Flotsam and Jetsam

I don't want to overwhelm anyone on this sleepy Sunday (even those for whom it is the start of the work week), so here are a few benign odds and ends that have been on my list but which really don't warrant their own post:

1.  I may have mentioned this in previous posts, but I am still completely charmed by the way Israelis refer to the @ symbol when saying their email addresses aloud.  For example, instead of employing the common English practice of saying treppenwitz 'at' gmail dot com... Israelis instead would say treppenwitz 'strudel' gmail dot com.  True, the @ symbol was originally meant to convey the mathematical concept of a quantity of something 'at' a given price... but the symbol looks so much like the cross section of a sliced piece of strudel that I can't believe others haven't adopted it!

Perhaps if you're feeling a bit subversive you can try slipping in the word 'strudel' the next time you give out your email address.  I'm not saying it will catch on, but it should be good for a smile.

2.  A thoughtful reader (Daniel Skibinski) emailed a couple of logos related to current events.  The first is in response to the call by the President of Iran for Israel to be wiped off the map:

I would be interested to see if someone can come up with a logo dealing with his subsequent statement that since Germany and Austria are responsible for creating the 'Zionist problem' with the Holocaust... they should provide a solution by creating a Jewish state somewhere along the Danube.   I just hope nobody mentions this to some of the Israeli political establishment because they may just go for it!

The second logo he sent along relates to the International Red 'crystal' issue I mentioned on Thursday.  His depiction of the logos arrayed next to one another makes it clear that the intention is to minimize or even eliminate the Jewish aspect of our 'offensive'  medical symbol.

The truth is that these logos won't make a bit of difference in the perception of these issues by those with anti-Israel agendas... but one can't completely discount the 'feel good' value of preaching to the choir.

[feel free to lift, display and/or distribute either logo]

3.  I have been sitting on a bunch of pictures of Yonah for the past couple of weeks and am coming under fire from my wife and family for not posting them.  I plead overwork and forgetfulness to all parties.  So now they are up and you can go over to the 'All Yonah all the time' album and check him out (Val).  By the way... we gave him a nice haircut last night so he looks nothing like the pictures any more!  :-P

4.  Lastly (at least for now), Dave of IsraellyCool, in cooperation with the Jerusalem Post, will be starting the nomination process this week for the JIB (Jewish & Israeli Blog) Awards over on his site this week.  Once nominations are closed the final voting will take place on the Jerusalem Post site.  I will be posting my list of recommendations (along with reasons why they deserve your vote), later in the week.

By the way... anyone curious about my choice of title today can go here where it clearly states that in addition to the maritime usage, flotsam and jetsam have also "developed equivalent broad senses, meaning  'useless or unimportant items; odds and ends'".

I'd say that's pretty apt, no?