Mission Impossible? No, It's Mission Hanukkah - From France

David el Shatran and his crew of singers and dancers in France have done it again with a creative mashup and parodies of music from Mission Impossible, Sevivon Sov Sov Sov, Maoz Tzur, and Gangnam Style.

It's another in a series of his videos, one of which we posted last Pesach mixing Matzah and Salsa into a Flashmob in the streets of Paris.

In Mission Hanukkah, our intrepid hero has to navigate the streets of Paris at night to assemble the key components needed for a Happy Chanukah celebration: Donuts, oil, and dreidels.

Will he be successful in his quest? Will there be a Chanukah miracle? Watch the video and see. 

Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah and a copy of Jewish Humor on Your Desktop: Jewish Holiday Hilarity to David el Shatran for bringing this video to our attention.)
 

A Disney Hanukkah: Story and Song at Epcot Center

If you happen to be in Walt Disney World's Epcot Center this month, you'll likely encounter Disney's tribute to Hanukkah. Every year Epcot features a perky storyteller relating the history of Hanukkah with a personal twist. Actually it's a carefully scripted performance. How do we know? We've seen different storytellers use the exact same words. And this year is no different. It's part of a storytelling series at the country pavilions. The Hanukkah story is told at The American Adventure pavilion, and leaves visitors knowing at least something about menorahs, dreidels, latkes, oil, Antiochus, and Judah Maccabee.

But wait! There's more. Voices of Liberty, the resident a cappella singing group at The American Adventure gives a two minute nod to Hanukkah by singing a short medley including I Have a Little Dreidel and Hevenu Shalom Aleichem. Like the storytelling, the singing is exactly the same every year, down to the short introduction to the medley and the Dickens caroling costumes. But what did you expect? Spontaneity? It is Disney, after all, and Jewish visitors will likely be pleased at the inclusion of some blue and white in the otherwise red and green holiday festivities.

We posted a video clip of the a cappella performance when we started this blog in 2009, but we only had 28 subscribers then, so you probably didn't see it. For our current 3,000 plus subscribers, here is the storytelling video, followed by the Voices of Liberty medley as performed last year.

Enjoy, and remember...we light the first candle this Saturday night!
Shabbat shalom and Happy Chanukah!

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Hanukkah Music Videos Turn Romantic with "Hanukkah Lovin'"

The explosion of Hanukkah music videos over the last few years has given us lots of parodies, spoofs, and mashups of American pop songs with new lyrics related to the miracle of Chanukah -- either the miracle of the oil lasting eight days or the victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks. And much of it has been a cappella, without any musical instruments.

Until this week we haven't seen much in the way of original music compositions or songs breaking out into other popular genres. One example is the country music song we posted yesterday.

Today we're posting a new romantic song, Hanukkah Lovin', composed and sung by Michelle Citrin to the accompaniment of an ensemble that includes a guitar, bass, drums, saxophone, and xylophone. It's what you might hear played in a jazz club on a Hanukkah evening date or sitting by the fire with that special person and a couple of glasses of red wine.

Some of the lyrics:


A little Hanukkah lovin' is what I need tonight
Light a menorah and the moment is right...

We'll smell of oil together tonight
As we celebrate this festival of light.
My latkes don't get cold when you're nearby
And when I sing the blessings (off key) I'm less shy.

One last latke before the night is done
Out of all eight nights, baby, this is our one.
The stars in the winter sky are shining above,
Baby, I'm in love.

Enjoy!

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Hanukkah Music Videos: A Good Old Down Home Country Chanukah

We've seen just about every style of music represented in the stream of Hanukkah videos that suddenly appears at the end of November and beginning of December. The one musical style that's been missing is Country and Western.

Now, thanks to Lauren Mayer, songwriter and performer, we can add it to the list. Lauren has just released a new video titled A Good Old Down Home Chanukah, complete with banjo and fiddle background and an animated dreidel wearing a cowboy hat.  The song is also included on her CD, Latkes, Shmatkes.

Lauren Mayer is an award-winning songwriter, professional entertainer and music teacher. Her songs have appeared on nationally syndicated radio and television programs such as The Doctor Demento Show and Good Time Cafe as well as on local radio shows, She has written several musicals produced in California and off-off Broadway. Lauren is a five time recipient of the San Francisco Cabaret Gold Award and has been the music director for many Bay Area theater companies. 

She is the founder of her own production company, providing custom-written shows for corporate events. She has taught music and voice at every grade level (preschool through high school). She is the mother of two sons, who help check out all of her songs, sing on her CDs, and otherwise keep her in touch with what kids think is cool.

Enjoy the video!

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(A tip of the kippah and a copy of Jewish Humor on Your Desktop: The Complete Collection to Lauren Mayer for bringing this video to our attention.)
 

"Pass it On," New Chanukah Music Video, Focuses on Keeping the Flame Alive

The What's Up Band, a Connecticut-based Jewish American Rock 'n Roll band, has just released a Chanukah music video titled Pass it On and now you're among the first to see it.

The song emphasizes the importance of teaching children about Jewish history, remembering the past, and transmitting our traditions from each generation to the next.

The band is known for its concerts for adults and children, and for its pre-concert musical workshops led by band members for children in school, camp, and synagogues. In the workshops they prepare the kids to perform in concert with the band.

They also perform as the Shlomones, a parody of the Ramones, a punk rock group of the 1970s and 80s.

Here are some of the words from the beginning of Pass it On:

A candle burns
New light is born
Eight arms of strength
Eight nights of warm

Remember the past
Remember the fight
Eight arms of hope
Eight nights of light
Pass it on....

A hammer's blow
From years of hate
Restored our souls
Restored our faith

With hope so strong
New days will dawn
From strength to strength
We journey on

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week: Slicing the Lox

It's Monday morning...time for another joke to start the week. Have you ever...or do you know anyone who would never take the top newspaper from a stack on a newsstand (in the days when newspapers were printed on paper and sold on newsstands) ? Or who never takes the first of anything when they can reach deep into a fruit or vegetable bin or in back of a supermarket shelf to get a more perfect or less handled item?

Well, if you do, Stuart Bochner has your number. Bochner, a 65-year-old marketing consultant and member of the Old Jews Telling Jokes chevra, tells how Mrs. Rabinowitz goes about getting the lox she wants at Zabar's.

"I want some lox," she says. "How much do you want?" "You slice. I'll tell you when I'm finished." And then...

Enjoy!

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Six13 Adds Friends to Come Up With New Hanukkah Music Video

The boy band Six13 has been composing, performing and recording original Jewish a cappella music for about nine years, including Chanukah music videos in 2010 and 2011. This year they invited their friends and fans, including some girls, from all over the world to join them in song to help celebrate the Festival of Lights and wish everyone a Happy Chanukah.

This year's entry is Haneirot Halalu. Last year they sang Chanukah Rights and the year before I Light It, a pop three-song parody.

This song and all Six13 songs are completely a cappella -- created with nothing but the human voice.

The Chanukah videos keep coming in and we plan to share as many as we can with you in the next two weeks. You can see all of the Chanukah videos that we've posted since Jewish Humor Central started in 2009 in our new e-book, Jewish Humor on Your Desktop: Jewish Holiday Hilarity, just published and available for download to your PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Android phone and tablet. 

This volume has funny anecdotes, comedy, parody, and music videos for all the Jewish holidays, including 25 for Hanukkah. You can get it at Amazon.com for $2.99 -- for yourself or to give as a Chanukah gift.

Enjoy!

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How to Dress for an Ugly Sweater Hanukkah Party

December always marks the arrival of loads of ugly tacky garish Christmas sweaters in department stores. So a Jewish entrepreneur asked why should Jews celebrating Hanukkah be denied the pleasure of giving ugly sweaters as gifts to friends and family? But where can you find ugly sweaters with Chanukah motifs? What to do if you're invited to an Ugly Sweater Chanukah party?

We found these questions challenging and thought-provoking, so we set about to do some research on the Internet. What we found was a sizable cult of people devoted to tracking down, buying, and wearing the ugliest sweaters that they could find and building a Christmas party around a contest for who has the ugliest of them all.

Carin Agiman of Santa Ana, California, the founder of Geltfiend.com, took the idea of designing and selling ugly Chanukah sweaters seriously and started a fundraising project on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com to come up with $20,000 to start producing and marketing them. Her high hopes were met when 293 backers stepped up with donations ranging from $1 to $1,000 to kick start the project.

Are the sweaters really ugly? Well, you'll have to be the judge. Check out some of the designs above and the video that was used to get investors interested. Enjoy!

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Israeli Technion Students, Inspired by Rube Goldberg, Build Menorah Lighting Contraption

 

Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) became famous for his highly detailed cartoons depicting extremely complicated contraptions that executed very simple tasks in a complex, indirect way. These contraptions came to be known as Rube Goldberg machines.

Though Goldberg spent a lot of time drawing his funny machines, he didn't actually build them. But his eye for detail and use of oddball devices were an inspiration to Mechanical and Industrial Engineering students in the Robotics Lab at the Technion in Haifa, Israel, who used his techniques to build a machine that lights the Chanukah menorah.

Thought you could do it by just striking a match and putting it next to a candle or oil wick? Why would you, when instead you could do it with helium balloons, nitroglycerin, a toy car, falling dominoes, tubes, and whatever odds and ends you could find.

Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah and a copy of our new eBook, Jewish Humor on Your Desktop: The Complete Collection to Sheila Zucker for bringing this video to our attention.)

Hanukkah Countdown 2012: Here Come the Music Videos

In case you haven't noticed, Chanukah will be here in just ten days. The first candle is next Saturday night. In the world of Jewish Humor Central, that means we're ready to bring you the funniest Hanukkah happenings, music videos, and a cappella groups that we can find.

For the last two years, the Fountainheads, Maccabeats, and Aish haTorah led the way with impressive musical productions. Let's see if they repeat this year, or if we're dealing with a whole new crop of talented singers and dancers.

The first video to reach us this year is Eight Nights, an a cappella parody of a few current pop songs. The singers, Yeshiva University graduates David Block, Noey Jacobson, Nachum Joel, and Immanuel Shalev. The name of the group, StandFour, is a play on words. They say that after college, they want to continue to make music that is both fun and inspiring. They believe in bringing out the meaning present in all things -- "That's what we stand for." Enjoy!

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Rita, Israel's Most Popular Singer, Builds Bridges to Iranian People with Her Farsi Music

Rita Johanfaruz, known to most Israelis by her stage name Rita, has been called Israel's most popular singer. Born in Tehran 50 years ago, Rita experienced a reawakening of her Iranian childhood last year and decided to record All My Joys, an album of songs in Farsi, the language of Persia, or Iran; songs that her mother sang to her before the family emigrated to Israel when she was eight years old.

The CD instantly topped the charts and went gold in three weeks. Now Rita is touring Israel and singing the new songs to the acclaim of her fans.

CNN recently interviewed Rita, giving her a chance to express her feelings about the relationship between the two countries whose leaders are locked in enmity but whose people share a love for her music. Rita has been getting calls, letters, emails, and Facebook messages from Iranians who buy bootleg copies of her CDs as they defy their government's ban on everything Israeli, including her music.

Here is a video of the CNN interview, followed by one of Rita's songs from the new album. Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week: Looking For a Jewish Girl

It's Monday morning and time for a joke to start the week. Once again we venture into the seemingly endless collection of Old Jews Telling Jokes and come up with a real oldie retold by Harriet Sussman, a 73-year-old retired secretary.

Harriet's joke takes place on the deck of a cruise ship. Aboard the ship a dapper young man wearing a straw hat and running around like a meshuggener comes up to her and tells her that he's looking for a Jewish girl. Does she know a Jewish girl? She asks him why. You probably know the answer if you've been around old Jewish jokes as long as we have. 

So what are you waiting for? Press the play button and listen to the answer. Enjoy!

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Tumbalalaika Around the World: Yiddish Song Surfaces in Italian Movie

When we started a series a few weeks ago about the popularity of the Yiddish song Tumbalalaika we weren't sure where the road would lead as we followed the song around the world. Just like the appearance of Hava Nagila in unexpected places, this song is showing up in some surprising locales.

Today we're looking at a 2002 Italian film titled Prendimi l'anima (The Soul Keeper) by film maker Roberto Faenza about a love affair between the psychoanalyst Carl Jung and a young Russian Jewish girl, Sabina Spielrein. Here's a summary of the plot:

In 1905 a 19-year-old Russian girl suffering from severe hysteria is admitted into a psychiatric hospital in Zurich. A young doctor, Carl Gustav Jung, takes her under his care and for the first time experiments with the psychoanalytical method of his teacher, Sigmund Freud. Based on recently exposed secret correspondence between Jung, Freud and Sabina Spielrein, this true story begins with the Spielrein's healing, closely related to her passionate love affair with Jung, followed by her return to post-revolutionary Russia where she became Switzerland's first female psychoanalyst.

So what does this have to do with Tumbalalaika? Beats us. But the song is the musical background of the last five minutes of the film as it plays repeatedly in a sequence where the doctors and patients of the asylum dance to its haunting melody.

If you want to see the film, it's available for rental from Netflix. It's not rated, but does include some frontal nudity. (But not in the clip we're showing here.) Enjoy!

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A Comedy Classic: Jack Benny and Mel Blanc in "What's in a Name?"

It's not in HD color; it's black and white. The picture is grainy and the sound isn't great. But the comedy! They don't make them like this any more.

Last night we came across an old routine on the Jack Benny show that had the master of comedy interviewing prospective candidates for a talent show. Who should be the first candidate but a character named Stanley Gropff. Every time Benny pronounces his name, well, you have to see it.

The skit involves some dog imitations and shows off Gropff's talents. Of course, we know that Gropff is really Mel Blanc, who was known as the man of 1,000 voices including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and Yosemite Sam.

We profiled Blanc last year when he was the subject of a special exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum. If you missed that post, it's worth taking a look. 

Enjoy! Tha-tha-that's all, folks!

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Amazing Bottle Dancers Crash a Wedding

Bottle dancing, a highlight of the wedding scene in Fiddler on the Roof, started long before the Broadway show and Hollywood film made it popular. An Eastern European folk tradition, it was part of the culture of Hungary and other countries. And it was a feature of many Jewish weddings in Europe. But Fiddler brought the dance home to American audiences in a uniquely Jewish way.

Michael Pasternak, who comes from a line of rabbis and cantors, owned a production company that created exciting sales meetings and events. He wanted a unique way to make his own wedding special, so he came up with the idea of staging a traditional Hasidic bottle dance in the middle of a modern wedding. Soon he was getting calls asking for a similar performance at other weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and other occasions. Before long, the Amazing Bottle Dancers were born.

Michael has since perfected the bottle dance performance as a surprise feature of these events, with only the sponsors aware of the shtick that is about to happen in the middle of the event. Typically, a Hasid mistakenly wanders into the ballroom seemingly confused about where he is going, starts a dialogue with the sponsor or master of ceremonies, and then the fun begins.

They perform their shtick with sensitivity to tradition. Their website says:

Having been founded by someone with such a rich family history, we are certainly aware that if you are planning an ORTHODOX simcha, you may be having a mechitzah, or perhaps just a "ceremonial" separation of the dancing for men and women (such as a few strategically-placed potted plants or trees). And our performers, of course, are fully aware that they must not extend a hand to any of the women in attendance.

Additionally, if you're planning a kiddush luncheon following your Bar or Bat Mitzvah and will not be having recorded music, we can discuss a program featuring a capella singers.

Here's a video showing a typical performance of the Amazing Bottle Dancers.  Enjoy!

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 (A tip of the kippah and a copy of "Jewish Humor on Your Desktop: The Complete Collection" to Phoebe Weisbrot for bringing this video to our attention.)
 

Ladino Comes Alive in the Song Stylings of Mor Karbasi

Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish, was the language of the Sephardic Jews, similar to the way Yiddish was the language of the Eastern European Jews. It is influenced heavily by Hebrew and Aramaic, but also Arabic, Turkish, and to a lesser extent Greek and other languages where Sephardic exiles settled around the world, primarily throughout the Ottoman Empire.

Like many other Jewish languages, Judeo-Spanish is in danger of language extinction. Most native speakers are elderly, many of them having emigrated to Israel where the language was not transmitted to their children or grandchildren. However, it is experiencing a minor revival among Sephardic communities, especially in music.

Mor Karbasi, a second generation Israeli, is keeping Ladino alive in her singing performances and popular recordings. Her haunting melodies are based on the songs she learned from her grandfather, who grew up in Morocco and now lives in Nazareth.

In this video, Karbasi sings La Hija de la Primavera (The Daughter of Spring) in Ladino. Just below, we're sharing a short interview with Karbasi, in which she talks about her love for Israel and her Jewish identity, her roots in Morocco, the origins of Ladino, and how she and her mother write the words and music of piyutim (liturgical poems based on religious texts) that she sings in Ladino. Enjoy!

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"Deli Man" Documentary - A Mouth-Watering Tribute to Eastern European Jewish Cooking

Erik Greenberg Anjou, director of two acclaimed documentaries focusing on the life of a cantor (A Cantor's Tale) and klezmer musicians (The Klezmatics on Holy Ground) is at it again. This new film will complete his trilogy on Jewish life. It's called Deli Man, and will be released very soon.  It's a film that's sure to spark your appetite, and it's all about pastrami, corned beef, matzo balls, and all the tasty foods that surround you in a traditional Jewish delicatessen.

The film is in the final stages of production, with support in the form of a seed grant from the Hartley Foundation. Here is a description and preview of the film from their web site:

What makes a Jew?  In the oft-quoted rabbinic source “Ethics of the Fathers,” the three pillars of Judaism are earmarked as prayer, study, and gemilut hasidim, or acts of loving kindness.  But there’s a fourth pillar – Food. 

A tender cut of corned beef steeped in its juices.  A full-bodied garlic pickle.  Spicy brown mustard with grain.  A blintz that melts in your mouth like a creamsicle on a summer’s day.   Recipes and culinary garnishes from Hungary, Poland, Russia, and Romania that flowed in to late 19^th and early 20^th century America and soon became part of an American culinary and cultural vernacular – Deli…

The center and principal guide of Deli Man, the third in a trilogy of documentaries by Erik Greenberg Anjou, will be the effusive and charming Ziggy Gruber, a third-generation delicatessen man, owner and maven, as well as Yiddish-speaking French-trained chef, who currently operates one of the country’s most popular, and delicious delis, Kenney and Ziggy’s in Houston.  ‘Texas?’ you ask.  Shalom, y’all.

Here's a 12 minute sample of what's coming when the full documentary is released. Watch for cameo appearances by Alan Dershowitz, Larry King, Jerry Stiller, and Fyvush Finkel. Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah and a copy of "Jewish Humor on Your Desktop: The Complete Collection" to Toni for bringing this video to our attention.)

A Joke to Start the Week: Victor Borge and His Barber

Long before there was Old Jews Telling Jokes, there was The Funniest Joke I Ever Heard, a pair of 1984 television specials co-produced by Dick Clark and broadcast on ABC, in which celebrities shared their favorite joke.

A celebrity featured on the show was one of our favorite comedians, Victor Borge (1909-2000), the pianist, composer, songwriter, entertainer and actor. Born Borge Rosenbaum, he was educated at the Conservatory of Copenhagen. His hilarious performances and antics at the piano in his one-man show Comedy in Music earned him the title of Clown Prince of Denmark.

In this video from The Funniest Joke I Ever Heard, Victor Borge tells of a funny encounter with Mr. Schwartz, his barber in Denmark. Enjoy!

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Announcing "Jewish Humor on Your Desktop": The Best of Jewish Humor Central in 7 New eBooks and Lectures

A Message from the Blogger-in-Chief:

After more than three years and 957 blog posts, Jewish Humor Central is expanding into new areas: eBooks and lectures.

The blog is not changing. It will continue with a new post every day except Shabbat and Jewish holidays, covering the usual mix of jokes, funny happenings, music videos, holiday humor, and Yiddishe nachas, usually connected to a video clip. And there will continue to be no charge for subscribing. No cost, no obligation, no spam.

Today I'm announcing a new series of seven eBooks titled Jewish Humor on Your Desktop. They are based on the best of Jewish Humor Central blog posts from the last three years. I selected more than 400 of the funniest and most interesting posts and associated videos and organized them by category. They fit into the following groups:

Volume 1: Old Jokes and New Comedians
Volume 2: Israel is a Funny Country
Volume 3: Humor in Jewish Life (You Can't Make This Stuff Up)
Volume 4: Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places
Volume 5: Yiddish is a Funny Language
Volume 6: Jewish Holiday Hilarity
Volume 7: Yiddishe Nachas

All seven eBooks are available for purchase at Amazon.com at $2.99 each.

The complete collection is available in one volume for $9.99, including more than 400 anecdotes and back stories, and more than 20 hours of links to video clips on the Internet.

They can be read on the iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD, BlackBerry, Android SmartPhones, and desktop PCs and Macs. You will need a Kindle Reader for your device, downloadable free from Amazon.com.

You can view the table of contents of each volume and download a free sample from the book listings on Amazon.com.   

So you may want to ask: “Why a book?” and “Why now?

The nature of a blog is that the many posts (now approaching 1,000) appear and are quickly displaced by new posts. Of course, if you want to take the time to search the archives and keywords on the Jewish Humor Central site, you can find any post going back to the first one.

The rapid growth and acceptance of tablets and smartphones offered an opportunity to organize the best posts by category, present them with direct links to the videos and make them available to a wide audience at a very low price. With Jewish Humor on Your Desktop, you will be able to put your finger on a favorite post and add a touch of fun to your day wherever you happen to be.

In 2013, I will be delivering lectures on Jewish humor at synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and other locations. If you are interested in booking a presentation on the general topic of Jewish Humor on Your Desktop or on any of the topics covered in the volumes of the series, you can reach me by e-mail at akustan at gmail.com or by phone at 201-796-9273.

I hope you find the books entertaining and a source for sharing funny jokes, anecdotes, and incidents with your circle of family and friends. They should make good gifts for Hanukkah and other occasions.  

Thanks for your support and encouragement in reading and commenting on Jewish Humor Central posts each day. 

Al Kustanowitz

Rita Rudner: As Funny in Interview as She is on Stage

Rita Rudner is one of our favorite comedians, as we mentioned in a blog post in January 2011. She is one of the rare comedians who can keep an audience laughing without resorting to words that keep the radio and TV bleepers busy all the time.

We discovered that Rita is as funny when being interviewed as she is when doing a stand-up routine in her home base of Las Vegas or in appearances around the country.

We caught up with her in an interview with Conn Jackson in January. He interweaves his questions for Rita with short video clips of her performing on stage. Her clipped, witty answers are reflective of her comedy style, or is it the other way around? Either way, we hope you'll laugh as we did.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)

11-Year-Old Piano Virtuoso Plays My Yiddishe Mama

When Ethan Bortnick was 8 years old, he was already being acclaimed as a piano virtuoso, and appeared wih all the popular TV hosts, including Jay Leno, Oprah Winfrey, and Martha Stewart.

This past September, now 11 years old, Ethan was a featured performer on the annual Chabad Telethon. Introduced by Larry King, Ethan plays and sings the classsic Yiddish song My Yiddishe Mama.

First we share Ethan's promotional video, made when he was eight, followed by his September perfomance on the Chabad Telethon.  Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)