The Scribbler

Israel to Beatles: Um, can you play now? More than 40 years after it barred the iconic British band from playing there, Israel said it wants the surviving members of the Beatles to participate in a concert celebrating the country's 60th birthday. But the Israeli embassy in London denied a report that the Jewish state had apologized for its original refusal to let the Beatles perform in the country. The band had been booked to appear in 1965, but the government refused to grant the necessary permits on the ground that its music might corrupt the country's morals. "Israel missed a chance to learn from the most influential musicians of the decade, and the Beatles missed an opportunity to reach out to one of the most passionate audiences in the world," Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor said in a letter addressed to Sir Paul McCartney. "On our 60th anniversary, we would like to take the opportunity to offer you a second chance to play in Israel." The embassy said a ...

I could probably count on the fingers of one hand, the news stories that have caught me totally by surprise throughout my life. I still remember waking up to the radio in utter shock, upon hearing that Princess Grace had been involved in a car accident . Similarly so (though I wasn't awake) with Princess Diana's death and the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin (can you see a rather morbid pattern developing here?) I had another such experience yesterday, when I heard about Heath Ledger's death. I just so wasn't expecting it. A suicide bombing in Israel or any other part of the world, is something that sends a shudder down my spine as it is tragically something that I've come to expect. A political scandal doesn't shock me either or even a natural disaster such as the 2006 Tsunami. So why was I so taken aback by poor old Heath's passing? Simply, because it was not something that I could have anticipated in any way. Here was a good looking guy, clean cut, serio...

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax. Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato sacks. Then try 50-lb potato sacks and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.) After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks.

and I've survived my first day (just about)!

'twas the night before the start of the new term and the teacher was in a reflective state of mind. He'd spent the better part of the last week preparing for the new term, in the full knowledge that he'd be bombarded with another stack of deadlines as soon as he graced the interior of the staffroon. It was at the start of January 2008 that he looked blankly at his computer screen and sighed a sigh that was as deep as the ocean. The holidays were truly over. Then again, he'd be in Israel in six weeks...

Note: If you aren't a fan of Star Wars, you are excused from reading the following! I wasn't one of those kids who immediately flocked to see the original Star Wars movie back in 1977. Maybe I was just that bit too young, or more likely, my parents showed little interest in taking me to see it when it first came out. It is a shame, although I didn't take too long to get hooked, because I remember going to the ABC cinema in Golders Green Road to see the first two movies in one showing (circa 1983), just so that I could understand what the third one was all about. I do recall that double feature being a very long experience (enjoyable as it was) as well as the frisson of genuine surprise I experienced when Darth Vader made that famous admission at the end of The Empire Strikes Back - I know that you are probably aware of what he told Luke, but something within me, as a movie buff precludes me from giving away one of the all time greatest movie twists. The later admission i...

wayyyyyyhayyyyyyyyyyyyyy- it's my very first blog of 2008........so.................. H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !