Ahhh memories

No real reason for this post, other than to reminisce about the days when my alma mater, Syracuse, was fielding an actual football team in the Carrier Dome and our mascot wasn't a color.

The single greatest football moment I experienced in the Dome in my 4 years at Cuse...those were the days:

But hey, at least we beat Buffalo a couple of weeks ago. Barely.

-E

It's Back Baybay!

If there is one thing that pains me these days, it's the thought that I will not be in New York at 162 East 33rd Street later this month. Because as many of you know...

The 2nd Ave Deli is reopening!



And, irony of all ironies, its new location will be steps from my old apartment at 200 East 33rd Street.

I suppose, in a way, it's a good thing that I I don't live there anymore because, with such easy access to The Deli, I would definitely set a Guinness record for Fastest Corned Beef-Induced Coma Suffered by a Relatively Healthy 29 Year-Old.



Today's New York Times has a great story about the re-opening: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/magazine/21deli-t.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=c290f7f025668726&ex=1193544000

Anyways, happy eating. I'll see you there when I'm home in February!

And as New York Times reporter and deli aficionado Richard F. Shepard used to say, “I love Jewish food, but when you eat it, 72 hours later you’re hungry again.”


Not a self-portrait, but it
may as well be.


You can't keep a good deli down...


Lyla tov,
Erik

"What the HELL?" Israel moment of the week...

I love Israel to death. I really do. But very strange things happen here and they are occasionally quite difficult to wrap your head around. This latest brushstroke on the Israeli cultural canvas had me scratching my head when I first saw it a few months ago, and I still can't quite grasp the concept.

You know those carnival machines where you put in a quarter and you make some mechanical claw grab a stuffed animal and drop it into a hole?

Well in Israel they have those same machines for children. Except with cigarettes.

Exhibit A, from a bowling alley here in Jerusalem:




Can't see them? Fine here's a closer look:




Uhhhh, hello? Where does one even start? There are a lot of smart people in this country, and yet no one has figured out that THERE ARE CIGARETTES IN THE CHILDREN'S TOY MACHINES! This is unfortunately not an isolated incident. I've been privy to many of these machines all over the country.

Here's the thing: yea yea, cigarettes are bad for you and it's addictive and gross blah blah blah. But if I were an Israeli kid growing up here, I'd be pissed that those stupid cigarettes are taking up room in the machine where there could be stuffed animals or cool plastic eggs with toy soldiers inside! If I'm an 8 year-old boy, I don't want any heatsticks. All I really want is a PS3. Or maybe a magnifying glass, a bunch of ants, and some free time. Why can't they put that stuff in the machine?

Anyways, in all seriousness, this is pretty sick if you ask me. What's next? Ashtrays from the toothfairy?



"No no sweetie. Not 'till you put a quarter in the machine."

ATTENTION CHILDREN OF THE 80s!

Ahh the 80s. Who can forget the vital contributions made to our society by this wonderful period of decadence? Thanks to the 80s we got such cultural masterpieces as Alf, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the rise of crack cocaine!

Of course, we also got a wonderful song by Toto called "Africa." It's quite a nifty tune actually, and I recently found a rendition by a guy named Andy McKee, who you probably already know. But of course, being in Israel, we get things just a little later than everyone else.

Anyways, check this out. The McKee dude is outstanding.

Maybe I should recruit him to join 2 & 1/2 French?

-E

Helping out in Sderot

You might have heard of Sderot; it's in the news a lot here in Israel. Sderot is a relatively small, sleepy, lower-class town on the western edge of the country...and it's about a mile outside of the Gaza Strip. Gaza, you may remember, is no longer occupied since the much-publicized Israeli disengagement of 2005. The fact that Sderot is famous is not a good thing.



Almost every day, Palestinians fire Qassam rockets out of the Gaza Strip and into Sderot. Why? Good question. The Pals there are no longer under foreign occupation. So what's the deal?

The answer to that question is for another blog entry (although most of you probably know what I think: that Hamas, which runs Gaza and encourages these kinds of rocket attacks, obviously doesn't just want just Gaza...)

Anywho, the people in Sderot are obviously scared/annoyed/pissed/frustrated/depressed because of the Qassams and the Israeli government's refusal to do more to protect them. So, a bunch of students from different universities across Israel went to Sderot a few weeks ago to help boost the morale by helping clean up the neighborhoods, re-build fences, and paint rocket shelters.

When we heard about the trip, me and my friend Jason decided to take a break from being intellectual titans at Hebrew University and rolled up our sleeves, opened our hearts, and rolled to Sderot. Here are some pics of the 2 days we spent there:



So this is what terrorism looks like: The police station in
Sderot, where they keep, label, and document every Qassam
rocket that falls in the city. There were literally hundreds
of these things in the police station parking lot.



Rusty Qassams. Can you imagine these things hitting your
house every other day? Or how about the preschool
where your little brothers or sisters are going every morning?
What would you do? How would you feel?



More rusty Qassams. As you can see this is a "fresh" one,
dated July 26, 2007.



Me, Jason, and Esti, our new volunteering friend.



There are Qassam bunkers scattered all around the city
(although not enough). But until we got there, many
of them were just slabs of ugly concrete. The rationale is
simple: If they have to exist, they may as well be painted.



Sderot kids giving a hand. Ha, get it? Hand? No? Ok moving on...

DaVinci and Van Gogh hard at work on one of the shelters.

THAT'S better...

More random painting. I don't know this

dude, but I find it peculiar that he's wearing

a hat and no shirt.

Cleaning sh*t up.

Me and my friend Carmen chillin in a succah during a break

from cleaning.

So I must say, it felt great to help out. Clearly, we didn't change the world, but hopefully some of the people in Sderot realized that they're not totally alone. The Israeli government may forget about these people, but not everyone has.

It's of course hard to describe the feeling of revulsion when you're standing face to face with hundreds of used instruments of death, like what I saw at the Sderot police station. Those Qassams I was looking at had killed children on purpose.

And people wonder why I get mad...

-E

Chuck Norris + Israel = my dream come true.

Ok Ok Ok. I'm trying to contain myself and I apologize that I'm a bit late on this one...

Most of you know that I have developed a small obsession with Chuck Norris. The reasons are threefold:

1) Chuck Norris jokes are simply magic (aka: "Chuck Norris has counted to infinity...twice.")

2) My old neighbor Hank looks EXACTLY like Chuck Norris. And Hank, much like Chuck, was a WEIRD dude.

3) Walker, Texas Ranger was a mainstay on USA Network when I worked there. The re-runs would come on right after our golf coverage and...well...sometimes after a long day of producing sports television, Chuck Norris was the only guy who made you feel good about the world.

But this is unlike anything even I could have dreamt up. Chuck Norris sat in for Sean Hannity on Fox News' Hannity and Colmes show to talk about Jimmy Carter's book a few months ago.* Here's Chuck Norris interviewing Steve Berman about the book:



Haha, Chuck...how do you pronounce "apartheid?" Think what you will about Fox News, but I am eternally in debt to whichever genius producer hatched this little plan. For the love of god, Chuck Norris can barely spell his own name and yet...he's guest-hosting a national news show on Fox and asking "all the tough questions." In the words of Kenny Bania: That's gold, Jerry! Gold!

On a serious note: Here's exactly why I'm not a Fox News hater: This is a clear indication that Fox doesn't even pretend it's legit anymore. So, to all the self-righteous, holier-than-thou morons out there who blast Fox for having an "agenda" despite referring to itself as a legitimate news outlet...get a CLUE! You losers are the only ones who think Fox News thinks of itself as legitimate. Because after the Great Chuck Norris Incident, Fox clearly isn't even pretending anymore. So get off your high horses and face up to reality: yes, even the news media has become slanted and is taking sides. The difference is Fox News is one of the few outlets that has the balls to be semi-honest about it. You might not like what Fox says, but at least you're getting it straight. Trust me, having worked in network newsrooms, this is better than actually having biases and being arrogant enough to think it doesn't filter into your work. "Fair and Balanced???" Give me a break people. That's called marketing and you all fell for it!

Ok I'm gonna go download some Walker, Texas Ranger re-runs.

Later,
E


*Thanks to Amy "Gladys" Rothberger for the head's up on this one...