"O Jerusalem"

Nat Geo, this is for you!

Sin, thy name is Chocolate!...

Why dont you all join me for this piece of Heaven? Take a flight to the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and a train to Beer Sheva... Wish you were here!

Revenge of the jellyfish

Shefayim, to thee I travel...

Kibbutz Shefayim is half an hour north of Tel Aviv... it is a kibbutz , home to a water park, a shopping mall (aah, liberalization and commerce!!), and a beach (referred to by my roommate R as "the most beautiful place in the world" - she would know, she is from Shefayim)!
Last week, the "most beautiful place in the world" also hosted the 2005 Annual Jellyfish Convention. As a result, anyone venturing into the water not only made sure that the "rip tide" didnt tear their swinsuits from their selves, they also kept an eye out for floating heads of membranous water a.k.a Jellyfish Supreme. The look of pure bliss on my face stems from the fact that I not only had a good time, but I also avoided the sweet faced monsters!!"
Talking about sweet faced, R is spending her summer taking care of the kids in the pre-school day care center at the Kibbutz, and everyday, the lovely mutt pictured below my hand makes her way to play with the pre-schoolers! The true test of whether a dog is suitable to be among children is to let loose 3-4 pre-schoolers on it... Rosa (lovely name, isnt it?) didnt move, bark, snarl, or jump on any of the kids... she sat their and took their punishment like an angel.... sweet!
I intend to revenge myself on the jellyfish... will figure out how sometime soon.... i have time...

"I live in the shadow of the valley of doubt..."

Three cool places I was "seen at" over the last three weeks.... topping the list is Jerusalem. I really loved the place, but the traffic situation sucks ... the photograph was taken while sitting at an outdoor cafe on the hillside, which also happened to be one of the places where the movies of the Jerusalem Film Festival were being screened... Yep! I was there!! :-)
Coming in from the desert, it was a nice change to see a beautiful city nestled in the hills. I walked around the Old City, took photographs with the 10,000 other tourists so I could fulfill my touristy obligations... the good time I had was at the Film Festival... could catch two wonderful movies... One was Yasmin and the other was called "the Double Life of Eva" ... lovely movies, both...
After spending a day, I reached the conclusion that I am not the sightseeing kind... even in the "holiest of the holy" cities of the world, I preferred to push up my legs and chill!! aah...
In all this, I missed the last bus from J'salem to Be'er Sheva and my good friend S was kind enough to drive me to Tel Aviv so I could catch the last bus from there ... this is one aspect of Israeli life that I find fascinating.... the country is so small that one can traverse from one end to the other in the time it takes me to go from Boston to New York!! It never ceases to amaze me ... the next time I come here, I am going to drive all around, endangering pedestrian life, in the tradition of Israeli drivers!!

The King and I

The King Lives!

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All puns in this, and other, post(s) are intentional. If you find that they trigger involuntary laughter, you are advised to visit this post aften
Yet-another-good-friend-who-will-not-be-named-in-the-interests-of-privacy suggested that I put this fotooo online.
I call this story - "A Fall from Graceland". At the risk of Rodin turning cartwheels in his grave, I will sub-title it "The Alternative Thinking Man" (Thank you, my-friend-who-I-have-not-named)
There was once a famous King, holding center stage in a busy shopping area in one corner of a southern city in one corner of the middle eastern part of the world. The King impressed all who passed by, with his wisdom and impeccable potty manners! He crooning voice resulted in an epidemic where people experienced wobbly knees and had to sit down. The people who could stand His Benevolence were lauded for their resolve, in the face of art murder. Other less resolute just avoided travelling on that route.
One day, there came a tumultous uprising. The people of the Republic voted to consign the King and his Greatness to a discrete invisible corner of the same busy shopping area in one corner of a southern city in one corner of the middle eastern part of the world. His supporters protested, but to no avail. The King had lost his Seat! Driven to a life of negelct and inconsiderate birds, the King was glad that atleast some of his supoprters were flush with loyalty to keep him clean.
While wandering through the urban jungle of this busy shopping area in one corner of a southern city in one corner of the middle eastern part of the world, I parted some the overhanging branches and voil`a, the King was revealed for what he was - The Pot at the end of the rainbow! I wasted not a moment, and here lies recorded, 'my page of History'. Dr Dents, I presume!

Disclaimer: The body in front of the King belongs to me and solely me. I claim no copyrights to the "King", who is the property of a Ceramics company in this southern city in one corner of the middle eastern part of the world
If the foliage obstructs your view, you are informed that the "sculpture" is of a man, crown on the head, jeans bundled aroung his ankles, seated on an unseen object, reading.... "Infer what Ye will"