Dish-Houston

The Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest and the Jewish Community Center of Houston will present the Annual Summer Israeli Film Series at the JCC Kaplan Theatre. Three blockbuster Israeli films of the past year will be screened on Wednesdays in June, July, and August.

            The most popular film of the Houston Jewish Film Festival, The Matchmaker (Pa’am Hayit)i will make an encore appearance at the Summer Israeli Film Series on Wednesday, June 29 at 7:30 p.m. This tragic comedy, set in Haifa in 1968, sheds light on the unique position of Holocaust survivors living in Israel at that time period. Young Arik learns deeper lessons than matchmaking when he’s hired by survivor and community yenta Yankele Bride.

            In the spirit of summer, This is Sodom (Zohi Sdom) plays at the JCC on Wednesday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m. A zany comedy a la History of the World Part I, this biblical farce takes place just as God, an ambitious theology entrepreneur, negotiates with his hard-headed client, Abraham, over the destruction of Sodom, the original Sin City.            The final film of the series, Intimate Grammar (HaDikduk HaPnimi), will be screened on Wednesday, August 17 at 7:30 p.m. Like the first film, Intimate Grammar takes place during 1960s Israel, but tells a very different coming-of-age story. 12 year-old Aharon finds himself trapped between his refined nature and the brutish world surrounding him, and chooses to go to great lengths to become a man.

            For more information and to purchase tickets to the Summer Israeli Film Series visit www.jcchouston.org or call Ariela Emery at 713-729-3200 x3299.

This program was made possible, in part, by funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, United Airlines and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

As we all know, the Dallas Mavericks' won the NBA Champs title but it was the after party that seems to be getting all of ht buzz! Team owner Mark Cuban bought a bottle of champagne for his team,  but this wasn't your everyday bottle....

it was huge even for of the 7-foot Dirk Nowitzki, (this pic showed up in his twitter feed)  AND it cost $90,000. This came with your basic 22% tip...which if you"re a math person euqals to $20,000. The New York Post reports that this made up the entirety of his tab for the night, but we suspect Cuban bought more than that.

From the Post:

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban spent $110,000 in four hours celebrating at club Liv at Miami's Fontainebleau after his Mavs beat the Heat to take the NBA Championship. Cuban spent most of it on a $90,000 bottle of Ace of Spades Champagne for teammates Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry(notes), Brian Cardinal(notes) and Shawn Marion(notes). After partying with the trophy until 5 a.m. yesterday and taking in a performance by Lil Wayne, Cuban left a $20,000 tip for the wait staff. "Worth every penny," he cheerily told us via e-mail.

It's true that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they tip...if they have thought for the hard work the wait staff puts in etc...but to me...it's a sign of what's happening in the bank account, let's be real! And we all know what's happening in Mark's! He's not just a good tipper....he's a good party thrower! He's financing the official parade for Dallas sometime this week:

Cuban repeated Monday that he will personally pay for the celebration. Dallas Mayor Dwaine Caraway says the city is in a budget crunch but still plans a parade, with details to be announced later.

Don't worry for Cuban though...it will be a long time before he or his future generations will have to worry about pinching a penny...According to Forbes, Cuban is ranked 459th on the "World's Richest People" list, with a net worth of $2.5 billion.

Now that the season is over...but before the parade...he's having a small vacation with some buddies in the Cayman Islands...  Lorne Michaels and Alec Baldwin.

By DISH Contributor John Canales Gorczynski:

TEDxHouston has for the second year in a row made me more proud to be a Houstonian than any other event. Some of our region’s brightest minds presenting to hundreds of creative, engaged residents will do that. The theme this year was “Where do we go from here?” and rather than give you a blow-by-blow account of each speakers’ presentation, I’ll use this space to share keys lessons learned that might help you go on in your journey.

Dr. Roberta Ness, Dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health, was startled by a colleague into researching creativity. In short, creativity is a combination of the inherent skill in the individual and the creative techniques learned. Most importantly, if we want to be creative, we must break the “frames”, or set of cognitive and emotional expectations we use to take in new information and ideas. We can do that by careful observation, changing our point of view, and reversal of the observed.

Kurt Podeszwa, Director at Camp For All, made it clear that Selfish Selflessness can change your life. I’ll save his take on what sacrifice is for when the videos are posted, and let you know how he thinks you can get the most out of service. Serve in your strength, serve to learn something new, and serve with an open mind. This former Marine made it clear that he gets way more out of helping every person, regardless of physical or mental ability, to experience camp, than he puts into it. The fulfillment on this guy’s face is enough to convince me to follow his simple three steps.

Michael Skelly, President of Clean Line Energy, made it clear that Houston is poised to be the world capital of clean energy as we have been the petroleum revolution. We need to work to make sure our city is welcoming to the people whose passion it is to develop and market these emerging technologies. Draw your own conclusions about how we improve our schools, clean our air and improve cultural opportunities.

Will Reed, President and CEO of Technology for All, made it clear that there are three steps to digital inclusion: a device, bandwidth, and the skills to use the technology. Tech for All is doing exciting things in Houston’s under-served communities to bring all three elements of digital necessities to people including the very first wifi network broadcasting on the old analog television frequencies.

And finally, the one who I believe will be picked up by the national TED organization to be shared globally, Angela Blanchard, CEO of Neighborhood Centers, Inc. Angela and her team have had success working in some of the regions toughest neighborhoods because they approach communities with new first questions: what works? Who do you rely on? What do you love about where you live? These questions, rather than what’s wrong? How does crime effect you? What the nastiest problem in your neighborhood? Optimism matters. If you anticipate good, you tend to find it.