http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021240.html

Man in shorts on cell: Well, I think what happened is he lost his pinky because of the forklift. But that's not the point of this conversation, let's talk about me here.

--186th St & Bennet Ave

Overheard by: Rina

Girl: And she's so awkward on crutches, it's so annoying!

--Grand Central

Overheard by: MR T

Guy on cell: So he tried to kill a roach and broke his knee, and that's why he's on crutches for the rest of summer.

--Union Square

Mother to young son: Sweetie, don't trip and bust your head open. I don't have no duct tape to put it back together.

--Laundromat, 48th St & 10th Ave

Overheard by: Jennifer Piston

Blueberry salesman, as woman in crutches hobbles past: You hoppin', but you ain't stoppin'!

--Greenmarket

Read the rest here:
http://jessfink.com/Chester5000XYV/





( ...UNDER THE CUT for naughtiness... )

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021239.html

Man on cell: I need attractive girls with low self-esteem so I can tell them that I understand and then do horrible things to them. This is basic science.

--40th & 8th

Overheard by: 13Atlantic

Irate Wall Street guy standing in deli: Everything! Everything! I said "everything bagel," you fucking waste of life. (to other customers in line) He always does that!

--Beaver & William

Boy, watching Hannah Montana on screen: unless she's hanging from a rope, I can't be bothered.

--AMC 7, East Village

Overheard by: agreed

Female in red coat: It's, like, the Holocaust--get over it! I didn't even care about it when it first happened.

--Bobst Lobby, NYU

Overheard by: wow.

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Photos of the week

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For more fantastic user content, we'll meet you under the cut. ( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for reading. Here's wishing you the very merriest of holidays. We'll see you next year!

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021238.html

Woman on cell: I can't believe no one said anything... How could no one notice? It used to be sooooo crooked, and I spend all this money to get my nose fixed, and no one says anything?

--Norfolk & Houston

50-year-old lady: So are you still down for the Brazilian wax?

--45th & Broadway

Overheard by: Chuch

Little girl, pointing at someone having their eyebrows threaded: Look! They're sewing that woman's face!

--14th St & 2nd Ave

Overheard by: kenzi

Orange lady: Is it like you definitely, for sure get cancer from a tanning bed? Cause then I might stop.

--Park Slope

Overheard by: Alexis

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021237.html

Mom on cell: So, she's a drunkard and you're taking her to a wine tasting?

--Park Ave

Overheard by: bad idea

Snooty hipster to girlfriend: This event is missing two things. One is wine and the other is cheese.

--Book Signing, Cobble Hill

Man to woman, looking at a wine list: Sure it's good wine. Brandon buys it by the case and takes it fishing.

--W Hotel Restaurant

Overheard by: Bob Leblaw

Crazy MTA employee lady: If you step over the line you will get a fine! And will not be able to dine on all that boxed wine! The fine, it will not be divine! And then you will whine. So don't step over the yellow line!

--4 Train

Overheard by: also stepped over the line

so, ian and i are getting pretty well settled here in tel aviv, israel. we arrived on december 1st and were greeted at the airport by emily who drove us to her place and made us feel at home right away. we spent about 6 days here before heading off for 10 days in egypt (which i'll save for another post) and were back here in tel aviv on the 16th. we've had a lot of fun, hung out with a lot of amazing people, have had a wonderful time being in a not long-distance-relationship with emily, and generally getting to know the city. since we are spending quite a bit of time here compared to anywhere else on our travels i thought i'd update people on some of the work we plan on doing while we're here and what we have done and seen so far in regards to that work. i'm going to break this down into segments and i'll provide links and some of my own photos at the end of each section in case you want to read more/learn more/explore.

i don't even know where to start, so i guess i'll start with bi'lin. bi'lin is a village in the west bank, not too far from jerusalem and not too far from tel aviv. much of the land of bi'lin has been annexed by israel for illegal settlements and the separation wall cuts the villagers off from their land. the location of the wall has been deemed illegal in an israeli court, but in spite of court order, the wall has not been moved or torn down. i'm trying hard to break this information down and just give the bare minimum because a book could be written about this situation. ok. so. the villagers of bi'lin have been holding weekly non-violent protests each friday at the wall since early 2005. so approaching 5 years. every week. rain or shine. peaceful non-violent protests. they have become a symbol the world over of the palestinian struggle. perhaps not surprisingly, these peaceful protests actually have become quite threatening to israel and the response to them has grown more and more violent. There have been deaths, severe injuries and violence perpetuated against peaceful protesters by the israeli army. tear gas is a weekly occurrence. and now there have been raids and arrests with many members of the committee (popular committee against the wall) being detained. ok, so that's the REALLY short version of a really complicated situation. where do ian and i fit in?

for starters, we visited the village, with emily (who is a lawyer representing the village), and met some of her friends there. we talked about everything from language (differences in arabic language all over the arabic speaking world) to the conflict and our ideas of how it will ever be resolved, to what types of food we enjoy. i played marbles with mahmoud, an 8 year old boy. we enjoyed a lovely evening with beautiful people. and we visited the site of the protests, saw the wall, and the army outpost overlooking it. we haven't attended a weekly demonstration yet, but we plan to go to the one on january 8th, once the holidays are over. i know it will be a little scary, but i also know that emily knows exactly how to keep us safe. she showed us where the action happens and she showed us where we will stand. i feel completely confident and unafraid and it is immensely important to me that i show support this way while i am here and able to.

so, that's that although i will update again after we get to one of the protests.

here is some information:
general information from bi'lin's own website including a timeline, facts, figures, stats, and information about court cases etc.
bi'lin facebook community
free the anti-wall prisoners facebook group
his name was basem. a short tribute to basem, who was murdered by a soldier in bi'lin. includes photos
about arrests and intimidations
the ongoing repression of palestinian protesters
free mohammad othman
how you can help
tell president obama

photos:

tear gas canister at protest site


the army outpost overlooking the wall


the wall


roni, who is in a wheelchair paralyzed from the neck down after being shot by the army. he has brand new triplet babies!




waji and mahmoud


my awesome and relevant bday present from emily

ok, so that's b'ilin. then there is silwan in east jerusalem. a tiny bit of background information, for those who don't know about east jerusalem:
east jerusalem is the part of jerusalem that was annexed by israel during the six day war in 1967. it is about twice the size of the area of jerusalem that was part of israel prior to 1967, and falls under jerusalem municipality. at the time of the annexation, over 65,000 palestinians were living in that territory. now there are 260,500. currently, east jerusalem is separated entirely from the west bank by the separation wall, causing families to be separated, people to be separated from their work, etc etc. the population of east jerusalem lives in dire poverty (66.8% below the poverty line, and 74% of arab children in the city living below the poverty line) with almost no resources from the municipality going to the palestinian population living there. the jerusalem government has expropriated land from palestinians, building jewish housing units and no palestinian housing units. i'll link below to a really readable and interesting report that goes into great detail surrounding these issues, but some basic facts - 70 km of main sewer lines are lacking, 160,000 residents have no legal connection to the water network, there is a shortage of 1700 classrooms, and there are 9000 children not attending school.

ok, so that's some background on east jerusalem in general. silwan is a village, or neighborhood, that is amongst the poorest in east jerusalem. it is located just outside of the old city walls, very close to the western wall (the kotel) and the dome of the rock. the village has 55,000 residents, half of whom are under the age of 18. 75% of the silwan children live below the poverty line. the residents of silwan pay taxes as israeli citizens or residents, but their village has no playground, no park, no library, no cafe, no health clinic etc etc etc. residents are not permitted to build or expand their homes. and there is a large israeli settlement operating on their land, in the neighborhood called wadi hilwah, in the guise of a national park (ir david - the city of david).

in 2007 the palestinian residents of the wadi hilwah neighborhood established an information center for tourists to ir david and along with it a community center for residents of the neighborhood. the madaa silwan community center is where ian and i will be volunteering once a week during our time in israel. the center offers workshops and classes for children teenagers and adults in language, art, music, theater and more. the center also promotes discussion of non-violent methods to achieve social and civil rights. the center has a small library and a computer lab.

our first full day of volunteering at the center was yesterday (after a visit over the weekend just to check things out). it turns out that there main computer dude is out of town for a couple of weeks and is thrilled to have ian around to help out. in fact, it turns out ian worked on the software that they run on their computers. perfect! as for me, the librarian is actually a recent college graduate (in physics) who took a three hour course in cataloging and is now in charge of EVERYTHING in the tiny library. so i spent my first day helping her catalog her english children's collection, answering questions that she had, and brainstorming other things i could help set up in this library to make it easier for her and more useful for the community. the library opened just earlier this month, so it is the perfect time for me to come in and help out a little bit.

i'm sure there will be other ways that ian and i will be able to help out. it's really exciting.

we also have signed up for the archeological tour offered of the area...a joint initiative by archaeologists, activists and local residents, it basically shows an alternative to the official city tour offered at the city of david. from their brochure:
"We view archaeology as a cultural treasure that does not belong to any one nation or religion but is, rather, a means for building bridges between peoples and cultures in the region".

information:
the association for civil rights in israel's report on the state of human rights in east jerusalem, may 2009
silwan information center
the community center
the alternative archaeological tour

photos:

madaa mural


i love you silwan


ian's famous



playing a game, learning about shapes



in the library

ok, so i was going to tell you more, but clearly this is already ridiculously long, so i'll stop here with the details. instead of going on for a long time about sheikh jarrah,also in east jerusalem, i will encourage you to read this about the urgent actions that are taking place there and you can see the sheikh jarrah website here.

here's one photo of a friend of emily's (a new friend for us) at a rally outside of the courthouse waiting for arrested friends and comrades to be released. they were arrested at protests at sheikh jarrah.



we also hope to make it back to the hebron hills to visit the lovely people in tuwani and see the completed playground. you can remember our last visit to tuwani and learn about the playground project here

and just know that every day there is more sad news, but also more hopeful news of people working hard and fighting the good fight in their communities. we are inspired by the people here who have dedicated their lives to justice, not the least of which is, of course, emily. i have never seen a single person work so hard to make wrongs right (and still to play so hard). we have attended, and will continue to attend demonstrations, rallys, and protests. we will also continue to eat good food, meet wonderful people, go out dancing, and have amazing conversations. tonight we are cooking dinner and then emily and i are abandoning ian to go on a date together. tomorrow, well, that's a secret. but i'll tell you later!

you can find photo sets, as they grow, here:
tel aviv fun
jerusalem
bilin

some twitter accounts worth following, if you do that sort of thing:
jewish voice for peace
mondoweiss
war on want
wall prisoners
muzzle watch
zeek magazine
my friend jillian, a writer

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021236.html

Check in girl: I only like buying books with sparkles on the cover.

--York & 72nd

Overheard by: fance

Teenage girl on cell: I gotta find this book in the religion section. You know, it's like... it's not that you believe in god, or you don't believe in god, but that you just don't care? I want that book!

--Borders Bookstore, Midtown

Amtrak conductor: A free copy of Amtrak's Arrive magazine is located in your seat pocket. For those seeking enlightenment, this magazine is the first step.

--Train, Penn Station

Student, discussing The Sound and the Fury: I suppose it's a very *artsy* ending--a big, retarded guy holding a broken flower... Does that come with skinny jeans and an apartment in Williamsburg?

--Stuyvesant High School

Tipsy 30-something nerd: We can't all be riding escalators with hard-ons.(older woman turns around) What, lady? It's a literary reference, look it up!

--1st & 7th

Overheard by: Phyllis Dean

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021235.html

Guy to boyfriend: I think you're boring. I'm bored.

--W 15th & 8th Ave

Overheard by: Thompson

Woman on cell: I got so bored at work that I started talking to my mosquito bite! I told it to stop making me itch.

--58th St & 9th Ave

11-year-old boy to friends: I'm not ready for death. It's boring. All you do is fly around in the air.

--7 Train

Kid to family, looking at camels: I'm just gonna come right out and say it: 'dis is really fuckin' boring!

--Bronx Zoo

Overheard by: Tyler

On the drive home from our last urban family vacation at the coveside cabins of Orcas Island we began hatching a plan for another trek, this time to the snowy foreign land of Canada. Despite having only a striking minority in our group having an interest in sliding down mountains, we nevertheless set out for a condo in Whistler. It had beds and a kitchen and a hot tub, was near a little skiing village, and included the distinct possibility of snowy adventures.
( Read more... )

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021234.html

Theology professor, after struggling with projection screen: This is Satan doing this to me.

--Lincoln Center, Fordham University

Crazy man with bullhorn: Hanukkah is for God, Christmas is for Satan!

--Fordham Plaza

Conductor: This is an uptown a train making all local stops. Yes, you heard right, all local stops. The e train is out of service today, as it is on a vacation to hell. Stand clear of the closing doors, please!

--A Train

Overheard by: Kirstie

Girl yelling to two friends across train: Jay-Z is like a devil worshipper. No, seriously, he's like a Freemason or whatever. They all are: him, Madonna, Britney...

--J Train

Seven-year-old tourist to mother: Are we going somewhere safe where the devil won't get me?

--34th & 28th

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021233.html

Man, approaching sink: Ugh, there's never any paper towels.
Friend, walking by sinks: I mean, I know my dick's not dirty.

--Penn Station Bathroom

Overheard by: Luke Wallis

groupon is pretty cool. recent coupons have been table 219, jet city improv, envy, SIFF, yoga and some other stuff. they have it for a bunch of cities around the u.s. (ny, la, sf, austin, chicago, etc etc...)

finally got around to putting up another nadir radio show. 4 hero, kevin saunderson, skream, benga, milanese, echospace... download mp3.

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021232.html

Child, playing with friends: Shut up, goddam it! I said shut up!
Mother: Keep your voice down, mommy has a headache.

--6BC Community Garden

Overheard by: Sara

What's a business that you found this year that you love? Who thought it up? What makes it special?



Lala totally rocked my world this year. It completely changed the way I discover, listen to, and purchase music. I believe those statistics that say music spending is up among those who use file-sharing. Although Lala isn't file-sharing, it's a similar technology and I bought more music this year than in any other year since I got high-speed internet.

I wrote a bit about it earlier in the year, so I won't write much more. Apple recently bought Lala, so I hope they don't screw it up.

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021231.html

Bookish guy: What is a "well drink," exactly?
Friend: I'm not sure. I've never gotten a straight answer on that.
Bookish guy: I think the bartenders dump all of the liquor they have left over into a well, and they make the drink with that.
Friend: Yeah, that sounds right.

--L Train

Overheard by: WetBandits