The Witch and the Toothbrush

The Witch and the Toothbrush -
A Story about Dental Hygiene

A dozen years ago, Prof. Herb Judes, then Head of the Dental Faculty of Tel Aviv University, asked me start a dental outreach program in Israel. Outreach for me means reaching out to kids. After all, when you teach a child good oral hygiene, his teeth will likely last a lifetime.

Soon we were bringing small and large groups of Jewish and Arab school children to the Dental school. The kids came from all over the country and received free refreshments, toothbrushes and other gifts and most importantly had an initial dental assessment carried out by senior dental students.

However, there was one small problem. I had a 'window' of 45 minutest between the welcome lecture and the actual clinical assessment of the children. In order to fill this time productively, I decided to cook up a short children’s play related to good dental hygiene and called it “The Witch and the Toothbrush”.

In the story, a witch whose broom is broken falls from the sky and meets a young girl. The girl makes a nasty comment about the witch's teeth (which were ugly as night). The witch loses her temper and casts a spell on the girl and turns her into a red toothbrush. The spell will only be broken if a young child learns to brush his or her teeth properly, using the toothbrush.

The play soon took on a life of its own. I asked the children, parents and teachers to play the various roles. We brought in props. We added a pianist, some songs, and my colleague Dr. Alon Amit agreed to play the role of the dentist (appropriate, since he is also a real one). The play was even translated and performed in Arabic!

The head of children's cardiology at a major hospital met with me and told me how important oral hygiene was in his field – would I turn the play into a film for his patients, he asked. I raised the money from Shari Arison's fund and the Braverman family in Los Angeles and enlisted my friend, the late great Dudu Dotan to play the part of the witch. Together with the cinema department of Tel Aviv University, we auditioned hundreds of children for the roles of the girl and boy, a talented scriptwriter transformed my story, and we even had animation. The thirteen minute film, the Witch and the Toothbrush, is now freely available in

Hebrew http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGvETmmRm24

And

Arabic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMyNCRISkxo

About five years ago, Evi Wyler and I decided to publish the Hebrew version of this story into book form, and so far have we (mostly she) have donated about six thousand copies. The publication is quite unique because it contains this story but when you flip it over and upside down, you’ll find another one of my story’s, "What to do with a Used Toothbrush".

The English versions of the two stories are available free on www.meltells.com, alongside my other stories about dental and general well-being with my popular characters such as Dr. Cluck, the Tooth fairy and Mel the Smell Dragon.

Ironically, after getting the movie filmed and the books produced, I have now gone back to the original play. We have recently performed in Tel Aviv and Netanya, and are headed to Kiryat Gat on August 4^th to perform for 100 Ethiopian children, all of them new immigrants. This is of great importance, since children from Ethiopia often have very low caries levels when they first arrive in Israel. However studies have shown that after one or two years of eating sweets and other cariogenic snacks, their caries levels soar. We hope to give each child toothpaste and a toothbrush kit, and books for their classrooms and library.

What should the un-iversity be about?

What should the un-iversity be about?

Nothing, and everything. The curriculum should resemble a me-nu more than a syllabus. It should be a resource for learning, for thinking, for creating new ideas, new paradigms (whatever those are). It shouldn't compete with regular universities (we have enough of those) in offering standard courses. The courses we offer should be 'off the wall'. It is likely that the first will be offered by Lior Manor. I dream of a course in which he explains the thought processes of the magician, the psychology involved, and the scientific principles which magicians use to 'bend' our perception of reality. Now that would be a course worthy of the un-iversity. You can expect me to be in attendance. Other courses I would personally like to attend or help teach:


1. Dentistry: medicine or business?
2. "Tricks of the Trades" How not to buy a piano, a house, etc.
3. How to think and succeed like Yossi Vardi (this is one I would strictly be on the listening end)

What might a teacher at the un-iversity do? Freely share his/her disruptive view of one segment of our un-iverse. What should a student do? Commit to attend the entire run of any given course (maybe with one or two unavoidable hookies).

Your comments are welcome!

The un-iversity might also publicize groups and events that share this vision. See, for example, the e-mail below I received from Or-Tal Kiriati. There are lots of organizations promoting innovation among youth, but there is no site that we know of that un-ites them.

יזמות טכנולוגית
http://startupseeds.com/

חינוך ליזמות
www.unistream.co.il/ and www.decimaventures.com/unistream.html

בנק לאומי
www.leumi.co.il/Leumi/Article/0,2777,170994,00.html
http://www.leumi.co.il/Leumi/Home/0,2777,6567,00.html
http://www.yazamim.org.il/

קבוצת עופר
http://ne.sisma.org.il/school/hativa-b/nashad/default.aspx

התאחדות התעשיינים ומשרד התמ"ס
http://www.industry.org.il/?CategoryID=1151&ArticleID=1034&sng=1
http://www.kav-lahinuch.co.il/?CategoryID=311&ArticleID=4644

מרכז נוער יזמי כפר סבא
http://www.kfar-saba.muni.il/?CategoryID=548&ArticleID=290&sng=1

אשלים - נוער בסיכון - פרויקט יזמות
http://www.ashalim.org.il/default.asp?catid=%7bBDEAE394-92AC-4DAD-B186-83834981C3BC%7d&details_type=1&itemid=%7bCE608647-E844-4132-9DC6-2BCACA99260C}
מסמך על התוכנית
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/1986480/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%98-%D7%99%D7%96%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%A2%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%9C%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%A8
ועוד קישורים
http://www.zionut2000.org.il/hebrew/meidaon-yazamut/email.html

תוכניות אחרות - יזמות חברתית וכ'
http://noar.education.gov.il/main/upload/merkaz/merkaz5.htm
יזמות התנדבותית
http://ivolunteer.org.il/Index.asp?CategoryID=280&ArticleID=2811

עמותת צבע (צעירים בונים עתיד) - יותר חברתי פחות יזמות
http://www.tzeva.org.il/

Summary of the idea:
Let's get them all together all the doers, mentors, leaders, investors together with the youth, in a one day happening, at any given date around the summer vacation or at the beginning of the school year.

The ten minutes that changed your life.

To Be or Not to Be!
The ten minutes that changed your life.

Just yesterday I was talking to Jeff Pulver about his thoughts on chance, providence, and good old luck. I was thinking that each of us must have experienced an episode that changed our life, shaped our career, secured our financial well-being or brought about fame. Some of us have had several, but if I asked you to recount the most critical ten minute segment in your CAREER, what would it be? And how did luck/coincidence/providence/hard work figure in? Here is mine, an excerpt from my new book (coming out in a few weeks) entitled "Save Your Breath".

"…In frustration, I petitioned Tel Aviv University to let me manufacture samples of the two-phase mouthwash by myself (this would have been a disaster, as I still have no manufacturing expertise). At the last moment, fate took the form of a telephone call. Chaim Regev, head of marketing at Israel's largest manufacturer of toothpastes and other household products (Shemen-Soad Ltd.), had heard about the mouthwash formula from a newspaper article. He told me that they had thousands of empty mouthwash bottles lying around, and had been thinking of throwing them out. Could I fill them, he wanted to know. I explained the advantages of the two-phase product, and mentioned the issue of having to shake it before use. Chaim Regev turned the disadvantage into an advantage. "We'll emphasize the need for shaking. We'll color each phase in bold hues. People with bad breath won't mind shaking a container if they believe the results will be positive."

The product turned into a hit in Israel, then was followed by a British version that became Dentyl pH, the second bestselling mouthwash in the UK.

The Ultimate Elevator "Peach" (Pitch)

Elevator "Peach" (Elevator Pitch)

Farts are smells that we all recognize at a distance, yet tend not to discuss in public. Though even with this taboo subject, everyone has at least one good fart story. I remember entering an elevator just as some guy, grinning from nostril to nostril, exited. I strolled in, the door closed, and I was suddenly enveloped by the bacterial processing of his last six meals. Talk about leaving your mark!

This story remained in my distant memory until last year. Last year at Kinnernet, one of the Vardis talked about the importance of the elevator pitch, but with the Israeli accent it sounded like "elevator Peach". It took me about half a year to put two and two together, and then, using the play on words, I came out with the ultimate elevator 'peach'.

I then enlisted a new friend, Danniel Fishler, to produce a cartoon for this year's Kinnernet, with the help of Rotem Omri, who drew the characters. Together with Dror Gill, we asked Ithamar Eshpar (and his amazing talents) to handle the sound, and we recorded the following script. Have a look at the entire cartoon Elevator Peach

ELEVATOR PEACH

Mel Rosenberg

All rights reserved 2009

For the written script please email me at melros@post.tau.ac.il

The Un-iversity

The Un-iversity

Once in a while, my dream of starting an un-iversity comes back to "haunt" me. After over thirty years at a regular university (Tel Aviv University), I am aware of the shortcomings of ordinary academia.

1. The students are degree-oriented. The want to take a course, get a y average, to get a degree in z.

2. Teaching is mostly mediocre. This is because the teachers are paid primarily to do research and don't care that much about giving inspiring lectures. Often they give the same lecture over and over again for decades.

3. The university usually discourages lateral thinking among faculty. This is because universities are arranged according to disciplines, faculties and departments. You become a professor in a specific area (microbiology in my case) and are pigeonholed to teach and research in that field your whole career. Focusing, on the other hand, is highly encouraged.

4. Many of the most intelligent and successful people on the planet never finished university, let alone completed a Ph.D. No matter how motivating, enlightening, and innovative they are, they would never get a research or teaching appointment at a good school.

5. University courses are structured. They have predetermined programs, specific curricula, have course outlines, etc.

6. Universities often prize and teach so-called "knowledge", rather than the paths and processes of mental development.

7. Universities tend to elect officers who believe in routine and resist change

8. Universities tend to accept students who do well in routine examinations under routine conditions.

So, what would an un-iversity be? I am not sure, but we could share a few thoughts.

1. It would prize innovation and lateral thinking.

2. The emphasis would not be on obtaining marks or a degree.

3. The faculty would me more interested in sharing thoughts and enthusiasm than making a salary.

4. Innovation, creativity, curiosity are words that would be commonly used.

5. The students would make a difference.

6. Not all the teachers would be required to have advanced degrees, though some of their students might.

In my next blog:things I would like to learn that no one is teaching.

Save Your Breath - A general book on how to solve bad breath

Save your Breath

"Save Your Breath" is a book on bad breath that I have written for the general public. I wish me luck! I have already sold over 120 books and it isn't even published yet. This book is very valuable because it's an easy read and yet extremely informative and explanatory. I hope it will better many the many people l around the globe who suffer from issues of bad breath on a daily basis. "Save Your Breath" is being copy edited and should be available in August via my website www.smellwell.com

It's hard for me to believe, but I started writing this book in 1989, on an old Wang word processor (those don't exist anymore, nor does the Wang Laboratories). So why did it take me two decades to write this book?

During the last twenty years I have done a lot of research, published many papers (including one in Scientific America), consulted thousands of individuals in Canada, England and Israel, and lectured around the world. And yet, I have found that one of the most difficult challenges that continues to face me and other professionals in this field is dealing with the emotional concerns surrounding the problem. I have addressed these at length in the book, together with my best tips for keeping breath fresh and good.

My colleague and soul mate Dr. Chris McCullock (whom I spent quality time with on my recent visit to Toronto)wrote a splendid Foreword for the book. It's much to kind, I but I can live with "kind".

My First Start-Up

Us kids at the house, 1963

My First Start-Up: Still going strong at fifty!

I have been back to my home in Ottawa only a few times over the past forty years. So when I met Nicole, a scientist from Ottawa at the recent American Society for Microbiology (ASM) meeting in Philadelphia, I implored her to take a few photos of my old home.

So here is the picture of the place we grew up in fifty years ago. The house is much the same as it was them, except that the lawn is fairer, the trees are much larger, and the window frames have been replaced. When I looked at the picture, my eyes clouded. 616 Chadburn. I wonder who lives there today.

I also asked Nicole to take a picture of the apartment building across the street. I wanted to see whether "Scully's mark" was still there after almost fifty years. As a child, I had a friend named Scully who was the first entrepreneur that I ever met. Scully always had new ideas, many about making money. Once he suggested that we go down to Industrial Avenue and cut some bulrushes, and then sell them as decoration from door to door. We went and slew a bunch of bulrushes, but alas, neighbours (I am using the Canadian spelling here) were hesitant to purchase them in their natural brown condition.

"No problem", said Scully. We'll paint them gold and black, that way we can charge more money and they'll be irresistible". We bought some paint and dipped our first bulrush into the black can. It came out black indeed, but the bulrush had sopped up quite a bit of paint and refused to dry, even after an hour on the pavement. "No problem", said Scully. "What we need is to whip the bulrush around our head, the paint will fly off from the centrifugal (centripetal?) force. He proceeded to take the moist, black bulrush and whip it around his head, much the same way that David prepared his slingshot for Goliath. And indeed, when Scully loosened his grip, the bulrush flew into the air.

Unlike David, however, his shot did not hit Goliath's forehead, but rather flew into the brick apartment building across the road, leaving a noticeable, ugly black mark. Scully's mark. For years, we hid the fact that our start-up was responsible for this scar on the neighboring building. But with time, it became one of my favorite tales.

So here, you see it still. Fifty years on. My first start-up left its indelible mark. Thanks for the memories, Nicole!! And yes, we did sell a few painted bulrushes.