Hutzot Hayotzer: Steampunk Rhinocerous, Peruvian Chess, and Mosaic Iguana

I took Saarya, Tal, and her friend Nechemya to Hutzot Hayotzer last night, an annual ten days of Israeli and international arts and Israeli music at Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem.

Each year's format is rather the same, as are the offerings, but its still fun to go. The music is played so loud that we can hear it blasting through the windows of our apt building 2 km away in Arnona. Standing in front of the speakers, your body trembles with each bass beat.

But the music is only one part of the evening.

The Scene

Note: All pictures are shrunk from the originals. If you want to see details on a particular picture, ask me and I'll send you the larger original.



This is what it looks like in the daylight, coming in from the south at 7:30 pm. Those are the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem on the right.



And this is what it looked like from the west side, as we were leaving at 11:00 pm.



Flags of the participating countries flying along a perimeter wall.



Decorations around the area include these light-tree structures. Jerusalem events are always full of lights.

The Oddness of Security and Lottery Agents

Approaching the entrance at the south side, we were told that absolutely no one can get in tonight unless they had previously bought a ticket earlier in the day (or prior). No more tickets were available; we had to come back tomorrow. All the security agents on that side agreed.

So we walked around to the other side, bought tickets, and entered without any problems.

The left hand surely doesn't know what the right hand is doing. This security nonsense continued later on, during the concert performance (see below).



This guy was one of many selling lottery tickets. His shpiel included a pronouncement of how good an idea buying this lottery ticket was and how many millions of shekels we could win.

Me: If this is such a good deal, why aren't you rich, instead of selling lottery tickets?

Him: (laughs) Oh I never buy these tickets. Maybe that's why I still have to sell them!

Me: So you're offering me a product that you don't even use yourself?!

The Internationals: Countries and their Crafts

Although I have organized these alphabetically, they were actually situated somewhat more geographically. In that arrangement, it was clear that countries from the same region tended to have closely aligned artistic styles.

Angola





Not entirely sure what this is, but it looks somewhat apocalyptic.

Argentina





Argentinian masks



A leather-detailed Chess board is not all that unusual ...



But Chess pieces made from leather strips is more interesting. $60.

Bolivia



Brazil



South American countries had very colorful items, which we Americans and Israelis typically consider gaudy or childish.



Brazilian polka-dot chickens



Brazil rooster made enameled with beer bottle caps

Bulgaria





I think this box came from Bulgaria, but I may be wrong. It was stunning, as were a number of other boxes in the collection. $1300.

Cameroon



Chile



China



China's booth was somewhat weak this year. It's usually stunning.

Columbia





I tried on some Columbian shirts, but they weren't the right size. They were hard to take off without ripping. $20.

Ecuador





An iguana made from mosaic squares

El Salvador (and Guatemala)



Ethiopia



African countries also have interesting colors, but usually darker with more solid shapes than the South American brights and patterns.

Georgia





Not really sure what these are. Dolls with wicks, or something.

Hungary





Cat City and Fish paintings from Hungary.

India



That's Tal and her friend, Nechamya.





These are miniature paintings on some kind of shells.

Indonesia



Indonesia always has their own grass hut.

Jordan



This guy (in the turban) has been coming since at least 2005. The guy on the right from Israel is active on some Israeli/Arab peace web sites.

Kazakhstan



Korea



Assume it's South Korea



I don't know what he's writing, but on the bottom of the pic you can see the tip of the Hebrew bible that was open in front of him.

Kyrgyzstan



Macedonia



Madagascar



Morocco





This bowl has a beautiful cracked glaze.

Peru





A Peruvian Chess set, pitting the Peruvians against Spain, I believe.



Hand weaving. Must have been a pain to drag that here from Peru.

Poland



Heavily Christian themed.

Romania



Serbia





Made from flower petals and leaves.

Slovakia



South Africa





Beaded elephants. Lots of countries used elephants as an art theme. I don't know why.

Tajikistan



Uzbekistan



They had three booths.

Zimbabwe





Shell owls



Glass sculpture.

The Concert

Sarit Hadad played. Madonna's a big fan.

The concert area had it's own section in the area, the south side which is a ring of stadium like seats facing a concert backdrop. Lots of standing room on the sides and in front.

Security was attempting to throttle the people going in and out by a series of metal police barriers. They yelled "You can't get in!" until enough people showed up at the gate and demanded that they be allowed in. Then they relented and let them all in.

Simultaneously, they told people inside "You can't go out!", which was ridiculous, of course. And when a queue of people went out, it made even less sense to try to hold out the people who wanted in. So basically, the gates opened and closed every few minutes for no particular reason.





Sarit singing beside the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, who didn't know the words (or was shy) when Sarit asked him to sing along.



Of course, vast numbers of people filmed or photographed the concert.

I remember a time not long ago when security checked people's bags for video cameras and such things to prevent people from filming a concert. Good luck trying that now. If you looked at the throngs of people around the stage, it was a sea of lights from camera-phones. Hundreds of people with their hands in the air like the above guy.

The Nationals: Crafts

Moving to the Israeli half of the area, craftspeople worked the area.



Glassblowing. The Arab guy working this booth (not pictured) had a perpetual snarl on his face. It might have been the lateness of the evening.



Basketweaving (and other stuff made from basket canes).



There is an enclosed bar area, with acrobats spinning on drapes, silhouettes of backlit performers behind white screens (left), clowns, singers, and a band.



Along with rice engraving, there was hair braiding, and artist sketching.

Smart Zone



This was the only booth dedicated to games. Smartzone both imports games (Hive, Pentago, Tantrix) and is creating their own games. I've written them up before, and I will post more about them and their current offerings in another post after this one (including a games festival they are organizing in Afula with other Israeli game companies).

Here are some random Israeli craft pics:



Many ceramics and mugs







Blue ceramics is a large trend here



One of several interesting works by the same artist.









These, and the following are from Papafork, an artist who make stuff out of silverware and other metal discards. Very steampunk. He supposedly has a website at www.papafork.com, but it doesn't work.







This is life-size.

Yehuda

Learning Can Be Fun: 5 Great Educational Board Games for Older Kids

The following is a guest post from Kelsey Allen:

Throwing the word educational into game play can send some kids, especially those old enough to already roll their eyes at a family board game night, running for the hills, thinking that things will be more work and less play. Educational board games don’t have to be a tedious endeavor however, and there are many out there that don’t scream educational at first glance but that have the ability to boost your child’s brainpower without them even knowing. Here are a few to try, some of which you might already have at home.

1. Equalz: Math is a subject that many teens turn their noses up at, especially when they’re at home and don’t have to be doing it. This game aims to make it a little more fun. The pack of cards for the game contains the usual number cards as well as those with addition, subtraction, division, etc on them. During each round, players try to combine these cards in as many ways as possible to reach a randomly chosen target number. Players will be required to use some serious mental math skills to win.

2. Set: Created by a famous geneticist, this game hopes to test players’ visual perception. The game play revolves around sequencing cards by similarities and differences, with players having to call out sets of three cards from 12 that are laid out on the table. Players must compete against each other to recognize these sets and call them out as soon as they see them.

3. Scattergories: This is one game that you might already have in your home. It isn’t touted as an educational game, but it can give you and your family’s brains a good workout. Players role a die to randomly select a letter from the alphabet, then work against the clock to fill out a form with words meeting given criteria that start with that letter. Teens and their parents will be challenged to come up with words as well as build creativity in answers that might stretch the boundaries of acceptable.

4. Anagramania: In this game, players will receive a clue that hides within it an anagram for the answer. Players race to be the first to figure out the clue and advance their game piece to the end of the game board. If you don’t feel like the clues are hard enough, more difficult packs can be purchased that will challenge the vocab and spelling skills of your whole family.

5. Nymble: Boost both vocab and critical thinking skills with this past-faced game. Play begins when nine letters are chosen through the role of a die. Players must then race to create as many words as possible out of the chosen letters. The play doesn’t end there, however, as the game also asks players to come up with synonyms, antonyms, homonyms of these words, with bonuses being given for suggestions where both words are found in the selected letters.

This post was contributed by Kelsey Allen, who writes about the graduate school scholarships. She welcomes your feedback at KelseyAllen1010 at yahoo.com.

Click here for more on games and children.

Rachel Toasted Me in Scrabble

I had the Z, Q, X, J, and K, and two of the S's. I even got a U with my Q. Rachel had both blanks and the other two S's.

But I never had letter synergy. I had Q and U ... and I, I, U, A, and E. I can do something with that, but not much. And Rachel scored most of her points with two, three, or four secondary words off of each word she played, using my letters to earn her points.

Rachel: 377, Jon: 304

Scrabble; fear it.

Game 2.0

Microsoft releases a version of an operating system. Then they work at it making it better and release an update. And so on. Microsoft is still selling Windows, but Windows today is not the same Windows from 1990.

Some board games also evolve internally, or are adapted and developed by others, in the same way that features from operating systems, browsers, and word processors develop in-house or by building on the competition. Games move online, mechanics from other games make their way into existing ones (like the latest versions of Risk), or other companies make competing but better products.

So why did Hasbro update Risk, but leave Monopoly's rules alone? Why are we still playing the same Chess, Scrabble, and Battleship, when, with rare exception due to compatibility, no one uses computer applications that are older than ten years? Sure, evolution leads to a numerous dead-ends for every viable step forward, but nonetheless there are steps forward.

I don't think it's just bad marketing. I don't think it's just a monopoly on the toy shelf.

Many games are bought for other than entertainment purposes: ritual games (like Snakes and Ladders and Mancala), keepsake games (like Monopoly version XYZ), pretty games (like Chess sets).

Also, there is a perception that "new" games are only niche products. Yet, 38 of the top 100 games at Amazon are "new" games, counting various Scene-It's, Cranium's, and Killer Bunnies expansions (and Settlers of Catan and expansion, Race for the Galaxy, Blokus, Puerto Rico, Power Grid, Dominion and Dominion Intrigue, Lost Cities, Carcassonne and expansion, Wits and Wagers, and others).

Of the remaining games, many of them are new licenses for older games (like Spongebob Squarepants Operation, or Beatles Monopoly); a licensed game is bought for its toy value, not its game value. They don't really count.

New games are likewise 32 of the top 100 board games at Target (more party, less strategy games), 26 of the top 100 "games and puzzles" at Walmart, and 24 of the top 100 "games and puzzles" at Kmart. On the other hand, they're only 7 of the top 49 at ToysRUs.com, and 2 (if you push it) of the top 24 at boardgames.com. I think these guys simply don't stock many newer games.

Thirdly, there is a perception that people only play board games to teach kids a social activity that parents or grandparents played when they were younger (doesn't everyone play video games, now?)

That doesn't hold true for music, mostly. It certainly doesn't hold true for video games, though there is a small reactionary movement in that direction. It rarely works for movies, with certain exceptions. It kinda makes some sense for books - there are many great recent books, but we're not going to stop reading Anne of Green Gables or Little House on the Prairie any time soon, I hope.

In other media, if you discount movies shared as rituals or keepsakes (nostalgia), you're left the timeless classics. One therefore hopes that the games that endure are timeless classics.

In some sense, Chess is a timeless classic. But it's really not more of a timeless classic than the same game on a 10x10 board with two "Prince" pieces on each side. Monopoly is a timeless classic, but there are tons of ways to make it better, and tons of games that build on the concept and make it better.

A large number of people stick with what they know in board games, but not with other things in life: video games, music, movies, clothes, books, and so on. This resistance to evolution is troubling and unnatural.