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From: E! Online

All we can say is mazel tov! Jake Gyllenhaal, Christina Applegate, Ben Stiller and Debra Messing are among a host of celebrities joining forces with Grover and the rest of the Muppet gang for Shalom Sesame, a Jewish-themed version of Sesame Street aimed at teaching Jewish-American preschoolers about their culture and heritage. Per published reports, the 12-part series will follow our lovable furry blue hero as he and his A-list pals film educational segments with children in the U.S. and travel to Israel to visit some of Judaism’s most prominent sites, among them the Western Wall. Other stars aboard Shalom Sesame include Greg Kinnear, Cedric the Entertainer and Anneliese van der Pol from Disney’s That’s So Raven. The show is actually a reboot. It was first adapted from the original Sesame Street in 1986 for American public television stations and then again in 1990. Past guests have included Joan Rivers, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mandy Patinkin, Mary Tyler Moore and Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. No word if Cookie Monster likes matzo. The first installment of Shalom Sesame is due to premiere around the Hanukkah holiday in December 2010.

From: TheAtlantic.com

Tarantino is known for his badass conscious-lacking or alternative-morals borderline-insane-yet-shockingly-relateable characters. Which is why I was so pleased to see him portraying Jewish Revolt in the face of the greatest genocide since – well – the last anti-Jewish genocide.

As TheAtlantic.com points out very insightfully, NO JEW could have possibly portrayed the Jewish community during the Holocaust as Tarantino has. It’s too sad a topic – and ’sinister’ is not exactly the emotion that springs to mind when a Jew thinks about Nazi Germany – unless they’re thinking about the Germans.

Tarantino, however, has been able to take the Jewish perspective of the Holocaust – and turn it completely badass! Jews running around killing ‘Naazis” (my impression of Brad Pitt’s southern accent in the film) with absolutely no regard or consideration for the Nazi’s humanity (justifiably so!), is absolutely beautiful. Watching an “Ubermentsch” on his knees getting slugged full-force in the head like a tee-ball is exactly what any Jew needs to really visually express what we’ve been feeling for years.

This is great!

Eli Roth, a filmmaker/actor in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, got a visit from his parents, Sheldon and Cora. Sheldon and Cora broke a promise to themselves never to step foot in Germany – in order to visit their son on the set.

When Tarantino realized that Roth’s parents were on set – he called out to the cast saying “Hey, everybody! It’s Sheldon and Cora’s Birthday!” What ensued was beyond hilarity. The entire Nazi High-Command standing in front of poor Sheldon and Cora singing Happy Birthday! “It wasn’t their birthdays” said Roth.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sQhTVz5IjQ]