Monday, December 19, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
My DIFF Selection
Otelo Burning
A beautiful South African story of young boys attempting to understand freedom after years of violence and Apartheid.
MOE:Thursday, December 08 2011, 09:45PM
MOE:Saturday, December 10 2011, 01:45PM
Habibi
Of course a story of forbidden love set in Gaza, first time in 15 years since a movie has been directed and shot in Palestine.
MOE: Saturday, December 10 2011, 06:00PM
MOE: Monday, December 12 2011, 08:00PM
Goodbye
Female lawyer in Tehran trying to escape the male chauvinistic society she lives in. Inspiring, as all she wants is freedom to join her exiled husband and raise her un-born child in a free society.
MOE: Friday, December 09 2011, 06:15PM
Las Acacias
I'm a sucker for Argentinian movies. And this one has been winning awards... How one road trip changes the life of 2 complete strangers!
Monday, December 12 2011, 08:00PM
Woodsman and the Rain
Japanese movie with an underlying life lesson....
MOE: Thursday, December 08 2011, 10:00PM
Le Harve
French comedy on human trafficking! (not sure how french movies can be funny.....but it's on the buzz list of good movies)
MOE:Thursday, December 08 2011, 09:00PM
MOE: Friday, December 09 2011, 06:15PM
Three Quarter Moon
German movie with a grumpy man and a super cute young girl. We're bound to laugh and cry a bit.....
Madinat: Monday, December 12 2011, 08:00PM
MOE:Tuesday, December 13 2011, 07:00PM
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Camel Festival
Very long ago, Brahma, the creator of the world and one of the Supreme Lords of the Hindu Trinity, decided to perform a yagna (ritual of religious worship) according to the prescription of the sacred book, Veda. Inspired by a second member of the Trinity, Shiva, he decided to travel the Earth carrying a lotus. Wherever the flower fell from his hands, there he would perform his ritual.
The lotus fell three times, and water emerged from the earth forming lakes at all three locations. Brahma named the places Main, Medium and Little Pushkar, after the lotus. It was to Little Pushkar that Brahma invited all of the gods to participate in the yagna. The lake became so holy that even the greatest sinners became sinless by bathing, helping them find heaven. Eventually heaven became very crowded. The gods complained that man no longer cared about them so Brahma ordained that the only auspicious days for absolution would be from the eleventh day of Kartik until the full moon on the fifteenth.
Today, during these five days, people visit in great numbers, some making religious pilgrimages to bathe in the holy baths or ghats. Pilgrims expect to receive health, wealth, progeny and ultimately - release.
And it is during these same days that the Pushkar Camel Fair or Mela comes to life. The fair is actually two great melas combined, one being the highest exaltation of the Lord of Creation - Brahma, the other, the largest camel fair in the world. The events draw a seemingly endless procession of camels and people - holy men, salesmen, pilgrims, snake charmers...
Many camel and cattle breeders journey well over a hundred kilometers of arid desertscape. As the Kartik moon fills to its purinama, they arrive from all directions, using every imaginable mode of transportation - in camel caravans, on foot, in tractors, trucks, carts and buses.
Nomadic mela professionals converge from all corners of India. Large tents, little shops and carpets fight for precious ground space, creating a circus atmosphere reminiscent of the 19th century.
Rides and ferris wheels are bolted together in an excited frenzy of celebration and anticipation. Carnival hustlers call out with enticement to each passerby. Palm readers try to coax you with promises of a glimpse into your future. Cotton candy makers compete with beard salesmen. The air is heavy with the scent of exotic elixirs and cooking curries. Close by, smiling dentists sit on their carpets recruiting new patients, promising them relief from their orthodontic anguish.
The women of Rajastan seem like wind blown floral arrangements set against the earth-toned desert. They prepare fires for the evening dinner and never seem to rest. Between chores, they take time to catch up on gossip with women from other families. The children, eyes bright with excitement, take in the circus, rides, and magic shows. They feast on the many local sweet merchants’ wares. For a time, they are all distracted from their arduous lives.
The Pushkar Camel Fair is a colorful kaleidoscope of light, a circus of sight, from one inspiring vision to another. There is intention beyond the splendor. Business and religion drive these bustling events. Animals are everywhere. People bring them to the Fair, not simply to sell them, but also to participate in various organized competitions and exhibitions. The most entertaining event is the camel race. Owners buy and trade multitudes of ornaments and decorations for their camels and horses.
As the throngs leave, and the desert shops and rickety rides begin to vanish, Pushkar falls back into its sleepy little existence, catering to the regular stream of tourists and pilgrims while it awaits the next full moon of Kartik.
This year, the Fair unfolds on November 8th and recedes into the desert after the
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Music for Life
What would happen to humanity if music never existed?
I took a moment and went on a google hunt to really understand the meaning of music. I live in Dubai and everything in this city is a luxury....nothing is free. And i mean nothing is free, especially music. Sure i can blast my iPod in the car or dance in my living room to the sound of my TV while i entertain my curious neighbors but if i wanted live music, i had to pay for it and pay a lot!
See music makes your soul dance, it makes your unconscious free...free to be inspired. The rhythm inspires your soul, the melody makes you smile, the sound makes you dance. It brings out the muse hidden deep inside you. As cliche as this sounds, music is life.
I miss the Montreal days, when and if i felt lonely or uninspired, i can at any time, walk down my favorite St-Laurent street, find a coffee shop or bar and sit down and watch local talent (generally a student with a guitar) belt out some random lyrics about loss love. I can do it all alone while sipping my soda water or my 2$ coffee. When i get bored or my ears have had enough, i can walk away. Literally walk away.
I cant seem to do that in Dubai....i would need to drive to a coffee shop (most are in oversized malls), struggle for parking, pay 20aed for watered down coffee and if i’m lucky the only music i’ll hear is the one coming out of the shop’s sound system or the overly-enthusiastic-karaoke-junky-staff that greet me with: “What can i get you maaaammmm!!!”
You have to live in Dubai to understand the latter....
I cant seem to find one single place with raw talent....live jazz music at any given night, a walk in the park with a wanna-be band or a student with a guitar that just wants to gather some cash for lunch. No struggling artists in the metro, none on the sidewalk with their guitar-case open playing for coins. This place is spotless for free entertainment.
I use to take these artists for granted. In fact, they use to annoy me as they create pedestrian traffic while i struggle to make it to my appointments on time. Today, i long for them, for the inspiration they gave my conscious, the hunger they made me feel, the foolishness i once owned.
Oh Steve Jobs, you were no sap when you said; “Stay hungry Stay Foolish”
My soul is deprived. Dry i tell you....DRY. I’m walking aimlessly in the middle of this expensive sand dune headed towards nothing.
I get overwhelmingly excited when any band comes into concert in Dubai and i’m willing to pay crazy amounts just to watch them. Case and point: Metallica. Tonight, i’m driving 2 hours outta my way on a work night to watch a band i no longer listen to, in the hopes they give me some sort of “fair enough” feeling!
2 hour plus drive and 300aed minus to watch a band i once listened to when i was a teenager. And the only reason i use to listen to them is because my 17 year-old self crushed on a boy that was a devil-horn advocate and a rock star wanna-be.
Tonight i’m headed to Abu Dhabi to reminisce....
On a trip to India once, i met this New York avant-guard artist, who once came on a mission to Dubai to paint the ceiling of the Atlantis hotel. Her mission was to give the Atlantis hotel the feel of the Sistine Chapel. When i asked her of her experience and the honor she had for this project, she shrugged and gave me an empty look.
“That city is soulless”, she said. With no empathy, she looked at me and repeated: “Soulless!”
I was furious. How on earth can she call it “soulless”? It’s my current hometown after all! If she called Dubai “soulless” it meant i was “soulless”....And that i WONT accept!
So i made it my “soul” purpose to be part of any sort of culture in this city....whether discovering random ethnic restaurants in the middle of Deira or looking for raw talent in friends, or paying a whopping 500aed to watch Yaani in the park across my street! Anything, to prove to that New York artist that i was not a person that lived in a “soulless” city.
So i call out to all my Dubaiers!
Play that funky music on your guitars, spread that YouTube video of the up-and-coming artist, write those articles for free and blog the hell out of them....be your own artist, feel your own music and pay that whopping cash to see that band on their farewell tour!
Welcome to my first soulful post!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)