Shannon O'Neill has started uploading a SAD - Sound A Day - different sounds he's made or recorded or found. it's very inspiring, some of the sounds are quite quirky, and ambient, and experimental and different. he explains what the sounds are and how he made them too which I find useful. so I asked if others could join in. I've been posting a Song for the day to share with my friend Ray and anyone else who sees it, and also with the share this course/book crew. I've just noticed how many friends on facebook have been sharing songs - often youtube videos of the songs, so they can be played/embedded in the post - it's great to see! and hear. and doesn't even feel too promotional. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do a Sound a Day - as in an original sound - as I don't really make music, but I do record a lot, so maybe I'll try post a sound a week - usually a found sound or something I've recorded.

here's my SAD-k001 : birds at herzog st jerusalem
it's about 10 minutes long, so best listened to in the background. it's recorded using my Nokia N95 phone. I was sitting out on the little balcony at the back of the studio apartment I was staying in - the one with the green gate - and thinking about Starhawk's "Earth Healer" class I was taking at MLA. I was reading a book called "Homesick" by Eshkol Nevo - I was a bit homesick for Australia at this time, and it wasn't long before I moved back home. and I was looking up at the Jerusalem stones on the building next door - so sturdy and strong they seemed. all the buildings in Jerusalem are made of jerusalem stone (limestone) and it gives the city character and makes it glitter in the light at times. there was one bird sitting on the wires chatting to me, then some others came and joined in. there were long grassy weeds with pretty little white flowers in the small shared backyard, which were later removed - one week they were there and I had a verdant backyard, then I went to Istanbul for a work trip and checked afterwards and the yard was barren. It was such a lovely relaxing day, I wanted to record the sounds to help trigger my memories of it.

backyard at Harav Herzog (St), Jerusalem, Israel 16/05/2008

http://www.archive.org/details/BirdsAtHerzogStJerusalem
mp3 file ::: ogg vorbis file

some photos

news slices in the snow (85sec version)

news slices in the snow (85sec version) : I made this last feb, 06/02/2008 after I'd heard about the terrorist attack in Israel. I'd read many of the online stories about it, so in this video some screenshots of the news stories / websites are cut-up and sliced and rotated in 3D (to represent the multiple levels and perspectives wrt the region & it's problems) on the screen whilst in the background, snow is falling to cool things down whilst steam is rising. the soundtrack has the sample 'over & over' as I was wondering when it (conflict in this region) would ever end. part way through the news slices started looking like a folded paper bird - let's hope it's a bird that brings peace to da middle east!! (as my friend Angus used to say)

it seems it might be apt for this year too. I've been following the recent stories regarding Israel & Gaza listed @ www.aliak.com/content/summer-holidays

this isn't the original version - it's a new version of the first 1min 25sec so it'll play here on flickr (since they have a 90sec video limit)

06/02/2008 original version @ www.aliak.com/content/news-slices-snow
09/01/2008

filename=20080206_news_slices_in_snow130-exp.mov

made in isadora

I haven't felt like making a new video yet. maybe I need to stop reading the news / info sites

gnosis - notes from Gnosis Now! readings and course

original gnosis now! article on this site

this is a video from a couple of clips taken in May 2008 when I was in Jerusalem. there's usually a break circle most Thursday nights and other nights in warmer months. usually there's quite a crowd. it's hard to get a good shot!

Jerusalem break circle @ Ben Yehuda from kath on Vimeo

VloMo08 - day 6

http://blip.tv/file/1437796

http://vimeo.com/2170390

blog entry = http://www.aliak.com/content/vlomo08-day6-jerusalem-break-circle-ben-yehuda

view other people's videos @ http://mefeedia.com/channels/vlomo08 & http://vimeo.com/groups/vlomo

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. this is the first siren I've heard throughout the city. afterwards, the siren wound down and stopped then daily life continued on.

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Israel National News Memorial Day 5768 (2008) Honors Israel's Fallen

"The Defense Ministry reports the number of fallen in the Jews' war for the Land of Israel since 1860 as 22,437. This number includes soldiers - not civilians - who fell since 1948, as well as all Jews killed between 1860 and 1948 in the struggle for the Land. The total number is 132 higher than last year, including 31 who were murdered or fell in battle since last year's Memorial Day, as well as others who died of their wounds or were recognized as IDF war casualties this year."

"The year 1860 was chosen because it was then that Jews began to move outside Jerusalem's Old City walls and build new neighborhoods there."

...

History of Israel's Fallen
"The 1948-49 War of Independence was Israel's costliest war, with more than 6,000 dead - one percent of the Jewish population at the time - and 15,000 wounded."

"During the ensuing seven years of relative quiet, 101 Israelis were killed in "1,339 cases of armed clashes with Egyptian armed forces, 435 cases of incursion from Egyptian-controlled territory, and 172 cases of sabotage perpetrated by Egyptian military units and fedayeen [terrorists] in Israel. So said Israel's Ambassador to the UN Abba Eban to the UN Security Council on October 30, 1956 - the day after Israel began the Sinai Campaign in response to Egypt's violation of international agreements by blockading the Israeli port of Eilat. A total of 231 Israeli soldiers died in the eight days of fighting."

"The Six-Day War broke out on June 5, 1967. Along with the stunning victories, over 770 Israelis were killed."

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

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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.

another station I've listened to online is Israel National Radio as some of the shows are in English. they have interviews and music programs and also Jewish specific programs so it's interesting to listen. I listened to some programs after the Yeshiva was attacked by the terrorist. and today being Memorial Day, there's a special program of songs that every Israeli knows. another program has an interview with local Israeli trance artists ITP - Individual Thought Patterns

of course there's also Voice of Peace Radio which used to broadcast from a ship in the Mediterranean Sea off Tel Aviv. VOP was very popular with the Israeli people and peace protester Abie Nathan was it's main stalwart. this was the first Israeli pirate radio station broadcasting from 1973 to 1993. it's since closed down, though I read they might start it up again one day - not sure if this has happened. they had a reunion in 2006, and a double album tribute cd was released in 2007.

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

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Sira events :

right click to download the audio mp3 file

a sound walk through the old city of jerusalem

today I went to the western wall and left a note in the wall with my friend Angus' (RIP) name (this is what the Jewish people do - it's their holiest place being the last remnant of the Temple which was destroyed a couple of times) and then went to the Church of Holy Sepulchre (built over the spot where Jesus died so a holy spot for Christians) and lit some candles for him. and I went to Dome of Rock, one of the holiest places for Islam but because it's friday only Moslems are allowed in so I took a photo at the door. (this is the closest I've been able to get to Dome of the Rock - it's always closed when I go). I recorded video whilst walking but the camera was by my leg so most of it is of my legs walking on the stones, so I've extracted the audio. I felt so bad that I couldn't get home to Brisbane in time for his funeral. I've been thinking about him non-stop so I wanted to remember him and leave something for him in Jerusalem. if there is a God and he is close to this spot then I wanted to make sure he was looking out for Angus. I thought of other people close to me who'd passed away too, and lit candles for them too in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on my next visit. this walk was for Angus.

I always get a bit lost in the Old City. the market lanes and labyrinth starts looking the same and I often can't see above to get a sense of direction. so I tend to always go to the Wall first, then work my way in from there. today was the first time I found the quickest route to the Dome of the Rock - which is quite obvious in hindsight but I've always missed it and walked past. not knowing how to read Arabic has been part of the reason on other visits. the Christian quarter area is less marked too. some of the streets have recognisable names but I seem to miss the signs to the Church. today I was determined though and I had less offers from market stall owners to visit their shops. I went in the afternoon when most would be closing up soon. I was thinking of my friend the whole way, sometimes getting a bit teary.

the sound was recorded on a Nokia N95 8Gb phone - it was recorded along with video and I extracted the audio only later. I've left my mini-disc, microcassete recorder and microphone back home in Australia now so I carry less gadgets. I wondered how much disk space would be used up but it was less than 2Gb and I still have plenty left.

here's a flickr slideshow of the photos from the walk :
photos only

15/02/2008

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 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.

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

Click To Play

sections of the Jewish quarter of the Old City, Jerusalem

music is "Some Place (intro)" by Coolooloosh - a great local Jerusalem based / Israeli band

04/12/2007

original video @ http://blip.tv/file/518655
blog post @ http://www.aliak.com/node/14245

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

NaVloPoMo 12 - day # 12 - drive to work in Jerusalem

http://blip.tv/file/479974 = source file
http://www.aliak.com/node/14209 = blog post

Watch the Video

this is about 3 and a half minutes of my drive to work in Jerusalem - taken this morning. most days the taxi driver takes me through the religious area. sometimes along the freeway 'begin north'. I like going through the suburbs as it's more interesting to see people on their way to work or doing their daily tasks in the morning. at night it's late and dark so it's harder to take video. I sometimes worry about filming people, but the compression and reduction in size has made the people unrecognizable, and yet enough to trigger my memory. I love the Jerusalem stone buildings (limestone I think) - there's a rule that says all the buildings in Jerusalem have to be made of Jerusalem stone. I think it helps keep it's character. the old buildings are large blocks of stones, the newer ones are just 1inch veneer and some are starting to incorporate plates of glass.

the song is "My Life" by Echotek, an Israeli artist - from the album "Life Is... Dimensions" on Israeli label BNE records. I bought a few of their releases during my last visit - great sounds!

12/11/2007

(it's just cut edited in QT pro with the raw clips and was a bumpy ride - I must go to a lot of places with potholes..)

the other night I got out of the taxi at the top of Ben Yehuda st and heard a loud BANG! then sirens started. I walked down the street to find that the main section of the mall had been blocked off. the police had just blown something up - maybe a tourist had left a bag unattended. the police man behind the truck was rolling up the wires and another walked back up the street. then it was all over. the street was only blocked off for about 10 mins. I walked down the street and took a look from the side - 2 mins later you would never have known it'd been blocked off. people were walking around again. there's so much security in Jerusalem - it feels really safe. ...

This video was originally shared on blip.tv by AliaK with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

Watch the video

this lady plays the harp every night during the work week. beautiful sounds. I didn't get good footage of her as I don't like taking photos of people too closely, but it's enough to get the idea. still playing with recording audio along with photos. I like it - it lets me imagine the what's happening within the scene using the sounds as a guide. the video tells more of the actual story even though it only captures part of the information. 08/10/2007, Ben Yehuda St Mall, Jerusalem, Israel

the internet connection in the flat where I'm staying is driving me crazy!! it works for about half an hour a couple of times a week. the landlords are looking into it. so I've been going to cafes. and now the cafes connection is not working also. and being a holiday (& shabbath/saturdays also) most of the stores are closed. so now I'm sitting on a bench in Hillel St - there's a few open wireless networks in this street. I'm using a cafe one at the moment - the cafe is closed for the holiday. I tried out kismac but couldn't login from home - it was taking forever to collect enough packets to even attempt to work. so maybe I'm doing something wrong - or perhaps I need a different wireless adaptor.

but I did notice a cool feature where it can make sounds for the different wireless networks. so here's a couple of screenshots and sounds.

Jerusalem wireless - Shamai01

Jerusalem wireless - Shamai02

yesterday I bought a dvd on Arabic Percussion - it's a how - to / instructional dvd by Yinon Muallem, "Master of Percussion". I don't think I'd be able to carry a traditional drum around with me on my travels, and I thought they were made from wood & animal skin so wouldn't be allowed back into Australia by Customs anyway. I spoke to the guy from the shop and he had modern versions not made of wood or animal skin which sounded great when he played them but I said I'd think about it.. instead I found a couple of pairs of finger cymbals / zills - like the ones bellydancers use. the larger ones are the more professional versions and sound the best. the smaller ones are the cheaper ones found in most of the stores at the markets. but these fit my hands better so I thought I'd start with them. you wear them on the thumb and middle finger and can do a couple of strokes - hit together then open again for the higher 'ting' and hit together and stay together for the 'clap' sound. the store had a dvd also for bellydancing, hopefully it's got some English. their website lists the classes but it's in Hebrew so I can't read it yet..

http://www.arabesque.co.il/ - the arabic bellydancing & musicians site
http://www.yinon-muallem.com - the arabic percussion dvd site