Archives for March, 2008
Kama Kesef helps the wedding-gift challenged in Israel
How much money should you give at a wedding? Um.. awkward. Probably a taboo subject, but not for Israelis! Kama Kesef is an online calculator that gives you an objective view of how much money to give at weddings or other occasions. It factors in how close of friends you are, time of year, where it’s being held, and other criteria. I don’t really see how the time of year plays a role. I guess halls are more expensive in different seasons, but I can’t imagine that it would affect how much someone gives as a present. But who am I to judge the almighty wedding present calculator?
I tried it out, making up the following info: a not so close friend, September wedding, held in a hall, and found out the appropriate amount to give would be 234 shekels. When I asked around, people told me the real going rate is 150-200 for young people. Who to trust…
The site is in Hebrew and only works in Internet Explorer (surprise surprise). I heard about it a few times, but thanks to a comment on a post in What War Zone, I finally got around to writing it up.
Here’s a screenshot from the Kama Kesef calculator:
3 websites to find out what’s going on in Jerusalem
Bored? Out of the loop? Hate when people ask questions when they can’t hear the answer? Here are 3 websites that should keep you filled in on the latest events, plays, festivals, comedy nights, and everything else that is happening in J-town.
1. 
- The Jerusalem Blueprint takes after the New York version - NYBluePrint, a Jewish newspaper focusing on events happening in the Jewish community. It is the most comprehensive listing of Jerusalem events that I’ve come across and severely underpublicized. The secret is out.
2. 
- Oh Janglo, where would I be today without you? The addictive Jerusalem message board has its own calendar for events happening all over Israel, not just Jerusalem.
3. 
- Go Jerusalem, which I covered earlier, is Nir Barkat’s baby, and is a good reference for events happening in Jerusalem and also features lists of bars, restaurants, and other touristy stuff. This is where I found out about the soup festival. As Danny pointed out in the comments, good call on the dome of the rock - subliminal messages, Nir?
Who said 3? I’ll find you.. I meant 5. So here’s a bonus:
4. 
Jerusalemite is the new kid in town and is still in Beta. It is a cultural guide to Jerusalem and so far it looks like a really fun and energetic site, making me want to run out and find new places to explore. It will take a lot of effort to keep it updated and fresh, but I for one will appreciate it.
5.
Jerusalem Municipality - If you can navigate your way through this site in English or Hebrew and find all the details about an event happening in Jerusalem, you get a big high five. I was hesitant about listing this site because I find it confusing and try to use it as little as possible. But, I gueeesss it’s the official site of Jerusalem, so I should really include it.
.
A New Girl Crush on a New Soul
There is this new song that Galgalatz is already starting to overplay on the radio. It is called “New Soul”, and it is bubbly and fun. After listening to it twice, you’ll get the melody and the lyrics stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Best of all, as I discovered yesterday, the singer, Yael Naim, is Israeli. Not only that, but her album has Hebrew songs on it! Did I mention she sings her own version of Britney Spear’s, “Toxic” on the album too? And, she recently won best album of the year in France (she was born in France and moved to Israel as a child). Do I smell another inappropriate girl crush?
Her music is awesome and getting praise, not to mention air time, all over the world. And because I don’t want to be the only one with an inappropriate girl crush, I have attached links below so you can have one too (unless you’re a boy and then it is just a crush).
LINKS! 
Listen to Yashanti at http://www.myspace.com/yaelnaim
Watch the video for New Soul at
Watch the video for her version of Britney Spear’s Toxic at
Check out Yael Naim’s website and make sure to read her bio at http://www.yaelweb.com/
Read about her Best New Album award at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3517130,00.html
Don’t you love when an Israeli is in the news and it is not about lies, the political situation or terrorism!
Shin Bet? No. Shin Blog!
The world of Israeli blogs just got a little weirder. Never mind that anyone who made aliyah has also made a blog (We just have so much to say about our journey…that and our painful visits to bureaucratic offices). But, now Shin Bet- Israel’s version of the FBI- is blogging too. Shin Bet? No, Shin Blog!
When my co-blogger (and skinny friend) Becca, sent me a link to Prime Minister Olmert’s blog, I thought, that’s creepy. I mean it is not like he is sitting at Café Hillel, drinking the cheapest coffee he could find on the menu, and typing a post about his tough day on the job. In fact, it is more believable that the government probably hired a professional writer, who sits at Café Hillel, drinking the cheapest coffee on the menu, writing posts about Olmert’s tough day on the job.
But, forget Olmert and his lame attempt to be one of the cool kids (everyone cool has a blog- duh), now Shin Bet is trying to get in on the trend. While the organization says it is using the blog as a merger attempt to recruit techies, this blogger can’t help but wonder, “what the hell is going on?” Continue »
The 74? That seems logical
When it’s all color coded and has diamonds behind it, I could almost get excited about the new Egged bus lines. New bus lines? Well, Jerusalem has been planning a light rail for many years now, but only now are they actually dealing with the traffic nightmares it could possibly cause. It’s not that I’m disrespecting their efforts, I can’t wait to get from one end of Herzl street to the other, it’s just that I get a little confused when I see the 74 bus stop show up. Sorry to readers not living in Jerusalem, this may not be all that riveting…
Here’s what I find funny. The 14 bus has turned into the 21(more or less) and the 21 turned into the 74 (more or less)… so the real question is… why not keep the original bus numbers and just have a slight change of route!
Brian from This Normal Life quotes the Jerusalem Post article which really demonstrates the lack of communication among the city’s transportation units.
7 months of funny search terms
Some people check their blog stats for duration of visit, referring sites, or most popular content. I prefer to check mine for search terms of how people findthe big felafel. Some are the usual like “misrad hapnim Jerusalem” or “book stores Jerusalem” but some are pretty hilarious and fall into the following categories.
Seeking Philosophical answers – I really wonder if anybody can ever explain these wonders of the world
- Is ahmadedejad evil
- Assigned seats in movie theater
- Are there 50 or 52 states
- Are there movie theaters in Israel
Religiouis – oh Jews… always looking to make fun of themselves
- Shemittah jokes
- yom kippur funny
Weird – um…
- And a pile of bandaids, thank you
- Make friends with salad
- Poo fight faceback
Random – things I would never, ever, ever think of looking up… but maybe now I will…
- Tushy police
- How to dump your facebook friends
- My tushy is too large
- 3 things that happened during the invention chocolate
Vague – Even if these people found the answers they were looking for, I still don’t think they’d be happy with the answer. I recommend these people use Google’s advanced search feature.
- Make falafel game
- Why do you know that they are boys
- Location or place where the book sells
- How big is a parking spot
- The cost of stuff in Israel
- How much do groceries cost in Israel
- calories in falafel
- How many shekels is food in Israel
- how much do things cost in israeli shekels
Cut the crap - give me the low down
- How much is a falafel in Israel
- Price of chicken in Israel
- how do people make a living in israel
Mad Libs For Peace
I think that anyone who starts an initiative for peace in the middle east probably has good intentions… maybe a little naïve, but a good heart none the less. Although a noble cause, many times these groups for peace use a formula that amounts to no more than: noun + for peace = organization name. I’ve compiled a list of the groups that have most amused me most from ukuleles (I just learned how to spell that) to sex.
We had written about Salsa for Peace, only to learn that there are tons more creative ideas to bring peace for the middle east. Recently in Janglo, I noticed none other than Ukuleles for Peace(upcoming concert) and Drummers For Peace In the Middle East(looking for a drummer).
Other For Peace organization names that amused me:
- Standup for Peace
- Laugh for Peace
- Blues for Peace
- Sex for Peace - a picture of why the Middle East is in deep shit
- Carwash for peace
What will they think of next?
Don’t Listen to Beilin’s Broken Record
This is an Opinion Piece in response to Beilin’s Ynet Article, Don’t repeat mistake of 2000, on March 8, 2008.
Mr.Beilin it is hard to take you seriously when your advice seems to end with a punch line rather than a message. It is you, and your past that has brought the Israeli people to the current situation, and not, as you claimed, “The IDF’s harsh response to Palestinian violence in 2000.”
In your article, you had the audacity to ask that we do not “repeat mistakes” again. Your request is a joke because it is the mistakes we made during Oslo that we are now repeating. During the Oslo Accords our country was made to believe that shootings were not “real terrorist attacks.” Shootings became like roadblocks; somehow it was believed that we needed them in order to obtain peace. According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the signing of the Declaration of Principles between Israel and the PLO (the Oslo Accords) on September 13, 1993, until September 2000, 256 civilians and soldiers were killed in terrorist attacks in Israel.
The quiet that you spoke of in 2007, was nothing more than a waiting period until the next uprising, war, or whatever term fits the crime. It was not as though in 2007, Fatah, Hamas and other terrorist groups thought to themselves, “You know the Jews aren’t that bad. This living side-by-side thing seems like a great idea. Let’s give peace a chance.” In fact, it is embracing the quiet of 2007, rather than interpreting its silence that has brought the days of relentless rocket fire to the South, and the Yeshiva shooting to Jerusalem (not to mention the other terrorist attacks that have happened in the past few years). Continue »
Are Israeli mopeds made of legos? [photos]
I have started to take my camera with me everywhere so here is my first photo observation:
Israeli mopeds are made of legos
Netflix arrives Israeli style at DVD Yashir, plus 12 Movie mini-reviews
Slowly, but surely, Israel is catching up with the convenient services available in America like supermarket deliveries, second-hand marketplaces, and most recently, unlimited movie rentals through the mail with DVD Yashir.
In the notorious style of Hebrew websites, DVD Yashir sports the required scrolling text and flashing images, but at least it works in Firefox.
If you can get past the distractions and navigate your way through the site, you’ll learn that they sell and rent movies, and claim to be offering video rental in the “American style” with different fixed monthly rental plans. The cheapest plan costs 19 shekels for the first month and then 59 shekels for every month after that but doesn’t seem to include new releases. They let you keep a movie as long as you like and request new movies as often as you like, and like Netflix, it runs through the mail. But, let’s play this scenario out logistically in Israel. Just thinking about finding the nearest mailbox that would fit a dvd or attempting to go to the post office at a time when it’s open is starting to give me an anxiety attack.
While this service does seem to be promising, I’m a little skeptical of the reliability and convenience of the Israeli post office/mailbox thing and 59 shekels seems like quite a lot to shell out each month considering the dvd machine near my house is 16 shekels. So only if I rent more than 4 movies a month does it start to become worth it. I think I’ll stick to watching movies online for free.
Mini Movie Reviews
If you decide to try out the service, here are some mini movie reviews to give you some ideas of what to rent — or what not to rent. Continue »
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