Tel Aviv Rooftop

Mid Life Crisis in all its glory Sunday May 10. A balmy evening. In Ramat Gan Stadium Fifty thousand fans have gathered to see Depeche Mode. Meanwhile, in a rock club in grimy south Tel Aviv, 'Mid Life Crisis' a four piece rock band, incapable of identifying even one Depeche Mode song, take to the stage. This was MLC's second pro gig, this time at Sublime, an upgraded venue with a real stage, even a raised podium for the drums! We managed to run through 16 songs with a minimum of mistakes, the sound was reasonable, and a rocking good time was had by all. Plans are afoot to upload some of the show to You Tube (depending on what it looks and sounds like). Meanwhile, to hear 5 Mid Life Crisis recordings including the newly added 'With A Bit of Faith', go to www.myspace.com/mlcisrael Danny Zilberman playing those sneaky riffs in the foreground, me at the traps. Danny Blumberg on bass guitar plays to dramatic eff ect Danny Z in classic pose Guitar lickin' Zev L...

A room in ha-blok Following in the footsteps of other major cities, Tel Aviv has been holding an 'Open House' weekend for several years now. The local version is called batim mi-bifnim or 'houses from the inside'. The event, which opens up scores of private homes, workplaces and public buildings and spaces to the general public, becomes more popular ever year. After all, who isn't interested in peeking into other people's habitats? Consequently we met long queues at some of the buildings we'd planned to visit and decided to move on. There was still plenty to see though. The day started on a green note at the community organic garden in Maoz Aviv, a charming quiet and very green neighbourhood in the north east situated next to the luna park. From small beginnings the garden is now used actively by 40 families in either general or individual plots. The municipality provided the land and the water. The families contribute 50 shekels a month to cover expenses...

A few days ago, a flyer appeared on the front door handle. It carried the slogan "Protect Yourself - Right on Time" (sounds better in Hebrew) and showed a map of Israel (and the West Bank) divided into brightly covered sections. Each section referred to the amount of warning time you'll have to reach your "protected area...in the case of an emergency" (read: "if your area is attacked by missiles"). If you live in Kiryat Shemona you have zero time. Lucky Jerusalemites have 3 minutes.The rooftop and the rest of Tel Aviv will have 2 minutes. We don't have a mamad ( reinforced room) in this old flat but 2 mns would probably allow us to reach the bomb shelter on the ground floor in time - although the security window in there is stuck half open. If not, we'll head one floor down and seek protection in the stairwell. The folks from the Home Front Command advise us to keep water, food, batteries, first aid and even an internet link in our safe areas,...