Camera Critters

Casey says he is tired now with a big yawn!I want my mommy's thumb please, so i can go to sleep.
Princess going to sleep after her bath, look at those droopy eyes

Bratislava Seminar on Jewish Heritage -- Promotion, Preservation

Information at synagogue in Samorin, Slovakia, now an arts center. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Last week I attended an international seminar in Bratislava on strategies for the preservation, management and promotion of Jewish built heritage in (mainly) post-communist Europe.

In the past 10 or 15 years, many buildings -- including former synagogues -- have been restituted to Jewish communities in these countries. Some (most?) are in poor condition. What can/should be done with them? This was the core issue of what turned out to be a very intensive meeting that combined discussion with on-site visits.

Representatives of Jewish communities in about 15 countries attended, along with a group of experts (including myself). My brother, Sam Gruber, who is president of the International Survey of Jewish Monuments and also blogs on the subject, was one of the organizers and served as the chief moderator. The seminar was sponsored/organized by the JDC (Joint Distribution Committee), the Cahnman Foundation, the World Monuments Fund, the Rothschild Foundation, and Maros Borsky (who heads the Slovak Jewish Heritage Center).

The meeting touched on many aspects of the broad issue -- from Jewish law (Halacha) regarding synagogue buildings and cemeteries to fund raising to tourism promotion.

I will try to post several short reports, touching on specific aspects of what was discussed or emerged, rather than an overview.

Sky Watch Friday

I took these on Sunday the 8th 2008

Poland -- New Film with Pre-War Footage

A new Polish documentary film by Polish camerawoman Jolanta Dylewska sheds light on Jewish life in Poland before the Holocaust by using home movie footage shot at the time.

The film, "Po-Lin, Slivers of Memory," the Associated Press reports,

draws on a patchwork of amateur camera footage shot mostly by American Jews visiting relatives in the 1930s in Polish towns and provides a window into what once was.

The Polish-German co-poduction opened in Poland in November. An English version is due later this year.

Trees

I thought I would share some photos of the area that we camped at last week
Click on photos for better viewingA burl (British bur) is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds. Burls are the product of a cambium. A burl results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be environmental or introduced by humans. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy that is generally not discovered until the tree dies or falls over. Such burls sometimes appear as groups of bulbous protrusions connected by a system of rope-like roots. Almost all burl wood is covered by bark, even if it is underground. Insect infestation and certain types of mold infestation are the most common causes of this condition.
I thought this was interesting, i think maybe some hunters had this for cover and just left it
This also was an area that had fire
A nice stream flowing
Piles of trees that they will use for slash burning. Sort of sad because lot of that could be used for fire wood.

Camera Critters

Now this is what ya call being relaxed. Tittertat with his leg over Precious which is a total shock as she is Miss Don't touch me ! And then there is Buttercup
Tittertat loves it when we go in the motor home as he usually gets to come out side and Princess has taken it upon herself to watch over him, when he moves, she moves right along with him.

Don't you just love that face? So happy and tired.
Be sure to click on all the photos for a much better view.

"Letters from Europe (and Elsewhere) Book Presentation in Budapest

Here's the announcement/invitation to my book present in Budapest next Monday, March 23:

AUSTERIA

Publishing Company and Bookstore (Cracow - Budapest)

kindly invites you to the presentation of

Letters from Europe (and Elsewhere)

by

Ruth Ellen Gruber

The event will take place on

Monday, March 23, 2009 at 18.00.

in Austeria Bookstore

( Budapest, VII. Nagydiófa 30-32),

and will be hosted by Michael Miller

(Assistant Professor in Nationalism Studies Program at the CEU, Budapest)

The event will be in English

Ruth Ellen Gruber is an American writer and photographer based in Europe. Her books include "National Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe" and "Virtually Jewish: Reinventing Jewish Culture In Europe." Her articles and photographs have appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune and many other publications. She was the chief correspondent in Poland for UPI during the Solidarność and Martial Law period, until she was jailed and expelled from the country in 1983. Ruth Ellen Gruber contributes regular "Letters from Europe" (and sometimes elsewhere) to the U.S. magazine The New Leader. Mixing travelogue with social and cultural commentary, she delves under the skin of European society to provide a closely observed, uniquely personal take on topics ranging from politics to pop music, from architecture to local cuisine. This volume collects a decade of her colorful, insightful reports - from 1997 to 2007. The datelines range from Warsaw and Sarajevo to Bucharest, London, Budapest, Brno, Nuremberg, Paris, the tiny village of Morruzze, Italy, and more.