Back to the Future

One advantage of attaining senior status (there aren't many other than some discounts) is the ability, hopefully, to remember some farfetched seeming ideas that over the years have come to fruition. 

For example, during TNB's  long ago boyhood there were the space exploits of Flash Gordon, rocket ships and all. Who knew that space would be conquered within a few decades after that comic strip and later movie appeared?

Then amazingly, the eventual advent of cell phones and other modern communication devices were inadvertently prophesied in the 1940's by Dick Tracy  with his two way wrist radio (!) and in the 1960's by the great TV spy spoof Get Smart when Don Adams, as Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, had a phone in his shoe. Imagine!!

This history all came to mind recently during the latest episode of the New York political soap opera Anthony's Weiner (not to be confused with Gray's Anatomy). There were some suggestions that the antihero, Anthony, would have been better off to send his creative texts by the program known as Snapchat, whereby the message allegedly is either hidden or sort of self-destructs in as little as ten seconds. Surely this application was inspired by the famous 1960s TV show Mission Impossible whereby the weekly instructions left for Mr. Phelps (Peter Graves) were also set to deconstruct in ten seconds.

Surely life has imitated art.
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Last week, TNB, sort of tongue in cheek, dared his readers to come up with names of Not So Nice Jewish Girls. Already we have submissions for Heidi Fleiss, Sarah Silverman and Amanda Bynes. OY.

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Farewell to the most erudite reader of The Normal Blog, David Honick, who passed away at 96--indeed a Nice Jewish Boy.

Nice Jewish Boys?

Certainly the old hoary stereotype "the nice Jewish boy" is passé and has been for a long time. Although it never made any sense to attach the adjective "nice", for a long time it was sort of an accepted usage among at least Jewish mothers--bring home a nice Jewish boy! --say like TNB.

But if anyone doubts that this term is outdated , just look at the headlines the last two days. Yesterday there was Milwaukee Brewers superstar Ryan Braun a/k/a the Hebrew Hammer (honestly) being suspended for the rest of the 2013 baseball season, with a loss of $3 million in salary and his reputation. It seems that contrary to his pious denials, Braun has now admitted to doping (performance enhancing drugs) and lying about it.

Then today, Anthony Weiner, New York city Mayoral candidate who is trying to recover from a self inflicted sex scandal which caused him to resign from Congress two years ago, had to admit that he had been a bad Jewish boy again. After his apologetic mea culpa in 2011, it seems Weiner was at it again--texting pictures of his genitals to yet another woman, this time a 22 year old who he apparently wanted to meet (in Chicago!) to show her the real thing. Not exactly what is envisioned at a brit.

Of course, NJB's took a hit with Bernie Madoff and Eliot Spitzer among others. Can we put this cliché to rest forever?

Thankfully there are still nice Jewish girls. TNB dares you to name one who isn't.