The Arts

Here’s what happened during the National Anthem at the first World Series baseball game

Protesting the National Anthem has been a focus on this year’s football season, but at the first game of World Series baseball game Tuesday night, the scene was different. Singer Rachel Platten, famous for her song “Fight Song,” sang the opening National Anthem, and all players appeared to stand during the ceremony. RELATED: National anthem

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sports & Competitions, USA

Pussy Riot Vows to ‘Grab Back’ At Trump With New Song

Russia’s anti-Kremlin band Pussy Riot has released its latest song, a feminist riposte to Donald Trump’s boasts that he could “grab” women by the genitals because of his fame. The band’s new song “Straight Outta Vagina” takes on the U.S. presidential candidate, declaring that “pussy is the new dick.” “Don’t play stupid, don’t play dumb,

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

A history of the Soviet Union’s failed Jewish republic

Where the Jews Aren’t: The Sad and Absurd Story of Birobidzhan, Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region by Masha Gessen, Nextbooks, Schocken, New York ©2016, ISBN 978-0-8052-4246-1, p. 147, plus notes, published sources, and index, $25.00 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –  In 1908, about a decade after the first Zionist Congress, the British government offered territory

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History

Recital by Matathias and Stanislavsky enthuses S.D. audience

By Eileen Wingard ENCINITAS, California — The Israeli duo, violinist Asi Matathias and pianist Victor Stanislavsky, shone in their recent recital at the Encinitas Library, under the auspices of Virtuosi USA, a concert series sponsored by the Friends of Musical Arts, under the direction of Michael Tseitlin. Matathias and Stanislavsky have performed in San Diego

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Scarlett Johansson opens popcorn chain in Paris

Pro-Israeli Jewish actress Scarlett Johansson, who aroused the wrath of the BDS organization in the past when she advertised Israeli company SodaStream, opened a popcorn chain last week in an upscale area of Paris. Johansson attended the opening of the first branch of the chain in the Marais quarter of Paris and even served popcorn

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International, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Herb Kent, legendary Chicago radio personality, dies at 88

CHICAGO — Chicago radio legend Herb Kent, the longest-running DJ in the history of radio and a fixture on local airwaves for more than 70 years, died Saturday. He was 88. Kent’s death was announced Sunday by executives at V103, where Kent worked for the past three decades. Also known as “The Cool Gent,” “King

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

Fans are mourning the loss of one of the most beloved pop stars of the early ’60s

MINNEAPOLIS — Pop idol Bobby Vee, the boyish, grinning 1960s singer whose career was born when he took a Midwestern stage as a teenager to fill in after the 1959 plane crash that killed rock ‘n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, has died. He was 73. Vee, whose

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

Novel mixes modern story into ancient Chanukah tale

Dreidels on the Brain by Joel Ben Izzy; Penguin Young Readers Group; © 2016; 318 pages, $17.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – With Chanukah soon approaching, this is an enjoyable school boy’s story about Jewish holidays, magic performances, not knowing that a girl you like reciprocates your crush, an ailing father, and a

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

‘Bad Hombres’ and ‘Nasty’ Women Get the ‘SNL’ Treatment

“Saturday Night Live” saved its funniest barbs for Donald Trump’s allegations of media bias, as the NBC sketch comedy show satirized the third and final debate in the cold open to the show Saturday night. Host Tom Hanks, playing debate moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News, asked Trump, played by Alec Baldwin, whether he would

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

There’s nothing better than seeing Bill Murray make an unexpected appearance at a White House briefing

Bill Murray surprised guests at a White House briefing on Friday to discuss one very important subject — baseball. After Secretary John Earnest gave his briefing, Murray graced the podium and addressed the audience about the Chicago Cubs, while wearing his Cubs gear. Watch the video When asked if the Cubs will win, the actor

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Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Adat Shalom screens ‘Seeds of Conflict’ Oct. 30

POWAY, California (Press Release) — As part of its Love of Israel series, Temple Adat Shalom presents 1913: Seeds of Conflict, a documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Ben Loeterman, who will be joining us via Skype for a live discussion following the screening. Breaking new ground and laying bare old myths, the film explores the little-known history

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San Diego Calendar, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

After making $98 in ‘This is Spinal Tap’ music royalties over 30 years, writer-star Harry Shearer sues studio

Harry Shearer once was part of a group that went to 11. Now he’s going to court. The “This Is Spinal Tap” writer and costar has sued Vivendi and subsidiary StudioCanal, which hold the rights to the classic 1984 mockumentary, for $125 million. Shearer claims that fuzzy accounting prevented him and the three other writer-stars

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast