Archive | 2010 | September

It’s the middle of the semester and it’s time for a drink. Come out to the Aulde Dubliner (upper floor) in the Market for some drinks and relaxation with the Israeli Awareness Committee.

On the Exhibition

A selection from the works of provocative photographer David LaChapelle (b. Connecticut, 1963) is exhibited in Israel for the first time, giving a comprehensive view of his unique and daring style of the past twenty years. Alongside familiar subversive photographs originally commissioned for fashion and celebrity editorials, the show explores LaChapelle’s personal projects, created recently as part of his artistic and critical expression. Here he seeks to juxtapose contrasting concepts through their visual representation: hope and despair, growth and devastation, renewal and degeneration. He creates uncommon combinations, surprisingly mixing familiar symbols with anonymous models, creating oxymoronic pictures of the beauty of destruction and the glamour of disaster. The photographs are often laden with symbols and metaphors—from devout Christian iconography through the blunt pornography of overdoses and street gangs. LaChapelle takes the photographed image to the extreme of a blunt cliché, which almost collapses into a perfect grotesque due to the redundant color and exaggerated processing; surprisingly, beyond the excess, human gestures and unexpected vulnerability are revealed.

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Critics call it barbaric, but fans of Mixed Martial Arts say it is a serious sport that demands highest level of athleticism. World’s best to enter octagon cage in Tel Aviv’s Nokia arena in November. Get ready for some blood, sweat and tears

Eighteen of the best Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters in the world are scheduled to arrive in Israel on November 9 to take exchange blows in Tel Aviv’s Nokia arena. The fighters, who have been elevated to god-like status around the world, will take on some local fighters as well.

The full contact combat sport is immensely popular around the world, with billions of dollars in annual revenue. The MMA’s fan base in Israel has been growing steadily since local television stations began airing the bouts regularly.

Ticket prices for fight night at Nokia arena range from NIS 99 ($26) to NIS 1,000 ($265) near the octagon “cage.”

Former heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez, “The African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Nkamhoua and Jeff Monson are among the MMA stars who are due to appear in Tel Aviv.

An article published in the US described the MMA fighters as the perfect athletes.

Ido Pariente, 33, a fighter and trainer, says MMA demands “strength, athleticism, flexibility and more balance than in any other sport.”

Many critics say the sport is too violent, but Pariente rejects this claim. “You can’t call a sport in which the competitors are under close medical supervision and need a license to compete barbaric,” he says.

“It’s not what people think. It’s not just about people fighting in a cage. This is a serious sport.”

Source: Ynetnews.com

English rock star lands in Holy Land with wife Sharon ahead of Tuesday’s Ozzfest at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park

Prince of Darkness in Israel : English rock star Ozzy Osbourne arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport on a private plane Sunday evening, along with his family members.

Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, who also served as his personal manager, held a press conference at a Tel Aviv hotel.

Asked whether he had any hesitations about visiting Israel, on the backdrop of the latest cancellations by international artists, he replied that he tries to stay away from politics because “I wouldn’t know what I was talking about.”

His wife added that “Britain has the IRA and no one cancels concerts there.” Asked why it took him so long to arrive, Osbourne said, “I don’t know, I was drunk for years.”

The family is slated to visit Jerusalem on Monday. On Tuesday, Osbourne is expected to meet with Ynet fans at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park at around 4 pm, and will later watch performances by the Korn and Soulfly bands, as part of the Ozzfest. At 8:55 pm, he is scheduled to take the stage.

Meanwhile, the Yarkon Park is preparing for the rock singer’s performance. The Exhibition Grounds’ gates will open at 4:30 pm Tuesday, and the public is advised to arrive with public transportation or by foot.

Source: Ynetnew.com

What is PEACE DAY?

In the spirit of the day…

Stephanie Ann, Jean Francois and Jacqueline suffer from heart defects preventing them from performing physical exercise. Holon’s Edith Wolfson hospital, where they will soon be operated on, gives them new hope

Twelve-year-old Stephanie Ann Elisabeth never attended a gym class or rode on a bicycle. A congenital heart defect makes it hard for her to perform any kind of physical activity. Now, she may be able to realize her dream of playing volleyball after undergoing surgery in the Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.

Stephanie Ann arrived in Israel from Haiti together with 2-year-old Jacqueline Santos and 3-year-old Jean Francois Drensky. All three came to Israel with their mothers in order to undergo heart surgeries for their various birth defects as part of a project organized by the Save a Child’s Heart foundation.

The first Haitian boy to arrive in Israel was 6-year-old Woodley Elysee who came directly after the devastating earthquake that hit the Caribbean country. Since then, Woodley has been treated and returned to Haiti.

“Had we not operated on him he would have died soon after,” Dr. Sion Houri, head of Pediatric ICU in Wolfson, said Thursday. Today Woodley is a healthy, full functioning little boy.

Meanwhile, Lydia, Stephanie Ann’s mother still awaits her daughter’s operation.

“All those years they told us it was impossible for her to exercise or ride a bike,” she says. “Now, we’re supposed to stay here for three months and we have high hopes.” Stephanie Ann says shyly that she’s a 7th grader in a Port-au-Prince high school, that she does not have many friends and that her dream is to play volleyball.

Lydia says that she heard little about Israel before coming. “We looked Israel up on the internet and I saw there were religious people wearing black here,” she relates. “In Haiti people wear black when someone dies.”

The family were very fortunate during the earthquake, the mother says. “No one was hurt and the house wasn’t ruined either. My workplace was completely destroyed. I have a good friend who lost her husband and her leg. Haiti will never be the same. Many homes are still in rubbles,” she says.

Dr. Huri explains the importance of the procedures the three kids will undergo in Israel. “I hope we can operate on some of them next week and on the rest after Sukkot,” he says. “Because of their heart defects they can’t run or play any kind of sport. They’re fine as long as they don’t exert themselves.

“Their condition is dynamic and would have deteriorated had we not treated them,” he said, adding that the children are in risk of developing neurological problems but that he hoped they would return to form within 90 days.

The Save a Child’s Heart foundation was established 15 years ago and has since arranged surgeries in Israel for more than 2,400 kids, half of whom were Palestinians and the rest from third-world countries like Iraq, Morocco, Angola, Zanzibar and Romania.

The foundation receives funds from the European Union and Israel’s Ministry of Regional Development and hopes to facilitate the operations of 250 children this year.

Source: Ynetnews.com

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