Mode מוד

61 Things He Loves about Israel

You’ve got to check out Benji Lovitt’s What War Zone? blog on Israel.  He is the funniest New York to Tel Aviv-transplant writer I’ve ever seen!

Last year, he put out the hliarious 60 Things I Love About Israel and in honor of this country’s 61st, he put out another addition published on his blog and on Jpost.com.

Check it out! If you live here, you’ll understand and you’ll die laughing!

61 Things I Love about Israel

Tel Aviv’s Best Songs

In honor of Tel Aviv’s centennial, a list on Mako.co.il (a music magazine) lists the 101 best songs about Tel Aviv, which I love because it helps me learn all about the songs that make this cosmo city special.

Of course, Danny Robias’ No Sleep Tel Aviv is on there, that song is a classic here in Israel and was at the centennial concert! It beat out Alona Daniel’s On The Roofs of Tel Aviv (she was also at the concert!) and Hadag Nachash Hine Ani Ba, which is fairly new in comparison and still made it the top three.  The song, in short, is about a guy who realizes Tel Aviv is the place to be, over Jerusalem.

Other surprises:

Sarit Hadad’s Bachom Shel Tel Aviv (In The Heat of Tel Aviv) which is not as much about Tel Aviv as it is a happy-go-lucky song about a ditzy girl in a Mercedes who is trying to find her place in the world, or in Israel at least. Hey, I guess this song is about the complicated/uncomplicated nature of people here.  The song is number 7.

Aris San’s classic Tel Aviv song is number 20! I thought it would be much higher!

Arik Einstein is on the list more then once, though never near the top 10.  I didn’t know he had so many songs that remind people of Tel Aviv!

It’s interesting to find out the stories behind these songs and what it says about the nature of Tel Avivians and this beautiful city by the sea.

Some classics you may want to hear, that I personally liked but have never heard before…

#83 Margalit Tsanani- Yeled Ra Tel Aviv (Bad Boy Tel Aviv)

#53 Yizhar Cohen- Marina

#69 Shlomo Artzi- I Have a Wife and Child in Lambarta

#77 Gali Atari- Tel Aviv in the Winter

Check out the list here:

http://www.mako.co.il/music-Magazine/specials/Article-243bdd90404c021006.htm

BBB

I feel privileged to live 5 minutes away from the center of town—where many of the summer’s concerts are being held!

Nothing compares to the night Balkan Beat Box came to the stage for Earth Day back in April.

Of course, it didn’t help that though the lights were turned off for one hour and alternative electricity was used (created by pedaling bikers on the side,) the streets afterwards were littered with coffee cups, cigarettes, and other garbage.

But the BBB show was magic! My roommate and I jumped up and down to no end.

And of course, it helped that Shlomi Saranga sang a few tunes.

A New Face on the Tel Aviv Music Scene

Remember the name Tal Sarvos…because one day she will be a star!

Our friend Tal, who’s an amazing singer (compared to the likes of Whitney and Mariah) invite me and my friend Sarah to see her first show in a small pub on 19 Lillenblum a few weeks ago. For something a little different, we attended and so glad we did!

She did the classics—Roxanne, Stand Up For Your Rights (Bob Marley), and Last Dance just to name a few!

Sarah and I got to talking and we both decided we’d like to hit up the Tel Aviv music scene a bit more—we’ve already gone to shows like GaberBand and Axum, thanks to our favorite bar Yeoshua (more on that haunt later!) and we know a couple local guitar players, singers, and a drummer.

I also happen to know someone who works for the Israel Artist Agency for bands like the ever-popular Cooloosh and Amiram Inc and will always get some free tickets to a show!

I’ve always wanted to frequent places like Levontin 7 and the Barzilay Club.

…So let’s hope I keep this concert thing up!

Stay tuned…

Arim Roshi

הולך אני כעת במשעול ההווהכילד ההולך לו לאיבוד
כפות ידי הן מושטות
מבקשות את העזרה להמשיך איתך את המסע
ובצדדים הפרחים כאילו איבדו את זהותם
מחפשים עוד קרן אור שתעזור
עוד לגימה קטנה של מים ממעייני החוכמה
תביא להם את התקווה

ארים ראשי, אשא עיני אל ההרים במרחקים
וקולי ישמע כזעקה, כתפילת האדם
וליבי יקרא מאין יבוא עזרי

עובר אני כעת בין נופים חדשים
הצעדים הם נעשים כה איטיים
מה יש שם שאין פה שאל אותי עובר
מה בלב אתה שומר
קשיש העיר כשעל גבו מונח כל עברו
מביט סביב ומחפש את עולמו
כשהווה כל כך קשה
לא אומר דבר, ארים ראשי אל המחר

ארים ראשי…

I walk now in the path of the present
like a child walking into oblivion
my hands are extended
asking for help to continue the journey with you
and on the sides the flowers as though they lost their identity
searching for a ray of light that would help
another small gulp of water
from the wells of wisdome
that will bring them the hope

I will raise my head,
I’ll lift my eyes to the mountains in the distance
and my voice will be heard as a scream,
as a prayer of a human
and my heart will call out
“where will my help come from”

I pass now between new landscapes
the steps are taken so slowly
what is there that is not here
I asked a passer-by
what do you guard in your heart
the city senior whose whole past rests on his back
glances around and looks for his world
when the present is so hard
he doesn’t say a word,
I will raise my head toward tomorrow

I will raise my head…