Looking For a Gentler ‘Mr. Wheeler’

Three hundred eight five (385) people died in car accidents in Israel during 2011. That’s more than a person a day.  According to Israeli police, the key causes for accidents are: running a red light, unsafe passing, ignoring right of way, not maintaining safety distance, speeding, and disregarding pedestrians. We can’t blame the state of the roads, or the vehicles condition, or the density of cars. There’s one key factor to blame – drivers’ behavior.

When Do I (re)Earn the Right to Criticize?

Israelis love to criticize. It seems to be the national past time. In California people discuss Sunday’s Football game, their last or upcoming vacation, their jobs or the weather. In Israel people discuss politics, argue - and criticize. I know I am making generalizations, but like any generalization, there’s some truth to it…

You Can’t Find Movies Like That In California

Hollywood is the capital of movies, no doubt. Over the past century California led the “fantasy industry” that fed the dreams of millions. But with success came challenges… You cannot attract millions of viewers to a newly released movie unless you aim for common denominators (note: I didn't say the lowest common denominators...).  The pursuit of large audiences and big revenues led Hollywood down the path of tried and proven plots, such as “hero trumps villain”, “boy meets girl”, etc.  No wonder that “special effects” became a huge factor in Hollywood movies. If the stories are the same, then ‘presentation’ is even more important than content.

I have a feeling we’re not in California anymore

It has been a while since I’ve written my last blog entry. Much has  happened since – major social protest, Doctors strike,  and Gilad Shalit returned from captivity -  just to name a few.  But my “real excuse” for not writing was our month long trip to the US. We left in mid August and returned in mid September. It was quite the trip. We spent a couple of weeks in the San Francisco area, and a couple of weeks in New York. In between we squeezed in short trips to Santa Fe, New Mexico and to Chicago.

Temperatures ‘Higher than Normal’ for Season

There is a phrase I’ve learned to dread during evening news, namely “the temperatures will be higher than normal for the season”. July and August are the hottest months in Israel (see chart). With an average temperature of 32⁰C (90⁰F) and 70% humidity, anything “above normal” spells trouble.

Recycling "R" Us

When we first came to California, we realized that handling garbage isn’t as simple as it seems. Back home, in Israel, garbage was simply garbage. You stuffed everything you wanted to throw away into one container, and off it went…  In California we encountered ‘recycling’ and throwing garbage became an acquired skill.

The Great Cottage Cheese Revolt

In Egypt, Facebook was used to pull thousands of people into Cairo’s Tahrir Square and rise against a corrupt regime.  In Syria Facebook is used to drive thousands of demonstrators to rise against dictatorship while braving military brutality. In Israel Facebook is used to protest against the price of Cottage cheese.