the one from the title): Wants to think it over also THEN
- Erick: I have never played baseball before THEN
- Shira: "The Redemption Song" by Bob Marley but the cover by Lauryn Hill and Ziggy THEN
- Dina: The Pink Panther theme song AND
- Sam was impressed upon being informed of Ian’s choice THEN
- Orgo talk takes over THEN
- Avie: "The Song Remains The Same" by Led Zeppelin THEN
- Ian, interjecting: Omar Infante has the best intro song in baseball (It's like latino clown music) THEN
- Deborah: "Fearless" by Pink Floyd THEN
- Erick: Reggaeton? (We’ll revisit him later) THEN
- Someone from the crowd: Erick loves the Gasoline song. THEN, IN RESPONSE
- Erick: No, I think it’s overrated. THEN
- Sam revealed his theory for studying for organic chemistry tests which means that one should only study in rooms where the test will be taken and take practice tests at least a week in advance (You don’t need sleep, it’s overrated). An anecdote from Sam’s studying last spring. On Passover, Sam thought it would be acceptable to drink Dr. Brown’s (since it’s a kosher for Passover beverage) instead of coffee to stay awake. However, it doesn’t have caffeine. THEN
- Erick: "El Tiburon" (for real this time) THEN
- Emily: "With My Own Two Hands" by Ben Harper THEN
- Rachel: The “Groovy Blues” ringtone on Nokia THEN
- Ian: I would also accept the Mexican Hat song.
"Talk amongst yourselves portion" while Ian organizes his notes to move on the the meat and potatoes of the meeting
Hillel Open House and Festifall recap
- Deb: I liked how Shmooze was next to the Russian club @ Festifall.
- Shira: Me too
- Sam: Did that attract more people?
- Shira: This one guy came over and told us the story of how his family was Jewish.
- Reuben: The highlight was the "Stamp of Approval."
(Ian tries to segue to the next topic)
- Dina: Ian, how many new names did you get on the list?
- Ian: About fifty or sixty. But I didn’t put most of them on the official Shmooze list.
- Dina: Why?
- Ian: Well, we are hoping to have a Jewish Summer Camp-style Campfire to bring people into the group.
- What can we do at this campfire?
- Deb will play her guitar. We could tell Chelm jokes and Golem stories. Sam thinks we should do a “rose, thorn and stem” event. We will check into marshmallow availability at this time of year. Sam has a camp song book. We are trying to work on the logistics of where to hold this event. We will get back to you when we hear more.
- Annie (A few minutes after entering, she introduces herself): "The Rocky Theme"
Jews in Shakespeare, or how we are going to get Ralph Williams to speak at a Shmooze event:
We are progressing on Williams. We want to have it in the first week of December. It depends on his schedule. Reuben has him as his GSI, which is technically not possible, for Williams cannot be a GSI.
Headbands: I continued the search for a suitable headband dealer. We thought that we found one, but apparently we were wrong. The Shmooze crowd was not really into the idea of white headbands, despite the great price that Ian found. Dina saved the idea of Shvitz headbands by saying she knows someone in the headband industry who might be able to get us yellow handbands with blue writing. Consensus?
(Side conversation that became main conversation)
- Rachel: I don’t like the new football shirt
- Noah (who was wearing that shirt): Thank you for insulting my outfit
Two new people entered and had to introduce themselves
- Noah: "Rockin' in the Suburbs" THEN
- Oren: "Thriller"
Ian brought up the hot dog cart. He will have a meeting in the next week or so
Shvitz
The Yentaz are off to a great start, which is special to see. The guys are not off to such a great start. Ian is pretty pissed off at his gender. He promises that his side will have a stronger performance tomorrow.
Backgammon tournament and regional dip: Ian met with someone from another cultural group today. He wants to do it at the beginning of the next semester. If someone wants to step up and take charge of this event and earn the title “inter-cultural coordinator,” let Ian know immediately.
Reuben wants to know if Sallah Shabati is available to compete. He doesn’t want Sallah’s friend, Goldshtein, to compete (He wouldn’t represent Shmooze very well).
(New person to introduce)
- Tori: "Video Killed the Radio Star." Not the Bugles version but the Safe Ferris version.
Shmooze sponsoring a Shabbat dinner at Hillel? We are going to cook a Shmooze Shabbat dinner instead.
We need to re-register with MSA
Publications: Ian remembers last year’s board room was littered with copies of the Detroit Jewish News, Wasthenaw County Jewish News, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other, necessary publications. We need to have more reading material at meetings. Shmooze is hoping to get a mailbox in the Union and a subscription to the (English) Forward. Heeb magazine, fall issue, should be out in a few weeks.
Shmooze wants to bring in a band for a concert. Shira said she’ll look into a hip, Jewish cultural band. On the subject, Ian wants people to look into the Jewish cultural music festival Oy!hoo that takes place this week in New York.
Shmooze Classics: The first Monday of every month will be Shmooze Classics night at Hillel. The first movie that we will screen is the Frisco Kid. Tori offered Zelig, a Woody Allen movie, as a possible second one. The crowd wanted the Hebrew Hammer but some questioned its status as a “classic.”
Posted by irobi at September 13, 2006 11:23 PM
Comments
"Ian remembers last year’s board room was littered with copies of the Detroit Jewish News, Wasthenaw County Jewish News, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other, necessary publications."
I take offense to this. We tried very hard to keep an orderly board room, and Aaron often vacuumed prior to meetings.
Glad to see Shmooze is getting off to a strong start this year.
Posted by: gluckman at September 14, 2006 12:53 AM
You WISH you had a vacuum-er there. Le sigh.
Posted by: kaczanda at September 14, 2006 05:06 PM
A couple of comments:
1. When I said littered, I only referred to the tables being littered. The floor at 1023 Church was among the cleanest of any college house I have seen.
2. We don't have a vacuum at our apartment (It's not a problem yet because none of my room mates relieve stress by vacuuming).
Posted by: irobi at September 16, 2006 12:06 PM
I am thoroughly enjoying these notes, and living vicariously through all those in attendance. Please keep up the enjoyability of Shmooze so I don't become severely depressed about being an alum
Posted by: amilgrom at September 19, 2006 11:58 PM
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