Sunday, February 10, 2019
Untitled
A well-known israeli author and literary critic, Amalia Kahana -Carmon, died recently at the age of 93. In her stories, she focused on the plight of women in a male dominant society.
It appears the family (three surviving children: a daughter who lives in the UK, and two sons) hasn't issued any announcement, and the news of her death reached the public indirectly, some time after her private funeral. I've even read somewhere that they won't participate in public ceremonies in her memory. If that's true, it sounds a bit far fetched.
Perhaps, it's too early to know the reason for the family's decision to go entirely private. As far as I know, Amalia Carmon was honored with all the literary prizes and awards possible. So, no ground for frustration in this respect.
Shortly before her death, another israeli famous writer, Amos Oz, left us (RIP). The latter(aged 79), was an internationally acclaimed writer and a man of great charisma. . His death opened an "orgy" (in the ancient sense) of events in his memory, and perhaps that scarred a little the Carmon family. There are people for whom privacy is above all public interest.
And who knows, may be, it was Amalia Kahana- Carmon's explicit wish to have a private funeral and no memorial ceremonies, and that, of course, has to be respected. We shall probably hear something about it later, or....not .
May her soul rest in peace!
Saturday, February 2, 2019
YAMA
'YAMA' stands for :Yaakov Agam Museum of Art.
I visited there two days ago,on Thursday, and experienced a unique sort of viewing art. It was trying to see "beyond the visible", to see "the hidden" and the 'constant change' in any of the exhibits which were 'art' movable and transformable. This was made possible by looking at the exhibit from each side, coming closer to it, or going a bit away from it. That was quite fascinating, and I was deeply impressed !!
Yaakov Agam, 90 year old, internationally known as the father of kinetic art movement, painter and sculptor, was born and raised in a very religious family,the Gebstein family, located in the israeli town of Rishon Lezion.
Agam's portrait , white beard and hat, welcomes the visitors
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His works are displayed in famous museums such as Gugenheim in New -York, Pompidou Center in Paris, and many other museums and art venues. His environmental works adorn public spaces in major metropolitan areas of the world. In Israel, he's mostly known to the local public, through his iconic fountain in Dizengoff Square of Tel Aviv, "fire and water"(see my two posts on that : feb.4, 2011 and march 12, 2016), and the facade of Dan Hotel near the beach of Tel Aviv..
mini hotel Dan facade (on the wall) and some of his tower works
The little museum in Rishon Lezion, dedicated to Agam's work, was opened in 2017- so it's actually a new place.
name of museum in hebrew, english, arabic (tiny letters)
blue sign indicating the entrance to the museum
Both inside and outside the building there are kinetic columns of great beauty and color ( tin +acrilic ) in memory of his late wife Clila, and named after her "the pillars of Clila" (20 pillars outside, near the entrance, and 9 pillars inside the building).
Me, and the pillars outside
The various exhibits (paintings, objects, sound works, interractive digital works), are displayed on the two levels of the building: the ground level and the upper one (reached either on foot, or by a cute, little lift). The museum also has activity rooms/halls for both children and adults.
curved ground floor and upper floor
visitors listening to museum's guide explanation
contemplating exhibits
visitor trying to capture an exhibit called 'waves'
corner for sitting and watching screen running constant kinetic motions
pillars inside the gallery
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Sale at the Interchange
The weather was wonderful! Warm and sunny. I could hardly stay indoors on such a beautiful day. On approaching Ikea, I felt caressed by a very gentle breeze coming from the sea. (The latter is not too close; good thing, as it's winter and easy to catch a nasty cold from the encounter with the Mediterranean).
Before entering the store, I like to take the time and contemplate the palm trees and the flags. I do so from under an adorable, slightly distant tree overlooking the Ikea complex.
tree overlooking Ikea complex
'Poleg' is a major central interchange leading north, and Ikea store is adjacent to it. Every year the area gets some new comercial companies added , becoming crowded, and somehow unesthetical. According to economic articles, Ikea, with its beautiful blue/yellow colored complex is considered key factor in the development of the vast industrial-commerce area by the Poleg interchange. It certainly attracts a lot of customers.There are some well-known firms (Ace, Office Depot, Auto Depot..) and less known firms and shops here, as well as bank,supermarket, and institutions.
I was rather surprised to see also the one and only popular "dollar store" Max, in a huge building ( huge, certainly compared to its branches in the city).
column with part of the business' names on it
Max "dollar store"
Acostel, Optical center, H&O, Fox, WeShoes, Superfarm, Supermarket
red Sale posters at Ikea
Sale posters at a fashion store
I didn't come home empty-handed though; bought some trivial, things like a door entrance mat, some glass / metal candle holders, AA alkaline batteries, and a few other small items.
Inside the store - a festival of consumerism.; no other phrase would describe that better. And, of course, no one dares leave the place without sampling some swedish meat balls, soup in a bread bowl, salmon delicacies, and other swedish specialties at the store's cafe-restaurant section.
When I leave Ikea, I take another look at the palm trees and flags, but this time from across the Exit direction.
Labels:
Ikea,
Mediterranean,
Netanya,
palm trees,
Poleg interchange,
sale
Monday, January 14, 2019
'Silver' which is 'Gold'
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There's a brand called Silver Line that makes me happy due to its cheap prices and good products. It all started with my buying their computer periferials, especially, keyboard and mouse, for my desk computer. The product could last forever, if you don't happen to spill some liquid over it. And if that, God forbid, happens, I always have a spare one. Then, I spotted Silver Line nirosta pots (nirosta - a specific type of stainless steel alloy) - light and easy to clean.
Pots and pans are a different matter; I don't want them 'to last', as their bottom gets toxic after a lot of heating - and that, regardless of their brand, quality and price.
(I once overheard a doctor saying that women tend to ignore the danger of applying hair dyes, wearing a bra, and... cooking in pots).
It seems Silver Line has a hand in almost any Home category, and its products are sold almost everywhere in my country; at big chains like Home Depot and Ace, at discount stores, and in small shops.
At first, I thought a chinese company was behind the Silver Line products. Lately, I found out that an israeli company called Benda was boasting of being the "mother" of the Silver Line brand.
The truth is, in today's global world, one can never be completely sure of the origin of a brand or the company manufacturing/selling/importing it - and, frankly, I don't care, as long as the product meets my requirements of price and quality. If there's a problem with it, I'll just return it to the store.
* web picture
Labels:
deskcomputer,
keyboard,
liquid,
mouse,
nirosta pots,
periferials,
Silver Line,
spares
Saturday, January 5, 2019
The ' Faceless' Conductor and the 'Oldie' Singer
On a lazy day, I like to stay for a while in my pajamas, near a bowl of popcorn and/or a bowl of fruit salad, and enjoy some musical performances available on Youtube. Here's a selection:
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One of my favorites is Rondo Siciliano. This orchestra has all the right 'ingredients': a beautiful soprano singer, a charismatic violin player, a good choir, but... a somehow, faceless conductor.That is, we're seldom shown his face. Sometimes, like in the video below, we get a glimpse at his profile. He's mainly'n the dark, his back at the audience, tall and stiff, with only his hands moving. That's the basic, effortless technique in conducting, we're told.The Storm violin (Vivaldi)
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Unlike the above conductor, the 'chief' of another favorite orchestra (a much smaller one, a band , called Pink Martini),is omnipresent. He usually opens the show, closes it, jumps on his chair, moves every part of his body, especially the hands (he's the pianist) .Quite an attraction, I would say, although not as much an attraction as the lead singer, Storm Large. Oh, my, she's good, very good, and...sexy (see the tattoo on her nude back).
'Amado Mio' ('My beloved') with singer Storm Large
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The croatian cello player, Hauser,is too theatrical for my taste,regardless of whether he performs solo or in a duet. And yet, I keep watching him again and again (especially in Adagio). I suppose it's the combination of his acclaimed virtuosity and his obvious beauty that attracts me to his videos. The conductor, a woman for a change (short cut hair, masculine black outfit...), 'watches' carefully over him. Shall we call her Maestro or Maestra?Adagio (Albinoni)
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And last but not least, the famous american 'oldie but goodie' Cher. What a performer!! She completely dominates the scene with her voice and presence. She glides around with such easiness and elegance! ( no need for all the fuss around her, made by male and female flamenco dancers; they are all, however,very exciting, especially the one with the scandinavian looks, opening and leading the show!).Dov'e L'amore (Where's love) with Cher
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Labels:
band,
Cher,
Hauser,
lead singer,
orchestra,
Pink Martini,
Rondo Siciliano,
Storm Large,
virtuosity
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Good Things That Might Happen in 2019
The advantages of such a move are enormous: it would ease congested traffic and make the roads safer, improve ecology, and above all - improve people's health.
Cannabis is gradually getting legalized in various parts of the world. It's a positive direction, and it should include as many countries as possible. I'm in favor of legalization of this plant which is said to have the potential of easing the suffering of the sick (cancer/ parkinson patients and others). They say, it is not addictive like alcohol, and not harmful like smoking.
Egypt's president, El-Sisi, has recently launched a rhetorical 'attack' on the overweight in his country and told egyptians they should take better care of themselves. Opposition to his words is loud, invoking poverty, junk food, faulty health care, and the other usual slogans; but his clear voice on the matter is a start, a good one, even though he might do nothing practical about it.
It seems El-Sisi is the right guy in the right place who might bring about significant changes in his country (including the issues of obesity and the alarming birth rate), setting an example to the other countries in his continent.
Scientific researches of the last couple of years might give us, in 2019, a clue as to the workings of the human mind. It's quite a mystery when a person who has it all: career, family, money, love, - takes his own life (recent case in my country), and leaves family and all around him utterly devastated and grieving. We need some more insight into that super computer - the brain- to be able to prevent, perhaps, this kind of tragedy.
Happy 2019!
Labels:
birth rate,
brain,
cannabis,
Egypt,
El-Sisi,
legalization,
Luxemburg,
overweight
Thursday, December 20, 2018
The Bracelet and Yemeni safest place for Jewelery
The bracelet was bought many years ago in a little shop , on the edge of the city market. The shop owners, father and son, dealt mainly with jewelery bought from immigrants and inheritance. It was a popular shop, for one could buy there a real bargain and even get a blessing, style "you should never have to resell it".
The shop no longer exists.
There's only one more shop of that kind known to me; it's bigger, more expensive, and located in the heart of the city. The owners, two twin brothers, are skillful jewelery makers and... rather shrewd merchants. Part of the items acquired by them are not sold in their original form but undergo some slight transformation that enables the two brothers to demand a higher price.
Anyway, my bracelet, safely kept now, has some strange sort of fascination upon me. Hard to explain . There's something about it, something indefinable that appeals to me.Perhaps its simplicity of design, its light weight , its minimal chic as a fashion accessory or all these things together.
Speaking of safety, it's not unusual to see elderly women, especially of yemeni descent, wearing their jewelery (rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces - mostly silver made) on their body, almost all the time. They'll tell you and even argue with you that your body is... the safest place for it, not the hidden safe on the wall.
Labels:
bracelet,
fashion accessory,
immigrants,
inheritance,
safety,
twin brothers,
Yemeni
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Buy, Keep, Give away...
People buy things all the time, but before holidays, it becomes madness. The good news is that the urge to buy can be controlled just like the urge to overeat. People, however, seem more interested in controlling things they cannot control, like the weather, for instance.
Those who do not participate in the shopping race will say, 'Hey! what do you need all this stuff for; remember, you'll take nothing with you when you leave this world'. True, though it wasn't entirely so in antiquity, and that reminds me of the archeological museum in Heraklion (Crete greek island).
entrance to the Archeological Museum in Heraklion (2016)
miniature works of ivory, gold, semiprecious stones
figurines
daggers
jewelery
Over the years, following decluttering, many accumulated items will be discarded, donated, sold by the owners or their heirs ( the latter will usually concentrate first on what can be turned into some profit: house, art, jewelery).
Apropo heirs - Inheritance might cause them a lot of 'headache' about what to keep and what to give away or sell . Some inherit "overloaded" houses, others, houses with few possessions. In both cases they have doubts as to what to keep and what to dispose of.
I think perhaps parents can make it easy for them by leaving clear instructions or...clear houses.
A friend of mine whom I've always known as a dedicated daughter, discarded or sold after her mother's passing, even items that had sentimental value.
That was not like her at all and, I was rather surprised (she had also offered me some items). When I asked her why, she blamed it on pressure from what she called ,'her insensitive husband', who favored only space and money. I believed her, and yet, I was disappointed in her.
I thought it was not fair to the memory of her Mom (single mother, divorced after only five years of marriage) who worked hard to achieve all those things left behind .
Labels:
afterlife,
archeological museum,
Cretans,
heirs,
Heraklion,
inheritance,
possesions
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Longevity
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A few years later, I left town, and that was it; we completely lost touch.
In March of this year (the month is significant to the story), I happened to be in her neighborhood, and I noticed that their modest one level house had been replaced by an elegant 2-storey building. I stood near the gate for a while not knowing what to do with myself as I felt the need to talk to somebody. Luckily, a woman came out of the building. I approached her , introduced myself , told her that many years ago, I knew the owners of the place, and added that I would appreciate if she could give me some information.
She seemed reluctant to talk to me; however, she uttered three short but valuable sentences. She said : 'she had never met the old couple'; 'she believed they were not alive at the time of the house's sale'; 'her family bought the house from the grandchildren' .
I thanked her and went away.
Back home, I googled the city cemetery list to find out age and date of death. The wife, 85 years old, died in March 2011; the husband, 90, a month later. Well then, I said to myself: they had reached a respectable age... and was about to light candles in their memory.
Something was bothering me, though. The woman said her family had bought the house from the grandchildren; What about the two children, where were they? I decided to 'dig' things further. Browsing, I came upon a family tree, and....deep, uncontrollable, sadness overcame me. Both children were gone long before the parents: the daughter at 32, the son at 41. Instead of two candles, I lighted four.(We're celebrating Hannuka feast this week, and I'm lighting candles , so this has brought back to me the sad memory).
That's the horrific side of longevity; parents might get predeceased by one or more of their children. In our society, it happens quite often as life expectancy has increased during the last decades, but so has the number of accidents and diseases that kill the young ones. It has happened in my family too.
However, I know that in some cases, bereaved parents find no consolation in grandchildren; in other cases grandchildren find it hard to cope with this unnatural situation of parent(s) dead and grandparent(s) alive, and estrange themselves from the latter.
Tragic from any angle one looks at it. Life is certainly not all wine and roses.
* web picture
Labels:
cemetery list,
family tree,
Hannuka,
life expectancy,
longevity,
predeceased
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
A Voice in the Night
Middle of the night. I got awaken from my sleep by a woman's voice repeatedly calling (in hebrew): 'where are you' , 'where are you'.
It was creepy. I had no idea where exactly the voice came from: the street? the garden?the adjacent parking lot? it sounded like a voice coming from an alien world.
After a few minutes, it occured to me that, perhaps, the voice belonged to a woman with dementia or alzheimer who had escaped, unnoticed from the nearby assisted-living facility (which has also a memory care wing), and was looking for her personal carer. I decided to call the police in our area and ask them to urgently deal with the matter.
The police were quick. I looked out of the window and was relieved to see the blue flashing light of their car . After about 5 minutes the nagging voice stopped, and I went back to bed.
The next day I made enquiries. She was found sitting on the garden stone edge, behind a car. It appeared I was only partially right. The woman had indeed dementia, but she wasn't a resident of the assisted living facility. The police kept her for a while at the station until family phoned to report her missing. The incident was brought to the attention of the Social Services.
Well, I was glad that it all ended with no physical harm done to the poor woman.
*- web picture - logo of dementia campaign
Labels:
alzheimer,
assisted living facility,
carer,
dementia,
memory care,
Social Services
Monday, November 19, 2018
Stari Grad
The above area includes among other things, government buildings, pedestrian and shopping street Knez Mihailova (one kilometer long!), the cobbled bohemian street Skadarlija (once the gathering point of poets), the National Museum (under never ending renovation works) with the the equestrian statue of prince Mihailo Obrenovic' in front of it (famous meeting place for locals and tourists), galeries, fountains, parks, cultural institutions, hotels, you name it.
National Assembly of Serbia
Assembly of the city of Belgrade (Old royal Palace)
the Pioneers' park, path leading to the Old Palace
in the background - National Assembly of Serbia
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in the background - National Assembly of Serbia
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Knez Mihailova street
Knez Mihailova street is filled with people from sunrise to sunset. It is home to two(2) tourist information offices where one can get a good map of the city, the serbian Academy of Science, the GoetheInstitute, Zepter museum of contemporary art, and of course, shops and restaurants.
Delijska drinking fountain on Knez Mihailova
me, a bit tired, contemplating the human flow
publicity event on the Knez Mihailova street
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National Museum of Serbia
statue of prince Mihailo Obrenovic' on the horse
The statue of the equestrian prince- famous meeting point in the Republik square- has stairs at its basis. On top of them, a bronze base supporting the statue, covered with bas-reliefs depicting scenes from serbian history.
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The cobbled street Skadarlija, home to some famous restaurants and cafes, as well as a few art galleries, is known also as the bohemian quarter.
waiting for customers; rich little stand of souvenirs
statue of some notable bohemian fellow
pigeons like it here
statue resembling a tree trunk
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'Stari Grad' - two short words that have a nice ring, and 'cover' a lovely area of Belgrade.
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