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.

Land or Water

                                       (web picture)

I like to visit islands but I'm not sure if I would like to live on one of them. Islands are small and completely surrounded by water whereas I prefer land. Land gives one the feeling of more stability.

More stability does not necessarily mean more security. I live in a country which has the sea on one side and land on all its other sides, but this land is unfriendly, to say the least.  So, I feel like living on an island from the transport  point of view (to the outer world -by sea and air only), but it's worse than living on an island from other points of view: lack of peace - conflicts and wars with hostile neighboring countries.

Anyway, islands are being marketed to the tourist as little paradises. Many people with money buy a vacation house on the island of their choice. I  once met a nice german woman who possesed such a house on a greek island.  I sometimes found myself thinking about her and  and her property with worry, because of the anti-german sentiments in Greece of the last years as a result of austerity measures imposed on the latter by the EU. 
Now it sems the situation is quiet;  until...next time when Greece needs a  bailout.

Well, nothing is without some risk in this world.

Seeking Equality

                                                          (Web picture)


The other day I bumped into a beggar, not the usual type of beggar . It was a young woman holding in her left hand a plastic jar for coins, and in her right hand a ...smartphone for keeping her company during her sitting (on a chair) and waiting for the coins to come.

That made me think.
I know some families that are clients of the welfare authorities, and not only do they have smartphones but also cars, airconditioners, and other items that are not exactly considered basics.

The above reminded me of an article I once read.   According to that article the task of social welfare nowadays is not only to assure a minimum of living to everyone, but also to seek some sort of equality .

Well, the world is certainly changing.  We live in a society of tremenduous gaps, and this is a very explosive situation that has to be dealt with one way or another . 

Moscow 10 - Old Arbat Street

The 'soul" of Moscow as they call it, is a long pedestrian street full of atmosphere. Easy to get there. At one end, the Arbatskaya metro station, at the other end, the Smolenskaya metro station. 

It has everything;   a bank, a cute post office, theaters, an automatic toilette which opens with a plastic card (obtained by inserting some coins in a slot), the headquarters of Aeroflot - the russian airlines .
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              W.C.- a cop showed me how to get the card that opens it.

                    front of the Vakhtangov State Academic theater

                                                         Post Office at a corner

The street is lined with souvenir shops and  eateries, sprinkled with street performers and art vendors. Amid all this - the house of Alexander Pushkin, the famous russian poet, where he lived for several months with his young wife Natalia.

Teremok - chain food specializing in russian crepes

Paintings for sale

                                        Pushkin's house museum

                      young bronze couple: Pushkin and his beloved

                                                         Pigeons'  vendor

                                         Tai chi demo by the girl in blue

I visited twice: on a cloudy day and on a bright day and enjoyed it on both visits. Perhaps it's not a "must see"  place, but still one that gives much insight into the russian way of life (past and present), and offers a pleasant stroll along an old and famous street.

Moskow 9 -- Moskva river boat tour

Moscow, the capital city of Russia, is situated on the banks of the river Moskva . A river trip or cruise is a great and...monotonous way to see the city center and its main attractions; no traffic, no smog, no pressure of any kind. It's cool and cozy inside the cabin;  you can buy a drink and enjoy the views .

inside the boat cabin

There are all kinds of boats circulating on the river, and several kinds of tours to choose from. I bought my tour ticket at the embankment near the Kievskaya metro/railway station ( a very impressive building in itself). It was a one way ticket to Novospassky bridge, and from there I walked up to Proletarskaya metro station.

The views on both sides of the river are captivating: the "Red October"chocolate factory (I fell for their milk bar 'Alenka'), Gorki Park (russian Disnyland),  the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow State University, the Tetryakov Gallery, Peter the Great monument, etc...

'Red October' chocolate factory

                              Tetryakov contemporary art Gallery

                                   Peter the Great monument (partially captured)

At the end of this leisurely water trip, I felt glad I gave myself the opportunity of seeing  Moscow from another angle.

Moscow 8 - GUM and ZUM

It may sound strange, but the above words are the names of two very respectable department stores in the very heart of Moscow: Gum (pronounced Goom) located along the Red Square, and Zoom (pronounced Tsoom) next to the Bolshoi Theater.

GUM is actually a shopping mall, and a very expensive one. 
I think there's something wrong in the location  of this extravagant mall in the historic center of Moscow, especially opposite Lenin's mausoleum.
Having said that, the place is well worth a visit as it is unique architecturally.

                          the red  color belongs to Lenin's mausoleum

It is not exactly an one - piece building like ZUM; it consists of a series of arcades on three levels connected by small bridges and covered with a glass roof. Inside, there are lots of designer shops with western brands. It definitely has class, and it fits the requirements of both the russian elite and the rich tourists.

                      the glass ceiling and the interconnecting bridges

On the ground floor there's a luxury supermarket (which sells among other goodies, finest vodka and black kaviar). For the people with a tight budget there are the ice cream stands which are very popular.( I must confess I didn't like the taste of the local ice cream sold there).

                         licking icecream always makes a good picture

On the third floor I got acquainted with an eatery called Solovaya 57. It's a sort of canteen where you can have a decent meal for a decent price. I had lunch there  twice, and fell in love with their pastry of cherry strudel and cherry pie.

                   people taking the escalator to the Solovaya 57 canteen

                                            Solovaya 57- inside and outside


ZUM is situated in the theater area (Bolshoi and Mali theaters). It is a high end department store with renowned brands in clothing, cosmetics, shoes, accessories, perfumeries. Those looking for real fur will find it here.Those who wish to relax with a cup of coffee will do so at the nice cafe on the fourth floor,

                          the facade of  ZUM department store

Across the store there are some shops, eateries and benches. People seem to enjoy sitting on those benches , and looking ahead at the entrance of ZUM, at people going in and out of the big store.

             in the background, the red sign of the back side of ZUM