funtobealive

funtobe is already a week in the holy land. (a very silly name for the most nihilist place on this planet. ) and with such weather i can’t blame no one for being a nihilist… looking for apartments was never a moment of pleasure for me, and here the rent is so over priced that it is not even funny. as if there is no war and terrorism surrounding us. i really don’t get it.  public transportation is another sour issue. after being used to the almost impeccable german public transportation system the one in Tel Aviv makes you wanna die. hence, for the first time since his early childhood, funtobe got a pair of bicycle.  well, this is another funtoparadox. in cologne, germany, which is considered one of Europe’s most bike friendly cities, funtobe was afraid of riding a bike, but in Tel Aviv, Israel, not exactly a bike loving place, funtobe will take his chances. because i understand myself… apparently I’m in a pathetic shape. i was riding yesterday maybe 4 kilometers ( 2.5 miles ), and when i climbed of i could hardly stand. and it wasn’t any extreme track, just a normal (very flat) sea side rout. we will try to improve that. or die of a heart attack at the age of 28…

kishkash and patput just got back form playing a concert in a Buddhistic zen monastery in upstate New York. even cold hearted bustard funtobe’s like kishkash and patput couldn’t keep with the normal day to day cynical mask. this place was so beautiful. and we were fortunate to see it in the beautiful october colors. the funtobeism is remote as hell from the principals of zen Buddhism, hence this experience was quite crazy indeed. first of all keeping quite and wearing robes is not on the daily routine of the funtobe. eating only vegetarian Japanese food is definitely not on the list of the normal funtobe, and waking up on 5:30 in the morning and going to have a traditional meditating session ( 1 hour of self contemplation- ouch! ), followed by a traditional Japanese Buddhistic breakfast with the most peculiar ceremony- is not on the funtobe’s most vague thoughts…and never the less kishkash and patput had a spacial experience. wearing robes and no shoes was liberating in a way. keeping quite was great, coming from NYC the silence was so comforting and soothing that we actually feared coming back to the city. waking up for the meditation was a bizarre thing. the funny thing was that we were told by one of the monks that 5:30 is a very late hour in comparison with the usual time they wake up- 4:00, so in that since we had it easy. however sitting in a half lotus position for an hour wasn’t easy at all. patput almost lost his right leg after the blood stopped flowing to it, but other than that meditation was a very pleasant. it is amazing how many different little sounds the human body can produce that normally we will not notice at all. especially at 5:30 AM on an empty stomach. the formal breakfast is such a complicated ceremony that it was almost impossible to enjoy it. the breakfast kit consists of 3 bowls that has to be used in a very certain way. the tricky part is that everything has to be done simultaneously with the person sitting across from you, and synchronized with the rest of the table. this was very stressful for 2 klutzes such as kishkash and patput. the outcome of failing to follow the rules meant that you didn’t get to it because there wasn’t enough time. the food itself however was very simple and delicious Japanese vegetarian food. after the breakfast there was a traditional tea ceremony with tea masters form japan. that was the best tea kishkash had ever had. it was very green, ( like a spinach drink ) and had the consistency of a milkshake. it took them 20 minutes to make a cup. the concert itself was a unique things by it self. the people we were playing for were sitting and meditating for a week before we played so every note we played was so strong for them. probably the most receptive audience one can wish for. but the real funniest thing was that we were warned form a dog size porcupines that climb trees like monkeys and will eat your car if you will not look it behind a fence. the monks said they actually eat parts of the monastery’s wall…

did you ever try to pot your life into boxes? ( i mean literary and figuratively speaking  ) well, in the last few weeks funtobe had to put everything into boxes due to the grand move that is upon him. yes, yes- the time in germany is over, ( at least for now ). after 7 years almost to the day funtobe will return to his home funtoland. of course i have asked my self- where these the good or the bad 7 years?  i’ll rather not even give an assumption, if you know what i mean…  the putting my stuff  into boxes part went fine. the good news is I’m not a compulsive keeper of unnecessary  possessions. the bad news was that in Germany one can not just throw away things to the garbage. everything is recycled and the custom of leaving things on the street for people to take is not possible. that left funtobe  with a big problem- how to get reed of things legally.  for someone with out a car the options are very limited , and renting one just for transporting garbage seemed unbelievably stupid. so i had to be clever ( because it is possible for me to be clever. ) and work my way around it. mostly at night under the coat of darkness when everybody is sleeping soundly i was sneaking out to random grabich disposalles and doing the forbidden act of throwing away garbage! a dangerous adventure indeed!