Category: Things

State of the union address

Now, how can anybody misunderestimate President Bush?

I don’t watch television at home for nearly 4 years. I don’t miss it at all. There is something stupefying about lying on the couch and staring at the TV. You disable your thoughts and hand your mind to the box.

I do own a television set, and I use it for watching movies that my roommate and myself download from the web. In these occasions, I don’t feel that I’m handing in my mind. I choose when to watch a movie, and I can always stop and continue watching it later on.

In the few times that I do come across a television set, I usually don’t find anything to watch. It usually happens to me at the gym, when I’m running on the treadmill. There is a sophisticated touch screen with cable tv on every touch screen, and after a minutes of zapping, I lose interest and switch to the console screen. I prefer watching my speed, gradient, distance and calories rather than another tv show.

On the other hand, sitting in front of my computer, reading articles and blog posts is much more fun. I feel that I’m challenging my mind. I don’t become tired and weary so fast. I guess that the Internet has lots to do with quitting television.

This square toilet seat’s design might have been inspired by the television. Well, there’s no connection to the post’s content. I just found it amusing, and wanted to share:

Captured in the “Coffee Tree” in Kfar Saba (suburb of Tel Aviv).

The big warning signs on cigarette boxes have become quite scary in the past few years. Smokers are threatened of getting cancer, impotence, heart diseases, etc. This one, “Smokers die younger”, caught my attention:

 

I don’t think that this will intimidate youngsters from smoking. Who wants to live really long?

In too many cases, old people have a long and painful end of life. From hearing and seeing problems, through being on wheelchair, up to horrible mental diseases, with Alzheimer’s disease being the worst.

Living a long life in pain or in a pathetic state is awful. Its better dying younger and happier than squeezing a few more years out of life.

I took the photo in a Tel Aviv bar, but it seems as if the cigarettes are from Hungary. I think that the creative staff working for the health department could do a better job with their warnings…

The names on the sugar bags are names of streets in almost every city in Israel. Not everybody knows about the people behind those names. So, someone decided to teach some history through the sugar bags in cafes. On one side (shown in the picture) you can see an illustration of the figure and the period he lived in. The other has a short description of his role in the Zionist movement or his life story.

The personas include Englishmen Balfur and Wingate, and also Albert Einstein. I didn’t find Hertzel’s sugar bag. It was probably consumed by the previous customers enjoying their tea or coffee.

The photograph was taken in “Gordon 17”, a cafe in Tel Aviv, located in the place’s address. BTW, they have interesting lectures about music every Monday night at 21:00 (entrance 10 NIS). More details in Hebrew here.

After the sunrise from Massada, here is a sunset in Tel Aviv.

 

Lately I’m quite busy at work, so my blogging frequency has decreased. At least I have an excellent view from my desk in the office. Note that the window returns a reflection of the other computers in the office…