Saturday, December 19, 2009

SANTOGOLD SAYS...

In a video on Cool Hunting, musician Santogold mentions her rock influences in the sounds of

Bad Brains

Suicidal Tendencies

The Smiths

Devo

Gary Numan

Friday, December 4, 2009

Good Morning Baltimore




This fall I had a voracious hunger for The Wire. The violence, sub culture and grit of City of God inspired my lust and craving for Rio de Janiero. The same qualities in the HBO hit inspired my craving for D.C.'s neighbor in the mid-Atlantic.

Baltimore - What to do...

Here is a link to a cool hunting video I found on activities and locations to visit in Baltimore.

And a NY Times "36 hours in" article on the city too.

Some Highlights:

Station North Arts District


American Visionary Arts Musuem

Red Emma's Bookstore


Load of Fun Studios

Paradox Club

Blaqstarr

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Jerking

Like krumping, vogueing and breaking - here's a new dance craze out of LA I just read about from Guy Treby's article in the Styles Section of the NY Times.


Crews:


Team Dummy: Latino crew out of Long Beach, California

u.c.L.A Jerk Kings: "White Boys Jerking"

Ranger$: "Jerkin' in JerkVille"

As always, my pride lingers longer with female crews...

Pink Dollaz: Sixteen- year- old twin Camera and China Walker, now working with M.I.A "Tasty"

From Asylum Records:

Rej3ctz

New Boyz: "You're a Jerk"

the Bangz

Cold Flamez

Audio Push

Shariff Hasan: Filmmaker making "Jerkin'" documentary

Monday, September 7, 2009

Wu Wu

Raekwon's new album "Only Built For Cuban Linx Pt.2"  drops tomorrow Tuesday, September 8. He'll be celebrating with the likes of Diddy at downtown spot Santos Party House.

Expect live performances by Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes and Method Man to celebrate. 

Here's a link to a single from the Chef:  The New Wu 

Saturday, September 5, 2009

ARRRRrrrrggg



For five days only, from Thursday Sept. 2 until Monday Sept. 6 (LABOR DAY) clothing and sneaker brand A Bathing Ape (known as Bapes) has opened a "pirate" store on Lafayette St. where all merchandise is 50 to 70 percent off.

I was walking in SoHo yesterday and discovered a line around the corner at the makeshift store. The company, that's famous amoung hip hop artists like Kanye West, has limited edition shops in Tokyo (3) and New York. I discovered a pair of yellow and red polka dot sneakers I bought in 2007 for $200 were $50. People hoarded shoes, t-shirts, fitted caps, winter vests - anything they could at the pirate shop.

Exceptions: You have to pay cash.

Yes We Can

Lost your job? Feeling depressed about the inevitable onslaught of sleet and snow in the coming months? What's the best way to feel needed? It's to be needed! Here's a link to a volunteering Web site for New York City. NYC Service connects you with opportunities and organizations you may otherwise never hear about. Word.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

K R U M P


Mother nature has not been kind to residents of New York City this summer. In fact, summer has consisted of humidity, torrential down pours, umbrellas and goloshes. So, of course, I've been a hater! Dogging NYC and talking up Berlin as a center of avant guarde culture and day trips - even though there's a comparable climate (!)

Alas, yesterday I found myself in the heart of Union Square, between the corporate big box Whole Foods and the bucolic greenmarket, pleasantly surprised by the smorgasboard of sub cultures present. I found myself watching hip hop kids from the Bronx in slim fitting blue and purple jeans, rainbow Nikes, adorned with rosary beads getting KRUMP! If you're unfamiliar with this term, krumping is a dance movement that originated on the west coast and documented in David LaChappelle's movie RIZE.



But Tommy the Clown and Tight Eyez were nowhere to be found. This is East Coast style and these kids - the oldest of the group are still a few years from 25 - meet in Union Square to start a cipher of dancers. Then, as momentum builds, battles are called where dancers challenge each other to an exhibition of their skills.



New moves are tested out, hats fly and t-shirts whirl. Dancers with pseudonyms like Nightmare and Destroyer transform in front of their peers from young men into warriors - the expressions on their faces are as impassioned as the movements of their limbs. Scrunched lips and tense abound - the dance technique is a combination of miming, breaking and acrobatics. Through these muscles and veins flow the marriage of cultural traditions that cross from Africa and the Bronx.

Check them out for yourselves on You Tube. They call themselves EO - Entertainers Only or WeaponsOfFate. Click HERE for EO at Baruch Fashion Show. Or HERE for Weapons. More KRUMP.

There is a big battle scheduled this Wednesday night but I don't know where. It will also be a celebration for Nightmare's twenty-first birthday.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Os Gemeos is Blowing UP!

Just when I got excited about my Os Gemeos spotting by Coney Island I see this on the NY Mag web site. I guess Deitch Projects and the Haring Foundation reproduced a 1982 Haring mural at Houston and Bowery, but in July, the same organization had the twin Brazilian artists paint over it. Here's the nymag link. 


Monday, July 27, 2009

Between Two Ferns

Zach Galifianakis interviews celebrities on his web show "Between Two Ferns." Check out this segment with Mad Men's Jon Hamm.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Governors Island

Governors Island is blowing up this summer -- Erykah Badu, B 52s, Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco, Buckethead and a bunch of Turntable on the Hudson events are scheduled through September at the new Water Taxi Beach location there.

Take the 1 train to South Ferry Station for a lovely island experience. I'm heading there tomorrow. 

POOLS..POOLS...DUMPSTER POOLS

Dumpster Pools are making a splash in the Gowanus area of Brooklyn! Artist Jocko Weyland heard another artist in Athens, Georgia made dumpster pools and decided to give it a go at a parking lot in Brooklyn. Working as a test case for design team Macro Sea, a company trying to reinvigorate American strip malls as community spots for the people here are articles, videos and links about this project. I'M IN LOVE!

POOLS!

Thanks to Kfir for this AMAZING tip.


For article with more information published July 18 (pools aren't open to public yet ) visit Green Earth web site

Artist Kelly Loudenberg took video of the pools being constructed. Watch that here on Babel Gum !

Os Gemeos

I was treated to a surprise at Coney Island music festival yesterday when wandering around the area I spotted a mural by Brazilian graffiti artist Os Gemeos.

Click the mural link for close ups but if you want video check it!

While on the subject, my DR artist buddy Carlos told me to scope out Brazilian artist Romero Britto .

He's a neo--pop artist currently living in Miami, FL. Here's his web site. 

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

High Line Park

It's a wonderful promenade but old people. people on skate/surf boards, and young kids may fall on the uneven surface. 

It's beautiful at night but even more dangerous then for misteps. 

But the flower pots in the railway tracks were a great idea and there are wooden sun chaize lounges to sit outside in your bathing suit with a view of the water -- even if you would never ever swim in that water.

The park needs to allow for dogs and it would be cool to have street musicians play music (one man bands) hip hop break dancers (hard because of the slanted floor design) 

But one HUGE PERK... The architecture that surrounds the area. I want to do more research but at one point you look from left to right and it looks like a study in contemporary buildings famous around the globe.

In fact, I saw several art classes filled with young students, mostly girls, sitting on benches and sketching city street views. What a cool new park that has potential to get so much cooler if the people living in the almost constructed buildings that cut directly into the park doesn't stand in the way.. Soon to see.... 

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Hall Monitor

18 year old Detroit native Kyle Hall played the Sunday best party at BRKLYN YARD last Sunday. The energy was amazing at the space and the teen prodigy looked like he was having a blast. 

There are tons of events scheduled for weekends through september at this unique spot on Carrol St. Take the F, mix a drink and enjoy the canal. Wow. 

And friendship..for everyone

OMG Always Sunny in Philadelphia is back with new episodes in September! Here's a link to the you tube clip with the promo of people singing DAYMAN!... notice Of Montreal is in it for a quick second.  

Friday, July 10, 2009

Take it to the streets

I went into a shop called Urbanix on Sheinken Street in Tel Aviv and the woman at the counter was an industrial designer trying to move to Berlin! She gave me a list of the best of the best of her opinion of Israeli street artists: 


Klone - known for his horses by Dizengoff Center

Yochai Matos 

Yael Omer

Yonatan Menashe 

Omer Gal 

Ohad Elimelech

Junkyard 7

Adam Sher

Shai Yehezkelli

Tamar Moshkovitz

Keren Shpilsher

Ido Shemi 

Trance Music at its Best

Nobody does trance music quite like the Israelis - that may be because so many of them party in Goa and come back to tell about it. But here's a short list of the best:

Infected Mushroom
X-Dream
Chakra 
Astrix 
Skazi 

The Key. To

TheKey.to   

was an alternative eco and environmental event in Berlin held the same weekend as the Bread and Butter fashion conference. 

As part of the weekend I went to the event Fashion ReLoaded where I traded clothes, put stencils on t-shirts and hoodies and designed my own yellow polka dotted headband with a new friend i met from greece (shout out Marylu) 

I was interviewed by Berlin Fashion Week people but it seems since it was in English they didn't use it. Still cool to watch some of these videos though. 

As for actual purchases - I made none, I'm super poor. BUT: 
I want these sandals soo badly i'm an idiot for not getting them when I could have for 60 Euro (90 dollars). Now they're $150 online. Damn it.  Po Zu organic hemp and coconut material shoes! 
 
But the Key. To is really cool and includes a variety of companies and brands. One of the most interesting to me is 

Rambler Street Wear: Homeless teens design their clothing in their own style and name. Rambler has shirts from teens in London, Amsterdam and Sao Paulo. 

I also like Pants to Poverty - A british company that makes ethical underwear in an attempt to creatively eradicate poverty. 

Media SREEEEEE

Two wonderful but "underdeveloped" neighborhoods in Berlin - Kreuzberg and Friedrichstein - house the city's punks, artists, squatters and night owls. Families have moved into gentrified Mitte but these two areas are havens for the culture and atmosphere the city is known for. 

Yet a development plan called Media Spree is currently in affect to knock down the nightclubs and squats that give the area it's charm to build concrete and brick palaces for industry.

The first sign of this new development plan is a performance venue o2 World. Financed by a right wing rich American business man that thinks homosexuality should be outlawed in every state, this new venue built on the water violates terms of moving the Berlin wall and putting up a road billboard that keeps people up at night with its bright beaming lights. 

Over the next five years, the squats in the area will be torn down and hideous but important commercial buildings will be put in their place. Go to Berlin now if you want to hit famous riverside bars like BAR 25 and Kiki Blofield before it's too late. 

Ouch I've Got a Blu Blu

Blublu.org created this video of their street art in stop motion animated form. Here is the 7  minute movie on You Tube..it's pretty sick in action! 

Groovin' at Fusion

Fusion Music Festival happened in Larz Airfield, a former soviet airplane hanger space about 2 hours outside of Berlin, June 25 - 28. The festival is known as Germany's Burning Man, as a parallel to Burning Man that happens at the end of every August in the desert of Nevada. 

That means Fusion brought crazy costumes, stimulants, 5 days of non-stop music, dancing and partying. There was only positivity in the air (except when we found out Michael Jackson died = sadness) as we camped, drank and danced away all anxieties. 

At most European festivals, the music is secondary to the attractions. At Fusion all of the cuisine was vegetarian ( as much for animal rights as less of a worry about food poisoning), there was a cabaret area, a theater and a KINO showing new movies (Genuis Boy, Waltz With Bashir, Berlin Calling) along with 16 stages of music.

The festival is known for electronic music and so is Germany in general but there was everything on offer here from dancey American Ratatat to Israel's female reggae funk group Habanot Nechama. 

Other highlights included the Swedish duo Lur and Pupkulies and Rebecca 

My favorite things about the festival: Tickets were cheap. 60 Euro or around $95 dollars for a five day festival including camping and non-stop music. 55 Euro is you bought your ticket in advance and automatic 5 euro back for returning a bag of trash before leaving the grounds.

The food was cheap and you could bring in whatever you wanted - glass, cans, beer, wine ANYTHING from the outside. Bringing your own stuff was not only enouraged -- there was a shuttle bus to the local grocery store everyday all day if you wanted to buy anything. 

That shuttle bus also went to a nearby lake. .. I actually think it went to more than one lake where you could shake off the shakes by diving into water, canoeing and playing on nearby swings. 

There was no advertising at all for the festival. Every year it grows and grows but not a single flier or poster is created for the event. There are no major brands (besides on noticeable one which is an alcoholic energy beverage) and there's no corporate sponsorship. 

I went with my Aussie friend Timmy and his Israeli friend Alon. Once there we met up with Irish Jane, Canadian Evan and Germans Lisa and Bella. At first I arrived on the grounds with no tent - just my sleeping bag and a baby pool. After a minor freak out and a beer run, Timmy found me sitting on my own by the entrance and we had a tent and a crew! 

After a shaking start - the entire festival was amazing. We filled up the paddling pool with water and had a mini pool jam in the center of the festival. I forgot about a lot of the music but each stage was innovative. One had boxes of running water with different colored lights, another was in the middle of the forest, another was an ewok village beach party. The sun didn't come out until the last two days of the festival making me doubt European summer but the entire event was a success. 

Count down: 49 weeks until next year's Fusion which will be June 24 - 27. I will get there by Schtephans bus from Ostbanhof directly to the festy for 10 euro. Amazing!

Project Vanilla Hugs and Teddy Bears

I arrived in Berlin, the city of my dreams, on June 20 to stay at an organized couch surfing and travelers spot called Project Volunteering. 

Click the link to see the web site and mission statement but basically this spot is a project run by couch surfing ambassadors that hosts anywhere from 3-13 people, including families and kids, at any given time. There's a dorm room where 6-7 people sleep on mattresses and a separate main room for travelers passing through to either have a mattress, the couch or space for their own sleeping bag. Visitors are encouraged to give donations for coffee and laundry but generally everyone shares in cooking and cleaning and there's communal BEER too :) 

I found this option the perfect way to see Berlin. Beyond not having to spend money for a hostel , Project Volunteering was an organized squat in a city of squats. The international community lacked native Berliners but that's how the streets of Berlin look too - filled with artists, writers and creative people from across the globe interacting and sharing ideas. 

It is interesting how romantic and exciting I find the idea of squats and how much I wanted my own bed and privacy after 15 days of living in one. The exchange of ideas, trying new foods and learning new languages was amazing..the waiting for the bathroom, squeezing into the kitchen to find my apple juice was gone and waking up at 5am to the sound of 15 people thrashing and turning at night was not. Not bad, not weird, just different in a way that I came to appreciate having a door. 

As for anyone traveling in Berlin I highly recommend this spot as your place to stay.  Jake, a theater artist from Oakland, CA was my official host but I became quick friends with Timmy, an Aussie native who lives and works as a pub crawl leader in the summer and travels in the winter to spots like thailand and brazil. There is also Emma, a big boned swedish make up artist and jewelry designer who goes to famous night clubs and BDSM spots.... the list of characters goes on and on. 

As for the location.. you couldn't ask for a better neighborhood.  
Project Volunteering is located at 
146 Schonhauser Allee

That's right on the U2 Line at the stop Eberswalder StraBe, two blocks from Mauer Park. 

End of an Era

My facebook profile has finally run out of space in the 'About me' section This is the area I previously kept track of all the live music I've seen. I'm moving that information here to allow for updates from my previous travels to two music festivals and my upcoming summer of music in NYC. 

LIVE MUSIC WITNESSED SUMMER 06': !!!, The Juan Maclean, Son Volt, Lady Sovereign/The Streets, Broken Social Scene, Scissor Sisters, Openheimer/Hot Chip , Pharcyde/ Super natural/Talib Kweli/Cee-lo/ The Roots, Gnarles Barkley, Ratatat Live Music Fall 06: Zuby Nehty, Uz Jsme Doma, Plastic People of the Universe, Cabruera, James Brown, Balkan Beat Box,Gypsy, Arrested Development, Mad Finger

Live Music Spring 2007: Andreas Kapsalis Trio, El Clandestino, Houses in Motion, Ok Go, TV on the Radio, Girl Talk (2) , Lotus, Dahlak Braitwaite/Rafael Casal, The Coup, Afrikabambaata and Zulu Nation, Jose Gonzalez, Peter, Bjorn and John/ Fujiya & Miyagi, !!!, Houses in Motion, Clyde Stubbufield (Original Funky Drummer)
Live Music Summer 2007: !!! , Lily Allen, parts of the Brooklyn Hip Hop festival, Cloud Cult, Warm Up: week 2, El Michels Affair, Warm Up: week 3, Les Savy Fav, Rakim/Cypress Hill/ Public Enemy/Wu Tang/ Rage Against The Machine, T & T

Fall 2007: Girl Talk, Illinois/ The Hold Steady/Old 97's, M.Ward, Busdriver, Escort, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, The Perceptionists, Angelique Kidjo, Diplo/Justice, Wayne Shorter Quartet, Elbow, The Spazmatics, M.I.A. Summer 2008: Heloise and the Savior Faire, Skream/ Banga, E- 40, Dynamic, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue/ Allen Toussaint, The Herbaliser, Radiohead, Little Brother, Regina Spektor, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jack Johnson, !!!, Zion I, Hot Tub (2) , Ziggy Marley, Michael Franti and Spearhead

Fall 08: My Morning Jacket, Aesop Rock, Antibalas, Foals, Hot Chip, Amon Tobin, Goldfrapp, Mike Relm, TV on the Radio, CSS, Justice, Shiny Toy Guns, Hollywood Holt, Kid Cuti, Sex with no Hands, Barrington Levy, Sharon Little, Jerry Douglas Band, Diana Krall and Robert Plant, Tea Leaf Green, Emmylou Harris, Iron & Wine, Shugoo Tokumaru, Faunts, Tobacco, Women, Takka Takka, Marnie Stern, School of Seven Bells, Menahan Street Band, The Budos Band, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Girl Talk

Winter 09: Sun Ra/Jim Jones, Budos Band, Phenomenal Hand Clap Band/Apes and Androids, DJ Klever/LA Riots, Soshana Bean, Lissy Trullie, Menahan Street Band/Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Grizzly Bear, Bus Driver, Otis Grove/Charlie Hunter Trio, Trevor Jackson, Chin Chin/Budos Band
Spring 2009: Joshua Bell, Hot Tub/ Ting Tings, Naughty By Nature, Paul Kalkbrenner, Switch, People Under the Stairs, Los Campesinos, The Black Keys, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, Beirut, Girl Talk, Paul Mccartney, Bajofondo, Genghis Tron, The Crystal Method, The Bloody Beetroots, Thievery Corporation, M.I.A, The Chemical Brothers DJ Set, MSTRKRFT,Mexican Institute of Sound, Friendly Fires, Okkervil River, Lykke Li, Busy P, Peter Bjorn and John, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, Public Enemy. The Orb, The Kills, Groove Armada DJ Set, Etienne De Crecy, Fischerspooner

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Roofs, Walls and Floors

I met a girl on the beach in Tel Aviv that said she found an apartment in the Florentine section of the city on a web site called:

Taanglo.net

Get Down Girl - Go Head Get Down

Music Recommendations I'm Gathering From Travel in Athens

Orishas
Solomon Burke
Nicola Conte
Yasmin Levy
Sophie Delila
The Burger Project
Dub Inc.
Let's Tea Party
Afra and his amazing beat box
Monika

Georgios Papadapalous Part 2

Sadly Talia didn't have the funds or desire to see night two of the synch festival so I went alone. Big shout out to my two Cyprus gay men -- I met my dancing soul mate Pavlos Ziouha and his ex-boyfriend on Friday and spent most of Saturday night getting super sweaty and jumping with them. Pavlos and I rocked out at Junior Boys, Squarepusher and The Bug like noone else - when my hands were in the air - his hands were in the air. When I did windmills on the floor- he did windmills on the floor :)

Highlights:
SQUAREPUSHER - like you need an excuse to shake your whole body as fast as possible? Sick live show here - crazy beats and visuals unlike anything else - this act really made the festival.

Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics - Go out and buy their new cd immediately. It's just feel good world music with this old dude who's the shit Mulatu Astatke playing congos and xylophone. Budos Band needs to hear the heliocentrics!!

The Bug: Dubstep at its very very best. A packed house - this felt like Berlin or an underground club in the UK. Just bouncing feels soo good.

Hudson Mohawke- I blogged about this guy months ago when Sashe Frere Jones mentioned him as part of the Glasgow collective in the same article as Flying Lotus from LA as a new genre of hip hop producers. Well - turns out the guy is 24 but looks 12. I told him he had such a baby face but thanked him profusely for my favorite song so far of 2009 - Zoooooom - looks like such a boy though for such manly music :) But possibly best part of festival because I met Georgios Papadapalous here - a greek academic hipster who's currently studying in the Netherlands at the "Post academic institute for research and production fine art, design and theory" We got down.

Line Up: Again though F highlights the whole thing rocked.

The Matthew Herbert Big Band - Electro jazz - reminded me of guy I met at Be Berlin event that's composing an electric symphony at Lincoln Center
Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics
Squarepusher

A Mountain of One
The Teenagers - The only act of the festival I missed :(
Junior Boys - Great show!!

Night on Earth
Biomass
Fennesz
2L8

The Bug
Hudson Mohawke

Alex Tsirdis
Caribou

NTEIBINT
Shit Robot
Aeroplane - Cyprus men said these guys are awesome I'll keep an eye out!
Matthew Jonson

Georgios Papadapalous Part 1

Friday night of the Synch festival was a smashing success. First of all, this music festival in Athens was tiny compared the concerts like Coachella and Bonnaroo. There was only a few thousand people in total for both nights and even then - there was always space to dance and an easy, hassle free way to get front row center.

For night one - here are some highlights:

Puppetmastaz- These 4 guys are from Berlin and they're making English hip hop delievered through furry hand puppets. With characters like a rhino, a turtle and a chainsaw wheelding teddy bear -- this act was talented, hilarious and very dadist. We spoke to the band after and they're huge in France - sellling out shows and festivals all summer. One member who's originally from Vietnam but now lives in Berlin told me if I want to go to summer afterhours spots in Berlin to go now --- there's a conversation with the city to close down all the best riverside dance spots and to build condos. BOOO.

Friendly Fires - Sounds kind of like U2- you can tell these guys will be huge in a few months. They're live show is awesome, very high energy electro rock. Couldn't even get close when I saw them at Coachella but here I was front row - dancing right next to members of the French band The Teenagers!!!

But to be honest - everything was amazing.

The line up:

Jazzanova Live feat Paul Randolph
Florence and the Machine - weird wacky costumes, big blond afro, disco electro
Tortoise - I forgot how beautiful this music is and how much I enjoy listening to it in bed

Ebony Bones - great new act I'd never heard of
Fujiya Miyagi - Really a highlight too - this British band's live show has only gotten better and better since I saw them in 07
Friendly Fires

Evripidis & his tragedies
Cluster
Tasman
Family Battle Snake

Mari.Cha
3 Chairs

Puppetmastaz
Disateradio
Joe Goddard (Hot Chip DJ set)
New Young Pony Club DJs

Thursday, June 11, 2009

A festivus for the rest of us

Festival season is upon us! Bonnaroo kicked off in Manchester, TN yesterday and I'm reminded of my journey to the great fields a few years back - screaming "BONAGOOO" in the muddy puddles by the clogged porter potties, seeing single shoes abandoned in the dirt and filth and hippies twirling fire sticks and throwing frisbees happily rolling on hallucenigenic mushrooms.

But I'm in Greece now and out of pure luck there are some amazing music festivals while I'm in town. This weekend I will be going to the Synch Festival at the Technolopolis - there's four stages of music promising the best of innovative electronica, new media and technology. The line up is sick and includes the Matthew Herbert Orchestra, The Bug, Squarepusher, Friendly Fires, a DJ set from a member of Hot Chip, New Young Pony Club and much much more!!! I thought i would only want to be in Athens for a day but with this festival we're here for 4!

And maybe coming back on the 19th for this: The Ejekt Festival comes to the Elliniko Exhibition Centre from June 18 and 19 and features the Pixies, Editors, Starsailor, White Lies, Lauryn Hill, Royksopp, Jarvis Cocker, Klaxons, The Subways, 2ManyDjs and James Lavelle. -- That shit speaks for itself!!!

Videos and updates to come...Oh, and since I'm in Europe it's all I can do to try to get to Glastonbury next week but really I'm traveling on a dime so that's a pipe dream!

I'll Kick Your Ass - Because I Invented This Game

Found out about this from Kfir. It's a NY Times article talking about artists and actors inventing athletic games as a form of participatory art. Pretty fun shit but also just playing regular dodgeball this winter was super fun for me - although any excuse to wear a costume is really ok in my book.

He also linked to the video:
Greg the inventor of Circle Rules Football is yummy and this just looks like a blast. They played it at Burning Man too!!

Surfing in Athens

Couch surfing that is!! Wow - what an amazing community around the globe of people who offer their couch or apartment to travelers. But it's usually much more than just a resting place - these people become ambassadors for their cities and step up to show other travelers around.

Talia and I arrived in Athens yesterday and stayed at a hostel in Syntagma Square. This bustling area is filled with tourists and restaurants that trap wandering germans, australians and americans into spending $10 on souvlaki (we were paying 1 Euro for street food.)

So yesterday we decided to couch surf and emailed about 20 different people in the city who said they could host two people. It turned out this man Demitris Tolis was a first time user of the site and he had no friends or references for his profile. We'd been warned with the service to stay w/ people that usually have both but the man had huge dreadlocks and a big friendly smile and his profession listed him as an editor.

Since we're traveling together both of us figure we have nothing to worry about with safety issues against one man so today we met D and are currently staying in his beautiful apartment in the Aghais Ionnis section of the city - 4 metro stops away.

He has kitchen space, a nice bathroom but the best part is the BALCONY! - complete w/ a unique Greek BBQ pit and a view of the acropolis at night that is just stunning and memorable for sure. Talia and I cooked all afternoon - Israeli salad, guacamole, ate Babaganoosh, olives, pastries from the corner bakery.... Y U M.

Then we sat outside because the one downside is D doesn't have a fan or air conditioning and this city is as hot as ball basically until the sun sets around 9:00pm - drinking wine, smoking cigs and taking photos.

It turns out when D comes home from work that he edits movies and commercials and lived in Prague for a year in 2006. He was in the cinema dance workshop from FAMU and acted in a movie that Talia saw at a screening of the films back in June of that year!!!!! What a tiny tiny tiny world this is!!!!

If you want to see D he showed us his band on Youtube. Check out "the koolians the spot story anti art." This band reminds me of the Spazmatics from San Francisco, in that they wear wigs, sometimes make up, crowd surf and cause general calamity!

Couchsurfing - you rock my world.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Super Cows

I worked in the ravitz or dairy farm today for a few hours this morning and learned a wikipedia page about Israeli dairy farming, genetics and milk production. 

Danny is the boss of the ravitz. He is an American/Israeli that grew up on the kibbutz, moved to Florida with his family and moved back to Israeli in his teen years because he missed it so much. 
Danny explains to me that the cows in Israel are super cows. Every animal is electronically monitored on their ankles and around their necks and every bit of information is channeled to one central data bank. 

The best females and paired with the best males, artificially inseminated and reared so that their offspring will produce the highest fat to protein ratio in their milk. 

The cows are mixed with the best cows of the United States and around the world to produce stronger breeds but the cows in Israel have the highest average milk production per cow in the world! 

This could explain why the yogurt, chocolate milk and cottage cheese is so damned good! 

Obama is a muslim

No matter what I say, two separate intelligent, well off Israeli's tell me Obama is a muslim. Many Israeli's do not support Obama and they think he's not for Israel but they specifically believe he is muslim -- even though he has said repeatedly he's christian. They say - he comes from a muslim country, he's muslim.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

This kibbutz isn't big enough for the both of us..

The daughter of the family i'm staying with told me such a juicy story i just need to write it down. She dated one south african for almost 4 years. He was poor then. Now he works at an oil rig in Dubai and the UAE and works 4 months on, one month off -he can probably retire at 40 at that schedule. She said he has two apartments and a porsche but it wasn't working out.

Her second boyfriend she had two children with. They got along fine until they broke up about a year ago - when her beautiful daughter was born. Now it's clear he's not paying enough child support for his kids and she may have to bring him to court. What makes this like a semi soap opera is that the guy is Argentinian, he has 3 other children with another woman from the kibbutz who hates this daughter. The first girl's kids come over and eat dinner at the daughter's house sometimes but things are just up in the air. It could be a soap opera right?

Kibbutz is Kaput

Kibbutz's are changing. Real change happened in 1991 around first gulf war - people stopped putting their kids in the community center and started having them live in the house

now it's a community but more like a corporation instead of a way of life.

Family food feud- I've stayed with four different families now in Israel and the food they've fed me has gone from good to amazing to gourmet magazine worthy. I'm currently at the Ramot Menashe kibbutz with the family of family friends back in New York. The mom made the most amazing lamb/chicken meat balls, cheesecake and ruggalah I've ever had. Sorry to keep blogging about food but it's just soo good. When I'm living at the hostel I don't really eat anything besides the free bread and jelly they put out in the morning so I'm like a bear trying to stock up before I hibernate on the beaches of Tel Aviv.

Tomorrow they're putting me to work w/ the men and the cows in the morning but here it's an 8am wake up call and not the ungodly hour of 5:30a like back at WWOOF. Then in the afternoon i get to take a walk and go to the town pool, do some laundry and probably eat a lot more brilliant fresh squeezed juice, fat olives, savory hummus and flavorful meat dishes. Back to Tel Aviv Tuesday morning and off to Greece on Wednesday at 7am.

I want more Goor

I strolled the beach alone today and found myself in Jaffa. The city is basically an artists colony where I splurged and spent entirely too much money on a crocheted vest and sick belt... but discovered the Ilana Goor Museum which is a house that's nearly 250 years old. Originally, it was the first hostel basically housing jewish refugees to the area. Now the sculptor Ilana Goor lives there and turned it into a modern art museum. Besides the artist - who's in her 70s and currently traveling in the states- here are some other people I want to check out.. Links to come in the future but you can google them for now if you're even slightly interested

Hadas Levi
Jesus Soto
Adam Berg
Menashe Kadishman
Olga Woliniak
David Leviatan
Yehuda Porbuchrai
Todd Syler
Gary Goldstein
Roy Pajursky

A winner in winner

According to the Israeli newspaper a 23 year old guy from North or South Dakota won like 232 million dollars. Apparently he played his family's birthdays - spent $15 and walked away with crazy loot. The name of his town is Winner though, ironic! And enough to make the Israeli papers...

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Day at the Beach

I'm very much enjoying my chill weekend time in Tel Aviv. On Saturdays it's shabbat and that means everyone in this city heads to the sea. Today was no exception. I woke up early and my friend Ori who is a soldier from my birthright program picked me up and we went to Herzilya- a town about 20 minutes north of Tel Aviv. The beaches are nicer, less crowded and apparently people are more adventurous (the spot we hit there were tons of jet skis and wind surfers - YUM)

I also played paddle ball for the first time in this country. The knocking sound of a rubber ball against wooden paddles is as soothing as the crashing waves here in the holy land. Everyone plays this game and it's way harder then these fit Israeli's make it seem. Ori is Israeli and he was awful so he has no excuse but I was very bad too.

After dancing, playing, swimming and napping in the sun Ori said goodbye because he had to go back to Army in Haifa. I decided instead of taking a bus that I would walk the hour and a half back to Tel Aviv. It was a beautiful walk as the sun set but I ran into a gate that stopped me from my destination, had to back track and hour and take a sherut anyway.

For dinner I took the people from Chicago in the room next to me to a delicious dinner of meat kebabs and condiment spreads at a bistro called Libra on Ben Yehuda street. We had amazing sorbet from the Iceberg ice cream shop and now i'm passing out early (1:30am) to figure out my ticket to Greece in the morning and where I will be spending the next few days (either up north in Haifa or off to Jerusalem.)

Friday, June 5, 2009

For a true party we must head underground...

I'm slowly discovering the underground electronic scene in tel aviv. Here are the spots that have been recommened for me to hit:
Barzilay
Barby
The Penguin
The Block
Comfort 13

Kid Koala will be playing at one of these spots in early July. Paul Oakenfeld and Maddonna have shows in Israel in August.

As for clubs I've actually visited:

Tel Aviva- awful cheesy club near the Old Port
Clara - Amazing space right on the beach near Jaffa but TONS of Americans

Hostel Environment

My new home in Israel? Hayarkon 48 youth hostel. This spot is $20 per night for a dorm room bed in a room with a fan. I've been sleeping outside on the bench on my balcony with my sleeping bag and pillow instead of my top bunk bed - paying 1 shekel for a locker for my valuables and eating free toast and jelly in the morning for breakfast. There are tons of Americans, Canadians and english speakers staying here. Everyone goes to party on the Port instead of venturing to Tel Aviv's underground scene but it's been a blast to meet other travelers and to see where people are headed next. But boy, what a tiny world. I've met people that know friends from Madison, went to school in Madison, lived in the Bay Area, studied in Prague and more. Crazy world we live in, i'm half way across the world in the middle east and seeing people I know! Lauren Wein, a girl I know from growing up, is doing an ESL teaching english program here and Adam Kittai is in med school here! We may meet up and go hiking up around the golan heights in a few weeks. Crazy.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Today I had an amazing experience. I went to see the band "The Apples" play at something called the big stage by the suzanne dellal center in the neve tzedek area of Tel Aviv. This Israeli band is comprised of two djs that play in neon green jump suits a la daft punk with a full horn section, drummer and cello player. It was upbeat funk music and I danced for hours in the sun at a venue 1/100 the size of Central Park Summerstage.

I went alone to the venue and met a bunch of people into the psy trance party scene. We danced and shared beers and I discovered amazing Israeli music. I need to tell the guys from the Budos Band about the Apples. I think they'll really like them.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Bust a move

I keep getting Israeli music recommendations from hep cats and high rollers. Here is a list of some more people to check out:

Shlomo Artzy
Meir Ariel
Muki - Hip Hop
Mosh Ben Ari- Rastafari
Mashina
The Giraffes
MC Carolina

My friends brother also loves Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." It's the only song he can play on guitar but to be fair it's my only song too! I played for them Jose Gonzalez "Heartbeats" and now he's learning that too.

Blame Canada

Thanks to my new friend Arielle I met on the farm here is some music and cultural recommendations from our friends to the North.

Gregory and the Hawk- Female acoustic guitarist, beautiful cover of Beyonce's Irreplacable
The Bar Mitzvah Brothers
Sam Roberts
Apostle of Hustle
Patrick Watson
Do Make Say Think - The Rapture mentions them
Stars of the Lid

Also a web site for French music videos of awesome artists like Beirut and REM is BLOGOTHEQUE.COM

As for Montreal-
Tam Tams - Saturday morning drum circles on Mt. Royal
Picnic Electronique- Dance parties with electronic music
The Distillery- cute bar with huge mason jar drinks
Upstairs- jazz bar
Noir- Restaurant in the dark w/ blind waiters
Biodome- science center
San Tropol- restaurant and unique sandwiches (LOVE SANDWICHES)
Cock and Bull - Monday night Craft Night
Aux Bivres- Veggie restaurant

And television show "Popular Mechanics for Kids"

I referred a friend and all i got was this lousy t-shirt

Anula, one of the Thai workers who has been on the farm for nearly two years wore a shirt the other day that read "I referred a friend and all I got was this lousy t-shirt." I thought it was so ironic because his cousin or brother in law Lampoon has been here for three months. The two work about 13 hours a day for what me and Arielle figured out comes to about $2/hr ---- and probably that lousy t-shirt.

Conclusions for WWOOFING:
After doing a bunch of dishes, cooking meals with the freshest ingredients I've ever tasted and working laboriously in the fields sweating in places I didn't know could sweat and feeling thigh muscles I didn't know I had - tomorrow is my last day of work on the farm. I'm probably headed to volunteer on a kibbutz up north next week but for now I can say I survived and learned a lot about my personal work ethic and farming issues.

Although I will be leaving with blisters and bug bites as testimony to my experience here at Bet Yitzhak - I didn't break or sprain a limb or get one bitten off by a scorpion or snake and for that I'm thankful. I realize Thai people work hard as shit in thankless jobs and they're pretty damn cool.

After a week alone with my ipod wishing each day would end - this week I got a friend. Arielle is 19 and Canadian and did an Israel Outdoors birthright program right after me. We've been music sharing and working together this week and will go out and party in Tel Aviv tomorrow. I have another post coming about Canadian music and culture thanks to her knowledge.

Paris Hilton and her simple life has nothing on me :)

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Pizza and Wine Suits Me Just Fine

So after three days of playing Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" next to Gaza I returned to Netanya via awful public transportation yesterday for the Sunday kick off of my work week. It's 6 days a week here so I'm not sure why Americans feel we work the hardest in the world - right about now I'd say it's the Thai's in Israel.

But tonight I had an interesting cross cultural experience :) Idan, my family's oldest son had a water polo match in the recreation area of Bet Yitzkah. It was just like an American sports competition in that there were crazy parents, standing on edge ready to fight for their children, cheerleaders shouting (in hebrew) "Hey other team, go home!", and even a band that came from Haifa (an hour away) to support the away team.

The sports complex here is supposedly one of the nicest in the entire country and because our team won (even though our player is smaller than everyone else and sat the whole match out on the bench) our whole family got pizza for dinner! Forget Dominoes this time we tried a place in the next town over and it came with the same amazing pizza seasoning that's prevalent with the italian treat everywhere.

So it's pretty funny to see a water polo match amongest 13 year old boys in Israel and the pizza you get to eat to celebrate a victory is top notch : )

Friday, May 29, 2009

You think you're better than me, you're not better than me.. I'm better than you

Last night speaking with one of Oran's friends about politics he spoke to me about how he is upset how Israel waits to hear from America before they take action and try to lift themselves up as a country. He said back in the 70s, the Israeli army was working on building the best planes in the world and selling them to China. America didn't like this and forbid the research and instead gave Israel a lot of F16 planes instead. The boy sited this as only one example of America butting in where they have no business. I don't think he was saying he doesn't think Israel doesn't need America as an ally - he just wants people to be informed that sometimes Americans don't know what we're talking about, we don't know what dealing with 50-70 terrorist attacks every day feels like, to have national tragedies occur all the time - and to basically just butt out. This goes back to me thinking Israel will preemptively strike Iran sooner than later to stop their nuclear program. It's an issue of when and not if.

The Great King of Israel

Last night one of Oran's friends told me about the Israeli musician Zohar Argov.
She called him the "Great King of Israel" and told me how he was very popular in the 1960s and had a unique story of coming from nothing to achieving popular culture status and then blew it all and died young of a cocaine addiction. Now she says his son is a great musician too but also into drugs and following in the same foot steps. Oran agrees that the son is only using the father's name for money.

Here is a link to one of Argov's songs.

South by Gaza - A weekend at the spa

So this weekend I'm visiting with the armed guard from my birthright program Oran. Besides being only slightly exaggerated- the sexiest man I've ever met- he's a traveler and such a laid back guy. He invited me to his house for shavuot and he lives very close to the gaza strip and the border of Egypt.

I thought to myself - ok i'm going to visit Oran to see how he lives. He spoke of missiles flying over head constantly and I thought - prepare yourself Jessica for a war zone. Well, like everything in this country - his neighborhood and home are full of contradictions. For 8 years these missiles fly from Gaza everyday - to the point where there is a bomb shelter next to the soccer field here in case mid game the players need to escape the field - but next to his house his mother runs her own spa. There's a hot tub, massages, facials and waxing in the most serene environment. The sunset here is the most beautiful I've seen so far in Israel. They have a veranda behind their house and it's filled with hammocks and cushions where I could spend weeks of my life reading and napping and drinking tea with fresh mint and lemon. There are pomegranate, mango and orange trees.

The neighborhood is filled with young people Oran's age that gather outside without calling each other to smoke nagilla and talk for hours while drinking nestea or coca cola.

But last night was very interesting. We went to the house of one of Oran's friends and it was a gathering of hippie travelers. Everyone looked like they'd been to India and back yesterday and we drank wine, smoked and ate sweets and talked about music and politics.

Oran told me one night they were in the exact same situation- chilling out and enjoying themselves - when 15 different missiles flew over them. I still today can't process what that must have felt like but again it's the case where I'm sitting right there picturing it happening that night to me.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Party in NYC like you were here w/ me in Israel

There's a big festival on June 21, 2009 in Central Park. An artificial beach - set up to look like the shores of Tel Aviv will be placed near the Naumberg Bandshell. This event is to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Israeli city. Click here for the link for full event details!

God bless my ipod

I told a few of you that i regretted impulsively purchasing the Ipod touch about two days before leaving for Israel. This very expensive item had me feeling buyers remorse almost immediately - especially since I should have been in a thrifty mind set setting off for two months of travel.

Well, I take all of that back. My Ipod is my most prized possesion right now and here's why: at the farm here from Sunday - Thursday I'm alone working in the fields with the thai men who don't speak a word of English. They may be happy working in silence but without my ipod I'd be bored out of my mind. Bored is the wrong work - this picking and plucking and farming in general is hard work and really who doesn't like to exercise to music? My music is probably the only thing getting me through.

Plus the men hate me. Well, they don't hate me but let's say it's obvious I have no idea what I'm doing and after hours and hours of work I get tired and they don't. The only words they seem to know are "come on, come on" which is to encourage me to cut lettuce faster, pick bigger beets or sort zuchinni with more accuracy.

I don't know what these two little guys are eating but let me say as laborers i think they should be paid a LOT! They have boundless energy and when I almost passed out today in a field picking weeds from the strawberry patch they stepped in and continued for almost an hour finishing the work I could not. Amir says with the money they make here they can take care of 2 families back in Thailand but then he told me one of the guys ran up a phone bill of 2,000 sheckels and that was a months salary. But when I calcuate that's only about 300-400 dollars.

My math is bad but I bet they're not being paid enough. I'm here as a volunteer and I feel taken advantage of I can't imagine how they feel. Sucks that I don't get to ask them either because i'm so curious about their lives back home but they don't even understand when I say "i'm sorry for being so bad at this work. I'm a middle class jewish girl from long island."

Monday, May 25, 2009

Anti-semitism abroad

So I wasn't aware that in summer and even year round a huge majority of french jews own property mainly in Tel Aviv and also throughout Israel. Time Out says if you don't speak hebrew you can get by just fine with french. I remember that anti-semitism in France was and is bad with people going into jewish cemeteries and defacing grave sites all the time but I didn't realize the french jews are safeguarding themselves for a day when they may be expelled from their homes.

I also heard a crazy story about jews in Peru being forced to leave their homes by the local government. People traveling in South America- did you feel or see any of this in Peru???

Jerusalem Recommendations

This is for my own recollection. A woman I spoke w/ in Tel Aviv said when I was in Jerusalem to visit:

1. Nachlaot Area
2. German Compound - for architecture and restaurants
3. Tmol Shilshom Coffee Shop - near Ben Yehuda St.
4. Mamila Mall

This is Louise - She's like my second wife

So Amir - my farm owner who I've inside jokingly started to call "never nude" because of the cut off jean shorts he wears is an Israeli farmer and family man but it seems to me he has a lot in common with other American dads.

He has three adorable children and he and his wife both work. Amir worked for 23 years for Motorola - starting in sales and working his way up to management. He asked them to fire him two years ago so he could get severance and stay on in a contract position. Now he works from home and the farm all day. Two of his children are 10 year old twins. Inbal - the girl, does competive gymnastics and is extremely competitive and focused. Her brother Idan is small for his age but is a fierce water polo player. His aunt tells me I should see him the water, that I wouldn't believe it. Gilad is their older son who is 13 this year and will be bar mitzvahed next month - just because it's custom. The family doesn't consider themselves religious at all. The aunt tells me not only is she not religious but she's anti-religion. She teaches hebrew language and literature at a kibbutz in the north and goes on for a half hour how the western wall is idolatry.

I really like Amir's wife Tsrit. The three of us take their two dogs out for a walk around the neighborhood every night and Tsrit and I talk during this time.

But Amir is such a character. You can tell he has a lot on his plate and he works very hard for his family. I know he loves his kids but he's always snapping at them and the person in his family he loves the most is Louise - his dog. OK OK she is a beautiful dog with white fur and big brown eyes but he talks to her and plays with her like something unkosher is going on.. He told me today after he stood there petting her for 10 minutes in front of me - she is like my second wife.

I love this family!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

White Night

Wednesday 5/27 is White Night in Tel Aviv. This once a year event happens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where every shop, club, bar stays open for 24 hours. I read about a dance party at a club called The New Train Station but Noam tells me I should just plan to walk the street and celebrate spontaneously with the locals. This is going to be crazy!

On the note of partying - this is a party promoting group that supposedly has the scoop on great music. They're called Pacotek.

Suicide Bomb Attempt in Riverdale

I hung out with two Israeli friends last night and one girl whose mom is American said she heard about a suicide bomber that was caught in Riverdale, New York.

According to the New York Police Department, 4 muslims plotted to blow up the Riverdale Jewish Center with a car bomb made of plastic explosives.

Here's the link to the wire story that was on Salon.com.

These men were American citizens.. all with criminal records so it's not right to stereotype who the crazy people are that plan things like this. Just highlights how complicated the situation really is. SCARY.

Hey Jerry, nice pants ...thanks, I got them at the Comfort Zone

This is post is about organic farming. It is NOT easy. So far the work I've been doing here on the small family farm outside Netanya has been incredibly rewarding and, at times- like now, crippling!

I've planted fields of strawberries (take that tourists that come to Israel to plant a single tree!), cut zucchini, stomped out weeds, picked celery and beets, grabbed grapefruits and lemons from their branches, cleaned cabbage and picked strawberries till my thighs were as sore as if I'd had 50 Bikrham lessons in a day.

This is my problem right now..i'm walking at such a slow pace it's like i have hemroids (*i've never had hemroids I don't actually know what that would feel like but i'm trying to be colorful here)

So again, I mention that I love to see the farm to table process. On Thursday night me and the two thai workers picked strawberries until 10pm. Then we packaged and labeled them here for Friday morning. Fridays in Israel are like Saturday's in the States. People generally have off and in Tel Aviv everyone heads to the beach to swim. I went with Amir at 6am to drop off nuts, grapefruits and the berries we spent half the night packaging at the greenmarket by the old port.

For those of you used to Madison's Farmer's Market or the Divisidero St. market in San Francisco- this puts all of that to shame. There's wine tasting and samples of everything from Macadamia nuts to marzipan and the cheese - oh my the fresh cheese! Y U M.

So I saw very clearly how the food I picked will end up on the Shabbat tables of locals. Today I saw the bigger picture. A delievery truck from a larger organic grocery store stopped by the farm to pick up larger quantities of the cabbage I cleaned, oranges, strawberries and lettuce

***p.s. This delivery truck was driven by the hottest most yummy man i've ever seen in my life. I actually swooned. There I was dirty and sweaty and probably never looking worse but I smiled and took off my farmer's hat, wiped the layers of dirt off my face and said "shalom" - he completely ignored me. He was tall and thin with meditteranean eyes and a close shaved head of brown hair with a musical note tattoo on one arm and many more elsewhere. He'll be back next Sunday. Let the fantasies begin..

But so the point is this is not easy work. It's been three days and my legs still hurt but they're getting better. There's really nothing in the world like tasting quality organic products not made with pesticides like the tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers and grapefruits I eat all day.

As for fish, chicken and beef I've still got a lot to learn. Amir showed me a product he gives his fish once a week that are eggs you put in boiling water. It comes from Salt Lake City Utah and he said it is so expensive because think of how many hands it had to cross before he found it here in Israel.

But Amir said he's had the highest number of applications for people to come work here ever.
And apparently the New York Times have noticed too. Here is a link Kfir sent me from an article from Sunday's paper about college students interning on organic farms in the states.

Happy reading this ridiculously long email. Hope you're bored at work!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Is that you Joni Mitchell??

Asaf Avidan is an Israeli singer voted by Rolling Stone magazine as the next big thing. He plays with a band call the "mojos," has a mohawk and his voice sounds exactly like Joni Mitchell. Check it. He's on tour in Europe through the summer but i'll be on the look out for some NYC dates. I'm sure they're coming...

Shabbat Shalom

So on a more positive note, a majority of israel citizens and the country in general considers itself to be secular but that doesn't mean shabbat isn't an amazing day of rest celebrated by families across the land. In tel aviv today i was invited to shabbat lunch at Noam's house in Herzilya. Her father BBQ'd, her mom made onion quiche, grilled veggies, an amazing salad and great spiced sweet and regular potatoes.

Shabbat goes from Friday early in the day to Saturday evening. That means people in tel aviv head to the beach, the outdoor greenmarket or the bar. Shabbat on Saturday is a combination of a Spanish siesta and New York City Sunday Brunch. Families and friends gather around 1:30pm to eat for hours, drink, rest and laugh. We didn't say a single prayer but at this gathering there were women from London and Israel and I was able to join representing New York. Then Sunday is a regular workday.

Suicide Bombers

Let's just cut to the chase, no sugar coating Israel's complicated history of "martyrs." Noam, my friend from Herzilya who was a soldier that came on my birthright trip, told me some stories today that i will repeat here below... it's an eye opening, contemplative view of what it means to be a jew in this world and especially to be Israeli.

Noam is in her early 20's now. She tells me this story about when she was in 8th grade and she knew a girl in the 9th grade. They both were eating at a shwarma/falafel place in herzilya. Noam wanted to stay but her friends wanted her to leave so she went with them. In the car on the way home she hears the radio that there was a suicide bomber in this restaurant in herzilya and she thinks - i saw that girl a few minutes ago and now she's dead.

Part two is the story of the Dolphinarium. This is a party spot located on the mediteranean in tel aviv. It used to be a place you could go and see dolphins but in 2001 it was a nightclub that was hit by a suicide bomber named Saeed Hotari. Twenty one teens were killed and 132 injured.

Today this is a spot covered in amazing murals and street art, it's a bar and concession area, and there's a musical outlet where you can rent instruments and have drum circles on friday night to kick off shabbat. i was here last night and it was one of my favorite experiences in israel so far. i didn't know the story of the suicide bomber. when my friend told me today i was shocked. if i was there in 2001 at 11:30pm on a Saturday night doing exactly what i was doing last night - i wouldn't be here today.

the israeli girls i spent the day with tell me after a bombing the phone lines are jammed. families are calling each other across Israel, to the states - just wanting to hear a hello and know a random bomb hasn't murdered their friends and relatives.

When i get back to the farm in Netanya I ask Amir's wife Tsrit about suicide bombers. She says up to about 2 years ago they were still happening a lot. She sites three cases in Netanya and the surround area alone - one at a bus stop filled with soldiers and others just buses on the roads. She says as a parent in Israel you don't go to the mall or crowded places with a lot of people. she tells me when she goes to the mall she thinks more than twice should i bring my children or leave them at home. basically - better me than them, just in case.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

You could be a farmer in those clothes

The schedule here at the organic farm is as follows. For my first official day wake up time was 6am. For my first task- feed the fish.. I underestimated the strength it would take to pull a time released pulley in a box and almost fell into a stinky tank. Luckily, for me and the fish, I caught myself in time.

Then it was off to clip zucchini off their vines and pick and package strawberries. I had some of these berries with my lunch and they were incredible.

Planting a new plot of the fruit came next. We spent about two hours planting strawberries and I learned to bury the roots from the sides and in a round gulf so that the dripping water can circulate.

Lunch was schnitzel on a challah roll with fresh, super fresh tomatoes and onions and babaganoush. I also had some pecans that were amazing. Everything here is organic and brought in from 150 feet away.

I thought I had the good life and misunderstood when Amir, my boss, told me I was finished for the day. I was about to ask him to translate the newspaper headlines of the day for me when two minutes later he told me to run and catch up with the thai gentlemen he employs. We spent the next few hours in the very hot sun picking grapefruits. I underestimated the romanticism of this task but when I sat for a break I ate some of the fruit and it brought a smile back to my face. Again, best grapefruit ever!

I like seeing the farm to table aspect here and appreciate the hard work that goes into this profession and way of life. And I'm eating like a queen.

Iraq, Iran, I'm Terrified

The prime minister of Israel is currently in the United States speaking with Barak Obama about both the situation in Iran and the Palestinian territories. The head of the Israeli state- Netanyahu is decisively right wing. This means he doesn't give up land and is considering a pre-emptive strike on Israel's scariest enemy right now - Iran.

Barak Obama has his (our, my) army fighting a war in two places on the globe and does not support Israel's invasion of Iran. Israel doesn't want to go it alone and start a war that will drag in the rest of the middle east but according to Neil Lazarus, a wonderful speaker who gave a speech to my birthright group about the current situation in Israel..and my tour guide Chen who at one point served for the most elite secret forces of the Israeli army for over 14 years.... this is going to happen whether the United States says they're in or not.

According to Lazarus, the problem for the United States is the Straits of Hamooz (this may be spelt wrong). This is a waterway that has 30 - 40 percent of the world's oil passing through it. It borders Oman, Iran and Saudi Arabia. If Israel starts a third world war by invading Iran the United States would probably have to join eventually to protect and keep this piece of geography.

Please post comments about what the media is saying about Netanyahu's visit to America. In Israel it's the front page of the newspaper every day but I can't understand what they're saying about it. The last I had translated for me was "They Agree to Disagree"

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Israel - The first post

I've been in Eretz Yisrael for eleven days now and I\ve already traversed most of the northern half of the country, swam in the dead sea, rafted on the Jordan River (with its one timid rapid)slipped a note of peace into the cracks of the western wall, haggled for figs at the market in Jerusalem, salsa danced on the beach in Tel Aviv and today picked lemons on an organic farm outside Netanya.

I've been journaling in my notebook, created a facebook travel group and have taken so many photos and videos I'm sure I'll be here all night uploading but I'll try and be as insightful as possible here. Stay tuned for cultural revelations as the months trickle on.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Take me to the River

This from BrooklynVegan:

With the Hudson River and the setting sun as the backdrop of its Pier 54 stage (at 14th Street), RiverRocks kicks off its three-date series Thursday, July 9 featuring Brooklyn's Matt & Kim with the Chicago-based electronic team Flosstradamus opening the evening....
RiverRocks is Hudson River Park's signature concert series staged on the Pier 54 waterfront adjacent to New York City's Meatpacking District (at 14th Street). Gates open at 6 p.m. for all RiverRocks shows, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Greenpoint Graff

Oh my Sashe Frere Jones- you are just sooo fing cool. This is from his New Yorker blog...

Alphabeta is a gallery and store in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Apparently Jones was there a few weeks ago for a book release party called "Graffiti Kings" by Jack Stewart. 

I'm so totally obsessed with this spot. There's a wall with 800 different spray cans. 

Very Observant

Thanks to Kfir for letting me know about the NYC newspaper "The Observer." He says they have great movie reviews but I'm forever a fan for this article - about a shaddy hipster ripping men off and telling them she has cancer.. which also made NY magazines' intelligencer list. Hurrah cross referencing. 

Life's a Beach..at Governors Island

According to brooklynvegan blog there's a new spot called the Beach at Governor's Island that will host shows this summer. God I love summer in NYC. Highline Ballroom is in charge of the first show- which is July 11 - featuring Dark Star Orchestra, Keller Williams, Pete Francis and Barefoot Truth. Learn more HERE.

Groovy

Alice told me about this web site Grooveshark where you can hear any song but tons and tons of artists for free. Kind of like Pandora. Alice also told me about Citizen Cope, mix of hip hop, folk and blues according to his bio on his web site.  I told her about Clipse. - which is Pharrel and the Neptunes (who DID NOT show up to their Coachella gig. Bastards.)

Beat Generation

George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison is compared to his father - his physicality, his playing, his looks...

Harrison juniors band Thenewno2's album You Are Here is worth checking out.  I, obviously, missed them on Saturday at Coachella. 

Put it in the blender

I found this in Blender magazine (while waiting anxiously for my train at Penn Station... FML)

In a quick piece about sampling and copy right infringement these guys were mentioned. They were only allowed to release their album as of last year. 

Take me to the river

NYC's River to River Festival line up still hasn't been announced either. Are these people really trying to make me angry?! It's May 1 already guys, get it together. I want free events outside in my life. 

Rock My Face Off

So this is a little bit late but my Coachella post is ready for the blogosphere. I'm far enough away from the binge now to talk about my amazing experiences.

My "my mind is blown" moments came from the art installations so I'll put that at the top since you won't want to read my tremendously long post. 

Pyrocardium- guys from SF brought this to Coachella. A spiral fire follows the patterns of your heart beat monitored from your finger by your pulse. WOW. COOL. 

The Quad Cubatron- I literally want to go to art school and make this my career or my really insane hobby. Basically this guy Mark Lottor programmed 30 minutes of 3D graphics in a matrix 10 ft off the ground that's 20X20ft. It's a cube that features 5760 computer controlled LED lights. Crazy. 

Friday I saw: Switch, People Under the Stairs, Los Campesinos, The Black Keys, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, Beirut, Girl Talk, Paul Mccartney, Bajofondo and the Crystal Method. 

Now that's a lot of great music. Some awesome moments came at Bajofondo. GT was a dance party as always and the Crystal Method was just one big rave in the Sahara tent.

Saturday got a bit hectic and I missed Ida Maria, Paolo Nutini, TV on the Radio, Blitzen Trapper, Tinairwen, Booker T, Junior Boys, Gang Gang Dance, Glasvegas, Fleet Foxes and the Killers... DAMN IT. What did I see you ask??

Some Thievery Corporation (I got bored easily and only saw the first few songs) The Bloody Beetroots killed it ..even though I had never heard of them before, M.I.A was bad live yet again, the Chemical Brother's DJ set rocked my pants off, caught a glimpse of Band of Horses which was pretty then hit the MSTKRFT show. That was tight but they play in NY all the time so I'm mad at myself for being so irresponsible to miss all the music I was aching to see. 

Sunday: I wasn't letting myself get away with anything today. I saw 12 hours of music.
Mexican Institute of Sound = conga lines in the desert!
Friendly Fires - Reminded me of the Talking Heads. Brilliant.
Busy P - WOW ...FUN
Okkervil River- Beautiful desert music
Peter Bjorn and John - Good but I think I like them inside smaller venues.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Yes, yes great live show.
Lykke Li- Chiller than I expected, awesome.
My Bloody Valentine - Just classic rock music here
The Kills- Saw the whole set, great performers 
Public Enemy - These guys are still kicking. Flavor Flav is old as shit though.
The Orb - Way too chill "ambient" for my taste.
Groove Armada - WOOP! 
The Cure - Old oldies playing oldies but goodies
Etienne De Crecy- Yes the box, the box. He's a french electronic DJ with a cool box. Now stop taking ectasy for 5 minutes, geeze. 


Monday, April 27, 2009

CELEBRATION

Celebrate Brooklyn's line up for Prospect Park shows will be announced on May 4. Stay tuned.

Silverlake, CA

So I heard Silverlake, CA mentioned as a hipster enclave along with Williamsburg, BKLYN in the introduction to this "Hipsters in Space" episode on Current TV skit on my flight back from the Bay Area Monday. 

Then I realized, I've already posted about the Kogi Korean Taco trucks being in this area! Butin keeping with travel news... here's some other stuff to check out if you're cool enough to rock a mustache and neon t-shirt in the area...

1.  Famous modernist architect Richard Neutra's home on Silver Lake Boulevard
2. Buzzed about band Silversun Pickups

And here's an article about the burg from the LA Times.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

COOKIES and ICE CREAM

 If you're in LA hit up Diddy Riese in Westwood. This ice cream shop gives you the opportunity to pick any cookie you want and they'll make you an ice cream sandwich with the flavor of your choice for ONE DOLLAR. YUM recession proof snacks---- Now you just have to get to California. 

*** Thanks to Kelsey for this tip 

Thursday, April 2, 2009

I <3 you so I'll hit you in the face- Pt. 2

Newmindspace's Pillow Fight is this Saturday, April 4 at Wall Street at 3pm.

WHACK - the official after party - think PAJAMAS!!! - will be at 73 West St. at Greenpoint Ave. Although I'm kind of bummed this information was published in Time Out NY, I think they may change the location at the last minute. I'll be on the look out for that. 

Roller Derby

I'll be in California but if you want to strap on skates and show off fancy varsity sweaters - hit the Down and Derby party at Studio B on April 17.  Woop! 

Only $5 admission with RSVP at www.downandderby.org

Click here for more information. 

Classical Music for the Electronic Age

Ricardo Romaneiro is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil but he's been living in NY for 14 years. A graduate of Julliard, Romaneiro is working on a commission at Avery Fisher Hall to create a full score for orchestra and electronics. He's worked as part of the Wordless Music Series and creating an electronics version of "Rite of Spring" played at Le Poisson Rouge and Celebrate Brooklyn.

His performance at Lincoln Center will be on September 2. 

Here are links to some of his music, which is a combination of classical and electronica.


24h Berlin

Interactive multimedia event shows the people and city of Berlin for one 24 hour period. Eighty film crews shot hundreds of hours of video on Sept. 5 2008 and the project will air one year later on Sept. 5 2009. 

Can watch it here : www.theauteurs.com 

For additional footage visit: www.24hberlin.tv

www.twitter.com/24hBerlin 

Look into movie Berlin: Symphony of the City 

Party in Berlin - A DREAM

This is the party section. The DJ's girlfriend recommended the following spots along with others I found interesting to hit while in Berlin:

Bar 25 - Summer after hours spot on the water. Many scenes in "Berlin Calling" take place here and it looks AMAZING! People recommend the rope swing?!

Kiki Blofeld - not recommended to me but found this bar on a web site that also sounds great. 
Outdoor bar across from Bar 25 on Spree River. Relaxed, far less posh with different areas: sandy beach, outdoor dance area, restaurant and pool table. 

Panorama Bar - Many sites about Berlin mention this club as one of the best in the city if not all of Europe. It's open on Fridays and Saturdays at midnight but doesn't get going till around 5am. Doormen are supposedly strict and do not want to let tourists into their club. 

Maria am Ostbahnhof (MARIA)  - Also appears a bunch in Berlin Calling. You can see the big M in the background of a lot of the shots. SO FUN! 

Watergate - Reviewers note great views of the Spree River and floor to ceiling windows1

Other clubs noted elsewhere: Tresor, Sage Club, 90 Grad, Cafe Burger, Cafe Moskau, Club der polnischen Versager.


To get in touch w/ my source: simina.grigoria (u?) @live.com

Friday, March 27, 2009

My music videos

Click here for my You Tube channel with new videos from Naughty By Nature. 

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Kiss my glass

The Phillip Glass classical music festival for new composers called MATA kicks off at Le Poisson Rouge March 31. 

Dance dance revolution

Sashe Frere Jones says this is a new moment in dance music and these are the groups doing it best:

London's Fake Blood

Los Angeles duo Acid Girls

New York d.j.s - Nick Catchdubs, DJ Ayers, and Jubilee (they play Flashing Lights party at Studio B April 3.) 

X

Dia Center for the Arts in West Chelsea ran from 1987- 2004 at West Twenty-second Street.
The avant-guarde museum has re-opened as X, a space holding weekly events with music, art, video and performance.

Word is to skip the elevator and take the stairs to see Dan Flavin's last light sculpture (on loan the Dia Art Foundation). It's a blue-and-green installation from 1996.

*** This info. from the New Yorker column by Andrea K. Scott

The web site is calling it Dia:Chelsea. Here's the link for more info. 

Korean Tacos

Kogi Taco Truck in LA twitters their location every night. People wait for up to two hours to get a kimchi taco. Now there are rumors it's coming to NY. Be on the look out...

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Velcomen, Berliners to NYC

Several events to celebrate the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the city of Berlin in general will happen next week in  NYC - most taking place at the New Museum on the Bowery.  

New Museum Shin digs for art, film and fashion will be held April 1 -3

Club Night however will happen at APT Club Thursday, April 2. MUST GO SEE THIS! Germans know how to get down. 

Studio Boratto

Gui Boratto will play the Fixed Party at Studio B this Friday Night March 27. $15 advance tickets available, 20 at door. 

Brooklyn Restaurant Week

Dine in Brooklyn - Running March 23 -  until April 2.  Two and three (and some cases 4_ course pre-fixe lunch and dinner. First year places are offering brunch too. 
Some great places to check out:

Farm On Adderley- Ditmas Park, New American  

River Room- DUMBO, Romantic 

Aurora - Williamsburg, Italian 

Hibino- Cobble Hill, Japanese

Hit www.visitbrooklyn.org for all participants 

Me Want Food

So I talk to a lot of people about restaurants when I'm out on shoots for my NY1 Zagat Segments. Here's an updated list of what's out there: 

Defonte's: Sandwiches: Try number 34 - the pork hero. 
261 Third Ave. at 21st St. 212-614-1500 

Braeburn: quail sausage, lemon tarts. 
117 Perry St., near Greenwich St. 212-255-0696

Tanoreen: Bay Ridge, voted Best of Cheap Eats by NY Mag. Apparently out of this world yummy middle eastern food. 
7704 3rd Ave., Brooklyn. Take R train to 77th and 4th. Walk to 3rd. 

DiFara's: Pizza in Midwood. Apparently people traveling from Philly bought 4 pies and ate them all. Older owner makes all of the pizza on his own so they're closed on Mondays and 
Tuesdays (This is all hear say!?) 
1424 Ave. J at E 15th St., Brooklyn, 11230 

Una Pizza Napoletana - Open Thursday - Sunday - 5:00pm until sold out. Only 4 options on the menu so they better be good. 
349 E. 12th St., Manhattan

Aurora: Supposedly the best Italian out there. 
70 Grand St. at Wythe Ave. 

Motorino: In Williamsburg, voted best pizza by blah blah and so and so 
319 Graham Ave. at Devoe St. 

Little Owl: Alumni chef from The Harrison and Pace. 
90 Bedford St. at Grove 

Perilla

Market Table

Bar at Moma

170 Thompson St. 

Cook Shop: Recommended for brunch to try Semolina Raisin French Toast. Same owners of Five Points and Hundred Acres. 
156 10th Ave. at 20th St. 

Five Points

Casa Mono

Hecho En Dumbo: @ The Dumbo General Store.  This one has been on my list for years. What can I say - I love DUMBO and I really enjoy Mexican food. 
111 Front St. between Adams and Washington 

Ed's Lobster Bar: Ooops he's in trouble for infringing on the intellectual property rights of Pearl's Oyster Bar but I'll add Ed to this list regardless. 

Orchard

Ino'teca

Pearl's Oyster Bar: Man I met today eats here at least 4 times a week 


Baby Bo's Cantina: Mexican Food 
627 2nd Ave.  nr 34th St. 

The Grocery: Carroll Gardens restaurant for New American eats (with the obvious Brooklyn organic, local etc. etc. etc)

  

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Breaking Bad

Sunday Nights: AMC at 10pm
Amazing television. Am I watching actors or am I really in New Mexico in this winnibego meth lab? Bryan Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle took home an emmy for his performance in season 1 and season two just started  a few weeks ago. WOW. Why are you not watching?! Go here to experience this feat of acting prowess. 

Go Go Music

The Bay Area has hyphy music. DC has go go. 

Go go is a mix of African derived rhythms, loud brass and bass drums, audience call and response and sometimes a swing beat. 

Chuck Brown is called the "Godfather of Go Go." He's now in his sixties, but this African American jazz guitarist and singer still performs in D.C. to this day. 

Music to Listen to:
The Junk Yard Band: Single "The Word" 
Rare Essence 
Chi-Lites - "Are you my woman?" 
Rich Harrison - Produced "Crazy in Love," recommends Beyonce's 2006 Album "B'Day"  

The Scene:
Used to be popular at Club U - Corner of 14th and U St. NW but closed in 2005.
Now largely moved to the suburbs: Check out Prince George's County, MD
Check City Paper for shows

Jessica Takes the Nation's Capitol

This weekend I ventured to Washington D.C to celebrate a friend's birthday. Here's where I ate and what I saw: 

1. Took the Bolt Bus down there for $25 each way. Leaves from 33 and 7th (right next to Sbarro's) and dropped me off in downtown D.C. 

2. Got off the bus, headed to Chinatown for Dim Sum (Obviously, I love me some Dim Sum). Had delicious stuffed fried tofu at Szechuan Gallery at 617 H St. NW. Twenty percent off dim sum and a beer to start me sight seeing. 

3. Headed a few blocks south for some classic American history. First off I hit the National Botanical Gardens right next to the Capitol building. Then I was off the short distance to the National monument, National Sculpture Garden, Lincoln Memorial. The I went and said hello to B and M at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

4. Ali and I drankity drunk at the Black Rooster Pub at 19th St. HW between L and K 

5. Had yummy pizza at Red Rocks near Columbia Heights.

SATURDAY:

1. Sampled the famous Half Smoke Chili Dog (Bill Cosby's favorite) at historic venue Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street. Fell asleep against the mirror waiting and waiting for my delicious meal. 

2. After a brief nap, headed to dinner :) Went to Vegetate by Howard University.

3. A wonderful evening of dancing and wigs at Wonderland Ballroom. 

SUNDAY:

1. A HUGE lunch that reminded me of Grandma Birdie's Chicken in the East Village at D.C soul food institution Oohh's and Aahhs. Had some amazing baked chicken, mac and cheese and iced tea. Cornbread, salmon, green beans, lemon cake - what didn't I get? 

Next time I'm in DC I will: 

1. Hit the National Art Museum

2. Visit Du Pont Circle and 

A. Cue Bar: 1115  U St. NW
B. 9:30 Club
C. Fight Club Punk Scene: 10th NW between L and M
D. DC Blues Festival: www.dcblues.org - Sept. 
E. Adams Morgan Festival: www.adamsmorganday.org - Sept.
F. See Rock Creek Park 

Hit up Shenendoah National Park, get some white water rapids in and camping in West Virginia.