Lingua Franca

A little something I saw minutes before boarding the flight out of Israel. Thought it was cute.
Some of the anouncements heard on EL AL (to be pronounced with a HEAVY Israeli accent):
"Please remain seating and fast your seat belt."
"We appreciate your corporation".

The Hat Brigade

Another New York - Tel Aviv flight with EL AL, and once again some singular experiences. Once again the percentage of "chasidim" on this flight was high, but this time it was the "hat-activity" which was phenomenal. Every three minutes they're checking out their hats, moving them from one overhead compartment to another, shifting luggage around to get them better positioned... It was BUSY to say the least. And having conducted my own informal poll, it would appear that the most popular movie among the חרדי community on this flight was the June and Johnny Cash biopic "Walk The Line". Not sure what it is about this movie, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that Johnny Cash always liked to wear black.

Blizzard of '06

There's no going anywhere today. This is what the front and back of the house look like at the moment. Pretty...but not very practical.

A last word about "Munich"... maybe

This little blurb appeared in yesterday's New York Times and does not require any commentary:

Israel Reacts to 'Munich'
After months of furor over its political message, the Steven Spielberg film "Munich" encountered something perhaps worse when it opened in Israel over the weekend: bored critics, Reuters reported. Hostile reviews focused more on cinematic technique than on the question of sympathy toward the Palestinians who killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. The conservative Jerusalem Post called the film "muddled, inept, offensive — and boring to boot." The liberal Haaretz said, "There is something slovenly about the way in which Spielberg constructs the film, a slovenliness that leaks into the directing style itself." Shirit Gal, the publicist in Israel for "Munich," said yesterday that about 25,000 tickets had been sold. She called the number "good," although Hollywood blockbusters have drawn as many as 35,000 people on an opening weekend in Israel.