Two-gether

My 3rd hooping video (maybe one day I'll stop counting).

Keep looking and you will see the big HEART that appears. I didn't expect it ... but saw it when looking back at the video after applying effects. It's what made me decide to post the video.

On this particular day, I was trying to:
(a) hoop faster, using fast music (you'll vaguely hear this Ofra Haza remix playing on my laptop in the background).
(b) bring the hoop from waist up to chest
(c) bring the hoop from up in the air twirling around my hand down over shoulders and chest to waist without stopping rotation

None of these things are as easy as they look! But I'll get there one day.

(Video recorded using Mac laptop camera and edited in iMovie HD)

Off to Texas, protected by Angel Gabriel

My camera - body only
*

Today I sent my camera off to the service centre in Texas, using DHL. As I was filling out the relevant forms in the DHL office, two men in the lobby were on about DHL's service. They were dissatisfied.

"DHL has become Trinidadianised!" one man, clearly upset, was saying. "They not doing things properly like they used to!"

I finished filling my forms and was ready for my baby to be packaged carefully. The DHL man gave me one of those regular envelopes with one layer of bubble wrap to put the camera in for shipping. I looked at him like he couldn't be serious.

"What? This has to be wrapped in at least 2 - 3 inches of protective material and then put in a sturdy box!" I said, quoting the exact recommendation on the Sony repair form.

"It will be okay. It will be in this envelope and then in a box." He showed me a flimsy box. I didn't know if to feel angry, upset or if to burst into tears. Is this the way a courier service handles a fragile and valuable item? I felt like I was watching myself or a loved one going in for an operation, into the hands of a doctor who had never studied medicine.

"You don't have proper packaging?!" I asked in alarm. I had thought that they would package items in a professional way. At least that's what a friend (who had once shipped his camera out for repairs) had told me would happen.

"No,well, you have to provide packaging for it if you want more protection," the DHL man said.

"Well where can I get bubble wrap around here?" I was starting to get frustrated ... the opposite reaction to the thorough service I had received over the phone yesterday from Sony USA.

"I don't know where you can get packaging," he said.

The man who was saying DHL is now Trinidadianised started going on about the envelope the man wanted to put my camera in. "You mean that is what they will put an expensive piece of equipment in?! You ever see how those men fling boxes?! Whatever you do, you make sure you see how they package your thing! And make sure they write FRAGILE on the package! If that breaks, they're not liable!"

What a feeling ... sending my camera off into the wilderness with people who didn't seem to care.

The guard whispered to the DHL man that I could get packaging at a place around the corner ... so I went. When I got there (a dark warehouse filled with large wooden crates and cardboard boxes), a polite gentleman came out to deal with me. "All the packaging men are out," he said. "But I'll see ... maybe I can find one."

He came back shortly with a slim, older Oriental man who, upon seeing the camera and hearing I was sending it via DHL, immediately started giving me a whole set of advice. "Make sure this ... make sure that ... Make sure they do a,b,c,d,e, etc etc etc." He then got bubble wrap and wrapped the camera body so carefully and securely that I felt my concerns fall away. He then put it into the box the DHL man had given me and taped the bottom and sides securely, leaving the top open for DHL to inspect, etc.

"Make sure you see them tape it up properly," he said. "And make sure you sign up your customs form stating REPAIRS so you don't have to pay when the camera comes back. Otherwise they will kill you with that price, like bringing in a new camera!"

I left, feeling a lot more secure about the safety of my camera on its journey.

"What's your name?" I asked the slim Oriental man as I was leaving.

"Gabriel," he responded.

My previously concerned face broke into a smile. It felt like Angel Gabriel had been sent to protect my camera on its journey (literally ... with both bubble wrap and angelic vibes).

**

WOW ... I just looked up Angel Gabriel ... and check this out ... S/he is patron saint of (among other things) postal workers!! (DHL can fall into that category) ...

Some people believe that Gabriel is a female spirit; others hold that angels have no gender.

Because of Gabriel's role as a communicator and mediator between Heaven and Earth, Catholics hold the Archangel to be a Patron Saint of broadcasters, telecommunications workers, diplomats, messengers, postal workers, and stamp collectors. Because Gabriel helped the prophet Daniel interpret his dreams, those seeking similar aid with their own dream work may petition the Archangel for help ...

Interesting indeed! And ... this is this and this are the other things that popped into my mind when Gabriel said his name. An interesting coincidence that would take a whole other post to explain ...

Yerushalayim

Yerushalayim Shel Zahav - Ofra Haza

Beautiful song, passionate performance, graceful presence and power, commanding a crowd of people (choreographed) to move in the way that they do in this video. Keep watching to see when it happens ...


******
Note:
I'm enjoying the (re)discovery of the inspiring Ofra Haza and finding so many great links to her music and some videos. Let's just call this Ofra Week.

Offering more Ofra

(13) The Poem (New Track).mp3 - Ofra Haza

I've put together a short playlist of some of Ofra's songs - some remixed, some not (see below). Press play and they stream one after the other, automatically ... allowing you to go about your tasks at home or at work in the company of this music. "Poem" (the piece featured above) stands alone though, as it wasn't possible to save it to a playlist.

Enjoy!

Ofra Haza

*******************
Note:
I'm enjoying the (re)discovery of the inspiring Ofra Haza and finding so many great links to her music and some videos. I'll be taking a few days 'break' from blogging ... but will share the Ofra links in blog posts. Let's just call this Ofra Week.

Secrets

Source of below summary of the film: Secrets - A God Given Voice by Ofer Naim

This is the story of the legendary Israeli vocalist Ofra Haza, her rise to the top and the secrets shrouding her tragic end.

Even more than her deep desire to succeed in her career, Ofra wanted desperately to meet her Prince Charming and get married. After achieving many of her career goals, and at the top of her international fame, Ofra at 38, met the man who would later become her husband. From that moment on her life changed drastically .

In July 1997, Ofra fulfilled her dream of getting married. After the wedding, her new husband decided to control her career and finances and get rid of her longstanding manager, Bezalel Aloni. Ofra and her controlling husband Doron moved from one apartment to another until they settled in a rented villa in Herzelia, the house in which her life would end.

Two and a half years later, after rarely being seen in public, she was bed ridden. The questions surrounding her mysterious and shocking death caused her family to ask the police and a private investigator to look into the case.

Ofra’s death and the handling of her finances and properties were not the only questions that remain unanswered… her will also disappeared mysteriously.

This film is a fascinating look at her life and mysterious death with interviews from many who worked with her and admired her including: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Paul Anka, Hans Zimmer, Don Was, Sam & Shanit Schwartz and others.

AWARDS & FESTIVALS

Vancouver Jewish Film Festival 2008
Israel Film Festival, U.S.A
Sao Paulo Jewish Film Festival

Ofra Week

I love the various Ofra Haza DJ remixes I've been coming across (audio and video) and I'm continuing to enjoy the energy. I feel like a plant soaking up water after a drought. The pumping song featured in the above video is a remixed DJ version of Ofra's "Love Song" (see/hear her singing the acapella version (live) here). I love the energy in this remix. It feels like European techno club scene meets sacred Goddess and goes driving to Toco with windows down, wind blowing, sun, smell of sea and salt, blasting Ofra on a fantastic sound system with lots of bass pumping (... so clearly not the system in my car, which doesn't even work). The above video is also a visual remix, using images from another video of hers (see below for that full video with original use of the footage for a completely different song).

A friend of mine commented to me yesterday that Ofra's music is 'an acquired taste'. Granted, as with anything else, there are some who won't take to it ... but I definitely do. An unexpected and indescribable seed of inspiration was planted in me yesterday via her offerings and I'm going to step away for a while to quietly nurture it, let it gestate, see where it takes me creatively ... whether specifically in relation to the current video project or whether for something completely different ... or both!

(Refer to below note ... which will appear at the bottom of all posts for this week).

******************
Note:
I'm enjoying the (re)discovery of the inspiring Ofra Haza and finding so many great links to her music and some videos. I'll be taking a few days 'break' from blogging ... but will share the Ofra links in blog posts which will still be appearing daily (thanks to scheduled future-dated blog posts). Let's just call this Ofra Week.

Inspired by Haunting Israeli Woman ... Haunted by Inspiring Israeli woman

Kol Ha Neshama (Maor Zohar 2007 Mix) - Ofra Haza

Press play and listen to the above song (a remix) as you read the post below. It's my latest 'song-I-can't-stop-listening-to'. I wonder what she is saying ...

Years ago I was over at the house of a friend who had great taste in music and therefore a great CD collection. On this particular day he put on one of his CDs at full volume and one of the most haunting female voices I'd ever heard slowly flooded the house and my senses. My hair raised and I said "Wow! Who is that?!" It was Ofra Haza, the popular Israeli singer (1957 - 2000).

Just now, while writing this post ... out of curiosity, I went to Google to find out how Ofra had died so young. I was surprised to see ... died of internal organ failure related to AIDS, February 23. But why was I surprised? 'Surprised' isn't really the word I'm looking for. I jumped when I read the cause of her death ... and since then some dots are starting to connect ...

It's hard to put into words what I'm feeling right now, listening to her voice ... along with this new realisation of her cause of death (which it seems, from various sources, was shrouded in mystery and conspiracy). I started writing this post with the sole reason of sharing her song with you ... but now, hearing how she died is inspiring me in an unexpected way ... for the (work) project I am about to embark upon/started conceptualising yesterday (the second of two videos I've been contracted to do on women, children and HIV/AIDS) with my P.A. for the project - Patti-Ann Ali (whose initials ironically are P.A.)

Timing is perfect for Ofra to step in.

Some may wonder what the connection is between a deceased Israeli singer and a Trinbagonian film on women, children and HIV/AIDS. It is the connection of SPIRIT and ENERGY that truly inspires. It is inexplicable and can come from anywhere ... the most remote thing, place or person. We need to be open to it when it presents itself and not close off the possibilities it offers. Listen to Ofra's voice. Even though I don't understand what she's saying, the deeper meaning inherent in her tone reaches me clearly. On a feeling level we understand what the intellect can't begin to comprehend. She is projecting something Universally powerful and directive.

I can't explain more than that, but maybe you understand where I'm coming from.

******

Wow! Just looked up the translation of the title of her song ... Kol Ha Neshama (see below). The song on its own is powerful, but the beat and energy in the remix gives it a different intensity which I also find infectious ...

The phrase "Kol HaNeshama" comes from the last verse of Psalm 150, the Psalm that many of us know simply as "Hallelu", perhaps the most joyous of all the Psalms. We chose it for the name of our synagogue both because of the text itself and the way it opens itself to English translations and interpertations.

The Hebrew spelling of "Kol" is K-L, Kaf-Lamed, meaning "all".

The root of Neshama, N-SH-M, Nun-Shin-Mem, means "breath" or "breathing", thus a "living thing".

The simple meaning is: "Every living thing" (will praise God). Some have expanded this to "The breath of every living thing praises God."

The translation in our prayer book, which just happens to be named Kol HaNeshama, is "Let every living thing Yah's praises sing".

Another translation would be "all that breathes" or "all of humanity", signaling a universality in Judaism that includes all of humankind as one entity.