in my life

This is so absurd that I actually laughed when I saw this reported: six months ago one of the IDF Commander's security officers attempted to rape a girl on the night of his bachelor party. Attempted only because eventually bystanders heard her screams and ran to the riverbank where he was holding her down and pulled him off of her; he attempted to escape, but was overrun. He's been denying all allegations for the past six months, and today he finally admitted to all the facts, but he has a new defense: the drinks he was drinking at his party were fake drinks, they weren't what he ordered, and he got alcohol poisoning and started hallucinating or whatever the fuck and therefore wasn't responsible for any of his actions. Not only should he be found not guilty on all charges, but he's thinking of suing the clubs he was at for selling him the fake drinks.

Seriously, dude. Seriously. Good luck to you with that line of defense, what can I say.

In other news, tonight's Srugim episode:

:((((

Oh, Reut and Roei. I haven't seen such a heartbreaking relationship in a long time, and they don't even get that it's heartbreaking, which is the most heartbreaking part. I keep being unable to decide whether I want them to work or not. Like, I want to say all their problems will be solved if they both stop being religious -- or at least this particular problem -- but that isn't a very tolerant solution on my part. (And yet I stand by it, just because I can't think of anything else.) For those curious, the issue I'm talking about is ( MAJOR SPOILER FOR SEASON 2, don't click if you want to be unspoiled, I'm looking at you, Kass. ETA: This post has turned into a mini-recap and picspam of an episode that aired two months ago, if anyone is curious in... certain aspects of homosexuality and Judaism. )

Ha, so that was a longer post than I'd planned on making. Let me just, while we're on the subject of religious oppression, go back for a mini rant about another piece on the news today: It is a Jewish (ultra-Orthodox) tradition to go up north to Mt. Miron for huge a celebration once a year on today's date. If I'd wanted to go there, I would have taken public transportation. Except the public bus lines going there today were all kosher lines, meaning it's segregated into male and female areas, meaning I would have been forced to sit at the back of the bus, along with other women.

Ugh, what I really need to figure out is under what clause are kosher lines still legal. The bus company denied that the separation was an official policy, but come on.

1. OMG SRUGIM. Season 1 was awesomesauce, and season 2 started out weak, and then got awesome again on the fourth episode, and then TODAY'S EPISODE OMG. ( Spoilerspoiler )

2. Aaaaaah my entire fucking weekend I've probably read like 300K of fic because apparently I am reading fucking bandom now what the fuck. I hate bexless. I don't even know My Chemical Romance, okay. (no, do not link me in the comments, I can google. Also don't link me to recs. I have tests, goddamn it.)

3. I just had to pass up skiing in the Hermon on Tuesday because I have a test! YAY. Not. D:

4. NCIS, final scene of the episode: whaaaaaaaat? Also, I looked up the actress who plays the lawyer because she was familiar. Apparently she's familiar for playing Heidi Petrelli on Heroes, but more importantly, she is apparently a direct descendant of the Ba'al Shem Tov. Shene'emar: LOLOLOLOL.

5. Grey's Anatomy: I still watch this show, and just want to say that I love Callie and Arizona, and I love Callie and Mark as BFFs, and I approve of the three of them sharing a bed. Also, Cristina's speech? Thank god.

6. SPN: :DDDDDDDD, and FNL: HOW IS THIS SHOW SO AMAZING OMG MY HEART. ( fuck it, I can't do this without spoilers. )

7. American Idol: Please let there be a fic somewhere about a show called American Agent where the judges panel includes Adam Lambert, Neil Patrick Harris and Katy Perry and the contestants are Simon, Kara, Paula etc. Because I would read that fic. I really would.

8. My baby sister told me this afternoon: "I think I want to start reading the Discworld books." I think I scared her by almost having a heart attach right then and there, literally fluttering my hand and needing to swallow before I could speak. I've been trying to convince her for years, and the moment has finally arrived. SO MUCH JOY. She better love it, damn it.

9. I'll go now. I think my dad's going to watch the Superbowl downstairs. I can join him and... feel American and stuff.

Okay, so you know the Israeli show I really like about a group of single religious twentysomethings? Well, I know most of you will probably never get a chance to see it unless you can read Hebrew subtitles or will be willing to wait until it's available on DVD and then manage to get your hands on it, which, not likely.

However, I still want to share the love.

I've been catching up on a few episodes, and I just uploaded a clip I really loved from the end of episode 9, and added subtitles in English. (I'm sorry for the quality of subtitles; I didn't want to use the more advanced editing software I have, so the only thing I was able to do was add subtitles smack in the center of the frame, and there are still Hebrew subtitles in the bottom. But it's still fine, I think.)

The clip is two of scenes I liked. The first is cute: it's a Shabbat dinner the friends are having (most in attendance), to which Reut invited two dates. In the scene, the two guys discover she's also dating the other. ( Further explanation beneath the cut, for those interested. )

The second is an absolutely gorgeous sequence, IMO - it's a montage set to the music of the show's regular score and the voice of Reut singing the Haftara, from Isaiah 66. The haftara is the weekly Torah portion read in synagogue. Since women aren't allowed to sing before men, she's reading it in front of an audience of women. Orthodox women don't usually read haftaras; she's doing it on the date of her father's death's anniversary, in his honor, something a son would normally do. I think both the singing and the editing of this sequence are beautiful, moving from Reut singing to her (girl) friends in the audience, to the boys praying in a different synagogue, to one of the boys who's admitted in a hospital, to her boyfriend, who's the one who very reluctantly taught her how to sing the prayer during the last couple of episodes, peeking almost proudly through the window.

Even if you don't feel like watching the dialogue of the first part (and really, it's just a bit of humor I liked), you can jump to minute 1:58 and watch the second scene.

And I was totally going to forget the link itself, too.