Family

Visiting my grandparents at the Alliance Cemetery in Vineland
For the first time in a while, my entire family were together in my hometown, Vineland, NJ. That includes my parents, my sisters Sandy and Michelle, Sandy's husband Todd, and their baby LOLA, with special guest appearances by hot Jewish author P.D. Berger (not shown, because he was the Man with the Camera) and the infamous Shansta!

I was born and raised in Vineland, NJ, a town known for its poultry and farms. In fact, just down the street from my sister's place is a little family of llamas and donkeys. I know llamas can be kept for their wool, but I'm not sure what the advantage is of keeping donkeys. Maybe they're trying to crossbreed ... llonkeys?

Llamas and donkeys down the street
Thanksgiving was relaxing, and every time I visit home I wonder why I don't do it more often.

Then, by Sunday, I'm always scrambling for the earliest ride back to Brooklyn.

Sandy, The Shansta, Michelle, Lola, and the Jewish Robot
Photos by Paul Berger

Thanksgiving Tov

I'm heading home to Vineland, NJ to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Sorry no new comics this week, but I'll resume a normal schedule when I get back.

Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy your Empire Kosher turkeys!

TORA TORA TORA.ob

Boy, these stock spammers are getting trickier and trickier. First I was bushwhacked with the seemingly innocuous, Jewish-relevant e-mail header "Yarmulke" which turned out to be pure spam. I swore they would not bamboozle me again.

I was wrong.

Today I received an e-mail from "Paulo SP" with the following header:

Subject: Holidays Chanukah Tu BShvat

Looked legit enough, so I opened it. Of course, it was stock spam, cleverly disguised as an e-mail for Jewish interests. Even the stock symbol, TORA, has its obvious appeal!

Is anyone else getting Jewish spam? If so, please post your examples here.

God Hates Robots

Yes, we all know that God Hates Robots, but the question is when? This "coming soon" announcement was first posted about three years ago, and I've been racking my positronic matrix with anticipation, waiting for the site to go online. The original scheduled launch date was October 31, 2004. That changed to October 31, 2005 with a question mark. Now it's almost 2007, and I have not yet felt the wrath of God.

Why does God hate robots, but refuse to launch His site? If anyone knows, please enlighten the Jewish Robot by posting here.

Boy on a Schtick

As a fan of Steven L. Cloud's comic series, Boy on a Stick and Slither, I found this recent strip particularly relevant. Not only have I abandoned the doldrums of a normal daytime job to produce cartoons about a robot, but, as BOASAS suggest, I have actually become a real-live robot!

Image posted with permission

Marty Over Here!

Marty Markowitz and the Jewish Robot
I'm not one for politics, but I've always liked Jewish Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, especially since he sponsored an outdoor screening of Star Wars here in Prospect Park last year. He also supported local indie musicians by organizing a Battle of the Bands at Grand Army Plaza.

So on the way back to my apartment today, saw the Prez in the new Tempo Presto cafe on my corner. He didn't look busy so I stepped out of the rain to introduce myself.

Thanks for the photo, Marty!

PresenTense Issue One Launch

Last night I attended the PresenTense Magazine Issue One Launch at the Edgar M. Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at New York University, featuring "Forgotten Heritage: Uncovering New York's Hidden Jewish Past," the work of photographer and PresenTense photoessayist Julian Voloj. Plenty of people turned up, including the usual suspects (see photos below). If you can pick up a copy of the magazine, you'll find my full-page cartoon "Marine Ecology of the Middle East" on the back page.


PresenTense Editor-in-Chief Ariel Beery and Heeb contributor David Kelsey

The Robot and Executive Editor Beth Pollak

New Jewlicious contributor Phoebe

The real reason Beery started a magazine: GROUPIES

Well, Gali!

I am pleased to present "The Best Chanukah Gift Ever", the latest Flash cartoon produced by Jewish Robot for Gali Girls!

Gali Girls, created by Aliza Stein, are dolls for young Jewish girls. Unlike their underdressed counterparts, like Barbie and Bratz, Gali Girls keep the laws of tznius, dressing modestly and representing positive Jewish values and tradition.

This cute cartoon commercial, being released in time for the Chanukah rush, is appropriate for all ages, and features the voice talent of Jessica Wachsman, music by Shlock Rock, and character design and illustration by Sara Weissman. Concept by Aliza Stein of Gali Girls, and everything else—backgrounds, voices, sound design, and animation—by the Jewish Robot.

Mirrored at GaliGirls.com

Spam for Jews

Every day my e-mail inbox is saturated with tons of spam containing benign stock alert attachments like the one on the left. Usually I can identify them before even opening them, and they end up going to the trash en masse.

But today they got me. I fell for it. What made me open this particular spam stock trading tip, sent by "Richard Fulton"? It was the header:

Subject: Yarmulke

Boy, these spammers are clever!

A Night of Whores and Borats

Does your Magen David hang low, does it dangle Jew and fro? (I was really trying to snap the flight attendant in the background.)
Last night was Halloween, or the Pagan Purim if it pleases you. I went to the HavaLight Halloween Party at Cielo in the West Village of Manhattan, the city where, for one night, hundreds of women dressed as whores were matched by an equally strong army of men dressed as Borat.

I decided to go as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran. Look at the photo to the left, can you tell who is Ahmadinejad and who is the Robot? Most folks at the party knew who I was supposed to be, especially since I had printed a name tag on the colors of the flag of Iran. But some people didn't quite get it, and when they read the name "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad", they said knowingly, "Ah, I get it, you're a terrorist!"

Among the other anti-Semitic characters self-hatingly portrayed by Jews that night was Borat. I ran into a few of them, but the Borat in this photo was the friendliest. He warmed up to me when he saw my name tag, and broke character to ask me something in Farsi. Embarrassed by the mixup, I confessed that I didn't speak Iranian.

"In my country there is problem, and that problem is the Jew."
The Shansta was da' Bomb of Iran
A vanilla Flavor Flav and, I don't know, maybe the road manager from Rock Star?
He had moves like the Hebrew Hammer, but Alan Z. claimed to be someone else

Blog Bog

You may notice that the helpful navigation bar usually found at the top of my ShaBlog is missing, as well as the advertisements and other nice bits normally adorning the sidebars throughout shabot6000.com. This is because I have switched my website to a new server, and I'm in the process of working out the kinks.

In the meantime, if you've reached this page with no way to navigate, here's a link to the home page.

Update 4PM EST - Problem fixed