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I just finished publishing a new website for a colleague of mine named Guy Yitzhaki, showcasing his artwork in photography, video art and writing. The following couplet is from an ongoing project of his, where he photographs adult siblings in a composition that references a family picture from their childhood.

I really like his siblings’ series, as it takes a simple idea and creates a powerful body of work. Check out the full series here.

There’s nothing young Israelis like better than to make a fast buck. That’s why when they are in their twenties, after the mandatory army service, many of them travel abroad to work mainly in two countries: Japan, selling paintings to wealthy Japanese, or to the US selling nail care products to soccer moms. The legitimacy of these jobs is borderline at best as the hiring company usually enrolls them in bogus college courses in order to get a work permit.

Rami Feinstein    , a rising Israeli singer-songwriter, usually sings in Hebrew, but after he worked in the US selling manicure products to finance his debut album, he decided to take the script he worked off of to lure customers, and compose it into a song.

Here is the video for the song, called “Something Amazing“:

Something Amazing – Rami Feinstein -- lyrics

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Buy this MP3 track or buy the entire album.

Last week, one of Israel's leading auction websites, iBuy.co.il, has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 (actually 350 in Israel), and their website now looks like that:

I really hope that when my time will come to run a million dollar company to the ground, I would sound more eloquent in my parting words. This reads 'Due to difficulties the company encountered, the company's management is dealing with these difficulties. A status update will be posted later on'.

It's not just the linguistic faux pas in repeating the word 'difficulties'. When you read the statement you get a feeling that something is missing: the use of the phrase 'due to' heralds some consequences that will be mentioned later on. When you read it again you'll notice that there are none, and that's the metaphor I have to offer today for the scores of iBuy customers who want to receive the merchandize they paid for.

If you liked read that nitpicking, I read a great one this week.

Oh boy, have I got a bag of goodies for all you Avenue Q fans out there. First, check out this photo of the Israeli cast:

Front left to right: Michal Muchtar, Lucy the Slut, Tali Oren, Kate Monster, Michal Yannai, Rod, Roy Bar-Natan.
Back left to right: Princeton, Nicky, Idan Alterman, Trekkie Monster, Nicky Goldstein.
Missing from photo: Elinor Aharon.
Peeking in the back: the ubiquitous all-Israeli white Ketter Plastic chair

If that photo did not quench your thirst, I know what will: a video clip of the company singing the Avenue Q Theme, but before you press play, I have transcribed the Hebrew lyrics for your listening pleasure, then translated them back to English, and then added the original English lyrics for reference:

Also, in a Ynet interview published today, Moshe Kepten, the director of the show dished out some exciting information. Apparently, the musical was translated to Hebrew, but the names and locations were kept, except for one character: the building superintendent in the original production is Gary Coleman, the actor who starred in the eighties television series ‘Different Stokes’ – played by another actor, as the has-been of the Avenue. In a very bold move this part was transformed, and Michal Yannai, who herself was a huge television star for millions of Israeli kids in the nineties, plays herself as the has-been, supposedly telling everyone at home she is participating in a movie filmed in New-York.

The full article in Hebrew can be read here, and is also archived here for posterity.
I have previously posted all the needed ticket ordering information here.