52 Ancestors Week 24 – Father’s Day

This is early and short, due to impending business travel.

The theme for Week 24 (June 11-17) is Father's Day. My father, Eric (Ephraim Pinchas) NADEL, was born in Koenigsberg, East Prussia, which is now Kaliningrad, Russia, and grew up in Kaunas, Lithuania. He survived the Kovno Ghetto and Dachau and came to the U.S. He went to high school in Detroit, then went to New York. He studied civil engineering at City College of New York, usually referred to in our house as The Harvard of the Proletariat. He spent his career at the New York City Housing Authority, where (as he used to explain to people) he ruined neighborhoods. That is, he planned low-income housing projects, to the chagrin of various of our relatives in neighborhoods where some of those projects went. He was active in our synagogue. He liked to read murder mysteries, watch sports on TV, and listen to a variety of music (Broadway show tunes, cantorial music, pipe and drum bands). He was a bit of a clothes horse and he had dozens of neckties. He was smart and had a great sense of humor. He died way too young. I appreciate him more and more every day.

Weekend Round-up

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: I saw the Kennedy Center Center Stage concert production (i.e. minimally staged) on Friday night. Yes, the sexism is problematic, with secretaries whose sole ambition is marrying a tycoon. But there is plenty of humor, along with great songs and outstanding performances. They did cut "Cinderella Darling" – and I’d rather they had cut "Paris Original" – but there’s still the fun of "Coffee Break," "Grand Old Ivy," and "I Believe in You."

As for the performances, I was very impressed by Skylar Astin as J. Pierpont Finch and Michael Urie as Bud Frump. Betsy Wolfe played Rosemary well, though this production made her seem particularly predatory and, hence, less likeable. And then there’s Nova Payton, who is one of the biggest stars among local performers here and whose scat singing in "Brotherhood of Man" stole the show.

All in all, a fun evening.

The Flushies: Saturday was the Flushies, the "awards show" for the Style Invitational. I stopped off at Pie Gourmet on the way over to pick up a strawberry-rhubarb pie for the potluck. I should probably have brought an appetizer or main dish, as there were disproportionately many desserts, but that’s how it goes sometimes. There was lots of good conversation, followed by sing-alongs of parody songs, award presentations, and a game. In short, this is a good group of people to socialize with.

Memory Lab: On Sunday, the JGSGW had a session at the Northeast DC Library on how to use their Memory Lab. This started with a talk about archiving and preservation, which had some helpful info on things like naming files and selecting formats and such. Then we got a demo of both the audiovisual equipment, which you can use to digitize videotapes and cassette tapes (and copy data from floppy disks), and the high-resolution scanner. I probably won’t be able to make an appointment to use things for a while, given how overcommitted I am, but this is a great resource, and I am glad I went to the program.

Farewell to a Friend: Sunday night, I went out to dinner with some FlyerTalk friends, including two people visiting from Australia. The two locals included a guy who is moving to Bangladesh. I’m missing his official going-away party (due to a business trip) so was glad I got to see him. After dinner, we went over to his condo, which has and amazing view, including DCA and some of the monuments in the city. It was a fun evening and I was glad I got to see him before he leaves.