Like most Brits, I think he overcompensates on the "r", but I'm not sure I'd notice it if I didn't know he wasn't American.

All I can think of when I read this is the first time I heard James Marsters' real voice in that weird MTV ghost/music show. " I just tune the guitarrrrrsss"

Purim also has the squeaky hammers you get to bonk the rabbi with! OK, maybe that was just our friends' synagogue. It was really really really child friendly.

I wish we were able to take things here a little less seriously sometimes.

They are SO serious about other stuff (school, research) that they need to get silly with other stuff (everything else).

Also, HI NILLY!

the squeaky hammers you get to bonk the rabbi with

Hmm, we don't get those. There is the part when you have to make lots of noise whenever Haman's name is mentioned, but usually it's without hitting anybody with anything.

It was really really really child friendly.

A friend was telling about how is their reading of the "megilah" (the book of Esther) the reader made sure to give different voices to each of the characters speaking (the king, Haman, Esther, Mordekhai, Zeresh etc.) and how he never saw kids enjoying the reading so much. Adorable.

Oh, great! What were they filled with?

The one I ate was apricot. Yum! What's the singular of hamentashen? That sounds like plural, right?

But at least you probably won't have to stick around for the deliberations, right?

I hope not. Don't know though.

Yeah, James Marsters natural accent is odd.

There is the part when you have to make lots of noise whenever Haman's name is mentioned, but usually it's without hitting anybody with anything.

Yep, that's the part. The reading was always very, um, interactive. The rabbi was this big huge guy with a zillion kids of his own under 5, so picture him being bonked about the knees by toddlers. I wonder if he's still rabbi there. At the time, there was only one synagogue in town. I expect there are more now.

What's the singular of hamentashen?

I think it's hamentash. And happy Purim Nilly!

they need to get silly with other stuff (everything else).

Purim is probably the only day of the year in which serious strict practicing orthodox Jews let themselves unwind a bit. You're supposed to drink alcohol on that day (you don't have to, mind you, if you don't want to! It's not a rule).

The one I ate was apricot. Yum!

Oh, I've never tasted one with that. The traditional filling is poppy seeds (is that how you write it?), and there are lots with chocolate and with dates.

What's the singular of hamentashen? That sounds like plural, right?

I have no idea. It's in Yiddish, which I know almost-nothing of, and it's not a direct translation from the Hebrew name (with the ears).

Perkins! I've skipped - are you on jury duty?