Promoting Israel’s virtues
Filed under: Blogging, General, Holidays, Movies, Pop Culture, Travel
A promo for 'Men of Israel' (Courtesy Lucas Films)
The imminent release of Men of Israel, an adult X-rated film featuring explicit gay sex, is being touted by New York-based director Michael Lucas as a landmark – the first gay porno film to feature an ‘all-Israeli’ cast. Hurray for the blue and white!
According to a story in The Tablet, Lucas’s web site calls the film “a bold move to promote Israeli culture and tourism,” and extols extols the gay-friendly virtues of a country rich with natural wonders, intriguing museums, liberal politics, and friendly locals.
With names like Morr Foxx, Matan Shalev, Avi Dar, and Naor Tal, the actors in Men of Israel certainly expose a side of Israel that hasn’t yet been exploited in the hasbara wars. The Tablet story, by Wayne Hoffman, focuses on a few of the Jewish porn stars who have thrived in straight adult films, and mentions the short-lived film career of New York Israeli Consulate worker Dror Barak, who appeared in films for Raging Stallion Studios under the name Roman Ragazzi.
Whether it marks a trend in the future of promoting Israel, or whether our shores will be swamped with gay tourists from around the world as a result of Men in Israel remains to be seen. But maybe if the haredim hear about it, they’ll forget about the parking lot for a few weeks.
Images of Israel traveling across China
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Politics, Pop Culture, Travel
Passover in the Far East? Old news. Israelis are known for traversing the world with nothing but backpacks. It was on a trip like this that Tel Aviv’s Sally Macklef fell in love with her camera as a conduit for artistic expression.
Now Macklef’s work has come full-circle, with her images joining those of 59 other Israeli artists to form Inside Israel, an exhibition which opened at the Three Gorges Museum in the Chinese city of Chongqing in December and is set to travel to the region’s leading museums and cultural institutions for the remainder of the year.
This isn’t the first time that Israeli art is being exported to China en masse, and the exhibit comes in the context of increases in Israeli-Chinese tourist and cultural cooperation over the past year.
Macklef’s work often portrays Tel Aviv as a place where the balance of ancient life gets lost in the shuffle of today’s concrete wastelands (pictured is her disaffected work Cactus), but her Inside Israel images of Hassidim performing holiday rituals come decidedly from a place of inspiration and appreciation, as she explained recently to The Jerusalem Post:
“All this happiness fascinates me, this power of community,” Macklef explained. “I realized that when you’re not happy, you can’t believe in God.”
Inside Israel’s 180 pieces depict our country as a place where natural wonders, community, contemporary urban life, ancient ethnicities and architectural marvels can be observed, as curated by Three Gorges Museum staffer Yang Chaupang and Israeli art scenesters Doron Pollack, Iris Elhanani and Esther Dollinger.
New (Natural) World Order
Okay folks, it’s time once again to defend the republic, or whatever it is you call it over here. Israel is once again being judged in the court of world opinion, and it’s up to we loyal Israelis to make sure we get ours. But we’re not alone this time – if you have any friends in Jordan or the Palestinian Authority, you might be able to get them to help, because they’ve got a stake in this, too. 
First there were the Seven Wonders of the World – so named because they really were wonders. Till today, for example, nobody has been able to figure out how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids. Now that’s a wonder! And you knew they were wonders because they had the imprimatur of the ancient Greeks. Later, though, it became clear that there were newer wonders that weren’t included in the original list, like the Great Wall of China, so various universities and the like compiled additional Seven Wonders lists. The Old City of Jerusalem, for example, is one of the New Seven Wonders, according to USA Today.
The latest Seven Wonders gimmick, however, has The People voting on what constitutes a Wonder of the World. The voting is coordinated by the New7Wonders Foundation, which was founded by aviator/explorer/museum curator Bernard Weber. One hundred million people voted to name the Foundation’s “New Seven Wonders,” which were announced on July 7, 2007, and include impressive monuments like the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, and Petra.
Now the Foundation is conducting voting for the Seven Wonders of the Natural World, with the i to be named in early 2009. The candidates include sites you would expect to be on such a list, like Mount Everest, Mount Fuji, the Grand Canyon, and Niagara Falls (the latter two being the only sites in North America to make the list). But there are lots of places many people are probably not familiar with. Interestingly, all of the top ten currently rated sites are in the Far East – with four of them in the Philippines, and three in Vietnam!
Israel is respectably represented as well: The coral reefs of the Red Sea are listed (actually, they’re listed as representing not only Israel, but the PA, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other countries too), as is the Dead Sea (also Jordan and PA), both currently in 13th and 14th places respectively. Also on the list, at 64, is Ein Gedi, the oasis on the shores of the Dead Sea (exclusively Israeli).
Now, I’m sure the Philippines has many beautiful natural wonders – but four of the current top seven? And while there are many occasions where tapping into The Wisdom of Crowds is a good idea, I’m not sure determining a question like this is one of them. Based on the current standings, it looks more like a popularity contest – with people urging their friends to vote for their county’s site. But if that’ the way it works, I say “game on.” Just surf on over to the New7Wonders site and cast your vote. When you register, you get to choose your seven picks – so why not get all three Israeli sites as close to the top seven as possible? Our national – or should I say “natural” – pride is at stake!
Foto Friday – Small World
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, Technology
Let’s get small! For the past 33 years, Nikon has sponsored the international Small World Competition, the world’s foremost forum for recognizing excellence in photography with the optical microscope. This year, photomicrographer Dr. Sharona Even-Ram of Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, received second place in the Popular Vote for an image of a cluster of neurons differentiated from embryonic cells. Even-Ram’s image was also named an Image of Distinction by Nikon.
Cluster of neurons differentiated from embryonic stem cells (40x) – Dr. Sharona Even-Ram
To enter this competition, first of all, you need access to some kind of light microscope — an advanced piece of equipment that most people don’t have lying around the house — and while the competition is open to both professionals and amatuers. it’s little wonder that most of the entrants work for hospitals, research institutes or laboratories.
Among the Israeli entrants, for example, Dr. Havi Sarfaty, who was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2007 Competition, is a veterinary optometrist by day.
Desiccated garden flower (20x) – Havi Sarfaty
The first Israeli to enter the contest was Avinoam Tomar of the Nuclear Research Centre in Beer Sheva. He placed 13th and 17th in 1986 for these arresting images…
Early stage of sintering of powered bronze made for filter (20x) – Avinoam Tomar
…and given his place of work, one wonders to what these images might have been related!
Iconography at the edge of copper screen. Nickel electroless plated (10x) – Avinoam Tomar
For more amazing images or to download some screensavers, visit the Nikon Small World site.
It is no legend
Filed under: A New Reality, Environment, General, Israeliness, Movies, Politics
Theodor Herzl’s enduring emblematic soundbyte, “If you will it, it is no legend,” takes on new meaning in today’s ecologically conscious age. Nowadays it seems like building a future that is truly sustainable yet still viable in an urban context comes down to priorities more than anything else – valuing natural resources over the big business lobby and valuing morality over maximized profits. So it’s especially apt that Channel 10 journalist Nitzan Horovitz’s new series The Next World features an episode called “Urban Legend,” dedicated to examining the ins and outs of a green, utopian megalopolis of tomorrow through the prism of improvement measures cities around the world are taking today.
At a recent Tel Aviv Cinematheque screening of the episode, a panel discussion led by Horovitz allowed audience members to challenge urban planning officials from Haifa, Netanya and Tel Aviv, asking them what they are doing to make their cities friendlier to residents and to Mother Earth. Luckily, local eco-blogger Green Prophet was there:
Anyone who has ever walked, jogged, driven, biked, rollerbladed or seqwayed down the streets of Tel Aviv knows that the biggest obstacle to providing Tel Avivians with a higher quality of life is the traffic jams and the lack of a good mass transit alternative. So after traveling to Curitiba and exploring the wonders of sustainable urban design and transportation there, Horowitz invites [former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil and urban planning guru] Jaime Lerner to Tel Aviv, where Lerner (a Jew with relatives in Israel) discusses how his planning philosophy, which he calls “urban acupuncture,” could be put into action in Tel Aviv.
….Lerner, while riding one of his city’s iconic buses, turns to the camera and says, “Please mayors from Israel, make dedicated lanes for public transport, please, bivakesha.”
But apparently the Tel Aviv municipal representatives didn’t take well to the challenges posed to him, vehemently defending the status quo.
As Horowitz opened up the discussion, all eyes were on Hezi Berkowitz, the Tel Aviv’s municipality’s official city planner. Berkowitz, not an exciting speaker even at his best, proceeded to advocated for the status quo.
Berkowitz opened by stating that things in metropolitan Tel Aviv are improving. The proof of this, he noted, is that people want to move to the cities in the center of the country.
….This was not the first time that Berkowitz was confronted with the Curitiba model. In fact, the southern Brazilian town’s name comes up quite often in his public appearances, and is usually brought up by residents and activists as an example of what Tel Aviv could be doing. In a neighborhood event in June hosted by the SPNI, entitled “Northern Exposure,” Berkowitz proclaimed: “What people don’t realize about Curitiba is that their mass transit system is based on buses. Just buses, not light rail, not subway… Give me 20 minutes and I’ll rip the Curitiba model to pieces.”
Tel Avivians have the opportunity to bring new, greener blood into power this November with refreshingly opinionated Knesset member Dr. Dov Khenin appearing on the ballot. If they don’t elect him, then efficient urban existence may remain nothing but a legend.
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