Waking Up to Youssou Ndour

… was strange… It was 2 something in the morning (and I was glad that it wasn’t 5 or 6 because I could go back to sleep). And I tend to have strange/weird thoughts when I’m half asleep. Like… “Wow, Youssou can really sing”, uh, we already knew that didn’t we? I woke up to a live clip of one of his tracks off the Egypt album, and it sounded better live than on the album itself. And I thought”wow, I gotta find that, wonder if there’s a live version of the album?” Then, when they were interviewing him, I thought, “wow, his English seems to have really gotten better”, because he always sounds a bit stunted when he sings in English, kinda like you can really tell it’s not his first language, heck, it’s probably his fourth or fifth or … tenth? And then I was trying to figure out what movie/documentary they were talking about, and then the program moved on to something else, so I just went back to sleep. With a mental note in my head to try to listen today, and to see if I can find any live recordings of the tracks on the Egypt album. I can’t tell you how I felt when I first heard that album. I was going through a rough time then, we were in the middle of the Iraq war, there seemed to be, if memory serves, some beheadings going on, it was just a rough time. This is one time that the “music is haram” meme just doesn’t sit well with me, and yeah, it’s probably my nafs and all, however, this album had and has the potential to touch a lot of people and to do a lot of good, and I can’t see how that could be a bad thing, just because it’s “music”. It’s truly a beautiful album, even if some think “he’s just trying to appeal to the Arab market”, well, whatever. I think at this point Youssou Ndour could put out an opera album, an American country album, pretty much anything he wants, and it’d probably sound good. And to me, he represents Senegal to me, and not certain ohter American pop stars… And btw, Baba Maal also has new material out now as well.

BBC iPlayer – The Strand: The Stand Thursday 18th June 2009

The End of an ER-a

I’d meant to blog about this sooner, but, well, better late than never I guess. ER showed its final episode last Thursday. I watched it while curled up on the futon, recovering from having my wisdom tooth out.

I’d not watched it for ages, I just didn’t like the characters anymore, they didn’t interest me. However, since there was a time in my life where I’d stop absolutely everything I was doing to watch the show, I just had to see the series finale. And it was OK. Not bad but not great either. Did a good job of wrapping things up, though.

Even the BBC had something on the world service about it. Wow… I was half-asleep and heard the ER theme song, and was like “huh? What’s that doing on the BBC?” And then tried to listen to the segment, but the volume was too low and my mind was too muddled from sleep to concentrate.

The BBC’s Coverage of Gaza and Other Thoughts

Assalamu alaikum, it’s getting to the point that I can’t listen to the BBC World Service anymore! The coverage is just so one-sided, with representatives from Israel being given ample time to present their side, while the Palestinian side consists of people presumably from inside Gaza who make comments about how uncomfortable it is for them, how they couldn’t sleep last night, and a passing mention of how unsafe they feel because of buildings nearby that could be targeted by Israel. Either that or a statement from a Hamas leader/representative? about how many suicide bombers (both male and female the person makes sure to tell us) were ready to go and die (and be martyred) for the Palestinian cause. Again seeming to solidify the notion in people’s minds that the Palestinians are just a bunch of bloodthirsty savages who want to do nothing but kill innocent, defenseless Israelis, who are doing nothing but merely defending themselves. Hardly any mention of the Israelis wanton and wholesale targeting of civilians, no graphic descriptions of the humanitarian disaster, (except passing references to the number of dead/injured while at the same time downplaying that by mentioning how many “hamas leaders” were also killed), no mention of the Israelis preventing needed supplies like food and water and medical equipment from getting into Gaza, and only letting enough in order to save face with the international community and to keep themselves from looking too much like Nazis (yeah I said it). Well, only token mentions of all of this, as well as mentioning the fact that the UN can’t agree on a statement, etc. (And IMHO this should really tell you something about the UN and its hypocrisy and impotence but that’s another topic for another day). I can’t even say what the TV side of the coverage was, as I’ve not been watching it, but if it’s anything like what the radio side is doing, you’d think that it was only the Israelis who were doing the suffering and the dying, that it was only Hamas targets that were being hit (if you call a house and a mosque a target), and only Hamas “members” that were being hurt or killed. The Angry Arab sums it up best although he’s talking about the US media, though his description could very well be applied to the BBC as well it seems. And I also find it interesting that the BBC reported last night that no journalists were being allowed into Gaza by the Israelis (wonder why?), however, they were able to get in touch with people in Gaza itself to give the situation on the ground (wonder how, who’d they get in touch with? Were these people coached as to what to say so as not to make things look “too” bad?) I mean, if the BBC was so one-sided (and inaccurate) about this, what of their reporting on other things, like, hmmm, Zimbabwe for instance? I’d previously viewed the BBC is fairly balanced, at least more so than the US media, however, I’m beginning to change my mind regarding that. At least as regards coverage of this current situation in Gaza and the Palestinian crisis as a whole.

If this was say, Darfur, or the Congo, we’d be getting a more balanced view of things. But maybe not. I’ve gotten to the point that I can tell whose side the presenter is on, by the kinds of questions they ask, by their tone of voice, etc. And I’ve noticed that the BBC tends to pick more articulate spokespeople for the side they agree with, and what sounds to be bumbling idiots with limited command of the English language (if english is their second language) for the side they don’t agree with. And I can only think of one other instance where this wasn’t the case, where some Israeli representative was actually pressed to try to justify denying food and water and other necessities to the people of Gaza, and he didn’t even answer the question, just kept on talking about how Israel needs to defend itself! And I remember this because I was surprised at the disgust I could hear in the presenter’s voice at all of this!

Anyway, MR’s blog provides some “on the ground” footage of what is going on in Gaza. And I’m told that this is graphic, but I have not had the stomach to try to watch it yet. So watch at your own risk and keep the kids away from the computer (this is my recommendation anyway). I only want the truth to get out, and let the world make the decision based on that! But as they say, the truth always comes out in the end, and Inshallah, this happens sooner rather than later!

The Story of Braille

Assalamu alaikum, I’m a staunch advocate for Braille literacy, and it doesn’t matter how much technology is out there. There is no excuse why a blind child should not be taught Braille, or any blind person for that matter. How if they choose to use it, that’s their choice. But they should at least be taught to use it. Because using Braille is pretty much like reading print material. Sighted people still use computers and other technology, even audiobooks. However, that doesn’t stop them from reading standard printed material such as newspapers, books, etc. Why should it be any different for Braille? I heard this documentary on the BBC World Service last night and just knew I had to blog about it. And as a blind person who uses Braille, Braille literacy is something very important to me, and very close to my heart. And as an aside, I’m not only using speech output to write this post, I also have a refreshable Braille display as well. So there you go…

BBC World Service – Documentaries – The Story of Braille

Today’s Track

Assalamu alaikum, haven’t done this in a while but… Today’s track is a remake by Sikouba Bambino, a Guinean artist, of the James Brown classic “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s world”.

One of my favorite shows on the BBC World Service is Charlie Gillett’s World of Music The show comes on at 11:30 my time, on Sunday evening (though I think they air it at various times during the weekend), which is usually when I’m just getting to bed, and am kind of in a “wrapping up the weekend” mode. It’s gotten to the point that my husband and I usually end up listening together, and he seems disappointed if we happen to miss the show for some reason. And it’s priceless to see him react to an artist he recognizes (like last night when Youssou Ndour came on).

So anyway… Charlie Gillett featured the above-linked track on his show last night, and it was beautiful, that was my initial reaction anyway. And I knew I had to blog it. Beautiful kora and balafone going on, and from what I’m told, the lyrics are pretty much a faithful rendering of the original song.

So enjoy…

BBC NEWS | Africa | Mauritanian army coup condemned

BBC NEWS | Africa | Mauritanian army coup condemned

Can Someone Explain This to Me?

Assalamu alaikum, I heard this story on the BBC World Service, perhaps last Thursday or Friday, and it’s disturbed/haunted me ever since.

The first time I heard it, I’d woke up during the night and as the radio usually is turned to the World Service, I’ll normally end up listening until I fall back to sleep. I happened to catch the part of the interview where the woman talks of being forced by the soldiers to kill her own baby. Now, I’d like for some to explain to me why, I mean, what is the goal of this? To engage in rape, murder and other acts of violence that are so appalling, most of us can barely get our minds around it?

In Darfur, it’s ethnic tentions, in Sierra leone, it was the diamonds wasn’t it? But what is it about the Democratic Republic of the Congo? I know some of this has to do with at least some of the soliders being the very onces who perpetrated the Rwandan genocide, and I guess they’re hiding in the forests because they don’t want to be caught. But why not just hide in the forests? Why continue the violence from your new place of hiding?

I guess I just never will understand murder, or rape, or torture or violence just for the sake of it. Reminds me of how my husband was trying to explain to me how many of the conflicts in West Africa, in Sierra Leone and Liberia, in particular, were started (perhaps indirectly) by Gadafi who would have training camps in Libya to train people to go back to their countries and started wars there. Ostensibly, the goal was to create puppet states that could be indirectly ruled by Gadafi, by overthrowing the regimes/Presidencies of the people who were there at the itme.

This has been explained to me more than once and I still don’t get it. OK, so you have puppet regimes and for what? What was your goal in starting wars, and hopefully by “winning the wars” then your puppets could be put into power, and then what? For control? I think that’s what the reason was, but control of what? Natural resources I guess. Maybe I’m just hopelessly naive or something because I just don’t get it!

So I guess we’ll just go on fussing about what kinda beverage Barack is drinking (and whether or not that makes him an elitist), or whether or not Beyonce and Jay-Z really got married, or talking about what happened on the latest Big Brother, or whatever’s the “in” reality show. Meantime, women and girls as young as 5 in the DRC are at risk of being raped (but I guess ’cause it ain’t the A-rabs or “Mozlems” doing it, then we don’t care).

Or, more closer to home, our health-care system’s a mess, our economy is well, awful, not to talk of all the other issues that are, well, truly important!

I’m just tired, just really, really tired! And to think I was upset because my computer wasn’t working right, or I had to wait too long on hold while trying to contact customer service for something, or any other number of inane reasons why I was frustrated, upset, worried, huffy, or whatever else. And I thought I had real problems! You wanna see/hear about problems? Just listen to this story and the woman telling it.