Aziza III

So the other day bwo came home only to find Aziza, the cleaner, wearing something "personal" of hers that she stretched beyond recognition. She was nearly fired. The Facebook discussion along with the 22 comments is pasted below. I know it's almost impossible to read, but if you're interested (and you should be) go look on bwo's wall to read it in its original form. I could find no way to post a link to a FB discussion so you will have to do the legwork yourself (or strain to read it below).



I called for her firing - and it's not the first time I have requested this. Bwo is a kind soul and really the only way we will be able to get rid of Aziza is by leaving the country. But, I came home today to find what is pictured below roasting in the oven. Aziza's rice stuffed red peppers in a slightly peppery sauce with zatar pitot on the side. It seems that while Azizia is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, she knows one thing. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. They are delicious.

Space Toilet

I have always been fascinated with how people use the toilet in space. My brother-in-law Yann sent me some YouTube pointers. This is very interesting stuff. It seems so complicated I've decided I'm not going to be an astronaut after all.

Edward Sharpe and The Magenetic Zeros

I am a dedicated follower of NRP's Tiny Desk Concerts. It's the interweb at its best. You get to see all sorts of musicians (I have never heard of previously) in a semi-relaxed atmosphere, but with good recording quality. My current favorite is Edward Sharp and The Magnetic Zeroes, sort of a cross between Kesey's Merry Pranksters and the Manson Family band (to quote one of the YouTube comments). I bought their album and it's currently on the top of my playlist alongside Die Antwoord (which is the complete opposite). Anyway here is their Tiny Desk set. I like it.

A Cat

A like cats. This is not one of ours, it's just one of the random cats in the neighborhood. So perfectly regal and catlike. We have lots of cats in Raanana. They fill our spring nights with song.

War is Hell!

They say wars are usually fought in summer. Well we have an ongoing war that has been fought all year round. We have a cruel and capable opponent on our northern border and they take no prisoners. I'm talking about the hummus war with Lebanon. In January, 50 hummus chefs in Abu Gosh used a satellite dish to contain what was then the world's largest plate of hummus (according to the Guinness world records people) beating out a record set a few months earlier in Lebanon.

This weekend 300 Lebanese chefs make 10,452 KG of hummus pummeling the Israeli record of a mere 4 tons. This is real war. Lebanon is upset that Israel has "stolen" their national dish. Today they are trying to set the falafel record. These are the kind of wars I can live with. Read more about it here.

Khirbet Qarta (Dustrey)

I dragged myself out of bed this morning. My 50 year old body was still recovering from partying hard. I took off for Atlit as my brand spanking new "Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land", bought for me by the squints, said there is some interesting stones in the area. True, these are mostly Crusader ruins which I don't find quite as interesting as Pre-history but it's quite close and an easy drive. I had a fine time clambering over the rocks and shrubs and communing with cows.

This is the view from the observation tower near Khirbet Qarta. This Crusader castle was built after the smaller one at Qarta, but unfortunately it's slap bang in the middle of the most secret army base and so there is no access. It looks quite composing from a distance.
This is Khirbet Qarta (or Dustrey) it's on a hill about one KM from the sea in a nice little park (if you ignore the trash and drug paraphernalia). It's build on a sandstone hill and is quite small. It was built in 1118 CE before the big castle pictured above (which was built around 1220 CE) and was a sort of police station used to deter robbers and pirates that preyed on the local traders. In fact it was built after the Crusader King Baldwin I was nearly killed here by bandits in 1102.
These are the stables which are impressively cut into the sandstone cliffs. They housed the fort's horses and you can still see the troughs they would eat out of.
I believe those holes in the side of the cliffs near the stables are for wooden ceiling beams. Although they do seem a little close together to be multiple story so I'm not sure.
This is the cistern at the top of the hill which is where the small courtyard of the fort is situated. There are quite steep walls surrounding the top on all sides.
This is the fort from one corner.
This is another corner. Quite an imposing structure and built to last.
The whole family was sleeping so I was all alone except for my friends the cows. They certainly checked me out. There is a really nice nature trail around the fort and when I came back home I found this pdf file of the free info booklet (in Hebrew) they promised to have in the little box near the beginning of the trail. Except that all there was in box was a frightened lizard, some empty cigarette boxes and a crushed maccabi beer can.

1 Foot in the Grave

If you judge a party on how long it takes to recover, this one was a killer. I am finally getting back on my feet. Yesterday I was a total wreck and could hardly move. Things I remember from the party.

• Lots of people actually brought chips. Thanks, I now have enough chips to last me a good few months.
  
• Most people wore black and those that did not felt bad. It made it hard to point people out though ("see that guy over there, the one in black!").
  
• Rami does a mean speech as does cousin Avril.
  
• It's matzeget not mishkefet, fool!
  
• There were enough french fries.
  
• Shirley can dance.
  
• The squints can party.
  
• The Hevreh are special and I'm very lucky to have them.
  
• Bwo spent 3 hours (seriously) trapped in the nail place and thus could only go shower as the party started.
  
• Two huge kegs of beer, but only one working tap. So much to blacknephewo's surprise and shock we ended the party with one full keg.
  
• Just because I'm 50 does not mean I like music from the 50s. Luckily this was quickly fixed.
  
• As with all good parties, someone had be carried out. This time it was on Ravid's shoulders.
  
• Wisely, no one was thrown in the pool. Dana swam willingly.
  
• Martin's onion soup was better.
  
• For the first time in probably 30 years the four class of '77 in Israel, were together.
  
• Jo's father probably drank more than anyone else.
  
• Barry's house rules for parties.
  
• I got really good presents. Especially the walking stick.
  
• The gravestone cake with 50 candles was 100%. And Alona's chocolate and Viv's cheese cakes were consumed in seconds.
  
• 200 chickens gave their right arms to party with us.
  
• Thanks all of you. I'm a lucky, lucky bastard.
  

Brian and Irit's pictures can be seen here.
The "blackpetero hevreh video" Is now available on YouTube. Thanks again Brian and Irit and the hevreh (I like it with an H at the end).

Feel free to leave your one line comments.

Faster Than The Speed of Chrome

Now that I'm fast approaching my half century I've been giving serious thought to what I want to be when I grow up. I love these Rube Goldberg machines they seem to be building for commercials lately. If this computer thing doesn't work out maybe I can get a job making these cool setups. Check out this video Yuval pointed me to.

Die Antwoord

I follow my South-African friends in LA through facebook. They are way more in touch with what is happening out there than I am. It sometimes feels like I'm stuck somewhere between the mesolithic and neolithic. Anyway I have been hearing more and more about "Die Antwoord" ("The Answer" in Afrikaans) and so I spent some time last week listening and reading. A strange bunch I must say, but very cool. Check out their website. It's quite something. This is the "official" video for "Enter The Ninja". There is some good stuff coming out of Africa (and not just the World Cup).

The Numbers

Raanana is very proud of it's numbered traffic lights. Ahuza is a long street with many side streets and traffic lights. A few years back someone had the good idea of numbering these, so if you are coming to visit, just turn at traffic light number 13 or 14 and you're sure to find us. Overall a good idea considering that the streets have different names each side of Ahuza.

Lag BaOmer

Lag BaOmer is my least favorite holiday around here. It just encourages wanton destruction of property and the environment. For weeks all the kids in the neighborhood sneak around stealing and hoarding wood, all of which is imported into this country. The bonfires were a little smaller this year and the pall of smoke seemed a little less horrendous. Maybe the little rain we had during the night cleared the air (see even god does not like Lag BaOmer), or maybe the locals are becoming more aware of the environment - Nahhh never.

Nahal Hadera V

I have only three photos this week, as the site, while interesting, was hard to photograph. I read about Nahal Hadera V in a book that I will talk more about next week. It's a small but (I found it) interesting site near Hefsiba and Hadera. The site was excavated seriously by TA university in the late 90s and is attributed to the Kebaran culture from something like 22500-17000 (yes thousand) years ago. This was around the end of the last ice age. I found an approximate pointer to the site and set out on my own this morning. I wandered around in the bush and found nothing. As I was about to leave disappointed, I saw the corrugated iron covering so popular around here for protecting sites. Score.

This is the view from the site. The Hadera power station looks like a Pink Floyd album cover, all it needs is the flying pig.

There was one side of a pit exposed. You can see the enormous amount of flint sticking out of the section (all those white stone like things). That's completely cool. Of course, I never touched the section, you have to leave it for some future archaeologist to work on. There was plenty of flint laying on the path that led to where I parked my car. Funny I never noticed any on the way in looking for the site, once I found the site I saw flint everywhere.

This is what the pit looks like. Quite sad actually. I am sure people come in all the time and look for nice lithic artefacts. It's amazing that the site is so old. They also did a archaeozoological study on the faunal remains at the site and found that the two most popular species were mountain gazelles and fallow deer. The book says it was quite a big site by paleolithic standards (at least 500 sq. M).

I spent a while looking at the lithics in the sections and just enjoyed having found the site. I suppose the sea must have been a way off in those days, just as the ice age was ending. I wonder where they got the raw flint to make their tools from. I did not see much in the way of rocks around. Hmmm, I suppose I should do more reading.

Very cool indeed.

Wikus and Charlize

You may need to be South African to appreciate this. Charlize Theron is to South Africa what Bar Rafaeli is to Israel, except Ms. Theron has won an Oscar. Still Wikus is a funny chap.

Procrastination

I remember back many years ago, my youngest Houston nephew was getting in big trouble with his parents for repeatedly not doing his homework. Being the wonderful uncle I was, I took him aside and tried to understand. "Listen", I said, "surely you realize that it will eventually catch up with you. I mean, your teachers are sure to let your parents know you are not doing any work, and they will come down heavily on you and you'll have to do it. So why not just do it now". "Blackuncleo", he said, "you never know what may happen tonight. Maybe there will be a tornado that wipes out the whole school. Maybe the world will end, or the school could burn down. You never know?". My nephew Paul may not remember this conversation, but it could have been yesterday it's so real to me.

What is interesting is this same philosophy now runs rampant in our house. Maybe it's genetic. Nephew Paul grew into a big, strong, reliable adult. We are all most proud of him. So maybe there's hope for the procrastinators of Rehov HaNevel. I dearly hope so.

In Your Eyes

I still think Peter Gabriel's "Secret World" concert video is the best live concert video I have ever seen. We like it so much we have two copies. This video is near the end of the concert along with the wonderful Papa Wemba. It just makes me smile - Bob Alfieri's favorite song. This is close to 100% in my opinion.

8:30 at the Bank

Today's Raanana Weekly Picture is outside the bank. What is it with people waiting outside the bank at 8:30am for the doors to open. I swear this is a purely Israeli phenomenon, no one loves their banks like the people here. In all my life in the US I went into the bank twice. Once to open my account and once to replace a lost credit card. Over here the bank wants you to come visit. They want to know you, not just your money.

The important thing to notice about this picture is the line. Or lack thereof. People just stand around the door and wait for the guard to unlock and then push in. Everyone is quite nice about it, they will chat to you while waiting for the doors to open, but as soon as the lock is turned, it's a free for all. On the first of the month you can get trampled. These people must know some secret I do not. I hate going to the bank and certainly have no intention of waiting outside. There's the internet guys - it's this new thing where you use your computer at home for things like banking.

Wow.

Two bits of media for you today. The first is a commercial for Shell oil. I want to work at Asylum Models and Effects. That's real engineering. The car is cool.


The next thing to see are these unbelievable pictures of the Eyjafjallajokul volcano. The first two and last three pictures are spectacular, I urge you to click over. I love that volcano. Thanks blackshirleyo for the pointer. I think I'm going to use one for my workstation's background.

Hecht Museum

I'm a lightweight when it comes to drinking and last night I had a little too much wine. I awoke this morning with a killer migraine, took some pills and waited. By the time I was ready to roll it was already 9am. So I decided that instead of hitting one of the sites I would go instead to look at the Hecht Museum.

The Hecht Museum is on the campus of the University of Haifa - the world's thinnest university. You can see the building from almost anywhere in the north. It sticks up like a sore thumb from the top of the Carmel. I took a nice drive out there on my own, driving through Beit Oren, a road I used to love when I studied up in Haifa, millions of years ago.
Like I said, the thinnest university in the world.
Their prize exhibit is the "Maagan Mikhael Boat". They found this 2400 year old ship off Kibbutz Maagan Mikhael in 1985. They rescued it, treated it with lots of PEG and built the museum pretty much around it. It is a wonderful thing.
Another view of the boat. It's 12.5M long and 4M wide and carried about 15 tons of cargo. Very cool.
This is a model of the famous "4 room" house type that was typical of this area. I have seen lots of stone remains of these houses and it was nice to see a model of what they looked like when built.
This is a little model of a Phoenician ship. It was found on one of the shipwrecks that line the coast.
A nice display of woodworking tools. I have a passion for these.
I thought this little carved statue of a cosmetic spoon in the shape of a swimming girl holding a duck was very nice indeed. It comes from the 18-19th Egyptian Dynasty (14-12 centuries BCE).
This latrine (or toilet) comes from the City of David and is dated to the late 7th Century BCE. When they analyzed the poop around it, two types of parasitic eggs (tapeworms and whipworms) were identified. So the toilet users clearly has some stomach issues.
This is a panoramic view of Haifa from the Museum's windows. Quite nice I think.

I liked the museum very much. It's not too big so you don't get exhausted and there is no sensory overload that is typical of huge museums. The problem with a lot of the collection is that it was built around Mr. Hecht's donated artifacts and they do not seem to have a lot of provenance (where they came from). So while there are nice pieces, I would like to have an idea where they were found (or looted).

Anyway, it is well work a visit and it's free.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog

I'm sorry. This sexy new iPhone swept me off my feet and I lost sight of what was important. It's just that its so perfectly shiny and heavy and black. I swear I'll be faithful from now on. No more looking for irrelevant 0.99c apps from the Apps store. No more trying out every free Sudoku to find the perfect game. I'm hanging up Waze and the fantastic Google Maps app and returning to my desktop, where I belong. I hope you can forgive me and take me back. Anyway that iPhone can't keep battery charge for shit.

Yours faithfully

bpo