All posts by brianblum

The Case of the Purloined Ice Cream

February 15, 2009 No Comments »

Pin It My wife Jody has been in the States for the last two weeks to celebrate her father’s 70th birthday, leaving me a “single parent” back in Israel. I’m... Read More »

Why I’m Voting Green This Year

February 6, 2009 1 Comment »

Pin It You would think that after voting for a Barkat and a Barack respectively in the local Jerusalem and U.S. elections, the logical next choice would be to support... Read More »

War in Gaza: Which Way Will the Dreidel Fall?

January 4, 2009 3 Comments »

Pin It Our friend Joan called last night just as the news broke that the IDF had begun its ground operation in Gaza. Joan was panicked. She knew a number... Read More »

A Sneak Peek at the Future of Jerusalem Mass Transit

November 28, 2008 4 Comments »

Pin It Stepping into one of the sleek and shiny new light rail vehicles set to zip through Jerusalem in the next year and a half, it’s hard to imagine... Read More »

From Barack to Barkat: A Look Back at the November Elections

November 14, 2008 No Comments »

Pin It The just concluded Jerusalem election, while certainly not as important on a world stage as last week’s U.S. presidential contest, was in many ways spookily similar to its... Read More »

Jerusalem Election Diary: Haaretz gets it so wrong

November 7, 2008 2 Comments »

Pin It I don’t usually write about the same topic two weeks in a row, but, with less than a week to go, the upcoming Jerusalem mayoral elections is so... Read More »

Jerusalem Elections 2008: The Most Crucial in Years

October 31, 2008 3 Comments »

Pin It Several weeks ago I gave an Israeli take on the upcoming U.S. elections. But there’s another vote in November that may prove to be just as momentous for... Read More »

Art Show at the Museum of the Underground Prisoners

October 28, 2008 No Comments »

Pin It Just when you think you’ve seen all that Jerusalem has to offer, along comes a surprise in the most unusual of spaces. For weeks, the Jerusalem municipality has... Read More »

Another Israeli Take on the Upcoming U.S. Elections

October 17, 2008 7 Comments »

Pin It I just received my absentee ballot for the upcoming U.S. elections in the mail and I’m psyched. Yes, I know that some critics will question whether an American... Read More »

Alone Again (Not) Naturally

August 12, 2008 1 Comment »

Pin It The week didn’t go at all as I expected. When Jody made plans for her and Amir to go to Cleveland for Jody’s grandmother’s 90th birthday at the... Read More »

New TV Show Attempts to Bridge the Religious Secular Divide

July 31, 2008 2 Comments »

Pin It A new TV show that debuted earlier this month on the Israeli satellite company YES is the talk of the town across certain sectors of southern Jerusalem. “Srugim”... Read More »

Bulldozer Copycat Attack: On the Scene

July 22, 2008 No Comments »

Pin It My son Amir and I were downtown when the police cars and ambulances started zooming past us, their sirens blaring. We had just finished an ice coffee at... Read More »

Bridge of Strings: Monstrosity or Beauty?

July 10, 2008 No Comments »

Pin It Some have called it a monstrosity. To others it’s a thing of beauty. One thing’s for sure: the new Bridge of Strings at the entrance to Jerusalem, which... Read More »

What a Dump!

June 27, 2008 1 Comment »

Pin It Here’s a Friday morning outing you’ve probably never considered: A trip to the dump. But not just any dump. The Hiria dump – an 80-meter high blight on... Read More »

Another World (Or Why I Now Love Tel Aviv)

June 24, 2008 No Comments »

Pin It My wife Jody and I will be married 20 years this summer. We decided to take an early anniversary trip last week. Originally we thought of going to... Read More »