COOL VS. CRUEL ?

front cover

I have a small prayer book with prayers for every occasion and purpose. It has a fine genuine brown leather cover, which makes it very pleasant for me to keep it in my hands.

back cover

Leather is made from animal skin , and I'm not too happy with this fact (no, I'm not vegan/ vegetarian/ or from the animal protection organization;  just a human being who has compassion for animals). Even the argument that leather is only the by - product of the meat industry, and that skin is not wasted after the meat removal process, but recycled - doesn't make me feel better.

That said, leather is both luxurious and practical. In my opinion, nothing makes a person look more well- dressed and elegant  than a leather jacket or coat. Just look around, at people wearing a leather outfit, and you'll see my point.

High - quality leather accessories such as handbags and shoes, give the right finishing  touch to any outfit.
As for leather furniture,  it's beautiful and durable. Leather sofas and armchairs add style  and class to a  room.

Humans have been using leather in clothing for centuries and I suppose they'll continue to do so, more or less.

Cool vs. Cruel is a fashion competition encouraging design students to find alternatives to clothing material of animal origin (leather and especially fur). It's possible, it's being done, and yet, so far, nothing can really compete in quality, elegance, coolness with the original stuff. Let's face it, leather has a unique texture and a great feel about it.

In the Middle of the Face

The daughter of an acquaintance  of mine has recently undergone nose cosmetic surgery. I feel sad about it and its result. I'm afraid she feels sad too, but it's rather too late.

I'm not against cosmetic surgery; it can sometimes greatly improve appearance and enhance self-confidence. (after all, not everyone is Barbara Streisand for whom the nose is her trademark and it even adds a certain charm to her face).  I'm against it only when it doesn't really need to be done, as in the above case.

The nose is located in the center of our face. In my humble opinion, it is the nose (it's shape and size) that determines the beauty or plainness of a face.

My much beloved mother (RIP) had an oval shaped face (which is considered the ideal shape), spectacular blue eyes, a light velvety skin, silky hair, a nice body figure - and yet she wouldn't have been considered a beauty according to standard parameters because of her nose. It was a bit hawkish.

In those days, when my Mom was a young woman, nose reshaping was not available and even if it were, there was no money for that kind of thing. Nowadays,  it's not only available, it's very popular -   in fact, too popular.

To come back to my acquaintance's daughter - all she wanted was to shorten her nose, she thought of it as too long. Well, but the correction of the tip of a nose is a most challenging aspect of nose surgery. It can improve or spoil  face profile and grace . The button-like nose she got after surgery, has indeed altered both.

I'm for being content with what we have , unless it really  affects our health and well-being.

SARONA

Historical place turned into a recreational spot. Nothing  wrong with that , especially that there's due respect given to history here. It's just the trend of things nowadays  that needs to be mentioned - every available space turns into a complex of food, recreation and real estate.

Sarona is such a complex. It's new and attractive, in the city of Tel Aviv, close to main roads, with lots of parking places. It used to be an army base, and long before that a  templar  colony. (The templars were pios german christians who established an agricultural settlement on the west bank of the Ayalon river in 1871. They were exiled to Germany and Australia in 1930 by the british forces who controlled the land at that time).

main street

Visitor's Center and Info Center in the background

The complex  (see the header - guide map to visitors-  to get an idea), comprises  an indoor food market (rather crowded and stuffy for my taste) placed under several residential towers - and a fairly big open space with  little streets named after army generals , an urban park with grass lawns and flower beds, spots for picnics, for public events, and of course, children's playgrounds.

residential towers

entrance to indoor market

indoor cake stand and vegetable stand

indoor bakery products

eating indoors

 There are of course, designer shops, art galleries, resto- bars and cafeterias - housed in the  templar homes scattered around the open area.

There's also a visitor's center , an information center,  an olive oil press, an underground cave built by the templars as a wine press,  a nice W.C. structure. (I haven't seen though any cool water facilities which in summer are a must).

book store "Tzomet Sefarim"

olive oil press

"Caffeneto"

childrens' playground

picnic spot

It was a bit cloudy outside when I visited  there, and yet things around looked bright and colorful.

What I liked mostly about the place was the music diffused through some small , flat round devices in certain areas of the park. You can sit on a bench and listen to original hebrew songs on various themes. As always, music takes things to a higher level.

resting and listening to music

see the round devices on the soil , difussing music

outside the cafeteria with flowers and music

Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite

The bombings, shootings and killings in Paris,  the City of Light, have shattered many people's belief in humanity, and  in the ideals of the French Revolution.

The french have a lot of thinking to do now. Years  of liberal policies (both on the internal and the external front) and incompetent politicians, have turned France into an easy target for terrorists.

As a journalist has recently put it:" You shouldn't try to understand or explain terrorism. You should just extirpate it". Indeed, a lot of time has been wasted on understanding and explaining - and now it seems things are completely out of control.

There's a sense of urgency in the atmosphere  but so far nothing serious has been done against Daesh, except air strikes, which are not very efficient. 

The members of Daesh, Al-Quaeda,and the like, don't seem to think much of life, so I wouldn't be surprised if they try to get hold of nuclear "toys" to make it even easier to destroy  life wherever and whenever they fancy.

Sad, very sad.    
May the souls of those innocent victims of the massacre in Paris rest in peace! May God strengthen their families and alleviate their pain!

The Syrian Saga

                                                         (web picture)

Syria is a small country which might, God forbid, become the cradle of a big disaster called World War 3.

Those who think, how noble on the part of Europe to open its gates to syrian refugees - think again. It would have been more noble if Europe had done something real to restore the order in Syria, and  thus prevent the flood of refugees which is bad for all parties: Europe feels 'invaded" by people of another religion and mentality, the syrian refugees , unrooted from their natural environment, are planted in places where they'll loose their identity and dignity, becoming second-hand citizens  for life.

Putin is trying now to do something about restoring that order. It's a bit late, but better late than never, as they say.  His chances to succeed , that's entirely another matter. He's not alone, the iranians are there too;  their main concern is to consolidate Assad's regime, and so, bring some kind of stability to the region where they also do have interests of their own.

It might work , if  the americans won't interfere. It is the americans who have started the whole  thing with the "arab spring' concept, and the naive demand for democracy to replace the heads of Mubarak, Khaddafi, Assad - the result being total chaos followed by the appearance in the area of the new, barbaric player called Daesh.

My guess is that Obama ,won't leave office in 2016 without  first bringing about an armed conflict with Russia , conflict which might eventually escalate into a world war. The clash has started with the sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine dispute, and is now going on with the russians' effort to save Assad which is not what the americans want.  I can only hope my guess turns out to be wrong. 

Anyway, as an  israeli, I don't trust any of the above (russians, americans, certainly not iranians)). We'll just have to wait and see how things evolve.