Archive | 2012 | August | 13

15 year old Odeya Rush keeps proving that she’s going to be the next Israeli big thing in Hollywood. Last week she stepped onto yet another red carpet in Los Angeles, this time it was alongside actors Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton at the world premiere of ‘The Odd Life of Timothy Green.’

Rush, who’s represented by the talent agency ADD, was wearing a gorgeous poppy pink satin bow back shift dress from the ERIN by Erin Fetherston Spring Summer 2012 collection. She gave an interview to the press and posed for the cameras very professionally. In the new movie, which opens this Wednesday, she plays Joni Jerome.

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High school pupils from three local schools won a silver and three bronze medals at the 44th annual Chemistry Olympiad.

Israel’s Olympics team in London has won no medals, but high school pupils from three local schools won a silver and three bronze medals at the 44th annual Chemistry Olympiad in Washington last week.

The Israeli team underwent training at the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology and competed against 26 other teams from around the world. The winner of a silver medal was Tzuf Shai Peled from the Experimental School in Misgav (who received a bronze medal last year). The winners of the bronze medals this year were Nadav Orion of the Ben- Gurion High School in Emek Hefer, Uri Teichman from the Comprehensive Gimmel School in Ashdod and Michael Leitzin from the Leo Baeck High School in Haifa.

The international chemistry competition has been held annually for 44 years, but it was only the seventh time in succession that Israel has participated. Previously, at least one of the Israeli participants won a certificate of excellence or medallion, but this was the first time all four received medals.

The Technion’s chemistry faculty is responsible for choosing and preparing the teenage participants – both at theoretical studies in its labs and at training camp.

Prof. Ze’ev Gross from the Technion faculty said the two-day competition includes practical lab work and theoretical tests. The successful teams have usually come from the Far East.

This year, South Korea did exceptionally well, Gross said. Winning the medal for them is an entry card to the best universities in the world – sometimes automatically, without an entrance exam. The Technion offers the Israeli winners the same.

One of the Technion trainers was Dr. Oreana Sokolentz, who as a teenager herself in the former Soviet Union participated in several of the chemistry competitions.

Source: Jpost.com

National Geographic compliments the 620-miles stretch for its combination of ancient and modern history, Middle East wilderness

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israel National Trail was named one of the World’s Best Hikes by National Geographic magazine.

The trail, which extends up to 620 miles from southern to northern Israel, was named one of the 20 top hikes in the Epic Trails section.

It is joined on the list by such trails as the International Appalachian Trail, which extends into several countries, including the United States and Canada; the Yoshida Trail, Mount Fuji, Japan; the Great Himalaya Trail, Nepal; and the Continental Divide Trail, United States.

The magazine says the Israel National Trail is best for “Long-distance hikers with a love of both ancient and contemporary history.”

“Passing through vast empty desert and winding into kibbutzim, the Israel National Trail (INT) delves into the grand scale of biblical landscapes as well as the everyday lives of modern Israelis (with opportunities to stop in the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem). But beyond the immense sense of history and breaking news, the trail powerfully connects to something that often gets lost in all the headlines — the sublime beauty of the wilderness of the Middle East,” writes the magazine’s Doug Schnitzspahn.

National Geographic’s insider trip to trail travelers reads: “The biggest blessing here comes in the form of ‘trail angels’ along the INT who give a helping hand and often offer a place to stay free of charge to thru-hikers.” It also provides a link to an updated list of trail angels with contact information.

Source: JTA.org

All pairs are hand-made by Kobi Levi in his studio in limited editions.

Kobi Levi graduated from Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design, Jerusalem, in 2001. He specializes in footwear design and development.

Since his graduation Kobi has worked as a freelance footwear designer. His work has taken him to New York, Italy, Brazil and China. During this time Kobi has learned the trade secrets of shoe development and craftsmanship. His work experience includes both small workshops and large scale factories. Kobi is now designing for an Israeli women’s shoes brand, based in Tel Aviv.

Since his high school days Kobi had a strong passion for designing unique shoes. His creations can be defined as transferring the essence of daily objects into the shape of shoes. As Kobi explains it, “in my artistic footwear design the shoe is my canvas. The trigger to create a new piece comes when an idea, a concept and/or an image comes to mind. The combination of the image and footwear creates a new hybrid and the design/concept comes to life. The piece is a wearable sculpture. It is “alive” with or without the foot. Most of the inspirations are out of the “shoe-world”, and give the footwear an extreme transformation. The result is usually humorous with a unique point of view about footwear. Another aspect of the creation is the realization. All the pieces are hand-made in my studio. The challenging technical development is the key to bringing the design to life in the best way.”

These creations were uploaded to a blog Kobi opened in 2010. The main reason for opening the blog was that Kobi wanted to show his friends the new designs without having to send each one of them a heavy email. Soon the blog took up a life of its own and reactions streamed in from all over the world. This over-night exposure brought Lady Gaga to use the design Double Boot in her “Born this Way” music video.

Kobi’s Footwear Art creations were displayed in various exhibitions around the world. Recently they were presented in the SONS (shoes or no shoes) museum, Belgium, 2011; “Walkable”, the Guild collage for footwear design, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2011; Shoe design Exhibition collaboration with apm, Kong Kong, 2011; “Going Bananas”, group exhibition, Switzerland, 2011.

Limited editions from Kobi Levi’s creations are available for custom order from his studio in Tel Aviv. They are all hand made from high quality leathers.

More about Kobi @ http://www.kobilevidesign.com

CNN’s Elise Labott talks to Erel Margalit who views Jerusalem as a gateway to Israel’s business future.

If you’re in TEL AVIV, don’t miss it!!

More info via http://thewalkmen.com/ 

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