O TENNENBAUM

I´ currently waiting in Franfurt Airport for my delayed flight.  We were already rerrouted to Liepzig on the way here while Frankfurt was shut down.  Now that I´m here, the only word to describe it is clusterfuck.  Everyone´s stressed, noone knows what to do or where to go, and I´m finding it to be an amazing social experiment.  Me, I listen to music while waiting in lines that go on forever and might not be the right line anyways, and this keeps me calm.  Then there are those who you can tell are stressed, but have acknowledged that the situation is out of their control, and are satisfied to occasionally shake their heads and sigh.  then there are those that feel they  are in some special scenario and deserve special treatment and have decided that speaking loudly and gesturing is the best way to get it.
There does seem to be a certain undisputed etiquette, mostly concering babies.  If you want special treatment at a hectic airport, grab a kid, stick him in a stroller, and watch the seas of people part before you and the near-murderous faces of airport staff brighten as they open a previoiusly unseen door and guide you through.  Babies is the way to go.  Me, I listen to music.

The only real casualty of my trip thus far is since I was late getting to Franfurt, I was unable to check the duty free items which I had purchased in Tel Aviv.  This meant they were confiscated and thrown out at my next security check.  The officer seeemed genuinely apologetic, knowing she was making a tense situation worse, but I´m not one to blame those who have as little control of the situation as myself.  More than the wasted money, which was by no means a fortune,  these gifts were for my Aunt and Uncle on my mother´s side, who are notoriously difficult to shop for, and I really thought I had gotten them something dandy.  Now the quesetion that plagues my mind, as I spend time blogging and not flying due to the delays, is whether or not I would have had time to check those forsaken goods, so that they might one day bring Christmas joy to picky foodies everywhere.  I guess we´ll never know.

The next plague ridden question is whether or not I have time for a beer or five before my flight. 
And with that, a very happy holidays to all, and the next time your stuck in an airport and want to throttle the next person that calls you sir, you can always cheer up by finding a smiling baby... then stay close and look like family.

Cheers,
Dony

PS (TheDonyShow accepts no liabilty for typeos or spelling mistakes, because german keyboards are wierd)

Egypt Pt. 2

And now for the thrilling conclusion ...

As aforementioned, the next two days were not as historically thrilling as the first, but they were certainly not without there fascinating finds.  On Saturday, we took a three hour trip to Alexandria, which turned out to be a four and a half hour trip due to two factors :
First, the highway was shut down due to the same typical fog experience at Giza
and Secondly, the Egyptian police implemeneted a traffic management technique in which two patrol cars block the highway and drive one kilometer every five minutes ... I have yet to understand how this is efficicient, but my recent experience has given me faith in Egyptian logic and engineering.  Furthermore, Sabrina and I were passed out in the back of a van, so what do we care.
Finally we reach Alexandria and the first sight of the day : The Roman Amphitheatre!

Unearthed in the early sixties, the "Ampitheatre," dated to the 2nd century A.D.,  may not have been an theater at all.  It's proximity to the ancient Roman street is an unlikely location for theatrical performance, but would be ideal for the openly democratic Senate of ancient Rome.  Whatever the function,  the presenter (whether actor or politician, but really, what's the difference) was given an ingeninous advantage.  At a marked point in the middle of the circle, the acoustic resonance off the pillars is such that one's voice fills the area with an almost eerie fulness.
The rest of the sight was an ancient university (the bottom left corner of the photo).  As well as the classrooms, the excavation also revealed a written syllabus of some of the course material.

After a quick lunch at Mo'men, the Shwarma  equivalent of McDonald's, it was on to the Library of Alexandria, which is built on the location of the most significant ancient library in history, constructed some 2300 years ago.  The new building embraces a more modernist aesthetic than the first.

               Note : this is NOT my photo, as I have not yet mastered unaided flight
In accordance with ancient Egyptian sun worship, the main building represents the sun, while the dome on the right (which holds an Omni-max style cinema, and is in fact a full sphere in a large hole) represents the orbiting Earth.
Another fascinating architectural point (not properly represented in this photo) is that each window in the "sun" has a slatted awning, which mimics the human eyelash, and prevents too much direct sunlight from penetrating the reading and research area of the library.





 Inside, as well as a beautiful library, is several art exhibits, including one of modern Egyptian art, which I found to be fascinating in it's combination of traditional and modern styles.













After the library, we hopped back in the van and headed back to Cairo, napping much of the way.

Day 3 :
Our last day in Egypt was to be spent in Cairo, where there is no shortage of touristic time-killing.

First we visited Coptic Cairo.  The Coptics are a Christian sect of Egyptian origin (of which our guide is a member) and have some beautiful churches in old Egypt, the most famous of which is the hanging church.  Dating back to the thrid century A.D., the church is almost entirely suspended above an ancient fortress gateway. 

            The floor of the church

After seeing a little more of Coptic Cairo, we headed to one of the true treasures of Egypt, the Cairo Museum.  Tragically, cameras are not permitted inside the museum, so you will have to take me at my word.  The museum is massive, and as we only had a couple hours inside, we focused on two exhibits.  

The first was that of King Tutankhamun (Tut to his friends), the young prince, crowned at age 9, who was evidently murdered by his chief adviser at the age of nineteen (the same age at which he no longer legally required a chief adviser).  The museum is full of the artifacts found in his tomb (famously discovered by the British Howard Carter in 1922).  Here we learned of the Ancient Egyptian ritual of entombing the royal mummy in a lavishly decorated sarcophagus, which was then put in a slightly larger sarcophagus (equally lavish) which was then put in a larger still sarcophagus (ditto).  The three sarcophagi were then put in a big box (lavish, gold, jewels, what have you) which was placed in a bigger box (more gold, more jewels) which, finally, was put in the biggest box of all (and therefore, the MOST lavish!).  It's like a Russian doll, except the smallest doll is an embalmed corpse.

Speaking of embalmed corpses, for an additional 100 Egyptian Pounds (which is less than twenty bucks) we got to tour the mummy room!  Can you guess what's in the mummy room?  It was awesome ... and freaky ... and awesome.  Here's some more photos I didn't take :

After shaking off the willies, we left the museum and headed to our last "must-see" sight :  The Souk, Cairo's marketplace.  As I have already experienced in Tel Aviv, the marketplace is where I feel the most middle-eastern.  The streets are narrow and crowded and everyone is yelling in either a completely foreign language or something that resembles English, but not quite.  




After helping us haggle with the locals, our guide led us down several small alleyways, ultimately sitting us down at a cafe and treating us to Turkish coffee and Shisha.  The perfect ending to a wonderful trip, this is one of the few photos I got of Wassim, my favorite part of Egypt :

I hope you enjoyed my Egyptian adventure.  I'm heading back to Canada in a couple weeks, but I'm nearing completion on a couple music videos which I hope to post before I leave.
Furthermore, Sabrina and I are leaving for a ten-day excursion to India in the new year, so stay tuned.

From all of us here at TheDonyShow, I wish you good friends, good health, and good night!

Egypt!

Sabrina and I had planned a trip to Egypt some time ago, and we were to stay with her colleague in Cairo whilst touring around the major sites.  As fate would have it, while we were planning our trip, this same friend was planning a conference in Cairo which Sabrina was then called on to attend.  Conveniently, the conference ended the day before our planned arrival.  So, Sabrina went off on Monday, and I joined her at the hotel Wednesday, and then we moved into his place Friday.  As the conference ended Thursday, I had one day to tour around by myself, which turned out to be... well, utterly useless.  Apparently I suck at playing tourist, as I spent one hour looking for the Arabian Music Institute, and failed, and then spent another hour waiting in a restaurant for lunch, which due to a language barrier, I had apparently never ordered.  That said, I did get one fantastic photo which sums up a staple of the Egyptian diet : pita!

 I've been told that this is such a necessary food, particularly for the lower class, that is in fact subsidized by the government, and sold for a penny.  Apparently they tried to raise it to two pennies, at which point there were riots in the street.  At any extent, I would gladly pay two pennies just to watch this guy ride around all day.  Particularly given the fact that Egyptian traffic is generally terrifying.  Lanes are simply suggestions, there are very few traffic lights, and everyone always has the right of way, as long as they are honking loud enough.


After my entirely unsuccessful day, Sabrina and I had a lovely early dinner at the hotel, and then joined her colleague and her colleague's husband (who is an Egyptian native) at a traditional Arabian music concert, which I thouroughly enjoyed, and hope to investigate further.  This same colleague's husband conveniently has a friend who is a registered tour guide.  His name is Wassim, and he proved to be the highlight of the trip, as he was our personal guide for three days.  He has studied Egyptology for several years, and is incredibly well informed. Furthermore, he is the nicest, funniest man in the greater Cairo area.
Over drinks in the lobby, we planned our weekend day by day, and agreed on a meeting time, which was early by necessity.  You have to get up early if you want to go INSIDE the Great Pyramid!

Day 1 : The Pyramids of Giza!
Due to body heat and perspiration, the Egyptian authorities only let 250 people inside the pyramid each morning in the winter and 150 people in the summer, so first come, first serve. Thankfully we got tickets, and made it up the 153m ramp inside a hot stuffy tunnel, eventually popping out in a room which is utterly ... plain.  While certainly worth the experience of being inside a pyramid, it's by no means visually spectacular.  It's a stone room, with an empty stone box (in which once lay an ex-pharoah), and that's it.  However, still worth the climb.
The only catch to arriving so early is that Egypt suffers from very foggy mornings at this time of year, so it took a bit of walking around before we got a good shot, but here it is!
The Great pyramid was built for the King Khufu, and also on site are the smaller pyramids for his son and grandson.  I didn't realize this, but pyramids were actually a common tomb or monument for kings, and there are more than 100 across Egypt. 

After the pyramids, it was just a short jaunt to Egypt's second most famous site, The Sphinx!  Once again, there are many sphinxes... sphinxi?... sphinxeses? all over Egypt, but there's one REALLY BIG ONE!









On the same site as The Sphinx is the Valley Temple, where the ancient Egyptians performed the extensive rituals involved in guaranteeing the deceased passage into the afterlife.  This was an excellent opportunity to observe some ingenious Egyptian engineering :

  

As Egypt is prone to earthquakes (or at least was 4000 years ago), certain measures were taken to ensure that structures created solely of stacked blocks didn't topple

Separate layers have occasional shifts, to prevent sliding

in a tremor.

Corners are made of one stone, not two meeting

The next stop was Sakkara, a necropolis from the third dynasty designed by the great Egyptian engineer, Imhotep.

This site includes the supposed "Step Pyramid", which our guide ensured us is in fact NOT a pyramid, just a tomb made of steps.  If it were a pyramid, it would be the oldest ever, but it's not.

Also at Sakkara is evidence of another interesting ancient Egyptian ritual.  They believe that life on earth was only temporary and should be spent working, while the afterlife was eternal and a time of leisure.  As such, one royal burial practice was the recreation of a King's palace. While the original palace would be made of mud bricks, the recreation had to be stone, representing the temporary and eternal dichotomy.





After Sakkara we had one more stop, Memphis, which is in fact the city for which Sakkara was the necropolis aka. cemetery.

Along with a variety of ancient relics, Sakkara hosts a massive sculpture of Ramses II, who we quickly learned was quite fond of himself, as there are many statues of him built during his life.  We know they were built while he was alive, because the straight beard indicates that the subject was alive at the time of the carving, while a beard curving out indicates posthumous sculpting.











So, that was day one, which was probably the most exciting in terms of "Holy crap I never thought I would actually be here!"

I'll post the next two days in the next two days... seems appropriate.

Travels through the Holy Land

Greetings one and all!
My apologies for the lack of anything up here, but I've been busy playing tourist with our Canadian guests. Fortunately for me (and therefore all of you) they took lots of pictures (LOTS of pictures). So, without further ado, here is a day by day, site by site account of our adventures!

Upon arrival in Tel Aviv, the first priority was to get our guests the best falafel in Tel Aviv, which is found at Doctor Falafel! (It's not actually called that. It is called Doctor something, but it's not falafel. Doctor Delicious? Doctor Tasty?)










Our first big trip was to Nazareth, where we visited the Church of the Annunciation, where Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to the son of God.

The courtyard around the church is lined with mosaics of the Virgin Mary donated by the Catholic churches of various countries (most countries only get one, but Spain, Italy, and The Vatican each got two or three, for obvious reasons)

Before entering the church, we had to make sure we were appropriately dressed, meaning shoulders and knees must be covered.  Particularly memorable was the U.S. Marine tour group, and the officer shouting "Johnson! Go put some pants on!"

The lower part of church, called The Grotto, is fascinating because you can see how this church was built right on top of the ruins of an older church.

Further international artistic donations line the interior walls.  We all agreed that in the American interpretation of the Virgin Mary, she is made of steel and has super powers.

 Our day in Nazareth ended with meze, which is an Arab style meal where everyone shares a bunch of dips, salads, and pitas.  This included what is, without a doubt, the best hummus I have ever had.



















On the way home, we stopped by the Sea of Galilee.  This was the sight of one of Jesus' miracles. Can you guess which one?

Our next big outing was to Haifa, which is the sight of the Baha'i Gardens and the temple of their founder, Bahá'u'lláh.  The gardens were funded by donations from Baha'i worldwide, and they are maintained by Baha'i volunteers.  They are free to tour, and there is nothing for sale.  The Baha'i teachings center around the eventual unity of all religions, and the equality of all people.  Besides having beautiful gardens, I feel they also have some beautiful ideas.

Our next day trip took us to Jersulaem.
The first stop was :
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is on the site of the crucifixion, the burial and resurrection.

After the church, we took a tour of The Old City, which is divided into the Muslim, Armenian, Christian, and Jewish quarters, all of which can be seen from select vantage points on the roof.

A prominent Israeli writer once described Jerusalem as a city connected by its rooftops, and divided by its people.

The last major sight to see was the Wailing Wall, or the Western Wall.  This is the only remanants of the Second Temple of Judaism, and is the holiest sight in the Jewish Religion.
To understand the variety of religious significance in this part of the world, this photo shows the wailing wall in the bottom right, as well as the dome of the rock (the golden dome), which is the site of Muhammad's ascension into Heaven, and the third holiest site in Islam.

After Jerusalem, we made our way to Bethlehem for the last of our Holy hot spots.  The Church of the Nativity is built on the site of Christ's birth.
There is an elaborate shrine inside on the supposed birth spot, but there was an even more elaborate lineup to see it, and it had already been a long day. Maybe next time.








The next adventure was my favorite day by far.  It began with a late night drive to an adorable little inn close to the Dead Sea.  This was necessary as the day's activities had to start very early.
 
This is Masada, and on this day, we were all going to walk up it before the sun rose.

And we made it!

The story of Masada is an inspiring and horrific tale.  During the Roman invasion of Israel around the first century A.D. the top of Masada was the last strong hold for the Jewish people, having taken refuge in the abandoned Roman palace on top.  For months they survived on wine and preserves left by the previous tenants, all the while watching the Romans getting closer.  When they realized all hope was lost, and the capture of the palace was inevitable, they made a drastic decision.  Meeting in the makeshift synagogue, everyone wrote their name on a shard of pottery, and the ensuing lottery
decided who would kill who, ultimately leaving one survivor to tell the tale.  When the Romans crashed the gates, they found a pile of bodies.  It is said that even the Roman soldiers held great respect for the honor and bravery of those who would rather take their own life than become slaves to their enemy.  Much of the old palace still stands, as well as the giant mud hill the Romans built to siege the gates.






By the time we were done touring the top of Masada, it was getting pretty warm, so we took the cable car back down and headed off to our next destination, which I have been looking forward to since I was five years old :

THE DEAD SEA!
The dead see is the lowest point on earth, located 300m below sea level.  This location and other conditions have created the saltiest body of water on the planet.  Besides tasting awful and being unable to support much life, the salt makes the water incredibly dense, making it impossible to sink!

 

Another interesting property of the mineral deposits is that the mud on the bottom is rejuvenating for the skin, so another trend in the area is to slather up, let it dry, and then take a dip! While you are welcome to use the mud right off the bottom, they also sell packs of it all over Israel, which is what we used, because supposedly the fresh stuff smells awful.

While there were many other adventures, these were the major sights, and as I sift through the literally thousands of photos, I'll toss up some more fun shots, but for now, I'd like to thank the ladies for being such wonderful (and generally hilarious) guests.  You are all welcome back anytime!

As for me, I'm off to Egypt! ... seriously, stay tuned.

Blog, meet Chelsea, Chelsea, Blog

Don't make music, let music ...

A remarkable piece of advice, the origin of which presently escapes me. 
Though I would hate to misinterpret a theme, I do believe this is a quaint summary of Victor Wooten's wholly inspirational book, The Music Lesson : A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music.  If I ever find myself in the position of music professor, this will be required reading.

It's the Sabbath ... nothing to do, nowhere to go.

Sabrina's disclaimer: I can't help but dance. It's like a disease.
Dony's disclaimer: Look at my sparkly red guitar!
Sabrina's disclaimer 2: That's not a disclaimer.
Dony's disclaimer 2: Disclaim this!

A short poem on my faculties...

I am feeling significantly more coherent today
All the haze and the fuzz is falling away
The jet lag will no longer cause me to fail
Yesterday, I forgot the notes in the C-Major scale

- Dony

Jet lag a drag...

I managed to sleep for most of the twelve hour flight over, arriving at 11am in Tel Aviv.  I thought this would be a good way to combat jet lag, but alas, I am experiencing symptoms of the six hour time difference.  Besides being a little hazy (which, admittedly, I generally am anyways) the most notable result is the following : while I have no trouble falling asleep around midnight, I am suddenly wide awake at 4am.  Frustrating? Yes, a little.  As the sun was rising on my second day, and I was restlessly lying in bed, I thought maybe I would just stay awake until Sabrina woke up, see her off to work and then have an early start to a productive day.  Instead, I fell back asleep about half an hour before the alarm went off, mumbled some manner of incoherence as Sabrina left for the day, and eventually came to at 11am. 
Clever as she is, Sabrina had a plan for the next night!  Perhaps a couple glasses of wine after dinner would lull me into a solid 7 hours of sleep.  The result : I once again was wide awake at 4am, but this time, I was a little hung over, incapable of shaking my somewhat unpleasant consciousness. That said, I did manage to roll out of bed with her this morning, and am looking forward to a nice full day of bass playing and shoe buying.


Silly jet lag. Sleep is for locals.

- Dony

yom ahad: yom schlishi

Sabrina tells me that this blog title means "Day 1: Tuesday" but it's Hebrew and I'm not sure I believe her.

An invitation to my going away party...