Promised Land the Movie (UPDATED)

Tomorrow I'm going to see Promised Land the Movie in Encinitas, California. From their website the movies seems to be the best documentary on Israeli surfing yet. Very good shots of the waves.

But that may be it.

From the trailer, it seems that there is also this "surfers for peace" element that was done in God Went Surfing With The Devil that didn't really work. It's a cry out into the world that says "if we all could only be surfers then there would be no war."

Of course this is unrealistic and the kind of thing I really wanted to get away from in my book, Surfing the Middle East. I think there is a whole lot more you can do with the Middle East--politically & historically--that give the surf projects actual substance . . . beyond, of course, the shocked of "Wow, you went surfing in the Middle East!?"

We shall see 2mar0 at the screening. If any of you are around, swing on by. Here's the website.


UPDATE: So I went to see the movie last night and here are my thoughts: congratulations to them! Promised Land had AAA-grade cinematography and the strong characters in the film really carried it through. For sure a worthwhile movie. Funny and entertaining, too. The downside was that it was light on story: bring people together through a shared faith of Jewish and American Christian values is a wonderful idea, but it just didn't feel natural in the Middle East. Another thing is that there was a categorical demonetization of everything outside of Israel, and while I laud the movies makers for not making a film of Zionist propaganda (it was indeed a sincere documentary), the fact that there are Palestinian Christians, for example, was untouched at best, neglected at worst. All and all I thought the films limited scope decreased the amount of edgyness . . . but I still think they did a good job. It's the best documentary yet I've seen on Israeli surfing.

10 reasons why Israel attacking Iran would be bad for Israel

The news media shifted this week from the Republican primary (in the US) to Israel and their potential bombing of Iran.

Here, Juan Cole lists the ten reasons why that could be a bad idea for the Israelis.

The first few are well known in the press: regional war, oil prices spike, and Hezbollah rockets. But the last few on the list are less talked about and interesting in that they could be just as dangerous: Shia-led Iraq would be forced to ally with Iran, Assad's Syria and Hezbollah; European liberals would be fast to condemn the attack and would thus block a swift European resolution; Egypt and Turkey may find themselves terminating previous agreements with Israel to save face.

Check out the article. It's a provocative read.

Joshua Landis on Syria - #Assadwillfall (or not)

Oh Syria. What a bummer. People are dying. The government and rebels are showing no sign of a deal. And the UN is at a block: with China and Russia taking the side of the Assad regime, not allowing anything to pass for fear it would be used as a Libya-style intervention down the road. They're wise to be fearful, by the way.

Anyway, its OK to be pessimistic here. It's just that horrible. I still have this voice ringing through my head from some hysterical Syrian guy on NPR today saying: "They're going to kill us all!"

Yes . . . probably dude. Probably.

So beyond my own blues, here is professor Joshua Landis on the matter. This is a really great video to watch. The prof is spot on. In essence, Landis dosn't think #Assadwillfall unless the military defects, or a foreign army intervenes.

Watch Syrian Instability: How Would Rest of World Respond? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Beirut a-bombin'

So my email buddy and fellow connoisseur Oriental swell, Stephen, has this blog post up now . . . featuring this Lebanese dude, Ali, and his five buddies, who took this picture just a little while ago. It's the best surf pic in Lebanon I've ever seen!

(Can't see the picture? Yes. You must click on Stephen's blog. HERE.)

In other news, Zack Schadolnik, brother of Nick Schadolnik, posted this on his Facebook today . . . and it's just that radical.

Gary D. Schmidt

So I'm throwing the ball for my dog at a sunny beach here in Santa Barbara, CA, typing on my iPad, listening to a pirated lecture by the great indie author, Gary D. Schmidt. This dude has sold a LOT OF EBOOKS: over 400,000 last year.

Now, Schmidt is saying (through my Bose headphones) that he has a Google alert set when people mention his name on the Internet . . . So, Gary, are you out there? Can you hear me?

Because I'd like to chat.

The LA AppShow

NOTE: This article was originally published on The Huffington Post.

This wasn't your standard gathering of the nerds.

The LA AppShow was held last Wednesday at the Edmunds building in the Water Garden in Santa Monica, California. When I got there, I jammed into the glitzy underground parking garage and made small talk with a sexy brunette on the elevator all the way up. The doors opened to a row of big-screen TVs and a gaming station that made the place look like a scene straight out of The Social Network. Without pause, the dude standing there scanned my press credentials, reeled off a few lines about a few exciting apps, and then ushered me over to the free kegs of beer. I could already tell: this was going to be a gathering of ideas. Very smart ideas.

With the introduction of mobile devices and data networks over the past few years, nearly everyone carries a portable computer with the Internet. And then, of course, there are app stores, with their endless apps that perform seemingly endless tasks. Which is the fundamental frustration of this mobile device extravaganza. Which app's for me?

Yes, it's a goddamn warzone out there in the app stores. And it's getting even harder for developers to get a good app out there.

So perhaps that's why Seth Socolow started the AppShow. It's a gathering for developers and connoisseurs alike; a place where people can attend or present, and everyone gets to check out what could be "the next big hit." Even more interesting, no two apps presented even came close to doing the same thing.

As the show started, I stood somewhere near the back with my beer as I watched one presenter after another get up to pitch their app. In a cool, tech-show demeanor, each individual shared their stories of why they thought their app was a slick idea, what it took to make it, and how they saw people using it.

Nearly everyone had their devices out, downloading the apps as they were projected onto the big screen. By the time each talk was over, many in the crowd had already gone onto the mobile web site (powered by Shiva Media) to download the app, with questions ready to go. The whole process was downright mind-bending.

So in the interest of preserving my own beer-soaked journalistic integrity, the following is an adaptation of notes and thoughts I frantically scribbled down on a cocktail napkin as the night wore on. It should also be said that drinking free beer, taking notes, and trying to download these apps was no stunt of publicity. It was all a means to an end, a dereliction of duty, and a damn fine way to spend a cool Wednesday night in L.A.

And here are the apps:

1. Lokast: Lets you share pictures, videos and message people.
2. Edmunds: Need a car? Need to compare stuff to make a decision? This is the app.
3. Trippy: Want to go somewhere? Trippy lets your friends recommend their favorite spots.
4. Guess Dat Song: Exactly. Battle with your friends on your collection or theirs.
5. The Honey Badger Don't Care: Everyone's favorite YouTube video now has a game.
6. Vidify: Life made easy for editing videos. Great for out of the office.
7. Cookbook Café: Yum... a place for wonderfully original digital cookbooks by chefs, organizations and authors.

Thank you all. It was a hell of a show.

Follow Jesse Aizenstat on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SurftheME

"National Security Analyst" Ryan Mauro libels himself on Ron Paul (UPDATED)

World Threats "national security analyst" Ryan Mauro has said some fairly radical stuff on Twitter today. I normally wouldn't care what a fringe thinker like Mauro thinks about the world, but there was something in the unapologetic tone of his words that is everything that should be recognized and called out in the public discourse. He represents a type of pundit in the American media (not scholarship, may I add) that plays up threats like Iran, lobbying for war, and does it all for some Evangelical Christian hoax of supporting Israel . . . so the sicko can get his "second homecoming of Christ" and all the Jews die. Which is fully erroneous church doctrine, by the way.


Mauro's first Tweet:





My response:





Mauro's second Tweet:




My second response:




Mauro's third Tweet:





My third response:






Here is Mauro's article that he cited on his third Tweet. There are two places were he talks about Hamas, the Islamist group that broke with the Palestinian Authority and took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

The first his here:

He made similar comments in an interview in June 2010 with Don Imus, calling the flotilla raid “horrible” and again accusing Israel of turning the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip into a “concentration camp” by blocking the arrival of humanitarian aid.

And the second, is just in his conclusion:

Rep. Ron Paul can state that he’s a friend to Israel all he wants, but the published record stands. He views Israel as the catalyst for 9/11, defends Iran’s innocence, parrots the anti-Israeli propaganda of Hamas, and upholds an anti-Zionist organization that views Israel as an oppressive, illegitimate state. That is not a friend.

Now, here's the point: in neither of these places is Ron Paul "defending" Hamas. So let this be an example of how a libeling "national security analyst" like Mauro is not about the facts. He is merely a partisan hack, willing to say anything that gets him on Fox News. I doubt Mauro has even been to the Middle East, or at least outside Israel. His job is only to pose like he knows something about reality--while trying to swing public opinion for his own twisted means.

To let Ryan Mauro know how you feel about his remarks on Ron Paul, feel free to email him here.