my quick review of Homesick - by Eshkol Nevo

I bought this book as I was looking for a book in English (as I can't read Hebrew) about every day people living in Israel since I've been visiting Israel. I wanted to get more of a feel for the people and their lives. plus I've been feeling homesick for my own country and home. many of the places and things mentioned in the book were very familiar to me since my stay here and the characters seem like friends now. at first I found it hard to work out who was speaking as all the characters say "I" - they are each telling their own story in first person throughout the book. once I got used to this the characters grew on me. I loved the simple details mentioned in the book about everyday life and I have a mental picture about them living their lives now. I'll be keeping an eye out for more books by the author as I really enjoyed this one and recommend it to anyone who would like to read about life in Israel (ie not the media-portrayed view of Israel)

a friend asked me how I like israel and if I keep up with the politics there. I haven't written much about my stay here apart from some notes & thoughts in my notepads, so this is just a quick reply to remember / trigger some memories. (scattered / stream of consciousness thoughts warning! some things might need fact checking too - I'd have to look up old notes)

and this is a link to 'most of the hebrew that I know list on live-vicariously-through-joni blog I came across whilst searching for the spelling of ta'im (tasty) the other night. this list is more words than I know, but I do know quite a few of them!

today was Memorial day where the fallen people of Israel are remembered. there was a nation-wide siren last night at 8pm but I was still at work so missed it. today was a public holiday, as is tomorrow for Independence Day - the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel. at 11am this morning there was another siren. I left the apartment with about 1 minute to spare. the guy from upstairs ran down the stairwell just in front of me. he made it out the gate then the siren started. I was still in the front yard and I didn't want to move once it had started but I took a video from behind the green gate. the man from the laundromat was standing near his motorbike. another man stood by the car he was unpacking. a man stood on his balcony across the street - head bowed. another man put his grocery bags down and stood by them on the footpath across the road. the cars stopped. it was silent except for the ringing of the siren which could be heard across the city.

some sites with news of Israel

http://jerusalempost.com : Jerusalem Post - this is the online version of the Jerusalem Post newspaper

http://www.jerusalem-times.net - The Jerusalem Times - this is based in East Jerusalem and has Palestinian & Arabic news, though their website is often hacked so there's not much to read there

http://www.sderotmedia.com - Sderot Media - news and info about the city of Sderot which is targeted regularly and constantly by missiles from Gaza. myth busting site - here you can see that Israel actually helps Gaza residents and counter arguments against the propaganda that the media portray about the area.
articles with people living in Sderot

http://www.israelnationalradio.com - English radio documentaries and programs

http://www.israelnationalnews.com - Arutz Sheva - Israeli news site. you can receive daily email summaries of articles

---

articles

most of the cafes and taxis here in Jerusalem listen to Galatz Radio - this is the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) station. army service is a part of everyone's life here in Israel with teenagers having to serve after they finish high school. they have a Hebrew news services & play popular Israeli and International music.

so I don't forget ... here's the events coming up at Uganda & Sira. I went to Music House today and bought some more Israeli / Jerusalem based music. the guy in the store told me about Uganda and Sira, a couple of places in Jerusalem where you can see / hear live electronic & experimental music.

Uganda myspace page

---

Sira events :

right click to download the audio mp3 file

a sound walk through the old city of jerusalem

it snowed in Jerusalem for a couple of days. the first day many of the roads were closed. the stores close - the city shuts down. my workplace was closed for both days (so a long weekend for some!). the second day by mid morning the sun was out and sky was blue.

snow in the middle east! lots of fun!

the music is "Snow" by Severed Heads off the Gigapus album
http://www.sevcom.com/

30-31/01/2008, jerusalem, israel

http://blip.tv/file/get/AliaK-jerusalemSnow649.flv
http://blip.tv/file/get/AliaK-jerusalemSnow649.mp4
http://blip.tv/file/651524

The SALA-MANCA GROUP is a group of independent Jerusalem-based artists that creates in different fields: performance, video, installation & new media since 2000. Sala-manca's works deal with poetics of translation (cultural, mediatic and social), with textual, urban and net contexts and with the tensions between low tech and high tech aesthetics, as well as social and political issues.

The Actv website (actv.co.il) is an independent digital content library , offering video footage on a variety of subjects: Civil and Social issues including: human rights, animal rights, video activism, environmental issues etc; Cultural content e.g.: music videos, short movies, documentaries, independent VJ shows, theatre footage, animated shorts , dance, art, poetry readings and independent films.

THE KADIMA MUSICIANS COLLECTIVE is in the vanguard of creative improvised music in Israel. Focusing on fringe artists and their work, KADIMA supports and develops the rich cultural mix of Israeli artistic life.
KADIMA includes a recording label and recording facilities in Jerusalem. It promotes and co-produces studio releases and concerts, and helps develop and connect musicians in the field of free improvisation and creative music.
KADIMA was founded and is led by Jean Claude Jones, bassist and educator, and one of the pioneers of Israeli jazz.

The Israeli Center for Digital Art (Digital Art Lab) was established in order to promote and exhibit New Media and video art and undertakes to reflect the cultural and technological influences on the visual art. In the center, changing exhibitions are held by Israeli as well as international artists, that give current approach to net.art, video art, photography, animation and interactive sound. For those involved in the contemporary artistic field, the Center is used for research, creation and projects’ counseling.

Salon Mazal was established in 2001, in Tel Aviv, Israel, by a group of social-environmental activists. Salon Mazal is a non-for-profit registered charity that serves as an information distribution center for social, environmental and political change The place functions as a store (including books, magazines and fair-trade products), a lending library, an artist gallery, a vegetarian bar and a community center where movie screenings, lectures, workshops and meetings take place.

The place is run in line with anarchist ideology and values, which encourage an egalitarian, non-hierarchical community. Salon Mazal is run by a group of volunteers. Consensus decision-making is used to promote the expression of individual voices within the group in daily meetings.

no-org.net is a Jerusalem art network, launched in December 2003. It serves a platform for experimental projects in the area of netbased and digital art and for the exchange of independent information on contemporary art.

Since 1965, the House has served as home to the Association for Jerusalem Artists. In this capacity, the House has become a dynamic center for exhibitions, displaying unique and varied works of both Israeli and international artists. The annual exhibition plan includes a series focusing on prominent young artists exhibiting their works for the first time, as well as a series of retrospective works by veteran artists. In addition, the Artists House displays group exhibitions on a wide range of subjects, joint presentations between Israeli and international artists, as well as a variety of other activities.

The Naggar School of Photography, Media and New Music is a creative institute that allows students to achieve skills artistically, creatively and professionally in the fields of photography, digital media, video and new music, with an emphasis on inter-disciplinary work. The Naggar School is located within the Morasha (Musrara) neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel. visit http://www.naggarschool.com for more details

Art, Music, Culture in Jerusalem today - event listings and what's happening around Jerusalem

Maarav is an online art and culture magazine, established to present the contemporary Israeli art world, and to discuss and debate it from the perspective and reality of Israel in the year 2004. They examine the nature and destiny of art and culture that is being created in a place of continuous violence and conflict, as it struggles against extreme capitalism and the rules of the 'free market', as it creates itself under the influence of the great shadow of the 11th of September. Playing a role in the clash of civilizations (indeed clash of civilizations?), and in this era of the digital revolution with all these techno-digital toys that are so captivating but also so threatening. We will discuss art that leaves the confines of museums and galleries and enters popular culture and that its creators are also political activists, computer programmers, journalists, teachers, musicians, philosophers and designers.

visit http://www.maarav.org.il/en for more details

NaVloPoMo 14 - day # 14 Ben Yehuda B-Boys

source file = http://blip.tv/file/484657
blog post = http://www.aliak.com/node/14213

the bboys were back in Ben Yehunda mall as I was coming home from work tonight. usually I've seen them there Thursday nights (equivalent to Friday back home as the weekend is Fri-Sat here not Sat-Sun as it is back home). they were just warming up I think. trying a bit of popping & locking this time.

14/11/2007