Chapter 105, Studio

     “Here is what I need you to put together,” said Avraham and handed me the draft and the parts. “We will use it on the upcoming fashion show of Gotex, the bathing suite company. The show is in two weeks.”

 “No Problems!”

    I loved that kind of work. The studio was a part of a big basement. It had a recording studio in one small room with egg cartons covering the walls and a thick double glass window separating it from the mixing room.

On the other side was one more room in the middle of constructions which was my task to finish, including the mixer. Big Lenco tape recorders were in the mixing room and fancy mikes in the soundproof room. Most of our daily task was to record audio books for the blinds. We had different story readers for each book, and they would go for hours with almost no interruptions. It gave me time to work on building the power amp Avraham asked me to finish before the fashion show.

 

    Lucky for me I had experience with changing costumes on stage next to other women. Because the first fashion show I was working on was for the Gotex bathing suits. I was placed behind the curtains where the models were changing. I guess it didn’t bother them either.  I was astonished to see that the number one model for Gotex, Tami Ben Ami, had cellulite. She was tall and sort of attractive (not my type), but her bottom was a little too large for a model in those days, a bathing suit model. Her skin was full of bumps or craters. The pictures in the magazines were all doctored.

 

     Driving back, I met with Avraham who I dropped earlier at another show and helped him strike before continuing home. I was driving a VW minibus with a Motorola CB radio. We Radio to his wife and let her know we were on our way. It was a habit I had to practice every time I was sent on the road.

 

    Israel had a strict law about wireless communication. CB radios had to have a special license. Avraham had a special license, dating back to his military service. Avraham had good connection with people around the world, for electronic parts where he bought the new small circuit chips. Music he would get before they even arrived at the radio stations in Israel. Tami Ben Ami’s boyfriend was a basketball player who was the latest purchase of Maccabi Tel-Aviv from the USA. Every time he flew home, he would return with music for Avraham. I remember meeting him to pick up his latest delivery. He extended his arm to shake my hand. I had to raise my hand to meet his. My head faced his belly button. 

 

    At the studio we would transfer the music of the vinal records onto tapes according to the needs of the customer. We had a reel for bathing suites fashion show, a reel for dresses shows or a fur coats fashion show. There was another set of reels for parties, wedding or Bar-Mitzvah but they were not used as much. We didn’t do many of those. Most of our on the road work was fashion shows. Despite the late hours, I began to like that kind of work. In the mornings I would spend two hours with Sarah improving my dancing skills, once a week I would rehears with the dance company. During the late mornings I would work in the studio, at night on fashion shows and whenever we didn’t have an evening event, I would spend time with Avi at the tea house.

 

    “There is a big fund-raising event tonight with mis universe and Abi Nathan the Peace activist. I want you to set up and operate it, but you will need to meet Rina More and she will give you a few instructions for the show.” Avraham handed me the address and sent me to change. “It is going to be at the Hilton hotel in Tel-Aviv, so get some clean cloths.” 
 “Where will I meet her?”

 “In the lobby, don’t be late.”

 “How will I recognize her?”

 “You’re kidding? You don’t know who she is? She will be probably the prettiest woman in the lobby.”

 “I know Rina More is mis universe, but I never saw her picture.”

 “OK, I will tell her to look for a small dark boy.” Avraham smiled but he meant it - I did still looked like a little boy.

 

   I arrived early, unloaded the equipment, set up the sound and walked to the lobby. My jaws dropped, the moment I walked in. Entering the room was the woman I remembered from my military days. The woman who sat on the table next to mine with the teen age kids. The one Lili and I fantasized about. She came toward me and with her pointer finger lifted my chin and smiled.

 “Tibi?”

 “Airforce?” She backed up for a second, looking at me surprised. She didn’t expect that. It took me a moment and a deep breath before uttering, “I remember you from Tel-Nof.”

 “Nice to meet you, Tibi.” She continued giving me the evening itinerary and we walked to the big hall where the show was to begin. I was in a daze, I don’t know how I managed to run the show, it went perfectly but my eyes were glued on the prettiest woman I ever met probably for the last time.

    

    Another aspect of the job was the traveling I had to do. Most of the shows were in the Tel-Aviv area. But sometimes they would be in some exotic places like Tiberias where we had a fashion show together with a dance performance of the most famous folk-dance group in Israel those years – “Shalom 80” to my surprise I found that one of the dancers was one of Sarah’s older dancers Drora. She was petite with long black hair and beautiful big eyes. Her husband was also a dancer of that group. After talking with her she revealed the place and time of where the company rehearses. I decided to take my chance and simply walk in and ask to join the rehearsal. 

 

    One of the sponsors of the fashion show that evening was a brand-new Chinese restaurant – the third in Israel. They invited the whole fashion crew to their restaurant for dinner. As I said this was a rare pleasure; going to Chinese restaurants was an expensive pleasure in Israel. I could never afford anything on their menu, maybe an eggroll. To our surprise the owner didn’t give us the menus, he served us the menu. Kosher Chinese food, as absurd as it sounded, was really a nice treat for all of us. Driving back home I had the pleasure give Beatrice a ride, one of the models who moved to Israel from Holland. In my opinion, she was a lot prettier than Tami. 

 

    “Are you crazy?” Said Sarah Yohai angrily, a few days later. “A Motorcycle?”

 “What’s wrong with a motorcycle?”

 “All that time you’ve been putting to learn dance can go up in flames in just seconds.”

 “I am a good rider, and a safe one.” I answered, “And the one I am getting has a side car. It is a lot safer than most motorcycles.”

 “Still, I don’t approve. Anyway, what happened with the Shalom 80 company?”

‘Oh, I was invited to come back, at first Gavri the choreographer looked at me weirdly but after seeing me at the warm-up session he assigned one of the girls to be my partner and work with me on the repertoire.” 

 “Nice! I am glad for you, but don’t tell anyone about it. You don’t want the circle of dancers around you to start getting jealous.”

 “I will.” 

 “OK, first position, shoulders above your bottom, and plie…”

 

    It was a slow day at the studio, I went home early and took the motorcycle slowly apart. It was a BSA – a world war two vehicle from 1942 with a side car. It needed a lot of work. I bought it from a friend and hoped to rebuild it. I called it “Lego” because I actually took it apart and rebuilt it. I took a few months to finish but at the end it was worth it, and I enjoyed the process.

    The next day I went to a show in Be’er Sheva. I left early so I could visit my grandmothers. The show this time, was sponsored by an import company. They recently imported a new kind of drink for the Israeli market. Pina-colada, the alcoholic mixture of pineapple juice, coconut milk and tequila or rom. Every table had at least one bottle of this fascinating drink. The show had a happy feeling, no wonder, we all drank that sweet stuff. I had no idea it had alcohol. To me it was some new sweet flavor I could easily get addicted to. By the time the show ended I finished a bottle. I loaded two crates in the back of the van and another open crate in the passenger seat. The drive from Be’er Sheva takes about 3 hours, during that time I almost finished the crate next to me. I still don’t know how I managed driving and get home safe with all that alcohol in my belly. I do remember the funny looks the bakers at my favorite bakery when I walked in at 2AM to buy some fresh hallahs. I finished eating them as I was unloading the gear.

 

    “I am very upset,” said Avi one afternoon. “We need to find another place to rent.”

 “Why? What happened?” I asked, surprised. We were eating our favorite white stake at the Pilot’s Grill at the main Netanya junction.

 “The owner came back from the USA and wants to tear down the place so he could build a bigger multifamily building.” Avi stuffed a handful of fries in his mouth and took a sip of the coke.

 “Do you have in mind where?” I asked, taking one more bight of the overstuffed pita.

 “Yes, next street down, there is an empty house, it was also used for storing goods for some store.” 

 “When do we have to move?”

 “In two weeks,”

 “OK, I will ask Avraham to lend me the van for the move.”

 

    The new place had a larger kitchen and two main rooms, a little bigger than the one room we had at the first house. We set up the tables in between the two rooms and converted a walk-in closet into my bedroom. It was exactly the size of my bed. A wall-to-wall bed there was no room for anything else. I built some shelves around the walls for my books and some of my cloths. The closet had to be placed in the main room a few feet from the entrance to my room and the counter right next to it. I had perfect privacy.

 

    “Tibi, I’d like you to meet Yaki Aviv,” said Avraham. “Yaki is a DJ for the third radio station. He will be reading some books for us and is happy to work on parties with us.”

 “Nice to meet you!” Yaki, a tall handsome man, was a famous DJ. He played the most up to date music on Israel’s newest radio station. This could be a real boost to our business since we aren’t doing many parties, he could be a good marketing push. There was a party coming up and the customer asked for a really good DJ. “Better than the one you sent us last time.”

 “I have this new guy from ‘Reshet Gimel’ the third station,” Avi promised. “His name is Yaki Aviv.”

 “I know Yaki Aviv! I love his show. Great, see you at the party.”

 

    I spent a few hours picking music with Yaki and I mixed it up on a few tapes. By that time, I knew all the songs by heart and even the order of them on the tapes. When the time for the party arrived, I was ready, I made a list for Yaki to announce and met him at the customer’s fancy house. We were given a small space with a big counter separating us from the big room. I placed the two Lenco tape players behind the counter and a mike stand next to them with a high stool for Yaki to sit on. As soon as people walked in, I pressed play and some background music started to build the mood. People were eating, drinking and talking until the client nodded to us to start the party. At that moment, Yaki froze, his welcoming peppy voice was gone. He didn’t otter one word. I looked at him, gesturing a question, he waved me to come over.

 “I never did a job in front of live audience.”

 “What do you mean?”

 “I am always in the studio; I don’t know what the people look like or how do they behave.”

 “I got you covered,” I said, “let’s switch, you sit here, I am taking the mike.” He moved without hesitation. ‘Off the wall’ by Michael Jackson was playing as I took the mike in my hand and walked out to the dance area.

 

    “Up everyone,” I called “No one is allowed to sit, this is a party, not a Shiva Call!” Sure enough, by the time the song ‘Le Freak’ was playing, everyone was up dancing to the beat. Knowing the words and order of the songs playing of the tape helped me a lot. I was singing and dancing with everyone ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’ or ‘In the Navy’ leading to songs from the movie ‘Saturday Night Live’. I kept singing and dancing with everyone until everyone was exhausted. I switched the reel to some slower music with some music from the 50s and 60s to let the audience relax a bit, drink eat or dance romantically. After that short break I put ‘Shake Your Body’ by Michael Jackson and started another dance session. Leading to ‘Another one Bight the Dust’ and ‘Funky Town’, ‘Boogie Wonderland’ and more.

 

    “Thanks!” Said Yaki when we were loading the VW Minibus. “I better start practicing in front of audience.”

 “I never thought about that,” I said. “I love your radio shows. Maybe you should close your eyes when you see people.” 

 “I’ll figure it out, you did a great job, thanks!”

 

    The next morning, as I was setting up the mixer for a new book recording Avraham was at his desk going over papers. The phone rang and somehow, we both picked it up.

 “Avraham, you did it this time!” A voice of a woman was on the other side.

 “What do you mean? What did I do now?” Avraham was almost defensive.

 “That Yaki Aviv, that little curly ball of energy gave us the best party ever!” I kept quiet and didn’t say a word even though I was tempted to scream “Thank You!”

 “Did you say little curly guy?” Avraham asked. I hung up the phone quietly; I couldn’t listen anymore; it didn’t feel right. “Yaki Aviv is the tall guy.” I heard Avraham saying from behind the wall of his office. “Thanks! I will let him know. Happy to be of help.” He hung up and walked to the mixing room.

 “Good job Tibi, I want you to plan for another party. We are invited to run a Purim party at a new settlement next to Jerusalem. Yaki is not available.”

 

    “There is a new project for us, Tibi I need your expertise here,” said Avraham

 “What? Another party? 

 “No, this is much bigger. There are three night clubs that need a new sound system. We will use the same chips you’ve been using to build our systems. Let’s start with the club called “Hamakom” – The Place. They have a few different rooms with needs of new sound systems. I ordered the speakers, the chips and the transformers. We will work on one room at a time – we must finish them by Independence Day. In fact, we must finish all the clubs by then. Get to work on the schematics. Go to the clubs and take measurements.”

 

    I just couldn’t believe it, walking to the club during the day was nothing like walking to one at night. Our tea house, for example wasn’t the cleanest place like my mom’s house but we vacuumed our carpet and washed our dishes and kept it presentable even during the day. But the night club was scarry, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes was still in the air. The carpet surrounding the dance floor looked like it never saw a vacuumed cleaner. The tables were chipped and sticky, the lights above were covered with spider webs and dust. Only the bar counter was sort of shiny and clean. 

    A young woman was emptying the ashtrays as I walked in. I asked to see the manager and he walked me through the place. They had a movie room with a sofa and a few chairs, a few smaller private rooms for smaller groups of people and a main dance area with a small stage and a DJ booth behind it. I had to run cables to all the rooms for speakers with switches to exchange the input to each room. For example, to cut out the music in the movie room when they show a movie. Or to switch to a different music source for the quiet rooms. We had to install big new speakers for the dance floor and for the performance stage. I took measurements and left the place to check the other two Discos.

 

    One was a much smaller room in a basement of a building. It was originally a war shelter. This place was an easy job, just four speakers around the room with a mixer and amp in the corner for the DJ. They didn’t even have a booth for him. It almost reminded me the parties we had at home every weekend. The third club was more interesting. This one was also in an old war shelter but much bigger. It had a glass dance floor. You could see the big fish swimming underneath. The DJ booth was set behind a glass wall. Dani the DJ who happened to be there was a very friendly guy who loved talking music with me. 

 

    It took us a few weeks to finish the installation. Part of our service we offered was that we would come over a few times per week to make sure everything is working fine during the club’s operation. Dany could see me when I walked in and was announcing my entrance.

 “Tibi, our evening’s tech is in, please welcome him!” And everyone would cheer. I smiled and thought about it, it gave me an idea.

 

    The next day I recorded Queen’s Another One Bights the Dust a few times on a tape and cut short strips of the intro. I connected them one after the other creating a loop of the base part. And recorded myself singing in Hebrew an intro for dance parties announcing Tibi the Evening Tech who would drive the dance through the night. It was a fun clip and even Dani started to play it every time I walked in for inspection.

 

    There was one disappointing incident that changed the way I thought about celebrities. A very famous singer who just came out of the Navy Entertainment Company, came to perform, his name was Shlomo Artzi. He was the new up and coming star. Every club was lining up to have him perform. Avraham made sure I had the night open to make sure everything runs smoothly at the club.

 

    I was there early and hooked up the mikes and tested the playback music, but the singer showed up late. He was in a bad mood and didn’t stop muttering how much he hated the audience. I couldn’t believe my ears. Lucky for him the mike was off when he actually called the audience bad names which will make my grandmother blush. He was so loved by almost everyone in Israel (in fact he is still very well-respected singer song writer) but he changed the way I feel about him forever.

 

    After the show, I stayed a little longer and walked around the club, checking the other rooms. They were playing the Chain Saw Texas Massacre and the women were screaming during the whole movie. As I walked out to the dance area, I saw a familiar pretty face. She looked sad and I could see a faint bruise over her left eye.

 “Judith!” I said quietly next to her. She looked at me and smiled faintly.

 “HI Tibi, I am glad to see you, I am leaving back to Holland tomorrow.” She leaned forward to give me a kiss on my cheek and was pulled away to the dance floor by a very handsome man I have seen before around town. He was a member of the new French mafia in our town.

I am still to this day don’t understand how women fall for abusive men again and again. I felt sorry for Judith and at the same time I was happy for her for leaving to go back home. I hope that the next person she falls for isn’t so abusive.

 

    Ma’ale Ephraim was a new settlement a little north east of Jerusalem in the west bank. We were invited to run a party for Purim. That meant I needed a costume. At first, I thought it was a party for the children. But when I arrived, I realized how wrong I was. Most of the settler of that village were either young couples with very young babies or couples without children. It was an adult’s party. Some of the costumes were a little too suggestive or provocative. I dressed up like an ice skater girl with a tutu and my roller skates. Of course, I sang with the music and kept everybody happy, although it didn’t look like I needed to work hard, they were all drunk even before I arrived. In fact, the most exciting part of this job for me was the drive there.

 

    There were two ways to get there: One way was to drive south and then turn toward Jerusalem and from there north to the village. The other way was much shorter and direct. I had to drive through the west bank. For many people it didn’t feel safe driving through the Arab territory. I decided to give it a chance, I drove through the Gaza strip and in Sinai Desert so how bad could that be? I mapped my way, asked my new assistant if he minds driving through the west bank. He didn’t mind, so off we went. I drove west eastward to Tulkarem, from there South East toward Nablus. We stopped there for some grilled lamb in a pita at a food stand in the middle of the road. It didn’t feel odd or scared, in fact, the people smiled at us as if thanking us for the business. It was almost the same feeling I felt after the six days war when we went shopping at Tulkarem for the first time. During the military service we weren’t permitted to sit in an Arab restaurant at the Arab territories, but now I was out of the army and could eat wherever I liked. And I liked Arab food, I still do.

 

    The way back from the party was even faster, we did drive the same way back but there was no one on the road, no traffic, just empty roads. The next morning Avraham received another phone call from the customer which just proved him right for hiring me. 

 

    Sarah Yochai was pulling her banana hair do when she was trying to explain to me what she had in mind.

 “It’s time for my yearly concert,” She said It will be the first time that I will have a male dancer in our show.”

 “Do you think I am ready?” 

 “You are ready for what I am choreographing for you.” I wasn’t sure if it was a compliment, but I still thanked her. Sarah choreographed a whole new ballet for her school. She created a story line combining the frog and the princes and the beauty and the beast. I got the roll of the prince, the bad prince who turned into a monster by an old witch. The part of the monster was given to an older student at Sarah’s school who became a talented piano player. The princess was another student who was on vacation here from the USA. She used to dance at Sarah’s school but now got married and moved to the USA. My part was small, and it wasn’t too difficult, yet it was memorable, because I became the first and last male dancer who came out of Sarah’s dance studio.

 

    We had more fashion shows and more parties, meanwhile Netanya’s dance company had a change of management and a new choreographer from the famous Ethnic Dance Company “Inbal”, his name was Shlomo Haziz. After a few rehearsals Shlomo approached Nehemiah and me to join the Inbal Dance company. It looks like all that hard work with Sarah has started to show results. I don’t know if I could handle all of it. The Netanya Dance Company, the Shalom Company in Tel-Aviv, The Inbal Dance Theatre in Jaffa and my work at the sound studio. To top it all, I was approached by the director of the community center of Netanya, asking me to form a new dance company of younger dancers. Something had to give. I had to leave the day job at the studio and offer my help only in the evenings when I am not performing. Sarah’s morning classes were not relevant anymore, I had to dance all day anyway with Inbal starting early in the morning. I quit dancing with the Netanya Dance Company, and sadly with the famous Shalom Dance Company. But now, I was a professional dancer, I was getting paid a salary, much less than the studio, yet it was what I  loved to do most. 

 

***

 

Thai Burgers

I don’t like uncooked or rare meat. Even hamburgers, according to the Jewish law must be cooked all the way through. There are many ways to keep them juicy and tasty. Here is one of my favorite ones. 

Ingredients:
1 TBSP Peanuts Oil
¼ tsp Kosher Salt
½ Lb. Ground Beef
¼ Cup Oats Meal
4 TBSP Boiling Water
¼ tsp Table Salt
Pinch of Black Pepper
½ tsp Paprika
¼ tsp Cumin
¼ tsp Garlic Powder
A Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
¼ Onion
1 Section Fresh Fennel
2 Garlic Cloves
1 tsp Crushed Ginger
1 tsp Chopped Lemon Grass
3 TBSP Coconut Oil
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Lime Juice
1 TBSP Peanuts
Lime Zest
1 Kaffir Lime Leaf
1 tsp Chopped Parsley

Preparation:
 In a glass or ceramic cup put the oats meal with 4 TBSP of boiling water. (I like to microwave it for 30 seconds). Let it cool.
 In a large metal bawl spread the ground beef to form a flat large patty. Sprinkle the table salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Spread on top the cooked oats meal and fold it together with the meat. Create four patties. Heat the peanuts oil with the kosher salt in a cast iron pan. Place the patties in for 30 seconds on each side and remove them to cool down.
 Chop the onion, fennel, and garlic. Sautee the onion on medium heat until soft, add the garlic and fennel for 60 seconds more. Add the lemon grass and Ginger and continue sautéing until all caramelized. Add the peanuts, soy sauce lime juice, coconuts oil, and the kaffir lime leaf. Bring to boil, place in the sauce the partially cooked patties. Scrape some lime zest and flip over after 30 seconds. Scrape some more zest lower the heat and let it cook for one more minute. Sprinkle the parsley on top when serving.

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