Egon von Fürstenberg

I love reading Wikipedia. Life IS stranger than fiction. Today I stumbled across an article about this character:

Egon von Fürstenberg was born at Lausanne in Switzerland. Brought up in great privilege in Venice, Italy, he was baptized by the future Pope John XXIII.

Fürstenberg began his career as a buyer for Macy's, and took night classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology. He began designing clothes for plus-size women, and later expanded to full fashion and ready-to-wear lines, including fragrances, product licensing and a haute couture line based in Rome.

On 16 July 1969 at Montfort l'Amaury, Yvelines, France, he married the Belgium-born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin, daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She was Jewish and pregnant, and the senior Fürstenbergs objected to the couple's union on for those reasons. They had two children, Prince Alexander von Furstenberg (b. 25 January 1970) and Princess Tatiana Desirée (b. 16 February 1971), and were divorced in 1972.

Feast of the Tabernacles

For most of us, the Jewish holidays require taking time off of work. This is especially rough in Tishrei because it seems like every week or so, you are taking off a couple of days. Justifying it to your boss and coworkers can be somewhat challenging.

Thank God we live in a country where almost everyone has heard of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. But then, Succos comes around and you are taking off two days.

"Boss, I need to take off for a Jewish holiday."

"Really? I thought you just had them."

"Well, there is another one coming up."

"Oh, what is it about?"

"Well, we build these little huts and sit in them waving some palm branches."

At this point, they usually start looking at you funny. I suspect they think I am pulling their leg. Now, when Shmini Atzeres comes around, I don't even try to explain...

Lately, I've been using a strategy that seems to work pretty well. When people ask me about Succos, I just say - "It's an old Biblical holiday - I believe the Christians call it 'The Feast of the Tabernacles'". This usually shuts them up and they leave you alone. No more questions.

I think most people have no freakin' clue of what a 'Tabernacle' is...

"Saudi King Abdullah and security czar Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz have held talks with top intelligence and counter-terror officials from the United States and Canada, the SPA news agency reported."

Calling a prince a czar seems like an odd thing to do...

Speaking of Google Instant

Google seems to be filtering profanities in its Google Instant feature - if you type in "Crazy Bitch" all the suggestions disappear. Hit "Enter" and you get your results - in this case the awesome Buckcherry song!

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice

Type "fire and ice" into Google and you get Trojan Condoms followed by Robert Frost.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

Prince Music Monday - Kiss

Hmmm...

Apparently, Charles Adolphe Faux-Pas Bidet was a real person with a somewhat unfortunate last name.