State of the Blog

There have been complaints, though no names will be named. My blog is too political. First, fuck you (you know who you are) and, two, I'm caving in.

Fairies, butterflies, first kisses, walks on the beach, and midgets. Alright, enough of that happy bullshit.

My first article appeared in New Voices about video artists in Israel called Digital Dada. I'm working on the second piece about the Gaza disengagement plan. To add some color I'm approaching the subject from a hip hop angle. As part of my research I headed to Jerusalem this past Thursday. In the afternoon I headed off to the weekly freestyle gathering at Zion Square. That evening it was then off to the Old Jeruz Cipher at this great counter-culture club scene called Dalia. Rhymes were produced in English, Russian, Arabic and Hebrew. I enjoyed myself, as did the hundreds other folk assembled. In part, I enjoyed myself because I had a Taybeh beer.

Taybeh beer is delicious. According to the label "Taybeh (tai-beh) in Arabic means delicious." This is hardly a coincidence. I went to the brewery a few weeks back. It's just past Ramallah and supposedly I'm insane for having gone. But I'm an alcoholic - so back off jack ass, I'm just feeding the habit. Anyway, it's cheapest to buy at the brewery. As a Jew I'm left with few options. I went with a non-Jewish friend, though he's a Christian. Normally I would only hang out with Jewish people but none of them would come to the territories with me. Fucking leftists won't set foot over the green line out of fear - unless they're in uniform. So the Jewish representation that day included hundreds of thousands of occupiers and one lonely booz hound with his Jesus loving friend.

Prior to the event at Dalia I headed, with a friend, to the Diwan. This superb Jerusalem dive usually has Taybeh on tap. This particular evening it was unavailable, much to my chagrin. Apparently Taybeh brew master and co-owner Nadim wasn't just blowing smoke when he told us of the troubles of beer delivery under occupation [sorry, mutual coexistence]. Any hoo, I got that Taybeh, a golden as opposed to the superior dark, at Dalia, treated by a former Ramah camper of mine with an enlarged liver.

The following Saturday night it was up to Haifa for the opening of an art exhibit at the city's fabled Museum of Art. Manal Mahamid, an artist I interviewed for the New Voices piece, had an installation. I was very impressed with her work. Video of children playing on Cairo's streets projected onto a structure reminiscent of a sports stadium with a portion fashioned to resemble a playground slide.

There really is so much beauty in the world, despite all which is not and regardless of how much time I spend fixated on it in my blog. Hollywood endings aside, I often find myself nearly floored with joy and pleasure in this country - be it witnessing the artistic creation of man or god. The world is endless in what it offers and I urge each and every one of my readers to seek out its beauty.