Asher in Israland

2012-01-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

A quick summing up of 2011

It was a hell of a piece of music and a powerful statement, but did Gil Scott Heron get it wrong?

2012-01-01T09:23:00.001-08:00

Wrote it two years ago

http://sffooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/just-thought-part-3-inspired-by-gilas.html

2011-12-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

our budding artist

pictures to compare and contrast at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9324747@N06/sets/72157628272956729/

2011-11-17T11:10:00.000-08:00

Black watch

When we talk about the Black Watch, we usually mean a Scottish regiment with a long and proud history. However, during the First World War, only two battalions of that regiment were posted to then-Palestine, and that at different times.
In 1917 the 14th battalion (Fife and Forfar) were a part of the 229 Brigade, 74 Division, XX Corps, and in 1918 they transferred to France, but the 2nd Battalion arrived, from Mesopotamia.
Note – a WW1 battalion is 1000 soldiers including all the command, support and other functions as well as the front-line fighters.
Fifty-one identified graves in BeerSheva are of men of the Black Watch who were killed on the 6 November 1917, or succumbed to their wounds in the days after the capture of the Sheria Position.
In addition a further ten have no known grave and are listed on the Jerusalem Memorial to the Missing.

All in all the Black Watch lost one hundred and fourty seven men during the First World War in Palestine, as well as a further 12 during the years of the British Mandate.

That was one battalion at a time over just two years of the war, in fact slightly over one year (October 1917 to November 1918 when in fact the Turks surrendered on 31 October 1918, exactly one year after BeerSheva) in an area that was widely regarded as a "sideshow"

2011-10-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

More things I got up to

A few thoughts after taking part in Spencer Tunick's installation art at the Dead Sea

First. Upon arrival, it was drummed into us not to get undressed until we're told to. Needless to say, we were not a collection of people with an aversion to undressing, and we had gone there precisely for that, so I wasn't surprised when a spontaneous wave of undressing spread through everyone, and there we all were, as nature intended.

Now, the state of being naked is a state of being exposed, and vulnerable, two things which describe the state of the Dead Sea. If we want the next generation to be able to enjoy it, we have to undo the damage caused by the previous generation, and not wait for the next one to fix it, as there isn't time.

Finally, the nudity there was a way of being free and liberated. Hard not to think of a young man, who I don't know if he would have chosen to take part in the installation or not, but we have to do everything possible to give him the freedom he'd been missing for over 5(!) years now – Gilead Shalit

2011-09-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

My sister came to pick us up from the airport and had a GPS device.
It was terrible. Every so often, anything from 20 seconds to two minutes, the thing would interrupt us, without a "by your leave" or even a simple "excuse me" to tell us something like "at the next junction go straight on". I mean , we can read the signposts, and we can tell the difference between a road gong into a tree-lined neighbourhood, and a road leading to the M1.
What would be a good idea would be a GPS that knows when to shut up, and holds its peace until it has to say something like "Sorry to interrupt, but that left turn you just made was a bad idea, go find a place to turn around and get on the correct route" or even better, though it would have to be a female voice (they all are in any case aren't they?) saying "now would be a good time to stick your head out of the tin box and ask for directions, don't you think?". Apart from that I've got no use for GPS's

2011-07-23T11:02:00.001-07:00

Amy Winehouse is dead age 27

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27_Club#Musicians_usually_included_in_the_27_Club

shouldn't be this way

RIP

2011-07-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

THE NAKED SEA

Artist Spencer Tunick asks Israel:

Disrobe to Save the Dead Sea

World-renowned contemporary artist Spencer Tunick is inviting hundreds of participants to disrobe and to take part in a human installation, his first in Israel, aimed to raise international awareness to the disappearing Dead Sea. The installation will take place on September 17, at the Dead Sea shore.

People wanting to participate in the live artwork can register online at:

www.nakedsea.info

The Dead Sea is receding at a rate of 1.2 meters per year due to manmade activities. The water that used to run into it through the Jordan Valley is now being used for drinking for the growing population of the area. Over 20 percent of the water loss is due to the Dead Sea Works, drying its water in order to produce chemicals and phosphate.

The Dead Sea, one of the region's natural tourism treasures is a highly saline lake in the center of the Great Rift Valley, surrounded by Jordan, Israel and the Palestine Authority. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. Its “elevation” is presently around 424 meters below sea level. The uniqueness of this body of water lays in its high salinity that enables the unique flotation experience and its minerals making it the largest natural spa in the world.

Spencer Tunick told about his personal relation to the dead sea: “I first visited the Dead Sea as a child back in 1979 and was always amazed by its buoyancy and beauty. When I returned for a visit in 2010 I was shocked to see how much the water had receded. This is a body of water that unites 3 different people – Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians. The environmental impact is alarming and through my work I hope to bring back life – showcasing the importance of water in this region and creating art with the naked human form that brings world attention to the need to save the Dead Sea.”

Spencer Tunick’s artwork has challenged humankind’s relationship with its environment for more than 20 years. Throughout the world, he has staged more than 100 large-scale body landscapes in the heart of urban or natural settings, each time gathering hundreds or thousands of volunteer nude participants. In 2007 together with Greenpeace, he achieved an intense illustration of humankind’s tragic relationship with the climate, rallying 600 volunteers to pose naked on the Aletsch glacier, the largest in Europe.

You can help today by visiting http://www.votedeadsea.com/

The Dead Sea is a finalist in the New7Wonders of Nature online global campaign

(www.new7wonders.com), after beating out 440 other sites. With only a few months left before the 7 finalists are announced on 11.11.11, Spencer Tunick has decided to embark on an artistic mission to help the Dead Sea inspired by the words of Bernard Webber (founder of the New7Wonders Foundation) - "If we want to save anything, we first need to truly appreciate it."

Each participant will receive a limited edition photograph of the installation. Practical information will be provided to each participant a week prior to the installation date.

2011-05-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Out and About again

For Independence Day we all went to Ashdod port, saw the cranes and the container-lifters, navy boats and fire-boats which were a big hit, as well as aa air-force fly-past.

Pictures at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9324747@N06/sets/72157626586603417/

on the way though we stopped at a military cemetery where two of the South African immigrants are buried, the cemetery had just the day before been the site of memorial ceremonies, as memorial day and independence day are interlinked.

Photo's of the cemetery at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9324747@N06/5728977124/in/photostream

the photo's are taken for the South African Wargraves Project

http://www.southafricawargraves.org/

2011-01-07T08:16:00.000-08:00

Ever since I started working in landscape gardening my own garden has been slipping.

Think about it, when I worked in a factory, I needed to come home to a bit of green, now that I'm surrounded by green all day, I even go and work sometimes in the cows, as they're Friesians, I get to see black-and-white as a relief from all that green…

I mean, think of Mrs. Brown, who, when her husband got home, would come out with something like "Oh Capability, don't you think you should mow the lawn this weekend?" His response would likely have been less than gracious.

That got me thinking of other wives

Tzipporah (Mrs. Moses) "Moses, we've been wandering through this desert for ten years now, don't you think we should ask that Midianite over there for directions"

Obviously he didn't think so.

Mrs. Angelo "Michael, it's about time you repainted the ceiling" – guess the response.

Tzipporah "Moses, we've been wandering through this desert for twenty years now, don't you think we should ask that Ishmaelite over there for directions"

Obviously he didn't think so.

Mrs. Wren "Oh Christopher, we don't have room for the kids' bikes when they'll be invented, do you think that you could build a little shed in the yard?" Response unforthcoming.

Tzipporah "Moses, we've been wandering through this desert for thirty years now, don't you think we should ask that Bedouin over there for directions"

Still didn't think so.

Mrs. Heston "Oh Charles, the neighbors' dog has done a poo-poo on the lawn" - "No problem wife, I'll just take this M16 Armalite rifle with a grenade launcher and fix that mutt." Bang bang bang…. whoooosh explosion….. switching to automatic fire…. I love the NRA…. changing cartridge….

My father also suggested Madame Escoffier's lament "alors, Charles, you'd starve without me, you couldn't even cook an egg by yourself"

(remember, Escoffier always had an oeuf on his plate…)

2010-12-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

People keep asking me, "what's happened to your hair?", when it's quite obvious that in fact nothing has happened to it, it just keeps growing, and nothing like cutting has indeed happened to it for a long time.

This is the story of how nothing happened…..

One afternoon I went to town and found a barber's shop. When I got there there were already three guys waiting outside, so I said "Hello", and the one in the middle said hello, and the little one said hello, and the big one with the deep voice said hello, then we all said hello together…

Then this girl called Irene came along and said that she didn't know why we were all waiting outside, hadn't we seen the sign, and sure enough ,in the window was a sign, and at the top, in block capitals, underlined was the word "Notice", which we hadn't….

Under that was written "we don't cut hair any longer", which didn't surprise me, as I had planned on getting it cut shorter, but Irene, (remember Irene?,) pointed out that the barber had in fact gone out of business…

So, we sung a verse and a chorus of "Goodnight Irene" and went our separate ways, and that is how nothing happened to my hair…

apologies, love and respect to Arlo Guthrie

2010-10-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

Brotherhood

There's been a string at the BulldogBash website about the rescue of the 33 miners.

I added my bit which ran

I was reading Roger Cohen in the New York Times (shameless namedropper aren't I)

the article is at

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/opinion/19iht-edcohen.html

and I'll just quote his concluding paragraph, which begins

The real Chilean “miracle” was man-made. It lay in the redemptive solidarity displayed — below ground, by rescuers at the site and on a global level — at a time of shrieking polarization in the United States, rampant self-obsession and persistent division.

Have a good weekend everybody

2010-07-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

I got 95%!

Created by Oatmeal

2010-04-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

What's in our garden?

We're growing cabbage, lettuce, cherry tomatoes,kohl-rabi, spring onions and hoping that the aubergines will grow.

Imagine my dismay when I found a feral tortoise merrily munching on a lettuce plant

That right, we've become a fast-food counter for a slow reptile

2010-04-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Headline on SkyNews

"NASA releases senational sun photos"

The Sun in reply....."our sexy Stephanie is a real stunner..."

2010-03-12T04:27:00.000-08:00

Following up on a previous wedding-related post,

I asked the wife, (who goes to a lot more weddings than me, go figure..) how many times she actually knew the bride and/or groom. A lot of head-scratching followed.

2010-02-18T22:30:00.001-08:00

just another thought (5 I think)

who dreamed up low-calorie energy bars??

2010-02-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

Out and About again

well, we went to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. Problem that pictures of small child against baxkdrop of elephants doesn't come out balanced except as a means of proving we were really there....
Also the lion was asleep, the leopard aslo, the bears were nowhere to be seen (apart from the bronze ones...)
Giraffes, Mandrills and Chimps didn't fail us though.
So, most of the photo's are from the train ride up to Jerusalem

the pictures are on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9324747@N06/sets/72157623434446128/

2010-01-30T08:32:00.000-08:00

Another thought

Isn't it a bit over-doing it putting instructions for use on a bottle of shampoo??

2010-01-21T01:13:00.000-08:00

More about Violette

I'm still at a loss as to why Violette Szabo was not awarded the Victoria Cross, as Noor Inayat Khan should also have been awarded it (and Diana Rowden the GC, as well…).

If you look at the citation for a V.C. it reads in part

"most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy."

Source - http://www.operations.mod.uk/honours/honours.htm

And so, self-sacrifice and devotion to duty are not in question here, and as for presence of the enemy, well, let's put it like this, when you're being interrogated in Avenue Foch, and then taken to the camps if that isn't presence of the enemy, then I don't know what is, even more than storming a machine-gun emplacement, or manning an Ack-Ack gun not wanting to cast aspersions or downplay those VC honorees who won for precisely that…

So could the reason just be chauvinism?

2009-12-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

Reading the small print

while we've been using cloth diapers (nappies) at home, and for the first year in baby-house, the second year gan wouldn't let us use cloth and forced us to use polluting diposables. On our visit to England we found, and "fell in love with" eco-friendly disposables form "Boots". On our return home we just happened to see a flyer advertising eco-disposables and when we saw them we said looks familiar, indeed the same dispoables we liked so much are in fact Made in Israel and it even says so on the wrapper. You can even compost them (only the ones full of pee-pee, not kaki). They're also cheaper than regular disposibles
Here's a free plug for them, phone Michal on 050-2277234 or write her at echobaby(at)walla.com.
This has been a public service announcement.

2009-12-22T11:21:00.000-08:00

Out and about (again)

We were up in the Galilee last weekend (end of Hannukah) and took part in an SPNI trip to Tel Yodfat. However the most enduring memory I'll keep will be at the end, when I was loading the car I peeked back into the Zimmer and there was a little blond angel perched on a chair, slurping away at his porridge, without a care in the world, apart from when he'll see his little kitten again.

2009-12-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

remembrance weekend photo's

are on my flickr pages.

Matter of fact, the concept of photo's of men (usually), (usually) in uniform, layng wreaths doesn't cut it much any more, so next year I'll revise the concept.

2009-12-11T12:50:00.000-08:00

2009-11-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

My (copyrighted) diet plan

1 - declare that you have a fixed budget for food each month (p.c.m - per calendar month)
2 - get yourself invited to one wedding p.c.m
3 - eat and drink all you can at the wedding (drinks are watered down anyway), and food gets served at a time when I should be in bed (asleep)
4 - hope you enjoyed (3) 'cos your monthly budget just went up in smoke on one wedding p.c.m

seriously - why the hell do we have to bring fat cheques to wedding to get cruddy food we wouldn't pay one-tenth of the cheque for, it sure doesn't help the couple get settled financially, they end up subsidising a new SUV for the dude that owns the hall.

2009-10-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Isn't it strange
that just about the only thing that can get me excited nowadays is that a bunch of who, 30 years ago, I would have derided as a bunch of BOF's are to play a gig in Tel Aviv.

Current subject Gong. (playing Zappa club end of October)

Old, yes, Farts possibly, Boring, no way

2009-08-14T02:30:00.000-07:00

מסיבת סיום גן סביון תשס"ט 2008-2009

ילדי חורף וקיץ 2007 עלו מבית תינוקות
ככה סתם ללא שם ל.... – גן סביון
גן עם שם ומשמעות.
מי עלה לגן סביון – בר גיל, גונן, טליה, יהלי, רוני,
יוחאי, סיני, עומר
הצטרפו אליהם –טל יאיר, דנה, שגיא, עמית, אביב, ונגה

מיד הבינו הקטנטנים שאין הנחות ואין פטפוטים
לכל אחד יש שני כסאות אישיים
אחד בחדר האוכל והשני בפינת המפגש.

בבוקר מחכה להם לרוב שירי
מכינים הם את ארוחת הבוקר
חותכים עגבנייה ומלפפון
מכינים חביתות וגבינה
הריח בחדר כבר מעורר את מיצי הקיבה.

מגיעה אביבה ועדן ממלאות את השורות
מכינה היא את הגן ליום פעילות ארוך.

על הלוח כתוב מה למדנו ומה נלמד
ההורים – אל תפספסו פן הילד ידע יותר מימכם,
מה קורה לזחל שהופך לגולם ומנסה להיות פרפר
ולא לשכוח ש"בולבול" זה רק ציפור,
ולא איזה חלק בגוף האדם.

סך הכל שלחנו את הפעוטים/ות לגן
ולא לשנה ראשונה באוניברסיטה לקורסי חובה
ותראו מהו הערך המוסף שקיבלנו השנה.

את הפעילות ביום שני -.בריתמוס יקה
לא בדיוק ראינו, אך את המשך החזרות
ראינו גם ראינו, עם ידיים למעלה ועל הראש
התעמלות מסובכת עם גמישות
שרק הם יכולים לעשות.

אוצר המלים גדל וגדל
הכול הם מבינים – ואולי קצת קשה להם לומר
השקט הרוגע ואווירת ההקשבה
מדרבנת אותם להשתכלל ולחדד את המחשבה.
במשך הזמן מנסים הם לבנות משפט עם שתי מלים אבל בלי הפעולה
בהמשך ילמדו – אני רוצה/ אני יכולה/ ואני גם....
בימי ההולדת כל אחד בזמנו/ה – במרכז
קצת מתבייש/ת אבל את התנועות עושים באוטומט.
הבנות קצת יותר מצליחות הבנים במסורבל.

הגיע יום המשפחה – אביבה ושירי רצו רק
שהילדים יפעלו על פי החזרות שהתכוננו
אבל, הילדים התבלבלו עם עומס הקהל
ועשו רק קצת שההורים יראו – מה יכולתם!
בתקווה שבמשך השנים – פחד הקהל קצת יתפוגג
ואז התכשיטים שלנו ישתפו פעולה יותר.

באיזו רגישות הם טיפלו בילדים "ובנו"
כאשר אנו הגענו בבוקר עם כוחות אחרונים
לאחר לילה ללא שינה עם השכמות תכופות
ועיניים טרוטות המגלות את כל האמת הערומה
שהילדים כנראה ישלימו גם הם קצת שינה
בשעות לא שגרתיות ביום הפעילות שבה.

יום שישי מגיע – ואם אין במקרה יום הולדת
ריח עוגת השוקולד
ממלאת את כל החדר
ומזכיר לנו שמעכשיו
הילדים איתנו כל השבת.

לאביבה שירי עדן רוויטל והדר המנהלת
תמשיכו כך
כי זו הדרך הנכונה
הרבה רגישות והבנה
הרבה ידע עם קלילות, חיוך והתנסות
הרבה רוגע ושלווה.

להורים-
אנו תקווה שהשרשת לא תינתק
ותוך שבוע שוב ניפגש
אותם הילדים ואותם החיוכים
עם הקשבה והבנה
ועם התקדמות חדשה במטלות והתנסויות
כמובן שהילדים כולם עולים כיתה
לגן תות כמובן.
והכול כתוב בפונט כתב יד- שיהיה תואם לסגנון שנכתב על הלוח כל השנה

חופשת קיץ נעימה...........

קישור לתמונות של מסיבת הסיום - לחץ כאן

הורים הרוצים להוסיף תמונות יכולים לשלוח

2009-07-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

Out and About (part 1)

We went to see an ancient (1700 years) mosaic floor, the pictures are here

2009-07-21T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wish

that he'd never grow up, and would always remain a delightful 2-y-o but than I read about someone who didn't and I say keep on growing we'll always have good memories....

2009-07-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Doesn't seem right.

So I wasn't exactly what you'd call a fan, but it still doesn't seem right that Michael Jackson went, but I suppose now he'll never get any older/

2009-05-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

Just a thought (4)

Is it only me, or do other people find that buying stuff with the bonus points on your credit card is like stuffing a duvet with the lint from your dryer?

2009-03-20T02:51:00.000-07:00

A brief history of time

My record-buying started in 1971 (age 12 if you must...) with the release of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord". For the next few years I advanced pretty steadily, via Golden Earring's "Radar Love", the Who (pretty precocious for a 13 year-old), the rise of T.Rex, Slade, followed by the coming of Queen, who I saw in Cheltenham town hall(!) on the tour for the release of "Queen II". Then, Punk came around, I stopped buying Queen's albums at the same stage that my baby sister started buying them. In short, I kept current from 1971 through 1980 when punk became new-wave, then I sort of got stuck in the '70's. By the mid '90's I was already heading back to the 60's with Grateful Dead, Neil Young (always relevant), Jimi, Led Zep and Zappa. Start of the the new millenium and I started on stuff that was older than me, like Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz, Miles, Bird and Elmore James then I sort of sidestepped to Lonnie Donnegan's "Frankie and Johnnie", and now my fave rave is the Goodman Orchestra from the late '30's (sing sing sing with a swing, one-o-clock jump, avalon). Really, with Gene Krupa on drums, Teddy Wilson on piano, can life ever get better?

2009-02-26T23:06:00.000-08:00

Britain 1942, Britain 2009

One of the places that we visited in Britain last time was a small museum dedicated to Violette Szabo (you can also read a biography here).

I would warmly recommend a visit to anyone who wants to know more about this courageous young woman and her stand against the Nazi horror.

After the visit I put a quiz together, try it.

Please go visit, it's worth the effort.

2009-02-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

Britain 2009, Britain 1966

So, what's it all about, Alfie?

2009-02-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

Just a thought (part 3)

Inspired by Gila's comment at the end of the comments section of one of Treppenwitz's postings.

Note - the following is satire (a fancy word for sarcasm)

Just suppose that WIZO, Hadassah and Amit women joined forces and invited Rosa Parks to get a lifetime achievement award. All went well, the plane had a tail-wind and arrived a whole 3 hours early. Rather than kicking around Ben-Gurion, Mrs Parks decided to head for her hotel, take a shower and rest a bit. Finds a bus marked "Jerusalem", reckons that she'll take a cab from the central bus station to the King David hotel. But what, lo aleynu, she's picked the bus on the route Bnei B'rak, Ben Gurion, Kiryat Sefer, Beitar Illit straight to Mea Shearim.
Driver says "sorry lady you'll have to ride in the back"
Mrs Parks says "I'm not going through all this again at my age". heads back to the Pan-Am desk and says "remember me, I just arrived? Well I'm going back on the same plane"

Like I say, satire.

2009-02-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Haveil Havalim is (soon to be) up

I don't know which number it is either.

The important thing is that it's the T"U beShvat/Election day edition and is being hosted by Ben-Yehuda

If you arrived here because I am listed there, Wilkom Bien Venue, Wellcome.

Now that I have your attention I'd like to point out the following posts

The story of Shlomo and a love that defeated death

The day that Gila came to ride her bike and got a history lesson

how and why I'm voting constuctively

and most importantly:

about my Grandfather

I wrote some other stuff, but those are the best bits.

Yours sincerely

Asher

2009-02-04T10:05:00.001-08:00

Just a thought (part 2)

Isn't it nice that no-one in the Hundred-Acre-Wood is in the least bit perturbed by the fact that Kanga is a single mother?

2009-01-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

Those who are boycotting the elections

Seems that there are those who refuse to take part in such a "Hellenistic" excercise.

Sounds pretty daft to me on several counts.

First, chances are that in ancient Hellas, they (or I as well) wouldn't actually be a part of the process, as you had to be a member of the club to have your say.

Maybe more relevant is the fact that Israel's parliament is NOT the Sanhedrin, and not the Knesseth haGdola, so if you want an a fortiori קל וחומר argument, it'd be a mitzvah to vote so that there should be a female Prime Minister, just to emphasise the point. By the same measure, the religious affairs council מועצה הדתית in (say) Yeroham is also not the Sanhedrin, so why shouldn't a woman be part (after all they use the mikveh, check Kashrut and so on) ?

Third by not voting, they're giving a bonus to those who are part of the democratic process but don't feel part of the state (by the way, my wife told me a risque joke about why Dr Ahmed Tibi doesn't need the exit polls to know how people voted, but that's OffTopic)(remember what he's Doctor of - clue)

So, if you want to say phooey to the big stale parties, don't waste your vote, swallow the frog and vote רק green party.
You'll feel better for it afterwards.

2009-01-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

Why I'm using my vote constructively

If you want the full story, you can read it in English at

http://www.green-party.co.il/Election2009/more/english

As for myself, it was the assassination of Itzhak Rabin z"l that tipped the scales. During the summer of hate in 1995 I'd been a bystander, not willing to support giving so much land to Arafat who was not capable of running anything approaching a responsible nation, but not wanting to associate with those who shirk army duty but scream "Rabin the traitor". After November 4th, I realized that the sidelines are no place to be. Exactly at that juncture, route 6 was on the planning stage right where I'd see it every day and right over an avocado plantation belonging to my kibbutz. That brought me out of my shell, and into the world of green activism, some deadly serious and some a bit more esoteric but no less serious. A bit of a criminal record followed (to be proud of) and then a quieter period while I married (at last!) and now that I have not just a nebulous next generation to worry about but (also) a very specific next generation of my own flesh and blood, and now I have to do something.

The army has done its bit in protecting the country, but the green movements play just as important a role because after all, what are we fighting for? This isn't a country that we're just passing through on the way from one exile to another, this is home. If there's still one thing that unites young and old, religious and secular, and Jew and Arab, it's love of the Land.

If we can't live in peace with our water, with our trees and with our animals, how can we ever even think about living in peace with each other and the other?

If we can't go to the beach because it's been stolen by property "developers", then what's the good of being able to fly to Turkey? If we can't have a bit of biodiversity near our homes because it's been paved over for roads and interchanges, what's the good in being able (those who are able financially and physically) to drive to the Galilee to see a bit of nature?

So, that's why I'll be voting for the future when I put my voting slip with the letters
"רק"
in the envelope.
Let the big parties fight among themselves, they'll do what they feel like whether they have a mandate or not, and give your voice to a party that "thinks outside the box".

2009-01-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

Just a thought (first of a few)

Just suppose the British National Health Service (NHS) produced a video/DVD about childbirth, intended for prospective parents. Now let's suppose that it was restricted to 18+ because of "adult" content.
Darn, there goes 3/4 of the audience.

2009-01-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

All this started as a reply to a posting at

http://esseragaroth.blogspot.com/2009/01/uri-bank-standing-by-his-principles.html

I replied he replied and so now I will put it here

Before I begin, if we are all sitting comfortably, I wish to emphasise that the subject of the original post is a decent guy doing the honourable thing and I am not being ironic, sarcastic or facetious about him.

From now on though I may be

So if we really want to take this to absurd limits, lets postulate that Bibi suggested to the Hamas that they should cause an escalation just before the elections, That would put the government in a quandary of not acting (bad) or acting and fouling-up (bad). The Hamas would have had every reason to agree (remember I said absurd) as if there is anyone they should be grateful its Bibi. After all his method of dealing with Arafat was let s give him his pocket money every month if he behaved well. If not, we give it to him in any case. Barak had the idea of showing the world that Arafat cannot be trusted if you try to relate to him as a responsible adult. See what that got him.

But all that is irresponsible conspiracy mongering, as the fact is that Hamas (which could and should have been a straightedge alternative to the corruption of the PLO Fatach) have also gone the wrong way.

Please let us not forget while the politicians politick that people on the ground are fighting this war, including from my kibbutz who got called up on Tzav-8 emergency call-up

As for the scenario I painted at the beginning that just goes to show that the line between theory and conspiracy theory is narrow and easily crossed. There is a phrase which says ein ladvar sof
אין לדבר סוף
Which means these things have no end, but if you say it ein ledaber sof ; it means cut down on the chin-wagging (colloquialisms rule OK)

2009-01-12T23:45:00.001-08:00

Such a little bookworm

Another Sinai update:

When I get home it’s a knock-me-down hug then back he goes to Thumbelina or Little Red Riding Hood, before bed it’s Struwwelpeter, makes you wonder what dreams that brings on. Just found out by the way, that “Tales of Hoffman” is about a different Hoffman.
Very important is that he’s gentle with his books, not a page gets torn, I’m happy to report.
This weekend he’ll be 20….months.

2008-12-30T01:45:00.000-08:00

Daily Mail comments section

at
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1102843/We-fight-bitter-end-Israel-poised-invade-Gaza-war-Hamas.html#comments

had 27 comments at the time I took a "snapshot" of them

of the 27, the breakdown was 7 pro-Hamas, against 17 (two of them mine) pro-Israel, and 3 that I couldn't make head or tail of...

2008-12-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

It's happening again

and I don't mean dancing with a dwarf in the red room, it's far worse.

Last time it happened at least I had the excuse that it was the Flying Burrito Brothers (Gilded Palace of Sin). Actually no excuse needed for that.

This time it's Roll On (18 wheeler) by Alabama!

Yep folks it's country music season again, and I'm worried.

2008-11-17T01:02:00.000-08:00

Banned from the Roxy

Treppenwitz has finally banned me and I suppose, nay, I admit that I did ask for it. The good news is that he can't stop me reading him, which I will carry on doing regardless.

2008-11-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

A touching story

And it's all true.

A story of a love that lasted beyond the grave, and the closing of a circle half-a-century on. In the dark days of the second world war, a Jewish volunteer by the name of Shlomo Kopel joined the British army in order to defeat the Nazi menace. He rose through the ranks and became sergeant, which was quite an achievement for a foreign Jewish volunteer. Unfortunately he contracted a sickness which led to his demise in 1946 in London at age 37, leaving a widow, a son and a daughter (links to IDF site in Hebrew). In time, Dina, the widow remarried and bore another daughter, who was given the name of Shlomit, in honour of Shlomo Kopel. That by itself is touching, but it's only the beginning. Shlomo's kibbutz, Kibbutz Na'an, requested that his earthly remains should be repatriated to the state of Israel, a state that Shlomo himself didn't see arise. Despite the CWGC not practicing repatriation, as Shlomo had died in London and was buried in a civil cemetery, rather than a war cemetery after battle together with comrades, the request was granted, and in 1951 his bones were laid to rest in the earth of his kibbutz. By that time, Na'an had inaugurated a new cemetery putside the gate, but Shlomo was interred in the "old cemetery" inside the kibbutz, together with those who fell in Israel's war of independence.
In 1999, Dina's second husband (the father of Shlomit) passed away, and for the first time in almost fifty years there was a burial in Na'an's "old cemetery" as he was laid to rest near Shlomo, and the following year Dina joined her two husbands in eternal peace, and was buried adjoining them. On her grave appear three surnames, her maiden name of Sheffi, then Kopel, and her final name of Oren.
The story is made all that more touching as I heard it first-hand from Shlomit (who agreed that I can publish it)

2008-09-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

Two interesting quotes

First off, from Tony Parsons' book "man and boy" here's a bit from page 40. "I can remember seeing Pat smile properly for the first time. He was a little fat bald thing, Wiston Churchill in a Babygro"

Strange, but when I googled for "Winston Churchill" AND Babygro, I got some interesting reading, such as
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/61/a2026261.shtml
and
http://www.winston-churchill-leadership.com/trait-self-belief.html

The second quote comes from Chris Cleave's "Incendiary" (page 9), and of course let's hope that I'm using it out of context. Anyhow, the quote goes :"In the night my boy's room smelled of boy. Boy is a good smell, it is a cross between angels and tigers"
Couldn't have put it better myself....

2008-09-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

More Things we got up to on a Weekend

Remember, she’s doing this for the kids at ALYN so it’d be a good idea to sponsor her.

This time, Gila brought the bike round by car and we set off together by bike to Ramleh, in particular the * CWGC * war cemetery there. I've been documenting it for what started as the British War Memorial Project and has since turned into the War Graves Photographic Project.
Ramleh cemetery is unique in that it covers the entire period of the British presence here, from 1917 continuously till 1948.
After explaining the features such as the Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance, and principles such as equality, uniformity and equal graves for enemy combatants (told her about

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us, where they lie, side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well."

what Ataturk said at Galipoli) we started walking between the graves. One of the first things Gila wanted to know was about Jewish graves so I showed her the graves of soldiers from the "Jewish legions".

Through the Great War section, populated with Australian and New Zealand fallen as well as many yeomanry units, many of the fallen being from the battles of Mughar ridge and Tel Gezer and into the period of the mandate, when those who were killed in action fell at the hands of the Arabs, something we'll come back to later, and then into the second world section, marked with British and colonial graves and also French, Greek, Norwegian, Yugoslav, Czech and hundreds of Polish graves. Many of the Poles are soldiers of the Polish 2nd Corps, also known as Anders' Army, which also comprised many Jews who later formed the basis of the Israeli Defence Forces. Here I managed to point out the grave of a Greek Jew by the name of Hirsch, an Indian Jew by the name of Abraham Solomon and sharp-eyed Gila noticed the grave of a woman Palestinian Jewish volunteer (links to the IDF site in Hebrew). Even managed to find in the Jewish section and the Moslem section casualties who served together in the Palestine Regiment.
Time was drawing on, but we couldn't leave without seeing two regular, absolutely normal, graves, with no particular markings apart the usual, unit symbol, name, rank, service number and date of death. Nothing to suggest that here are buried (block 9 row J graves 20 and 21) the two British serjeants, whose abduction and execution were the lowest point in the relations between the Jewish Yishuv and the British, a long way from the heady days after the Great War.

Still, Gila was here in order to ride her bicycle, (and if you click thia link and know the continuation of the lyric, bear in mind it does not refer to my charming companienne) so I said farewell to Ramleh, until the 9th November which is Remembrance Sunday this year, and off we set. She rode the first section with a vengeance, so at Airport City we decided to add onto the route, at Rinattya we added more, at Nebi Tara we went off-road and even there added on and added on, till I was worried that she would have to carry me home.

Verdict – we'll have to do it again, but next time she can leave the car at home and tire herself out before she gets here, otherwise I'm going to be in deep shit.

Treppenwitz has written a series of posts over the past few years, about the cemetery in BeerSheva, two of the best of them are this one and this one.

2008-09-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

Why I started this

Now that Gila has caused me to actually have readers, and Batya even left a comment, I suppose I'd better explain that the original idea was to have this as a holding page in honour of my maternal grandfather, Sidney Frank Fooks.

Pictures and archival material about him are at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9324747@N06/sets/72157604390194432/

and an obituary at
http://www.jeffreymaynard.com/Harrow_County/sfooks.htm

so that's why.

People of his ilk are few and far between.

2008-09-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Things we got up to on a weekend not so long ago.

I had the honour to ride my bicycle with Gila of "my Shrapnel" and try to help her prepare for the ALYN ride so that you can sponsor her

Anyway, I'm not going to burden this with a lot of hyper-links, so if something interests you you can (A) leave a comment, or (B) look it up for yourself, or (C) do B and then A if you know what I mean and save us all the trouble of looking it up.

We set it up for a Shabbat moning, and I reckoned with no small amount of hubris that if I left home 10 minutes after she let me know that she was leaving, that we'd meet up in the middle. When I was barely in sight of North-East Petach-Tikva (PT from now on), she called to say that she was at the arch in honour of Baron Rotschild, in other words in P.T. market! She asked what to do next so I replied "slow down!" (or if I didn't I should have...). I chalked it up to her being all excited about meeting me at last, and totally ignored the fact that I was excited (and far more justifiably) about meeting her.

Anyhow we met up pretty much by PT police station, which, like the station in Ramat Gan, was once a British constabulary base and is known as a Tegart fort and headed out of town. First kibbutz we passed on the way was Givaat HaShlosha which has neither a hill (Givaa) nor the Three (Shlosha). It is named in honour of three men from old P.T. who during the Ottoman period were accused of storing weapons for the British (like NILI) and were taken to Damascus never to return. In their honour, a part of PT was named Givaat HaShlosha (and is now a geriatric home), but the kibbutz founded later just outside PT which took the name has no hill. When the kibbutz movements split (Ichud and Meuhad) and people left GHS for Einat, a statue of the three was put up - in kibbutz Einat.

Next our route took us past the castle of Antipatris, guarding the springs of the Yarkon river, and an important place on the old via Maris. Most of whst we saw from the road is from crusader times, but the place dates all the way back to Joshua, when it was known (and still is today) as Afek.

Off-road now, and through the fields of Einat and Kfar Sirkin till we pulled in to home on Nachshonim, which as I explained is so-called because the first settlers here were in fact Jews from Egypt, from the Hashomer HaTzair movement, hope you all understand the symbolism.

After refreshments (and going ga-ga over the little one), we pulled out for the main off-road part. Took us into the mausoleum at Mazor.
" To the south-west of the moshav is an archaeological site, which includes a 3rd Century Roman mausoleum. The mausoleum is the only Roman-era building in Israel to still stand from its foundations to its roof. A Byzantine-era mozaic floor was found not far from the mausoleum."
(ripped off the last bit from Wilipedia)

Into the woods, past the remains of Qula and quite deep into the woods we went, but I was in good company. Showed Gila that if you have stirrups on your pedals, you can ride uphill one-legged, always useful to know.

Then back for more refreshments, by which time gorgeous-little-baby-boy and long-suffering-spouse were off in dreamland, and out again on the bikes to point Gila in the direction of home.

Verdict - we'll have to do it again, soon

2008-08-16T01:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time

to say the least

and I'm going to have to ease myself back in gently, but I promise to write something, anything once a week.

So, in order to get things going again, Sinai is now 15 months old and quite a little fellow

as you can see if I manage to upload a picture

and if I can't here's a link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9324747@N06/2788841295/in/set-72157606724087107/

which is probably easiest.

We're going North tomorrow as there's a gap of a week between Baby-House and pre-pre-pre-School, so we'll see what happens

Bye for now

Asher,she-who-must-be-obeyed, and Sinai

2007-08-30T03:57:00.000-07:00

and just when I was on the point of saying

that OK I get the point, he eats, sleeps, excretes and that's it, can we move on to stage 2 please, he suddenly flips over onto his stomach and looks suprised at himself. Or he gives one of those big smiles that start at the top of his head and the tips of his ears, and works all the way down via eyes, nose (yes, nose) and mouth and ends up at his toes and fingertips, and all is well.

2007-07-31T11:57:00.000-07:00

A sad posting

A friend who I never knew, but we were both members of the cynbythesea forum was brutally murdered, together with her mother. In honour of Anqelique, here's the tribute
http://videos.phototributes.com/altmeyerfh/Goyena_files/Goyena.html

So long Angelique, even though I never really knew you, and rest in peace.

Asher

2007-06-19T12:53:00.001-07:00

Here's an update on the youngest T……...

Master Sinai T……. is continuing to put on weight at quite a pace. He doesn't really do very much at the moment, except eat (sort of), take a daily bath (my job) and go for a daily walk round the place (exaggerating again) (her job mostly). Even though, he has a fan-club, I call them the "Sinai-ettes".

His musical education is a varied matter. Benny Goodman is on the wrong pitch and so the one-o'clock jump is a guaranteed anti-relaxant at any hour of day or night, J.S. Bach's Brandenburg concerti get his attention, but for peace and coolness, there's nothing like the Grateful Dead! Yes, we have a dead-head in the house. So far, American Beauty and Workingman's Dead have proved reliable, so next up is Terrapin Station. Lovers' Rock style Gregory Isaacs doesn't phase him in the least (he went to U-Roy 4 months before emerging...)

Remember, he's only five weeks old, so don't expect him to jam down to Purple Haze quite yet.

He does his exercises every day before bath-time, I'm his personal trainer. He's really good at lifting head up past 45 degrees, pushes really hard with his legs against my palms, almost does press-ups but we help him with the leg-raises. Pretty soon he'll be rolling all the way over by himself, and that's when the fun really starts…

Apart from that, we have a confession to make – we're going against the stream and are using cloth diapers (nappies for you Brits) you know the kind you launder and hang out to dry. We stopped using disposables after 3 weeks, and I know how few trips I've had to make to the garbage bins since. Less landfill, less haulage of the diapers to the dump, in short we're doing our little bit for the planet. (and saving money!)

I'm not sure but I think he said "Daddy" but then again I thought that I heard that when he was 2 hours old as well.

2007-06-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

: A Must Read for All

EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ ALL OF THIS and HAVE CHILDREN READ IT TOO!

After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line. She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message:
ByAngel213:Hi. I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird!
GoTo123:LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you? Don't you live in a safe neighborhood?
ByAngel213:Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see anybody when I looked out.
GoTo123:Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven't done that have you?
ByAngel213:Of course not. I'm not stupid you know.
GoTo123:Did you have a softball game after school today?
ByAngel213:Yes and we won!!
GoTo123:That's great! Who did you play?
ByAngel213:We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees. LOL
GoTo123:What is your team called?
ByAngel213:We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really cool.
GoTo1 23: Did you pitch?
ByAngel213:No I play second base. I got to go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don't want them mad at me. Bye!
GoTo123:Catch you later. Bye

Meanwhile.......GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.
Her name: ShannonBirthday: Jan. 3, 1985Age: 13State where she lived: North CarolinaHobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall. Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the eighth grade at the Canton Junior High School . She had told him all this in the conversations they had on- line. He had enough information to find her now.
Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ballpark that day. She didn't want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball games. Parents were always overreacti ng and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be so overprotective.
By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her second base position to see a man watching her closely. He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn't look scary and she quickly dismissed the sudden fear she had felt.After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew he had found her. Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few blocks to Shannon 's home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car.Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon 's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move.
Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room."Shannon, come here," her father called. He sounded upset and she couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa. "Sit down," her father began, "this man has just told us a most interesting story about you."Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never seen him before today! "Do you know who I am, Shannon ?" the man asked. "No," Shannon answered."I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123."Shannon was stunned. "That's impossible! GoTo is a kid my age! He's 14. And he lives in Michigan !"The man smiled. "I know I told you all that, but it wasn't true. You see, Shannon , there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. You named the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the position you played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze." Shannon was stunned. "You mean you don't live in Michigan ?"He laughed. "No, I live in Raleigh . It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn't it?" She nodded."I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn't as lucky. The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone. Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information a little here and there on-line. Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I hope you've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again. Tell others about this so they will be safe too?" "It's a promise!"That night Shannon and her Dad and Mom all knelt down together and thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation.

*****NOW****
EVEN FORWARD THIS TO PEOPLE WITHOUT KIDS SO THEY CAN SEND IT TO FRIENDS THAT DO HAVE CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN

2007-05-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Now it's official

The guy's name is going to be Sinai (pronounced Seen-Aye)

Follow the link to:
Sinai

It's in honour of my grandfather (it's the closest sounding name there is…)

It's because of the desert (blond hair) and the sea (blue eyes) (and the diving)

It's because of the birth coming between the Torah Portions of BeHar (also mine) and BaMidbar, and because of the nearness to the festival of Shavuot

So now you know

2007-05-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

A Very Serious Posting

What we'd been dreading has happened. At age 81 my (and my sister's of course) mother has moved off this life. It happens to everybody of course, and sometimes we forget that the natural way is that children bury their parents and not the other way around. So many wars, drunk-drivers and plain pointlessness make too many parents bury their children.

Anyhow, I flew over to Dad, my sister joined us, along with her rude-boy, and a friend of the parents.

At the ceremony, we put on a CD of Faure's requiem, and I read that poem which of course was out of the original context but seemed like the best thing to say.

If you can't follow the link, then here's the text, note all and any copyrights:

The life that I have

Is all that I have

And the life that I have

Is yours

The love that I have

Of the life that I have

Is yours and yours

and yours

A sleep I shall have

A rest I shall have

Yet death will be

but a pause

For the peace of my years

In the long green grass

Will be yours and yours

and yours

If you know the background to the poem, then you'll know that the line about the long green grass is a lump in the throat.

Apart from that, I said the beginning and end of the Kaddish and left it at that, as anything else would have been superfluous.

The next posting will probably be about the start of a new life...

2007-03-29T00:11:00.000-07:00

Ralph

The main event this month has been Ralph's visit, so go see http://plansinsand.com/index.html

and then how I got to know Ralph

http://www.southafricawargraves.org

Next month starts soon

2007-02-24T08:35:00.000-08:00

about the length of pregnancy (gestation)

one would think that after 9 months, a human baby would spring out, fully-formed and be capable of any and everything. As we know, that is not the case.
Why is that so?
I reckon it;s so that the prospective father can have three months for denial (that well-known river in Egypt), three months for the concept to sink in (takes time), and three months to do everything he ever wanted to, never got around to doing, and won't have a chance to do.
Only problem being that in the last three months, no way is She-who-must-be-obeyed going to let him....

2007-02-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

bring the boys back here

now that the police has joined the army, in the list of scandals and cock-ups, now that professional soccer is as planned as pro wrestling, maybe it's time to go to the Brits and say, sorry, please re-instate the mandate

2007-01-31T08:25:00.000-08:00

Had a lot of good vibes

Went to the Zappa club to catch U-Roy's set and he was so hot, I was glad it was January. Pity that the same can't be said about the warm-up Junior Murvin, the guy who gave us "Police and Thieves". The falsetto's there, the lyrics are deep but the fire wasn't in it. U-Roy though was a power-house, and held the audience in the palm of his hand, playing off the two singers like a consummate professional.
On the way, I had to explain to the wife that yes, dear, I know you heard it at Club Med, but Agadoo-doo-doo is not roots rock reggae in a dancehall stylee.

Pretty soon I'm going to have to start dealing with heavy issues, so let me have fun now.

2006-12-15T05:25:00.000-08:00

War Poets and Heavy Metal lyrics (and masked men)

(but not in that order)

a) A correspondent of mine, who is also helping with the war-graves project, has been telling me that he grew up in the 'sixties, so Heavy Metal (HM from now on) is "after my time" and that his anti-war anthem was "Universal Soldier" by Donovan.

Myself, I reckon that despite Donovan, Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger and so many, many others (don't forget Edwin Starr, redone by FGTH), only something as brutally uncompromising as HM and especially NWBHM can convey the message.

Take a look at the lyrics to "1916" by Lemmy of Motörhead, to "Passchendaele" or "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden (by the way, reading Iron Maiden lyrics is worth a doctorate in History), or any of a slough of HM classics going back as far as "War Pigs" by the Sabs, and tell me that they don't get the message across even more than Country Joe telling us to give him an "F"!!!

c) Then again, I still reckon that pro-wrestling is superior to ballet. They both feature men in outlandish costumes, are both highly choreographed, and both tell a story, but I know which one hits you harder, all apologies to Billy Elliot. By the way I don't count CZW.

Think of the guy that everyone loved to hate (except me and several other thousands of Keepers of the Salt), who became the wrestler of the millennium, I mean of course Kendo Nagasaki. Back in the '60's and '70's we were treated to a glimpse of the future.

b) The same correspondent who I started with also mentioned Isaac Rosenberg, who has been "enjoying" a revival almost 90 years after his death.
Go visit for example
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kylet1/ros1.htm
or especially
http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/focuson/rosenberg/

there has also been an historical novel "Beating for Light" published this year, being "the Story of Isaac Rosenberg"

The CWGC has a pamphlet about the poets of the Great War, which is pretty basic (and of course only covers those who never made it out, like Sassoon) but is still worth a read. One point that immediately springs out about Isaac Rosenberg is that he's different from all the rest. He was not educated at university, he had the rank of Private, and, Oh Yes, he was Jewish

May his soul be bound in the bond of the living

2006-11-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

A bit more family research about the Mountfords

My father also has the following to say about being a Mountford

Mountfords

The Oxford Dictionary of Surnames shows Mountford as
a) Shropshire and South : Saxon, from Mumma's Ford.
b) Staffordshire and Yorkshire : Norman, from Montfort-sur-Risle

The b's include me, by location. The noble Montforts will have, as custom ran, allowed their dependants to use the surname, as having no other. I have visited Montfort-sur-Risle and the physical type of the men there corresponds to that of my maternal grandfather, Samuel Mountford (Coatham, Redcar, Middlesbrough, Yorks.). Samuel M. married my grandmother Lily, who had the (presumably Norman) maiden name Ingledew.

I'm also posting this at genforum.com and the link to that is
http://www.genforum.genealogy.com/mountford/messages/244.html

2006-10-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

A Bit of Family Research

My father had an uncle who he never knew. It turns out that Harold Mountford, from Redcar/Middlesbrough, was the brother of Nora (who became Atkinson) and of Mary (who became Thompson).
He was the son of Samuel Mountford and Lily (nee Ingledew), and would have born in the 1890's, give or take a bit.
Who knows anything?
This posting is also posted at
http://www.genforum.genealogy.com/mountford/messages/241.html

2006-09-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

I've filled in one hole

One of the holes that I've been carrying around, if one can carry a hole, has now been filled in. Yes, I have finally seen Jethro Tull in concert. Actually, to be honest it wasn't Jethro Tull, as Martin Barre didn't play, but Ian Anderson put on a show worthy of the glorious tradition of Tull.
Updated versions of "Living in the past", "Thick as a brick", "Mother Goose", and a totally worked over "Aqualung" mingled with newer, and even unrecorded material, and the encore was a rousing "Locomotive breath" - could it have been anything else? Sometimes the snorts that emerged from the nostrils were overdone, and the "trouble and strife" didn't appreciate them, especially at the end of "Bouree".

Now all I have to do is see the Stones, the Who, Kiss, Sabbath, Priest, not to mention Doors, Led Zep, Hendrix, the Dead, T.Rex, and the Flying Burrito Brothers (notice I didn't mention Purple, as they were a let down, or the Pistols who I saw in 1977, honest, and Queen who I saw in 1974), and I'll have filled in the rest of the holes.

2006-09-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Everybody

Attached is a link to a book I came across while looking for details about the grave of G. Finklestein. (Saving Private Finklestein)

http://www.hagshama.org.il/en/resources/view.asp?id=1133

I haven't actually read it yet, only ordered it today in fact. In any case the proceeds go to the aid of a family who were victims of a terror attack, so if anyone else wants to know more, please contact Jay Shapiro either at
Jayerno@netvision.net.il
Or
rivkar69@yahoo.com

Now a question – can anyone find time to go to Jerusalem military cemetery on Mt. Herzl and photograph there the 7 graves (in fact 3 graves and 4 special memorials) to the parachutists from Eretz Israel ("Operation Amsterdam")?
(Please pass the photo's to me and I'll pass them on as I know the "direct line" to the researcher in question)

Volunteers please note, I'll be making a round of 'phone calls in the next few days, so if you have any progress that got "stuck" then now's the time to "unstick" it.

The Jerusalem Post article got delayed by the war, but publication has been promised "round about the Holidays".

Regards
Asher Thompson

2006-08-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we met up with the bus and had 4 days on the Somme with some 30 members of the project. As well as adding some 10,000 photo's of gravestones to the server, it was moving to follow in the footsteps of those who served there, especially as two of them were my grandfathers (who survived obviously, or else I wouldn't be here, as it says in tractate Sanhedrin that whoever destroys a single life is as if he destroyed an entire world). On the Sunday we even climbed the Butte de Warlencourt where the 12th Battalion London Regiment saw action in November 1916 and my grandfather was there as a lieutenant. From a Jewish point, we were asked about placing pebbles
on headstones, luckily I knew the answer, for those who aren't sure, it's at

http://www.askmoses.com/article.html?h=118&o=1309

so now there are some 30 Brits who every time they see a Jewish grave, place a pebble on it. We never felt bad vibes from anyone on the bus, (apart from us middle-eastern types always being late, as they were super-punctual…).
At the Fribourg German cemetery we saw First World War graves of German soldiers with Jewish graves interspersed (see photo)

(That's the Mrs. and Me of course)
At this point, the guide told of Jewish-German soldiers who fought for the "Vaterland" in 14-18, won medals, and when the SS came for them, showed them their medals, and were dragged off to the camps regardless.

Anyhow, the full account will be published in the next newsletter, suffice to say that the sight of a busload of Brits descending on a cemetery is something not to be missed. The passion that they had for this had to be seen to be believed.

If anyone's interested, I have, from the CWGC, a list of all the Palestinians (Arab and Jew) who fell in the service of the British in World War 2. Any amateur historians will find it fascinating, that's a promise.

Continuing the above (Jew and Arab in the service of the Brits) and with special regard to Jerusalem Day, here's another interesting link:

http://zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=4507

Don't forget to look at the requests list at

http://www.britishwargraves.org.uk/newsite/Requests/countries/Israel.htm

So, until the newsletter comes out, it's good to be home, keep those photo's coming and don't forget the "mugshots" and potted biographies.

2006-08-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

Sidney Fooks (1892-1996) was a notable British educator who typified the Renaissance man being in turn, soldier, teacher and artist. Well-known, much loved and respected, he raised generations of pupils, and while his life did not bring him to prominence like educators such as Janusz Korczak he left a mark on the lives of literally thousands.
Contents
[hide]
1 Biography
2 The Soldier
3 The Educator
4 The Artist and Poet
5 Funeral Oration
6 In Memoriam
7 External links
//
[edit]
Biography
Reproduced WITH EXPRESS PERMISION OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER details on discussion page.
Born in Salisbury on 25th August 1892, 'Beaky' Fooks went quietly to sleep in May 1996 at the age of 103 in his beloved Winchcombe. There were so many milestones in his life, and such affection and loyalty from his former pupils at Harrow County and his friends everywhere, that much that would be said at this time has appeared in these pages over the years. His life had four distinct stages, the first being his childhood and education in very modest circumstances and the second his war service.
[edit]
The Soldier
No one has ever heard what act of bravery earnt him the Military Cross - he would never talk about it and, indeed, it was only in very recent years that he could bear to talk of the Great War at all, perhaps because he first found release in his poetry, perhaps because he felt a historical imperative. He certainly co-operated in his late nineties with more than one academic archivist anxious to preserve first-hand accounts of that bloodiest of wars. The rest of Beaky's life may or may not have been moulded by his experience on the Somme, although he did once say, in an aside, that "it ruined my middle years."
[edit]
The Educator
That is a sombre thought, for these were the third stage of his life, the Harrow County years. Those who knew him as a teacher would never call those years ruined; rather, they were years of enormous fulfilment and such influence in the quiet profession he chose that many of those who came under his tutelage stayed devotedly and affectionately in touch for the rest of his life. How or when he was dubbed "Beaky" he could not recall, although he once confided that "I never much cared for it." Of course, he saw the passing of many of his pupils - the youngest of whom can scarcely be less than sixty now - and there were still something like fifty in touch a couple of years ago.
[edit]
The Artist and Poet
The fourth stage, of course, was the longest, his retirement lasting nearly 44 years. He took early retirement at 60 (a sad blow to at least one boy, still only half way through his 'A' Level English!) 'while I am still young enough to make something of it.' He took up painting and became a considerable water-colourist. Moving first to High Wycombe, he soon moved to Winchcombe, in which he passed the rest of his life in blissful rural idyll. His cottage was a mile or two outside the village in tranquil Corndean, and not another building could be seen from his window. It was here that he wrote his dozen or more delightful volumes of Winchcombe Verses. Many friends who received them would send him a contribution to his favourite charity, LEPRA the leprosy relief association When he moved there, Beaky reckoned that it would take twenty years to become accepted. Whether it did take that long he never mentioned, but he certainly became a local celebrity and was loved by his many friends and cared for by them as his mobility diminished. None cared more generously and affectionately than Doris Moore, a one-time neighbour, who visited him often, saw his installation into the retirement home where he spent his last eighteen months and arranged his funeral.
[edit]
Funeral Oration
It was an occasion he would have approved of thoroughly, perfectly organised, sad without being solemn, a quiet celebration of a well-ordered life which demanded little and gave much. There was a good turn-out of Old Gayts and Hylton Oberst spoke superbly. After reading two of Beaky's verses, the second Dotty with Decimals, he went on to say:- I think we all knew that Sidney had a sense of humour, but the sense of mischief, of irreverence in that poem was not appreciated - not even suspected - by those of us who were his pupils at Harrow County School. For Mr Fooks the schoolmaster was a figure of immense authority, though he never needed to use the battery of sanctions that schoolmasters had at their disposal in those days, detentions, the 100 lines, or - the ultimate - a painful interview with the Headmaster. All it took was a sort of growl from Beaky Fooks: "Settle down! Get on with your work. LET THE OTHER FELLOW ALONE!" to quieten the most lively class. Apart from that, we remember perhaps three things about him:- He was a modest man. He never talked of his achievements. He never talked about the Great War, or his part in it, or how he won the Military Cross. He was a discreet and loyal man. He never shared with us the staff-room tittle-tattle, and he didn't murmur during the turmoil that followed the retirement of Randall Williams as Headmaster in 1946. Above all, he was an enthusiast for his subject. He introduced us to the works of Chaucer, to the poems of Keats and Shelley, and Browning, to the novels of Trollope and Thomas Hardy. He infected us with his own enjoyment of Shakespeare, and especially his most colourful characters, Beatrice and Benedick, Dogberry and Verges, Sir John Falstaff, Bardolph, Nym and Ancient Pistol. Each generation will have its own cast of characters, depending on the "set books". For many of us he was, quite simply, the best schoolmaster that we ever knew. And in saying goodbye to Sidney Fooks, we can do no better than turn to the last page in our own School service book, put together by Randall Williams and George Thorn in 1923, the year after Sidney joined the staff of the County School. It is quite short:- "Oh Lord, who has supported us all the day long of this troublous life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes and the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over and Sidney's work is done; now Lord, in thy mercy, grant him safe lodging, a holy rest and peace at the last. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
[edit]
In Memoriam
Many reminiscences of Beaky Fooks have come our way since the first news of his death, one a rare anecdote of his war-time experiences. He was leading a patrol searching derelict farmhouses. As he entered the darkened doorway of one he was struck violently across the back of the neck. Fearing the worst, he discovered to his slightly embarrassed relief that he had trodden on a wooden rake leaning against the wall! Another concerned an incident in the Staff Common Room at School. In a heated argument between two members of staff one moved to strike the other. Beaky, an older and most un-physical man, put himself squarely between them and said to the aggressor, "You'll have to deal with me first." A schoolboy of that era might be surprised that such an episode could occur, but none would be surprised that Beaky restored peace by the effortless command he had over unruly behaviour. For us many former pupils still in touch, it was as much a pleasure and a privilege to hear his voice, to read his letters, as it had been to share in his classes. We met him as a schoolmaster, but soon and for ever he was a man whose friendship and caring concern we treasured and who treasured ours. We shall miss him enormously. Colin G. Dickens From the Old Gaytonian 1996
Sidney Fooks at Craiglockhart War Hospital The HYDRA was the magazine of the Craiglockhart War Hospital. Wilfred Owen was editor for six issues from 21 July 1917. Later issues were edited by J.B Salmond, an experienced journalist and minor war poet. The hospital doctors believed that it was essential for shellshock victims to be as active as possible, so the magazine was run by and for the patients, with the main purpose of advertising events and activities. Issue number 5 - June 21st 1917 records the arrival at the hospital of Captain S. F. Fooks of the London Regiment.
[edit]
External links
http://www.lepra.org.uk/ leprosy relief association
http://www.jeffreymaynard.com/Harrow_County/index.htm Harrow County School
http://www.britishwargraves.org.uk/default.asp honouring those who were called on to make the supreme sacrifice
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Fooks"