As my roommate and I were on an expedition to find a bank the other day, we passed a certain corner and I got the eerie feeling I had been there before. After some thought, I realized I had looked at a house for rent right in that same area just a few weeks ago. The only catch was that I had never been there in person. I had looked up the address on Google Maps and then used the Street View option to check the place out. Looking at the same corner out of the car window, every angle looked so familiar, like I had actually stood on that corner. This shot my stream of consciousness into over-drive as I thought back to a conversation in which my same roommate, a Geography scholar, explained to me how GPS’s work through a complex system of satellites positioned all around Earth, each designated to measure your position at a different angle. This is not how Street View works; they actually have cars that drive around taking 360° pictures of the streets; but it got me thinking about our reliance on these invasive mapping techniques.

I would literally use Street View for every house listing I liked, before deciding if I wanted to schedule a viewing or not. And as “Daniel”, the GPS, kept tabs on us running around the city I knew at least four satellites working to point us in the right direction. Ever since Orwell’s dystopian 1984 the idea of a Big Brother-type society causes fear and trepidation, but we are already under some sort of surveillance 24/7. On top of that, we keep asking our technology to do more personalized tasks for us every day requiring us, in turn, to give up more personal information.

I'm not really sure what these musings of paranoia will accomplish, because I am one of the first to admit that I love personalized internet searches (Bing anyone?). However, I think the fact that I am at least aware of the trade-offs I am making prepares me for the day I will have to put my foot down.

It's a Deal!!

Television game shows have been a part of pop-culture since the mid-1900s and have managed to stay relevant by changing with the overriding cultural trends. I don’t know if it is the allure of winning big or of actually getting that fabled 15 minutes, but the idea of being on a game show is undeniably tempting to a vast majority of Americans and I am certainly no exception. The other day I finally made my move at an open-call audition for Deal or No Deal! To be perfectly honest, I have probably only ever watched about six total minutes of the show, but I figured a game show is a game show. I didn’t have time to plan an elaborate shtick, so I stuck with the bubbly but starving college graduate, and lo and behold – the truth paid off! I introduced myself in the brief 30-second first round, the casting judges fell for my oozing enthusiasm, and I made it through to the second round of auditions.

That’s when the real fun began. Stick 30 TV-worthy personalities in one room, tell them to turn on the charm and wait for the magic. With the incentive of one guaranteed spot on the show everyone’s energy level was at its max, smiles were 100 watt and hands soon hurt from clapping so much. Each person had a few minutes to stand in front of the judges, and everyone else, talk about themselves and prove their ability to entertain. There was such an eclectic mix ranging from a 79-year-old grandmother of 41 who used to mix dynamite, to the 20-something, motorcycle riding, night-life loving DJ, to the middle-aged balloon-animal maker.

I missed out on the guaranteed spot, but that does not even matter. I left that audition with a new friend, we visited DJ Hollywood at his last gig and he did not disappoint, and a renewed appreciation for the rainbow of people I am surrounded by everyday. I feel richer to have spent a day hearing the stories of people I never would have otherwise met. Actually, I’m thinking open-calls may become a new hobby.

Update*

I have to apologize to Dekel that I've taken so long to post this update. He answered me a while ago with my questions on the Israeli government. Here is how he explained it:
"In Israel, the democracy is a Parliament democracy. That means that the people choose the Parliament members, and the member who has the highest chance to form a coalition (usually it's the party leader with the most seats)gets the chance to form a coalition.
In the last elections, Netanyahu got one seat less the Livni, the main opponent, but most of the parties of the Parliament wanted Netanyahu as a PM."
I still want to know more about the opposition situation. I'll be looking more into that in the future.