(no subject)
Tonight was the official premiere of the show I helped work on over the summer, and it was very much a corrective experience for the pre-screening I attended at the Rosh Pina Festival on Friday. To put it briefly, on Friday afternoon six people showed up other than us few crew members who were there; tonight it was about 200 people, and there were speeches, and the crowd actually laughed in all the right places (and so many more than I'd expected), and they applauded for real, and my family was there, and it was fun. And validating, because I spent quite a few hours on this project over the summer and the beginning of the semester, and I didn't care about not getting paid because that's how it goes, but I know my dad kind of minorly disapproved of the whole thing, and it was nice having him -- and everyone -- see the final product, see the recognition the project was getting. And my name is right there on the second title page of the credits, and it'll be on TV next week, so cheers :-)
I am in a good mood, and here is the promised photodump from over the weekend: (Very image heavy.)
On our way to Rosh Pina, we drove by this beautiful view of the Kinneret, and being early for once and unable to resist we took a small detour to go down to the shore. We parked at Capernaum, where we couldn't see any actual ruins but just a small stretch of shore. There was a dog.
Right, there were also these remains of crab claws and bird feathers. It was like the Little Mermaid's Scuttle and Sebastian had a showdown, and the results remain a mystery.
In my defense, it is really, really hard to be there and not try to take a few walking on water pictures of yourself.
Not exactly the soft sand of the Mediterranean.
We arrived in Rosh Pina for the festival around noon. Panels didn't look very interesting, and I hadn't been to RP in years, so we went around for a stroll instead. Rosh Pina was one of the first Zionist settlements in Israel from the late 19th century, and it's got a pretty, interesting historical site, all stone buildings that used to be Firsts -- first school that taught in Hebrew, first meeting hall, first (Zionist) synagogue.
(Also pretty trees and art galleries.)
We went to a few panels (including one with the creator of In Treatment, but it was disappointing), and to the screening of the episode from our show, which was also, like I said, disappointing, and then I slept over at a friend's house in Haifa and she made me sufganiot \o/:
...which had, five minutes previously, looked like this:
It took her ten minutes to whip them up, though, I swear her hands are magic.
On the way back south I noticed a small strip of shore just below Haifa and swerved off the highway at the last minute because my camera was right there in the car, so. The following is my photographic ode to wide angle lens:
Arriving in Tel Aviv later that afternoon I met up with a friend, afterwards, on the way to the car, I noticed a small gathering at Rabin Square, in front of city hall, about 30-40 people, with some music playing in the background. Apparently Tel Aviv has a central menorah lighting every night in Hanukkah, and not having anyone to light with that night, I stuck around. The organizers and most of the folks attending were haredi Jews, who don't exactly have a large population in Tel Aviv. They sang. They danced. They tried to light the menorah but the crane got stuck halfway up and they remained suspended and helpless for 20 minutes or so, as a dude in a huge candle costume (Candleman?) continued to dance to the music with a few others. Eventually the menorah was lit. I thought it was nice and amusing at the time, but I have since been to Meah Shearim which has put a slight damper on my affection towards haredim, though I shouldn't generalize.
Our version of Christmas lights: "Happy Holiday of Lights".
Tel Aviv city hall.
Walking around in Tel Aviv in the evening, I kept looking for menorahs on windowsills, but found none. Last night
sabrina_il,
hihoplastic and I went to Jerusalem to walk around one of the religious neighborhoods, because they're supposed to be pretty during Hanukkah, with people placing lit menorahs on windowsills and doorways, as tradition dictates.
I say "one of the religious neighborhoods" when I actually mean Meah Shearim, the number one most closed off haredi neighborhood in the country, if I'm not mistaken. These are the people who would throw stones at cars driving down their streets on a Saturday. The ones who "beg with all their hearts" that you, female, do not pass through their neighborhood in immodest clothes.
In general I try to respect people's way of life and I don't want to deliberately provoke, and even if this weren't a cold coat-requiring Jerusalem night, I would have worn modest clothes -- no cleavage, long sleeves. I draw the line at wearing a skirt, though. This is still my country, and I won't be forced to wear a skirt, thanks.
Walking around the neighborhood is a surreal experience. Yes, it's pretty; stone houses and narrow alleys and lit menorahs, crowded streets and children running around in groups, everyone dressed in heavy black and long coats, skirts, hats, posters pasted on all the walls because with no TVs or internet this is how you communicate, and not being able to understand the fragments of conversations around you because from toddlers to old men, they're all speaking Yiddish. It's like being transported 100 years back in time to the shtetl in Poland where my great great great grandparents grew up, except stricter and more extreme; it's so closed and backwards, it filled me with awe and a kind of horror, all at once.
We walked around, not taking too many pictures because it was nighttime and using a flash was conspicuous and awkward. Let me backtrack a little:
A mural near Ben Yehuda market, lit with late afternoon light.
Painted electrical fuse box on the street.
A tower in the courtyard of the Society for the Protection of Nature. So random. If you look at the sign on the door at the bottom, you can see this is actually their toilet. The building is from the... late 19th/early 20th century? Don't remember what it used to be.
Inside Meah Shearim; the one good photo I got of windowsill menorahs.
A small alley/courtyard with menorahs both outside and in. Later, we passed by it again. A number of men were gathered around a doorway, presumably lighting a menorah. When they scattered and only one was left, I started stepping inside, wanting to see where the alley led, if it did, what it looked like. The moment I stepped through the walls the man started yelling "Out! Out! Go away!" In the first moment I wasn't sure he was talking to me, both because he was avoiding eye contact, and also because I'm not used to being spoken to in the tone of voice one uses when speaking to a dog, so that was nice. My emotional reaction was an enormous fuck you, because unless there is a law stating I'm not allowed to walk through that street, you do not fucking command me to go away. My intellectual reaction was that if I actually step into the alley I'll only create a scene which is the last thing I want -- I know how this place works, I have no actual desire to intrude, it'd just be stupid. My emotional and intellectual responses were kind of moot, though, as my instinctive physical response was to just backpedal out of there, which is what pissed me off the most, because I would have liked to at least consciously decide on a course of action instead of just hearing "sit, stay, roll over" in an angry tone of voice and obeying.
Soooooo I remember that not all Orthodox Jews are haredim and not all haredim are Meah Shearim haredim, but for the time being I am feeling less than benevolent towards them. It'll blow over.
To finish:
A PROHIBITION
WE ARE AGAIN POSTING THIS REMINDER
THAT MOVIE SCREENINGS OF ANY KIND ARE FORBIDDEN
IN ANY WAY OR FORM
DO NOT SIN YOUR CHILDREN BY SCREENING MOVIES
et cetera.
I'm still in a good mood from tonight, though. Also I baked cookies again. And the premiere had free sufganiot, so I am still living up to my credo of: Sufganiot are not something you buy, they're something you get for free. Hip hip.
comments on Dreamwidth.
I am in a good mood, and here is the promised photodump from over the weekend: (Very image heavy.)
On our way to Rosh Pina, we drove by this beautiful view of the Kinneret, and being early for once and unable to resist we took a small detour to go down to the shore. We parked at Capernaum, where we couldn't see any actual ruins but just a small stretch of shore. There was a dog.
Right, there were also these remains of crab claws and bird feathers. It was like the Little Mermaid's Scuttle and Sebastian had a showdown, and the results remain a mystery.
In my defense, it is really, really hard to be there and not try to take a few walking on water pictures of yourself.
Not exactly the soft sand of the Mediterranean.
We arrived in Rosh Pina for the festival around noon. Panels didn't look very interesting, and I hadn't been to RP in years, so we went around for a stroll instead. Rosh Pina was one of the first Zionist settlements in Israel from the late 19th century, and it's got a pretty, interesting historical site, all stone buildings that used to be Firsts -- first school that taught in Hebrew, first meeting hall, first (Zionist) synagogue.
(Also pretty trees and art galleries.)
We went to a few panels (including one with the creator of In Treatment, but it was disappointing), and to the screening of the episode from our show, which was also, like I said, disappointing, and then I slept over at a friend's house in Haifa and she made me sufganiot \o/:
...which had, five minutes previously, looked like this:
It took her ten minutes to whip them up, though, I swear her hands are magic.
On the way back south I noticed a small strip of shore just below Haifa and swerved off the highway at the last minute because my camera was right there in the car, so. The following is my photographic ode to wide angle lens:
Arriving in Tel Aviv later that afternoon I met up with a friend, afterwards, on the way to the car, I noticed a small gathering at Rabin Square, in front of city hall, about 30-40 people, with some music playing in the background. Apparently Tel Aviv has a central menorah lighting every night in Hanukkah, and not having anyone to light with that night, I stuck around. The organizers and most of the folks attending were haredi Jews, who don't exactly have a large population in Tel Aviv. They sang. They danced. They tried to light the menorah but the crane got stuck halfway up and they remained suspended and helpless for 20 minutes or so, as a dude in a huge candle costume (Candleman?) continued to dance to the music with a few others. Eventually the menorah was lit. I thought it was nice and amusing at the time, but I have since been to Meah Shearim which has put a slight damper on my affection towards haredim, though I shouldn't generalize.
Our version of Christmas lights: "Happy Holiday of Lights".
Tel Aviv city hall.
Walking around in Tel Aviv in the evening, I kept looking for menorahs on windowsills, but found none. Last night
sabrina_il,
hihoplastic and I went to Jerusalem to walk around one of the religious neighborhoods, because they're supposed to be pretty during Hanukkah, with people placing lit menorahs on windowsills and doorways, as tradition dictates.
I say "one of the religious neighborhoods" when I actually mean Meah Shearim, the number one most closed off haredi neighborhood in the country, if I'm not mistaken. These are the people who would throw stones at cars driving down their streets on a Saturday. The ones who "beg with all their hearts" that you, female, do not pass through their neighborhood in immodest clothes.
In general I try to respect people's way of life and I don't want to deliberately provoke, and even if this weren't a cold coat-requiring Jerusalem night, I would have worn modest clothes -- no cleavage, long sleeves. I draw the line at wearing a skirt, though. This is still my country, and I won't be forced to wear a skirt, thanks.
Walking around the neighborhood is a surreal experience. Yes, it's pretty; stone houses and narrow alleys and lit menorahs, crowded streets and children running around in groups, everyone dressed in heavy black and long coats, skirts, hats, posters pasted on all the walls because with no TVs or internet this is how you communicate, and not being able to understand the fragments of conversations around you because from toddlers to old men, they're all speaking Yiddish. It's like being transported 100 years back in time to the shtetl in Poland where my great great great grandparents grew up, except stricter and more extreme; it's so closed and backwards, it filled me with awe and a kind of horror, all at once.
We walked around, not taking too many pictures because it was nighttime and using a flash was conspicuous and awkward. Let me backtrack a little:
A mural near Ben Yehuda market, lit with late afternoon light.
Painted electrical fuse box on the street.
A tower in the courtyard of the Society for the Protection of Nature. So random. If you look at the sign on the door at the bottom, you can see this is actually their toilet. The building is from the... late 19th/early 20th century? Don't remember what it used to be.
Inside Meah Shearim; the one good photo I got of windowsill menorahs.
A small alley/courtyard with menorahs both outside and in. Later, we passed by it again. A number of men were gathered around a doorway, presumably lighting a menorah. When they scattered and only one was left, I started stepping inside, wanting to see where the alley led, if it did, what it looked like. The moment I stepped through the walls the man started yelling "Out! Out! Go away!" In the first moment I wasn't sure he was talking to me, both because he was avoiding eye contact, and also because I'm not used to being spoken to in the tone of voice one uses when speaking to a dog, so that was nice. My emotional reaction was an enormous fuck you, because unless there is a law stating I'm not allowed to walk through that street, you do not fucking command me to go away. My intellectual reaction was that if I actually step into the alley I'll only create a scene which is the last thing I want -- I know how this place works, I have no actual desire to intrude, it'd just be stupid. My emotional and intellectual responses were kind of moot, though, as my instinctive physical response was to just backpedal out of there, which is what pissed me off the most, because I would have liked to at least consciously decide on a course of action instead of just hearing "sit, stay, roll over" in an angry tone of voice and obeying.
Soooooo I remember that not all Orthodox Jews are haredim and not all haredim are Meah Shearim haredim, but for the time being I am feeling less than benevolent towards them. It'll blow over.
To finish:
A PROHIBITION
WE ARE AGAIN POSTING THIS REMINDER
THAT MOVIE SCREENINGS OF ANY KIND ARE FORBIDDEN
IN ANY WAY OR FORM
DO NOT SIN YOUR CHILDREN BY SCREENING MOVIES
et cetera.
I'm still in a good mood from tonight, though. Also I baked cookies again. And the premiere had free sufganiot, so I am still living up to my credo of: Sufganiot are not something you buy, they're something you get for free. Hip hip.
comments on Dreamwidth.