Geneva Agreement

Left to defend ourselves.

Happy Double Holiday

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Happy Holiday

Hag Sameah!
Happy Hanukkah to Us All!

Don't Blame Him

The sun seems to be setting on American specialness.

stopping Israel from Stopping Iran

Once again intransigent Israel refuses to cooperate in its own destruction.

Snapshot from GA

Bones and the LSW

I thought you might like to see a snapshot of me and the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) taken at our Dry Bones Haggadahs booth at the "GA" convention in Jerusalem last week. * * * Go to store.drybones.com to peek inside the Haggadah, find out why the Haggadahs come in "plain brown boxes", and maybe decide to order a box of Haggadahs for you and yours (while supplies last, and don't say we didn't warn you).

Europe and the Jewish State

European sensitivity.

Shipping the Haggadahs

The Haggadahs in our Livingroom

If you ordered copies of the Dry Bones Haggadah, they're now in the mail or about to be. * * * We're not on Amazon. This is a personal outreach from us to friends and fans and those they love. The LSW (Long Suffering Wife) and I are now boxing up and shipping out the hot off the press, first edition copies of our gorgeous Dry Bones Passover Haggadahs. Our inventory is warehoused in our livingroom, and we're shlepping the books to mail from our local Post Office. * * * Go to store.drybones.com to peek inside the Haggadah, find out why the Haggadahs come in "plain brown boxes", and maybe decide to order a box of Haggadahs for you and yours (while supplies last, and don't say we didn't warn you).

Golda Speaks

Today's cartoon is a golden oldie from November 1973. The speaker is Golda Meir, Prime Minister of the State of Israel. 4o years ago.

Don't Blame Him

the Promoting of the Arab Spring, the disastrous Iran fumble,the healthcare screw-up, Benghazi, the Syrian zig zag, mishandling Egypt, botched drone attacks, Snooping and Spying on Allies, politicizing the tax authority, the NSA affair, the betrayal of Israel and the ongoing persecution of her imprisoned agent, Jonathan Pollard.

America, America.

American Blindness

The Pollard Affair is the Shame of America.

popularity contest

You can't win 'em all!

America's Iran Policy

Who are you going to believe?

The World

Are we there yet?.

Good News Bad News

I enjoy the "good news, bad news" format.

Bibi's Alarm

We're living in historic times.

Hot Stuff

With everyone around us killing their neighbors in a genocidal sunni shia war, the idea that the world's problems can be solved with an end to the Israeli Palestinian "conflict" is "Hot Stuff".

04 Peek Inside Banner

The Peek Inside Banner

Having the Haggadah text framed by Dry Bones cartoon commentary was my idea. But then the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) who is a well-known Tel Aviv painter, and Kim (our talented graphic artist/book designer) got their hands on my work, Kim compulsively tweaking the balance of the parallel Hebrew and English texts and, consulting with the LSW on color selection with the goal of making each page-spread a coherent work of art.

So I've decided that at the Dry Bones Haggadah booth at the upcoming GA we should have a giant banner to give folks a peek at the inside pages. The banner is now being printed as I write this.:

* * *

This is Haggadah Diary Episode 04

Click for Haggadah Diary Episode 03

Click for Haggadah Diary Episode 02

Click for Haggadah Diary Episode 01

To Be Continued . . .
You can get your set of haggadahs (in plain brown boxes) in one of two ways. One, online at the http://store.drybones.com and two, at our booth at the upcoming General Assembly of the Jewish Federations to be held in Jerusalem on Nov 10-11.

Her Voice

One of the characteristics of old age is the constant feeling that you're living in the future.

03 - the Blackout

Thursday, October 31, (continued)

"What else could possibly go wrong? We were soon to find out."

 -the closing entry in previous Diary Episode 02

* * *

New Print Run!
Our printer agrees to do a new print run with careful quality control!  But we'll get the Haggadahs just hours before the opening of the  General Assembly of the Jewish Federations  where we've taken a Dry Bones Haggadahs booth to launch our "campaign to make our Haggadah THE Haggadah for 2014 and generations to come".  

Back to Work!
 as explained previously, Kim, our talented book designer and cover artist had come to visit so we could work on designing the Dry Bones Haggadah "roll up" standing sign for our booth at the  GA. ...and so we settled down to do just that. We've already done a large cartoon backdrop for the booth which shows Mr. Shuldig and a Haggadah. It is wider than it is tall. The "roll up" is taller than it is wide. I'll have to redraw the picture so that it is vertical. Simple.


The Blessing:
In Israel rain is a blessing. The land, after our long hot summers yearns for the refreshing water of our rainy season. And so, suddenly the skies opened and thunderstorms broke out. Unfortunately the brief torrewntial downpour took out the electricity in our neighborhood. Kim's computer could continue on battery power but how could I draw in the pitch blackness of the total darkness? By the way, pitch blackness in contemporary Hebrew is "Egyptian Darkness" pronounced Hoshech Mitzrayim  ( referring to the Passover plague that the Egyptians were hit with). Hmmm.

And So:The LSW held a flashlight while I drew the line drawing to scan which Kim could then color on her Mac. So far, so good, but then, having drawn the cartoon, we realized that without electricity the scanner wouldn't scan! Kim came up with the answer. I held the flashlight to light my drawing, while she shot the cartoon with her iphone and then emailed it to herself, and opened it on her Mac.

The LSW snapped a photo of Kim and me. Her flash has illuminated the total darkness. Kim is on the left facing the bright screen of her laptop Mac: I am to her right on a couch, behind one of the many many candles  that the LSW had set out. One is tiny and on the floor (bottom right, next to chair leg) a third is above and behind that.

Below is the drawn-in-the-dark "roll up" sign after Kim's coloring. Not bad.

* * * This is Haggadah Diary Episode 03 Click for Haggadah Diary Episode 02 Click for Haggadah Diary Episode 01

To Be Continued . . .

You can get your set of haggadahs (in plain brown boxes) in one of two ways. One, online at the http://store.drybones.com and two, at our booth at the upcoming General Assembly of the Jewish Federations to be held in Jerusalem on Nov 10-11.

Israeli Q & A

Yup. An Israeli question about our Arab neighbors. Meanwhile the Turkish hard-line gov't strengthens its anti-Israeli position and the Iranians continue flim-flamming the West.

Call in the Pros

Anything you do on a computer takes longer than you think it will.

02 The Wrinkle

Thursday, October 31,

The upcoming General Assembly of the Jewish Federations is set to open in 10 days where we've taken a Dry Bones Haggadahs booth to launch our "campaign to make our Haggadah THE Haggadah for 2014 and generations to come". We paid for an initial printing of 1200 Haggadahs, with the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) hovering over the printing press, inspecting, examining, and color-correcting each page before giving the go ahead to start the print run.
The Haggadahs have now been printed and bound. They are now in boxes of 80 (at the print shop in Jerusalem).
Kim, our talented book designer and cover artist is coming to visit today so we can work on designing the Dry Bones Haggadah banners for the GA.  As she'll be driving from Jerusalem, she's offered to shlep five boxes of Haggadahs to us.

Everything seems to be on track.

* * *

The Haggadahs Arrive!

Above: The LSW (Long Suffering Wife unloads the first carton of books from the trunk of Kim's car. Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Below:  Shlepping the cartons through our backyard and into the house.

The Plan:

We've printed out mailing labels for the hundreds of folks who have pre-ordered Haggadahs at our Mom and Pop Store, We've got the plain brown boxes, we've become expert at tape sealing, and we're going to mail out the Haggadahs tomorrow. The rest we'll present at the GA where we hope to cut some bulk order arrangements.

The Wrinkle!!!?!
In our living room:  The LSW (sitting on the steps) and Kim (sitting on the floor) discover that something is wrong! there are "wrinkles" on several pages of each Haggadahs. After a solid year's effort to produce the most beautiful and perfect work possible it is decided that we have to reject the books and reprint. But how? Yikes! 

What else could possibly go wrong? We were soon to find out.

* * * This is Haggadah Diary Episode 02 Click for Haggadah Diary Episode 01

To Be Continued . . .

You can get your set of haggadahs (in plain brown boxes) in one of two ways. One, online at the http://store.drybones.com and two, at our booth at the upcoming General Assembly of the Jewish Federations to be held in Jerusalem on Nov 10-11.

Housing Quiz

I just LOVE quizes (Drawing them, not taking them).

Today's quiz is really easy
...if you've been paying attention.