The Madman just landed in Israel to cover Ciam playing this Saturday at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art – Israel’s MoMA, basically. And as cool as it is to be here, I have to say I feel more twisted than Cheney’s soul right now. The flight was something like 19 hours to get here (including layover), and it’s like 9 hours ahead…which means it’s actually 3 hours behind, but pm instead of am. And tomorrow. Huh? Anyway, it’s got me all screwy so I’m just trying to settle in. Last night I fell asleep at 5 am and woke up wide awake only two hours later, so needless to say my clock’s all squirrelly-like.

On an even cooler note, looks like the Madman’s going to Ramallah on Sunday afternoon. That’s right, Ramallah, the West Bank unofficial capital of Palestine. Why, you ask? Well to watch the Jordanian National Team play the Palestinian National Team. Fútbol (aka soccer), of course. From what I’ve been told, this is the first time the Palestinian team has played in the West Bank due to all sorts of security issues — normally they play in Egypt or Jordan. Damn, Jordan against Palestine, in Palestine, for the first time. Crackers! Although I gotta admit, as fun as it sounds to go into the West Bank, into the heart of a stadium filled with 100,000 Muslims fomented into a frothy sports-inspired frenzy, I am a bit nervous. Ok, a lot nervous. Not that there’s a damn thing wrong with Muslims/Palestinians/Jordanians, I’m just not so sure they feel totally peachy about Americans right now. (Ok, they probly feel quite less than peachy.) Still, the opportunity is like once in a lifetime so I’m jumping all over it.

On that note, I’m off to the beach of Tel Aviv to see what this town’s all about. More updates soon…