Haiti

The earthquake in Haiti has little to do with the main theme of this blog, but when facing this level of human tragedy one is hardly left unaffected. I, of course, followed the reports through the prism of being an Israeli, following the reports in our media (how did we manage to be the only ones up and running?)

I barely remember the earthquake in Armenia that happened when I was a kid in USSR. The earthquakes in Turkey and Iran, the tzunami in East Asia and Katrina I remember better. It seems that our embattled country is always among the first to offer help (though Iranians turned it down if I am not mistaken). And being the embattled country that we are and, unfortunately, familiar all too well with rescue missions and other emergency procedures we manage to do a lot of good in these situations. That makes me very proud to be an Israeli.

Here are a couple of links to the coverage (in case anybody is reading this). There are additional links in side the thread from AbsoluteWrite, along with many links to relief agencies seeking donations (thanks to William Haskins and others who posted in that thread).

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168243
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3836254,00.html
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9591907

P.S. How did we manage to be the only equipped field hospital? Maybe the stories about Jewish conspiracies have some truth to them after all :)

Weekend updates

A Ghost of a Man I Used to Be in its Hebrew version was rejected by Bli Panika. The comments are very similar to what I previously got for it and for the English version. I sent the English version out again. Unfortunately, I fear that my belief that the positives about the story outweigh the negatives (I am well aware of the problems) isn't shared by the editors and I would have to throw in the towel on this one (certainly on the Hebrew version, since there aren't any magazines left for me to send it to). This is sad as I still think it is a good story. All the more reason to finish the translation of Ascension and start working on turning this into a novel. Embellished and explored, the issues touched in the story should make a killer novel.

I did a translation for Simanim yesterday. The original was pretty bad and it took me much longer than expected. Then again, I was tired and it went slowly and painfully, especially considering that Eden had decided it was time for her to get up and run around (we are talking from 10pm to midnight). Anyway, phew. Sent it off. Good riddance.

I got a bite from Mera Translations for a 10k job. We'll see how it goes.

The Jack dude from London had written again. I thought that one was gone. I can't figure him out. His unwillingness to transfer money to Israel or to open a paypal account is truly puzzling. Makes me somewhat apprehensive about taking this job. The text is interesting, but I wouldn't want to waste my time translating a paper without getting paid in the end. So, I'll wait for his clarifications.

I am going to meet with Prof. Dzenis probably tomorrow. Should be interesting.

ITA conference

Israel Translators Association is having a conference (h/t Yael Sela-Shapiro at Avad beTirgum). I can't attend, for obvious reasons, but those of you basking in the Israeli sun and involved in translation should.

Translation Competition

The "Bli Panika" sci.fi magazine is running a translation competition. See details here (Hebrew). I am entering. Even if I don't win, I'll put my translation up on my translation site and link to it here.

TV troubles

Well, my morning started not overly well, but ended on a higher note. The DirecTV technician came for the third time. I mean, c'mon. Dudes, how hard can it be to install an effing dish. It ended in the realization that they will not be able to reconcile their needs with our landlord's restrictions. And the worst thing, I got the sneaky feeling that the last technician didn't really care one way or another. Way to go DirecTV. Wave us bye bye while we go to COX.

Avatar

Well, I've seen "Avatar" yesterday. It was nice, but not something extraordinary. I can see where some of the controversy comes from, but it is overblown, imo. This basic story had appeared many times with different variations.

On a side note, I couldn't stop the feelings of deja vu. Strong parallels with the Matrix (the machines humans had are even similar to those in the Matrix). On the other hand, Cameron had directed "Aliens" and Ripley/Weaver used a similar machine there as well. This, though is a superficial similarity. On the deeper level I saw many parallels with Card's "Speaker for the Dead". I mean, natives who are in touch with there whole planet which might be a one big organism, talking to trees (actually "planting" people to get them to the next level of life as a tree). Some humans defending the natives against the other humans. Well, the similarities aren't exact, but I just couldn't shake the feeling.

Happy Dance

Yay!! I finally got my Nebraska driver's license. I vanquished the US bureaucracy. I am feeling pretty good right now.

Throwing dice

I love technology and science. I worked in some sort of science rich environment since I had finished college. It is no secret that Israel has become one of the leading forces in scientific and technological innovation in the world. Well, it might be a secret for the BDS crowd, but I promised myself not to get into politics on this blog (I know, I know, this is pretty strange for an Israeli).

A book detailing the reasons behind Israel's success story had seen the light in US this year. I've written about it and linked to some articles on a thread at AbsoluteWrite. Today, there is an editorial in an NYT, by David Brooks on the subject. Not a bad one, and raises interesting questions about the future possibilities. Go and read it yourself.

Israel’s technological success is the fruition of the Zionist dream. The country was not founded so stray settlers could sit among thousands of angry Palestinians in Hebron. It was founded so Jews would have a safe place to come together and create things for the world.

This shift in the Israeli identity has long-term implications. Netanyahu preaches the optimistic view: that Israel will become the Hong Kong of the Middle East, with economic benefits spilling over into the Arab world. And, in fact, there are strands of evidence to support that view in places like the West Bank and Jordan.

But it’s more likely that Israel’s economic leap forward will widen the gap between it and its neighbors. All the countries in the region talk about encouraging innovation. Some oil-rich states spend billions trying to build science centers. But places like Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv are created by a confluence of cultural forces, not money. The surrounding nations do not have the tradition of free intellectual exchange and technical creativity.

Me? I think we are so successful in this field because we like to throw the dice.It isn't strange at all that the favorite Israeli phrase is "Yihie Beseder" which means "it'll be ok".

Morning updates and ancient history

The morning today was relatively uneventful. I took the kids to the kindergarten, did about a 3k translation, talked to my and my wife's folks and prepared lunch.

I saw the first episode of Caprica yesterday. I have to say I am somewhat unsure what I think. Looks interesting so far, but reminds me waaay to much of Terminator. We'll have to see how it goes.

Now, that that's out of the way, to the main point of the post. Yesterday I was planning how to proceed with The Gathering Clouds. This is my first complete novel and it is near completion. It also has a very long history that I went over in my head yesterday, and that got me thinking a bit about how things had changed over time.

Ok. The basic plot of the novel was written by my brother about 23-25 years ago in Russian. It was barely a novella by standards of length. I, being the easily impressionable boy that I was, thought it was great and all. I should also note that my exposure to science fiction and especially fantasy was very limited at that point in time.

Anyway, towards the time we came to Israel I managed to type the novella on our old machine. After we came to Israel and some time had passed, I translated the novella into Hebrew as a part of my learning experience. I even managed to type it on a computer (though on different types of computer, on different fonts etc). I am pretty sure it was painful to read. I wouldn't know. The translation is long lost and I don't remember. Well, I was even arrogant enough to send it off to a publishing. I knew nothing about publishing, and was probably one of those manuscripts that annoy the crap out of editors. That was 18-19 years ago.

At that point, the manuscript gathered dust in my desk. When I went to college, I started writing myself. Imagine the shock of my folks who always considered me the technical side of the family (and rightly so). After writing some stories (that weren't bad but not good enough to be published) I translated the novella into English. I also translated the second book of the trilogy, that despite being almost as old, was a much more mature book. Together they were barely enough lengthwise to be called a novel. I strung them together with an interlude and that was that for a while.

After Eitan was born (about four years ago) I started looking more seriously at the novel. I finally realized that despite some nice ideas it was extremely undercooked. I rewrote it on a massive scale, basically turning it into what it is today (though I later added another 30k words). At that point I found AbsoluteWrite and really dug deep into the novel. Today it stands before the last round of editing and being sent out. Though there are similarities with the original, it is mostly a new book. I had kept my brother's name together with mine on the byline, though it is by all accounts my novel.

This novel is an interesting exhibit of changes I underwent in my life and how I came to be the man I am today. It is always interesting for me to add another page to that book.

Something for Nothing goes to On the Premises

Yay! I finished editing Something for Nothing today so it'd meet the On the Premises length requirement. Sent it off. Holding my fingers crossed, now.

Shabat Shalom

On Friday we went to a Kabalat Shabat with a family living around these parts. They are from Israel and live here for ten years. A very nice family. They also had another couple over who live here for a year. We had a lovely evening. It is a strange thing that I had to come all the way to Omaha to have a real Kabalat Shabat. Life is such a strange thing.

Anyway, Eitan and Eden also had a great time. We are going again on Friday after the next one. We did have a small hick-up. I didn't know they were religious, so I bought a box of coockies that weren't kosher. Eitan was rather disappoited when we coupldn't have them, but we did bring them back. Problem solved.

Strangely enough, I might have a translation job out of the evening. Some acquaintance of the other guest looks for somebody to translate a book.

Recap

Hi there. I started writing several posts before I actually started a blog,and posted them on my website. Now, that I have a blog, I will repost them here.

January 7th, 2010

10:00 It's really cold outside. The sun makes some small effort to appear, but not too much. After yesterday's storm I expected to shovel all through the morning. Thankfully, some good soul cleared our building's driveway before me. The last two times were fun, because it was relatively warm, but today it would have been a real drag. So, I am raising my cup of coffee for that soul.

Maccabi plays today and I am yet to figure out how the live tv on the Euroleague's site works. Well, they qualified, so I wouldn't miss too much, but I better figure this out before the next round.

The dude from London hadn't answered yet. I hope he does. The work seems interesting and pays well.

I am going to get the parts of this site in Hebrew and Russian up and running today. Wish me luck (if there is anybody reading this :) )

Tuning off for now

15:00

Well, Maccabi had won. A pretty good game in the second half. But what's the deal with the free throws. I think some guys had a better percentage from the three than from the free throw line.

For the money Euroleague.tv charges they sure give a pretty shitty picture. I'll have to look for an alternative. I have to say that I also miss Niv Raskin and Ofer Shelach.

You'll have to excuse me (if there is anybody reading this), I am still trying to get used to this thing and improve it.

Attempts to make the Hebrew and Russian parts of the site up and running had failed so far. I'll try again later.

I am planning to finish editing "Something for Nothing" for the On the Premises magazine. Hopefu, next week I am going to start editing "The Gathering Clouds" again, and maybe writing some of the stories I somewhat abandoned due to the relocation and the job from Simanim.