Archive for July, 2007
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007
Americans Don’t Get It
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 […]
15 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Tuesday, July 24th, 2007
What’s Wrong with America?
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 […]
7 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Friday, July 20th, 2007
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.
1 Comment » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
Anouar Brahem
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 […]
7 Comments » - Posted in Jazz by eric
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
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!
7 Comments » - Posted in FON, Friends / Family by eric
Monday, July 16th, 2007
Social Mores and Changing Times
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 […]
8 Comments » - Posted in Digressions, Essays by eric
Monday, July 16th, 2007
Gotta Love Aljazeera
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.
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Friday, July 13th, 2007
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 […]
3 Comments » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Thursday, July 12th, 2007
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 […]
3 Comments » - Posted in Digressions, Essays, literature by eric
Thursday, July 12th, 2007
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 […]
