Monthly Archives: July 2007

July 25, 2007 · 2:16 pm

Americans Don’t Get It

Vick Gets it.JPG

Yesterday I asked about Americans’ priorities, and then today, I open Yahoo and see that the problem is even worse. Yahoo features an article about Vick and his alleged dogfighting again with the question, “Does Vick Get It?”

Nevertheless, a couple of old white power-mongers can destroy 250 years of Constitutional jurisprudence, the entire basis of the Declaration of Independence, any remaining vestige of the US’s moral authority, and torture indescriminately with absolutely no judicial review while they also monitor your telephone calls, internet searches, mail and trash. I haven’t seen Yahoo or very many angry people asking whether Rumsfeld gets it? Whether Bush gets it? But an NFL Quarterback allegedly dogfighting? Now there’s a major incident that affects the very fiber of our society.

Oh, yeah, that’s right, it is now illegal by Executive Order to criticize the Bush Administration as it may undermine the war effort. Apparently, the seriousness eludes many people, and that is why they’re out of focus. Continue reading →

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July 24, 2007 · 10:41 am

What’s Wrong with America?

Kick Vick

In the past few days, my bro has sent me two emails with links to news about a scandal in the US involving an NFL football player (Michael Vick) who was involved with dog fighting. I haven’t seen any press coverage of this in the Europe, but apparently, everyone and the mothers in the US are up in arms over this news.

What’s bothering my bro is that people get so outraged by dog fighting, and yet are so passive about the really important issues that affect the country. Torturing animals is a scandal, but I suppose torturing humans is more acceptable? Where are the people protesting things like Guantanamo or Abru Ghraib, poverty, or human rights? So why do people have their priorities so askewed from reality?

I remember an old man once telling me to never trust anyone who loved animals more than humans, for they would always turn out to be the most brutal and evil of them all. He also told me told that an immaculately clean car was the sign of a truly perverted mind.

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July 20, 2007 · 2:39 pm

Ministry of Silly Walks

I was just rapping with Hysi Hy (“word”) on the East Side, and he was watching this Monty Python video clip of the Ministry of Silly Walks. This is probably my favorite Monty Python sketch.

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July 19, 2007 · 8:34 pm

Anouar Brahem

Anouar Brahem.jpg

The last few days I have been looking for Asmahan’s version of the song “Emta Hata’raf”. Actually, I already have a different version of the song on the album Orient Express by the Yuri Honing Trio and really love it (I also love the song “La Inta Habibi” from the same album). I hadn’t originally known that “Emta Hata’raf” was a fairly well-known Arabic song sung by Asmahan (I didn’t even know who she was either) from the 1930s. I was also looking for a good solo oud player and singer like the music my Bro and I heard in Marrakech. In looking, I came across Farid El Atrache (who happens to be Asmahan’s brother, go figure).

In any event, Fadi recommended the oud virtuoso/jazz fusionist Anouar Brahem, but I already had three of his albums (Barzahk, Astrakan Cafe, and Le Pas du Chat Noir). Nevertheless, I hadn’t listened to any of them in years as they have always been a little too much on the mellow side for my tastes. Then today while browsing through my iTunes library, I came across Astrakan Cafe and decided to give it another go. It’s really a great sound, but what is really great is the cover photo on the album Le Pas du Chat Noir.

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July 18, 2007 · 3:08 pm

Berga’s FON Story

As mentioned in Berga Forever, my good friend and (until today) co-worker, Berga, is moving on. He has made this video to cover his year and a half FON Story, which at the end of the day is also my FON Story to date. Thanks, Berga!

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Filed under FON, Friends / Family

July 16, 2007 · 5:28 pm

Social Mores and Changing Times

Lempicka Rythme

Europeans often look at Americans with great wonder, especially in terms of Americans’ quirky puritanity on certain moral issues. In particular, Europeans can never quite understand why Americans are so concerned about their leaders’ marital fidelity.

I just read this op-ed, “Our Ready Embrace of Those Cheating Pols” in The Washington Post by Pamela Druckerman. Druckerman goes through the recent history of how the general US public has viewed both presidents’ extramarital love lives and marital infidelity in general. According to her piece, Americans have become stricter in their expectation of fidelity, while previously such “cheating” was considered a mere pecadillo.

The most interesting argument in her article about why Americans have become more demanding of their spouses and presidents’ sex lives is due to the fact that women are more economically independent from their husbands. Thus, women are simply no longer willing to stay in cheating relationships, especially because they no longer have to. Thus, what appears to be prudish and uptight to Europeans is actually a sign of a more egalitarian society, at least in terms of women’s issues. In any event, here is the op-ed: Continue reading →

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July 16, 2007 · 11:19 am

Gotta Love Aljazeera

Al Jazeera

I finally got to know Aljazeera. On Saturday, I spent two hours watching Aljazeera International, and I must admit that I really appreciated it. The experience was nothing like what you’d think from how the US media has painted the Qatari CNN-like news station. Continue reading →

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July 13, 2007 · 12:09 pm

Dildo

Washington Dildo

They say you learn something new every day. And sometimes while teaching something new, you also learn something new. Yesterday, and I don’t quite remember how the conversation came up, someone at work mentioned the word “dildo” . Apparently, it’s a term that has been incorporated into Spanish, but there was some debate about its actual meaning (whether or not the term also included vibrating devices). That was when I was asked to enter the conversation to give some of my native English insight. Continue reading →

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July 12, 2007 · 10:40 pm

A Woman’s Body

I just finished Sardines by Nuruddin Farah, from his trilogy Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship. The last book I read of his was From a Crooked Rib and had written a post, Desire and Temptation, about how different cultures viewed temptation and who was to blame. In that post, I discussed how the tradition of women having to cover their bodies depicted women as being so tempting that men could not resist the very sight of them.

Well, I just came across these lines in Sardines where a mother is looking at her daughter’s body and says, Continue reading →

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July 12, 2007 · 3:19 pm

Rahsaan Roland Kirk

My personal jury is still not out yet on Rashsaan Roland Kirk. My friends, William and JB, are dedicated Roland Kirk fans, but I still am not sure how I feel about his music. Kirk played multiple wind instruments, many of which he would play simultaneously (some even with his nose). Although the general criticism of Kirk is that he is more of a gimmick than a true artist, I would disagree. What I dislike most about his music is that too much of it sounds dated (like 60s and 70s B-movie soundtracks), and is a little more on the bluesy than Jazzie side for my taste. In any event, he definitely has a sound of his own, unique, and compelling.

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