The Schmooze lies at the intersection of high and low culture. Here, the latest developments and trends in Jewish art, books, dance, film, music, media, television and theater are all assimilated into one handy pop culture blog.
The Schmooze
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Scarlett Johansson Really Hates Her Nickname
Uh oh. Turns out we’ve all committed a major faux-pas when it comes to Scarlett Johansson. And no, it’s not questioning her political correctness over the SodaStream debacle. In an interview for the April cover of Glamour, the 29-year-old actress complained that she really, really hates it when the media calls her ScarJo. “I associate…
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Books Rock Journalism and Mick Jagger’s Shoes
When Lisa Robinson name-checks Elton, Mick and Iggy, it sounds completely natural. It should; through four decades, the legendary music journalist has been nearly as pivotal a pop figure as her subjects. Robinson famously introduced David Bowie to Iggy Pop, helped The Clash and Elvis Costello score record deals, and hung out with the Beatles….
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Paul Stanley Calls KISS Members Anti-Semitic
Turns out there was a lot going on behind all that KISS makeup. In his new memoir, “Face the Music: A Life Exposed,” KISS frontman Paul Stanley (born Stanley Eisen) recounts that band member Ace Frehley had a collection of Nazi memorabilia. The New York Post also reports that Stanley accuses both Frehley and Peter…
The Latest
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Peaches Geldof Dies at 25
Peaches Geldof, daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates, has been found deadin her home. She was 25. The police, called to an address in the village of Wrotham, Kent, released a statement saying they were treating the death as “unexplained and sudden.” Though not Jewish herself, the writer and presenter was married to musician…
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Buzzfeed, Torah-Style
Have you ever scrolled through Buzzfeed thinking, ‘If only this could be a little more Jewish?” Someone in the wide netherworld of the Internet has heard your prayers and answered them. The result is BuzzTorah, a spoof of the news site that launched a thousand listicles created by Yeshiva University students. The website self-describes as…
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New York Journos Pay Tribute to Ed Koch at Benefit
“Mayor Koch believed that mayors were not elected to be president…but to pick up garbage …balance the budget…” said Marcia Kramer, CBS2 New York chief political correspondent and a panelist at the April 3 Tribute to Mayor Edward I. Koch and Benefit for Beit Morasha’s Edward I. Koch Center for Public Policy and Jewish Ethics…
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A Royal Menorah in Amsterdam
A Hanukkah lamp that was recently given to the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam may have one of the most compelling provenances of any Jewish ritual object. The lamp was created by a Christian (Dutch Reformed) silversmith, Harmanus Nieuwenhuys, for the Dutch Jewish community in 1751 — when Jews were still barred from guilds. (Harmanus’…
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Introducing JCrush, the Kosher Tinder
There’s a new Jewish dating app in town. And it’s like Tinder. For Jews. Launched about a month ago, JCrush uses similar location-tracking technology as Tinder. According to the Jewish Chronicle, the app now boasts over 5,000 users in the U.S., Israel, the U.K. and Australia. “The global Jewish community lacked a modern tool that…
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POEM: ‘Eve and Lilith Go to Macy’s’
In the fitting room at Macy’s Eve shimmies into a pair of leopard-print leggings then mocks a dance pose. “OMG! You’re hotter than a habanero in those pants,” gasps Lilith. She slides her finger down Eve’s shapely hip as though striking a match then blows out her finger. Eve can’t believe how good that feels…
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Bibi’s Matzo Deemed Kosher After All
(JTA) — Was Benjamin Netanyahu’s handcrafted shmura matzah thrown out after he so publicly rolled it, patted it and put it in the oven this week? That’s what several Israeli media outlets are claiming, with some speculating that the Kfar Chabad matzah bakery that hosted the prime minister’s videotaped baking spree trashed his unleavened bread because…
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Cracow Crescendo
Cracow Crescendo from Jewish Daily Forward on Vimeo. “We sing in Yiddish, we sing in Hebrew and sometimes we sing in Polish,” explains Zofia Radzikowska who joined the JCC choir in Cracow when it first opened two years ago. At the beginning it was uncertain whether the choir would be able to attract enough members….
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