We are the World

All humans carry the shame of embarrassing moments from their past. If you lived through the 80s, chances are you still have a relic from this embarrassing era somewhere in your possession.

Maybe it’s a piano tie, hanging in the back of your closet or a set of Star Wars bed sheets, folded neatly at the bottom of your linen cupboard. For me, it’s a 7” LP of the hit single “We Are the World”…

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Rembrandt Rhinoplasty

Plastic surgery has been increasingly gaining ground in the hearts of both men and women. After all, we do live in a world dominated by pictures of good-looking people, whose perfect looks often enough leads us to the office of a plastic surgeon in a quest for long lasting youth.

A lot of progress in plastic surgery has come as a result of intensive lab research leading to improved techniques and impressive results. But for Dr. Tali Friedman, a plastic surgery resident at Assaf Harofeh Hospital, research drove her away from the lab into art libraries and museums, where she conducted two studies aiming at showing that art and plastic surgery are not two parallel universes, as is widely admitted, but fields that interact.

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Yoni’s Spicy Meatball

If there’s one thing I love about Israeli food, besides the fact that it is as varied as Israelis themselves, it’s the different kinds of places there are to eat. You can find fancy restaurants where the waiters have white napkins over their arms, cafés where during your meal you can pull a book off of the wall-to-wall bookshelves and add it to your bill (or not), and falafel stands that are no more than a window from which a Yemenite Israeli hands out fresh falafel balls before you order.

One of the most popular types of restaurants in Israel is the kind known as a ‘ptilia.’ …

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Take a Break

Nothing funny or over the top, just a short virtual aquarium break from all of your daytime slacking. Israeli divers take you on a journey through the coral reef in Israel’s southern port city of Eilat.

Although Eilat has only 14 km of coast line on the Red Sea, it is packed with dense and vibrant coral. Eilat’s reef has taken a beating over the years from intensive tourism and industry, but is still thriving and making a dramatic recovery thanks to the dedication of the IUI

Well anyway, I hope you have been refreshed for a new round of work place slackering.

Subway Flirt

I tried this on the subway the other day and got pelted with nickels. If you’re wondering, Israel does have a subway, albeit a very very small system,… ok it’s more like a glorified underground trolley, but that’s something, right?

If you don’t believe me check it out here:

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Sweet Hand-Washing Maidens

Living in big city (whether Tel Aviv, New York or Toronto) life gets a little grubby. That’s why so many of us are enticed by the offers of sweet maidens offering to give us a unique hand-washing experience.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, chances are you have never passed by a Sabon store. If you have, it’s likely a Sabon employee will have invited you inside, for an exfoliating hand wash with warm water and flaky soap. In winter, the simple act of getting your hands under a stream of warm water is treat enough, let alone the yummy-smelling products and smooth results.

All of the products are made in Israel and not tested on Animals. And with six shops in New York, two in Chicago and one in Boston, New Jersey, San Francisco and Toronto, this Israeli chain is doing pretty well.

They had this write up in Business Week last month…

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Yoni Ducks a Pigeon

One night last week, after a particularly long day at work, I was nearly assaulted on the way home. Well, let me explain: I was walking the few blocks from the subway to my apartment in Manhattan, minding my own business, kind of stumbling through my exhaustion, when I noticed a pigeon halfway down the block flying kind of low along the sidewalk, headed right towards me.

Now, there are plenty of pigeons and other birds in the city, and it’s easy enough to find them in large flocks covering the sidewalk, or flying off of the roofs of buildings. Usually they’re smart enough to avoid you if they’re flying alone, or you’re smart enough to avoid them, if they are in such a big group. But this single pigeon was weaving from side to side, not five feet off the ground, and it showed no signs of turning. At the last second I ducked and flung my hands and my briefcase in front of my face to protect myself, and I swear that the thing grazed me…

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Reggae Nation in the Holy Land

As we were perusing HAARETZ this morning, sipping our coffee and jamming to Barrington Levy, we came across a pretty irie interview…

Jammin’ with the help of the Lord
By Tamar Sukenik

Elan Atias is not your typical reggae artist. A former Wailer who sang in Bob Marley’s band for four years, Atias recently launched his first solo album.

Atias is a Los Angeles native. His father, an Israeli native of Moroccan descent, and his mother, an American Jew, met in Tel Aviv in 1969. Despite the language barrier (he spoke no English, she knew no Hebrew), they married two weeks later, moved to the United States, and had four children.

Atias’ big sister, also a musician, chose to focus on alternative rock. Elan, now 35, loved reggae. “I used to come to Israel for three months out of every year, ever since I was a little kid…

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Chocolate and coffee: the finer things in life

Years ago, Israelis would complain that in New York it was impossible to find a good plate of hummus. But since the birth of chains like the Hummus Place and Chickpea, other foodstuffs have become the subject of complaint: coffee and chocolate.

As an Australian (we are also a nation of great coffee connoisseurs) I know that the United States has never been known for quality coffee. New York is no different. And anyone who has ever tasted the creamy, rich texture of Belgian (or even English) chocolate knows that Hershey’s may be good “candy”, but it isn’t really chocolate.

Luckily for the taste-buds then, two new Israeli-owned establishments have opened in downtown Manhattan in the last few months: the 24-hour café Aroma and the chocolate haven known as Max Brenner.

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Commercial Time

Israel Is A Dangerous Place - video powered by Metacafe

Great Eyes - video powered by Metacafe

Here are some funny commercials from Israel which have been posted because they are funny and you will most likely enjoy watching them. The first is kind of self-explanatory. The second might explain why the blog team, here at the Consulate is allowed to do this in the first place. Enjoy!