Archive for October, 2009
Picture of the Week XXV
This week it’s back over to Jerusalem for some street action, a very nicely timed shot with a bit of everything. The t-shirt of the guy on the right reads “My Jerusalem”, while a rabbi-like Orthodox Jew passes on his left, a perfect secular vs. religious moment. In the background there are more religious Jews with kippas and a policeman taking a swig from a bottle. Great shot! Sums up the recent tension between secular and religious Jerusalemites nicely.
The shot was taken by YogiBear91, a guy from Tel Aviv with some very nice shots in his collection. Particularly loved his New York street shots, but hey, this is a blog about Israel, so check out his Tel Aviv street shots instead!
U2 live in Israel! (Well, on YouTube…)
Tomorrow night rock gods U2 perform live in The Rose Bowl Pasadena, California at 8:30pm PT which is 9 hours behind Israel if I’m not mistaken. That means a start time of 5:30am here in Israel, probably a little later as we all know superstar rockers aren’t the most punctual…
What does this show have to do with Israel, I hear you cry…well, U2 have decided to stream the show LIVE on YouTube, to a limited number of countries. And, oh yes, Israel is one of the lucky 16 countries chosen (also included, among others: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Ireland, the UK, and the US)!
And don’t worry if you can’t get up that early – the show will be available on YouTube the day after, so they say.
We might be helping Bono massage his ego just that little bit more, but hey, U2 have some amazing tunes and their music has often been the soundtrack to my life, ever since my teenage floppy-fringed days. Personally, I can think of worse ways of starting my Monday morning…
As the promo puts it: One Band, One Stage. Should be a cracker!
Red (Hapoel Tel Aviv) is the color!
Last night saw a glorious night for Israeli football, in contrast to the recent dark days of World Cup failure and disappointment on the Champions League stage with Maccabi Haifa. Hats off to Hapoel Tel Aviv, they faced a tricky home match against Rapid Vienna, but ran out very convincing 5-1 winners. An Israeli side beating fairly decent European competition 5-1 – what the heck?
Whatever the future holds for Hapoel Tel Aviv in Europe this season, I’m just happy Lala got on the scoresheet again last night. He’s going to be a headline writer’s dream, you mark my words!
“Lala makes it another Tinky Winky night in Europe for Tel Aviv!”
“Lala turns Benfica into Po”
Picture of the Week XXIV
This week we are heading up north for a nice little shot of the Sea of Galilee, or the Kinneret as it’s known in Hebrew. As it’s Israel’s primary source for drinking water, the level of the Sea of Galilee becomes a national news story almost every time there’s rain in Israel. Currently, the level is at an alarmingly low level, but with high hopes of a wet winter, things are looking a little rosier.
For those of you interested, here’s a regularly updated report on the level of the Sea of Galilee, via Twitter.
The picture was taken by rev_411, a guy with some great shots in his collection, but I couldn’t see any more of Israel so I’m guessing he was here on holiday. Check him out!
A spot of Jegging anyone?
Once you’ve been in Israel for a few days (hell yeah, maybe even after a few hours!), you’ll soon start noticing the strange English spellings that exist almost everywhere; from street names that change from block to block, to city names like Petah Tikva that nobody knows how to spell (is that Petach Tikwa, Petakh Tikva…).
Not content with “modifying” English so cutely, some also like to make up new words. This one caught my attention over the last few days, and not only because of the leggy, gorgeous eye candy. Jegging? How the heck did they come up with that? And just how do you ladies get those jeans off come bedtime?
Picture of the Week XXIII
Enough of those Tel Aviv beach shots! Let’s head over to Jerusalem this week for a slice of Old City action, although not quite so much of the “old” in this shot. If I’m not mistaken, it’s from the old bazaar in the Old City, the tourist strip where you’ll get a $20 hand-made wooden flute for $1, after a bit of negotiating (walking away saying “No, no, no” usually works).
The picture was taken by Liel Bomberg, a young guy from Tel Aviv, who has some great shots in his collection, though appears to have temporarily lost some of them thanks to the wonders of Flickr pro accounts.
October in Israel – not too shabby!
If any of you are still wondering when is the best time to visit Israel, I’ll let the pictures below do the real persuading. My favorite month might be September, but October is pretty darned delicious too! And this weekend it’s expected to tip into the 40 C territory, at least down south…just be warned!
Yes, it’s still definitely t-shirt and shorts weather, still time to visit the beach and still time for plenty of ice-cream…and it looks like staying that way for quite a few days more.
Below are a couple of October sunsets on Tel Aviv beach…and yes, that’s my son in an Arsenal shirt, it’s a life sentence for some of us Brits…
Picture of the Week XXII
This week it’s the turn of Tel Aviv beach to once again make an appearance, though perhaps from a different perspective. With hardly a bikini clad Israeli and definitely not a sunset in sight, this shot sums up the reality of life in Tel Aviv. Though to be honest, the chances of you seeing an Israeli navy vessel this close to Tel Aviv beach are very slim. Just one of those perfectly timed shots (perhaps on Independence Day?)…
The shot was taken by Xnir, who specializes in aviation photography, as well as landscapes and people. Some amazing shots in his collection, especially of the aircraft in flight…
