This weekend I made my very own pesto sauce, made of basil that I grew myself, and it even came out not too bad.

One small step for me, one meaningless step for humankind.

At this very moment, as I’m typing at my computer at home, wrapped in a comfy sweater and sipping on herbal tea, I should be at a local Indie music mini-festival. Actually, my attendance was confirmed for a gathering of music bloggers in which I was supposed to match a face to some of the blogs I’ve been reading recently.

I did go. I was a bit late, but eventually and after getting lost only once, I found the place. I parked in a near-by dark and scary street, and walked through a couple of other southern Tel Aviv alleyways where people really shouldn’t wonder alone at night. When I got there, there was a long queue outside. It was the Israeli kind of queue, where people just huddle around waiting to be let in, with no importance to who was there first. From the look of the people around me, I realized that I just did not fit in. I was either too old, too sober, or generally too bourgeois. I waited for about 15 minutes, and then just turned around and walked back to my car.

It’s a shame, because I did look forward to meeting Guy, and Renan, and some of the other bloggers, but as I have no idea what they look like, there was no way I would have recognized them anyway. Listening to music would have been good as well. It did bring up some thoughts about my insecurities, but this is probably something I should leave for another post.

I revised my About Me page, updating some existing information and adding some more.

This is just one of a long list of updates I need to do around here, including a few infrastructure changes that I never have the time for. One step at a time…

My Britpop mixtape is up on Haoneg today, as part of Guy’s brilliant mixtapes for Hanukkah project (Oneg Shmoneg).

Check it!

Happy List

1. Home made beer, courtesy of Biking Geek
2. A very romantic dinner with E.
3. Thinking of summer holidays
4. 34SP finally admitting to network problems (though it still hasn’t solved my problems)
5. Oliver is back!

Sad List

1. Misplacing a friend’s address before sending Christmas cards
2. Not enough time for music
3. A lot of work stuff. No details.
4. A growing to do list
5. Lack of sleep

December is here! Once again the temperatures are beginning to drop (at least a little bit), customers outside of Israel cannot be reached, and the record companies are taking advantage of the festive season by issuing the tackiest reunions and all possible compilations. It is the time of the year in which lists are made, in here is mine!

The rules are the same as they were in previous years (2005, 2004, 2003, 2002). The list can only contain albums that were issues this year, and that I own a copy of. (Unfortunately, this means that some masterpieces like Jarvis, Thom Yorke’s The Eraser, Guillemots’ Through the Window Pane and My Latest Novel’s Wolves did not make the list).

This year the choice was not easy. There were a lot of good albums, and only five can make the list, so here goes:

5. Muse, Black Holes and Revelations – I don’t think Muse are capable of disappointments. Everything they release is just good stuff. I was listening to this album on my way to French class this morning. It was early on a Friday and the roads were empty. Normal people sleep at these times, but I just couldn’t help clicking that UP volume button and singing along to Starlight…

4. Beck, The Information – I must admit that I still don’t feel that I have listened to this album enough to give a proper opinion, but maybe this is what makes it so good. It hardly contains poppy tunes that stick in one’s head. It requires repeated listening to appreciate, which also means it will take a long time until I get tired of it.

3. The Dresden Dolls, Yes, Virginia… – Only this year I have finally learned to value The Dresden Dolls. I saw them live in the Wireless festival last year, and just couldn’t see the point. However, once you get hooked, you’re hooked. Yes, Virginia… is not as good as their first album, but still brilliant. It is recommended not to give up after the first time.

2. The Streets, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living – Almost as good as Original Pirate Material and definitely much better than A Grand Don’t Come for Free. This album is flowing with smart sarcasm, just my kind of humour.

1. Placebo, Meds – I don’t think I have seen this album on anyone else’s Best Of lists, so maybe it is just me, but I do think that Placebo’s latest effort is one of their best and therefore, my top album for 2006.

Did we need a further proof that the NME is no longer an important music publication, but a hype inducing machine, than the selection of Arctic Monkeys as Album of the Year? Don’t get me wrong, I did like the album, but giving it such a title must be more of a PR decision than a quality-related one.

Anyway, my best-of list will be done and published soon, and the happy/sad list will also be back.

Happy List

1. Boston Legal is on every night
2. Daytime weather
3. Pancakes for breakfast on Saturday
4. Good service
5. Being asked to do a mixtape

Sad List

1. Willy is sick (again)
2. Blogger Beta bugs
3. A serial rapist at large
4. Typical Israeli lack of discussion manners
5. Bad service