Slow Clap

I cannot stop watching this video or singing this song in my head. The video might not make sense if you don't know Hebrew (or if you do know Hebrew, actually), but it's a satire on hasbara (the Israeli government's "PR" around the world). What I like about it is that it's vague enough that half the people don't get that it's a joke. That is my favorite type of video.


The video comes from Eretz Nehederet ("Our Great Country"), a fake news show in Israel--like the Daily show, but much darker. I don't know how I haven't mentioned this before, but one of their recurring sketches is called May's Blog. The character May is a blond, bitchy, and rich Israeli teenager who forces her friend to be bulimic. Naturally.

CULTS: They're So "Crazy" and Completely Different from Us!

Yesterday, I hung out with my parents' friend Raia (yes, I hang out with my parents' friends, shuttup) and had Shabbat dinner. Then, we watched a news expose on cults in Israel. David Koresh was mentioned. I enjoyed the Waco shout-out. The report also called messianic Judaism a cult, but I immediately fell asleep at that point, since it was just like listening to my friend Baruch tell lullaby-like stories of his messianic family. Go figure.

The reporters kept caling all the cults mentioned "crazy" and "insane" without really explaining what makes people join cults or what the cult leaders were even preaching. It was a very non-enlightening report.

One thing that caught my attention, though, was the reporter's focus on all the incentives that cult leaders provide their followers. They often lure followers with monetary support and tell them they'll find love/a partner in the cult.

This reminded me of this large intentional community in the Middle East that lures Jewish youth into it using monetary grants, educational subsidies, and the promise of Jewish love.

See what I did there?

Yo Ya

Oh my! There is so much to write about in ye olde blog, and so little time. And by "so little time," I mean "it's Passover break at teh office and I can write on the blog all day except that I might go camping on the Dead Sea so never mind!"

Even though it's old news, I must tell you more about Tel Aviv's 100th birthday celebrations. But I won't right now.

And there is so much to be said about Passover on the kibbutz, but, again, that will have to wait.

Instead, I've decided to compile, for your viewing pressure, some choice Israeli music videos that crack me up every time. This was going to be a Top 10 countdown of Israeli vids on YouTube, but I ended up finding a bunch of completely random videos that hold no relation to each other. So I will bullet these instead of numbering them (which I should always do anyway, otherwise some people start thinking I said they're the best when I didn't mean to).

So, here are some random, hilar Israeli vids:

• What can I say? I have a special place in my heart for Israeli faux new wave.

• Israel won the Eurovision song contest with this song. In the chorus, the singer says "I love you" with a "b" sound after every syllable. Hence, "abanibi obonebev obotabach" instead of "ani ohev otach." Who thought of this, and why?

• Eurovision never fails to bring the lols. This is my favorite Israeli Eurovision video of all time. The guy in the background in 1:25 is a particular fave. Mesmerizing. Also, Jewfros.
  

• Last year, my BFF Sarah became obsessed with this song by famed Israeli tranny Dana International. She made me listen to it non-stop. In time, I have come to appreciate its ridiculosity, esp. when dude-with-yamakkah shows up mid-vid. By the way, this song is about male prostitutes.
  

• One of my favorite shows as a kid was "Lo Kolel Sherut" (Gratuity Not Included), about a group of waiters in Tel Aviv. The show had a musical component. Elinor Aharon's Hebrew version of "Like a Prayer" also comes from this show. (That song is not in this list because it is simply TOO awesome.)

This song depicts a girl looking completely blase even though she's singing about sensual lovin:

• I die.

• Arik Einstein, the king. I've already posted a bunch of his videos on the blog, but here's one more, for misogyny's sake.

• I said I wasn't going to number these, but I lied. This is the #1 best Israeli video of all time. I got a few of my Austin friends completely hooked on this song. It makes me so giddy, so giddy, so Gidi Gov.

That is all, my friends. Next time, I'll post my favorite Israeli videos: children's video edition. Moments from the Israeli Jungle Book Musical will be included.

In other news, I can't find my coat, and I am really starting to think that bitch from the picture below really has stolen it. Identity thief!

Politics and Me

14-year-old who lives upstairs: "Why is no one voting for the Green Leaf [pot legalization] party?"

Me: "I met some kibbutznikim this weekend who are voting Green Leaf. "

14-year-old: "Really? I thought kibbutznikim only get high on cow shit."

Tel Aviv is going downhill

I haven't even arrived in Tel-Aviv yet, and already I hear bad news about the city going downhill.

I was really looking forward to attending this "orgy for peace" sponsored by an alien religion, but it has been cancelled. Here is the proof: http://perezhilton.com/2008-12-25-orgy-for-peace-cancelled. I guess I'll have to attend "rock-throwing for modesty" in Jerusalem instead. Oh wells.