End of year wrap up

It's been a strange old year, ain't it.

On the personal front, I feel like things have been bubbling along nicely. I've been hectic, what with the school, the Tech Writing, building a website (or 2), playing "bumpy road" with my kids (they climb on top of me and then I jiggle them wildly about, they love it!), coddling the missus way too much, going to the gym, etc etc...

While the world economy has collapsed in the last few months, I've seen no sign of it at the school, but have a feeling it's just about to strike in Open Spacey. When one of the big bosses asks you to review his CV and over lunch tells me that he's 100% sure that there are BIG changes on the way (they actually closed the Israel branch a few years ago), you have to wonder. I'm not really that bothered, because my comfort zone is about to be shattered anyway, real soon...

And Israel was doing so nicely, a record year for tourism, confidence still relatively high despite the economy, before deciding - not before time - to bomb the feck out of Gaza. Leaves a smidgeon of depression hanging over the end of year, and as the missiles get closer to Tel Aviv, perhaps even a little scary...

Yep, 2009 is going to be an interesting year. For a start, I very much doubt the anglosaxies are going to be in Tel Aviv beyond April. And it could be much further afield, you'll just have to wait and see...a visit to the homeland in the coming weeks should decide the direction we take.

Anyway, wishing you a very Happy New Year! Drink safely! And drink lots! Oh Gawd, it's only 9.20am but I feel a need for some Ouzo...

A real-life Ghost Town

Drove down South at the weekend, to get a taste of Southern living. Ended up in Sderot, a town those of you from outside Israel have probably never heard of, but a town which is probably lingering around in the subconscious of most Israelis. I'm definitely on their side, I think it must be an absolute fucking nightmare (currently there's a cease-fire, one of the reasons we felt it was reasonably safe to go there) to live there, constantly listening out for the wail of the siren warning of incoming Qassams. Can't imagine what it's like, especially with the added responsibility of kids, though I do recall the Gulf War sirens playing havoc with my nerves...

I could post some pix of Sderot that I took, but they look like everytown on a Saturday, all deserted and shut, with just a few people wandering around, mostly on their way to synagogue. Felt very empty, like something was missing...

Also had a beer in Ashkelon, just up the road from Sderot, which has also been on the receiving end of some Qassams recently. Sorry, but that is one ugly town, not quite the ugliest in Israel, but whoever designed those blocks of sea view apartments obviously only had a profit on his mind. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt if a few Qassams landed there...

Nice and cheery

These two articles had me feeling all smiley and gooey this morning. The kind of feeling that makes you want to put a tad extra butter on your toast. Especially with the anglosaxies flying over to Ingerlund in a few days. So, if we do go get blown to smithereens, whose gonna bother to keep this blog going? I'd offer the missus as some kind of compensation, but as she'll be on the plane too I'm not too sure any of her best bits will be available...

Wish you were here...?

With what looks like a failed strike on Syria, and people "who know" (I know someone who knows something...) hinting that something is about to kick off, it's all good round here, innit. I say nuke each other to bits and then we won't have to go through all those nervy sirens again. A bright flash and then Good Night!

And with neo-Nazis (neo-feckin'-Nazis?!?) running around splashing their swastikas on all and sundry (but mainly on the sundry), and a dispirited Israeli football team (oooh, this must be hard to read if you're an Israeli fan, hee hee) having to sit out a month before having a chance to redeem themselves...well, it's all a bundle of laughs, as you can tell.

At least on Wednesday night it's the Jewish New Year, shindig at the mum-in-laws place as usual. Complete with 60 guests and 20 odd kids screaming and shouting all night...oooh luverly...might just be saved by the England game, if it's on anywhere...?

Seriously now...

Don't mind me, I just need to say something...

To be honest, I feel very disconnected from this recent war and its now nervy cease-fire. At its onset, yeh, I felt a connection with the Holy Land, but recently...

I'm trying to think why and it's probably because of a number of reasons: 1) I'm very busy at the moment with the schools, 2) my area of Israel (the center) didn't experience any of what the North has been through the last month, and 3) I'm just not Israeli enough.

I feel detached. Despite mrs. anglosaxy's brother serving up near the border (he's an officer in the reserves) and her stressing out because of it, despite my tearful new cellmate's boyfriend being sent up there last week, despite the constant media barrage every night, I still feel like this is a war that somehow doesn't belong to me, doesn't have anything to do with me. Does that make me a cold hearted bastard? I'm not sure.

The problem is, in times of trouble, I don't feel particularly enamored with this country. I'm not Jewish, I don't have this burning Zionist blood whizzing through my veins. You won't hear any "We will win/we shall overcome" bursts from me. I'm just this regular Brit geezer who found himself a life here. There are a lot of great things about this country, it's just when the shit hits the fan, as it regularly does in this neck of the woods, living that life becomes a wee bit harder.

I won't go into the politics of this war, though I'm totally in favour of Israel's recent actions. In fact, I believe they should have gone in much harder and with more focused, pinpoint missions. This was a war Israel was never going to win. So many lives were lost, needlessly. So many young soldiers, so many reservists, young Dads like me, heartbroken families at home. Which brings me to my next point...

Money time comes when I sit and watch the bundle of fun that is junior. It tears me up to think that this little blighter might well have to go through all this bloodshed again, and quite possibly on the front line. I'm sorry, but it makes me want to pack the fuck up and get as far away from here as I possibly can. Not right now, of course, but an exit is out there and it has the anglosaxy name on it. Of course, I'm not so naive to realize that a move away will only make him lust after Israel even more, something that only a good slapping / Muslim girlfriend / Arsenal season ticket will take care of. Better get saving if it's going to be the season-ticket...

It kinda saddens me to write all this, because I feel my connection to this country, not that it's been too strong lately anyway, is being severed, thread by thread. And I'm not sure just how many threads remain...

oh buggar...

...and as soon as I schedule my Thursday afternoon/evening Depeche Mode session, they go and cancel the show...I'm very pissed off...

Modus vs Scousus

Fuck the war. Some might say (like me) that the biggest event of this summer is Thursday's Depeche Mode gig.

I believe 100% that Depeche Mode will turn up. Dead sure. And the local press has pictures of the stage being built, so it's looking good...Dave G has burnt both ends of the candle on too many occasions to let a few little rockets scare him. If it doesn't happen I'm guessing there'll be a few sad faces...mine included. Even O postponed her trip to Thailand, Australia etc until after the concert...

Fuck, can't believe it's been 22 years since I last saw 'em. Must have been about 15 when I saw them down Hammersmith Odeon way...

And as for Liverpool, you chickens...

"I'll have a pint of Stella with my war, please..."

Seems a bit strange, what with a war raging a couple of hours drive away. But fuck it, when Stella calls, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. And yes, the beachside bevvies meant a strip down to my boxers and a quick midnight dip. Lush, absolutely lush. And no jellyfish clinging to my body as I resurfaced. An added bonus.

Adopt a Nawtherner

As Nasrallah and HezBollox continue to throw as many missiles as they can at those nasty peace-mongering Israelis in northern Israel, it's time for the rest of the country to pull together. That's right, you too can temporarily adopt a northern family. Just think about it, you too can have sleepless nights as they happily recount tales of booms in the night and sirens wailing...Mrs. anglosaxy's parents have already done it, they've got their distant cousins from Rosh Pina coming down, all 5 of them. And yes, the anglosaxies are also thinking about it, we have a spare room and a big house (bleedin' cheap to rent in smallsville), so why not? Just no riff-raff, please...

You've got to hand it to the Israelis - can you imagine this type of camaraderie in Blighty? Northern Scouse Git heads down south with his Teenage Slapper for an all expenses paid weekender at Southern Chav Geezer's pad. Just ain't going to work...

War! What is it good for?...ok, ok

I dunno.

There I was, driving into Tel Aviv at 7 bleedin' am (on my way to get junior an Israeli passport), listening to the Morning Show on Radio Tel Aviv. Tal and Aviad were discussing the war raging up north, and pointing out that, actually, things don't look so bad. I guess they get paid to put a positive light on things, but living here in the centre of the country, it's easy to understand why things don't look so bad.

Just yesterday, driving home from the beach, I turned to mrs. anglosaxy and said "Hard to believe there's a war raging just a few kms from here..." But she was already asleep, so junior made out he understood me and smiled blissfully. The beach had been packed, with people laughing and eating ice-cream, just as they normally would.

But after getting junior's passport sorted (trust me, if you want to get excellent service at the Min of Interior, take a baby along - simply excellent service from a government body I have dreaded visiting in the past), things seem to have changed a bit. I'm looking at a couple of Israeli websites and see that more missiles have rained down on Haifa, with more casualties. And even more alarming is the warning to Tel Aviv citizens to be "on the alert".

Listen, if it was just me, I'd be quite excited. Scared, but the adrenaline would be pumping. I was here during the Gulf War of '91, and although those scuds came down around me in Tel Aviv, I was on the beach with friends watching those little orange fireballs head for some random location accompanied by the eerie wail of sirens. Trouble is, I got me a family, innit. And, I seem to have been instilled with this very protective instinct that is starting to bite...

Well, I've rambled a bit...didn't even mean to post anything today and didn't mean to sound too depressing, because I'm not down...just a tad more wee worried than yesterday...and I do have a couple of killer posts for you, coming real soon...

"Helicopter!" "Helicopter!" "Helicopter!"

Was down the beach yesterday evening with junior, the first time I've taken him on my own. Was great, especially the times when he decided to fall face down in the sand with his mouth open...

But he was constantly distracted by the whirring of helicopters going up and down the coast. Wouldn't want to give the wrong impression, but there was a feeling of some "heavy shit" going down...