Leading Up North

Today I am leaving once again for Israel, this time with the Center for Leadership initiative, Leading Up North. As a participant in the ROI120 summer conferences, I have been invited to join a group of 500 young Jewish leaders for ten days to do community service in the north cities of Israel that were affected in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Projects will include restoring shelters and eco-restoration.

This time I am bringing my laptop, so I should be able to post updates on the ShaBlog more often than last time, as well as some ShaBot comic strips if I have time. I will also be traveling throughout Israel after the Leading Up North initiative for about two weeks, returning to New York on January 16.

And, for your enjoyment, here is a voice message left by my wacky old neighbor, Bob, wishing me a bon voyage in his own special way.

Happy New Year, more in 2007!

The Jewish Robot

More Kosher Spam

I've been receiving so much spam with seemingly Jewish targeted Subject headers that I've created a special folder to catalogue them all. Here are just a few examples of the kosher spam Subjects that end up in my inbox:

From: Phillip Porter
Subject: Take the border of the his hands to Jerusalem they were

From: Allen
Subject: Levi, and of the a good unto Moses and the people the west side,

From: Jennie
Subject: However the Bible rarely records the Levites adherence to there call.

From: Juan Johnson
Subject: them molten images, and all the son of Moses,

From: Bobby Parker
Subject: Israel out of the them all the air: to his stature to him).

From: Israel Atkins
Subject: it's me Israel

Have you received any Jewish spam? Tell us about it.

In the (Server) Closet

Speaking of cartoons from the Artist Formerly Known as Macboy, here's an old Flash cartoon greeting card for the holidays, Xmas, made especially for hardcore Macintosh nerds. The cartoon depicts a server closet with thirty, count 'em, thirty stacked Apple Xserve rackmount computers, and what might happen when the office shuts down for the holiday break. And for the server stickler, I programmed the light show to correspond exactly with the actual LED layout of the original Xserve computers. All illustration, animation, and music arrangement by me.

Happy Holidays from Macboy, a.k.a. The Jewish Robot!

GAG me with a toon

Dad, getting ready to go to minyan, in Dad vs. AOL
A few years ago, before all this Jewish Robot business, when I was known simply as Macboy, I figured a good way to promote my Macintosh consulting business would be to post cartoons about Macintosh computers on my web site, macboy.com®.

Now, several years later, with all the attention on ShaBot, and my MacToons all but forgotten, I am pleased to announce that two of my old cartoons have resurfaced and will be featured in The Graphic Artists Guild's New York Chapter "Wanna See Our Shorts?" 2006 Animation Festival.

Dad vs. AOL, my personal favorite, is a cartoon animation featuring a an actual, desperate phone message from my dad, asking for tech support. And NYMUG, which stands for New York Macintosh Users Group, is a true story and interview with my friend, Heath Gill, who was mugged for his Macintosh computer. Both of these cartoons were produced when I was just learning to animate, and they each took several weeks to produce. Nowadays I could knock them out in less than a week, so these old works are truly a labor of love.

If you are in NYC and would like to check out the show, here's the info:

The Graphic Artists Guild's 2006 New York Animation Festival

December 21, 2006, from 7-9 PM --reception with the filmmakers to follow.
Pratt Manhattan Campus
144 West 14th St., Room 213

$15 members
$20 non-members
$10 seniors (65+)
$5 Student member*
$10 Student non-member*
*Students must show current school ID
Free to Pratt students, faculty and staff. You must bring your Pratt ID.

If you can't make the show, don't worry, you can still see my old Macboy MacToons online.

MyRace

From:	Polinski http://www.myspace.com/themanwiththethings
Date:	Nov 28 2006 5:33 PM Flag spam/abuse [ ? ]
Subject:	Just saying hi :-)
Body:	If I was jewish I wouldnt Be shouting about it - Why don't you take a shower you penny pinching kike shylock jew! It's a shame you lot didn't get wiped out in the holocaust!

Very nice e-mail I received on MySpace.

MySpace ParTAY!

Why be a part of a Jewish community when you have thousands of friends on MySpace? This is the premise of MySpace ParTAY, a new cartoon I produced for BCI at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute.

Check out the cartoon, let me know what you think. And if you like it, let BCI know, maybe they'll hire me to make some more!

Flash Mirrored at The BBI, video on MySpace and YouTube

Sacred Drift

My photographer friend, Joshua Kristal, shot a series on cultural decay in the Orthodox Jewish community on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Josh was selected as one of ten photographers to be featured in the first issue of STORY Magazine. His work, titled Sacred Drift, can be viewed on exhibition through this Saturday night, with artists' reception and closing party to follow. Details below.

Exhibition through December 16, 2006

Artist Reception and Closing Party
Saturday, December 16, 2006, 7-11pm

The Gallery at 3rd Ward
195 Morgan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY (Williamsburg)
L to Morgan Ave. station

Sam's ShaBot Mitzvah

It isn't every day that a robot gets invited to a bar mitzvah. So when Sam's mom told me that ShaBot 6000 is her son's favorite funny (second only to Ali G), I was happy to produce this animated short, which played on the big screen at Sam's bar mitzvah party on December 9, 2006. The cartoon was presented as part of a video compilation of all Sam's friends who could not attend. See Shabot, Moti, a special guest appearance by 50 Cent, and even that delivery boy from A Very ShaBot Christmas, in Sam's ShaBot-Mitzvah!

If you are interested in having ShaBot and gang featured in a personalized animated greeting for your special occasion, bar mitzvah, wedding, birthday, anniversary, engagement announcement, birth announcement, or anything, really, please contact me.

Go Sam! It's your bar mitzvah!

Oy Vey! The Rabbi is Gay!

In light of the Conservative movement's decision to allow commitment ceremonies for gays and the ordination of gay rabbis, Rabbi Daniel Brenner of Reb Blog posted his original story, Oy Vey! The Rabbi is Gay!, "A Children's Tale for All the Conservative Synagogue Educators Who Might Need a Little Extra Help Next Week":

"Who is that tall man?" Mr. Birnbaum asked Sarah. "And why is he in the Rabbi's house?"

"Shhh! Keep quiet," Sarah said, "the Rabbi's car just pulled into the driveway!" Mr. Birnbaum and Sarah Spitzer watched through the window as the Rabbi walked into his new house.

The tall man got up. He put down his book and gave the Rabbi a long hug and a kiss. A long kiss.

"Oy vey!" Mr. Birnbaum exclaimed, "the Rabbi is gay!'

"Well, I guess I won't be giving him my niece Karen's phone number!" Sarah joked

Read more on the Reb Blog.

Jewish Blog night with a Chinese Shabbat dinner: December 8

Join us at a Synaplex Shabbat Downtown where you will meet JEWISH BLOGGERS ... including the Jewish Robot.

Jewlicious, Jewschool, Kesher Talk, Blogs of Zion, My Urban Kvetch, JDaters Anonymous, Shabot6000 – these blogs are all part of a vibrant virtual community that is reinvigorating the conversations and connections among Jews. Come hear and meet "famous" Jewish bloggers as they share some of their favorite posts and talk about the impact of the Internet on Judaism.

Services at 6pm, dinner at 7, roundtable at 8...
RSVP required to TVSynaplex@yahoo.com or 212-677-8090 x26, by Monday, December 4, with advance payment of $20/adults, $15/young adults & students, $10/children under 13.

At Town and Village Synagogue – 334 East 14 th Street

Frog Bar Mitzvah

In response to my quest for Jewish-themed spam, Shabot 6000 reader, Tova, forwarded me the best Jewish spam yet:

From: "Cecil"
Subject: frog bar mitzvah

Other than a pitch for the stock symbol MAKU.ob, there was nothing of relevance in the e-mail body itself, except for the odd recurring sentence, "He grew up with blacks". I wonder if this statement refers to the Frog Bar Mitzvah Boy?

UPDATE: I just received another stock spam e-mail for CNHC.PK with the Subject "my hebrew". Is this just a coincidence, or is there a deliberate effort out there to target folks with known Jewish affiliation by sending contextually relevant Subject headers?