Hi Mic

Sorry not to get back to you quicker. I used to get an email when posts went up on our blog but that didn't happen this time - not sure why.

I spotted the tattoo in the photo during the summer down at Brighton on the south coast of England. It was on somebody watching a basketball match down by the beach. I once heard Jewish people technically aren't allowed tattoos because they deface the body - do you know if that is true? Are tattoos popular in Israel nevertheless?

Purim sounds like fun. Do you have many nephews and nieces? And what is it actually celebrating?

I don't think we have any public holidays coming up until May Day, the first day of May, marking the beginning of Spring.

I know what you mean about addiction - it can be difficult tearing yourself away from these screens. Mind you, if I had sunshine and blue skies outside I'd find it that much easier!

One of my friends, Thomas Gibson, was in Kubrick's last movie (he's an actor) - Eyes Wide Shut. When he came over to London (from New York) to shoot his scenes he was only given the pages with his lines in, not the whole script. And Kubrick took whole days to light scenes so Thomas just had to hang out in his luxury apartment in Mayfair, poor thing. I met Thomas years ago on a lively night out in Madrid when he'd just finished Far and Away, also with Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise - we just hit it off, interested in similar stuff.

Modern Times is pretty much my favourite movie. I'm a huge Chaplin fan. A great artist and a fine human being. Hitler accused him of being a Jew. He said "I don't have that honour". He's a fellow Londoner, from Kennington, just south of the Thames.

Are there any Israeli film-makers you particularly like or that I should look out for? I've got a dvd somewhere called Avanim which i was given - have you seen that? (I watched the beginning ages ago, was enjoying it, but have never got round to finishing it).

I met an Israeli documentary-maker a few months ago over here. His name is David Benchetrit and he showed a film called ‘Dear Father, quiet, we’re shooting’ about conscientious objectors - a pretty radical film. Can't imagine anything like it being made in any Arab country, nor in many Western democracies come to that. Israeli TV helped finance it even though it is pretty anti-establishment.

Have you had to go in the army yet? It's difficult for people from countries like mine to get their heads round the idea of a nation where every individual has to contribute to security by serving compulsorily in the army. I've no idea how I would cope with that. I guess you just get on with it...

Over&out
A