MY URBAN KVETCH

A Tish'ah B'Av Visit to the Kotel (2010)

Will get back to real posting soon, but in the interim, I wanted to mark Tish'ah B'Av, a Jewish day of mourning the loss of the Temple in Jerusalem, among other tragedies to befall the Jewish people. Yes, there were a few.

Last year, I went to the Western Wall on the eve of Tish'ah B'Av, with my FlipCam and a few friends, and then spent the better part of the next morning writing the post linked above about divisions in Jerusalem, and editing the footage on my new Mac. This is the (somewhat too-long-for-most-attention-spans-5-minute) result. Strange commentary and incongruous credits by me (you can tell I was experimenting with iMovie), and closing music by DJ Nova Jade.

Snowpocalyptic Airport Sleepover 2010, Part 1: "What Blizzard?"

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when I realized that our flight was never taking off.

Indications came early, as snow swirled light and fast en route to JFK, and intensified as I arrived at an airport with what seemed to be no designated area for my airline. A customer service desk, unmanned, bore only a sign with an 800 number to call for more information. Calls to that number went to an automated system which was never answered.  I reached out to @VirginAtlantic on Twitter and was informed that the staff would be available to help us slightly in advance of check-in, so we sat and waited, talking with fellow passengers about their long road to the airport. Many of them had been stranded by the previous closures at Heathrow – their New York vacation extended because they couldn’t get home.

As we sat there, the rumors started about a potential airport closure on the horizon, which – to any rational person – seemed, frankly, like the right thing to do. It would be annoying to go back to the beginning, but we’d understand. Snow every which way meant zero visibility and high winds. But that was a decision for the airline – and there were still no Virgin Atlantic staff members in the terminal. Nothing we could do.

The VA staff arrived, put up the signs, and started processing us in that long serpentine line that at the end of it you hope there’s a log flume or some sort of other lineworthy attraction.  And honestly, we thought there was – it was called VS004, and it would carry us to London. That was our light at the end of the long check-in process – getting to where we were going, for some of us, after days or weeks of delays.

And so we moved through the line, like links in a centipede, processing our checking and our seat assignments and our baggage. We took our bags to the drop point, passing them through a machine that scans for – what, exactly? – whatever it scans for.

As I moved toward the security line, I realized that I had forgotten to remove my neck pillow from my luggage and I sensed a mild disturbance in the force. I’d buy a new one, I thought, quickly followed by “hey, the flight’s going to be canceled so if I buy one, I’m going to have two the next time I fly.” The thought was fleeting, like the sleet, I hoped.

Then I joined the security process – even with no line, it is a process. Haven't flown in a while? You'd be shocked. All outerwear – coat, scarf, gloves, hat, sweatshirt – removed, in a bin. In a separate bin, the computer. In a separate bag, the liquids that are dangerous if their containers contain more than a collective several ounces. Oh, and shoes! Don’t forget our dangerous shoes! In some airports, you must put them in a bin. In others, you must under no circumstances put them in a bin! They are wily creatures, those shoes, which apparently present regionally specific issues when it comes to security scans.

That sleet turned to snow, the ultimate powdery white cliché covering the horizon and blotting out everything in sight. How would it be possible for us to fly in this weather?

Virgin Atlantic's Woes Continue - And I Have Only Begun to Blog....

As you may know, I was among those stranded at JFK Airport when a blizzard prompted the cancellation of hundreds of flights on December 26 of last year. My Virgin Atlantic flight  - which had been cancelled on the 19th due to a blizzard at Heathrow and rescheduled for the 26th at 6:05pm  - was cancelled after we sat on the plane for two hours because of a blizzard at JFK, and was rescheduled for 6:05pm the 27th, then delayed to 7:30, then to a boarding time of 8:15 that didn't happen, and eventually, after great protest from the passengers, finally took off after midnight on the 28th.

Virgin Atlantic still denies that passengers were due any compensation for the experience, even as JetBlue once again proves its menschier status by giving their stranded passengers 10,000 points, scoring customer satisfaction points among its inconvenienced passengers.

What's the problem? Why won't Virgin Atlantic make compensation to the 250 of us who were on VS 004? According to USA Today, Virgin Atlantic (via spokesperson Greg Dawson) claims that "monetary compensation is not due" to the people on our flight - who "had to sleep in the airport terminal because all hotels nearby were booked" - because the snowstorm was an 'extraordinary occurrence.'

Travel writer and the main Twitter voice of our Virgin Atlantic experience Jason Cochran hasn't given up on the idea of compensation, and continues to battle the customer relations and public relations departments via email.

But apparently, Virgin's petulant behavior extends far beyond our particular flight - according to Bnet's Brett Snyder, "Virgin Atlantic has decided it won’t pay Heathrow Airport’s owner BAA anything until an inquiry into last month’s days-long shutdown is completed. Virgin Atlantic is acting like an impatient child here, and runs the risk of making relations with its most important airport even worse."

This preposterous experience just doesn't seem to end. And least of all for writers. Because Jason is still on this situation - it's his job to be. And as for me, while I'm not spending every day fighting about it, I definitely have more to say. Because all the elements of this experience combined into something resembling a psychological experiment in how far people's patience can be stretched before someone cracks and goes postal.

Look for the first part of my recollections to appear later today.

Snowpocalypse! (video)

Some scenes from the snowpocalypse of December 2010 at JFK Airport. Taken around 7am, the morning after we were stranded at the airport. No additional music was added (except in the intro and outro) to preserve the eerie silence that we were all trudging around in.

Sleeping at JFK: Hot Tips for a Quick Nap

Stuck at JFK (or any major airport) overnight thanks to a Virgin Atlantic or other airline flight cancellation? Put off by a hard, dirty floor that's probably crawling with human germs and rodent feces? Well, get down off your high horse and embrace the inevitable - the human body can only take so much walking around an airport before you need to catch forty winks. Plus, if you ever get to that conference in the UK you're supposed to present at, you'll want to make sure you don't sleep through your own presentations! So here's how to get comfortable when there’s no comfort able to be found!

Step One: Scan & Select Your Space

As soon as it becomes clear that you'll need a place to sleep, the prime sleeping spaces will go quickly, so scan the terminal like you're the Terminator, assessing the potential spots for their potential comfort based on your internal programming: Are you seeking solitude? Heat? The company of others? Find a piece of floor that reflects your preferred sleeping sensibilities: if you stake out your own space, people may give you a wide berth, resulting in your own island of space in a crowded terminal. Or, if solitude is threatening to you (single females, you may wish to consider this) or is in a dark location away from the public eye, you may wish to seek out a trustworthy-looking group of similar-age individuals - this selection may be a bit rowdier or more brightly lit, but may appeal to your sense of safety and community.

Want to recharge as you recharge? Make sure to locate the "sleeping spaces" next to electrical outlets: if you have a power strip with you for some reason, now's the time to use it and become very popular.

Step Two: Sterilize Your Space

Make sure your chosen space is clear of obvious garbage that will muck up your sleeping experience - steer clear of sticky patches of spilled Coca-Cola or snowy wet boot tracks, for example. If you have 3 oz of Purell in your Ziploc bag of allowed liquids, now's the time to use it to sterilize the space. (Or save it, to clean yourself once you rise up from your nap.)

Step Three: Build Your Bed

Then spread out a blanket and – what’s that? You don’t have a blanket? Wrestle one away from one of the airline staff members (they claim they don’t have them, but they DO!). If your airline doesn't have blankets, you may go to another airline with a cancelled flight. They don't know who's on which cancelled flight, so the important thing is to get a blanket from someone before everyone runs out. You can then use it as a mattress (recommended for comfort and hygiene reasons) or as a first layer over your shivering body in contact with the near frozen floor.  and build a nest out of that and whatever you have on you: your coat, scarf, a hat pulled down over your face to block the light, an extra pair of pants stuffed into a laptop sleeve and used as a pillow: be inventive. It’s like Project Runway, only - let's face it - you are probably never going to get to the runway.

Step Four: Tweet Your Position

Obviously.

Step Five: Secure Your Stuff - To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Once you've built your bed, now's your chance to lie in it. But before you close your eyes to enjoy the wrenching back pain of sleeping on a rock-hard airport floor, make sure your valuables are secured to your person: this may entail things like using your computer bag as a pillow, threading a bag handle around your arms or legs so you'll feel it if someone tries to nick it, or trusting a virtual stranger who says he or she will watch your bags whilst you sleep. There may be a price for generosity like this - like your photo ending up on Twitter - but it's a small price to pay to greet the morning (or the later part of the morning) having had 20 minutes of sleep, isn't it? When you wake up, it will be time to battle with the rest of the hungry airport zombies for food at airport eateries with dwindling supplies, so you'll want to have had that 20 minutes to fuel your attack strategy. 

We at My Urban Kvetch hope that you've enjoyed this practical travel guide to sleeping at international airports. Stay tuned for other helpful guides about overnight airport bathroom survival and use of nearly useless food vouchers at eateries that don't accept them or have 200-person lines and minimal supplies.

Tel Aviv Intermezzo

Welcome to Tel Aviv!

We kicked off our tour of Tel Aviv with a trip to the beach, of course. Then we glammed up for a Tel Avivi party in honor of the publication of Tel Aviv City Guide, which was written by friend and journalist Lisa Goldman. It took place at Beit Kastiel, which we can best describe as a beautiful, fancy, high-end furniture store in a bad neighborhood (Florentin/S. Tel Aviv). I also met SavtaDotty and Liza from SomethingSomething, and had a lovely reunion with Harry (The View From Here, Jerusalemite). I believe it was SavtaDotty (although might have been someone else) who told me that Florentin today is like SoHo used to be back when it was dirty and dangerous. (Not her exact words.) This basically means that property costs are soaring and there are very few available apartments. What's the book like, you ask? It seemed cool, but since Ketel Vodka was sponsoring the event (which had begun with champagne and many unkosher hors d'oeuvre), I can't say that I actually remembered to pick one up...(At any rate, Kol Hakavod to Lisa.) Then we went out with Ori from Coolooloosh, which was really nice, catching up on the band's progress since the Israelity Tour over a drink at Bugsy's.

Then we headed out with a friend to the Ben-Gurion Museum, two places which we visited yesterday. We kicked off our day with the Pulver breakfast at Aroma at the Namal (that's the port of Tel Aviv), where we begin our morning sipping our "hafuchim" and networking with web-savvy, creative individuals. I met many folks, including Brian Blum, whose blog (This Normal Life) I've been reading since the early days, my new Twitter pal IsraLuv, Nir Kouris and one of his young partners at EcampIsrael, and others (apologies for not linking to all). We wore our names and catchphrases (ex, Lindsay's "I refuse to Twitter") and then with stickers, "tagged" ourselves with keywords (mine included "Blogger 4 Hire," "pop culture," "Jewish life," and others). Very creative and a good icebreaker. (Unite that with drunken brainstorming, and we could really have something!)

Other highlights included driving around Tel Aviv while listening to great music, dining at a fabulous restaurant overlooking the sea and with great views of the city, and hanging out with a friend and his kids at a campfire and learning Hebrew from Israeli children. (Best way to learn Hebrew, I'm convinced.)

Today we took an early swim and headed into meetings for the rest of the day before returning to Jerusalem. Or, as the TA locals reacted, "You're going back where? Why?"

Lazy Jetlag Portman Posting

I'm so tired...but I'm back in NYC. Over the next week or so, will be poring over my memories and trying to post regularly here--there's so much that I'm already feeling overwhelmed, through a haze of jetlag. And so, in tribute to my trip to the land of Hebrew, and one of the top reasons that people all over the world check Jewish blogs, here's an interview in Hebrew with Natalie Portman (via the newly launched Jewtube).

Find this video and thousands of others at vSocial!

24

If my life were the series "24", I'd have 24 more weeks in Israel instead of a mere 24 hours. But I'd also be trying to save the world from overly complicated international terrorist plots. So I am grateful for that part of my life not being "24."

Still, in this summer's waning Jerusalem moments, the clock keeps ticking, counting down my final moments before boarding the shuttle back to my real life in another city and another country, both metaphorically and literally. I feel like every second spent in these last hours is a waste. Every second I spend here at this computer instead of on the streets. Every moment I spend on the phone saying goodbye to everyone. Every moment in a cafe or a shop or walking. Every note piped in through my earphones instead of listening to the rhythms of a pulsing city. Every second spent in conversation with someone about anything, and every second spent NOT in conversation with someone about anything.

Trying to catch up with the things I've missed is impossible...the scale is too intense. Knowing that however much I catch, there's infinitely more I'm missing. Tapping into this energy has been amazing, and there's no chance of recapturing its special, frozen-in-time-and-space, quality. I have to give it up now, to return, to fall back into a life that I once knew and can't imagine resuming.

Wringing out my heart, hanging it to dry, hoping everything will go back to normal and yet hoping it won't.

Back to life, back to reality. Back to my eventual here and now. But first, 24 more.

Creative Zionists Take Jerusalem

If your interest wasn't piqued by my recent post on Jewlicious about the PresenTense Institute for Creative Zionism, you might want to read it again. I mean, I was at the opening night/orientation for fellows and the steering committee, and this is an impressive, international, committed group. Conversations began during the orientation buffet dinner and continued throughout the evening, pausing only out of courtesy to allow fellows and steering committee members to introduce themselves--for example, recent Michigan graduate Adam Soclof:

From the opening moments, it became clear that these creative Zionists enjoyed each other's company. But even beyond that, people were making vital connections to other passionate people with the skills that can help them do an even better job.

Several of this week's events are open to the public, and they feature panels of superstars, and the chance to network with important people. So read these brief blurbs, and come on up and see us sometime! (Full details available on the website.) Can't make it in person? Raw footage, special interviews, and podcasts will be posted online as often as we can.

[Footage from Tuesday, June 19, 19:00-23:00: Social Action in Israel - A Panel with Leading Young Social Innovators  and recaps now available online--see our blog and updates page for more information.

TONIGHT! Wednesday, June 20, 19:00-23:00: What Makes a Start-Up Culture? A Conversation with Jacob Ner-David. What makes a startup culture–and is Israel exceptional when it comes into transforming ideas into reality? Learn the answers in an open discussion with Jacob Ner-David, managing partner of Jerusalem Capital LLP and one of the world’s leading hi-tech entrepreneurs and VCs. That's 7pm sharp...See website for complete bio. RSVP: [email protected]

And DON'T MISS THIS THURSDAY'S Event: Thursday, June 21, 19:00-23:00: Summer Networking Kick-Off Event Come meet other creative, innovative and entrepreneurial people from across the spectrum of professional and ideological life. If you’re a social entrepreneur, a hi-tech programmer, a Venture Capitalist, a teacher, an activist, a poet or just your average creative genius, come down to the PICZ House and have an experience and a drink on us. Open to all, this is a chance to meet and get to know leaders in the fields of social entrepreneurship, education, venture capitalism and philanthropy. The networking begins at 7pm sharp! Why should you attend?: Because with so much talent in one place, it would be a shame to miss it. RSVPs are encouraged: [email protected]

My PresenTense (sic): The Here and There of the Here and Now...

Where? There? I’ve been there. And what about Here? Not so much, but occasionally. And here. Of course. And soon I'll be somewhere else, no doubt, since I am writing from the endless purgatory of living out of a suitcase. But I’m publishing, which is good.

Here are the last few singles columns in case you missed them...

• Covering Your Bases (baseball as analogy)
• A Price Above Rubies (and Botox) (an exploration of money matters in dating)
• Make Babies, Not Contributions (will the Jewish community accept creative entrepreneurs if they’re not also procreating?)
• Finding a Second Life (reflections on a birthday)

Next post will be from Jerusalem. Yes, again.