Jefe's House

Into the Absurd. A Virtually Existential Dinner Conversation.

Why is this man making a hand-rabbit? Scroll down to find out.

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If you missed my interview last night with the masterful Tina Brock of the IRC and would like to hear more about my mis/adventures in India, my work as a Fulbright Scholar and the nonfiction book I’m currently finishing, along with Tesla, ghosts, paan, religion, David Ives, and a few other surprises, you can catch it here on the IRC’s youtube channel:

7601 Roosevelt Blvd., Philadelphia, PA

Have you ever paid for damage to a rented car only to be subjected to  a shakedown later when the company tries to make you pay twice? This happened to me, to the tune of $1900. Is this a rare occurrence or a systemic scam?   If the latter, maybe someone should file a class action suit or at least inform the PA Attorney General’s Office about your own experience.

I had so many frustrating Enterprise problems since moving to Philly 10 years ago that I finally dropped the company in 2017 in lieu of awesome Avis, even though I’d spent years as an Enterprise Plus/VIP/Whatever member for being a frequent renter and had often gotten free upgrades.  I’ve moved on, but Enterprise keeps turning up in my life like a bad penny.

Take exactly two years ago in March of 2019. I was scrambling to move into my new house, not even having time to unpack before zipping back to India for the final leg of my Fulbright research trip.  So I’m backing out of my driveway in a U-Haul van and I ding the corner of a parked car.   No one was around so I left a note on it with my name and number.  It was my fault, I needed to pay for it, no worries, I was happy to do the right thing.  I even shot video of it so everyone could see me owning up to exactly what I’d done.

Later that day the driver calls and thanks me profusely for leaving the note because most people wouldn’t have bothered, but says there’s just one problem: the car is an Enterprise rental so he’ll have to have them call me.  I say no problem, but privately my heart sinks. Why?  Because it’s Enterprise, which means this will surely become a nightmare.
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The picture says it all. Mark your calendars and tune in next Saturday 3/20/21 at 5pm EST for my interview with the masterful Tina Brock of the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium theatre company, streaming live on Zoom and Facebook. Links below:

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Zoom:

https://lehigh.zoom.us/…/regi…/WN_NQXt3ZCPSku8MCpXYoigzw

Facebook Live:

https://www.facebook.com/IdiopathicRidiculopathyConsortium

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Very excited that my good friend and colleague Dr. Vijay Padaki of the Bangalore Little Theatre will be in conversation this Saturday, December 26th at 5pm with Tina Brock of Philadelphia’s Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium theatre. Don’t miss it! Link is below. Until we meet on the stage once again, IRC is exploring creations and conversations with adventurers in our community and around the world on Into the Absurd: A Virtually Existential Dinner Conversation, each Saturday at 5 pm for 50-minutes on Zoom and Facebook Live.

BLT then.

Vijay is a Theatre Educator based in Bangalore who has been active in the theatre for sixty years. Vijay joined Bangalore Little Theatre in 1960, the year of its inception, and later served in many capacities – as actor, director, trainer, writer, designer and administrator, including stints each as Secretary and President. Vijay is a psychologist and behavioural scientist by training.

BLT now.

Vijay has written over 50 original plays; he has also adapted or translated several play scripts.  Seagull Books has published a volume of two Gujarati plays translated by Vijay; in 1993 he won the award for the best contemporary play script instituted by The Hindu newspaper for the play Credit Titles.  Vijay is the Series Editor of nine volumes of plays being published by Bangalore Little Theatre.

Tune in for his conversation with Tina Brock at 5pm this Saturday on Zoom or Facebook Live.

Jatra star Tapasi Moon

I’m thrilled to share this piece Drexel University asked me to write for their website. It’s only one small part of my Fulbright-Nehru research but the first that any of it’s been published (hopefully this is just an appetizer). I’m honored that they took interest enough to have asked me for it.

Yours Truly backstage with actors Subhayu Mukherjee, Dibakar De and Tapashi Moon.

Ashok Banerjee and Biswajit Majh

Timir Mondal and RJ Jayee

Light board operator Atanu

Tapashi Moon, Bengali film star Dulal Lahiri, Ruma Dasgupta and Subhayu Mukherjee

Full article on Drexel University’s website here.

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Mine is not an official US Department of State website. The views and information presented are my own and do not represent the Fulbright Program or the Department of State.

Actress-Director Ruma Dasgupta as Rani Rashmoni with Tapasi Moon in the historical-devotional drama “Korunamoyi Rani Rashmoni” (“Gracious Rani Rashmoni”) by Sunil Choudhury. Lyricist Ujal Biswas, music by Swapan Pakrasai. Produced by the Sri Chaitanya Opera.

I’m honored that the Philly-based The Bridge PHL theatre company has invited me to give a lecture and workshop on Jatra theatre, one of my research areas as a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar.

Jatra is a Bengali word meaning travel or journey. Jatra theatre, or jatra opera as it is often called in India, is a form of mobile, traveling folk theatre native to India’s northeastern state of West Bengal, dating back several centuries.

By the 19th century, jatra companies began to look away from the purely religious themes that had been their core function, and began to tackle historical subjects and social issues.

Jatra has functioned as a living newspaper, long before any of its playwrights and performers had heard of Theatre of the Oppressed (Augusto Boal hadn’t even been born yet). Long before Brecht, jatra companies worked in a tradition of intentionally nonrealistic acting and minimal use of props and set.

And there is so much more to tell…

Suggested donation $10

Mine is not an official US Department of State website. The views and information presented are my own and do not represent the Fulbright Program or the Department of State

Ready to Run

Had a blast running today in the Riverwards Run to raise money for public schools in NE Philly’s river wards area.

The Rock to the Future house band

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At the finish we were regaled by middle and high school students from the Rock to the Future music program for at-risk youth. They were amazing!

The big check.

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We raised $5000. I was proud to be part of it.

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Today wrapped up my 4th and final session of serving again this spring as a playwriting mentor to at-risk middle school youth in West Philly through Drexel University Theater Program Director Nick Anselmo‘s Mantua Theater Project. The plays are moving, hysterical, poignant, zany, all of the above. Next they get handed off to professional actors and directors and performed for the community as an evening of short, kid-written plays. It’s an unbelievable experience for everyone including me, and, most importantly, it blows the kids’ minds and opens them up to a whole new world of expressive possibility.

I was thrilled to be hired by this acclaimed, historic Philadelphia independent school to produce, write, direct, edit and voice (whew!) a short promotional video at a steep discount as a way of donating to the school.  I’m doubly thrilled that I made a terrific choice in hiring the incredible Sarah Moses to be my shooter.  All content is ©2018 by Frankford Friends School. “Continuing revelation” is a term used by Quakers to mean that God continues to reveal divine truth to the world through our Inner Light, or that of God, within us.

I confess. I’m one of the five remaining nerds who’ve been keeping Radio Shack hanging on by a rapidly fraying thread these past few years and have been heartbroken watching them pop like bubbles in NYC and Philadelphia. This unique electronics chain brings back childhood memories in Virginia.I first saw and used a computer, the TRS-80, there, and my poor mouth watered. I knew I would never be able to own one.

It has been a mainstay these days for components my young son and I use in our electrical crafting projects.  Sure, you can get that stuff online but it’s so much fun going through all the little drawers  at Radio Shack, browsing for various colored LEDs,  different sized toggle switches and numerous knobs.

The lone holdout in Philly, to my knowledge, was the one at 1616 Chestnut in bustling Center City. Imagine my shock when I finally went there again last week after months of carrying a tattered Post-It shopping list around in my wallet that read “Blick” and “wire” in my nearly illegible lefty scrawl, to find that yet another Radio Shack had met its maker. Blick is Dick Blick art supplies just a few blocks away at 13th and Chestnut. At least I’d be able to stop in there soon and cross that one off my shopping list.

A few days later I had wheels for the day to go fishing in southern Jersey on Long Beach Island about 90 minutes away.  I swung by the sad, abandoned Radio Shack again on my way out of town, hoping maybe there’d be some info in the window along the lines of, Please visit our nearest location at… but the bereaved staff hadn’t even tried. Here’s all I found:

That left me with two choices; spend my day, and my car rental, tracking down Radio Shacks, or spend my day fishing.  According the web, the nearest Radio Shack was way off in northeast Philly on Aramingo Avenue. It was listed online as open, but then again so had this one been.

I didn’t bother calling to check but opted for a compromise instead, reaching for my phone. Perfect, there was a Radio Shack listed as open on Route 70 in Marleton, New Jersey, directly en route to LBI.  I kept my eyes peeled as I cruised past and, sadly, it was covered in SPACE AVAILABLE signs from a realty company.  I didn’t even need to slow down. In the end, I came up empty-handed on both the Radio Shacks and the fish, but nonetheless what a lovely summer day to have tried both.

  My son’s latest crafting project:  an electrical birthday card for a friend complete with on-off toggle switch and an LED bindi (or teep as we say in Bengali). Components: two CR2016 button batteries in a holder, a two-position toggle switch, red LED and small gauge single strand wire.

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