ROYALS FEVER — As I write this, the Royals are still in the hunt for the American League crown. Last year South Korea’s Sung Woo was considered the Royals’ good luck charm, and a documentary about him recently aired on ESPN, “30 for 30 Shorts: #BringBackSungWoo.” Danny Parkins of 610 Sports Radio’s The Drive with Danny and CDot was featured in the documentary, which was produced by Josh Swade, who also has connections in the Kansas City Jewish community. The program can be viewed online at http://grantland.com/features/30-for-30-shorts-bringbacksungwoo/.
THE ROYALS BUMP ‘BIG SONIA’ — We do love the Royals, but when The J decided to move its Jewish Film Festival in support of the Royals, that postponed the fundraiser for “Big Sonia,” the documentary about Holocaust survivor Sonia Warshawski. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Leah Warshawski, Sonia Warshawski’s granddaughter who is producing the documentary, said $90,000 is still needed to finish the film. “In November, Sonia turns 90, and we want her to be a part of our outreach when the film is complete ... so we would like to finish the film this year! Please help us raise funds to edit the movie and we’ll have even more clips to show you next year when the festival is re-scheduled.” To learn more about the film, and/or to make a tax-deductible donation, visit www.bigsonia.com. Donations may also be sent to Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122. (Write “Big Sonia” in the memo line.)
BLESS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMALS — On Friday, Oct. 16, the Sim Shalom Virtual Synagogue will bestow virtual blessing on animals. “No ark is required, just wifi,” the press release states. The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. central time and may be found at www.simshalom.com. In addition, folks can submit their pet’s name to be blessed via the chat feature, which allows live interaction among participants.
Sim Shalom is an interactive online Jewish Universalist synagogue that describes itself as liberal in thought and traditional in liturgy. Created in 2009 by Rabbi Steven Blane on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Sim Shalom offers a means of connecting the unconnected. Rabbi Blane leads “accessible and short Kabbalat Shabbat services every Friday night using a virtual interface.” In addition, Sim Shalom provides online education programs, jazz concerts, conversion and life-cycle ceremonies along with weeknight services at 6 p.m. central time led by rabbis and students of this online community.
BESTSELLER IN GERMANY — I got a nice note from Bob Bloch this week. His new book, “My Warren Buffett Bible” is a bestseller in Germany on Amazon. It’s been as high as No. 5 in the past couple of weeks. He explained that any book ranked in the top 100 is considered a bestseller. He also said the book is selling well here in the States. He reports a Japanese publisher, Tokuma Shoten, has also purchased the Japanese language rights to the book. “Buffett is popular all over the world!” he tells me.{/mprestriction}
