Run, buddy, run
I wimped out on joining in the Jerusalem 10k Run yesterday, as part of the 15th annual Jerusalem Half Marathon.
But some 2,000 non-wimpy people ran the half marathon along a beautiful route in the world’s most beautiful city, and a few minutes later, more runner took off in the 10k run – including my friend Alan, who performed admirably.
Here’s a photo of Alan taken by his wife Sheryl before the beginning of the run at Hebrew University’s track.
Check out a report on the event, some of Alan’s comments, and more photos here.
“Bruchim Haba’im l’Hooterim! Can I take your….ehhhhhhh…..”
What to say? Pure comedy will be realized when Hooters makes its way to Israel as announced here. This is the kind of thing that we (those of us who like making fun of Israel in the most affectionate way) dream of. Let’s just say this investigative reporter will be saying hamotzi in person come opening day.
Isn’t this the fulfillment of the Zionist dream? Herzl longed for a place where Jews would have their own state. A place where we fill the work force: as doctors, merchants, laborers, and now as Hooters girls. IM TIRTZU EIN ZO AGADA!
Just some things which crossed my mind in anticipation of this glorious event…
- Will they be selling Jewish Hooters calendars, complete with the holidays? “Holy chumus, Shmulik! Check out Miss Cheshvan! She is SMOKIN’!!!”
- Suddenly, the IDF’s generation-long stay at the top of the “Hottest Uniform” rankings just got a little more tenuous, didn’t it? This is the biggest shake-up since Katie Couric and the “Today Show” took down “Good Morning America” in the 90s.
“Dude, this is the best bris ever!”
- In light of the controversy surrounding the color orange during the disengagement from Gaza, it will be interesting to see what happens to the uniforms if Israel withdraws from the West Bank in the upcoming years. “Hooters, the official restaurant of the settler movement!”
- What’s next to come to Israel? This? I can’t wait till security frisks me. “YES! YES! I’M A TERRORIST!!! I’VE GOT A BOMB IN MY PANTS! WHO WANTS TO DISARM IT???”
- If the discrimination lawsuits make their way overseas, things should get interesting. How long until an Arab waitress sues for the right to wear a burqa?
Hooters in Israel…the jokes write themselves…no way I keep a straight face when my waitress says ”bah-falo weengs.”
Cross-posted at What War Zone???
Radio Radio
I remember growing up and having personal relationships with my favorite radio stations – calling in for the contests on the Top 40 stations as a kid, and calling to request the latest hit by The Archies.
And later, when I had switched to the progressive rock FM mode, it would be calling in to request The Grateful Dead, and even later, in college having been won over by punk, having a direct line to the program director of the hip new wave station to lobby for more Ramones, Costello and The Jam.
But I never developed that connection with any Israeli radio stations, where the inconsistency of song selection and indiscriminate aesthetics suffocates any thoughts of station loyalty (alright, 88 FM can be pretty amazing at times).
But an incident last week brought back memories of those days of radio community for me. Driving home late at night, and listening to Galgalatz (the Army radio channel stocked by DJ soldiers devoted to music – instead of news and talk), I was mesmerized by a song that came on after the 1 am news bulletin – bright, ringing Anglo pop, with an unforgettable Brian-Wilson-derived melody line, rippling guitars, British Invasion beat, but still sounding totally current.
I listened with bated breath to find out who this mysterious artist was, but the DJ immediately segued into ELO’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” – an omen of things to come. She told the listeners about the ELO song afterwards, but neglected to ID the first song, not the first time that’s occurred with Israeli radio stations. Ugghhh, I banged the steering wheel, as, like Jeff Lynne, I couldn’t get the previous song out of my head.
The next morning, I took the matter into my own hands, called Galgalatz, talked to a nice, young soldier named Tomer who told me he’d have a look back at the play log and call me back.
Five minutes later, he actually did, and I learned that the song was “Phantom Limb” from the new album by The Shins, the great indie guitar pop band from New Mexico, of whom Natalie Portman’s character in the film Garden State gushes, saying that “this band will change your life.”
By 1 pm, I had made a beeline to my favorite Jerusalem record store Balance, and by 2 pm, I was hitting the repeat button on the CD player, thrilled that the song sounded as good the next day as it had sounded the previous night at 1:05 am.
And now Tomer at Galgalatz will be my new recipient of requests for oldies by The Archies.
Toilet Talk
Things.co.il is an English/Hebrew blog about…things. Yoham, the Israeli computer programmer behind the scenes, descrbes the blog’s theme (in Hebrew) as: “Ridiculous things in two languages”…
In keeping with the title and description, he has put up some images of new signs gracing the men and women’s toilets at his place of employment. Kinda cute. Go ahead and look. I’ll wait (I can’t post them here – coding issues).
Might make a nice Passover gift, hmm?
Here Come the British!
Hold onto your pints!
No fewer than 7000 (!!!) English football (that’s soccer for you North American folk) fans are expected to touch down in Israel in the coming days. The event: Next Saturday’s England versus Israel match at Ramat Gan Stadium.
Both teams are vying for qualifying positions for the European Cup League 2008 Championships. England are favored but they haven’t been playing well lately, one Israel fan says.
The English side of the stadium has already sold out but the British fans are interested in matters beyond the game – they’re looking forward to sunning themselves on the beach, checking out restaurants, partying and hitting the local pubs (uh oh). The Israel press claims British police have banned “known hooligans” from coming over for the game. What a relief. Ha ha.
Still… “The game is in the evening and they’re going to be drinking beer in the sun on the beach all day beforehand,” says die-hard Arsenal fan Steven Eriera of the Kadima suburb of Netanya. Not a good combination.
Eriera, formerly of Northwest London, plans to attend the game regardless of potential trouble. “I’ve been waiting for this since I made aliya!” (over a dozen years ago)
But who does he favor to win? “England!”
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