Cover Bands Can Rock

December 9, 1:44AM

Yes, so I just saw this amazing cover band in our pub. They sang in both Hebrew & English. Solid background instrumentals (inc. keyboard), two solid soloists (inc. a tenor) plus one state-of-the-art rock guitarist can bring any tune to life, no matter how many times you've heard it before. Simple pleasures...

The Day after the Day of Infamy + 65 yrs

Friday, December 8, 2006

This ulpan program ends in 20 days. Yikes. What adventures await in Life After The Ulpan? No one (and I mean no one) really knows.

Actually, that’s a lie. I’ll be traveling, as you may know – partly with friends & family, partly solo – and then joining up with Magen David Adom, Israel’s ambuance corps, on Feb 11. The thought of traveling continues to evoke both excitement and fear, as I haven’t traveled “around” before. I expect that I’ll seek out a safe-house for my computer, since hauling it from hostel to hostel seems like a very bad idea. So who knows how blogging will work during those 6 weeks… I may be able to post quick updates from libraries or internet cafes; I don't expect to be able to blog any more elaborately than that.

Speaking of traveling. Apparently, the Negev Desert is laced with bus-routes and has tons to offer backpackers. It’s also hit-or-miss: the Negev Winter brings with it unpredictable weather that includes flash floods and cold, cold nights. The North, of course, is loaded with stuff I want to see, trails to hike, etc. Yeah, who knows where I’ll be during that month of going it alone, or how it will go. At least I know how to ask for bathrooms, and for a lift.

This has been another short week of long days. Movie recommendation of the week: if you’re young & like the kind of mindless humor executed in Old School and Anchorman, see Hot, Wet American Summer, which co-stars Miles from Fraiser. If you’re not one of these people, don’t bother. Also, everyone should check out the amazingly realistic Titanic 2 parody-trailer: Titanic: Two the Surface. It won’t take you long to find it online. And then to be amazed!

A fragrantly absented-minded event in the life of an (already) absent-minded young man: Yesterday I committed the Deadly Sin of forgetting Vanessa’s birthday. Shit, shit, shit.

In other news, I finally received my one pair of jeans back from the laundry service. Peace.

PS Did you know that octopuses, squids & other cephalopods have 3 hearts and blue blood? Their blood gets its color from the copper-rich oxygen-transporting protein hemocyanin. Not everyone’s cool enough for hemoglobin, I guess.

Ever wonder why they still call this place the promised land? Here's another pic from my Mt. Carmel hike last weekend. It's Yoni, Yoni's friend & Sivan in front and the kibbutz's perch on the Med behind them.

Umm...

Here's something I typed up last night... what time, I can't remember.

Back to class/work tomorrow AM, again. Ugh.

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12.2.06

Happy December, everyone. At this writing, I’m a little (“k-tzat”) under the influence thanks to a couple bottles of red wine that I received complimentary-style from our dining hall following a special Shabbas dinner.

More than half of the kibbutz is vacationing at the Dead Sea, as Plasson has sent every one of its workers and their families away for two days, all expenses covered. So seventeen buses left the kibbutz sometime early Thursday morning, and I’ve had the last couple of days off. It is very quiet here. The time off has reignited to my tennis game, as I’ve found a new partner, and has also fostered tons of sleep. I realize that I must clamp down on post-bac applications this month, or else risk having to apply in the midst of backpacking about the Holy Land. Also, I’m searching for the right moment to sit down with this Ulpan’s director and tell him why I think he and his administration is unprofessional.

Yes, more later.