Wednesday, 25 November 2015
The lonely house
Tense times in Israel
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Yesterday I stood in this line outside the Be'er Sheva branch of Bituah Leumi, Israel's social security institute.
It was like being squished inside a microcosm of Negev society.
With the spike in terror attacks these last several months, everybody is more tense than usual.
So one older woman told off two teenagers who were sneaking to the head of the line.
In heavily-Russian-accented Hebrew she said, "You have no respect for old people standing here in the hot sun for half an hour, that you push ahead of us?!"
In Arabic-accented Hebrew the boys stood their ground and lied, "It's OK, we have a number already." (There are no numbers at this stage.)
Then a Sabra with no accent, more well-dressed than the rest of us and obviously not used to being squished, shouted at the security guard who was regulating the "flow" of citizens, "Why do you treat us like animals?!?" (She meant why like cattle pressed into a chute but didn't have the vocabulary for that.)
The guard in tie and jacket answered her, "I only work here. For a security agency. Complain to Social Security about it, not to me."
I really wanted to (but didn't) tell the prima donna, "You think THIS is bad? Have you ever seen how Palestinian workers in the West Bank have to line up in real chutes at the checkpoints every morning before they are cleared to go to work inside Israel?!"
Only the Ethiopians and the Bedouins stood in stoic silence, knowing that with patience we would all eventually get inside the National Insurance Institute of Israel.
(Enlarge the photo to see one Bedouin man and the woman next to him in traditional dress.)
.
The second stage, once inside the door, is to wait in another line for one of the two security guards to inspect your bag; once you walk through the metal detector you might also get wanded and patted down; once I was even told to drink from my water bottle (to prove it's not a Molotov cocktail I guess).
.
The third stage of Gehinnom is then waiting in another line, with your ID card and documents ready, in order to go stand in front of a clerk behind a computer for a short minute.
Only rarely are you allowed to then enter the inner sanctum and talk to someone higher up who might have an answer to your question.
.
So, for ABC Wednesday today, T is for tension.
.
Yesterday I stood in this line outside the Be'er Sheva branch of Bituah Leumi, Israel's social security institute.
It was like being squished inside a microcosm of Negev society.
With the spike in terror attacks these last several months, everybody is more tense than usual.
So one older woman told off two teenagers who were sneaking to the head of the line.
In heavily-Russian-accented Hebrew she said, "You have no respect for old people standing here in the hot sun for half an hour, that you push ahead of us?!"
In Arabic-accented Hebrew the boys stood their ground and lied, "It's OK, we have a number already." (There are no numbers at this stage.)
Then a Sabra with no accent, more well-dressed than the rest of us and obviously not used to being squished, shouted at the security guard who was regulating the "flow" of citizens, "Why do you treat us like animals?!?" (She meant why like cattle pressed into a chute but didn't have the vocabulary for that.)
The guard in tie and jacket answered her, "I only work here. For a security agency. Complain to Social Security about it, not to me."
I really wanted to (but didn't) tell the prima donna, "You think THIS is bad? Have you ever seen how Palestinian workers in the West Bank have to line up in real chutes at the checkpoints every morning before they are cleared to go to work inside Israel?!"
Only the Ethiopians and the Bedouins stood in stoic silence, knowing that with patience we would all eventually get inside the National Insurance Institute of Israel.
(Enlarge the photo to see one Bedouin man and the woman next to him in traditional dress.)
.
The second stage, once inside the door, is to wait in another line for one of the two security guards to inspect your bag; once you walk through the metal detector you might also get wanded and patted down; once I was even told to drink from my water bottle (to prove it's not a Molotov cocktail I guess).
.
The third stage of Gehinnom is then waiting in another line, with your ID card and documents ready, in order to go stand in front of a clerk behind a computer for a short minute.
Only rarely are you allowed to then enter the inner sanctum and talk to someone higher up who might have an answer to your question.
.
So, for ABC Wednesday today, T is for tension.
.
Fly Over Country
If you don't know the term in the caption, click here.
This was what was outside my office windows yesterday afternoon. iPhone shots, via Photoshop.
I'll get back to the Garden Glow shots soon. Too much to do at work, too many evening obligations in the way of editing. However, we are driving to Kansas City today, a very pleasant place, on out way to see Mrs. C's family around Marysville, Kansas, for Thanksgiving. Her mother turns 97 this weekend and is doing pretty well, thank you. There will be some quiet time to work while out on the prairie.
This was what was outside my office windows yesterday afternoon. iPhone shots, via Photoshop.
I'll get back to the Garden Glow shots soon. Too much to do at work, too many evening obligations in the way of editing. However, we are driving to Kansas City today, a very pleasant place, on out way to see Mrs. C's family around Marysville, Kansas, for Thanksgiving. Her mother turns 97 this weekend and is doing pretty well, thank you. There will be some quiet time to work while out on the prairie.
Winter Sports
One of the prettiest ice skating rinks in London is outside the Natural History Museum. It is always tempting but I just know I would spend more time down or clinging to the rail. What are your skating skills like?
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Jeronaton et Iznogoud
For the first time, the history book show took place in several locations, instead of just the town hall. The history comics book part of the show was held inside the gorgeous Préfecture building which you can see from the outside by clicking here. It is one of VDP's favourite buildings in the city. These rooms aren't usually open to the public, so not only was it fun to watch comic authors (here Jean Torton, a.k.a Jeronaton, dressed in Napoleonic uninform) signing or rather drawing autographs but it was also a fantastic opportunity to see the inside of the Préfecture. Below are the authors of Iznogoud, during a conference. More to come next week as VDP is away for a few days, posts are scheduled so do stop by if you have a minute and happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it!
Pour la première fois, le salon Histoire de Lire a essaimé dans d'autres lieux. Les BD d'histoire, ça se passait dans l'hôtel du département / la préfecture. Pour voir les photos de l'extérieur de ce qui est l'un des bâtiments préférés de VDP dans la ville, cliquez ici. C'était chouette de regarder les auteurs, ici Jean Torton, dit Jeronaton très napoléonien, dédicacer en dessin ses ouvrages. Ci-dessous, les auteurs d'Iznogoud, pendant une conférence. De surcroît, ce fut pour VDP l'occasion de prendre des photos de l'intérieur de la préfecture, photos à venir la semaine prochaine car VDP s'absente quelques jours. Le blog ne s'arrête pas pour autant, des billets sont prépostés, si vous avez une minute, venez voir !
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