Don Frà and the beginning of a wonderful 2007 or not...?

Friends,
you know I like to share things with you. And just before NYE, I would like to convey to you some wisdom that Don Frà was kind enough to let out in one of those rare moments of enlightenment.
While we were assuming that the rest of our common SOAS-time would be of high quality, loaded with fun and gaiety, Don Frà killed whatever sense of hope there was left by uttering:

“I don't think we will have fun guys, you know, we will fail and we won't be able to find a job.....
Happy new year and do not forget: life is a bitch and then you marry one (...)!“

As to the last remark, this refers to men and women alike – no gender discrimination here! Come on…we are at SOAS, we live the SOAS spirit! ☺
So, happy New Year to all of you and may 2007 be full of things you long for and much, much more…

Özlem, Ozzie, Oz…

Arab blogs

What other bloggers have to say about the excecution of Saddam: Arab blogs

According to a senior Iraqi source

It might only be a matter of a few hours....pls see the following:
Saddam may hang within hours: Iraqi source

Pls let me introduce...

I feel it is way about time to introduce to you some really important people!
Please check out the charming gentlemen to the right and my golden girls that make my London experience even more worthwhile ...

PS. And I do insist on having my croissants straight from Paris and espresso from Ferrara right after the x-mas break! Gosh, duce-like as ever...sorry, just can't help it :-)

Follow-up

Along the canal...

...when we took that long walk Jill Scott was singing about, Mo and I were just thinking how nice it would be to have our common apartment just right on the bank. We were quite pleased by the mere thought...so pleased that we had to ask someone to capture that moment with a pic...(the photgrapher himself was getting so excited that he actually recorded a little film, which, however, is not meant to be published here).

But no! New York, I'm not cheating on you - I was daydreaming only...if that meets with your permission of course.

"Can't stop this"

I've been to quite a few concerts in my life, but The Roots certainly are ranking on the very top of what I have seen so far. They have just left me speechless last Monday -which is a quite rare thing to happen. Anyway, we couldn't get enough, so we partied with them in the Jazz Café in Camden 2 days later.... again, I was left tongue-tied by the tunes Questlove presented that night.


I assume this monsiuer seems familiar...

Afropunk

Again a Blacktronica party, again at London’s National Film Theatre (NFT),...I found myself talking to Keziah Jones last night. I saw him performing in Cologne maybe 5 years ago, and hence was quite delighted to meet him on the same floor level this time. Anyway, I think I scared him a little, but that’s another story that I am too shy to share. I guess that’s too bad for you, my dearest readers. Just think of sth you think me capable of doing...yes! There you go! ☺

Yours,
Oz

PS. Afropunk was on last night's program. Hence the title of this entry! It all makes sense...somehow, somtimes at least.

Development and its misconceptions

Development! M. Duffield calls it the liberal technology of security, always in coexistence with a state of emergency or, if you like, an alternative to externalization. Put more provocatively, development as the liberal alternative to genocide! We are killing Afghanis in order to save them, that is to develop them. Admittedly, this is fairly portentous but provides extremely heavy food for thought at the same time.

Duffield was just one of the thought-provoking presenters at today’s book launch event at SOAS. What is the role of aid agencies, NGOs in armed conflict? That is the broader question J. Goodhand addresses in his latest book Aiding Peace?. So many things to think about…Check it out if you are interested.

Özlem

Very Floetic

I told you this would happen, I told you…
“We are gonna mess now, I step on one, you step on two…” That’s precisely what MB and I did last night, when we grooved to the extremely Floetic tunes of FLOETRY!! ☺ It was so cozy I couldn’t help thinking we were in my living room when we were moving “and feeling the vibe, right”!

The Jazz Café in freaky Camden Town was just the perfect venue for this very intimate, inspiring encounter with these two amazing ladies and their breathtaking band. “All I gotta say is i must be dreaming, can’t be real”, cause these ladies made us feel those very famous „Butterflies“ again. I think we all came very close to a collective Katharsis.

I will not go on impossibly reproducing the very special feeling last night’s concert triggered. Just allow me to say that if you ever get a chance to see Floetry live on stage, you better don’t miss them!

I was well equipped; enjoy the pics though not even slightly catching the capturing presence of Floacist and Songstress.

Oh before I forget - @ B$: I know you were electrified when calling me from New York right when they were going to introduce their band, which I think was partly from New York. But at least you caught a great moment. Why don’t you call next Monday when I will be enjoying the Roots here in good, old London Town?!

"It's getting late", I am out!

Oz