New Celebrity, Old Staff Look-Alike
February 24, 2011 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts.
By Danny Soshnik
That’s right, an old Saturday Night Dinner Game makes its electronic debut. In truth, I don’t when the Celebrity Look-Alike game began, or even if it still goes on. But in my day, the all-veggie dinner included a side of comic relief, usually at the expense of the staff.
In the 1990s, there were some look-alikes that were as predictable as the jokes in 12 Gates. Jason Grais = George Castanza. Dan Parsow = Yoda. Those are the obvious ones.
Like everything else at camp, I loved this tradition because it was predictable and reliable. Even if we had a tough time coming up with new matches, it never got old to me.
The other day, I was was watching an ESPN interview with Adrian Gonzalez, star first baseman who just got signed by the Boston Red Sox. I knew I’d seen him before. I paused my DVR and said, I know that guy!
Well, not really. But I did use to work on staff with his look alike. Now, I haven’t been in contact with him since 1998 or 1999. I hope it is ok — I ripped his picture off of a phenomenal video that Jesse Zimmerman put together with the 1998 staff mugshots (which I don’t remember taking). This is worth watching — just hit play and enjoy.
Anyway, who does Adrian Gonzalez look like?
This guy?
David Adelman — if you play baseball as similarly as you look to Adrian Gonzalez, you can afford to finish off the Capital Campaign yourself.
And for all the loyal readers…if you have ever wanted to contribute to the blog but didn’t know how, send me a picture and celebrity look-alike.
Herzl may lay claim to Bob Dylan, Bryan Greenberg, and Debbie Friedman as its famous alumni. But with the look-alike game, we can claim to resemble far more famous people.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Herzl Magic Bracket: Round 3, Tzafona Region
March 24, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Uncategorized.
By Danny Soshnik
It’s march. Spring is in the air. Everyone has brackets filled out, telling all their coworkers, “I had that upset”, intentionally omitting every upset they had that didn’t come to fruiting. Yep, March Madness is good. Who would have thought a #13 could beat a #4 in the first round? Yep, that’s the way it goes (Hazak V’almatz defeats Kitchen Raids in a shocker).
No, we’re not talking about the NCAA; we’re talking about the Herzl Magic Bracket. We’re on the first round of the Tzafona region and we have some fascinating matchups!
1 World League
16 3 AM Wakeup for the Airport Bus
World League is the true Chugim success story. While chugim have come and gone (Yo Mama Drama, anyone?), World League’s immense success is startling. The Chug is celebrating it’s 21st anniversary this year, and I believe it is still on top. The most amazing thing is that the real football league the Chug was named for only lasted 2 years. I was a big fan of the early wakeup for the airport bus, mostly because I was often the cause of the 3 am wakeup. My thought – once camp is over, it’s over. Might as well get on a plane and get home. I always wondered what went on at camp after the bus carrying the most important campers left. In my mind, the rest of camp was in agony. Soshnik’s prediction: World League, no question
8 Speed Letters
9 Overnights
The speed letters were great – a chance to comment on the orangeness of the cabins without having to write anything. As a camper, speed letters were always the first, and usually last, letter I’d send home for the summer. As a counselor, speed letters were plenty entertaining too. Overnights are intense. Just ask Fun Bobby. I was always fond of the overnights when they were off site, and Klugman’s Forty. Situated right on the St. Croix River, that overnight spot was great. I triumphantly threw a rock all the way across the river into Minnesota and thought I was the man. When the cool kids played “spin the flashlight” with the girls in the other tent without me, I realized that I wasn’t. Danny’s prediction: Since overnights aren’t uniquely Herzl, I’ll go with speed letters.
5 Puddle Jumping
12 Dressing up for Saturday Night Dinner
Puddle jumping is amazing fun. I’m always amazing how many people thought the best jumping was along the caravan circle around camp. With all the rocks and gravel, you all but ensure that you’re only going foot first and not going to really land on anything but your feet. Me, I always liked it in the sports field. Wide open, not a rock in sight. The best puddle jumper I ever saw was Dave Jurisz, who, with a full head of steam, dove head first, reverse arched his back, and could slide 30 feet on his slightly larger than average stomach. Dressing up for dinner is a funny one. Always good to see the entire staff showered and clean for the big Saturday night staff meeting. Also fun when all of camp did themed dress ups (sports jerseys come to mind). Danny’s Prediction: My vote is for the “other” heavy dew activity at camp.
4 Kadimah Canoe Trip
13 Deaver Song
This is a great matchup. I love the Kadimah Canoe trip. So much so that I actually skipped my own intersession in 1997 to go on the canoe trip as extra staff. Great food, bonding, the stressful writing of the Kadimah song – all good things. And what’s a good canoe trip without drama – getting lost in 1990, tornadoes, Ricky tipping. The Deaver Song, in my opinion, is the greatest program song in camp (followed by Maba). Short, energetic, easy to remember, and no cryptic lyrics to make you feel like you’re on the outside of one big inside joke. This song is so good that it was copied by Alex Locke for the K’Shishim song. Danny Soshnik: I’m calling the upset here – The Deaver Song is my Northern Iowa (sorry Jayhawk fans). If you’ve read my other posts, it is no surprise that I lean this way – I love every single thing about the N’Divim program, may it rest in peace.
6 Cabin Raids
11 B’yachad Blindfold Walk
Raids were really fun –sneaking around camp, waiting in the dark to run in as your counselor posed as the Schmear. Then the awkwardness ensued. Boys sitting on trunks talking to each other, trying not to make eye contact with the girls in their bunks. At least there was milk and cookies. And it didn’t feel contrived at all, right? The B’yachad Blindfold Walk must have come from some lousy fraternity hazing ritual. Kids woken up in the night, escorted around Ozo park, being yelled at about how they need to come together. Yep, sounds exactly like my freshman year. BTW, Neil Fink is a ruthless hazer. I wonder if they still do this tradition. Danny’s prediction: Toss up for me.
3 Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
14 Camper/Staff Celebrity Look A-likes
To me, this lunch is the best single meal in camp. Who doesn’t like baked (let’s not kid ourselves) cheese. My favorite was always the “dump and run” system for hoarding all the grilled cheese sandwiches we could before the kitchen would run out. Dan Rodich was a fantastic dump and runner (or so we told him so he would continue to get us food while we ate – I know, we’re bad people). The look alike game is great, though the same names get tossed around each Shabbat. True, there are some classics – Dan Parsow = Yoda, Jason Grais = Costanza, that guy who was a camper in 1995 who looked like Quentin Tarantino). I still think I look like Shawn Kemp. Danny’s prediction: Stop reading this blog and go get me a grilled cheese.
7 Israeli Dancing
10 Mo Cheers
Israeli dancing has come a long way. In the 80s and 90s, it was an optional activity after Friday night songs before lights out that nobody opted to do. It took place in the empty Beitan. In 1993, our Deaver directors, Adam Chall and Jen Horovitz, told us that we had to go and we thought they were insane. The real insanity followed – it was a blast and we never missed again. They became more formalized under Steve Mintz, and people actually learned the real words and real dances. I wonder how Israeli dancing is doing in the post-Mintz era. The mo cheers have evolved nicely with the times. It used to just be “our mo (clap, clap, clap)” repeated. Originality paved the way for creative cheers for all the groups. On a side note, my personal favorite is when Ha’Atid claimed the Ulam as their own mo in 1996. Danny’s prediction: I vote for Israeli Dancing.
2 Ozo Mo
15 Maba Song
The flagship of all Mo’s is undoubtedly the Ozo Mo. It’s haunted. It’s decrepit. It should be condemned. It’s…great. The Maba song gets the short end of the stick with this seeding and in this region. Not even the best song in its own region, it doesn’t have much chance in this first round test. I was never in Maba – my first year was in 1989, going into 6th grade. But I always loved their song. The cool thing was I still got to sing it without having to go to their Hebrew classes. Yishmichu Mabaim!
That’s the region in a nutshell. I think that this region has some interesting matchups. What about you? One more region than we’ll tackle the entire second round. That’s when the matchups get really interesting.