Parent apps

March 26, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Business, design, General, health, Life, Technology 

They’re not just new parents, nor are they merely a couple, one of whom is a physicist/amateur computer programmer and the other a Arabic literature and comparative religion university lecturer.

Jerusalemites Miriam Goldstein and Michael Feigenson are now app developers, having created two apps that will appeal to the new parent set, all part of Parents2ParentsApps, their “mom and pop, family business that creates mobile applications for parents. We build apps that answer our own needs as parents, and strive to make them useful to others and as user-friendly as possible,” writes Michael on their website.

Perfect Timing was their first app, using FAM, the Fertility Awareness Method, to help learn about and identify and chart natural family planning. They found the method helped them get pregnant easily, and the app is an easy way to keep all the information in one place.

Once their son was born, they came up with Sound Sleeper, a white noise app that can identify when a baby wakes and play a selected white noise — ocean, rain, car ride, even the sounds of Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market — to lull the baby back to sleep.

As I always say, whatever works. And now I know why they always seem so happy and rested. Smart.

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Nostalgia Sunday – Friedel Stern exhibition

March 25, 2012 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Art, design, education, Entertainment, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, Profiles, Travel 

Some images, if you grow up with them, are imprinted in your brain. So it was with me and cartoonist Friedel Stern’s In Short, Israel. I loved to turn the pages of the small square orange-bound book, look at the pictures and try to understand Stern’s humorous take on 1950s / early 60s Israel. As I grew older and got to know Israel and Israelis better, I understood that many of her illustrations were a loving rebuke, made by a yekke gentlewoman, of the rough and tumble society in which she lived, worked and thrived.

I loved her depictions of Israelis: the hairy sabra, the men in undershirts and sandals, kibbutz women in headscarves and shirtsleeves, prim and proper German-Jewish immigrants wearing jackets in the height of summer heat. And I loved the book, which was English on one side, Hebrew on the other, and which I donated some years ago to the Israeli Cartoon Museum in Holon. It was nice to see a copy (not mine) of “In Short, Israel” under glass at the Museum’s opening of a Friedel retrospective but I felt a bit wistful at not being able to reach out, re-read it and re-live the old memories. But that is how it goes with historical artifacts, even those of contemporary history.

At the exhibit, which runs through June 23rd, I did learn more about Friedel Stern herself. She was born in Liepzig, Germany in 1917 and immigrated to Palestine in 1936. During World War II she was one of many who volunteered to serve in the British army, serving alongside a group of young women who later on went on to prominence in the new State of Israel: actress Hannah Meron, former diplomats and politicians Esther Herlitz and Tamar Eshel, political wives Sonia Peres and Leah Rabin, Cafe Tamar proprietor Sarah Stern and many others. According an article in The Jerusalem Post, her caricatures were often used to camouflage dispatches.

Stern studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts, and began her career as a caricaturist in the ‘50s, working at leading newspapers and magazines such as Davar and Dvar Hashavua, LaIsha and Bamahane signed with her trademark signature and a small star (Stern means star in German), focusing on social issues and humorous portrayals of daily life.

“In her heyday as a journalist, Friedel Stern would dress up as different characters – a cleaning lady, a bus conductor, and once even as a man – to provide her readers with amusing reports about her experiences,” writes Yirmi Pinkus in the museum catalogue. “[Her] articles recounted her experiences as a fictitious American tourist and were, of course, accompanied by original caricatures. Friedel strolled through the ‘Persian [Bahai] Gardens’ in Haifa, she was impressed by the dining room in Kibbutz Gesher Haziv, she inspected souvenirs in the Old City in Jerusalem, and was eventually dropped a heavy hint to tip the tour guide.”

She also illustrated books, posters, brochures and was a lecturer at the Department of Graphic Design at Bezalel. From 1944 onwards, she exhibited and participated in exhibitions of both painting and caricature. Her works were presented in galleries and museums in Israel and abroad. She received many awards, including, in 1999, a lifetime achievement award in the field of caricature and painting by the Council of Women’s Organizations in Israel.

Friedel Stern died in October 2006, only weeks before her 90th birthday. According to an article about the new exhibit in Haaretz, “In her will, Stern, the only woman among the group of cartoonists active in Israel during the state’s first decades, bequeathed all her works to the Cartoon Museum. A few months ago, after prolonged legal proceedings, the approximately 10,000 drawings she left finally arrived at the museum’s archive in Holon.

“Before her death, Stern, who had no children, also saw to the establishment of a foundation in her name, which organizes a biannual competition for humorous cartoons, with a prize of NIS 10,000 for amateurs and NIS 25,000 for professionals. A ‘control freak,’ according to people who knew her, Stern stipulated that works of hers be displayed alongside the works in the competition. And indeed this week at the Cartoon Museum they acceded to her wishes, and hung works by Friedel along with dozens of entries in the latest competition.”

Haaretz noted with disappointment that the small size of the Friedel show — and I must agree. It was nice to see some unfamiliar works but I would have welcomed the chance to see a few more pages from In Short, Israel.

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Foto Friday – Haifa Flower Show preview

March 23, 2012 by · 5 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, Business, design, Entertainment, Environment, Foto Friday, General, Holidays, News, Picture of the Week, Pop Culture, Technology, Travel 

Spring has definitely sprung. No more sudden snowstorms for us! The sun is shining, dogs are shedding their winter coats (believe me, I know) and a new crop of wildflowers decorates the fields, streets and sidewalks. With perfect timing, the city of Haifa will relaunch the annual Haifa International Flower Show, which will take place during the Passover holiday week at Park Hecht from April 7th-14th.

The nine halls and 25 outdoor exhibits will feature works by international and Israeli designers, including 14 top designers from Zuidkoop Natural Projects of the Netherlands.

Israeli firm O*GE, the creative directors, architects and lead designers of the Flower Show, have created nine huge exhibition halls — each one a world unto itself — which will feature flowers of all kinds, flown in from all corners of the world: rare flowers, genetically engineered flowers, wild flowers, greenhouse-grown flowers, dwarf trees, flower topiary, flower carpets and more.

The more than 500,000 blooms will be presented in very different environments: World of Flowers, Land of the Rising Sun, Hanging Garden, World of the Senses, Secret Garden, World of Fantasy, and World of Water. These photomontage illustrations give a sense of how amazing the show promises to be.

This exhibition covers an area of 30 dunam (​​7.5 acres) making this the largest flower exhibition in Israel’s history. In addition to the the flower worlds, visitors can enjoy wandering through herb gardens, a flower market and attend various workshops. Spectacular lighting effects at night will give additional enchantment. For more information: http://www.haifaflower.co.il/

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We love Iran

March 19, 2012 by · 4 Comments
Filed under: Blogging, coexistence, design, education, General, Israeliness, Life, News, Politics, War 

Ah, those crazy art students. Wouldn’tcha know it, but it took a couple of graphic designers to reach the Iranian public — through the web and Facebook – and let them know that we’re really just people, and not all that interested in a major war. The couple, Ronny Edry and his wife, Michal Tamir, created several simple, graphic posters depicting regular Israelis and the words, “Iranians We Will Never Bomb Your Country,” and within hours, began receiving hundreds of responses from Israelis and then Iranians.

On their Facebook page, people are sharing music links — Stevie Wonder’s We Can Work It Out — messages about their appreciation for the campaign, wishes for a happy Iranian new year and Iranian versions of the Israeli poster. If you were just reading this site, you’d think there’s no chance for a nuclear war.

Read this comment:

Just in from Iran:

miscommunication is a funny thing . when i saw the original blog and first comment was why so cocky why u say u dont bomb us like u want to but u dont and few hours later i saw one israeli said why they dont said it back that we dont bomb u either. u see? something its good thing in Your country and its bad thing in mine . because we dont know each other. they never let us to know each other. they afraid we became united and realize we got played and they cant control us any more (they are : government of both countries ) . i dont know about u guys but here they keep saying israel is bad . israel its evil and all that crap and its going into your subconscious and u start believe a lie that deep down u know thats not true at least not all of them but u know what, when i see pictures specially family ones its like i know u guys and i never met any of u .any one with a little bit knowledge knows innocent people gonna get kill in wars .people who dont deserve it and people who do deserve it they going to sit in their office and write a apology note . love and respect to every irani or israeli or american or what ever countries that say no to war . some people said this is start of a friendship between two countries but i say (base on two countries history ) this is reunion of brothers and sisters who lost each other over time and finally find each other .

B. Tehran – IRAN

It helps to have a ‘place’ to go where you can regain a sense of sanity about people and war and the general desire to vote for peace rather than warfare. The question is whether pink and green posters can make any kind of difference in this global disaster.

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Becoming the belt

March 15, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, design, education, General, Life 

I’ve been wondering about The Guild Tel Aviv for the last few years. Pegged as Israel’s school for shoemaking and accessory design, there have been quite a few shoemakers, bag designers and other accessory makers who have graduated from there in recent years — I’ve written about Guild graduate and shoemaker Kobi Levi several times in this spot — and many of the local designers, shoemakers and accessory designers teach there, helping develop this still-burgeoning industry.

Anyway, I’d been thinking about a four-week hat course for some time, but wasn’t sure I could really commit to four Sundays of making my way to Tel Aviv at the end of the day. (My ulterior motive was that I’ve been waffling over whether to continue wearing hat-like objects to synagogue each Sabbath, since it’s not feeling as exciting as it once did. I figured that new hats, made by me, in the style that I always seek in stores, would extend my hat-wearing, but it also didn’t make sense to base my shul hat gear on a Guild class.)

In any case, when my friend and I heard about a one-shot belt-making class, we knew it was for us. One Wednesday night, for just three hours, and with a NIS 99 price tag to boot, thanks to a special Guild deal being offered on Groupon. We gathered a group of friends who were also interested, including one serious vegan who verified that she could make a pleather belt, and reserved our spaces.

When the evening finally arrived last night, it was down to just the two of us again, after various family events and issues caused our friends to cancel. No matter. We got there within minutes of the start of class, and were immediately fitted out with our leather strips and hardware.

The teacher, a handbag designer, was warm and friendly, but could’ve offered a bit more instruction and direction. I experienced those familiar art class moments of, “Why am I here, I have no idea what to do with this strip of leather.” But after checking out what the three art teachers were doing across the table from me, I gathered my courage and started making holes. There was an incredibly satisfying feeling in pounding silver tools into the leather, creating my own stamped design along the belt’s length and figuring out where to place holes and loops.

Two hours later, with some rushing to finish things off at the end, I had a new belt, made by moi. I liked the fact that you walk out of just one class with a finished product, and at a price that’s a lot cheaper than buying one in the store.

I would try The Guild again, and maybe even consider trying my hand at millinery. And just so you know, most of the teachers speak English, if necessary.

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