Evening Mic

Glad we got the gender thing sorted. It's strange how you have to make a mental adjustment, binning the image you had in your head. A bit like when you see a picture of someone you know from hearing on the radio and they don't look anything like you imagined them to (that happened to me earlier this week - saw a photo of a radio soap star and she was chubby when i'd imagined her as really skinny from smoking too many cigarettes).

You must come to London one day - it has a very special energy. The thing to understand about us British are two key characteristics: eccentricity and tolerance. Now the eccentricity derives in part from our mix of Norman refinement and Anglo-Saxon brutality. That's why, for example, the fashion is so cool. You get a beautiful dress (Norman) and down below a pair of DMs (Saxon). That's what marks us out from the rest of the world. They can't do that in Paris, Rome or even New York.

And that brings us neatly to TV and music. A lot of British humour stems from these qualities, including Little Britain, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python. And the same for music, not least Punk which I particularly love. Take The Clash - punk (Saxon brutality) meets reggae (tolerance, openness) in great tracks like 'White Man (in Hammersmith Palais)' and 'Armagiddeon Times'.

I have been to Israel, a couple of years ago. My partner's first cousin (who is Irish and more like her sister, they're so close) married an Israeli. She was on a round the world trip, met her man and never got beyond the Land of Milk and Honey. They live just south of Haifa on the coast. Here's a picture i took in Nazareth on that trip.

Regarding the Oscars, I was pleased Helen Mirren and Forrest Whittaker won the acting awards in British films (Last King of Scotland was financed by FilmFour in London and The Queen by Granada in Manchester). I really enjoyed The Departed, especially Leonardo's performance (i've always thought he was a brilliant actor, ever since What's Eating Gilbert Grape?), and of course it's high time Marty got his Oscar, even though we all know it's actually for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, etc. Truth to tell, I thought Little Miss Sunshine was by far the best movie of last year and was delighted Alan Arkin picked up a little smooth golden man.

I'm looking forward to the next Bourne thriller directed by Paul Greengrass - I loved Bourne Supremacy. What is 300?

I thought Cillian Murphy was really good in Breakfast on Pluto (and Batman Begins). I wasn't so keen on Wind That Shakes the Barley - I'm not a big Ken Loach fan. Cillian did a good job in another rather crude film.

Music favorites - difficult to know where to begin - i love music. My favourite female singer - Sinead O'Connor, love her last record, Throw Down Your Arms, the reggae one with Sly & Robbie. Favourite records include What's Going On (Marvin Gaye) and Kind of Blue (Miles Davis). Recent stuff i like - David Holmes, Come Get It I Got It and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Getting late now so better sign off.
Over&out
A

Hi Arkangel,
First to make the record straight let me confirm that I’m a lady (said in the most annoying David Walliams voice)..i am a girl.

I’ve never been in London, it’s one of the cities I most wish to see, I’m very fascinated with British culture, Television wise I really enjoy Little Britain-the craziest funniest show I’ve seen in a while. Musically I think UK is the best source for the greatest music ever made.

I live in Tiberias, I was born and raised in this city, I’m still living here but I’m hoping to move sometimes in the future towards the big city, Tel Aviv. Have you ever been to Israel?
As I wrote in the previous post, I’m working in a real estate agency, I’m not that sure still if this area fits me but I’m open to explore other things then what interest me.

The picture you have posted is very interesting, I’ve always like this sort of art, it a way to express yourself in a different yet noticeable way.

So what did you think about the Oscars this year? I was applauding Martin Scorsese Finally received the Oscar, he is a legend, The Departed looks like a very good movie.
Forest Whitaker did a good job in The Last King of Scotland. Though I was a bit disappointed the Leo Dicaprio didn’t get the award, he is such a talent.

What are the movies you anticipate to see in 2007? To me there are few such as Spiderman 3, Hannibal Rising, 300, and the most important one is Sunshine, I’m waiting for so long for this one to come to the big screen, I’m a big Danny Boyle and Cillian Murphy fan.
Music wise, I’m always looking for new music, right now I’m really enjoy the music of Kasabian, Oasis, Air and Pink Floyd. What are your favorites?

Well that is it for now, I gotta head off to work. I am really happy to be taken part of this blog project, I made so many good friends with people online, one of them I’ll meet soon when I’ll fly to Italy for the first time, in few months.

Regards,
Mic

Shalom Mic
Before i get going i guess i should come clean on one point - i'm not 100% sure if you're of the masculine or feminine persuasion! i once worked in an office where there was an israeli woman called Mici but assume that was short for Michaela or similar, so i'm putting my money on you being a bloke - but please confirm before this goes off the rails!

So i better stick to stuff i do know about - like Me.

When I was a student i studied languages (french & german) which was actually mainly literature. I nearly studied the wrong thing - I was supposed to change to Law after the first year but thank god i never did, life's too short to be a lawyer.

Glad to hear about your new job - hope it goes well for you and you enjoy it.

I think we got paired up on 121 because I'm also really into music & movies.

I've got a few more years under my belt than you and i don't know if i can say for sure whether i've found my purpose in life. But as Jean-Paul Sartre said: you've got to be philosophical about it.

I live in London where i grew up. It's a fabulous city, i still love it after all these years. Often i'll just go out to a part of the city i don't know well with a camera and just wander about, taking photos and exploring the back streets. Have you ever been to London?

The picture up above is one i took recently in Chalk Farm, North London. It's graffiti by a London-based artist called Banksy. I'm currently working on a web project about public art.

I'm going to sign off now as I went to an Oscar night party last night and didn't get home til nearly 4am. It was in a very old cinema called The Electric Cinema in Portbello Road, West London. Mind you what we call very old in London is not quite the same as what you call very old in Tiberias. Joe Strummer walked these streets. Jesus Christ walked those shores (if you believe in all that).

So tell me a bit about where you live. Do you live in the town? And where do you work? Have you always lived there?

Delighted to be sharing this blog with you.

All the best from London town

Hello there, this is my first blog post, i'm kind of excited as i never had a blog before.My name is Michal but you can call me Mici or Mic, it doesn't matter.
I'm 26 years old from Israel. I'm a full time student in a community college , i'm studying medical terminology and office managment. most of my friends think i went study the wrong thing and still think i should "go study something with in the movie production world or computer graphics". I'm currently working part time as a secretary in real estate agency, i only started working there 3 months ago after being unemployed for nearly 2 years. It's a nice job, i'm very happy that right now it goes well.
I'm a very honest, friendly person, As long as i know myself i'm kind of a loner, i never had too much friends, actually i had only 2 friends who i know till this day.
Music and movies are my biggest passions in life, music is probably more, i'm not the greatest singer but i got a wide knowledge on it. Same thing probably can go to movies. Those 2 gave me an escape from life at rough moments, they still do but also provide me Inspiration.
I dream a lot about things i wish to do in life, i still haven't find my purpose in life but i think it's something most people are struggeling to find in any age.

That's all for now....

Sincerely,Mic