Sat - January 1, 2005

Winter Rikud december 30 - Jan 2


On our way home from Machol Miami, so why not drop in to David Dassa's camp at Malibu for New Year's!

Joining us are Danni Dassa, Shlomo Maman, Yaron Ben-Simchon, and local choreographers and dance friends for a weekend at the old Camp Hess Kramer at Malibu.

I fondly recall my previous visits to this site in the early '90s which David Dassa is using as a test bed before he shifts May Rikud to the site in 2005. (Get your reservations in early as it will be strictly limited to 300 max.)

Here, Israel Yakovee held several Finjan camps. It was fun during a debka-only session this afternoon to recall learning debkas from Moshiko (Lu Hayit) and Moshe Eskayo (D. Ramot and Keff) here.

David and his staff have gone to a lot of trouble, since he also has to incorporate Shabbat and New Year's Eve into the program. We have done performances already in groups (mine was led by Shlomo), and it was great to be part of his temporary performing group performing Shabbat dances.

There is a good mix of experienced dancers and lots of young folk, for which David can feel justly proud in grooming a new generation of folk dancers with a good grasp of classic and contemporary dances.

This weekend we'll relearn old classics and be exposed to new material.

One positive change at Hess Kramer is dancing on a wooden floor in the old linoleumed dining area. There is also a wireless internet connection! One Windows XP and one old G3 Mac running Jaguar is in an adjoining area. The Windows machine is out of action due to be infiltrated with spyware!

Here we are surfing away!
!

More news to follow.

Posted at 05:41 PM     |

Mon - December 27, 2004

Machol Miami - Sunday night marathon and party


The masked ball theme...

By Sunday 5pm, all that was going to be taught, was taught. Time to relax and party.

Theme for Sunday night was "Masked Ball", and as we discovered after dinner, Camp Director Peggy Elimelech had been inspired to develop this theme after seeing a performance in Israel of guest choreographer Avi Levy's Avivim troupe.

Looking like dancers from Circe d'soleil, his group performed an outstanding sequence wearing masks and costumes.

Before that, one of his troupe who is featured on the video website. Mor Azzugi, participated in her wheelchair in a special choreography with her troupe. There were some very damp eyes in the ballroom watching this performance, culminating in her standing out of her wheelchair supported by her friends and fellow dancers. After getting the OK from Avi, I expect I'll upload this special sequence some time soon.

As per usual, Machol Miami ran like clockwork, with wonderful decorations developed by Irith Shade and her "slaves"; Ken Avner and Laurie Markus assisting with the programming, and many accomplished local and visiting dances. Food and refreshmentts were abundant, as we've come to expect from recent camps.

There were a few standout dances, principally the couples from Sunday morning. We'll see which ones get picked up for regular sessions. Mind you, with Winter Rikud coming up, and two Hishtalmiot videos on their way soon, they'll have stiff competition for floor space.

Never a dull moment!

Posted at 02:24 PM     |

Machol Miami day 3 - dances taught


More late nights in the Florida warmth, and a couple of partner dances emerge as winners....*

Avi Levy

11. Hal'a - Latin-style circle

12. *Ner Al hachelon - a partner dance, very popular, to new music of Stella Maris, sung by the winner of the Israeli Idol TV competition, to a live recording


Dudu Barzilai

13. *Sipur Machur - Partner dance of Itzik Ben-Dahan

Haim Vaknin

14. Sof Ha'olam Smole - a circle dance of Jack Ochayon

Mali and Moshe

15. Isha Al Hachof - a 9/8 timed circle dance of Mali and Moshe (already on the web, but this video to be uploaded soon)

Aviv Ben-Ishay

16. Chagigah Yevenit - circle dance of local 22 year old Beer Sheva young man, who is an excellent dancer

17. Chori Chori - line dance

Posted at 09:14 AM     |

Sun - December 26, 2004

Machol Miami Day 2 - Dances taught


After a 2.30am finish, and 4am for some who choose to jacuzzi before bedtime, a sensible start on Christmas day of 10 am saw reviews of Friday's material and new dances taught.

Avi Levy

5. At Oti Shofefer - A greek-style circle dance

6. Az ma - a fun couple dance with some interesting group moves

Dudu Barzilai

7. Otach Letzidi - couple dance

8. Lo Yachol Lehafsik - circle dance


Haim Vaknin

9. Tnu Beketzev - circle of Shlomo Maman

10. Cholem Otach - couple of Roi Freedman which proved popular

Posted at 10:07 AM     |

Fri - December 24, 2004

Machol Miami Day 1


Dances taught on Day 1. 2pm - 5pm

Avi Levy

1. Ein Ahava - a fast paced rock'n'roll style partner danced to music and lyrics by a relative unknown in Israel, Robert Gillmore.


Dudu Barzilai

2. Mi Yohav Otach Kamoni - circle dance with singer Yoav Yitzchak

3. Yam hamishalot - Greek-style circle dance previously seen, but fortunately unchanged!

Haim Vaknin

4. Balagan, by Kobi Michaeli. Circle dance, previously seen at Finjan and modified on the Chagigah 2004 video, and as shown on my video website

Posted at 04:56 PM     |

Thu - December 23, 2004

Luggage arrived - fresh clothes to dance in! Machol Miami 2004 pre-camp party



Our luggage finally arrived from Chicago just as we were getting to head down to South Beach for dinner at prime112 at the Browns Hotel.

This place specialises in meat and we weren't disappointed. One guest had a $20 Kobe hot dog, a 20" doggie he couldn't finish.

I played safe and had tuna, and we all shared a terrific key lime pie with schlog (whipped cream) and huckleberry sauce!

Then off to North Miami and dancing with the local crowd and the interstaters and internationals here for Machol Miami.

Quite a few familiar faces in a crowd which exceeded 120, with camp guests Dudu and Haim setting the pace. Avi Levy joined later after returning with his troupe from a dancer performance.

Everyone is looking forward to a fun weekend - the weather is likely to keep us indoors rather than by the pool and there is already quite a festive mood.

More reports to follow throughout the weekend since we have wi-fi in the lobby!

Posted at 05:35 PM     |

Wed - December 22, 2004

Off to Machol Miami 2004



Finally made it to Fort Lauderdale. Don't try this without adult supervision, kiddies.

1. Melbourne -> Sydney - 1 hr
2. Layover in Sydney - 1 hr
3. Sydney -> San Francisco - 13 hrs
4. Layover in San Francisco - 1hr
5. San Francisco -> Chicago - 3.5hrs
6. Layover in Chicago - 1 hr
7. Chicago -> Fort Lauderdale - 3hrs
8. Wait for luggage to arrive - never happens, still waiting 12 hours later.

Total travel time: about 24 hrs door to door.

Posted at 07:51 AM     |

Tue - September 21, 2004

Dances recently taught in Melbourne


Between the three Melbourne groups, it's rare that a good dance gets passed by, although occasionally a sickly one sneaks through...

Because Melbourne enjoys such a wide range of dance sessions - you can dance here practically any day and night of the week here except Friday - it's rare that a good dance sneaks under the bar and isn't brought into a session somewhere.

And because Melbourne is the home of hebrewsongs.com, the Aussie IFD database, and the web video site, we are consistently up-to-date with new material.

A couple of dances from Keff have already proven popular, including Moshe Eskayo's Debka Larden (originally shown at Sababa 2004); and two dances from Rafi Ziv, a circle called Gam Ani Rotze, and a couple originally seen earlier in the year at Rikud, and more recently at Keff: Hane'urim ha'avudim. I'll post videos of these Rafi dances in a short while.

Batia Kronenberg's Halev has also got a guernsey as we say, having proven very popular in Israel on all accounts.

No one has touched Nona Malki's Chai Le Ma'anech couple dance.

Although today I got a nice set of emails from Tsvi Dean Adler, CAIB, who described himself as an "Israeli and International folk dance critic". He wrote: "This symmetric dance's unique fabric and appeal has the potential of becoming one of the 'good old classic'." I have his email address if anyone wants to contact him directly. I Googled his name and didn't come up with anything, so don't know if "CAIB" means Canadian Accident Investigation Board or something else. But both he and Nona share the same service provider (shaw.ca) so perhaps they know each other.

Coming soon to the video pages will be Yankele Ziv's Shinit et Chayay, and video adoptions will once more start soon, to keep the site up through 2004 and 2005. As usual Jody Underwood will be handling the adoptions, and again great thanks are due her.

Posted at 12:31 AM     |

Mon - September 6, 2004

Why 2005 won't be like 1995


Will Microsoft's entry to the legal music download fray see off Apple's iTunes Music Store?

I keep trying to understand how people keep applying the IT scenario of 1995 to the music download business of upcoming 2005.

This is in reference to many pundits saying that while Apple may have the lead in legal music downloads with its iTunes/iPod combination, the entry now of Microsoft into the music business will see a replay of the OS wars which eventually saw Apple dwindle to perhaps 10% of desktop/laptops in use (notice I am not saying market share, as in quarterly sales.)

Frankly, I find this simplistic analysis an example of journalistic laziness. It also buys into an idea that near-monopolies in one domain who enter another must win out in time. In Microsoft's case, beside its near monopoly of the desktop operating system, it also has enormous cash reserves to hold-out and take on losses while its competitors try to nimbly outwit it through innovation. The Xbox gaming platform is one such example, as it likely loses money for Microsoft while generating loyalty from its users, which the company will eventually draw on at some future point.

Microsoft principally makes its money through the sale of its Windows operating system, licensed for use on most new desktop and laptop PCs sold; and from its Office software offering, which has established a virtual monopoly in the corporate world.

There are hints however that the Microsoft (MS) of 2005 will not necessarily be like the MS of 1995. In those days, MS had everything to gain and nothing lose in terms of market share with respect to the operating system in use on most PCs.

In 2005, MS products will likely see a dip in their use, albeit a small one. Its products are under threat by Open Source applications, especially in the web browser arena, where MS has essentially stopped innovating. As well as from Governments wanting greater use of the Linux platform.

Internet search remains dominated by Google despite much chatter about MS developing a competitor, again with the threat it will be integrated into Windows.

And now we see MS entering the music market by matching the price of downloads at the going rate (99c), and attempting to match the look and feel of Apple's iTunes Music Store (iTMS).

I see iTMS as fulfilling at least three purposes for Apple:

1. Bringing an Apple software application to the Windows platform allowing that huge population to see Apple in action with all its famed ease of use Apple users take for granted; something too infrequently seen in the Windows world where "it's good enough" seems to be the tacit assumption at work.

2. Bringing an Apple hardware "widget" into the Windows world, where consumers who may have avoided the Apple brand for all sorts of reasons, want to use it due initially to its cachet. My guess is that within minutes, hours or days (I have no idea how long it really takes) these Windows-based users develop a tacit awareness of Apple design and usability philosophies in action. Once you have sampled this kind of quality, it may not be so easy to accept lesser quality.

If they have sampled the iPod/iTunes competition before buying an iPod, it will be very hard - for the sake of say $100 - to ignore the iPod in favour of something from Dell, Creative or Rio that purports to also allow them to listen to music. Which they do. But at some other experiential level, many Windows users who pony up the premium for the iPod (even if they still think erroneously that Apple computers are double the price of similarly powered brand PCs) will not begrudge Apple a relatively affordable premium - again, once they feel the iPod/iTunes "widget" in action.

My guess is that for many the "whole widget solution" which Apple offers with iTunes/iPod will come as a revelation. For those who go on to explore further than just music, and look at the finer details under the hood, they will come away deeply impressed with how Apple thinks about its products, and by definition how it relates to its customers. My guess is that a proportion of such Windows users will eventually come to consider Apple's computers the next time they consider upgrading or adding a new PC. (Not to mention the security advantages of having a mixed network even in a domestic setup).

3. Raising the esteem in which Apple is held by the business and corporate community. It's one thing for Apple to say in its boilerplate text in its PR releases that it invented the personal computer market, or that it will innovate its way out of the post-dotcom doldrums, it's another to bring to the market definite examples of Apple's capacities.

By being the first to develop a successful means for consumers to easily download commercial music, despite MS saying it was going to get there first sooner or later, the corporate world sits up and pays attention to the so-called 2% market share company.

But the numbers for the iTMS/iPod are way way different to that tiny percentage. By definition, Apple must be seen as a savvy player, not just a company making pretty but incompatible computers for niche creative markets.

Now when a new iMac is released it's not just the Mac online and paper publications that comment about it, but the business community sits up and takes notice, because it's a "new" Apple product, not because it's a new iMac.

Time will tell whether the new design will capitalise on the many Windows users using Apple products by dint of the iTMS/iPod combo, and who now will not be averse to touching other Apple products. It's as if a boundary has been breached, and like a strict dieter who loses restraint, it's now time to enjoy the forbidden fruit (pardon the biblical allegory but it does fit here).

If they walk into an Apple store perhaps on their way to purchase an iPod accessory, how many will avoid looking and then playing with the new iMac? I expect to see Apple stores really push iTunes, and already we're seeing advertising from Apple making the link between the iPod and iMac (..."from the developers of the iPod").

Currently, Apple's innovation sees it dominate the legal music download business as well as the mp3 player market, despite the proliferation of the Microsoft Windows media proprietary protocol known as WMA. Mind you, the mp3 protocol is probably still the dominant one due to the billions of mp3s out there in peer-to-peer networks. These are compatible with iTunes and the iPod. It remains true that the iPod has always been an mp3 player, as well as playing CD-standard AIFF and WAV amongst others.

All MSN legal music downloads comes in the WMA format, incompatible "off the bat" with the iPod. Microsoft in its tacit acknowledgment of the iPod's market leadership, offered a help page for moving its files onto the iPod using a number of steps (as compared to synching the iPod with iTunes). It has since removed that advice, perhaps under advice from its legal or marketing departments.

Apple built into its iTunes the capacity to convert non-DRM WMA files into mp3 or AAC file protocols.

MS touts the "advantage" of its online store being that its files are compatible with more than 70 iPod-like music devices which will play WAV but not AAC with the DRM wrapping which is a product of the iTMS.

On the surface, that appears to be a winning combination for MS: proprietary WMA files playable using the bundled Windows Media Player application; and more personal players than the two Apple sells - the iPod and iPod mini.

This is also the basis for industry pundits saying that given time, MS will come to dominate the music download market like it does with all other markets it enters, albeit even if it is its usual late self.

But the facts are that it doesn't always win the market lead, not matter how long and how much money it throws around. Witness Microsoft Money vs. Quicken, Xbox versus Playstation vs Nintendo vs Sega, MSN vs. AOL. In 2002, MS entered the wi-fi market with hardware two years after Apple. It no longer makes its own brand of wi-fi gear.

Now if I owned an iPod and was a Windows user, what would compel me to shop at the MSN music store? Cheaper downloads, such as the temporary 49c effort by a seemingly more disenfranchised Real Audio? No, MS prices are same 99c, not even 89c as others are offering. So it's not going to lure me away from my iPod by having cheaper music.

Perhaps choice then. The iTMS has a million songs for sale, MSN says it will release that many "soon". So that's no reason to switch yet, and if there are tunes on MS not yet on iTMS I can locate the advice from MS stored somewhere in the Google archives to get it onto the iPod one way or the other.

Ah, perhaps that wonderful choice of 70 music players, most cheaper than the iPod. That's the go, isn't it?

Hmm... Well as a friend of mine discovered when she moved from Melbourne to LA to find more desirable men than the nebbishes she was dating at home, she discovered that there were so many more nebbishes in LA to get past to find the few "nice guys" that absolute numbers didn't offer the hoped for solution to her single status.

Actually, it also parallels the argument that "there is so much more software for Windows than for the Mac." It's true. In absolute terms, there are more - many more. Just like there are many more spare parts manufacturers for GM and Ford cars, than there are for BMW, Mercedes, Honda and perhaps Toyota.

You can buy "genuine" replacement parts, or generic brands. It's your choice.

But in the software world, in terms of the dominant software in use by most Windows users, once you install MS Office and use the security-flawed Internet Explorer, you are mainly left with niche accounting, database and specialist business software, not of interest to the consumer who wants to surf the web, email, IM, scan photos, and make leaflets or newsletters.

You can use Office for the Mac with seamless file-swapping with Windows users, and there are many web browsers available, with tabbing and in the case of Safari, built in RSS soon to come.

Most consumers will find that almost all uses they can conceive of will be available in the Apple world. And in most cases, with usability far in excess of similar Windows programs, for which the iLife applications are a prime example, especially in how they integrate. Even the blog software I use integrates with iLife making it easy for me to incorporate photos, movies, and sound files.

Having 70 compatible music players may appear to offer freedom of choice, but once you start playing with these options, my guess is that a side by side comparison with the iPod will only produce one winner, and people will pony up the extra dollars.

Not all will, and in my recent trip to NYC, I saw plenty of people walking the avenues with large round CD/mp3 players. But I saw (perhaps was drawn to see) many more people with white headphone wires streaming from the handbags, or iPod-minis conspicuously displayed on their belts or arms.

Perhaps the final question to ask is whether Microsoft has within its corporate DNA an understanding of the complex music making and listening market in the way Apple does.

Or will it turn its full corporate attention to to its next Windows operating system, in the form of Longhorn, which, to meet its 2006 introduction date has seen MS announce some very important and significant deletions (WinFS, the store and search file system) which were to have seen Longhorn leap way ahead of the current XP system?

To my admittedly biased eyes and ears, there is nothing compellingly different about Microsoft's music offerings for me to dump my iPod. And that's despite the fact that the iTMS is unavailable here, while WMA-based music services are...

No, Microsoft will have to innovate its way to market leadership rather than count on absolute numbers of Windows users. Especially since the iTMS/iPod experience must be such a compelling one to Windows users.

With Hewlett-Packard on board by bundling iTunes with its desktop and portable PCs, and selling its own "iPod by Apple", a breach in the MS near-monopoly has occurred.

Perhaps in time, if the Sony Connect/minidisc "whole widget" concept fails, we may see more discussions between Sony and Apple CEOs than occurred recently on a Hawaii golf course.

Who knows if Apple needs Sony on side to succeed? So far, that's not been the case, and it's more likely Sony will need a successful partner if it is to be a major player in the market it could have owned, given its long-term Walkman leadership. How it lost its way will be the subject of MBA case studies in the same way that the success of iTMS/iPod has been.

2005 will be very interesting for commercial music, and consumer purchases. Will Apple "repeat" the operating system "mistakes" as so many are predicting? Or has Apple's leadership incorporated ten years of learning, so that 2005 won't be like 1995?

If I were Microsoft or Real, I would concentrate on what they do best, just like Apple has. If they don't then, for sure, 2005 won't be like 1995.

Posted at 07:40 AM     |

Sat - September 4, 2004

Dropping into Finjan in LA - nice look of surprise from Yoni and Chuck!


We left New York early and arrived to spend the day in LA. So what do dancers do? You drop into a dance camp, don't you!

Up at 5am to catch the shuttle into JFK for United's 855am service to LAX. Arrived early, no queues in Premier Executive and the plane was half full. Very smooth flight in Business, and caught up on a little sleep.

We arrived at 1130 or so PDT, and did the usual email and phone calls in the Red Carpet Lounge, then caught the Hilton shuttle over to the hotel, to surprise Yoni Carr and husband Skip with our unannounced arrival.

It would have been worth a picture to see her face when we walked up to her to say hullo - I think she must have thought we were visions, as we had not let her know at all we were coming. Indeed, she had heard we weren't heading to Keff either, so she was really caught off guard. But being who she was, she welcomed us with open arms, and asked us to stay prior to us having to leave about 930pm to catch our 11pm flight to Sydney.

We gave her a gift for her grandson for which she was very appreciative, and got to see the Finjan facilities. The Ballroom is enormous with a great wooden dance floor which covers the entire floor space, and she has set aside some rooms adjacent for meals and snacks. Alongside Machol Miami which is held at the Fort Lauderdale Sheraton, these are probably the most luxurious camps going.

Numbers expected are about 100, with Yoni not expecting higher numbers due to her absence in Israel, and the popularity of Chagigat/Hilulim next month.

Still, it was nice to catch up with familiar faces from previous Yoni camps, and the feeling here is very relaxed.

As a bonus we joined in the 5pm session, and learnt new dances from each of Kobi Michaeli and Avi Perez.

Kobi's was a circle using updated music for "Naomi", the line dance we had just danced the week before at Keff. Avi's dance was a slow and very pleasant dance. A nice start to Finjan, and I am looking forward to hearing about the rest of the camp's materials. While it was small, the local gathering was very friendly, and we were saddened to have to leave after Shabat dinner before the evening's dance session started.

Our thanks to Yoni and Chuck for the brief hosting of us, and to all the camp attendees who made us so welcome and feeling a part of the camp, albeit all too briefly. A very nice coda for our US trip.

Posted at 08:15 AM     |

Fri - September 3, 2004

Skype's no hype - disruptive technology at work


From the developers of Kazaa comes more technology to upset the big end of town...

We're back in Manhattan, having spent some time in Monroe county, north of the city.

Using Hotwire, which few locals seem to know about, we located a mid-town hotel for a couple of nights before leaving for home. When we noted Hotwire was offering a 4.5 star hotel for USD139 a night, we took it without knowing what or where exactly. Turns out after we took the plunge to be the InterContinental's The Barclay on 48th and Lexington. It's near the Waldorf Astoria, and after we did a day's shopping and visiting, returning was a security nightmare since the US Pres. is in town for the Republican National Convention and he is likely staying there.

In fact our hotel is a nominated RNC hotel, and I am guessing we took advantage of someone's cancelling to get a cheap room rate where it often runs $300 and up. Nearby is the Marriott, Radisson, Benjamin and Metropolitan hotels. It is also a home for players in the US Tennis Open currently playing in Flushing Meadow in Queens, so we have a curious mix here of delegates to the convention and tennis players and support staff.

Anyone on the road as these people are will of course be wanting to phone home or make contact within the city. If you're from another country, using your cell phone to send and receive calls is too expensive for anything but quickies, or emergency calls. And using hotel phones is also expensive unless you also use a phonecard. But it takes forever to dial a number, having to first enter a 1800 number then codes then your number to dial. And if it is busy, you start again. Ugh!

So when I noticed that Skype had released a beta for the Mac OS Panther, I downloaded it immediately. Skype is a VoIP service allowing chats to be made computer to computer (actually more like an Instant Messenger), or phone calls between internet-connected computer and landline or cell phone. The IM function is free, while the latter requires an investment in Euros to be deposited.

The download and installation of Skype went without a hitch (it's a 3.5MB dmg file), but purchasing credits was not easy. Safari's pop-blocker was likely the culprit, but I couldn't get the Skype homepage to accept my AMEX card to buy credits. Switching to Firefox saved the day and I had 10 Euros of calls in no time, but only after switching to Diners Club too. I also used the online help chat system to let them know Safari was having problems.

I placed my first call to Australia. I simply typed in +6139xxx-xxxx and it started ringing with an American ring tone. But when it was answered the sound was clear as a bell, with me talking into my Powerbook's built-in mic. and the other person disbelieving I was not using a handset.

Today, I placed a call using +1646xxx-xxxx to a local NYC cellphone, and bingo! it worked on that too! Again, surprising the receiver with its quality. A little delay, but an excellent quality. I spoke for an average of 3 minutes on both occasions, and the total cost to me was 0.14 euros. That's USD 17c!

I'll repeat that: I made a 4'39" call to Australia, and a 2'43" call to a New York cellphone, and it cost in total 17c.

Of course, you have to factor in our daily rate for hotel high speed connection, but we would have taken that anyway, regardless of having Skype installed.

The Mac version appears to be deficient in many features found in the more mature Windows app., but it is really beta now.

This is truly disruptive technology in action. While I didn't do anything utterly breakthrough given how commonplace talking on the phone is, I have to say I felt like some of those folk who first starting using the humble phone a hundred years ago, and thinking of the possibilities it meant for business and social life.

In New York where every corner allows for wi-fi connection from unprotected Airport-type 802.11x devices, how soon before Palm Tungsten/wifi devices are helping us make very cheap phone calls?

Hmm... what would happen if the iPod became wi-fi equipped, allowing it to be used with a special version of Skype (which does exist for the PocketPC platform) and bluetooth equipped headphones. Now that's disruptive!

If you want to find out more about Skype and its co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, you can hear him speak at this year's Supernova 2004 here courtesy of Doug Kaye's IT Conversations. Doug's site has also just posted the mp3 of a discussion between lawyers and analysts, Mike Masnick, Rafat Ali, Jason Schultz and Derek Slater entitled: Apple vs. Real vs. Microsoft - Law and IT. You can hear it here.

So sad to leave NYC which we love so much - but hoping to return again soon. I think it's visit 15 for me!

Posted at 11:47 AM     |

Wed - August 25, 2004

Day 1 Keff


It's a big crowd already, with lots of new faces amongst the old crowd.

Keff kicked off this afternoon (I know it says Wednesday, but the Powerbook is still set to Melbourne time, 14 hours ahead.) Lili and I had a much needed snooze between 1 and 4pm before going out for some shopping.

After we got back the Keff bus drew up, with much of the contingent being young South Americans. They are here in good numbers, which makes programming a challenge for Rob Markowitz as their knowledge of some classics and partners doesn't match their awareness of recent dances, especially those taught in recent Keffs.

Yigal Triki was the first to teach a dance, Batia Kronenberg's Halev, which is apparently very popular in Israel now. It's up on the video site with the choreographer here. Another dance which will be popular with a young crowd who like pop Israeli material, but it has no legs, IMHO.

Sagi, the 17 year old also visiting Keff for the first time, was full of confidence and very thankful to Moshe and Eileen for bringing him onto staff. He danced most of the night with huge energy, and taught a dance of his own. Quite a nice first effort, reminded me of Dudu's elements and the Keff crowd was very supportive.

Mana'avu made its presence felt again at Keff, and the open dancing features many of the dances you'd expect to see in a popular open session. There aren't enough older heads here to justify classic material just yet. I counted one Moshiko dance, Alizut, and quite a few Shmulik. Partner sets were kept short - 2 or 3 - and quite easy.

Rafi turned up late having been delayed with his flight, and launched into dancing his recent material from last year's camp. Expect the energy levels to rise once more people arrive and new material is taught. Meir is in fine form, his En Ani very popular still. He is looking forward to his next visit to Australia he told me.

We finished off with Eskayo's Zingarella with Moshe leading, having revived it in Montreal a few years back. It's been in a our local repertoire for many years.

So an early night for us, and ready to spring into action in the morning. More news to come.

Posted at 04:45 PM     |

Early to Keff, and much to do...



Usually, we catch the mid-town bus to Keff, getting in near to 4pm. By then, there's usually quite a gathering to act as a greeting party, helping with luggage and lots of hello's and how are you's.

This year, we came up with Eileen's parents who were gracious enough to host us for a few days, and walked into Benny hard at work completing the decorations and audio-visual setup.

There is a huge sombrero hanging in the hall which Benny created, and we are told it lights up and rotates. We'll see it in action tonight.

It's warm - about 80F - and there are still many of the camp staff who have been here for the summer in attendance. It's good to be here instead of the madhouse New York is about to become with the Republican Convention, but I think we will walk into the thick of things once camp is over.

Yigal Triki is already here, having stayed with Eileen, and so is Gerard from France. We hear there is a contingent from Japan for the first time, and I wonder if it's the same group we have seen at Yoni's Camp Yona.

Eileen's sons who usually help out will be absent this year through work and study so a lot more is left for the family to do, as well as the regular helpers like Joanie from Boston who is already here working on registrations for the other early arrivals.



Posted at 04:25 AM     |

Sat - August 21, 2004

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to Keff we go


An almost last minute change in my studies means there is a gap allowing Lili and me to head to Keff for another week of fun and frivolity.

We are at T-12 hours before our United Airlines 747 wings its way to Sydney then LAX, then a 767 to JFK.

Another year, another Keff.

Wasn't sure we would make it and the flights are full, but we managed exit row because of our exalted status with UA's Frequent Flyer program. We have an aisle and window in a row of 3, but because it's exit, someone is bound to sit between us... even though UA is meant to keep it blocked. But exit row is a prize catch, and if you say you're over 6' you'll get it... but it was our best choice of what was available.

The Keff line up this year is hardly stellar compared with previous years and other camps, but as we've learnt over the years, our enjoyment of Keff is more tied up with being part of the Keff family than it is with learning three dozen dances from the "names".

If the South Americans turn out en masse, and the Israeli imports live up to their reputation for making ruach, it may well surpass the Keff of 2002 which was brilliant. That was the year of Eileen's back injury, and somehow even without her being very mobile and pretty much sidelined it was a memorable camp, perhaps because the Family was so glad she survived her close call.

Anyway, I don't know how often I'll be able to blog from Keff, but hopefully there are now more open wireless connections in Monroe for Lili and me to "borrow" some bandwidth and keep up our repartee.

As they say, watch this space!

Posted at 10:12 PM     |

Mon - August 16, 2004

Gadi's Echad Mi Yodea taught in Melbourne with video appetizer


... and iMovie comes to the rescue.

With another Melbourne group having taught Gadi Bitton's Karmiel 2004 winner, it seemed the next thing to do was to teach it at Hora too, but with a difference.

Rather than just teaching the steps, the Hora group was presented first with the winning dance from the Karmiel official video, showing Gadi's performing group in action.

We used a video projector hooked to my Powerbook to project the video on the wall, but there was one problem. Rather than use the video on my website (seen here), we thought it best to show the official video which used several camera angles since this is a 7 minute dance. That meant digitising the VHS tape using my Canopus ADC-100 which was pretty easy to do. But, oh my! the sound quality! Eech!

My original thought was that it wouldn't be possible to overlay or dub over the mp3 of the song, since there would be some slippage by the time we got to verse 13, in which case we might see verse 13 but hear verse 12!

Having digitised the VHS into Apple's iMovie on the Powerbook, I then imported the Echad mp3 from iTunes into iMovie's timeline area. My initial attempts to sync. the two were not successful since it simply wasn't a matter of aligning the files in the iMovie clip area at the point each started. Why? Well, I had included the titles for the video which added a few more seconds. So I had to use my ear to sync them which proved more difficult than I first thought.

So I took advantage of iMovie 4's new audio feature which shows an audio waveform within the mp3 clip. So, I first extracted the audio track from the video track, with all its noise and scratches and made sure its wave form was visible. Then I shifted the imported audio track, also with waveform showing, so I visibly aligned the two as you can see below. The top layer is the video, the middle layer is the extracted audio, and the bottom layer is the imported iTunes music file.

It looked a pretty good visual match so using iMovie's ability to lock the audio clip into position, I let the movie play. Lo and behold (pardon my biblical allusions), the sound actually aligned extremely well throughout the entire seven minutes. I then overlayed the end applause from the actual soundtrack and it worked very well! I don't think anyone detected what I had done, and all probably thought the audio quality of the original video was excellent. As if!

All this from free iLife applications, iMovie and iTunes. Mind you, the Canopus digitiser wasn't cheap but it has turned out to be very good value, allowing me to import both PAL and NTSC VHS tapes.

And what of the dance itself?

Well, after learning part 1 and the repeating chorus, we quickly ran through parts 2 - 13 and then repeated the dance at the end of the night.

It was certainly an experience and by about part 10 the first time through I was working a little to remember what came before, But the second time through, it was much easier. Definitely something to look forward to Gadi teaching to hear and see his interpretation.

Posted at 07:29 PM     |

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