A few details about Caladan

[Caladan]

Here's a bit about me..
I live in central Israel, in a city which is part of the Tel Aviv Metropolis.
I work for an archaeological body, and education wise I'm working on my MA in archaeology at the moment (2012).
I enjoy traveling and journeyed through various European nations, some during a post-army 6 months backpacking trip across Western Europe and the British Isles and others on some regular basis, I also traveled to more 'exotic' locations such as Iceland, Malta, Cuba, China, New Zealand, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. I'm somewhat of an amateur photographer, and also used to work as one in the past so from time to time you may see some of the photos I shot posted across the boards.

Some of my favorite writers, poets and playwrights are: Aristophanes, Rumi, Khalil Gibran, Poe, Lord Byron, and writers such as Yasunari Kawabata, Neil Gaiman, Philip K. Dick, and Gregory Maguire.
I enjoy taking the time to study world religions and the main reason I joined this forum was the chance to interact with people who practice different religious systems or philosophies.
On my spare time I might be found enjoying a pale Belgian or German wheat beer in a pub in Tel Aviv or central Israel in general, or passing time with friends, who are pretty nifty people.

If you feel I left out important details ask away!

Dan aka Caladan enjoying a local draught while waiting for traditional shark meat dish in Iceland.

 

[Ringer]

I'm planning a trip to Israel next year and will probably do a 10 day guided tour with an expert in the area. What would you recommend I see that I won't find on a guided tour?

 

[sandandfoam]

Hiya Dan & congrats.
Where in Europe did you visit? What were the highs and the lows?

 

[lunamoth]

Congrats Dan and nice to hear more about you.

 

[Wandered Off]

Welcome aboard Dan!

 

[MoonWater]

wow, you sound so much more interesting than I do. lol

I'd be doing a lot of travel myself if I had the finances. What were your favorite places to visit?

oh, and congrats on the modship.

 

[Caladan]

I'm planning a trip to Israel next year and will probably do a 10 day guided tour with an expert in the area. What would you recommend I see that I won't find on a guided tour?

*Checking forum and Obama's inauguration at the same time*

Well Ringer, first I'll have to ask you what are some of your interests?

 

[Caladan]

Hiya Dan & congrats.
Where in Europe did you visit? What were the highs and the lows?

Heya stephenw,

I have visited Italy, Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, and Spain.

I always enjoy the architecture of the European cities, it gives me the sense of history of the place. a few of the highs were checking out the historical sites of central Europe and the British isles, enjoying the social and night life of England, Scotland, and Amsterdam. being invited to a village in Germany where I stayed for a couple of weeks enjoying home made bread, cheese and the black forest.
I loved Scotland and its highlands, and Im currently trying to work out a recipe for haggis

 

[Caladan]

wow, you sound so much more interesting than I do. lol

I'd be doing a lot of travel myself if I had the finances. What were your favorite places to visit?

oh, and congrats on the modship.

LOL, trust me, we are all normal people.

recently I went on two trips to Jordan, the first one was to archaeological and historical sites. such as the enigmatic Petra, and the magnificent Jerash. the second one was a 3 days trek in the Jordanian Dead Sea Rift, the landscape of the place is very unique.
some of the photos of my first trip are found in this thread: http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...otos-archaeology-history-jordan-my-first.html

also you can check out my blog, and see many photos of my trips: Eris’ wish

 

[EiNsTeiN]

Congrates on the Modship, Dan!

I admire your will to persue the career that you always dreamed of

About the important details:
Whats you favourite food/music/movies?

 

[Caladan]

Congrates on the Modship, Dan!

I admire your will to persue the career that you always dreamed of

About the important details:
Whats you favourite food/music/movies?

Thanks Eins

My favorite food.. well that is an interesting question actually
I love trying new cuisine. I love sea food, and a good quality meat, my family is half European and half North African, so I enjoyed both worlds.
as a stereotypical Israeli or people in the middle east in general I always enjoy wiping hummus with a pita bread. to give you an idea of what I might go for.. last Thursday I dined at a Russian restaurant where I enjoyed meat with cream, and on Friday the Chinese wives of my friends took us to a traditional Chinese restaurant where we enjoyed pork in oysters sauce, chicken in honey, goose..
I also appreciate a good scotch or whiskey in general, and French or Swiss Absinthe.

As far as music is concerned, I grew up on rock (and its variants; Industrial, metal, dark 80s.. I'll just lump it all in rock), but I enjoy many types of music today.. classical and opera, ethnic, fusion.

My fav movies..
hmm
tough one, but the natural answer is usually: The princess bride.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

Congrats to ya bro Have fun being a mod. We have already talked about other stuff too But well done, I think you will make a great mod!

 

[MoonWater]

LOL, trust me, we are all normal people.

"Normal"!?!?! Why I've never been so insulted in my life.*sticks nose in air and gives a great big arrogant HMPH!!*lol, jk.

I was mainly refering to all the traveling you've done especially considering how young you are and how much you've been able to see. I've always wanted to see the world so I always find myself envious of those who have already seen a good chunk of it.

recently I went on two trips to Jordan, the first one was to archaeological and historical sites. such as the enigmatic Petra, and the magnificent Jerash. the second one was a 3 days trek in the Jordanian Dead Sea Rift, the landscape of the place is very unique.
some of the photos of my first trip are found in this thread: http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...otos-archaeology-history-jordan-my-first.html

Cool, and those pictures are just awesome, to think many of those structures have been standing for hundreds of years or more, it really boggles the mind, especially when you think about how most of the stuff we build these days, if we were to suddenly vanish and were no longer around to maintain it would last at most a few decades, maybe a hundred years for a building that's especially well built... makes you think doesn't it?

also you can check out my blog, and see many photos of my trips: Eris’ wish

I'll make sure to do that when I'm not having to rush off to my next class. I look forward to reading about your adventures.


by the way, I have a quick question for you, I know this may sound stereotypical and that's not my intention(if it were I would simply assume rather than ask) but you say you're from Israel and that brings to my mind the Jewish religion so I was wondering if you consider yourself a follower of the Jewish faith and if so which denomination? If not maybe, if you don't mind, you could tell us a bit about the religion you do follow?

 

[Caladan]

by the way, I have a quick question for you, I know this may sound stereotypical and that's not my intention(if it were I would simply assume rather than ask) but you say you're from Israel and that brings to my mind the Jewish religion so I was wondering if you consider yourself a follower of the Jewish faith and if so which denomination? If not maybe, if you don't mind, you could tell us a bit about the religion you do follow?

Well to make things easy I might refer to myself in this case as a Judeo-Atheist
But my interest and sentiments run deeper. you can find on my book shelves copies of the New Testament and the Qur`an, both of which I consider to be related to Judaism, its important for me to get the Jewish fingerprints on these texts.
Im also keen on the pagan interplay with monotheism through out history, which can already bee seen from the book of Genesis.
ritual wise or regulations I do not prescribe to any religious laws, I might be Jewish by culture, and that is enough. the vast majority of my friends are secular people, apart from one person, and he is far from being a stereotypical religious person (he is one of the guys who interviewed Trent Reznor on his visit to Israel).
im sure there is more we can talk about on this topic. so I'll be happy to share more.

 

[Quagmire]

Welcome to the team, Caladan. Great intro btw. Sounds like you've been and are leading a fascinating life.

You're like Rf's answer to Indiana Jones.

My general idea for potential Masters ATM, is the interplay between Paganism and early Christianity.

That should be interesting. :yes:

 

[MoonWater]

Well to make things easy I might refer to myself in this case as a Judeo-Atheist
But my interest and sentiments run deeper. you can find on my book shelves copies of the New Testament and the Qur`an, both of which I consider to be related to Judaism, its important for me to get the Jewish fingerprints on these texts.
Im also keen on the pagan interplay with monotheism through out history, which can already bee seen from the book of Genesis.
ritual wise or regulations I do not prescribe to any religious laws, I might be Jewish by culture, and that is enough. the vast majority of my friends are secular people, apart from one person, and he is far from being a stereotypical religious person (he is one of the guys who interviewed Trent Reznor on his visit to Israel).
im sure there is more we can talk about on this topic. so I'll be happy to share more.

Interesting, so basically you would consider yourself "culturally Jewish" but "theologically Atheist"? is that a good description?

I love learning about other people's religions and traditions so I'd love to HEAR more. That's the only question I have at the moment but I need to rush off to work. I'm sure I'll have more when I get back.

 

[Buttercup]

Congratulations! I think you'll be a fine addition to the team.

 

[Caladan]

Interesting, so basically you would consider yourself "culturally Jewish" but "theologically Atheist"? is that a good description?

Well even that might be too specific. but yes, I am in many ways culturally Jewish. in the sense of the language I speak, holidays I may celebrate, etc.

I love learning about other people's religions and traditions so I'd love to HEAR more. That's the only question I have at the moment but I need to rush off to work. I'm sure I'll have more when I get back.

great

 

[Sunstone]

I see how you've been thrown a bunch of softballs by these amateur interviewers, Dan, but I'm a professional interviewer and so I'm here to play hardball with you. Here are my tough, insightful, and meaningful questions then:

What three things do you like best about RF?

What was your mother's pet name for you?

What is one advantage of tribalism?

If the moon fell into the Pacific ocean tomorrow, what wine would you choose to go with the end of the world?

Do you typically chew on pens and pencils? Why or why not?

Why has the Israeli military scandalously failed to train its soldiers to successfully compete against other nations in aggressive water ballet? Trenchant follow up question: Why didn't you become a doctor like your mother wanted you to?

Is it true, as many people on RF suppose, that the pictures of you on this forum are actually of your stunt double? And if not, why not?

How old were you before you realized that your heart's most fervent secret goal in life is to achieve the Guinness world record for mooning tourists?

If you could, what four things would you do to change the world?

 

[Panda]

Phil forgot an extremely important question.

Pirate or Ninja?