Hallelujah. Now that’s a song I’ve heard hundreds and hundreds of times. Whether it be the original Cohen version or one of the numerous covers by Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Rufus Wainwright and even American Idol participant Jason Castro (horrid IMHO). Let’s just say that the emotional resonance of the song has long warn off. While it is arguably once of the greatest song of the past 30 years, for a long time now, it’s just been another song to me. However last night during Cohen’s performance as 50,000 Israelis sang along with him and he took his hat to chest and closed his eyes to take in the moment I couldn’t help but get enveloped by the strong emotions that clearly everyone in the stadium was feeling. I’ve seen hundreds of concerts in my day and it’s hard to say that I have experienced such a powerful moment during a musical performance. Cohen’s performance of Hallelujah completely transcended what I anticipated to be the pinnacle of cheese. He managed to achieve an intimacy in his performance that I didn’t think was possible in a stadium of 50,000 people.

I’m not sure what Mr. Cohen is like when he is not performing, but on stage he was full of class. During his 3 hour plus performance, Cohen often removed his signature fedora during solos by his band and granted them his full attention as a signature of both respect and awe. Clearly enamored by the incredible backing band he introduced them more than once and even brought his crew on the stage at the end to thank them and all involved with the tour.

As he was just about to step off the stage after his third encore Cohen recited Birkat Cohanim (the priestly blessing) which clearly moved the audience.

“They shall place My name upon the children of Israel, and I Myself shall bless them.”

AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL. Apparently seen by a few people in a few late night showings in Tel Aviv in the seventies. Never released beyond that.

Yes, an American Hippie in Israel. Horrific dialogue, horrendous direction, LSD soaked scenes….oh just watch it.

But be warned, there is nudity, violence and killer mimes.

And robots being hit with a giant sledgehammer.

Seriously.

Please clarify, does he say “A push of a button and we are turned into wild animals or wild dynamos? Because wild dynamos would be that much more awesome.

DVD release is coming soon. Viewing at my house.

What is your favorite line from the trailer?

I didn’t have tickets to Ziggy. I’m more into Cedella Marley. And she’s not coming anytime soon. However, I was planning on going to the WWE Smackdown scheduled later this month. I thought it would be awesome to experience a live wrestling event where the only mullet in the place would be my own. I had a “Leaping Lenny” Poffo sign ready and everything. Oh well. I guess I can wait until September for them to return.

A few random links.

Israellycool got fired from his job today. His boss finally figured out that he spends 90 percent of his day blogging about the situation. Joking of course. Dave is a live blogging machine. If the flow of information is confusing you and doing your head in (as it is mine) then check out his unbelievably organized updates.

Live from an Israeli bunker is a new blog on the scene. The dude is blogging from his laptop in a bomb shelter in Haifa.

Lisa checked out yesterday’s uber small anti-war rally in Tel Aviv. I’ve been to weddings with more people.

Allison puts being a parent in this crazy mess in perspective.

Imshin, the blogger who got me interested in blogging, is back in full force.

Adrian is getting bombed in Haifa.

Mobius is calling for a boycott of Hizbullah hashish.

Jameel from the Muqata has opened his home to Rock of Galilee last night…

Trepp, a man who has seen his fair share, makes a mighty fine analogy.

Laya at Jewlicious is keeping her cool and Esther decided to extend her trip. Or something. Not quite clear to be honest.

And John is stoked that Bill Hemmer of Fox News is covering the story…

Tal G in Jerusalem, one of, if not the first Israeli blogger briefly came out of retirement.

Can Israeli Guy far behind? Gil? Are you out there?

Thanks for coming Mr. Waters, would you like to take a dump on my kitchen table?

I have a serious problem with his visit. First of all, he moved the venue from Tel Aviv to Neve Shalom, which is going to seriously affect traffic in my area tonight. Recommendations are to leave work early. The venue has a few small roads and can’t handle the traffic. It’s going to be a nightmare. (Update: The concert still hasn’t started because of traffic. It’s 9:25 p.m.)

Secondly, he’s getting mad bank for this show, I’m certain he doesn’t sell 35,000 55,000 tickets to his shows elsewhere in the world. So he’s invited over for dinner and basically takes a shit on our collective kitchen table.

It’s not like Pink Floyd is relevant without Gilmore anyway…

UPDATE: Let me just add that this fucker isn’t coming here for altruistic reasons and because he cares so much for Israel and wants to promote peace. If it was really that important to him it would be a free show and he would actually do something proactive rather than a lame photo op. What an ass. I hate him. And I hate the song Money. Welcome to the Machine is pretty cool though.

Promotional poster for avant-garde folkie Devendra Banhart.

Shoshana Johnson – Named after one of the first American prisoners of war of the Iraq war.

Betty Ford – Naming your bar after a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center is so wrong yet so unbelievably awesome.

Jewish Princess – Give a bar this name anywhere outside of Israel and the ADL would issue a press release before the first beer was poured.

I know that Tel Aviv had cows and penguins and Jerusalem had (and still does in a few places) Lions. I recall seeing Dolphins somewhere but can’t recall where… Herzliya? Raanana? My imagination?

In any case, Tel Aviv uber-blogger Imshin reports that fiberglass bulls have invaded Tel Aviv. Bulls? What connection does the bull have to Tel Aviv? Does the bull symbolize Israeli machismo?

I also found penguins troubling. The only place I’ve ever seen penguins in Israel was at the Jerusalem Zoo. It’s shame because we have several cool indigenous beasts in this biblical land that would make awesome street art. Someone needs to stand up for the ibexes, hyenas, jackals, hyraxes, hyaenas and wild boars of Israel. Okay, so wild boars might offend Jewish and Moslem religious sensibilities, but the rest can work. They deserve more.

What animal would you like to see on the streets of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem one day?

The photo on this entry was taken by Savta Dotty. Check out more photos of the Bulls of Tel Aviv at Safta Dotty’s flickr page.

UPDATED: I have been informed that use of the the bulls is in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Still, give those cute hyraxes the respect they deserve.

Crossposted to Israelity.

I see a lot of things around here that warrant a chuckle.

I always say to myself, “Damn Harry, you should carry your digital camera with you wherever you go.” Luckily, this time I did.

I think I’ll pass on living on what I call “Take My Money” street and shopping at “Shams.”

It’s shame that my battery was dead by the time I got to the “Launbry Place.”