Alternate Vision

Please tell me this kick ass weather is here to say. I need it. Time to get cracking and take it to the house....

This is a wedding I had been waiting for. Cristiano, host brother from Brazil, and Michelle, his gorgeous girlfriend of close to ten years. I would have given anything to have made it out there. Time and money were against me.

Cris flew in from Australia, where he is getting his PhD, to tie the knot and take Michelle back with him. Am reminiscent of the long hours spent practising my portuguese with the family, soccer games with Cris, our trip to the divine beaches of Fortaleza, samba parties, churrascaria nights...and on and on..

I would go back in a heartbeat....

A riveting documentary on the industrial military complex by Eugene Jarecki

Here's an inspiring effort by the relatively young CEO of Head Sports Company to purchase a 400,00 acre plot of the Amazon forest (about the size of the Greater London area) to prevent logging companies from accesssing that area. Inspring because hopefully more millionaires and billionaires will follow his lead and support such conservation initiatives. This way, no more will time and money be wasted on persuading countries to convert state owned land to national parks and such. Wealthy, concerned globalistas can directly buy up the land and even get carbon credits for it. All it takes is one maverick to inspire a revolution...

James Lauer, my latest discovery. Based out of Chicago, his music is mainly "foreward thinking house and tecnho." You can stream and download mixes for free here

After close to five years of living in North America, I hopped over the border to step foot in Canada for the first time. Toronto, mainly. Mindblowing is the only word that comes to mind. It seemed like an odd cross between NYC, Boston and Paris. Five days was barely enough to get a feel for this incredibly global city. Apparently, 41% of the city's residents were born outside Canada. The weather wasn't entirely supportive all weekend, but that didn't stop us ofcourse. Late night dance distractions with Mark Oliver, lunch with old high school friends from Lagos, beer tasting at the bier market ( fruit flavored beers to imported european ales on draft), stroll around chinatown while munching on vietnamese-french subs, Tsotsi, chilling at Egglington with the best hosts ever. Seeing Shruti after six years. Always heart warming to pick up where you left off, except she is all ready to get married:)

The visit was mostly a tease, a taste of what the city has to offer and how much more there is to experience. Come summer time, I definitely plan on returning and hitting up Montreal as well. Its but a 5 hour drive from me. Next stop: DC for St. Paddy's Day.

27 Jan 2006

"I was reading this book with these civil war soldiers that were marching backwards and they captured a union wagon hoping to have good booty but all they found was like 48 cases of black stove polish so the guy writes home a letter to his fiance who turned out to be his half sister(dont worry they didn't..) but the point is he used stove polish. This is an error page thrown in the gutter out side of - printer's where they are making booklets that tell u you the traditional day for each christian calendar day, since the 8-day."

good luck with the GRE fool

Victor, a Colombian who was working in Adana while I was there maintains an awesome collection of travel photos. He is the only person whom I know who made it by road to Syria, Lebanon, Israel and eventually Egypt. His flighty feet took him as far as Serbia Montenegro, Boznia-Hercegovina and Macedonia one week. His coverage of Turkey was equally exhaustive. I can't think of a hot spot in Turkey that Victor hasn't traversed. Currently, he shuttles between Mexico and Colombia on work. Another nomad, in the true sense of the word. His photos are worth checking out. What I dig about his style most is his humility. He isn't one to brag about trips but boy has he seen a lot.

The legendary Afro-blues musician from Mali left us today. I learned to value his music properly only after Larissa (former afro beat band coordinator) introduced me to the cultural signifiance of his music. Like most other big artists from the continent, Ali came from a humble background (worked as a taxi driver, mechanic and a river ambulance pilot). He used to borrow guitars when he first started his musical career. He hails from Niafunke, a town in the north west of Mali which he eventually became the Mayor of in 2004.

His music was strongly influenced by Cuban dance music in the 70s, the Rumba from Zaire, Guinean guitarist styles, James Brown and Otts Redding. He pioneered the adaptation of the Sonhrai, Peuhl and Tamascheq guitar styles which come from the three dominant ethnic groups in the region.



My favorite album of his is Talking Timbuktu, a collaboration with Ry Cooder. Rest in Peace!

I should be preparing for class tomorrow. Instead, my mind is floating.. into the past. All thanks to a song by Yahel that threw me into reverie of the Beanna days. In no particular order, and for no other reason than to reminisce.....