Aida at Masada
Filed under: Entertainment, History and Culture, Israeliness, Music, Travel
Photo: Yossi Zwecker
It was a magnificent night at the opera even if the people behind me were more interested in their iPhone apps than with the classic story unfolding on stage.
I had been invited to attend the Final Dress Rehearsal of Aida at Masada, along with 140 other journalists, 40 foreign diplomats, and nearly 7,000 Israelis – many of them from periphery communities.
The Israeli Opera is very open about its mission to bring spectators from all classes of society to its shows, especially those who usually wouldn’t see this art form. And though the majority of the audience sat mesmerized in their seats throughout the nearly four-hour affair, the two couples sitting behind me missed the magic of the event and chatted throughout the first two acts before leaving early (lucky for me).
Their chatter aside, there was a feeling of great excitement in the air.
The desert backdrop was perfect for the improbable love story of the Ethiopian princess and the Egyptian army officer. The sets were incredible and the lighting design was astonishing.
American soprano Kirstin Lewis, who took the lead role of Aida, served up gorgeous high notes to an audience gathered at the lowest point on earth.
It was a grand-scale production in every sense of the word. Joining the 20 multi-national opera singers on stage were a Bedouin dance troupe from Rahat, a dance troupe from Arad, and dozens of chorus singers and actors. Maestro Daniel Oren was on the podium conducting the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion. And, being set in Egypt, there were herds of camels, too.
The production of Aida marks the beginning of the 2011 Israeli Opera Festival.
Having seen a good number of operas before, there is no doubt that this was a performance to remember. And, though they cut out early and showed complete disinterest, I believe that even the folks in the row behind me will keep a memory of being at the opera.
Welcome to Beersheva – Israel’s mall capital
A couple of months ago we were on our way back from Eilat with friends when the kids started to get hungry and fractious. We decided to stop in Beersheva.
My memories of Beersheva were of some hot dusty town with a dilapidated center, and a few basic restaurants that looked like they were decorated in the 1980s. Our friends, who had lived in the nearby army base of Hazerim for some years, took us on a short cut from the main road through a neighborhood and then out into the retail district of the city.
The sheer size of this area was flabbergasting. We drove from one power outlet or outdoor mall, to another – seven in total – all seemingly lined up one after the other. There were so many restaurants and cafes to choose from that we actually got confused. It went on and on for miles, and because it was a Saturday evening, the roads were heaving with people.
Hundreds of shops, restaurants, cinemas, bowling alleys. It was as if we had taken a wrong turn out of the barren and empty Negev desert straight into America. “It’s the biggest mall in Israel,” our friends told us, and we certainly weren’t going to argue that point.
Well not any more. Apparently the biggest mall in Israel is just about to be built. Where? In Beersheva, of course.
The Lahav Group has announced that it plans to build the Beersheva Mall over a stretch of about 100,000 sq. meters at a cost of $180.5m. The shopping center, 2km from the old city, and 3km from the central bus station, is due to be completed in 2012, and what makes this entirely different from all the other malls, apparently, is that it’s going to be the first green shopping center in the country. This means recycling rainwater, solar panels, and a few bike lanes.
What it also means is that the citizens of Beersheva and the environs will have yet another mall to shop at. How many stores can one town possibly need?
Maybe this is what happens to desert towns. Maybe in a boiling, often inhospitable climate, shopping is the only resort. But it seems to me, and please correct me if I’m wrong since I don’t live in Beersheva, that rather than create yet another out of town shopping area, this money might be best served by actually turning the still run down but potentially interesting center into a place where people might actually like to just hang out.
Strategic Solutions Floating Gas Pipes Could Avert Red-Dead Environmental Catastrophe
Those who have been following the Red-Dead canal proposal, and all its controversies, know that a lot is at stake. The Dead Sea is dying because natural estuaries, such as the Jordan River, Ein Gedi bottled spring water and rainwater are not making it to its shores. Politicians think that by carving a tunnel from the Red Sea all the way to the Dead Sea, Dead Sea water can be restocked easily and plentifully. Calling it the Peace Canal, they dont consider the impact of such water as it passes through the desert landscape.
An Israeli company Strategic Solutions has announced a new technology that can transport seawater from the Med Sea to Dead Sea, using floating pipes filled partially with natural gas. According to the company, this is a viable alternative to the canal/pipeline which is an ecological disaster but which has the backing of Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and World Bank. With this new technology it can be done cheaper, safer without impacting on the environment.
Besides the vast distance, over 200 km of the Red to Dead Sea vs. 70 km Med to Dead Sea, the main obstacle is environmental. This entire route is on an earthquake fault and it is inevitable that earthquakes will cause fissures and the salt water will destroy the freshwater aquifer as well as making the soil even more salty so that agriculture will be foreclosed. The sea spray will kill wildlife and plant life.
They write Green Prophet where this post is x-posted from: If, because of political or financial constraints, this is the only route to be considered, the only way for this to be viable is for the waterway to NOT be in canals/tunnels or pipelines on the ground, but rather the sea water must be enclosed and transported over the ground, in an aerial pipeline.
The Israeli scientists at Strategic Solutions designed a delivery system of natural gas and liquids, be it water, oil, or petroleum products. It is based on a very simple fact: natural gas is lighter than air.
Hope floats, we hope
Like with helium, fill a balloon with natural gas, it will float, the bigger the balloon, the stronger the pressure to rise. If the balloon is very tall, there will be stronger pressure to rise. If you put this very tall balloon on the side so that on one side the gas is coming in and the other end some is coming out, the middle will rise.
The fluids need to be pumped up, but travels by gradient like your drain pipes in your house. Using this aerial pipeline, natural gas can be delivered from isolated gas wells to industrial centers that need it. It can also deliver water to isolated regions that need it. It can deliver both simultaneously so that desalination can occur at point of need as there is also sufficient fuel, natural gas.
Viable energy production
Or the water falling can generate hydro-electricity and the desalination can be by one of the companys cleantech solar desalination methods. This presents a viable alternative to the Red to Dead Sea canal/pipeline touted by Shimon Peres and backed by the World Bank, they write.
Wed love to see some illustrations of how this would work/look. And can just imagine Israeli kids using the pipes for target practice. Lets wait and see.
Israelis like solutions that float. See Geotecturas solar energy balloons in Solar Energy Hope Floats.
(Above illustration comes from New York-based architect Phu Hoang Office who seeks to address and solve Dead Sea issues with No Mans Land, a series of artificial islands that would provide recreation, tourist attractions, renewable energy, and create fresh water. Via Inhabitat)
Foto Friday – BGU Through Dani Machlis’ Eyes
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, Foto Friday, General, Life
Dani Machlis is staff photographer for Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. You might think his job entails an never-endlng parade of faculty head shots and donor dinners, but in fact, it affords him endless creative opportunties. Sent to shoot the new Alon Building for High Tech on the University’s Marcus Family Campus, Machlis came back with a stunning composition in blue and gold.
Photo by Dani Machlis
A visit to the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at the University’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, yielded an image that captures the tactile satisfaction of hands-on research.
Photo by Dani Machlis
The last image, entitled “Wow”, placed first in the news and features category of American University’s May photo competition. Machlis captured the fire dancers in motion amidst the clatter of plates and cutlery, at the University’s recent Board of Governors’ meeting. The din of dinner fades into the background and Machlis captures BGU’s essence: a magical oasis of advancement and technology emerging, mirage-like, out of the desert night.
Photo by Dani Machlis
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