The Scribbler

Julian plays Strawberry Fields Forever in the most appropriate location possible. My guitar's never felt so proud.

I left Liverpool at just after midday and managed to get home inside four-and-a-half hours, driving without a break. I encountered some mild traffic around Chester and of course, in Birmingham (I know I could have paid the £4 toll, but I felt that I'd spent just about enough money for the moment). The important thing was that I would be back in time to celebrate Michali's 7th birthday and this indeed is what happened. Dana had taken them out to the cinema (to see Bratz , which apparently wasn't as bad as it sounded) and so I was able to be back in time to greet them when they returned. I now have three daughters aged 7,8 and 9 - not forgetting Shira who is four, but you know what I mean). I know that this will change when Dassi celebrates her tenth birthday in just under two months, but I like the idea of the sequential ages. I really can't believe that l'il Michal is already seven. She looked so cute today with her newly cut hair and beaming birthday smile. That...

I'm back! I drove for nearly four-and-a-half hours, directly from Liverpool to London, traversing the UK from the North West to the South East. Throughout my week in Liverpool, I kept a diary of my trip and submitting postings or rather, notes, to my Facebook page, via my phone. I felt it only fair to reproduce these for those of you who have not read my entries on my Facebook page. So, now, without further ado, I proudly present to you.... My Liverpool Diary: Day One (22nd August 2007) Having returned to one of my favourite places on earth, it feels as though I'd never left. The sun is out and the city is radiant. I am sitting in Sefton Park writing up this post on my mobile phone...ah the wonders of technology. The parents are talking with their friends as the children run about, feed the ducks' fall over, cry when dogs approach...in other words, pretty much like in London, but oh so very different . This morning, I was treated to two amazing guided tours, one after anoth...

Another clip from the show. Harpo writes in his biography that when he's playing the harp, you see the real person behind the clown.

As I wrote a little while ago, I'm going through a Marx Brothers craze...and I couldn't help sharing the laughs with you. This is a classic clip that I guarantee will make you laugh, irrespective of how many times you watch it!

Last month, I shared some puns I'd received (you can read them here again, if you wish). One of my ex-teaching colleagues, A. liked them so much that she sent me twenty more...so enjoy! 1. Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent. 2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything." 3. Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted. 4. A dyslexic man walks into a bra. 5. A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: "A beer please, and one for the road." 6. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?" 7. "Doc, I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home.'" "That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome." "Is it common?" Well, "It's Not Unusual." 8. Two cows are standing next to each ot...

"Good Gawd, 'e 'asn't gone and seen yet anuvver movie 'as 'e?" Sad isn't it? But do I really need to justify my using this holiday updating my internal movie database? The truth is that I am taking full advantage of the fact that I don't know when I will next be in a position where I am leaving one school for another - and as a result, I have the luxury of not having to worry about next term's preparation (quite yet). On to Rush Hour . In short, this is a lot of fun, entertaining from start to finish, although Chris Tucker's voice is seriously, and I do mean seriously irritating. That said, he is fed with funny lines, which help to overcome his shortcomings as an actor. Jackie Chan is, well, Jackie Chan and the Paris locations are used pretty effectively, particularly in the final action scene, which I won't reveal. Recommended. My Rating ****

My father has a lot to answer for, not least, my adoration for most things celluloid. I grew up watching Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd on TV. Sadly, many of the kids of today don't seem to be interested in this kind of movie genre. Everything has to be either animated, or violent (or both) if they are going to pay it any attention. Maybe one day, future generations will discover what they're missing. My kids though are different. They watch Laurel and Hardy and Tali in particular sits there giggling her socks off. The kids not yet been introduced to Chaplin, which is not a bad thing. Sir Charles is an acquired taste, whom I think needs to be tried at a more advanced age. I am a great fan of his, but only because I saw his feature films as a teenager - and immediately fell in love with Modern Times . Having tasted the aforementioned comics, I didn't realise that I had a treat in store (i.e.) the films made by the Marx Brothers. I remember seeing many of...

At the beginning of these holidays, I compiled a mental list of must-see Summer movies. Towering at the top of the group was of course The Simpsons, closely followed by the Die Hard, Harry Potter and Bourne franchises and just making it into the top five, the rank outsider, Evan Almighty . Transformers was nowhere to be seen. If anything, it would have headed a list of must-miss movies. I had no interest whatsoever in seeing that film. You have to understand that I belonged to the generation who directly preceded the Transformer toys. My early years were firmly rooted in the 1970's and I was an an Action Man freak. I had countless dolls, numerous outfits, cars, skis, parachutes etc. Oh yes, Action Man was my transformer. And I had Steve Austin. I was absolutely besotted with the Six Million Dollar Man. I ran like him (in slow motion of course), jumped like him (remember the sound he made when he jumped up and landed on crouched knees?) and lived to watch a new episode of the...

Today, Dana and I celebrated out eleventh wedding anniversary. I'm not quite sure how we've managed to make it thus far, but amazingly we have - and we are blessed with four wonderful daughters for our efforts. This was really the first year when the girls did something special for this occasion. Dassi and Shira (who despite her spotty appearance is coping admirably with the pox) prepared a glorious fruit salad, laid the table, replete with the named clogs cousin J. gave us last year as place markers and we were even treated to to a set of wine glasses (although a third one was broken in the haste...reminiscent of what happened ten years ago under the chupah , as Dana commented). The icing on the cake, as it were, was a special musical performance by all four, in wonderful harmony and synchronisation. These were really lovely moments. So we've got here and we're still smiling (well, I am). Eleven years on and the future looks sort of green, with patches of red at time...

Shira managed to get to the age of three years, eleven months and eight days without exibiting the signs of chicken pox. That was until she reached the age of three years, eleven months and nine days (i.e. today!)

It's not easy being Michal. The poor girl is squeezed in there between three extremely powerful personalities (two older, one younger) and at times, she finds it hard to cope. Whereas the others are tomboyish, Michal is the girly one. She cries easily, hurts even more easily and generally appears to get the worse deal of the four. Then again, she also possesses the sunniest disposition whilst understandably thriving on as much affection as she can physically handle. Michal is the most musical of my girls. She has learned to whistle, which is no easy feat when you're only six and I'm sure that unlike her sisters, she will take to learning the piano in the same way that a duck takes to water. Michal's fragility is ironically also her strength. Underneath the vulnerable exterior lies a character of steel. When her sisters flinch at scary moments in a movie, Michal sits there completely unmoved. There's definitely more than meets the eye when it comes to this young la...

We've had, what could only be called, a perfect family day out. We started off by going to this pretty cool water slide park, where we slid, splashed and slopped around. This was then followed by a most enjoyable trip to the cinema to watch the very amusing Evan Almighty , which I really enjoyed. Then it was supper and home time. A lovely day for all concerned!

ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- A Sicilian mother took away her 61-year-old son's house keys, cut off his allowance and hauled him to the police station because he stayed out late. Tired of her son's misbehavior, the pensioner in the central Sicilian city of Caltagirone turned to the police to "convince this blockhead" to behave properly, La Sicilia, one of Sicily's leading newspapers, reported on Thursday. The son responded by saying his mother did not give him a big enough weekly allowance and did not know how to cook. "My son does not respect me, he doesn't tell me where he's going in the evenings and returns home late," the woman was quoted as saying. "He is never happy with the food I make and always complains. This can't go on." Police helped the squabbling duo make up and the two returned home together, with the son's house keys and daily allowance restored. Most Italian men still live at home late into their 30s, enjoyin...

I've been attending a weekly shi'ur (Jewish studies class) for about half-a-year, given by a former high school teacher of mine. The gentlemen, whose extreme modesty is amply matched by his encyclopaedic knowledge, manages to entrance all of those who attend, week-on-week, to the extent that I find it hard to leave his presence. Every word this man speaks is an absolute gem as he takes us through the Book of Joshua, uncovering its beauty - chapter by chapter, verse by verse. This evening, I brought my father along for the first time. I felt like Indiana Jones, with the Ark of the Covenant in my possession, itching to share its glory with someone else for whom I have the highest degree of esteem and respect. My father, whom I admire immensely, not least for his towering intellect, was finally privy to my little "secret" and I can't describe how extra-special this class turned out to be. There I was, sitting with both my father and teacher in the same room, experien...