Size Doesn't Matter BLOG »
Israel’s biggest sculpture exhibit underway
Jerusalem’s Mamilla Avenue invites visitors to view 120 pieces created by 60 different artists under the open sky, free of charge
Israel’s biggest outdoor sculpture exhibition was launched in Jerusalem last week. Some 120 pieces created by 60 different artists – all free of charge.
This is the fourth year in a row that the Alrov Mamilla Avenue management presents an outdoor exhibition under the open sky. This year’s chosen theme was music and the exhibit was named “Muse”.
Visitors will be met by sculptures of a tambourine and King David’s harp, alongside a saxophone, a grand piano, a woman-shaped cello, and couples dancing to the sounds of tango or any other melody one can imagine.
Oldest sculptor: 86-year-old Shoah survivor
One of the most interesting sculptures at the avenue’s western entrance was created by Dr. Martin Kieselstein, a Holocaust survivor who sculpted three images of musicians he remembered from the concentration camps.
Kieselstein, 86, is the oldest among the 60 artists presenting their work at the outdoor exhibition.
The exhibition allows artists to display modern and contemporary art in an avenue combining old and new, reconstructed and modern buildings, restaurants, cafés, clothing and jewelry stores, and most importantly – adjacent to Jerusalem’s Old City and Jaffa Gate.
Tzipi Vital, curator and producer of the “Muse” exhibition, approached many artists and asked them to create different pieces focusing on musical instruments, music and movement and, of course, inspired by a muse.
The artists worked on their creations for about a year and a half. Some of the sculptures are more than two-meters high.
Sixty artists were selected out of a group of many candidates. Their work can be viewed throughout 2012.
Source: Ynetnews.com
Jon Turteltaub to Direct ‘A Matter of Size’ based on Israeli Sumo Wrestling Comedy at Paramount
Producer David Permut is setting up the project with Howard Franklin writing a script based on a 2009 Israeli comedy about a group of overweight people who become sumo wrestlers.
Producer David Permut is setting up A Matter of Size, a remake of a 2009 Israeli comedy, at Paramount. Jon Turteltaub is attached to direct and scribe Howard Franklin is penning the script.
Permut’s shingle, Permut Presentations, owns remake rights to the character-driven comedy about a group of overweight people who become sumo wrestlers. The original film, which was directed by Sharon Maymon and Erez Tadmor and starredItzik Cohen, played at several film festivals in 2009 and 2010.
At one point, Permut had been in talks to set up the project with Dimension Films, but the deal was never finalized.
Permut’s producing credits include Face/Off(1997), Charlie Bartlett (2007) and Youth in Revolt (2009).
Carol Baum and Howard Rosenman also are producing.
Turteltaub’s directing credits include The Sorcerer’s Apprenticeand two National Treasure movies. He is also set to direct Last Vegas, a comedy Laurence Mark is producing for CBS Films and Mandate.
Franklin has written The Man Who Knew Too Little and last fall’s The Big Year.
Turteltaub is represented by WME and Oasis Media Group; Franklin is also represened by WME.
Paramount did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Email: Daniel.Miller@THR.com
Twitter: @DanielNMiller
Source: HollywoodReporter
Israel remembers its first ever astronaut Col. Ilan Ramon 9 years on
Space Agency appoints new head; ministries to investadditional NIS 165 million.
The ninth anniversary – on February 1 – of the death of Col. Ilan Ramon is being marked with a whole week of events, including a US astronaut visiting gifted high school pupils and the Israel Space Agency (ISA) meetings to plan the country’s future moves.
Ramon, Israel’s first and only astronaut, was killed in the Columbia space shuttle crash along with six other crew members.
Retired National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astronaut William S. McArthur, Jr., was clearly excited to meet 500 teens from around the country on Tuesday who came to the Academy of Science and Arts high school in the Malha quarter of Jerusalem. Listening to their questions about his career and space experiences, the West Point graduate encouraged them to strive for the best and think of a scientific or space career. He also expressed his hope for further Israeli cooperation with NASA.
As a veteran of three NASA space shuttle missions and one expedition to the International Space Station via the Russian Soyuz capsule, McArthur has received numerous awards and medals for his breakthrough work in the field and racked up tens of millions of kilometers in space flights. The teens from 20 schools and members of the Ilan Ramon Space Club, learned about how he slept, shaved and ate; which health problems result from the lack of gravity and what caused him the most excitement.
Every year, NASA sends a delegation to Israel to help mark the tragic loss Ramon, and also keeps in regular touch with his widow, Rona, who has since lost a son, Asaf, in the crash of an Israel Air Force F16-A.
Yitzhak Klug, the grandfather of one of the pupils present, wowed the group when he revealed that he was a US engineer involved in developing parts of the the Apollo 11 spacecraft, which in 1969 landed the first men on the moon. Klug subsequently made aliya in 1971 and worked for years at Israel Aircraft Industries.
The Israel Space Agency, meanwhile, announced that it aims to expand its relative advantage to become one of the world’s five leaders in the civilian space field. This, the agency said, will be carried out by developing new microsatellites and multi-spectral cameras, expanding space infrastructure, maximizing international cooperation in space projects and encouraging young Israelis to get interested in space research. This and many other projects, it continued, will bring Israel’s standing in civilian, economic and scientific spheres of space to the level of its expertise in space-related security.
Israel has produced 13 satellites, and nine of them are currently revolving around the earth. Of these, there are six observational and three communications satellites. These were launched and are functioning at a 100 percent success rate, the agency said. ISA’s work has huge economic implications, as the world space market totals $250 billion.
Meanwhile, the ISA – which is a part of the Science and Technology Ministry, has appointed a new director, Menahem Kidron, who has been approved by the cabinet. Kidron, who was congratulated by Minister Prof.
Daniel Herschkowitz, previously worked at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. as a senior deputy director-general involved in space systems. He is replacing Dr. Zvi Kaplan, who is retiring after seven years in the post.
The new ISA director said that the civilian space program is of great national importance and will promote industry, academia and society. Born in Germany, Kidron has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. He worked for Rafael (Arms Development Authority) starting in 1972 and studied at Stanford University and New York University to develop lightweight structures and techniques for using coal to produce energy. Since 2009, at Rafael’s space systems administration, he ran business projects worth NIS 500 million a year.
The Finance and Science and Technology ministries have signed an agreement to invest an additional NIS 165 million in civilian space projects over the next two years.
It is expected to have a significant impact on exports. They are considering an additional expansion of their investment in space in 2013, including cooperative projects with other countries.
A feature article on the encounter between McArthur and the high school pupils will appear on The Jerusalem Post’s Science & Health Page on Sunday, February 12.
Source: Jpost.com
In the Lead up to World Cancer Day medical experts say 60% of Cancers can be prevented
It is possible to prevent 60 percent of cancer deaths by lifestyle changes, early diagnoses and proven medical interventions, according to the Israel Cancer Association.
The ICA is marking International Cancer Day on February 4.
Every year, 12.7 million people around the globe are diagnosed with cancer, and 600,000 die in an average month, a total of 7,200,000 a year. Estimates are that as the population ages, the world death rate from cancer will reach 12 million by the year 2030.
In Israel, 28,000 people – adults and children – are diagnosed yearly, and about 10,000 of them die of it. These figures, said the ICA, have not only huge personal implications but also major economic and societal effects.
The World Health Organization has stated in advance of the international day that of 57 million cases of death in 2008, 36 million resulted from non-communicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes complications. If nothing is done to fight tobacco, the WHO says, the annual number of deaths caused by smoking will rise from 3.4 million now to 6.3 million in 2030.
The World Economic Forum in 2011 said obesity raises per-capita expenses for medical care by 36 percent, smoking by 21% and heavy use of alcohol by 10%. All of these increase the risk of death from cancer. Annual world expenditure for treating noncommunicable, lifestyle diseases is $30 trillion, it added. The forum said in 2009 that noncommunicable diseases is one of the greatest threats on the world economy. People with chronic diseases work as many as six hours less per week.
ICA Director-General Miri Ziv said that despite the worrisome statistics, scientific studies show that six cancer deaths out of 10 can be prevented by living a healthful life, early diagnosis, immunizations and adequate national allocation for interventions that have been proven effective.
Cancer is the most damaging disease to the economy. The financial cost of 13 million new cancer patients each year was $290 billion in 2010. The figure is expected to reach $458b. in another 18 years.
There was good news, though. Breast cancer survival rates per year in Israel grew from 80.5% in 2002 to 86% in 2008.
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) called on the various national government to allocate money to apply the International Cancer Treaty in their health systems and reduce death from cancer and other non-communicable diseases by a quarter in 2025.
The ICA pointed out that in the last decade, the prevalence of thyroid cancer has increased in all population groups, but especially in Arab women. It is considered a slowly growing tumor with a low death rate. While it is less common in the general public, it is more common in Arabs, even though the rate is very small. Survival from thyroid cancer is over 90% over five years.
To avoid a wide variety of cancers, maintain normal weightover the years, without yo-yo dieting. Exercise regularly and minimize the number of fattening foods you eat. Youth should exercise daily, if possible, but at least three times a week. Cut the number of hours you spent sitting or lying down and watching TV.
Minimize the amount of high-calorie, salty and sugary foods you eat and prefer vegetables, fiber and fruit. Poultry and fish are much preferable to red and fatty meat. Prefer baking and cooking to grilling and frying meat. Whole wheat products are much more healthful that those made from while flour.
Eating garlic reduces the risk of colorectal cancer, according to recent research. There is no evidence, the experts say, that artificial sweeteners used in normal quantities raise the cancer risk, and they are preferable to sugar.
There is no agreement among scientists that eating organic foods are more effective in reducing cancer risks than ordinary food, the ICA said. Wash produce with water (and soap if possible). Avoid trans fats that are produced from turning vegetable oil to solid fat such as margarine.
Source: Jpost.com
VIDEO: Mutiny Bikes’ Roey visits Israel – Transforms TeL aViv into his playground
A insight into Roey’s trip to Israel to ride the transitioned streets of of Tel Avivv.
IBM acquires mobile enterprise developer Worklight
IBM has acquired Israel-based mobile platform developer Worklight for an undisclosed sum. Worklight offers mobile application management to companies in a number of sectors, including healthcare. According to the acquisition announcement, Worklight is set to become a key component of IBM’s mobility strategy. IBM will leverage Worklight to help enterprise clients “speed the delivery of existing and new mobile applications to multiple devices” while ensuring “secure connections between smartphone and tablet applications with enterprise IT systems,” the announcement stated.
With the Worklight acquisition IBM certainly has mobility solutions for the healthcare enterprise in mind:
“For example, a bank can create a single application that offers features to enable its customers to securely connect to their account, pay bills and manage their investments, regardless of the device they are using. Similarly, a hospital could use Worklight technology to extend its existing IT system to allow direct input of health history, allergies, and prescriptions by a patient using a tablet,” according to the announcement.
IBM also noted the growing importance of mobile in the overall enterprise: A recent IBM survey of more than 3,000 global CIOs found that 75 percent pointed to mobility solutions as one of their top spending priorities. IBM also pointed out that last year, for the first time, shipments of smartphones exceeded total PC shipments.
IBM also claims that “every day more than one billion mobile phone subscribers are touched by IBM software.”
for More on Worklight and its acquisition by IBM click here to for the press release
