Saturday, May 26, 2007

Second-Hand Lives


After years of putting it off, I just read this and I don't really care to read her any more. I must be a altruistic second-hander. Shame on me.

I didn't ever get over that the "love story" was initiated by rape and found the hero to be a robot ideology posing in human form. He intrigued me at first and by the end, his long monologues just left me bored. I learned in this book that I attach value to characters being fallible and I prefer my political ideology in the non-ficition section of the book store. As with her non-fiction, which I dabbled in 10 years ago, I get the sense that Ayn Rand thinks everyone gets an equal shot in this meritocratic world. That seems pretty historically illiterate.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Thanks, Nuru!


My favorite part of last night's show was when he reminded us that his grandfather fought in the second world war and even though no Englishman or Frenchman said thank you, he wanted to say "thank you" to his grandfather since winning the war allowed us all to gather in a democracy for last night's show.


Photo Credit: Me

Monday, May 21, 2007

Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective

I have been grooving to Andy Palacio & the Garifuna Collective all afternoon. (Thanks, Songlines #43!) They are touring all over this summer so no excuses to miss. Very cool video here with some background to the CD and garifuna music. I never would have guessed Belize.

If you watch the video, you will see Paul Nabor. A very enjoyable tribute to his dying sister can be found on the link above. I hope someone sings like that when I die.
Brother, I am ill
Dear Brother, I am ill
I have tossed and turned in my bed
With this ailment in the presence of my family
I have spoken with my children
Dear Brother, when I pass away
They must have a band at my funeral
It is my little ones I'm worried about
It is my children I'm worried about.
Andy Garifuna is playing at Cargo June 19.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Complete New Yorker on Morocco

I don't really see this a plug for The Complete New Yorker as much as a note of praise for what I consider to be a fantastic idea - having all the New Yorkers ever printed! My Dad gave me the Complete New Yorker a few years ago and I haven't really used it since I read too much on my computer as it is. But when I was preparing my trip to Morocco, I got the grand idea to search for all things Morocco-related since the publication started in 1925. I printed out articles that looked interesting and didn't think much of it. The articles were the best travel guide I could have had with stories from war correspondents traveling in Fez, Casablanca and Tangier in the 1940's to an excellent three-part story about a child bride by Jane Kramer in 1970. That was made even more rich by a follow on "personal history" she wrote in 1996 on feminism and how her time in the poor sections of Meknes affected her as a feminist thinker. There was a 1984 interview with King Hassan II and the last story I printed was on Paul Bowles and the 50-year anniversary of The Sheltering Sky. Love this quote:
Many people fling the book aside half read, and no wonder. Submitting to "The Sheltering Sky" is like having a heart transplant without anesthesia: you have to be willing to contemplate, for a moment, how it feels to have no heart at all.
Travel guides are great for finding hotels, but there was something rare about the simple explanations about "exotic" Morocco written to New Yorker readers over half a century ago.

From Our Far-Flung Correspondents: The Hot Wind From the Desert, and article from March 15, 1952 on the play between Communism, the Istiqal (Independence) Party and other French and American interests shaping the future of Morocco:
As is the fashion nowadays, everybody is talking, sketchily but noisily, of democracy--probably in this instance hoping to get American support.
Some things seem to remain the same!

Björk Live from Last Night!

A very special gift from NPR - Björk live in NYC last night. Already online and the trombones are really nice in this set. Make sure you get to Hyperballad at the end of the set. Well, well worth it and give yourself time to enjoy the encore. Wow!

How many days till our date in Glasto?

Konono No. 1 is great too! You can hear their opening act on at the same link above.


Photo credit: Inez and Vinoodh Matin

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Merci, Salif Keita!

Another mind-blowing experience with the The Mansa of Mali last Thursday...



I think Albeo liked the show.


It is cruel that he only played for 90 minutes!

Just found that his myspace profile has lyrics to some of his songs!