Crosby, Stills and Nash play Jerusalem shuk

November 12, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, Entertainment, Food, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Music 

Long Time Gone playing in front of the Zavit Hamidrash synagogue in Mahane Yehuda.

We spent Thursday evening out and about in Mahane Yehuda, the historic fruit and vegetable shuk in the heart of Jerusalem. But we weren’t there buying produce.

In the last few years, the venerable ‘old world’ market that has been a Jerusalem institution since long before the state was established, has become a nightlife magnet. Cafes, pubs, tapas bars and chic restaurants have opened their doors attracting a young, hip clientele.

Being neither young nor hip, my wife and nonetheless ventured out after dark into the shuk, and made our way to the Que Pasa tapas bar. Situated in an alley between Mahane Yehuda’s two main streets, the bar is directly across from an old, hole in the wall synagogue.

About 50 patrons were sitting out in the alley at tables to listen to a set by Long Time Gone, a well-known local trio who do a spot on acoustic show of songs by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. They were smoking and the audience was grooving for a good two hours in the cool, but refreshing, Jerusalem evening air.

The band was set up directly in front of the synagogue entrance, which had been closed for the evening after Ma’ariv services. I thought the juxtaposition of the tapas bar, the band and the synagogue perfectly reflected the irresistible mosaic that encapsulates Jerusalem life. May it ‘carry on’ for a long time comin’.

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Foto Friday – Holon’s Animal Farm

November 11, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, design, education, Foto Friday, General, Israeliness, Life, Travel 

Holon’s Farm Gallery (Galeriat ha-Chava) is an interdisciplinary ecological art gallery that displays temporary exhibitions relating to sustainability.

The gallery is located in a historic building, built at the start of the last century, with a splendidly preserved tiled floor and stone walls. It is surrounded by native trees, such as olive, mulberry and almond trees; this grove is also a 1972 archeological excavation where the remains of a Hellenist settlement were discovered.

The farm was purchased by the city in the 1960s for the purposes of creating an educational center to teach young people how to work the land. To this day, children who visit the center grow fruits, vegetables and other plants. The also learn about cycles in nature and ecological issues.

In 2009, the city — which has in recent years become Israel’s niche museum center — decided to take advantage of the building’s beauty and convert it into a gallery for interdisciplinary ecological art and design.

The Farm Gallery’s exhibits feature artists whose work relates to the environment, recycling, sustainability and other green topics. The gallery also conducts workshops by artists and designers for children and adults.

The most recent exhibition, “Animal Farm” poses the questions: In a world where nature and animals have disappeared from daily life (with the exception of house pets), can artists use images of animals in the same way as in previous generations? And is there a unique Israeli way of relating images of animals in art and design?

“Animal Farm” presents works by seven Israeli artists with a wide range of approaches to the subject of animals and working in a variety of media.

Artist: Ola Brener

Artist: Michal Farago

Artist:Galia Armeland

“Animal Farm” opens on November 18 at the Farm Gallery, 40 Hamelacha Street, Holon Business and Industrial District.

(Elephant image by Shulamit Etzion)

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Trying to recycle

November 11, 2011 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: design, Environment, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

A newspaper recycling bin

When you’re familiar with the garbage disposal and recycling systems in Europe and the U.S., it can be frustrating to encounter, and, nay, live with the very limited recycling that happens at home in Israel. True, things have improved with the recycling cages into which you can dump plastic bottles and containers of all kinds. And the newspaper and magazine recycling is also decent, with containers that are fairly plentiful in most ‘hoods. (Although I find myself schlepping bottles and newspapers fairly far distances, as there are no cages near my house, and when I called the city to complain, they told me they were not the address for such complaints. Sigh.)

A plastic recycling bin

And, when you want to recycle things beyond paper and plastic, the only address is way over in Givat Shaul, about a 20-minute drive away in good traffic, where you can recycle everything, including old electronics, cans, tinfoil, you name it. So you can imagine my excitement when the playground near us, known as the ‘hursha‘, or small forest, although it really isn’t, opened a small orange-painted corner with a sign letting us all know that we can now recycle all our recyclables — batteries, glass, paper, cans — at the hursha. Thrilling!

The hursha is also the home for one of the local community gardens, where I bring my composting, when I’m feeling organized. So we waited and waited, for the bins to arrive. Finally, a friend called the City Hall information number listed, asking why there are no bins, and how it’s all meant to be divided and collected.

She was told by the clerk who answered the phone that “it’s not the city’s responsibility.” When my friend asked Molly, the 106 person, why the sign says to call 106 for comments, Molly replied, “Not this comment.”

It seems there is an agency handling this recycling — as is for the bottles and newspapers — and we’re meant to call them, even though we have no contact information for them. Frustrating. And oh, so typical. But I will remain hopeful and optimistic that the mere presence of a recycling area means that one day, the bins will arrive and eventually, we’ll be able to recycle curbside, just like our friends in the U.S. of A.

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American TV with an Israeli accent

November 9, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, General, Israeliness, Pop Culture, tv 

The cast of the Israeli version of 'Life Isn't Everything' with Avi Kushnir in the middle.

We used to be known as the ‘people of the book.’

Then Israel became the ‘startup nation,’ vaunted for its hi-tech prowess. Now the trend seems to be broadening out… into television.

Israeli TV show premises are big in demand in Hollywood. In addition to the series that have already been made over the years based on Israeli shows like ‘In Treatment’ (B’Tipul) and the short-lived ‘Traffic Light’ (Ramzor), there are currently three Israeli series that are in development by US studios.

The latest is the YES Stars series ‘Danny Hollywood’, about a young filmmaker who investigates the mysterious death of her musical idol. She travels back in time, meets and falls in love with him, and then tries to prevent his untimely death.
The CW network bought the rights to the comedy-drama, with A-level executive producers Mark Harmon of ‘NCIS,’ Eric and Kim Tannenbaum of ‘Two and a Half Men,’ on board.

‘Danny Hollywood’ joins ‘Life Isn’t Everything’ on CBS, NBC’s adaptation of the mystery drama ‘Timrot Ashan,’ or (Pillars Of Smoke), and HBO’s The Naked Truth.

‘Life isn’t Everything’ based on Avi Kushner’s popular “Hahaim Ze Lo Hakol’ was brought to Hollywood by Noa Tisbhi, the successful Israeli actress/media mogul who also brokered the deal a few years back that brought ‘In Treatment’ to HBO.
The creator of the Israeli ‘Life Isn’t Everything,’ Daniel Lappin, will be involved in writing the US version of the show. Lappin and Tishbi will also serve as executive producers along with Mike Sikowitz who worked on ‘Friends.’

Life Isn’t Everything is about a middle-aged, recently divorced couple who were bad at marriage and discover they are now really bad at divorce – messy, can’t help but being involved in each others’ lives. It produced 150 episodes and recently wrapped its ninth and final season on Channel 2 to big ratings. 33% of all Israeli viewers tuned in for the series finale.

‘Pillars of Smoke’ is a drama, in its second season in Israel, set in the Golan Heights that follows the police investigation into the disappearance of a cult the area. It’s been called parts Twin Peaks, Northern Exposure and Lost. It was pitched to NBC by the owner of Herzliya Studios and the HOT cable company Alon Aranya, who will serve as the US show’s executive producer.

So, Israeli parents, instead of pushing your kids into hit-tech, medicine and law, it looks like the future lies in TV.

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The man chair

November 8, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: design, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Funny thing happened at a birthday party the other night. We walked in, and a few male friends were vying for what a friend of mine calls “a man chair.” You know what I’m talking about. It’s the La-Z-Boy or Berkline recliner, footstool at the bottom, cushy fabric, often soft leather, but doesn’t have to be. There are man chairs with drink holders and massage buttons, man chairs with magazine holders, man chairs that recline into fully flat positions.

Ligne Roset ottoman chair

I laughed, because this chair that we were all gazing at looked exactly like my friend’s husband’s former chair. I say former, because she made him get rid of it. Yes, she had succumbed at some point, and they had purchased the slimmest, most attractive recliner they could find, but in the end she couldn’t face having it in her living room and they sold it, and got — to my mind — a much cooler living room option, the Ligne Roset Ottoman. My husband couldn’t believe they got rid of it, and, it appears, other men who knew of this furniture change were also dumbfounded.

A 'lady' recliner

But the thing is, and this is what some of us were discussing, that Israeli living rooms really don’t lend themselves to reclining man chairs. Our salons are smaller than their American counterparts, often joined to the dining room, and one needs to maximize seating space in slimmer options. True, you want your furniture to be comfortable and inviting, but not at the expense of the entire space. And even though they now make ‘lady recliners’, it’s still the same idea. Lots of bells and whistles, and too big.

A better version of what used to be in my friend's living room

In any case, a few of us set off the next day to some furniture gazing and possible shopping, including looking for a slim recliner for said friend who had been hogging the birthday party home man chair. Found a couple of possibilities at an Italian outlet in Jerusalem, in leather and we all felt that these chairs could work in a living room. I’d even be willing to consider it at some point in time, but I’d have to get over seeing all that hardware every time the chair is opened.

It also turns out that said chair from Saturday night, which I kept saying looked like friend’s husband’s former chair, was actually his former chair. You know why? They had sold it to said couple, and as that new owner kept saying, “I can’t believe you sold me your chair.”

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