It’s 9/02/10 – In the spirit of the day, A gift!
September 2, 2010 is 09/02/10. Remember it, it won’t happen again!
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Sep 2nd 2010
Sep 2nd 2010
Tel Aviv nominated for gay tourism awards (MTV)
City to compete in MTV-sponsored race for titles of ‘Sexiest City’, ‘Best Breakout Destination’
Tel Aviv has been nominated for two TripOut Gay Travel Awards, sponsored by MTV and the gay travel website ‘TripOut’.
The city has been marketing itself as a gay metropolis for the past few years, with the GLBT community working together with the municipality to create hot spots and attractions for homosexual travelers.
Now it appears the effort has paid off, with nominations in both the ‘Best breakout destination’ and ‘Sexiest place on earth’ categories.
For the prizes, Tel Aviv is competing against cities such as Barcelona, Las Vegas, Rio de Janeiro, and Toronto.
TripOut is a site advising the homosexual traveler, a product of MTV’s Logo network. The network owns a number of other sites dedicated to the LGBT community, and its broadcasts reach 40 million homes in the US alone.
The International Gay and Lesbian Tourism Association’s ambassador in Israel, Shay Deutsch, is excited. “When we began working in 2006, we dreamt of turning Tel Aviv into one of the top destinations, and it appears we’re on the right track,” he said.
Deutsch added that thousands of gay tourists visited the city this year, and that he believed next year would be even more profitable.
Tel Aviv council member Yaniv Weizman, who advises the mayor on all LGBT matters, said the municipality had made the labeling of Tel Aviv as a gay tourism destination a top priority.
“I am excited to see that the world is beginning to discover the charm of the city,” he said. “Clearly this is only the first step towards making the city one of the five most desirable destinations in the world.”
Source: Ynetnews.com
Sep 2nd 2010
Canadian Minister of State, Peter Kent to Engage Israel on Americas Strategy
(No. 276 – August 31, 2010 – 1:30 p.m. ET) The Honourable Peter Kent, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas), today announced that he will visit Israel from August 31 to September 8, 2010, to launch Canada-Israel discussions on the Americas.
“As vibrant democratic states, Canada and Israel are natural allies. This affinity, based on our shared values, such as respect for human rights and the rule of law, extends to our respective engagement in the Americas,” said Minister of State Kent. “I look forward to discussing our shared objectives in the region: security, democracy and prosperity.”
A key policy priority of the Government of Canada, engagement in the Americas is an area of growing international interest to Israel, which holds observer status at the Organization of American States. Canada, through its embassies in Havana and Caracas, represents Israel’s consular interests in Cuba and diplomatic interests in Venezuela.
During his visit, Minister of State Kent will meet with President Shimon Peres, Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Ayalon. He will also tour such sites as the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) and the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum.
Minister of State Kent will also visit the West Bank, where he will meet Riad Malki, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Canada is implementing a five-year, $300 million package of assistance to the Palestinian Authority, focusing on support in the areas of security and justice.
“The Government of Canada supports the creation of an independent Palestinian state as part of a negotiated two-state solution with Israel, and we support Israel’s right to live in peace with its neighbours within secure boundaries,” said Minister of State Kent.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Meredith McDonald
Senior Communications Adviser
Office of the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)
613-944-7013
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
Source: Government of Canada
Sep 1st 2010
‘Esti Ginzburg should be a Bond girl’
Hollywood director Joel Schumacher sees a bright future for his new film’s Israeli star. ‘She’s amazing and I admire her,’ he says
If it were up to American director Joel Schumacher, who has worked with Hollywood’s leading actresses – from Julia Roberts and Demi Moore to Nicole Kidman – Israeli soldier Esti Ginzburg would have a bright future in the movie capital.
After directing Ginzburg in his new film “Twelve,” Schumacher believes the young model is going places. “With Esti’s looks and with a lot of determination, she could definitely have a Hollywood career,” Schumacher told Yedioth Ahronoth in a special interview.
“After taking acting classes, you’ll see she’ll get far in life. I think she should be a James Bond girl. She could play that role wonderfully.”
“Twelve” deals with the life of spoilt, rich teenagers in New York. Ginzburg stars in the film alongside Chase Crawford from the series “Gossip Girl”, who plays a drug dealer, rapper 50 Cent and Emma Roberts, Julia Robert’s niece. She plays the role of Sara, a beautiful and popular girl who’s busy planning her 18th birthday.
“It’s a film about the Western culture today,” Schumacher explains, “about young people who dress like grownups and want to be cool, but are actually still children. They’re sophisticated on the one hand, but have yet to develop the senses adults have.
“Although they’re raised in perfect environment conditions, they sometimes feel lonely and insecure. It’s a generation which grew up on the internet and fast publicity through reality shows. It’s also a film about bad parenting – the parents are preoccupied with themselves and their careers and are not present in their children’s lives.”
How did you get to Ginzburg?
“A New York casting director told me about a young model who lives in Israel, doesn’t have any acting experience but seems very interesting. I set a meeting with Esti, and when she entered the room I was captured by her beauty. God, she is so amazing. I thought she would be suitable for the role of Sara.
“Esti has a sort of sweetness, and I thought she would be able to bring her innocence to the character, helping us avoid the stereotype of the stupid blonde. After Esti flew twice from Israel to New York for the audition, I was glad to offer her the role.”
Crazy industry
Schumacher won’t stop praising his discovery. “Esti has a wonderful role in the film and I simply admire her,” he says. “Throughout the shoot the actors turned into a small family, and Esti was like a Jewish mother – she cooked and prepared meals for us all the time. I wish she were my daughter. She’s charming and not at all spoilt.”
Did she share any experiences from her military service?
“Yes, she even sent me a picture of herself holding a rifle. So I told her, ‘This is exactly what the world needs, a blonde girl who can shoot.’ Chase Crawford and I were a bit worried about her and afraid that she would be in the front. I wouldn’t stop harassing her about it and calling her to Israel. I only clamed down after realizing that she isn’t a combat soldier.”
The film “Twelve” is named after a new, dangerous drug which the Manhattan’s youth have taken a liking to.
“I myself have dealt with a drug and alcohol addiction for way too long in my life,” he admits. “When I was young we were very innocent about drugs. Today drugs are very accessible. The unfortunate thing is that most addicts know just how destructive the drug can be, and yet choose to use it and become addicted.”
Schumacher, who celebrated his 71st birthday on Sunday, was born in a poor New York neighborhood. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Tennessee. He lost his father at the age of four.
“My father was feeling ill, so they took him to the hospital,” he says. “He died the next day and I never saw him again.”
How did his death affect your life?
“I don’t know, because children have a tendency to deal with things they are familiar with, and I didn’t know what it was like to grow up with a father. Had I been older when he died, I could have understood the loss, but I didn’t get the opportunity to build an adult relationship neither with my father nor with my mother, who was busy working hard. I got used to living my life without my parents, so I have friends who are like my family. I simply created a new family.”
Do you feel connected to your Jewish roots?
“When my father died, my mother didn’t have any time to deal with her faith, because all she cared about in life was to work to provide for us. So apart from my bar mitzvah, I wasn’t raised as a Jew. I also remember that we sometimes used to go to my uncle’s on Passover and celebrate the seder there.”
Schumacher, who grew up unsupervised, without parental authority, began drinking and smoking at the early age of 10. He later studied design and worked in the fashion industry, decided he wanted to make films and moved to Los Angeles in the 1979s, where he worked as a costume designer on television and films, including Woody Allen’s “Sleeper,” and began writing scripts. In the early 1980s he turned to directing. His career has seen ups and downs.
Schumacher has produced two adaptations of John Grisham best sellers, “The Client” and “A Time to Kill”, and two Batman films, “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin,” which flopped in the box office.
But even the flops didn’t leave Schumacher jobless. Today, at an age when many artists find it difficult to carry out projects, Schumacher manages to survive.
What is the secret of your survival?
“I don’t understand why famous and talented directors find it difficult to get work and are forced to retire. Perhaps it’s because the industry has changed. I’m lucky. Since I don’t just want to engage in large productions, people with interesting projects come to me. They know I am attentive and can work under different and diverse conditions, and even direct a low-budget film. It’s less stressful making small films, because you don’t have this pressure to pay back the huge investments.”
Other films he directed include “St. Elmo’s Fire” with Demi Moore and Rob Lowe, “Cousins” with Ted Danson, “Phone Booth” with Colin Farrell, “The Phantom of the Opera” which was nominated for a Golden Globe, and “Falling Down” with Michael Douglas, which took part in the Cannes International Film Festival in 1993.
Schumacher enjoys working with the same actors over and over again. For example with Julia Roberts in “Flatliners” and “Dying Young”, and with Kiefer Sutherland who starred in five of his films.
When you look back, do you see a connection – a common thread – between all your films?
“I enjoy creating, especially films about imperfect young people, because they can change. When you show people who have made wrong choices in their life, they still have time to change direction in their life, and that’s encouraging.
“Perhaps I’m doing these films because I have done so many mistakes in my life, and perhaps because I myself am such a mashugana and screwed up. It’s amusing being crazy, because I work in a crazy industry after all.”
Just old
Schumacher, an honest, brave and revealing person, is openly gay – not exactly an acceptable thing in the conservative movie capital.
“I’ve never hidden my sexual identity,” he says. “I have been open to the world about this since the age of 16. If I was ever discriminated in Hollywood for being gay, it was done behind my back. Hollywood looks for talent and doesn’t care what takes place in the talent’ bedroom.”
There is a heated argument in Israel at the moment over the forced outing of famous homosexuals. What’s your opinion on this matter?
“Coming out of the closet is great, but people should not be forced out of the closet. It’s personal. No one should engage in forced outing. There’s something very ugly about it. People should be given the time to come out at their own pace. I can understand stars who are sex symbols and have a huge career, and coming out of the closet could pose a problem for them.”
Is there love in your life at the moment?
“I have been loved quite a lot throughout my life, but I don’t think I’m good at relationships. I’m good at friendships, but I’m not the marrying type. Today I’m just old.”
Schumacher is currently in Louisiana, where he is shooting his new film “Trespass”.
“It’s a thriller about a family whose house is broken into. During the break-in, those present discover many secrets and lies about their life,” he explains.
The new film stars two actors who have worked with Schumacher before: Nicole Kidman (“Batman Forever”) and Nicolas Cage (“8MM”).
“Nicole and Nicolas have become younger, while I’ve grown older,” he complains. “Since we worked together, each of them has gotten married. Both Nicole and Nicolas have a baby at home now, and they seem very happy.”
The thriller is being produced by Hollywood’s “Israeli gang”: Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, and Boaz Davidson.
“Since I have made many films with producer Arnon Milchan as well, I am in fact officially Israeli,” Schumacher jokes.
Have you ever visited Israel?
“Yes. In 1977 I visited Rome, and a producer who was one of my closest friends called and invited me to his little brother’s bar mitzvah which was to be held in Israel. So I came to Israel. I spent three weeks there and visited many places: Safed, the Dead Sea, Masada, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
“I had a lot of time to get to know the country, and I found it wonderful, inspiring and very brave. This visit was a long time ago, and I’m sure everything is so different now. I want to come again and I’ve received a lot of invitations, but I work most of the time, so it just hasn’t happened.”
Source: Ynetnews.com
Aug 31st 2010
First Bollywood movie about Jesus’ childhood to start filming in Israel
Director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao said his production will be narrated in four languages and feature an all-Indian cast of child actors and seven devotional songs.
The first Bollywood movie about the childhood of Jesus will be shot in the Holy Land in the coming months, Indian filmmakers said Tuesday.
Director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao said his production will be narrated in four languages and feature an all-Indian cast of child actors and seven devotional songs.
Producer Konda Krishnam Raju told a news conference that the film focuses on the childhood of Jesus, a contrast with other movies that depict the later years. This is the first presentation of this type in Bollywood history, he said.
While the movie has special significance for Christians, it is intended for a global audience, Rao said.
Christians in India number 24 million, or about 2.3 percent of the country’s population.
Religious Indian films have traditionally used child actors to highlight the innocence, sanctity and divinity of religious figures, the director said. Rao’s film will follow that tradition, using the child actors to depict adult characters as well as children.
American makeup artist Christien Tinsley will use special makeup effects to make the actors appear older. The filmmakers said they chose him because of his work with The Passion of the Christ, which earned him an Academy Award nomination.
That movie, directed by Mel Gibson, won critical acclaim but also evoked charges of anti-Jewish bias and legitimizing anti-Semitism.
At $30 million, the filmmakers say, the film about Jesus will be one of India’s highest budget movies. An average Indian movie costs about $500,000.
Aditya Productions plans to release the movie next year in English and three Indian languages – Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam. South Indian star Pawan Kalyan will narrate the Telugu and Malayalam versions, while other well known actors will narrate the English and Hindi versions, the filmmakers said.
Aug 31st 2010
Jerusalem to get new skatepark
State of the art park spanning 0.7 acres at investment of NIS 5 million to open in capital by end of next year
Good news for skaters in Jerusalem: A state of the art skatepark will soon be built in the capital’s Liberty Bell Garden. The park will span some three 3 dunams (0.7 acres) at an investment of NIS 5 million (roughly $1.3 million). The site is slated to open at the end of next year.
The idea was the brainchild of a group of Jerusalem teens, who demanded Mayor Nir Barkat build an extreme skateboarding park. They met with representatives of the city’s sports authority and protested until the mayor decided to grant their request.
According to plans, the new park will offer facilities that can serve up to 70 skaters at once, and will be suited for national and international competitions.
“Jerusalem will be joining leading cities around the world with a modern and professional skatepark that will attract many visitors,” Mayor Barkat said on Sunday.
“We have been negotiating with the Jerusalem Municipality for eight months now, which has suggested we recruit donors for the park’s construction… I am pleased to hear that the city has come to understand the park’s importance and has decided to build it,” said 16-year-old Noam Rifkin-Panton, one of the youths who pushed for the park’s approval.
Aug 31st 2010
VIDEO: Bar Refaeli and Rafael Nadal hit the courts
Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli joined world champion tennis player Rafael Nadal Thursday to play a friendly tennis match in New York as part of a NIKE promotion campaign.
Refaeli, who apparently never played tennis before the offer to participate in the games, showed the judge, tennis star Serena Williams, that she was more than just a pretty face with moves that even she seemed surprised to have pulled off.
Refaeli and Nadal, who were called “Team Rafa” by the reporters and the audience, took the tournament by storm and won first place.
Other participants included Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova.
Aug 30th 2010
Aug 30th 2010
TA to educate against homophobia despite Shas’ objection
Following deadly shooting at gay youth center, other violent acts against gays, municipality launches new school program focusing on sexual identity. Shas councilman calls content ‘debauchery’
The Tel Aviv Municipality’s Education Committee decided on Sunday to launch an educational program in the cities schools that will focus on sexual identity, familiarity with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community and the prevention of homophobia and discrimination.
The decision was reached despite objection from the religious factions, who stormed out of a committee meeting held last June, during which the plan was presented. Council member Binyamin Babayof of the Shas faction referred to the program’s content as “debauchery.”
The program was initiated by City Council member Yaniv Weizman, who is also Mayor Ron Huldai’s advisor on gay community affairs, following the deadly shooting attackat a gay youth center in the city and other acts of violence against members of the community.
The program is set to be introduced at Tel Aviv’s schools in January.
Deputy Mayor Assaf Zamir, who heads the Education Committee, said the program is important in light of the large gay and lesbian community in the city and the fact that more and more members choose to get married.
“There is a ‘baby boom’ in the city’s (GBLT) community. At least 100 children from same-sex families are currently enrolled in the city’s schools, and questions such as ‘Why does Almog have to dads?’ are being heard more and more. This program will help is answer the children’s questions,” he said.
“Tel Aviv has a historic role in improving the gay community’s status in Israel and in paving the way for social equality and the acceptance of the other,” Zamir added.
The program was initiated in cooperation with Hoshen, the informational and educational center of the GLBT community.
Source: Yentnews.com
Aug 30th 2010
Topman to open stores in Israel
Topshop’s male subsidiary slated to open first Israel stores in Herzliya’s Arena mall, Beersheba. Over next three years, both chains to open 25 branches in Jewish state
Israeli men are in for a nice surprise: British men’s clothing chain Topman is scheduled to open stores in Herzliya’s Arena Mall and Beersheba’s Seventh Avenue shopping center. Topman is the subsidiary of women’s fashion retailer Topshop.
Topman’s Arena Mall store will stretch over roughly 8,612 square feet and will be adjacent to the mall’s Topshop store. It will share its Beersheba branch with Topshop and Miss Selfridge.
The brand’s Israel franchiser Sakal Sport said that some 25 Topshop and Topman branches will open in Israel over the next three years. Topshop’s prices in Israel are relatively high and Topman’s rates are slated to be no different.
The Topshop brand was created in Sheffield, England in 1964. It now operates stores in more than 20 countries around the world.
In recent years, the chain has collaborated with British model Kate Moss who designed several collections for it, to great success. The partnership ended last week, leaving Moss with $5.2 million in profits.
Topman was launched in 1978 as Topshop’s male brand. It now has some 300 stores worldwide.
In 2003, Sakal group signed a franchise agreement with Topshop and opened its first Israel branches in the Ramat Aviv Mall and the Arena Mall.
Source: Ynetnews.com
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