Photo: Sonicbids.com

Fresh off their recent successes, Flow, an Israeli Indie band, are coming to these shores for a tour of the USA. The band was recently named “Israel’s Indie band of the year,” and had one of their songs chosen as the anthem of the 2008 European Football Championship. Now they’re appearing at Cincinnati’s Midpoint Music Festival in September and, rumor has it, in New York. A sneak peek is at Cincinnati’s DERF Magazine.
Check out the band’s MySpace page for more information and music samples. It’s definitely worth the listen!

Hanoch Piven, the Israeli caricaturist, arrived in the States last week to for an exhibit of his work, but managed to take time out of his busy schedule to spend with local kids in both New York and Boston. Since his artwork employs everyday objects to make a new picture, it’s an easy technique to learn (though difficult to master!) and something fun for kids to do. During his visit to New York, Hanoch worked with a select group of students at Arts High School in Newark and helped them think “out of the box” to make art out of junk (for even more coverage, see here).
Days later, in Boston, Piven helped kids at Children’s Hospital Boston understand their illnesses and inspire them to recover. Hanoch said that “especially in the hospital environment, it’s great for kids to create with materials that are usually associated with ‘bad things’.

Hanoch Piven (left) with a young student at Children’s Hospital Boston
Photo: Consulate General of Israel to New England

Hanoch Piven, self-portrait; used with permission

Well, actually, a lot of things (for example, party favors). Now, meet the man behind the whimsical and incisive illustrations when he returns to New York for a show at the Museum of American Illustration. He’ll be talking on Wednesday 10 September about how his career has developed from the School of Visual Arts to world-famous illustrator.
Ticket information about the evening’s program can be found here.
For more on Hanoch Piven, see Wikipedia and Illoz.

Photo:Getty Images

With all the news of hi-tech and green power that have been coming out of Israel, we haven’t gotten the chance to show you much of the world of fashion. This video from Infolive.tv addresses that situation with a good look at some of Tel Aviv’s trendiest designers. Caution: This film may stimulate a sudden urge to go shopping!

One of Israel’s biggest stars in this years Olympics is tennis player Shahar Peer. She’ll be playing in the singles and women’s doubles tennis matches running Sunday through Saturday (10-16 August).
Peer now has her own website where you can follow this rising star’s path, including webcasts of games (when available).
After the Olympics, Peer will be coming to New York to play in the US Open at the end of the month. She’ll also be giving a tennis clinic while she’s here, so watch for more details.

Photo: Wikipedia
Used under Creative Commons license

Rutu Modan, one of Israel’s most famous illustrators and comic book artists, won this year’s Eisner award for Best Graphic Album–New for her graphic novel Exit Wounds. The book tells the story of Koby Franco, a young man searching for his father, last seen at the site of a suicide bombing. The Eisner Awards are the highest honors in the comic book industry and are awarded annually at the Comic-Con convention.
Rutu Modan’s webpage has more works and information.
In addition, Modan’s work is currently running serially in the New York Times Magazine with the title “The Murder of the Terminal Patient.” Previous works that appeared in the New York Times can be viewed here.

Photo: Yair Gil

We’ve all heard about man’s dream to fly, but for some people dreams can become reality. For the past four years, Israeli-born Yair Gil has spent most of his time in a garage behind his house. His mission was to build a plane that could get him from Israel to the Osh Kosh Aviation Festival in Wisconsin. On July 7, 2008, after a series of test runs he finally took off on a three-week flight to the U.S.
This is not the first time Gil’s first time in the cockpit. During his 37 years as a combat and commercial pilot in Israel, he managed to get a birds-eye view of most of his stops a long the way. “Back than it was business,” Gil says. “Now it’s personal. Though the plane can cover almost 1,800 miles a day, I think I’ll take it easy and enjoy the ride.”
Gil is scheduled to arrive in Wisconsin on July 28, 2008.

Photo: Danny Yanai, israelpics.com, used with permission

One of the great things about Israel is the sheer number of cultures represented in the population. Now, according to Ynet, the state’s cultural calendar has a new holiday central to Israel’s Ethiopian community. Sigd, celebrated in late fall, is a traditional Ethiopian day of fasting and expressing thanks for the giving of the Torah followed by a break-fast and celebration.

Yesterday, for the first time ever, the NYC Gay Pride Parade featured a group of Israelis marching under the the slogan “I’m a Proud Israeli.” This group of about 50 gay and straight Israelis came to show its solidarity with the LGBT community in New York. The crowd, estimated at one million, applauded loudly all along the parade route. See the video for the highlights.
Last week also featured the Tel Aviv Gay Parade–check out this YouTube video for more.
For more information about gay rights in Israel, see our previous post.

Gilad Shalit’s (Schalit) book, When the Shark and the Fish First Met, now appears on YouTube to mark two years since he was kidnapped.
The Consulate General of Israel filmed five fifth-grade students from New York reading the story that Shalit wrote when he, too, was eleven years old. “Gilad was a boy our age when he wrote this story; if only we could write something so significant at this age. Today, no one knows where he is and he probably misses his parents,” said one of the students. “If the shark and fish can make peace, why can’t people?”
Click here to download (PDF) information about Shalit and the book.