Current Project

These days I am mostly occupied by a family multimedia project.

My grandfather recently celebrated his 80th birthday, and a party was thrown in his honour with all the children, grandchildren, grand grandchildren etc. coming together for the day.

My most talented aunt, with the help of my mum, created a family history album, with photos of everyone and the historical story of my grandfather’s childhood, family and hometown. It was all very exciting. For my grandparents, who lost most of their families and family memoirs in the Holocaust, photos are very important and each photo means the world.

Unfortunately, my aunt could only make one copy of the album. This is where I came in, working on a digital version of the family album. I’ve been spending many hours scanning, editing, coding and organising to create a multimedia CD that includes the content of the album in an easy-to-use presentation, along with a collection of photos from the party itself.

There were many important history lessons to be learned, about my grandfather’s hometown, his family and how he met my grandmother (they’ve been together for almost 60 years now!).

The evenings I spent working passed so quickly that I had to remind myself it was time for bed.

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Top Ten Sexiest Men Ever

After mentioning a possible entry to my top ten sexiest men ever list, it was time to sit down and compile it. Here goes:

1. Veggie Vampire
2. Isador
3. Grant Nicholas
4. Roddy Woomble
5. Jonny Greenwood
6. Jack White
7. Damon Albarn
8. Keanu Reeves
9. 2D
10. Jamie Oliver (well… I had to put him in… maybe we will be able to convert him)

What’s yours Top 10?

Stressed

There has been quite a lot on my plate lately. Mostly at work. Things have been popping up and changing constantly, and I hardly got the chance to get on with the tasks I initially planned to do. Add to that a few problems at the home front and the recent disappearance of Belle, and you get a stress ball that is likely to explode at any minute.

The immediate effects were constant tiredness, so much that I haven’t even had the chance to read any of my favourite blogs for a while, and as you may have noticed, not much time to write either. There are also some long-term effects, mostly to my sanity. I also think this hasn’t done much good to my relationship with Veggie Vampire, and I really hope I will be able to fix this soon.

The most shocking truth is that I even gave up a Blur gig on MTV2 recently! Me, a person who would travel half way around the world for live music, gave up a gig that was playing in my own living room. This was when I realised that things have gone too far. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do about it, since it is unlikely that I will be able to change the expectation level at work and reduce the stress levels there. Maybe I just need a holiday. Maybe I just need to catch up on some sleep.

If Only He Was Vegetarian…

The new Jamie Oliver show is now shown in Israel’s Channel 2 (link in Hebrew). I might even bother to wake up early on Saturday mornings to watch it.

Turns out he even has a journal!

If only he was a vegetarian he would have been so likely to get into my top ten sexiest men ever list. Might even get close to number 2 (right after Veggie Vampire, of course).

Flooded

It all started with a little damp spot on the bathroom ceiling. A little spot that grew to a little stain that grew into a big chunk of ceiling that fell to the bathroom floor on Thursday, to be discovered when I get home with only 15 minutes to get myself ready for a wedding.

From here bad just went worse. The drive time to the wedding was spent calling my landlady and her calling the insurance company etc. On Friday morning the plumber came in, making a lot of noise, changing the burst pipe and leaving me with a lot of debris and a big hole in the wall between the bathroom and the bedroom. The hole will not be fixed until the wall is dried, which might take some time.

At the moment the bathroom is theoretically useable, but taking a shower means my bedroom gets flooded again and the whole place is dirty and stinking.

As a result I had to move out. I am currently staying with Veggie Vampire while Sebastian is alone in the flat. As much as I enjoy Veggie Vampire’s company, this is far from comfortable and I miss Sebastian. I visit him at least twice a day, but I hardly get to spend much time with him.

I’m getting my rubber gloves ready for the big clean up which should happen as soon as the wall is fixed.

Music to Start Your Day With

It is very rare for an album to catch my ear on a first listen. It is very rare that on the first time I listen to an album, on the bus on my way to work, I will be humming along with a big stupid smile on my face.

Last week this rare event happened.

The catalyst of such rare behaviour was The Reindeer Section’s Son of Evil Reindeer. The album rested a few days in my bag before I finally had the chance to get it out and give it a listen, but it was worth the wait. The melodies immediately caught me, and You Are My Joy got me singing on a wet morning on the way to the office. It’s a great way to start the day.

The Reindeer Section is Snow Patrol meeting Mogwai meeting Belle and Sebastian meeting Mull Historical Society meeting many more. Literally. It’s a mostly Scottish Indie supergroup, formed by Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody. Members of Arab Strap, Idlewild, Teenage Fanclub and many others have also been Sectioned to create the band’s second album.

The music, written mostly by Lightbody, includes lovely love songs that touch your soul and lift your spirit. Son of Evil Reindeer is a feel-good album without the need to get loud (for me, usually a prerequisite for uplifting), or in the words of the band’s official press blurb:

“No egos. No bullshit. Only the music and the songs.

You’ve just been Sectioned. Welcome to the club.”