I’ve got this sprawling palm tree in my backyard that doesn’t seem to want to stop growing. As its peak shoots upward, the spiky leaves on the bottom begin to wither, turn brown and hang limp.

It doesn’t really bother me,  and I think it  gives the tree, and yard, a rustic kind of desert-like, mesquite motif.
But Ahmed hates it.
An all-around handy man from a village near Hebron, Ahmed turns up at my front door on the average of once every three weeks asking for some gardening work – most specifically trimming that tree.
About three years ago, I hired the father of five for a morning to do some basic cleaning of underbrush, trimming shrubs and picking weeds. Big mistake.
Now, he keeps thinking he’s entitled to take care of the yard, which I admit, could use some taking care of.
I have no idea how he gets into my city because I doubt he has a valid work permit, but he’s always working somewhere on the street for one of the neighbors.
Whenever he knocks, we have a polite chat, I check to see if there’s any of the kids clothes which they’ve outgrown that I can offer him for his brood, and we have the same dialogue.
“You really need to do something with that tree. And I have all these hungry kids, so I’ll do it for you for practically nothing.”
“Ahmed, I just can’t afford it, and anyway I like the tree as it is.”
He turns to leave, and I, as always, feel like a heel. As tight as my financial situation might be, I’m sure his is many times worse. Maybe one of his kids, depending on what my decision what, will grow up to be either a suicide bomber or one of the first ever Palestinian peace activists.
In the meantime, the palm tree sits there, with more brown leaves drooping every day.

If you haven’t yet, read Roaming freely through a land of obstacles, an International Herald Tribune travel piece about a Christian Palestinian who’s written a book about his walks in the West Bank. Raja Shehadeh, the author, who is also a human rights lawyer, wanders through the bucolic landscape of the villages around the West Bank, or goes on a sarha, the Arabic word for roaming freely at will. He, and the writer of the article, describe the difficulty of doing this, given that it is tough not to be restricted “by time and place in the occupied territories…”

I was struck by the piece for a number of reasons. First off, it wasn’t in the news section, but in travel, not a place where you don’t usually find Palestinian authors. And while I have my own feelings about the book and subject, the subject — not necessarily that of Palestinian political difficulties, but the idea of hiking around this familiar and challenging land, whether around Ramallah or Jerusalem — is certainly something that we have in common. Finally, I also write pieces for the IHT that I’m sure rankle plenty of people, particularly since they’re about architectural finds and design, or the good life in Israel. In that, I guess, to each his own.

But, if you do want to get in a fun read about what life is like for the neighbors, check out the first two books in the Palestinian detective series written by Matt Rees, a Jerusalem writer and former Time Magazine bureau chief. The Collaborator of Bethlehem and A Grave in Gaza are great, award-winning page-turners, yet they also give a very clear and realistic view into life on the Palestinian side.

Street artist Adam Yekutieli, 19, was born in California, but he soon moved with his artist parents to Ramat Hasharon, where he recently completed studies in a fine arts high school.

Yekutieli’s chops were honed as a subversive spray-painter, proliferating tags like “Please Believe” and “Know Hope” in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel. Since then, according to a recent profile in The Forward, his work has evolved considerably:

Though Yekutieli began by spray-painting and posting long blocks of text, he has come to prefer a “less bold” aesthetic that solidifies his message into shorter, more easily read bites. About two years ago, he started what he calls his “library project,” in which he pasted drawings and phrases on the street with double-sided tape, inviting removal. On the wall behind the pieces, Yekutieli wrote, “I let you borrow my heart for a while but others borrow it as well.”

In the past year, Yekutieli has worked almost exclusively on site-specific installations that bring his “character” – as he calls the figure at the center of his work – to life in cardboard 3-D. In these installations, the character interacts physically with the surroundings, climbing across Tel Aviv’s landmarks or feeling out crosswalks as if they were Braille.

Sophisticated stuff for a spray-paint-happy teenager. But defining himself as “primarily an external observer,” Yekutieli believes that his preoccupation with the cold and temporary nature of urban existence doesn’t necessarily make his subject matter dreary.

And in terms of specifically Israeli themes to his work, it all comes down to context. On the one hand, Yekutieli says that politics are so saturated in the minds of the Israeli street-walking public that he doesn’t want his installations to fade in to the white noise, but on the other hand, social commentary (albeit more universal than regional) is at the heart of what he’s trying to do. “I want to address the human conditions that compose the political and social issues,” he told The Forward.

Universal, heady messages with subversive executions apparently yield international appeal, as Yekutieli currently has four formal overseas shows on display through the autumn, at noted venues including San Jose’s Anno Domini, London’s The Gallery in Cork Street, West Hollywood’s Carmichael Gallery and Stavanger, Norway’s edgy Nuart Festival.

Nefesh B’Nefesh a pro-aliyah organization dedicated to assisting North American Jews immigrate to Israel is doing something a bit different this time around. They’ve embedded bloggers with their latest group, assigning them a new immigrant to profile and to write about their immigration experience on their blogs.

CK of Jewlicious is accompanying a young woman named Danielle:

Danielle Sheldon, 19 and a resident of Los Angeles, is smart. A UCSD graduate who double majored with a BA in both International Studies and Middle Eastern Studies, she’s multilingual, and loves dancing and reading. Her future plans include graduate studies and after chatting with her for close to an hour, I am certain that Danielle can do whatever she sets her mind to. With her charm, wit and bubbly personality, Danielle’s options are virtually limitless. On August 18th, Danielle will join a plane load of North American immigrants headed to Israel to begin a new chapter in their lives. Danielle’s move to Israel, where she plans on joining the IDF, getting an MA in Security and Counter Terrorism at Tel Aviv University and settling in Tel Aviv, seems to be the obvious culmination of a lifelong path. Her father, born in Israel, insisted on speaking Hebrew to Danielle and sending her to a Jewish Day School. Consequently, Danielle’s Hebrew language skills are pretty darn good (her Arabic’s not bad either!). She got further practice when she spent a summer semester at Tel Aviv University and leading a group of High School students on a trip to Israel. She’s a fan of Herzl, Jabotinsky and Ahad Ha’am’s poetry.

Other Jewish and Israeli bloggers are in the mix as well. Check out Esther, Jameel and Treppenwitz for more on Nefesh B’Nefesh’s latest flight and a little personal glimpse into what motivates some North Americans to move to Israel.

Still got my head in the mercaz, local lingo for everything north of Jerusalem and south of Haifa, more or less, and following our weeklong stay in Hofit. It’s not that we’re starved for entertainment or consumer opportunities here in Jerusalem, but the towns and cities of center Israel offer just a tad more in terms of choice and range, which is not a bad thing to have for a change.

So a brief mention of two, nay, three places of interest that we visited over the course of the week, and not to worry, I’m not including Ikea, although we did spend a very intense morning there amidst the annual summer sale. Never again. But, for a food shopping experience that even the kids will like — and we were there with at least four of varying ages — check out Eden Teva Market, a Whole Foods-like emporium in Netanya that is right next door to Ikea.

Said to be the largest health food store in the Middle East, Eden Teva’s shelves are stocked with more than 14,000 products in 20 different departments. They’ve got aisles of unusual dried fruits and nuts, a specialty chocolate counter, an organic hummousiya in the middle of the store, right next to an Aldo sorbet and ice cream stand, with summer features such as green and red grape sorbes and fig ice cream. And if you check it out on a Friday, they’ve got many free treats to taste, as well as fresh greens and other veggies brought straight from nearby organic farms. There is also an Eden Teva Market in Rishon Lezion and one in Or Yehuda.

Just to complete the fresh food bonanza, make one more stop on your way out of the Netanya industrial zone and check out Lehem Artisan (5A Giborei Yisrael Street), a really wonderful local bakery with breads, cakes and other baked goodies that also offers many free samples for the hungry and cranky. It’s worth the trip.

We’re sitting in a department-wide meeting at work when pitom (suddenly), my phone rings. Not my personal cell phone which is set to display in English, but a work phone assigned to one of my tour guides which I was set to deliver hours later, configured to display in Hebrew….since we are of course in Israel. As I grab the phone from the table, my face slowly contorts into a look of complete confusion as I attempt to figure out what unknown person is calling me.

“Who the HELL is that???” I exclaim, all eyes now on me.

A co-worker leans in, sees the name of “the caller” and reveals his identity, much to the glee of everyone else in the room.

“מספר חסוי (mispar chasui)….unidentified number”

Everyone laughs. Uh, yeah, I knew that.

I guess I’m not Israeli yet.

Check out What War Zone for more laughs.

I am currently in America visiting my family and celebrating the birth of a new nephew. We visit America just about once a year and every year I feel more and more distant from the life I once led here. I’ve spent approximately one third of my life in Israel (which amounts to my entire adult life) and I find it difficult to connect to the place I grew up. This is our second trip with our daughter but the first where she is actually “aware” of what’s going on. In Israel we speak exclusively in English in the home and she’s exposed to Hebrew from our native Israeli friends and the gan she attends. As well as the occasional Hebrew-dubbed version of Jack’s Big Music Show. I anticipated some major jetlag so I set the dvr to record a couple of episodes of “Jack.” She usually has a major freakout during the introduction - stamping her feet, clapping, waving hello, etc. However when I put Jack on, she just looked at me really confused….like Jack is supposed to talk in Hebrew, not English. I felt really bad for her. Her tiny world was turned upside down.

Fast forward a day later we were visiting friends in Forest Hills, New York where playing in a park among many, many Israelis. Her face lit up when she heard all the Hebrew being spoken. It made me a very, very proud Abba.

Now my parents don’t live in the most Jewish area of New York. The depths of Suffolk county, NY has plenty of Jews, but it is certainly no Five Towns. We went to the local mall today (must get as much shopping in as possible) and the little one was getting a little kvetchy and we had another 30 minutes before our scheduled meet-up with my wife. I had to think fast….and there it was…like an oasis on the horizon…a kiosk selling Dead Sea products! I casually walked by knowing that I would get the Israeli hard sales pitch. When I answered her in Hebrew she was quite delighted to converse. And just as I planned when my daughter Tzofia heard her speak Hebrew she once again lit up and completely engaged her in “conversation.” Turns out the saleswoman was also from Modi’in and lives just three blocks away from us. Only in America!

 Forget about children’s museums and discovery zones. In Israel, when you want to take your kid out for some afternoon activities, go back 2,000 years or so and play in some history.

The Tower of David Museum inside Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem’s  Old City, just opened up their new kids exhibition – called Fortress and Fantasy –  and it’s a fun and educational way to get the young ones out of the house.

 The museum is situated in the formidable restored Citadel, which looms over the Old City. Its origins go back to the Hasmonenan kings, a Jewish dynasty that reigned from the mid-2nd to the mid-1st centuries BCE, and fortified the area with an impressive wall and large watchtowers. Built on through successive periods of Roman, Christian and Muslim, Crusader,  Mamluk  and Turkish (am I leaving anyone out?) rule, the site eventually became known as the Tower of David, despite King David having nothing to do with it.

The museum opened in 1989, the chambers of the citadel were converted into exhibition rooms, and the Crusader hall became the venue for changing exhibits connected to Jerusalem and its history.

My seven-year-old  son got into the spirit of  exploring the tunnels, checking out the moats, turrets and climbing to the top of the tower for a the amazing view of the Old City and beyond. The new exhibition in the Crusader hall features a bunch of cool, interactive stations that are tangentially connected to  the virtual world of castles, myths and fantasies.

Technology developed by the Israeli startup EYECLICK, uses cameras and special sensors activated by both hands and feet, which allows interactive multimedia to coordinate video content with the movement of the kids. If anything, the group we were with was more into the games than the history aspect – a natural outcome for kids who spend most of their time at a keyboard.

A final station outside featured a hands-on Playmobil area for the kids to build their own  castles and knights. But my son – a Leggo snob -  turned his head away, saying  there were only cars and accessories available, and not the raw material to build a real castle.

An ‘ice choco’ quickly remedied his sour mood, and we ended the day walking through the swanky, outdoor Mamilla mall, also built out of a slice of history. Just another extraodinary afternoon in Jerusalem.

I’m not a complete Slow Food convert, but I am making an attempt to eat fruits and veggies that are in season, something that’s still pretty doable in these parts. And now that lime season has arrived for a brief few weeks, it’s a perfect opportunity to take advantage of this sour citric fruit. According to Doram Gaunt, Israeli growers raise Tahiti and Bears limes, two-thirds of which are usually exported. But this year, with the lemon crop so hard-hit by last winter’s cold wave, growers have retained all or most of the lime crop, creating a great opportunity to relish some late summer sourness.

My own limes have not quite yet come to fruition, and I’m hoping that means I’ll have them into September. But just note that when you shop for limes in the supermarket, they’re sometimes still called lemons, as a lime eventually turns yellow as it ripens. But limes are used when they’re still green, which partially accounts for their intense sourness.

Check out this Haaretz piece about limes, which includes some great recipes. And here’s another easy one, by food writer Adeena Sussman:

Key Lime Bars

2 cups flour

1 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cut butter into flour and sugar (easily done in a food processor). Pat into a 9×13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Topping

4 eggs

5 tablespoons lime juice

2 cups white sugar

4 tablespoons flour

Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Mix flour, juice and sugar. Pour egg mixture into flour, juice and sugar mixture. Pour over baked mixture and bake again for 25 minutes at same oven temperature.

Sprinkle top with powdered sugar while still warm from oven. Let cool, and cut into squares. Makes 36.

Enjoy!

Today I’m nostalgic for last year, and the first Tel Aviv Night Run. It was a great event - the biggest run in the history of Israeli running events so far - and this one promises to be even bigger and better.

The Night Run is being sponsored by Nike who are going all out this year. The TA Night Run has been consolidated into a worldwide event, the “The Human Race 10k”, touted as the World’s Largest Running Event, which it probably is. On August 31st, 2008, Nike is hosting race events in 25 cities around the world and even though Tel Aviv is mysteriously not listed among the 25 on the official Nike international site, the Hebrew site says it is part of The Human Race. So there.

I won’t be in the race this year; I’ll be on vacation, so I can’t really complain but I do regret having to miss it - I love running with my crew from the Holyland Hash House Harriers (and our splinter group, the Thirsty Knights Hash House Harriers). Plus, I love the energy, excitement and sense of limitless possibilities that’s always in the air of this city at night. Also, night time is the perfect and pretty much the only sensible time to run in Tel Aviv in August.

But of course, the biggest bummer of all is that I won’t get a T-shirt, and unless you are actually running competitively, getting a shirt (and any other swag they’re handing out) is the only real reason for doing any race. The Night Run shirt will be particularly coveted as the organizers are insisting on uniformity; everyone must wear the same shirt or risk being booted out at the starting line! It’s pretty nice and features a day-glo component which will photograph nicely under the ultraviolet lights.

Getting to and from work hasn’t been easy lately. Located just off of Zion Square in downtown Jerusalem, it’s been feeling lately like my office is situated in the nerve center of one of the country’s biggest crowd management fiascos.

The entire city center stretch of Jaffa Rd. is currently being dug up in the name of major public transportation improvements, and traffic patterns in the entire area have been disrupted – both for pedestrians and motor vehicles. Downtown’s streets have been rough going since pipeline upgrades began about five years ago (also in the name of the light rail), but the extreme measures being taken now bring a new level to the chaos.

Pedestrian traffic now moves behind cage-like barriers, with few opportunities to cross the street, or even to pass the person walking painfully slowly in front of you. And for the kilometer or so between the Davidka and the corner of Shlomtzion, buses and taxis are now relegated to one meager lane of motion, meaning that certain blocks of Jaffa Rd. move only westward while others move only eastward. Poorly marked bus stops make for a guessing game as to where one can catch which bus, headed in whichever direction, as rerouted lines wait one-by-one to snake up Wallenberg and/or Strauss so they can travel on Neviim St. in order to circumvent the closures.

Sound confusing? Even the bus drivers don’t get it, seemingly permanent shrugs answering off an endless flow of dismayed bus stop searchers, who have been spotted walking the ten minutes from downtown to Machane Yehuda in order to get there faster than the bus they missed back in Zion Square and ride two stops to the Central Bus Station.

Local business owners are up in arms over the situation, recent debates over coordination and compensation becoming heated and emotional at city hall. Some have even opened that the situation may even represent a tipping point in the capitol’s upcoming mayoral race, with Nir Barkat positioning himself as a vocal champion of the merchants, while the incumbent, Uri Lupolianski, refers to them as de facto rabble-rousing opportunists. And the latest polls show that Haredi internal politics might be paving the way for a Barkat victory.

However, all of the parties involved seem to be forgetting a few key points. One, as uncoordinated as the project has been, it’s been talked about as imminently happening for years, and we all could have better prepared ourselves. Two, downtown is far from dead: Walk on any street that’s only indirectly affected by the digging (King George, Ben Yehuda, Bezalel, Hillel), and you’ll see a vibrant scene with healthy circulation. And three, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs: In seven or so years from now, when the central Jerusalem facelift is complete and the Bridge of Strings actually carries vehicles on a regular basis, the hope is that we’ll all agree that what we dealt with back in 2008 was well worth it.

One of the summer catch phrases in our house when the kids are bored, or when it’s too hot to do anything else, is ‘let’s go to the ma’ayan’.

Of course, for anyone living in the vicinity of Ma’aleh Adumim, northeast of Jerusalem,  the ma’ayan – or spring – can only refer to Ein Fawwar, or Ein Maboa, as it’s called in Hebrew. A quick 15-minute drive, it’s the closest you can come in Israel to Huck Finn going down to the brook for a swim.

Named for the Arabic word that means “comes out of the ground,” Ein Fawwar originates in rainfall on the Judean hills, and is one of the three springs that feeds Wadi Kelt, which stretches from north of Jerusalem to the Jordan Valley and drains into the Jordan River above the Dead Sea.

According to nature hike writer Aviva Bar Am,  every 20 minutes, like clockwork, water spurts out of the spring at Ein Fawwar and collects into a pool. “According to local legend, two demons live below the spring and are engaged in a never-ending battle. When the good demon gets the upper hand water pours out of the spring; if the bad demon takes over, the flow miraculously slows down.”

Whatever the origins, the over-the-head pool is freezingly refreshing, and there’s a lush trail with water up to your knees for a couple kilometers, providing respite from the scorching summer afternoons in the desert.

While not an official nature reserve, it is manned and nominally cleaned by Parks Authority personnel. When we were there yesterday, the mix of bathers and hikers included a bunch of post-army friends, barbecuing and smoking their nargilla, a couple Arab families, three or four young couples romantically nestled in one of the brush-covered hidden oases along the stream, and  other Ma’aleh Adumim-area families like us.

Once, before the Second Intifada, some enterprising souls from the nearby settlement of Alon opened up a great pita and lebaneh café right next to the pool. The structure has stood vacant for the last few years, as people first stopped coming to the site due to the threat of terror, and then the restaurateurs were unable to get a license to reopen the establishment.

The ranger on duty informed us that the spring is about to upgraded to an official nature reserve, and the Authority is going to invest considerable amounts of money to clean up the area, install some official picnic and barbecue areas, and impose official opening and closing times, with entrance payment.

While it might take away from the unfettered atmosphere and DIY ethic governing the area, the move will certainly make Ein Fawwar a more aesthetically attractive place that will hopefully highlight its natural charms. And maybe, that pita restaurant will finally reopen.

Did you enjoy your weekend? If you felt something in the air, it was probably Tu B’av, the Israeli day of love. From What War Zone and Molly Livingstone of Giving Tree Productions and The Big Felafel, here is our tribute to the 15th day of the month of Av, a “matchmaking day for unmarried women in the second Temple period”. Hopefully you’ll laugh as much as we did.

Chag sameach and enjoy!

Reporting on some market competition intensification overseas, The Hummus Blog estimates that the American hummus market is currently worth some $250 million annually, and it’s still growing – by 78 percent in 2007. Not bad for a country that calls our beloved chickpea paste “hummus dip” (meant to be spread on “pita bread”).

Elite-Strauss, which has been manufacturing snack foods locally through a partnership with Pepsi’s Frito Lay for many years, has recently been partially bought out by the soft drink giant in an effort to pool resources and maximize American hummus market penetration. It’s a smart move for Pepsi, a brand that has done well with “ethnic” foods in the past (owning and operating the vaguely Italian-themed Pizza Hut chain as well as the somewhat Mexican-themed Taco Bell).

Strauss’ Achla supermarket hummus is Israel’s most popular and most flavorful, facts which have paved the way for success via the firm’s international Sabra Foods line, a brand not unfamiliar with courting publicity.

Osem, Strauss’ main competitor, itself a long-time partner of Nestle, has announced that it’s considering purchasing the Massachusetts-based Tribe hummus brand, which currently holds the US’s second-largest market share.

And with the popularity of the Zohan movie, a veritable long-form advertisement for Israel’s favorite paste, the international Hummus Wars are likely just getting warmed up.

Just back from an in-country vacation — which is almost an un-Israeli thing to do when everyone looks to escape the country for a week or two — and I’m here to tell the naysayers that it can be done. One can vacate — or vacation — in Israel, and still feel like you’ve escaped and obtained some ‘nikui rosh‘ and cleared your head.

We rented a house in Hofit, a small beachside town of just six streets in the Sharon. It’s better known by its moshav neighbors, Beit Herut and Kfar Vitkin, as well as Beit Yannai and Michmoret just across the road. Beit Herut was founded by American immigrants in the 1933, and Hofit was established in the early 1950s for workers who wanted an agricultural lifestyle. My brother-in-law’s parents, Moshe and Lillian Goldberg, were part of that early trend, after making aliyah from Philadelphia in 1947 and buying a one-dunam lot in Hofit.

In those days, tells Lillian, who just turned 90, there were dunes all around and the sea was just a quick slide down a set of them. When Highway #2, known as the Coastal Road, was built, my brother-in-law and his brother and friends would run across the road, which was just a narrow, two-lane job. Now it’s a more major thoroughfare, but the Hefer Valley Regional Council has built an overpass, a roundabout and some sidewalks so that the people of Hofit, Beit Herut and Kfar Vitkin can still make their five-minute stroll to the beach.

It’s a great beach; especially at 8:30 on a weekday morning when there are just a smattering of other swimmers and surfers around and the sea is still cool from the night air. We were lucky, because the jellyfish weren’t out and the waves were intense but the lifeguards let us swim (and they didn’t go on strike, as expected). You can also walk along the coast and reach the Alexander River, a riverbed that has water all year long and a small, but significant population of soft-shelled turtles, who can be shy about coming up to the banks of the river but happily paddle through the water, their little heads bobbing up and down.
There’s a feeling of being in the middle of nowhere out there, among the dunes and the sand, but of course you’re not, not with an Aroma within a two-minute walk, alongside the famous Pancake House and the M-Haderech Mall. There’s even a local hummousiya, Abu Ya Ya (named for the owner, who is the father of Yael, or Ya Ya), which offers very decent hummous and a jarful of gummy worms for dessert.

But like any vacation, it’s about being away from home, seeing different faces and different scenery. Adventures help, and for landlocked Jerusalemites, it doesn’t hurt to be able to swing over to the beach for a quick morning or evening swim while the sun sets.

More than any year in recent memory, this summer has proven to be jam-packed with American and British rockers coming our way. We used to only have ‘60s and ‘70s nostalgia acts. Now, we’re old enough that we also attract ‘80s and ‘80s nostalgia acts.

Of course, occasionally, some bona fide left of center alternative rockers will come our way like The Gutter Twins and Low next month, or even some pop artists with current hits like Sean Kingston and Macy Gray. But for the most part, Tel Aviv and its surroundings have become a haven to real old timers like  Air Supply and Blood, Sweat and Tears, or more recent oldies revivals (a tough pill to swallow considering I still think of them as contemporary) like The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr, Ian Brown, Cypress Hill, and Marky Ramone, and bona fide rock and roll hall of famers who are tottering the wrong side of the edge between relevancy and nostalgia like Blondie, Morrissey and The New York Dolls.

There were lots of rumors throughout the year of mega shows coming here, like The Rolling Stones, Madonna, and most recently, Paul McCartney. But one by one, they’ve all been shot down, with hopes for the former Beatle appearing here in September only being doused this week, as he continues his American cross-country jaunt with girlfriend Nancy Shevel.

But why aren’t Israeli rock fans pouting? Because Deep Purple is arriving next month. The “Smoke on the Water” boys, who probably don’t cause a whimper, never mind a bang, in their native England or in the US,  are national heroes here, as well as throughout eastern Europe. They’ve already sold out three shows at the Caesearia  Amphitheater, a beautiful and intimate outdoor venue on the Mediterranean coast seating around 4,000, and they’ve added a show at Tel Aviv’s cavernous Hangar 11.

Why are we so lame, willing to pay between $110 to $250 to see a journeyman British hard rock band which peaked in 1971? After all, this isn’t McCartney where talking about, it’s more like Uriah Heep or Nazareth, two dinosaur bands which have performed here recently attracting only a predominantly Russian immigrant audience.

Russian-born Israeli music promoter Yuri Laschov told Haaretz that the “three biggest bands in the Soviet union were The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple” and he estimated that the audience will be about half and half - half veteran Israelis and half Russian-speakers.” And the veteran Israelis in the audience were also raised on Deep Purple Mach 1 songs like the sappy “Lalena”, one of the staples of the popular pirate radio station Voice of Peace. Some of them interviewed in the Haaretz story announced they’ll be taking their whole families to the show.And the day after, it’s highly likely that bedrooms around the country will be echoing with kids attempting to play the opening chords to “Smoke on the Water.”

Public transportation anywhere is a mixed bag. Sure, you get from point A to point B on a low budget and without having to park. But in exchange, you have to deal with limited schedules, often slower routes and sharing close quarters with fellow commuters. This last drawback can be especially infuriating in Israel, where the local culture is too “warm” to stick to reasonable personal space buffer zones and bombastic characters often have little regard for maintaining standards of a quiet, pleasant ride for all.

Led by Nati “Fanati” Hassid, up-and-coming Jerusalem rap crew The Bakery has released “Just Another Bus Ride” (available as an mp3 download or for browser-based streaming), an amusing indictment of inconsiderate bus riders that is slated to be an integral part of the ensemble’s upcoming mixtape It Tastes Better in Hebrew.

Over an old-school-style sparse arrangement, Hassid paints a colorful group portrait of strangers on a bus: the greasy ars teen, the one with protruding chest hair, the one checking out all the girls, etc. But his main beef is against the unnecessary playing of music that always seems to emanate from the cell phone of some inconsiderate young person who apparently has not heard of headphones. “Catch the phone and throw it out the window,” goes the refrain, which rhymes in Hebrew.

It’s nice to see that sometimes the local talent agrees with the gripes of those of us who didn’t grow up here.

Image courtesy of sailorwind from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

One of the most highly anticipated summer cultural events in Jerusalem is the annual International Arts and Crafts Fair taking place until August 23.

Held in a spectacular setting, just outside the Old City walls in the Arts and Crafts Center and the Merrill Hassenfeld Amphitheater in the Sultan’s Pool,  the fair – known as Khutsot Hayotser in Hebrew - features 150 Israeli artists and artisans, and an international art pavilion with representatives from 30 countries.

Last night, we walked away with a couple beautiful belated baby presents,  hand-made outfits from the Peruvian stall – hey, we can buy Israeli stuff any time.  Many patrons flocked to the Georgian booth to express solidarity over the Russian onslaught of their country. And  the Palestinian crafts area was also well attended, as well as booths with artists from Jordan and Morocco.

The weather was great, even requiring windbreakers for the kids, the atmosphere relaxed and civilized, and it was one of those nights when it hits you over the head that this is indeed a special city.

And the music, did I mention the music?   Stages  were set up throughout the sprawling grounds with different combos performing everything from  Polish ethnic folk songs to South American rhumbas.  At Café  Tav, a structure built right in the middle of the crafts,  designed to give the feel of an old time café, complete with period-dressed actors sitting at tables on scaffolding, and a limber acrobat poised upside down on a pole, patrons could enjoy a beer or a coffee and listen to old-time Hebrew songs performed live. It felt like walking into the cover art of the  The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan.

Even more, included in the entrance fee each night is a full blown concert by one of Israel’s top mainstream pop artists, including Mosh Ben Ari, Aviv Gegen and Barry Sakharof. Last night, it was Sakharof’s sometimes collaborator and star in his own right Rami Fortis, who offered a typically rocking, fun show.

A rich Belgian fudge waffle was the perfect way to close the night, and waddle back home.