Have you seen Arranged?

Dear Readers,

I'm moving over some old (as far back as 2009) posts from the main EIRIC™ site to here. Reason: I'm going with a different direction for the front page. Please feel free to take a look and provide your feedback.

Yours,

E

Post:
Rochel is an Orthodox Jew, and Nasira a Muslim of Syrian origin. They are both young teachers at a public school in Brooklyn...each going through the process of arranged marriages through their respective religions and traditional customs. How do they handle it?

To learn more: http://www.everythingiric.com/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=viewlink&link_id=1836&Itemid=2
Source: 
http://arrangedthemovie.com/

Who are you to judge our crush on the pillowy host of Bizarre Foods?

Dear Readers,

I'm moving over some old (as far back as 2009) posts from the main EIRIC™ site to here. Reason: I'm going with a different direction for the front page. Please feel free to take a look and provide your feedback.

Yours,

E

Post:
If you haven't met Andrew Zimmern, it's past time that you did. Follow this NYC Jewish foodie on his cultural adventures around the world. The video below explores his time in Cambodia. Weak stomachs need not apply. 

PBS Documentary Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders - An Anti-Segregation Movement

Dear Readers,

What inspires ordinary people to stand up for justice? This is the question that the PBS documentary Freedom Riders (airing on May 16, 2011) seeks to answer.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders - an interracial group of young men and women who joined together to fight (peacefully) against the Jim Crow laws and segregation - we'd like to say thank you.

Thank you for making our marriage and organizations like ours (EVERYTHING Interracial and Intercultural™ - EIRIC™ and Made in The World™) possible.

God willing, we'll be recapping the documentary after viewing it on PBS on May 16, 2011 at 9pm Eastern.

Thanks,

E

Our "Thirsty" greeting card.

Interracial Couple Celebrate Wedding With Smurf Cake Topper

Dear Readers,

As noted by the 2000 US census: approximately 120,638,000 US citizens are either married or cohabiting ("cohabiting" means unmarried but living together). Of this 120,638,000 US citizens involved in serious romantic relationships, approximately 6,906,000 are in cross-race relationships.

Two years ago when the hubby and I said #Ido, we increased this general statistic and the specific numbers for Caucasian male/African-American female cross-race married couples in the U.S. In 2000, this pairing ranked 6th in the top 12 mixed-race married couple pairings. The table noted below specifies the rest.

Ranking	Husband's Race	Wife's Race	Approximate Number
1	Caucasian-American	Latina	824,000
2	Latino	Caucasian-American	723,000
3	Caucasian-American	Other Race	600,000
4	Other Race	Caucasian-American	348,000
5	African-American	Caucasian-American	227,000
6	Caucasian-American	African-American	80,000
7	African-American	Latina	72,000
8	Latino	Other Race	47,000
9	Latino	African-American	41,000
10	African-American	Other Race	35,000+
11	Other Race	Latina	35,000+
12	Other Race	African-American	11,000

We've been happily celebrating our anniversary by moving into a new place and wondering why the heck we have so much crap. Don't cry for us online friends because we're taking an anniversary/birthday (hubby's) weekend getaway in the next few weeks. ______________ here we come! When we figure out where we're going, we'll let you know.

They say if you make it past your second year of marriage, you're pretty much set. I was thisclose to getting excited until I realized:

(a) I don't know who the heck "they" are;

and

(b) that's just plain stupid. How do you account for all those folks who divorce after the two years?

Side note to royal couple Kate and Harry: don't fall for that stupid advice. Loved your royal wedding, by the way.

Wait---where the heck was I? I'm so easily distracted. Okay, back to why I started writing this entry in the first place. Oh yeah...our wedding.

A friend recently sent us some pictures (our friends tend to be #tardyfortheparty) from that day which motivated me to go through our albums - a combination of professional and that of friends - to see some of the ones that we'd like to share with you.

I tend to prefer the more "artistic" (as defined by my taste) shots so those are the ones that I'm sharing. If you'd also like to see some traditional posed shots, we'll post a few.

Enjoy!

Live, Laugh, Love was the theme of our wedding.

Although neither of us is Jewish, we fell in love with the Chuppah and it's meaning.

 

Love this picture - especially in black and white

Put a ring on it

I liked it enough to put that ring on it

One of my absolute favorite shots. Again, love the black and white.

Who says white men can't...

The hubby made our cake topper. So freaking awesome!

The cake was so yummy. We ate it for breakfast the next day since we had NOTHING to eat at the wedding.

One more because he really did do a great job.

 

 

See you!

After the party is the after-partying...

Source:
Self, friends and family
http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/p20-537/2000/tabUC3.txt

Cast your vote for Mara Brock Akil (Girlfriends creator) for the TIME 100 issue.

Cast your votes for Ms. Mara Brock Akil to be included in the TIME 100 issue. This issue celebrates the leaders, artists, innovators, icons and heroes that you think are the most influential people in the world. Voting closes on April 14.

Ms. Akil is the creator of 'Girlfriends' - the show with one of our all-time favorite dysfunctional black-white interracial couple - Toni and Todd.   

Toni and Todd's First Meeting - Start at 7:30 - End at 8:10

To vote: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2058044_2060338_2059876,00.html

Kosher Tex-Mex Barbecue Craving

Every once in a while I get a serious craving for barbecue. Not because I love it so - no. More because I'm a nut job. Anyway, that's another story altogether. Back to the food. I'm always craving this food, but know that I generally have only a handful of options since I don't eat pork and eat chicken every once in a while. I wanted ribs so I begged the hubby to find a good restaurant within a reasonable driving distance from our place *aka a maximum of 10 hours ;)*. He delivered with Smokey Joe's Kosher Tex-Mex Barbeque.

I. Kid. You. Not. Kosher Tex-Mex. Even if I wasn't in the mood for ribs, there was no way I would have passed up the chance to experience Kosher Tex-Mex.

We took the drive to Teaneck, NJ barely able to contain our excitement - when I say we, I really mean me. Hubby's not as easily impressed. Anyway, it was as interesting as I thought it would be. Outside of the waitstaff, we were the only non-Jewish individuals in the restaurant. Nothing new. We're used to being "the only ________" almost everywhere that we go.

Dinner was good, but the experience was better. The best part being listening to the yarmulke-wearing-20-somethings singing Rihana's Umbrella as they left their table. I. Love. America.

Cornbread and Onion Jam Spread. Oh this was so tasty --- especially if you're like me and like the chunks of corn in your bread.

Appetizer: Sausage Sampler. We chose the Lamb Merguez and the Turkey Sage. I'm still salivating over the lamb. According to hubby, we're going back just so he can get a Sausage Sampler as his main course.

Dinner (Mine): BBQ Sampler Plate. I chose the Brisket and Chicken option and added the Rice and Beans as a side. Hubby at my chicken because I didn't really like it. I enjoyed the brisket, although I would have preferred the traditional Jewish one (they were out). I would not recommend the side.

Dinner (Hubby): Homemade Meatloaf. I pretty much devoured his meatloaf. I loved it so.

Next time we go, we're taking the whole family - on my hubby's side. Maybe, he'll wear his Star Wars shirt again. We can only hope.

Random TV Interracial and Intercultural Friendships We Love

After 18 years of participating in and leading the band on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Kevin Eubanks announced last month that his last day with the show is May 28th. We here at EIRIC are saddened to see one of our all time favorite TV friendships come to an end - at least on television. In honor of this friendship, we'd like to share some of our other favorite TV friendships that we've appreciated over the years. These are mostly friendships from TV shows that are no longer airing new episodes. We'll be doing a few other editions with friendships from current shows.

As always, we welcome your feedback.

Enjoy!!!

Show: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Friends: Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks
Ethnicity and/or Race: White AND Black


Source: www.ew.com


Show: Full House
Friends: Stephanie Tanner and Harry Takayama
Ethnicity and/or Race: White AND Asian
5 episodes, 1988-1989
- Nerd for a Day (1989)
- Pal Joey (1989)
- Middle Age Crazy (1989)
- Jingle Hell (1988)
- D.J.'s Very First Horse (1988)



Source: IMDB


Show: Rob and Big
Friends: Rob Dyrdek and Christopher "Big Black" Boykin
Ethnicity and/or Race: White AND Black
Reality buddy comedy aired on MTV featuring professional street skater Rob Dyrdek and his best friend and bodyguard, Christopher "Big Black" Boykin.


Show: The Nanny
Friends: Fran Fine and Niles
Ethnicity and/or Race: White Jewish American AND White English
She was the nanny. He was the butler. Together they were Ethel and Lucy with a little twist.



Image source: Mean Street Kids

Show: Scrubs
Friends: Carla Espinosa Turk and Elliot Reid
Ethnicity and/or Race: Latina And White
Hated each other at first because Carla thought Elliot was a stuck up princess. They eventually became best friends.

Show: Designing Women
Friends: Anthony, Susan, Julia, Charlene and Mary Jo
Ethnicity and/or Race: Black And White
After surviving his unfortunate incarceration, Anthony Bouvier took a job as a delivery man for the Sugarbaker Design company.
Probably our favorite group of interracial friends - especially the friendship between Anthony, Susan and Susan's pig. We'll follow up with a special series dedicated to them.


Show: Full House
Friends: Teddy and Michelle
Ethnicity and/or Race: Black AND White
12 episodes, 1991-1995
1. Double Trouble (17 September 1991)
2. The Legend of Ranger Joe (22 October 1991)
3. The Volunteer (29 October 1991)
4. Happy Birthday, Babies: Part 2 (12 November 1991)
5. Bachelor of the Month (26 November 1991)
6. The Devil Made Me Do It (18 February 1992)
7. Girls Will Be Boys (28 April 1992)
8. Be Your Own Best Friend (5 April 1994)
9. A House Divided (17 May 1994)
10. To Joey, with Love (25 October 1994)
11. Super Bowl Fun Day (25 January 1995)
12. Dateless in San Francisco (14 February 1995)

Source: IMDB and www.fanpop.com

Show: Ally McBeal
Friends: Ally and Renee
Ethnicity and/or Race: White AND Black
Roommates. Co-workers. Original BFFs.


Show: Scrubs
Friends: J.D. and Turk
Ethnicity and/or Race: White AND Black
Probably our absolute favorite interracial male friendship.


Show: Any Day Now
Friends: Rene and Mary Elizabeth (M.E.)
Ethnicity and/or Race: Black AND White
Mary Elizabeth, an outgoing white girl, and Rene, a shy black girl, become close friends as they grow up in 1960's Alabama. Their friendship comes to an end, however, when Mary Elizabeth (M.E.) gets pregnant and Rene doesn't support her decision to keep the child and marry her boyfriend.
Thirty years later, the pair resume their old friendship, they reminisce on old times and the events that occurred after splitting up.


*Source: Lifetime

Show: Ghostwriter
Friends: Mixed Cast
Ethnicity and/or Race: Asian, Black, Hispanic AND White
The show is about a very special team that goes around solving mysteries in New York with the help of a very secretive friend: Ghostwriter! Ghostwriter cannot hear, talk, smell, or feel. He can only read and write. He only sees words. No one else can see him but the Ghostwriter team!

We're pretty sure that we're the only geeks who followed this PBS show religiously while it was on. We'd love to hear from you if you have heard of this show. We kinda feel like losers here :).


*Source: Retrojunk