Today is this blog’s 10th anniversary, or blogoversary if you will. That makes it one of the longest running blogs, and certainly one of the longest running Middle East blogs.
Here’s the first ever Israellycool post back on March 3rd, 2003.
Monday morning here in Israel and I must say I am in a very good mood today. Australia once again won a game of cricket, and here I am, without a care in the world. It is amazing how sports can help a person transcend the reality of life and can really affect one’s mood or frame of mind. Or perhaps that is only how sports affect ME.
I remember when I was in Perth, I would get extremely nervous when my beloved West Coast Eagles were playing. I could not bear for them to lose. Most of the time I would only watch a replay of the game if I knew they had won. Sad but true…..
But back to the cricket. Another fine performance from the Aussies. They have way too much depth for any other team. Now that Jonty Rhodes has retired, I think the gap between Australia and the next best team, South Africa, has widened. Does this dominance make cricket more boring? Probably if you are not an Aussie. But I love it. There is nothing better than watching a well oiled machine. Or if you are Shane Warne, that is not oil but some illegal diuretics.
Today I look forward to watching the South Africa vs Sri Lanka match. We have a TV here at work and implicit permission to watch when we feel the urge.
Yeah, I know. Lame-o-rama. But I’d like to think the blog got a heck of a lot better since then.
In 10 years..
- There have been 10,372 posts and over 46,000 comments
- We’ve been cited by the likes of the BBC, MSNBC, Sydney Morning Herald, PBS, Haaretz, JPost, Jewish Toronto, UJF, and other news sites
- We have exposed Israel haters such as Lauren Booth, Richard Silverstein, and other assorted scum and villainy
- We have not just preached to the choir, and even gained the respect of some in the Arab and Muslim world
- We branched beyond the blog and tried our hand at podcasting for a while
- We were among the blogs which pioneered liveblogging, something even news sites do these days
- We’ve had a number of contributors, including Brian of London, Judge Dan, Elder of Ziyon, Challah Hu Akbar, Zionist Shark, NeoZionoid, Gaia, Jewlicious, JAWSofLife and of course Dickie Sliverstein and my Mossad alter ego.
In the past 10 years, millions of other blogs have proliferated, and certainly thousands dealing with Israel and the Middle East conflict. Nevertheless, I still believe Israellycool has something unique to offer.
If you appreciate what this website has done for the past 10 years and would like to see us continue for at least ten more, please support us.
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