Why the heck did I not hear anything about this before today?

New Zealand “two-man novelty band” (name the song title) Flight of the Conchords will be performing at University of Miami’s BankUnited Center tomorrow Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Jermain and Bret are also the stars of a self-named comedy show on HBO, now in its second season, where they portray (strangely enough) a two-man novelty band from New Zealand trying to make it in New York City. The show is hilarious, as are the Conchord’s songs, all of them original though many done in the style of various pop artists, such as Pet Shop Boys (Inner City Pressure), Marvin Gaye (Think About It) and David Bowie (Bowie). You can check out their entire debut album at Last.FM.

Tickets to the show are $38.50 (ouch!) and there is assigned seating. See TicketMaster to purchase.

Seriously, why hasn’t this gotten any promotion? I heard about it on Twitter from my wife who saw the tweet from @UnivMiami. Then again, considering the geek cult following of the Conchords, hearing about it on Twitter is perfectly acceptable and expected.

If anyone out there goes, let me know how the show goes, yes?

Right now, though, it’s Business Time.

You might miss it if you blink or look the other way, but this Wednesday morning, April 8, will be a very special day for Jews all over the world, not only because it is the morning before Passover, but because it will be the time to celebrate one of the rarest mitzvahs (commandments), the blessing of the sun. As Chabad.org explains:

Every 28 years the sun returns to the same position, at the same time of the week, that it occupied at the time of its creation—at the beginning of the fourth day of creation. A special blessing – called Birkat Hachamah, “the sun blessing” – is recited to mark this event.

The last time this happened it was 1981, the next will be in 2037, so this is a pretty big deal. Wednesday morning (up until noon, at th every latest), if you see Jews standing outside, praying towards the morning sun, remember they are blessing the sun and thanking G-d for giving us that magnificent engine of life here on Earth. If you are a Jew, perhaps you could find a local synagogue where to take part of this momentous ocassion; if you are not Jewish, perhaps you can take a moment to reflect on creation as well.

Consider this a Jewish PSA, if you will.

When you go to local supermarkets and see the yellow-capped bottles of Coke and Diet Coke, if you are not Jewish, please don’t buy them. Those yellow-capped sodas are Kosher for Passover, so leave them for those that need them. My local Publix just put up the display sign above stating this info, but most places don’t have anything telling consumers what the heck is up with the yellow-capped bottles.

On behalf of hundreds of Jews in the area who will then be able to have Coke/Diet Coke for the week of Passover, I say thank you.