The Scribbler

This is a short video describing the challenges faced by Israel from these terrorist organisations. Well worth watching. To view, please click here.

Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of George Harrison's passing. The world without him is a much sadder place. We miss you. Peace.

Forty years ago this month, The Beatles recorded their most complex track. Robert Webb reveals how 'Strawberry Fields Forever' took shape in the studio 29 November 2006 It was 40 years ago, in November 1966, that the four Beatles, chilled after a recuperative break, rolled up at EMI's Abbey Road studios to begin recording their eighth album. They'd had enough of touring, churning out the hits to shrieking fans who couldn't tell which song they were playing, let alone whether it was in tune. Spurred on by their experiments in sound on Revolver, notably "Tomorrow Never Knows", the new album would comprise songs that could be performed only in the studio. They had a flexible timetable and no ceiling on the budget. They couldn't wait to turn us on. The project would morph into Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Paul McCartney's grandiose plan to send out a fictitious touring band in their place - on vinyl, instead of on the road. It ended up ju...

Every now and again, the gums around my lower wisdom teeth start to get inflamed and the pain is positively horrendous. I really should get them removed, but not having the nerve (geddit?) to go through a whole operation, I cowardly reach for the Neurofen and wait for the pain to pass. Two days in and the pain was driving me up the wall. It's bad enough having to cope with a toothache, but doing so whilst trying to teach is tantamount to climbing up the north face of Everest with a blindfold, in a blizzard. Lunchtime arrived and I begged Dana to get in touch with a dentist and arrange an appointment ASAP. When she called back to say that she'd managed to get me a 3.45, I didn't think twice and ignored the fact that I'd have to go along the private route to enjoy this privilege . I begged a senior colleague to cover the last 15 minutes of my final lesson and after he begrudgingly agreed, I managed to get out of school in time to arrive at the appointment. I can't re...

Just as a point of note, in case you hadn't noticed, I tag nearly all of my posts into subject areas, so that you can follow the continual flow of topics related to (e.g.) school or even movies I've seen recently. If you click on the yellow tag entitled "labels", you will be able to read all the posts relating to that particular topic. Saying that, I wasn't sure what to tag a post about tagging...

I think the highest praise I can give this movie is that it is the first Bond flick I've seen (and I've seen 'em all many times) that actively reminded me of the early Sean Connery era. For the first time in EONs (and yes, that is a pun for you fans out there), a James Bond movie concentrated on the man himself instead of the every increasing slew of silly gadgets and OTT computer graphics. This is probably due to the fact that it based on an original Ian Fleming story - at last! The comparison with the Connery era was no accident. Looking at the locations (and the beautiful use of the DB5), you were eerily transported back to those early adventures...Nassau ( Thunderball ), Venice (From Russia With Love) and even the use of the Casino Royale itself (anyone remember the first few scenes in Dr No at the Casino?) - gave over the message that Bond was back - and Daniel Craig was no flash in the pan (a la George Lazenby ) My only complaints: a) The worryingly excessive use ...

I would imagine that I approached this album in the same cautious way as any other dedicated Beatles' fan. Having heard it a number of times on the radio or off the beatles.com site, I'm a now a firm fan. There are moments of sheer beauty on this album, for example, the segueing of the opening bars from Blackbird into a fully blown version of Yesterday . The entire medley (all 80 minutes of it) does take some getting used to, but once you've listened to it a number of times, I don't think you'll be too disappointed. True, some combinations don't work as well as others (I wasn't particularly enamoured with the combination of Octopus's Garden and Goodnight ), but hearing the terrific version of Within You Without You coupled with the amazing drumming in Tomorrow Never Knows was nothing short of jaw dropping. This album needs to be listened to in one sitting to be really appreciated. The danger was that this project would turn out to be a rehash of the ...

Have a look at this.

This is the text of an email I received this morning: "Al-Jazeera launches a pan-Arab English TV channel Dear friend of JerusalemOnline , We would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again for your constant support of JerusalemOnline. JerusalemOnline’s primary goals are to strengthen the relationship between Israel and English speakers around the world and to bridge the informational gap that exists in the international media today. In addition – we try to improve Israel's image in the world by providing our viewers with honest and balanced content. Israel and its worldwide supporters are facing a new challenge. Last week we learned that Al-Jazeera is about to launch an English language offshoot of its pan-Arab television channel on November 15th. Al-Jazeera's plan is to broadcast its news content in English, on television and via the Internet, all in an effort to promote its agenda around the world. To read more about Al-Jazeera plans - click here This latest...

Daniel Doron, THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 13, 2006 The leaders of Iran, the ayatollahs, keep threatening that Israel, the Little Satan, and its master, the Great Satan - America - will be vanquished before long (three to five years?) by a triumphalist, nuclear-armed Islam determined to establish Allah's rule even at the cost of martyrdom. Yet the world does not seem too exercised. In fact Russia and China lend Iran a helping hand. How serious is this threat, and, if it is serious, how to face it? At least part of the answer to these questions may involve factors, religious, nationalist and economic, that are not commonly discussed. Living in a secular culture, most of us underestimate the determination of true believers. We forget that only recently a relatively civilized Europe was engaged for centuries in the most bloody religious - and then ideological - wars. So we do not fully appreciate how martyrdom-seeking fanatics may take extraordinary risks and ignore the restraints that a b...

The way you view this film will very much depend on how you feel about this character mocking your average American....and yes, making him/her look pretty ridiculous and at times, frighteningly racist. However, if you look beyond the surface, you will find that there's quite a lot of depth to the character created by a very proud Jewish young man, called Sacha Baron Cohen. This is movie that works on many layers. I really really enjoyed this film. At times, I laughed so hard, there were tears in my eyes but I also cringed when I was meant to and at the end of day found myself feeling rather sorry for Mr Baron Cohen's brilliant creation. Borat will either leave you feeling hot or cold. Fortunately, I went with the joke and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Teacher's Rating *****

This was taken two weeks ago....aren't they gorgeous? (of course they are!)