I grew up on a lot of musicals. My mother loved musicals and since we only had one TV in the house, you either watched what was on or did something else. Most of the time I did not mind them except "The Sound of Music". That was my sisters favorite musical and they played it over and over. I still cannot watch that movie.
When I was around 14, I watched the musical "Fiddler on the Roof". I immediately fell in love.
What is strange is at that time, I had a love affair with the Nazi Party. I liked the flag, the uniforms and the image of Adolf Hitler. I tried to read Mein Kampf. My mother tried to get me to change but I wanted nothing to do with it. I heard they killed six million Jews, but at the time it was just a number. Nameless numbers on nameless faces.
At the heyday of my Nazi love affair, I sat down to watch Fiddler on the Roof. I fell in love with the music, the traditions and mostly Tevye. During the course of the musical, you see the oppression forced on Tevye and his family. Even though it was not the Nazi party that was the protagonist, you still feel the story of how some people are better than others.
Over the course of that following week, I dumped the Nazi party and wanted to become a Jew. I wanted to participate in the dancing and singing. Naively, I figured that even though these people were oppressed, they still had time to sing and dance. One member of the church that I was going to told me when she heard of my plans to become a Jew, " Don't you know they killed Jesus?" I responded. " But I don't think Tevye did."
My mother at the time did not encourage me or discourage me from becoming a Jew. I guess she figured it was a lot better than Nazism.
Since that time, I have always had a respect for the Jewish faith. I still have the Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack on my Iphone. About a month ago, the song Anatevka came on while Michael (my son) and I were driving. After listening for a bit, Michael asked " I guess this is from a play?" I told him yes and he asked what it was about. I proceeded to tell him about Tevye's story. I told him how my brother Scott and I would do the dance, "If I were a rich man" to make my brothers and sisters laugh. At the point where I told him, how I used to like the Nazi party, he responded " well that was pretty dumb." I had to agree with him. He asked why the Nazis and the Russians had such a problem with the Jews. We had a very enlightening discussion.
I never did convert to Judaism but I always think I carry a little bit of Tevye inside of me.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
King's Speech
I watched the King's Speech for the first time the other day and came away very impressed. Colin Firth deserves an Oscar for that role. As I watched it, another feeling came over me, this one I had not thought about in a while. I used to stutter also as a kid. Back in kindergarten, I would have the hardest time trying to say certain letters. This mainly came down to words that started with the letter s,t, and p that I remember. My mother would get me up earlier than the other kids and we would practice in the living room.
One thing in the movie that I do remember was the instructor asking the king, " Do you stutter when you read?" The answer came back "of course not, its in my head." I would do the same thing. Before I would say something, I would recite it over and over in my head and it would always sound perfect, but when the time came to say the actual sentence more often than not the stutter would come back. I would try so hard to say the words and my tongue would feel heavy in my mouth almost like it was overexerting itself.
My mother bought me this book called "Pop goes the weasel." We would read this over and over on the couch. Pop was one of the hardest words for me to say. I eventually overcame this by talking really fast. It used to get so bad that people could not understand the words coming out of my mouth.
I reflect on this not only for the stuttering problem but also for the help my mother showed me during this time. Now being a parent, I realize how hard it is to see your son/daughter having problems and you want to help them as much as you can.
I really recommend this movie as I think he really tries to show the audience how it is to deal with a speech impediment.
Next post that I write will be a little more humorous, I promise.
One thing in the movie that I do remember was the instructor asking the king, " Do you stutter when you read?" The answer came back "of course not, its in my head." I would do the same thing. Before I would say something, I would recite it over and over in my head and it would always sound perfect, but when the time came to say the actual sentence more often than not the stutter would come back. I would try so hard to say the words and my tongue would feel heavy in my mouth almost like it was overexerting itself.
My mother bought me this book called "Pop goes the weasel." We would read this over and over on the couch. Pop was one of the hardest words for me to say. I eventually overcame this by talking really fast. It used to get so bad that people could not understand the words coming out of my mouth.
I reflect on this not only for the stuttering problem but also for the help my mother showed me during this time. Now being a parent, I realize how hard it is to see your son/daughter having problems and you want to help them as much as you can.
I really recommend this movie as I think he really tries to show the audience how it is to deal with a speech impediment.
Next post that I write will be a little more humorous, I promise.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Letter People
One of my first memories and disappointments that I had when I was younger was finding out that the Letter People were not real.
The Letter People used to be in the classrooms to help kids learn their letters and also learn how to read. You would have Mr. M for munchy mouth, Mr. T for Tall Teeth and so on. Each one would have a background story and a certain personality.
I remember clearly my first time seeing said Letter People. I was in kindergarten and there was a knock at the door. Obviously now I know it was my teacher doing it but at that time my attention turned to the door, when the teacher called out. " Who could that be?" One of the students opened the door and there stood Mr. M.
At that time I was very excited as my first name also started with an M and here was this character standing outside our door with a big M on his chest and a great big smile. We watched a filmstrip after that all about Mr. M's day. How he woke up and ate macaroni for breakfast and did all these things during the day that began with the letter M.
Next came Mr. T and so on. It seemed every couple of days there was a new letter and I used to look forward to seeing a new one come in. It also did not help that PBS had a television program of the Letter People which encouraged my imagination.
Then came that horrible day when I walked into the classroom and underneath the assistants desk was Mr. V and she was using a foot pump to blow him up!! How could this be? Were the Letter People not real? All this time was I being tricked? I sat down at my desk and continued to stare at her foot going back and forth pumping up this inflatable person while pulling down my childish dreams.
After she was done, I saw her put a towel around him and then sneak into an annex of the class. Later that day Mr. V made his appearance.As the door was opened, I fumed inside. I had been lied to all this time. I looked at the Letter People sitting on the counter and noticed for the first time they were all standing still with the same expressions they had when we were first introduced.
I did get over it eventually but never felt the same about the Letter People since.
The Letter People used to be in the classrooms to help kids learn their letters and also learn how to read. You would have Mr. M for munchy mouth, Mr. T for Tall Teeth and so on. Each one would have a background story and a certain personality.
I remember clearly my first time seeing said Letter People. I was in kindergarten and there was a knock at the door. Obviously now I know it was my teacher doing it but at that time my attention turned to the door, when the teacher called out. " Who could that be?" One of the students opened the door and there stood Mr. M.
At that time I was very excited as my first name also started with an M and here was this character standing outside our door with a big M on his chest and a great big smile. We watched a filmstrip after that all about Mr. M's day. How he woke up and ate macaroni for breakfast and did all these things during the day that began with the letter M.
Next came Mr. T and so on. It seemed every couple of days there was a new letter and I used to look forward to seeing a new one come in. It also did not help that PBS had a television program of the Letter People which encouraged my imagination.
Then came that horrible day when I walked into the classroom and underneath the assistants desk was Mr. V and she was using a foot pump to blow him up!! How could this be? Were the Letter People not real? All this time was I being tricked? I sat down at my desk and continued to stare at her foot going back and forth pumping up this inflatable person while pulling down my childish dreams.
After she was done, I saw her put a towel around him and then sneak into an annex of the class. Later that day Mr. V made his appearance.As the door was opened, I fumed inside. I had been lied to all this time. I looked at the Letter People sitting on the counter and noticed for the first time they were all standing still with the same expressions they had when we were first introduced.
I did get over it eventually but never felt the same about the Letter People since.
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