The frailty of glamour

Dubai with its glamorous exterior hides layers of secrets and abuse. I really liked this article because it shows that Dubai’s exterior is only an image and how the capitalism that is growing around the world has many faults in it.

Though the article was very well written there were some faults with it. The story of the woman in the car seems a tad over dramatized, and the part of the gays is just forced and unnecessary. Overall, however, I think it’s a very good intensive feature story.

Though I’ve never been to Dubai I talked to several people who have lived there and always disliked what it represented, a fake exterior, that strives for perfection, yet is soulless.

A friend of mine once described how the trees aligned one after another as if a skilled mathematician calcuated the distance between each and every tree.

I personally prefer the disheveled Egyptian sideways, where each block of stone doesn’t resemble the next.

At least, it’s real.

Here’s a video from the french film ‘Les poupees russes’ directed by Cedric Klapish

translation:

Celia is the equivalent in woman of a street with perfect dimensions.
We don’t spend much time on earth so, forcefully, in the beggining, we want to live on that street.
I would spend hours looking at a girl like that, just to see her live, to see her walk, to be rocked my the balencing of her skirt, to be drunken by the movement of the material moving on her body.
I think the spectacle of her life will be enough for a whole life, but is it possible to live like that?

The history of the Ewart Hall

Here's my audio documentary on the history of the Ewart hall

Hope you enjoy it :)

Promo

BBC Asian Network documentary

'The Trouble with Hubble Bubble", presented by Konnie Huq, and produced by Nicola Humphries, is 24 min documentary on the health problems that may arise from shisha smoking.

The documentary as a whole was vibrant and had a fast pace, and it kept my attention, however, the topic wasn't that interesting for a 24 min documentary. The presenter went on and on about the different diseases one could catch from shisha and other related health concerns. Nothing much was added. One could expect a 24 min documentary to hold substantial information, however, there was not so much. It dragged on about how shisha was bad for people's health.

Indian and Egyptian pop songs were heard in the background, which gave the documentary some color, however, it was also too much, because it was on for the whole duration of the documentary. Having soundbytes from different youths, who smoke shisha was good. There was some diversity in the voices, yet not so much diversity in the views. 'I like shisha, and I smoke it occasionally so it won't harm,' was mostly said.

Another good part in the documentary was giving a carbon monoxide test with a monitor, which has a scale that measures the amount of that chemical in the body. One of the interviewees had 99 parts per million in his body. He had been smoking shisha for 30 minutes before the test. The next day he took the test again and had an amount of 5 parts per million in his body.

The documentary was well executed, well produced, but lacked in content.

However, it does give out some awareness about the harms of shisha that could be easily overlooked, since people associate cigarettes with health harm, more than shisha, when in reality shisha, in large doses, shisha could be as harmful, or even more.

Nabokov's last masterpiece?

An unfinished novel by Nabokov, who is famous for his novel Lolita, is now getting published for the first time.
Now, years after his death, his last novel "The original of Laura" is getting published.

His son speculates that this would be one of his greatest works, however, Nabokov's dying wish was for it to be burnt.

It wasn't the first instance where Nabokov wanted to burn one of his works. He was about to throw Lolita in flame when his wife stopped him.

I wonder if one should publish something, without the author's consent. Even if it's deemed great.

I know I personally would love to read it. Lolita is one of my favorite works of literature, ever.
But I still think of how Nabokobov would feel with his unfinished work in the hands of his fans.

Everyone knows that editing a huge part of the writing process. Would such a great author want his rough drafts to be published?

Garbage in Cairo: a larger threat than the swine flu?

Cairo Garbage wrap 2009
Taher
11-11-09

(natsound of busy street)

Lead in: each day 13000 tons of garbage is disposed by residents of Cairo, that is now left on the street. After the swine flu outbreak a great upheaval occured resulting in the needless slaughter of pigs in Egypt.

The government didn't take into account that the pigs are an integral part of the garbage disposal process in Cairo. The garbage has been traditionally managed by Copts in Egypt and was running quite efficiently. Families in Manshiet Nasser worked collectively by sorting garbage. Pigs ate the organic waste, while other types of waste was recycled or buried in a landfill.

Egypt's recycling system was considered one of the very functional systems in Egypt, but the government was not concerned. Youssef Fatlats, a freelance Journalist, who went in depth in that topic, explained more.

(soundbyte by Youssef Faltas)

After the slaughter garbage collectors refused to pick up the waste, and have become very selective in what they pick up. Now, the city of Cairo suffers from a larger health issue that the swine flu, the piles of garbage. Though Egypt has contracts with three foreign companies and a stable society of garbage collectors, garbage is piling up on the streets.

Though no research was conducted on the health issues that may arise, Faltas said that people in Manshiet Nasser take regular vaccinations, which a great indication that piles of garbage spred bacteria and viruses.

Manal Badaway, Sociology professor at the AUC agrees.

(soundbyte by Manal Badawy)

How long will the garbage decorate our streets and become an all familiar sight? And how much disease will citizens be infected with before the government reacts?

Menna Taher, AUC radio station

Egypt's most reliable news source

I've recently came across www.elkoshary.com and I love it. It's basically a satiric newspaper on all the strangeness that takes place around us.

They touch upon issues like sexism/sexual harassment, political tyranny/corruption, pollution/traffic/urban planning/daily economic affairs/ class division and religious fundamentalism.

My favorite articles were, one about the U.S. moving to space and another on how how Egypt is getting divided in two countries, one for the elitist and the other for the poor. Another very funny one is on the government trying to ban modern art.

He's always censored

This is an interview with theater professor Dr. Mahmoud El Lozy on his early theater journey and on his opinions about AUC and AUC students

BBC documentary

This is an interesting documentary on two refugees in London, their link was a memento, a keepsake of their former lives that gives them hope to hold on through their exile.

The 22.1 min documentary "memento", presented by Vera Frankl told capitvating accounts of these two lives. It started with melancholic background music that accompanied soundbytes of these two refugees talking about their precious objects.

The documentary started off smoothly, introducing Fungayi, a Zimbabwean political activist and musian, who goes every saturday to protest against his countrie's regime infront of the Zimbawean embassy in London. A natsound of people singing and playing african tunes is heard, which is very lively and colorful.

Then a long interview was conducted with Funagyi, which was captivating because of his voice. Although it was long, Fungayi's storytelling technique made the story flow easily.

Then introducing the next subject, there was an awkward transition in the middle, and then Caty from Uganda was introduced, whose only remains of her former life is a picture of her two daughters that she hasn't seen in a long while. Here the documentary started to drag on. It felt too long and I lost concentartaion several times, her story was nonetheless very interesting and moving. Her voice trembled a bit in the middle, which gave life and images to the sound.

I would suggest that the documentary should be divided in two parts. I know, that the whole documentary was a part two of another one, but I would've suggested that they made several documentaries, sort of like a series.

Other than the length, I think it lacked natsound. It started off beautifully, with music and natsounds but throughout the end, there was only interview, which is one of the reasons I felt that it dragged too much.

Overall, it was very good. Descriptive and poignant, with lots of different anecdotes that gave the subjects a face and a soul.

Languages and Identity crises

Today's podcast is about on my mini identity crisis on how I find it much easier to write in english than in arabic and how much this frustrates me

Pretentious artlovers

This has been on my mind for a while.
How can you make sure that someone's art is genuine?
I guess you don't.
What I can know is whether I like something or not.
Pearls Before Breakfast is the 2007 Pulizer Prize winning feature article and I also believe it is one of the best articles I've read in my life, because not only is it well written but its idea is also very innovative.
It's basically about this world famous violinist, Joshua Bell, who performed on a subway wearing clothes that would hide his identity. Very few people actually took a moment to listen to him, while everyone else was hurrying towards his job.
When I read the article I thought of those many people who would attend a concert by Joshua Bell, because that would sound sophisticated, yet might pass him by on the street without noticing.

There are so many works that are considered works of art that I didn't really like and was ashamed of it for while. I thought that I wasn't smart enough or something, but just recently I realized how much it doesn't matter and that I should only like what I understand and what touches me in a way.

here's to pretentious people everywhere:



This is one the most brilliant scenes ever

People's stupidity never fails to surprise me

According to an article quranic verses are magically appearing on this boy's body.

"The TV channel reported that Ali was first diagnosed with "ischemic heart disease of the second degree" and "infantile cerebral paralysis" in the maternity clinic. However, after the inexplicable events began happening, he was examined again and found healthy. The incident has been drawing hundreds of Dagestani Muslims to Ali's home everyday, prompting local authorities to guard the house round-the-clock," according to press tv.

The strangest thing about it is not the story itself but the comments.
I can't believe that some people would be so stupid to believe something like this.
The comments are actually funny:

"how some peoples dare to say it is tatto ,or mahandi PLZ MR MIKE READ QURAN . THEN YOU CAN JUDGE ABOUT THIS BABY. can u ask yourself, why ISLAm is gowing fast in EDUCATED PEOPLES , who force them to convert ?? plz mr mike i advise u to read QURAN"

"The power, might and glory of The Almighty, The One, is written over, in and out of every thing. This is only a more visual confirmation. Of that truth for the children of Adam (humans) and The children of Jaan (jiins) who NEED to be litteraly taught that too obvious truth. Allah knows better than anyone. May The Almighty increase his prosperity, peace and strengh on his faithful servants , the blesserd followers of Muhammad The last Messenger and Hope of The worlds."

This reminds me of another news item I read a while ago about a woman, who sued an egyptian hotel because her daughter got pregnant by swimming in their pool.
Yeah right! I'm sure that sperms just float around in pools and just penetrate our swimming suits go inside the vagina and miracoulsly a baby is formed. That's too much work for the sperm don't you think?

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
Albert Einstein

PSA (HCV campaign)

The secrets of Mole

Picture taken by Shannon Young

October 10 2009
Mexico
The secrets of Mole is a 6:20 long feature by Shannon Young on World Vision report. Mole is a type f mexican sauce that consists of different spices, nuts and chocolate among other ingredients, which was very intersting to me seing how this combination is not very familiar or easy to imagine.

In this report Shannon young visits Rosalba Ramos, a Mole maker, at her home to watch the process of Mole making. The whole family is involved in the proceess and the secret recipe is passed down from one generation to the next.
The report is rich with nat sounds, I could almost picture them cooking. I liked how vibrant the report is and how engaged Shannon Young is with her subjects, she even coughs when they add some spices.

Not only is she physically engaged, she also seems to have gained Rosalba's trust since she was asked not to publish the secret recipe.
The report ends with a mexican song La Cumbia del Mole (English Version) by Lila Downs, which seemed very relevant to the topic and created the perfect ending.
There was also a slideshow with the report that gave the story some additional visuals.

NPR vs. BBC

I couldn't get her name that's how I heard it and I repeated it several times:
Lak shmi sin (4:46 min) from NPR
NPR reported on the gay rights demonstration and Obama's speech adressing the issue of openly gays not being allowed in th military, it also reported on the assault on Pakistanis, a plane crash, Hilary Clinton' visit to Ireland and Edgar Allan Poe's much belated funeral.
The report was good and selected a wide range of topics but it lacked nat sounds, even though it adressed some live reports. The anchor's voice was clear and vibrant.

Sue Diamond from BBC news also reported on the gay rights demonstartion, the Pakistani assault, Afghanistan's election, normalization between Armenia and Turkey, on Hilary Clinton's declaration that Pakistani Taliban poses a threat, Baghdad suicide attack, palestian children not supplied with textbooks and school supplies and the death of the member of british boyband Boyzone.
The BBCnews report was much more thorough and detailed, it also included two soundbites, one by Hamid Kerzai, Afghanistan's president and the other one by Hilary Clinton. Sue Diamond's voice was clear but it was also hurried, which made me lose track in the middle.

What I liked more about the NPR newscast is the fact that it was concise and only gave out the news headline, whereas the BBC one was more thorough, which might be good for print journalism but not for radio. However, I think th BBC report incorporaed more stories, one of which had feature elements (the palestinan school kids one) and I liked that.

Languages I never knew existed

My grandfather's driver at the office drives me to university sometimes. We never really talked, until yesterday. One the way to uni he got a call and then I found him uttering words that I culdn't comprehend. A language I've never heard or known before. When he hung up I just couldn't stay silent, curiousty was getting the better of me. "What's the language that you were just talking?" I asked. "It's kenzy," he replied "that's our language in el Nouba where I come from" (el nouba is a place in upper Egypt). "So is that language common?" he told me that it wasn't and that different tribes have different language "Not all Nubians understand themselves"
He started recounting stories from his childhood on how kids made fun of him when he talked, he thought everyone understood that language. He told me he was living at the borders of Sudan, his family had to move after the high dam was built. "The new generation do not know the language," he said "My children don't know how to speak the language. When I talk to my wife infront of them they ask us to talk arabic."

And here I am thinking that alll egyptians talk arabic. Naturally! It's so great to see how diverse people are even within your own borders.I always knew there were tribes and I also knew that not all egyptians are like the cairenes (not that all cairenes are alike), but I had no idea that there's a completely different language here. Not a dialact.

Nat Sound Assignment

Doinjg this assignment I realized that there are lots of sounds that I've missed because I wasn't carrying the recorder with me all the time.

Sounds that I wanted to capture:
1-kickboxing training, the sound of punching the sandbags and Rocky music in the background
2-At deals on the day of the match between Egypt and France, people cheering and a lot of noise
3-the sound of a harley bike
4- the sound of a wedding on the street ( i actually had a recorder with me but there was a man shouting "what are you doing?" so it interefered with the sound of the wedding.

Sounds I've actually captured:
-A girls' basketball practise at the gezira club (7 sec)
-the sound of honking cars (9 sec)
-the sound of the car being washed (8 sec)
-the sound of MSN and typing (10 sec)
-the sound of the TV show 'how I met your mother' (9 sec)
-the sound of the muezzin at the fajr prayer (13 sec)
-the sound of the alarm clock (11 sec)

The Choice To Live

Though modern medicine has helped humanity a big deal, I couldn't help having my own reservations regarding some of the things that modern medicine has acheived. I always wondered why someone who was very close to dying gets to suffer his remaining days of his life instead of dying. I always thought that it was kind of selfish of people to try to keep someone alive just because they're afraid that he might die, but then again, those who care for the sick are those who suffer the most.

Two films, one that I've watched a few days ago and the other is one of my favourites, are related to that theme.

Mar Adentro, which is one of my favourites, relates the life story of Ramon Samperdro, who was paralysed after an accident in the sea and fought for thirty years for his right to euthanasia.

The diving Bell and the Butterfly, tells the story of Baubi, the succesful editor of elle magazine who suddenly suffers from a stroke that results in paralysing his whole body. The only movement that he's capable of is blinking with his eye, which later becomes his sole mean of communicating with others. They read the alphabet aloud for him and he blinks at the letters. to form words and senteces.

As there is an evident difference, since Baubi decided to write a book and resumed to live while Ramon was fighting for the right to die, the similarities were striking. As the overall message sounds different from the outside, since one gives out hope while the other one seemingly advocates defeat one realises that Ramon and Baubi weren't that different.

Ramon still kept his sense of humor and made fun of his case, while Baubi described a nurse lacking sense of humor when she got offended by a joke made by two workers on Baubi's case.
They both clung to their imagination to make them keep their sanity, they created different worlds inside their heads and both of them wrote. Yet both at some point desperatly wanted to die. Ramon fought for that right, and as someone might see that as giving up on life, I think that the ending was quite hopeful. He strived for euthanasia and he did get what he strived for. Legally he still didn't attain the right but his friends made it possible for him because they loved him.

I know that one could say, without modern medicine Baubi wouldn't have been able to write that book of his, one could say they experienced a different side of life, but I won't hold it against someone who can't move the wish for death and in cases like these I would still stand for euthanasia. Maybe if we could make a contract with them, you create a beautiful piece of art and we would let you die then... maybe that could work.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112983926

A Farmer's Market Fit For A First Lady
Scott Horsley reported on Michelle Obama's visit to the farm's markets in a 3:33 long feature. It was interesting, fun and different. It was written in a catchy language and incorporated different soundbytes by different people who were interviewed. I'm not sure how newsworthy it is, but either way it's a light story that gives out a different image of Michelle Obama.
The presenter's voice was not always understandable but it was not monotonous and boring. The nat sounds were well incorporated, one could feel the bustle of the market. The story as a whole was well done and did keep my attention for the whole time. Its length was proper to the nature of the story, if it were to be longer it would've been boring since there is not much that one could add to a story like this.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112961966

Medical Marijuana Arrests; Calif. Isn't Mellow Yet

Tom Fudge's 5:22 min report on the misuse of medical marijuana was an interesting story that is also controversial and debatable. It incoroporated different soundbytes and information that backed up the story. The presenter's voice was clear, but failed to get my attention towards the end.
The nat sound used was the sound of waves to give the feeling of the location but it didn't wasn't the most interesting nat sound to use and not the most discriptive either. The length of the story was fine regarding the issue it was discussing. However, it was more interesting at the beginning than towards the end. It seemed to be repeat some information and drag on.

Audio Essay: the moment

I sit in my air-conditioned car that smells of vanilla car freshener, not aware of the odor of the garbage that’s been piling up in Mohandessin over the past weeks. Of course, there is traffic and Cairo streets are crazy to drive in, so it’s not as comfortable as it seems but at least I’m in a car, which somehow gives me the feeling that I’m sheltered. Then I wait at an intersection and a dusty faced child wearing rags knocks on my window with desperation in his eyes. I get the urge the smile to him but through experience I know that this would only make him hang about my window for a longer time, so I look away and totally ignore him. He knocks again and this time asks for money “just one pound,” he pleads. For me one pound is nothing, I mean, I always gladly dispose of the extra coins in my wallet but I still ignore him and look the other way. But turning away doesn’t make his presence less palpable. I still feel it, like the presence of an invisible ghost in the room. I think to myself, why shouldn’t I give him a pound? I won’t lose anything. But then I’m reminded that they are probably working under a bully who takes all the money from them. But maybe by not giving them money they would be abused even more by the man they’re working under, but something inside me still holds back and I look ahead trying to ignore the pleading eyes. But then when I drive away I always feel guilty and it takes some time to shake off that feeling. Sometimes when I walk down the street I give them chocolates which somehow makes me feel a little bit better, but the guilt still haunts me every time I look away and ignore them. I know there is no perfect way to handle a situation like this, it is not something you could get a manual for. Sometimes I just remind myself that too much comfort can make someone numb and maybe just maybe they experience life more thoroughly, more deeply than I. Through encountering more hardships they could be feeling things I could never imagine of feeling.

A woman's dress or the lack of it

It seems now that women's dress is taking up too much attention, maybe even more than it deserves. The debate on whether a woman should dress conservativly or not has become an issue on its own, rooting itself within religious debates. As much as the stigma around the mohajabat in the so called liberal circles is arrising, another rising extreme, condemns women who do not cover themselves in a tent. The case of the Sudanese Journalist
Lobna al-Hussein is one example of the extent of extremism regarding the control of what women should wear or not. When did it cease being a woman's personal choice and had become another form of authorities' control? Why is a woman's dress stirring all these debates and social division? Why is it that when a girl decides to wear the veil her conservative friends start cheering and when she takes it off the other side of her friend's circle start congratulating her?

In an article in the shorook newspaper Niveen Mosaad raises a very intersting point. Which is why Marwa el Sherbeeny has been called the martyr of hijab while Lobna al-Hussein has been condemned by religious people. The similarity between the two cases is striking. Both women have received been harshly treated, in once case leading to death, because of the way they were dressed. It is strange how over the years the issues regarding the veil and its ban and the veil and its neccesity are growing more and more.

The women have become deprived of their choices. Is it the man's way to dominate in these patriarchial societies because he knows no other way? Or does it go back to what the dress entails i.e. what religious beliefs and cultural beliefs that the woman has and how these difference in belief have caused this social division.

Of course the there are many dimennsions to the problem that at times it ceases to be about the woman wear and more about the connotations that it entails, which touch upon social and political issues.
But it never stops to baffle me how something as simple as what a woman chooses to wear can cause all these tensions.
We live in a mad world indeed.