The Yuppie Activist

Support, support, support.

2012-02-02T12:07:00.002-05:00

As many of you know, Kalimat is my latest project and has been so for the past year and some. Last week, we launched an Indie GoGo campaign in order to help crowd fund the printing and international distribution of the Spring 2012 issue. It also helps ensure the longevity and continuity of the magazine.

We're a small team of passionate individuals with contributors from all over the world. Kalimat is media production company that features bold, engaging political, design, film, fashion, literature, musical and new media content. It is a social, cultural and political quarterly committed to providing an outlet for open expression within the Arab region and its Diaspora. At the same time, it is a visual communication tool that serves to educate both those who read it and work to create it. We seek to increase participation within the cultural/creative scene, providing a platform for Arab creatives to engage in thought and action around ideas, people and business, moving the world forward.Through the value of design-focused thinking, data visualisation, education and conversations with influential Arab creatives, Kalimat transcends and redefines mainstream media, challenging the status quo."

Please have a look at the video and our campaign page: http://www.indiegogo.com/kalimat-magazine
We have some great perks with every donation - and your support is appreciated.

What resonates in white people

2012-01-23T15:11:00.000-05:00

I revisited my Evernote archives and found this little piece of writing from December 2009. It seems appropriate now with all the "Shit XYZ people say" videos going around.

Having lived in Canada basically my entire life, except birth and two years when I didn't have hair on my head, I am pretty good at analysing "white" people. Whether you're a "white washed" immigrant, to an actual white francophone or anglophone, I'm pretty damn good at figuring out your mind and how you'll react to things. Let's analyse: below are some words that you'll say in front of a white person and what their reaction will be (read: immediate thought).

Comment/Question: "I'm going to a wedding" Answer: "Sweet! Open bar!"
Comment/Question: "We're going out dancing." Answer: "Oh you'll totally meet hot boys!"
Comment/Question: "Are you going to the work Christmas party?" Answer: "Hell ya, free booze? C'mon!"
Comment/Question: "I had some Arab food today." Answer: "Oh I love Lebanese food."
Comment/Question: "I'm Palestinian." Answer: "So you're like from Israel?"
Comment/Question: "I had a really bad day." Answer: "A bottle of vodka will cheer you up."
Comment/Question: "I don't really watch television." Answer: "OMG, my life would cease to exist without Gossip Girl!"
Comment/Question: "We don't drink at our weddings." Answer: "Is that legal?"
Answer: "You're Muslim? Why aren't you wearing that thingy...you know...on your head?"
Comment/Question: "We're going out for dinner for Sara's birthday on Friday, are you in?" Answer: "Oh I'd love to but I'm so broke!"
One week later:"Hey!" "Hey did I tell you I'm going on a Euro trip this summer?" "I thought you were broke?" "Yeah, yeah, I'll save up."

1,2,3...hit it!

2012-01-18T20:02:00.001-05:00

It's been three years since I first started The Yuppie Activist, inaugurated with this post. What to say, what to say...I've been slacking in my posting. I've also not been as engaging as usual or just irrelevant which is what explains the silence among the readers, who still happen to exist (according to google analytics)!

In light of that first post, I revisit where I was then and switch it up for the now. It'll give you an idea of what's the same and what's changed since.

It's still not a comeback and I've still been blogging since mid '07. Ottawa Street Style's commitment has practically faded, and I've moved to Baltimore to pursue a Master of Arts in Social Design. I think we're done with the hinting most people know who it is, let's get to the good stuff, shall we?

1 still applies
My ethnic background continues to be as mysterious as the colour of my eyes and hair for that matter. People still think I'm dark despite my fair complexion merely because my hair is dark. Doesn't work that way.
I'm even more highly educated. Highly means I dropped $35,000 (minus a few more thousands for scholarship) in one year for an MA.
4 still applies
5 still applies
6 still applies
7 still applies. However, I have watched television since that post as a previous roommate of mine insisted we get cable. Since cancelling the cable, I have found TV on the internets, mostly in the form of "The Wire" because I live in Baltimore.
8 still applies.
My hair cut is not as cool as it once was, the greys have hit me hard, and I sold the condo I used to call home. Now I live in an apartment I can actually afford because it's in the hood. It's all part of the programme, plus I have a studio downstairs so that's pretty damn cool.
10 still applies.
I've learned more recipes but can't be unique with my cooking. I continue to be quite the wall painter, read a lot (too many at the same time for that matter) and illustrate.
12 still applies.
13 still applies. Now it's even more madness. I started Kalimat, a magazine about Arab thought and culture, which consumes my life, but I love it, and hope to accomplish the long term goals I have for the organisation.
I'm unsure about 14. I'm going to have to get back to you on that one.
Who would I be without my sense of humour and sarcasm?

And there you have it...three years later. There are a few things I should add but I'll leave it at that! Thank you to all those that [still] read this blog - I truly appreciate the time you take to click the link and read the posts and I hope 2012 will bring some interesting content!

It's the 2011 musical countdown

2011-12-29T14:55:00.000-05:00

I debated not doing this mainly because I feel 2011 has been a lacklustre year for me in music, but I realised that I have done so every year since having this blog and I can't possibly break tradition! So without further a due, I give you the yuppie's top jams that I think came out in 2011 and were on my playlist in 2011.

The entire Tiger & Woods "Wiki & Leaks" album

If you haven't heard this - you should. Probably the group I've danced to most in 2011, Tiger & Woods' first album "Through the Green" didn't make me move like their second release (except for "Gin Nation" - solid track). Their mystery adds to the funk.

The entire Toro Y Moi "Freaking Out" EP

A remix of "Saturday Love"? YES please!

Hanging onto every heartbeat - Cut Copy

Prisoner of Love - Jessica 6

With you - Carte Blanche (featuring Alexis Taylor)

I feel like if you have bad track, just add Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip on vocals and you can make the track 90 times better

Sorry - Justus Köhncke with Alexis Taylor

I think I played this one 10 times a day.

Siriusmo - Blaue Sonne

Hold My Breath (Tiger & Woods Remix) - Holy Ghost!

[Catch] your breath! This remix is deemed "cross the dancefloor" worthy.

Itchy Fingers - Junior Boys and Second Chance - Junior Boys

I am a huge fan of Junior Boys, but the past two albums have not compared to "So this is goodbye". The latest album "It's all true" is aiight, with a few tracks that will make you hit play over and over. My personal replays are "Itchy Fingers" and "Second Chance"

If I Ever Feel Better (RESET! bootleg remix) - Phoenix

"If I ever feel better" is my favourite Phoenix song and when I found this remix, I was sceptical since, well, how can you make this song better? The remix doesn't necessarily contribute to the song, it merely adds a different flavour to it.

Kaputting It Up (Raekwon vs Destroyer) - The Hood Internet

"Wasting your days, chasing some girls alright, chasing cocaine to the back rooms of the world all night." The masters of mash-up hip hop do it again.

Corinne - Metronomy

Metronomy never disappoints.

The entire Azari & III album

This isn't just here to support Toronto boys, all these tracks are mad dope and they deserve a big applause.

New Song #5 - The Radio Dept.

The dream pop sounds of the Radio Dept ooze nostalgia, it's a feeling that can't be helped.

Rips

2011-12-06T10:40:00.001-05:00

I purchased these April 77 Joey jeans from Carte Blanche three and a half years ago.Yesterday, they finally ripped. People think this is a sad time, and I mean it is, mainly because you can't get April's anymore and because one of your favourite pairs of jeans has a whole in it, but on the contrary. See, I've been working these bad boys for years. I practically slept in them and washed them after a year. Whiskers and other markings were in place - these jeans were awesome for that. And now, one of the belt straps gave out and there's a hole. I'll likely not wear them as often, but, mission accomplished I guess!

Thesis it, thesis it, thesis it, thesis it.

2011-12-05T00:13:00.001-05:00

Before we hand in our thesis proposals in a couple of weeks, we are asked to answer various questions and explore numerous areas to get us to that final stage. This week, we are asked to refine our questions, take a first pass at answering and framing the questions(s) and identify another reading for discussion.

Refine your thesis questions - Have you narrowed or broadened the topics? Has your research evolved your approach or point of view?

Looking over my three questions from last week, I think I'm pretty set on my research topic. I’ve tried a combination of all three with this question:

Gentrification has come to define a “safer” neighbourhood, but alongside the many negative effects associated with gentrification, the most important is that it strips away the rights of the residents to decide what their neighbourhood needs. What are the elements required to rebuild neighbourhoods to make them safer, more liveable, cohesive, inclusive and open to everyone without displacing the residents?

Take a first pass at answering the framing and positioning questions

After reading the Monocle Liveability index, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to develop a neighbourhood liveable index – however, I don’t think a general index will suffice. Each neighbourhood, like every city, is different, and we must keep in mind that they cannot all be judged on the same criteria. In order to develop this, I think an infographic analysing the essential elements from each liveable index (Monocle, The Economist, Mercer, etc) and comparing them would be an interesting exercise.
Furthermore, dealing with “ideal” elements in a city, this can be answered using images – ie what do these “ideal” scenarios look like? The Arsenal of Exclusion and Inclusion book by Interboro Partners already attempts to visualise the 100 weapons through signs, parks, etc, Monocle sells an illustration on their online store of the perfect city and the perfect street, Baltimore Open City invited artists, students, academics, community organisers, residents, and others to create a series of workshops and installations based on the inclusive city. But how many of these elements overlap? What if the neighbourhood residents were to draw these elements, just like Jeanne van Heeswijk asked the children in the Face your World project to do so? It would be a nice comparison – to take all these projects and compare them to the image one entire neighbourhood has for their area.
Further to this, I think mapping would play a big role in my research – looking at vacant lots and properties, transportation, grocery and food availability, etc.

Identify an additional reading that informs your thesis

Mercer’s annual Quality of Living Survey: http://www.mercer.com/press-releases/quality-of-living-report-2011

Feedback after my presentation last week all lead to pursue readings on other liveable city indexes and so I did just that. I was lead to the “Economist Intelligence Unit Global Liveability Ranking” which assesses living conditions in 140 cities around the world based on 30 indicators assigned across five broad categories: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure. The survey gives an overall rating of 0-100, where 1 is intolerable and 100 is ideal. But since the survey costs $500 and there isn’t much information online, I opted for the “2011 Quality of Living worldwide city rankings by Mercer” (The Economist uses a lot of its data from the Mercer consulting group).

Mercer’s annual Quality of Living Survey identifies the 221 most liveable cities (it surveys 420 cities) based on 39 criteria, grouped in the following 10 categories:

 Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc) 
Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services, etc)
Socio-cultural environment (censorship, limitations on personal freedom, etc)
Health and sanitation (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc) 
Schools and education (standard and availability of international schools, etc)
Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transport, traffic congestion, etc) 
Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure, etc) 
Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars, etc) 
Housing (housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services, etc) 
Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters)

Many of these are relevant, more so than those from Monocle, however, the indicators are again more applicable to cities as a whole. In something I find somewhat strange, Mercer compares all cities to New York, which is given a baseline score of 100. Alongside the Quality of Living survey, it assesses cities through a separate “Personal Safety Ranking”. Unfortunately, surveys like Mercer are produced for the benefit of multi-national companies, in order to help them open offices or plants and how much to compensate employees, etc.

I also decided to read “Disappearing Acts: Harlem in Transition” an essay by Robin D.G. Kelley in Jerilou and Kingsley Hammett’s book The Suburbanization of New York. Kelley’s essay discusses the transformation Harlem has undergone in the past decade and the effects of Manhattan’s real estate value on local residents, on the old signs and edifices that remind the observer “what black Harlem was and could have been” (63). Kelley’s essay discusses the effects of gentrification on a place like Harlem, one that was labelled the most important black city in the world, and which offered hope for a new beginning. And even though there is countless literature on how the city was lost and the golden age gone forever, how will this new market like Harlem attain that?

Instead of helping the residents of Harlem better their neighbourhood by creating low-income housing, job creation, support for local businesses and other services, developers and investors draw up plans for restaurants, fast food chains, chain stores and condos, demolish old sites and call it “the second Harlem renaissance”, one that promises a unique experience in Black culture, yet it is merely the Disneyfication of Harlem. This essay truly highlights the importance of authenticity in a community like Harlem. The needs and feedback of Harlem residents were overlooked and developers and investors sketched out Harlem according to who they felt should be there, all while promising the “Harlem experience”.

Thesising

2011-11-30T22:34:00.001-05:00

[Via]

That's right, semester I is almost over, and that means we're moving towards our thesis work. "A one year programme with a thesis?" As Omar Little says, "IN-DEED!" No one said it's going to be just some simple course work, so let's get to work. Our first assignment in preparation for formulating various thesis questions in order to narrow down our topic was the prompt assignment. I've included all the questions and included my answers. Although I considered tackling another topic, one I'm already considering implementing with Kalimat - that of media and design education and how these fields can empower communities to become collaborators and producers, but since I live and breathe Kalimat, I decided to focus on another topic I found interesting and the only questions I could compile were merely the same ones reworded, so I'm pretty set on my area of interest. Plus, I think it encompasses the definition of social design pretty well.

Formulate 3 different potential thesis questions.

How can we rebuild neighbourhoodsto make them safer, more liveable, cohesive, inclusive and open toeveryone without displacing the residents?
How do we avoid thinkingthat gentrification is beneficial to neighbourhoods and find new solutions torevive areas that have negative reputations of high unemployment, crime andother factors?
What are the elementsrequired to rebuild a neighbourhood in order to make them more inclusive andcohesive without displacing the residents?

Share 3 existing (socially focused) projects orinitiatives that inspire your thesis.

Face your world – Ohio, Slotervaart and Rotterdam:

The idea behind Jeanne vanHeeswijk’s project “Face Your World” is to offer children a learningenvironment, in which they could learn how to investigate and adapt to their livingenvironment. Children could engineer their surroundings, combing and re-usingexisting elements in order to devise new and innovative visions for their city.Children were given digital cameras to photograph various downtownneighbourhoods, they would then upload the photos into the Interactor, a 3Dcomputer programme which allowed them to reconfigure their environment usingthe images and the 3D version of the city. They could then select from alibrary of images whatever they needed to change their environment.
http://www.jeanneworks.net/
http://www.faceyourworld.nl

SumCity by Interboro Partners:

Neighbourhood change isinevitable in a dense, desirable city like New York City. But does neighbourhoodchange have to be a zero-sum game? Does someone’s gain have to be someoneelse’s loss, or can neighbourhood change happen in a way that mutually benefitsboth parties? “SumCity” is a neighbourhood development plan for the Dutch KillsNeighbourhood of Long Island City. The neighbourhood was chosen for a fewreasons: on the one hand, it already evidences the values of SumCitydevelopment, where one party’s gain is another party’s . . . gain. DutchKills—like most parts of Long Island City—is radically mixed-use, with adiversity of land uses, building types, and cultures that not only coexist, butactually mutually reinforce each other. On the other hand, Dutch Kills is goingto change: development pressure—in the form of hotels, class A officebuildings, and luxury residential towers—threaten to disrupt the neighbourhood’sfragile ecology. Intervention is needed if Dutch Kills is going to grow in away enhances what’s great about it.
http://www.interboropartners.net/2011/sumcity/

Roundtable Lisbon - Reinventing centralities: UrbanRegeneration and Mobility:

The aim of the Roundtablewas to illustrate how innovative planning and mobility can help policy makersto respond effectively to intensification and cohesion strategies, and toinspire the various urban stakeholders to strive for an imaginative, ambitiousapproach to future policy development, area frameworks and individual projects
http://www.inta-aivn.org/en/activities/exchange/roundtables/2011-lisbon/roundtable-lisbon-reinventing-centralities

Baltimore Open City

An open city is a placewhere everyone feels welcome, regardless of such things as wealth, race, age,or religion. In every neighbourhood of an open city, one feels like he or shebelongs. However in Baltimore—as in most American metropolitan areas—issueslike housing discrimination, bad public transportation, and the privatizationof public space separate people, and create an uneven distribution of health,wealth, and education. The exhibition Baltimore: Open City, students ofMaryland Institute College of Art’s Exhibition Development Seminar invitedscholars, activists, community-based organizations, local artists, and visitingartist Damon Rich to create a series of installations, workshops, and otherpublic programs that investigate the ways in which Baltimore is and is not anopen city.
http://baltimoreopencity.com

Arsenal of Exclusion/Inclusion

This yet to be releasedbook explores the 101 “weapons” that architects, planners, policy-makers,developers, real estate brokers, community activists and other urban agents useto restrict or promote access to the space of the city.
http://www.interboropartners.net/2011/arsenal-of-exclusion-inclusion-mural/
http://arsenalofexclusion.blogspot.com/

Identify a reading that informs your thesisquestions.

Monocle's 2009 25 most liveable cities index - Issue 25, volume 3, July 2009

Post a written reaction of the reading.

As a regular reader of Monocle, I look forward to their annual “Top 25Cities” survey where they start off with a shortlist of 40 cities and sendresearchers to urban centres to compile data, and who make their decisionsbased on various indicators. I didn’t have a copy of the 2010 edition off handand so I read through the 2009 edition. Even though Monocle’s idea of a greatcity isn’t the ideal example I want to base my research on due to its somewhatelitist nature, the indicators they provide for the survey are a greatfoundation. Here are the indicators, and I’ve included if they are relevant tomy research or not:

Safety/crime

Relevant

International connectivity

This is more relevant to the city as a whole

Tolerance

Relevant

Urban Design

Relevant

Public transportation

Relevant

Medical Care

This is more relevant to the city as a whole, I would change thisindicator to “access to medical care”

Pro-active policydevelopment

Relevant

Access to nature

Relevant

Climate/Sunshine

Although sunshine is an important factor to happiness, I wouldn’t thinkit’s as relevant to what I am proposing

Business conditions andease of opening a business

Relevant

Environmental issues

Relevant

Chain store pollution(international vs. local)

Relevant

Infrastructureimprovements

Relevant

Most of the indicators are relevant due to their broadness and I feel I candefinitely expand on these and make them more about neighbourhoods than wholecities.

Looking over the survey, it’s not surprise that the top 25 cities aremostly in Western Europe and four in Japan. The 2009 survey is heavy on smallbusiness start-ups due to the financial events that took place in 2008: whereis the best place to start up a business and to get the most resources? Theyemphasise that city governments do more to encourage existing small businessesto flourish and expand and encourage entrepreneurs to launch new ventures, anelement I feel is important to rebuilding neighbourhoods that retain theresidents.

The survey also discusses how residents are getting more interactive andhow access to open data can increase citizen engagement. Peter Tattersall, anarchitect in Helsinki, initiated workshops where residents can puttogether plans for new developments in their neighbourhoods which aresubsequently submitted to the architects and city planners involved. City DIYtype projects are another essential piece for rebuilding neighbourhoods.

What I really love about Monocle’s survey is the various initiatives andprojects taking place in the top 25 cities they feature. You can tell it’s wellresearched and the short paragraphs discussing every indicator are extremelyinformative. I also enjoyed the chain store pollution indicator – it wasfascinating to see the numbers amongst various cities and how many rely onlocal businesses vs. international ones. For example, Madrid has 43 Zara locations(no surprise, Zara is a Spanish company) and 40 Starbucks locations, Vancouverhas 1 Zara and 120 Starbucks locations, Montreal has 3 Zaras and 16 Starbuckslocation and Copenhagen only has two Zara’s and two Starbucks location (both cafésare at the airport).

So this is (really) goodbye...

2011-11-29T14:22:00.001-05:00

My intersection

This past weekend I had to say goodbye not only to the place I called home for over three years but to my neighbourhood. Throughout my time in the Fashion District, I've developed so many relationships:

With neighbours who would call you at 3am and for who you'd cross the street over that late just to hang out, drink tea and chat
With the neighbour next door who would constantly sing "Dream Girls" and opera songs so loud it kept me and my roommate up at night
With the neighbour across the hall who would go downstairs every 30 minutes or so for a cigarette and when I asked him why he didn't smoke in his condo, he replied with "eww", which shocked me because he always smelled like an ashtray
With the security guards I saluted everyday

The grumpy Jay who I once caught listening to Ruby
Dolly who always said "hello dear" and once got angry at me asking her if she was Sri Lankan (in fact, Dolly told me she was "British Guyanese", embracing colonialism it seemed)
With the awkward Donald, who always seemed to be in...space.

Coffee shop employees that see you so often you seem to get free coffee and treats when you are going away on vacation (or for school) and where the employees are genuinely interested in the work you're producing while you've reserved a seat and a table for hours
And even with the superintendent who complains more than she helps and always tries to sell you her husband's under the table repairs (that $25 caulking job was junk)

View from my rooftop (2009)

[Via]

I moved to King West Village in December 2008 and I've been around for quite a bit of its constant transformation. I've seen the condo footprint expand in the 'hood where every parking lot, gas station and vacant lot became condos and lofts, seen some hipsters move in when the Drake General Store set up shop, followed by the Hoxton, witnessed the convenience store below me change ownership from a friendly Iranian owner who knew the meaning of community, who had numerous female problems and included at least three f-word's in every sentence to a Chinese owner who speaks zero English and knows only to charge you ridiculous prices for items like a Bic pen, I've seen restaurants come and go, witnessed the Travelodge get demolished instead of converted and the Thompson hotel go up behind it, the Coffee Time, which I was convinced was merely a front for money laundering, finally became another King West wing shop that has yet to open, and so much more.

Thompson Hotel Rooftop View
[Via]

Although the neighbourhood wasn't my favourite place to be Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, it was great during the daytime, and I always felt safe on its streets no matter how many wacko clubbers and other "sketchyness" was out there. The infamous McDonalds below my house where King West clubbers leave their dignity at the door is a place I'll miss. This is the place where I've seen the female anatomy in every position possible and all forms of the "walk of shame". It's also the one McDonald's in the city that numerous people have labeled "the worst Mickey D's in the city". No matter how simple or complicated your order is, it takes 20 minutes and there's always an employee yelling at another in the back.

[Via]

My subway station

McDonald's isn't the only thing I'll miss in the neighbourhood, there's an abundance of businesses, people, conveniences and happenings that I'll be nostalgic for: the derailment of the Bathurst streetcar, sending sparks everywhere is one, the constant reminders for tenants not to throw cigarettes out of the south facing windows (looking onto King West) is another, alongside all the other "reminders" and "attention attention" signs we have in our elevator, the beautiful rooftop view, Jimmy's Coffee, La Merceria, Zoe's Bakery, Sadie's, its proximity to Queen West and the park, I could continue for awhile.

Changing the tracks
[Via]

[Via]

My condo has seen its share of pleasant and unpleasant guests, and even though she was small and slightly uncomfortable at times, she was mine, and the first thing I've ever owned. I didn't realise I wouldn't spend another night in my condo until I signed the papers and the sale became a reality. The hardest thing I had to do was write a letter to the new owner - overwhelmed by emotions, I wrote: "I hope this place means as much to you as it did to me," and I sincerely hope it does. Farewell my first home, farewell 700 King.

Joshua To

2011-11-28T07:49:00.001-05:00

Day 1 with Josh, he introduces various projects he's worked on

The great thing about our programme is that it attracts a diverse range of people interested in working us - from artists to designers to philanthropists to venture capitalists. Joshua To, a former Google man, founder of social entrepreneurship organisation like Brute Labs and now working on a new project called Hattery, spent a week with us and kicked off our latest project: a guide for organisations or individuals who are interested in getting their project off the ground (and keep it going). We based our information on existing guides but the difference was, ours would be highly visual and much more of a summary in order to get people to actually read it but at the same time, get something from the guide.

Late night brainstorming

Briony and I were assigned to the idea generation portion. After going through several sketches and numerous post it notes that were trying working like a flow chart manner and a quiz, we decided to focus on how ideas are actually generated and made it into a mindmap model. The mindmap worked off initial ideas in order to get your ideas flowing, which I think works great when dealing with the concept of the idea whereas a flow chart and a quiz are quite limiting.

Beck and Josh show off the Sip & Bite menus. The entire rebrand was produced by our Professor and programme director Mike Weikert.

(Most) MASD students and faculty with Josh

We spent all week with Josh, working in the studio and taking him out to Sip & Bite at late hours of the night in order to take a break! What I enjoyed about his visit was his engagement with us - he was genuinely interested in our opinions and ideas. Josh has done some fantastic work with Brute Labs by initiating projects like Well Done, and although the former is now only a resource centre living online, his experience inspires me to work harder at creating projects that don't lose the drive and enthusiasm and continue to proceed.

Injured Cities, Urban Afterlives

2011-11-20T19:54:00.001-05:00

Back in October when Teddy Cruz paid a visit to our space, he told us about a conference he would speaking at in New York City. Since Teddy's ideas were very inspiring, I decided to go down to NYC and attend the Injured Cities, Urban Afterlives conference.

The conference aims to explore the effects of catastrophe and to imagine more life-affirming modes of redress and reinvention. The conference programme had a long list of speakers I was excited to see such as Ariella Azoulay, Walid Raad, Teddy Cruz, Shirin Neshat, Dinh Q. Lê and Eyal Weizman to name a few. The speakers were asked to imagine creative responses to disaster and explore the effects of catastrophe on cities, their inhabitants and the larger world.

I apologise for the terrible quality, these were taken with my phone which was quite the shaky experience.

Walid Raad

Shirin Neshat

Eyal Weizman

Left to right: Mabel Wilson, Eyal Weizman, Clive van den Berg, Teddy Cruz and Rosalind Morris

Teddy Cruz's presentation

Walid Raad's presentation

Books, books, books, ra, ra, ra

2011-11-15T23:51:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, I am one of those people that reads seven books at once, never finding the time to finish one and always wanting to start another. I've even lost track of what I'm reading. After narrowing it down to the list below, I realise this is absolutely absurd.

Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

Suburbanization of New York by Jerilou Hammett, Kingsley Hammett and Martha Cooper

The Palestine Liberation Organization: People, Power and Politics by Helena Cobban

Some class readings I'm lagging behind on...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Naked Innovation: Uncovering a Shared Approach for Creating Value by Zachary Paradis and David McGaw

Not in My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American city by Antero Pietila

Can't forget some books from MICA Faculty:

Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students by Ellen Lupton

Graphic Design: The New Basics by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips

Here are the ones I'm itching to open:

The City & the City by China Miéville

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Tell em

2011-11-14T18:45:00.001-05:00

Many designers think design will save the world, but this shirt tells them how it is with a little extra spice.

Data Visualisation critique, part II

2011-11-01T14:32:00.000-04:00

Working with the feedback I received the week before (as discussed here), I decided to change up my infographic and add another one to the mix.

I started by showing the monthly income with the total monthly benefits a family of 1 to 8 persons receives. It was suggested that I divide the total monthly benefits with the amount of persons in a household and get the actual number each person receives for food stamps.

After completing that, I decided to illustrate what items are eligible and ineligible for purchase with food stamps. I used vector clip art that I found online, and made some of my own when I was unable to find some suitable ones. It's fascinating what you can get with food stamps.

To take my research one step further, I decided to head next door to the corner store and ask the owner (who spoke zero English - my colleague had to speak to him in Spanish) about the purchasing habits of the neighbourhood. He mentioned that not many people use the benefits at his store because they usually do so at the grocery store, but when they do, it's mostly for sodas and snacks. And we wonder why there's an obesity problem.

John Hawks - Social network mapping

2011-10-28T21:25:00.000-04:00

During one of our mapping sessions, we were paid a visit by John Hawks. Hearing John talk about what his work entails was truly fascinating. He does something called social network mapping with a company he founded in 2004 called Community Analytics.

Social network mapping gets insight from a community - discussing with existing networks for advice. Community Analytics helps organisations map influence networks and identify the trusted advisors who know the community.When it comes to decision-making, we turn to people we know and trust for insight. When an organization wants insight into a community, they need to talk to these existing networks of advice that connect us all.

First critique - data visualisation

2011-10-26T23:47:00.000-04:00

On Monday, we had our first official critique. The assignment was to make an infographic based on our research for Healthy Baltimore 2015. Since I had a difficult time understanding the concept of food stamps, I thought I would try and explain the process more understandable visually.

I received a lot of great feedback from my profs and colleagues on this and look forward to expanding it.

Creative Time: Living As Form

2011-10-21T00:39:00.000-04:00

Last month, myself and a few people from my programme headed to NYC to attend the Creative Time "Living as Form" summit at NYU. With a long list of excellent speakers, I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would learn and benefit from this summit. I had been to too many where I felt I wasted my time and money.

Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Luckily, Creative Time had speakers on for 10 minutes where they talked about their work, read their manifestos (like Mierle Laderman Ukeles) or showed short clips. Fortunately, it was beneficial. I learned about many organisations I had never heard of before who are doing great work and their visions influenced me to look at other projects I wanted to pursue with Kalimat and in my graduate research. Alan W. Moore, who discussed the idea of squatters and how they changed the face of buildings was one of the most interesting talks.

Jeanne Van Heeswijk

Jeanne Van Heeswijk, winner of the Leonore Anneberg Prize for Art and Social Change, definitely deserved the award. Introduced by Laurie Anderson, Jeanne talked about all her projects including "Face Your World" where kids would lobby the government for change by making kids design homes and cities through a specially made software. It was quite fascinating and such a great idea that made fantastic use of the imaginations of children.

Katerina Šedá

Katerina Šedá's game "There is nothing there", although it was being translated on the spot from Czech to English, made everyone howl of laughter. She managed to get two Czech villages to follow the same schedule and do the same thing at the same time. The game is based on the idea of predictability and the assumption that nothing happens in a small town.

Here's a home boy from the TDot that I met, Darren O'Donnell. Cool guy. Told me when I'm done school, I should come back to the TDot.

After the summit, we headed to the old Essex market in the Lower East Side to check out the exhibit. Because I had come in from Baltimore, I missed Alessandro Petti from Decolonizing Architecture's talk, but after some serious ~~looking~~ stalking, I had the opportunity to chat with him briefly at the exhibit.

Revitalising Vacant Lots

2011-10-12T21:08:00.000-04:00

During week 7, representatives of the Baltimore Mayor's Office including Baltimore City's Chief Service Officer Vu Dang came by for a meeting at our studio to discuss potential ways that us Social Design students can work with StepUP! on their latest initiative "Power in Dirt". Power in Dirt focuses on revitalising and rethinking vacant lots in the city (there are over 5,000 owned by the city and over 14,000 city wide).

I was amazed at their openness to provide resources to any person, organisation or group with a great idea to do something in neglected communities and revive the lots. Power in Dirt's goal is to improve physical and mental health, nutrition, increase property values and reduce crime by maintaining and caring for the physical surroundings.

I was also surprised by the simplicity of the whole process - bureaucracy free I'd say! Adopting a lot means the lot is yours for a year, and if you continue to work on this lot for 5 years, the city will likely give you the land after that time!

Challenge the Status Quo - Design Conversations

2011-10-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

Last week, I was invited to speak by dcenter in Baltimore for Design Conversations regarding the state of design in the Arab region. I was speaking alongside Baltimore Design School (a new public school focused on design and architecture which is such a fantastic idea) and my roommate who was discussing Failure.

I was given free range with this theme and could lead it into whichever path I desired. Since my audience was predominantly white designers and architects, I wanted to introduce the topic by being detailed but not too detailed so as to lose everyone (like going into the history of the Lebanese Civil War for example). I wanted people to hear something they don't usually hear which will enable them to see the topic a little differently.

I first discussed how design and media are perceived in the region, moved onto the state of the education system, then off to the Arab inferiority complex and why we need to challenge the status quo (the motto of Kalimat) and ended off with why I started Kalimat and its role and importance in media and design amongst Arabs. Mission accomplished, or so I think!

Speaking of Kalimat, Issue 03 (Fall 2011) was launched a couple of weeks ago, have a look:

Teddy Cruz

2011-10-10T13:47:00.000-04:00

“Social Design is about trying to inject new protocols into institutions.” Teddy Cruz.

Lower [East Baltimore] Side

2011-10-10T00:11:00.001-04:00

Middle-East Baltimore

Lower East Side (via)

Being obsessed with New York in the 1960s and 1970s, I realise that I live in a parallel world here in East Baltimore. When I walk down the streets of the Lower East Side nowadays, I stop and think that if I return to East Baltimore in 30-40 years, will the same drastic changes that took place in the Lower East Side, a neighbourhood whose past is very similar to East Baltimore's present, happen here? What will East Baltimore look like? Only time will tell I guess. For now, I'm trying to settle in.

Middle-East Baltimore

Lower East Side (via)

Middle-East Baltimore

Lower East Side (via)

A visit from Dan D'Oca and the MFA Curatorial Practice students

2011-10-09T09:13:00.000-04:00

It's always exciting when we have visitors in our space and that's why most of us were really looking forward to Professor Dan D'Oca's lecture at MICA Place and a happy hour with the students from the MFA Curatorial Practice programme. Luckily, our new ping pong table arrived and it was installed in the studio!

What's interesting about meeting the Curatorial crew is we're both brand new programmes at MICA and MFA Curatorial Practice is the first of its kind in the country, initiated by founder and director of the The Contemporary Museum in Baltimore George Ciscle. Furthermore, the Curatorial crew is based in Station North, Baltimore's arts district, off campus and attempting to engage a community in their work just like us, which means we're sharing similar experiences.

Dan is challenged to a game of ping pong

Dan discussed the work his firm Interboro Partners has done, the book they are releasing soon about 101 weapons that either open or close a city, his exhibit at MOMA PS1 and the Baltimore Open City exhibit. Overall, very interesting stuff. My favourite quote? "White people come in with their farmer's markets and think they'll change everything."

A visit from the Commissioner of Health

2011-09-30T09:42:00.000-04:00

In week 4, the commissioner of health, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, paid us a visit to discuss the city's latest initiative, and our next project, "Healthy Baltimore 2015."Healthy Baltimore 2015 (HB2015) distills and targets health priorities in Baltimore and focuses on 10 priority areas that account for the greatest possible preventable disease, disability and death:

Promote Access to Quality Health Care for All
Be Tobacco Free
Redesign Communities to Prevent Obesity
Promote Heart Health
Stop the Spread of HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections
Recognise and Treat Mental Health Needs
Reduce Drug Use and Alcohol Abuse
Encourage Early Detection of Cancer
Promote Healthy Children and Adolescents
Create Health Promoting Neighbourhoods

Dr. Oxiris outlined the challenges and opportunities of the programme and how we can contribute to the success of the project including communication, facilitation and integrations.The goal of HB2015 is to address these areas from three perspectives: policy development (health in all policies) to improve environmental, social and economic conditions affecting the health of Baltimore, promote prevention, and access to quality healthcare and maximise community engagement - informing, educating and engaging Baltimore residents to improve their health and the health of their communities.

Since we were already working on Bike Box, we decided to focus on #3: Redesign Communities to Prevent Obesity. Obesity is a huge issue in Baltimore and is linked to serious health conditions. For HB2015, redesigning communities means increasing physical activity levels and improving dietary patterns (including the consumption of more fresh fruits and vegetables) and providing more readily available access to fresh foods. With Bike Box, we want to hire the youth of the community to be the delivery people which will also increase physical activity, and since Bike Box is a grocery delivery system and produce cart, we're touching on access to healthy foods and bringing fresh fruits and vegetables closer - hoping to encourage grocers to open a store and serve the community.

Confessions of a Canadian studying in the US

2011-09-26T21:51:00.001-04:00

The transition to the US must be the easiest, after all, Canada is America's little sister right? So what's been different in this place? Well for one, people are amused by my fascination with how 12-16oz coffee cups are considered "small", how the tax at the end of the bill never really surpasses $2.00 and why I am bitching about paying for medical insurance when "back home, this is free."

The US is ghetto - this is something I knew before, however, now that I am actually living in the ghetto, I can tell you, Canada really has no ghettos. The "ghettoest" place in Canada is sometimes considered a middle-class neighbourhood here. There is no balance between the rich and the poor here, it feels like Central and South America. Take a turn on the wrong block and grab your vest. Take another turn and make sure you don't get hit by one of those giant yuppie strollers.

Other observations? Here are a few from my short time here:

The word "caramel" is said strangely here. It's like "curmel", or maybe because I studied in French me pronouncing it "ca-ra-mel" is bizarre.
Pronouncing letters like "T" is forbidden and straight up weird. Baltimore becomes "Ballymore"
Flyer is written "flier"
Just like the Arab countries, spelling here is inconsistent, example: "Centre Street" and once or twice I saw "theatre" as opposed to "theater".
If you thought Service Canada was a mess, wait until you go to the social security office.
Accents are difficult to decode, example: "d'you stull wan' a sureal?" (do you still want the cereal).
I am collecting too many discount cards - it's like every chain has one. And the savings are legit. I saved a lot of money at Safeway and bought more than six things at a big chain pharmacy (Rite Aid) that added up to $25 (unlike Shoppers, where, if you buy two items, you've spent $23, no matter what you bought).
The term "going up to the cottage" or even just the word "cottage" is not used here. I was asked what I meant by several people.
I have to attend the orientation sessions with international students, yet every international student is curious to know why I sound like an American but am considered an international student.
You know that ring engineers wear on their pinky once they graduate in Canada? They should start implementing that here, there's been some very questionable engineers dealing with massive demolition projects (i.e can't answer basic questions or begin to comprehend the meaning of decontaminating soil).
Appetizers are totally meals here.
Everyday I feel like I'm living a Spike Lee movie. Or just an American movie.
Here, people aren't passive aggressive. Except maybe some. Students, mostly.
Spotify, Netflix, Pandora, Amazon Prime...I can't keep up with all these things that aren't available, or have limited availability, in Canada!
The word "curated" is too loosely used here. It bothers me. Maybe it's just an art school thing.

48-hour blitz

2011-09-26T12:21:00.000-04:00

John Bielenberg

Ideas, ideas, ideas.

In Week 3 of the Fall 2011 semester, John Bielenberg from Project M spent a week with us - working and living in our space. John engaged us in a "48-hour Blitz". The goal of the Blitz was to create something memorable that benefits the East Baltimore community, then document it in a 48-second video. We were assigned the same group as for the 10x10x10 assignment the week before and quickly sat in the studio and brainstormed ideas. Mobile library? Library-café in the community garden of the church? Ideas, ideas, ideas.

I quickly looked through many articles that I had written for a few old clients and found several great ideas hidden in those blog posts that influenced my proposed idea. The day after we were assigned the blitz, the neighbourhood had a meeting in our space regarding the proposed demolition of the 8-acres of row homes directly near us, in order to make way for a new school. There were several serious issues discussed during this meeting, including potential health hazards such as dust, rodents and lead. We regrouped that night with John and thought maybe we could do something to raise awareness about what is happening in the area. We agreed this should be a group assignment as opposed to taking it on in teams of two. Then we discussed our ideas with our professors during our studio time in the morning. We realised we weren't thinking about this the right way and went back to brainstorming. We all proposed other ideas. Many of the ideas being thrown around, like a circus for example, were, in my opinion, elitist ideas that don't benefit the community but are what students want to see for themselves. I felt strongly about mine and teamed up with my colleague Julie who also thought the idea was viable.

Discussing the prototype with Mike and John B.

The idea:

By this point we had about 12 hours and went straight to work. I decided I should target the following problems facing the neighbourhood:

Lack of transportation in the area
The unemployment rate amongst males 16-40
Food desert

Julie's professor worked on a project offered by the health department called Baltimarket, an online and in-person grocery ordering system that delivers your groceries to the local library. Customers had a one hour window to pick them up and take them home. But what if you're still more than 2km away from the library? That's a long walk. Although I think Baltimarket is necessary and brilliant, it still didn't deliver groceries to people's homes. Furthermore, it didn't make fresh produce directly available to the immediate Middle-East Baltimore area (yep that's what the area is called!).

So, basing my idea on the Fruixi concept and the drug dealers who deliver on bicycles in Montreal, I came up with what is now called "Bike Box". Bike Box is a bicycle grocery delivery system that is available in-store (there is still a digital divide in this area) and online and delivers your groceries directly to your front door. It also functions as a cart that rides around the neighbourhood selling fresh produce to the residents from the nearby farmer's markets at reasonable prices. We sat down and wrote a proposal and decided that we would use recycled bike parts, hire the youth to ride the bicycles and teach them how to repair them to increase their skill set. We began working on a prototype. Luckily, we didn't have to have the finalised product, just a prototype that functions properly and document it (we already have an idea what we want the box to look like and the materials to use). Julie worked on this while I focused on creating a website, documenting the process, editing the video and the branding component.

Here's what we came up with:

Stenciling ain't a thing.

The logo. Adjustments likely to be made...eventually.

Thankfully, Bike Box is a necessary concept that works and something we can expand on further as we will be working on it with the Health Departments "Healthy Baltimore 2015" initiative where we are attempting to redesign communities to prevent obesity.

Storefront churches

2011-09-20T09:37:00.000-04:00

East Baltimore has a lot of churches and numerous storefront churches, most of which are now closed and boarded up. One of the first assignments during grad school was called the 10x10x10. In groups of two, we had to go to 10 places, meet 10 people and collect 10 artifacts. My team targeted churches and what we noticed was an abundance of storefront churches. These churches had some of the best mottos and taglines ever and some great painted signs.

Grad School characters

2011-09-18T15:25:00.002-04:00

[Via: Open Culture]

You Lose

2011-08-12T17:22:00.003-04:00

He used to wear a baseball cap and when he would remove it, his locks would fall all over his face. He was 17, he wore Police sunglasses and little did he know that a few years later, he'd start balding. He was so concentrated on the game but once in awhile, he'd look over at me, just to make sure I was there, looking over his shoulder, watching him play Street Fighter at the arcade at the mall near the house. If he lost, he would reach into his light coloured jeans and grab another quarter, slip it into the machine and play again. I was eight, and two years later, the arcade closed and became a dental office.

New illustration work

2011-07-12T16:24:00.004-04:00

I recently did some illustration work (poster and a business card), one for a DJ duo named LOOT and the other for producer and sound designer Karim Sultan. Check it out, there's more on my website.

Front of the business card for Karim Sultan

Poster for LOOT - Geoff and Jamie

Bright Lights [not so big] City

2011-07-10T22:04:00.001-04:00

Mind the Gap

2011-07-03T18:50:00.010-04:00

My apologies dear readers for being a little less bloggy in 2011. I have been busy with stuff (including putting together Issue 02 of Kalimat which I hope you'll check out), preparations and a visit to London.

Five days is not enough to see swinging London, even if those days are jam packed from 7am until 3am. Regardless, I tried to make the most out of it. I was impressed by a lot of different organisations and people including the Arab arts and cultural scene and the activism scene. There's always something going on here so if you're bored, that's strange. Aside from my jam packed days, London was also the first place where I spent close to 1 hour waiting for a table at a restaurant (Tayyab's). It was well worth it.

I also spent a lot of time comparing the London underground tube system to the TTC, because I enjoy comparing transportation systems. The TTC can learn a thing or two or five from London, and so can New York for that matter. Although the Tube is crammed, terribly hot and expensive, it works and for someone who is using it for the first time, it's simple (despite the intimidating map). Maybe I'll save those for another post.

Despite the warnings that London is expensive, when I think about it, if 1 pound sterling is relative to 1 dollar, then it isn't that much different (food, clothing, etc). Other London observations:

the beef tastes really weird
for a chain that's on (almost) every street corner, Pret a Manger chocolate croissants are delicious,
if you're at Russell Square station, consider taking the lift up
I have never encountered so many American tourists in my life,
every curry house on Brick Lane claims to be the best one in town, some even include the direct link to the BBC article on their sign
I have never seen so many Kuwaiti tourists in my life....

British internet is slower than North American internet but it's faster than European internet
ask for tap water, otherwise, you'll pay 3 pounds for a glass bottle
this place is super multicultural
when the sun comes out, everyone's out
you must really "mind the gap" on the Tube
galleries are free...

If you cross the street when there is no "walk" sign, you are fair game, like the Arab world, Londoners do not stop. It's more dangerous in London because they drive on the left and most people are not accustomed to this so it adds to their confusion. The city has painted "Look Right" and "Look Left" on the streets at the crossings to make it easier, I think it was due to the tourist death toll from crossing the street related incidents.

Fundraiser Loft Party - June 24

2011-06-10T16:43:00.003-04:00

I'm hosting a fundraiser loft party for my magazine, Kalimat. The goal is to raise funds in order to print the magazine and make it available worldwide. Join us for hors d'oeuvres, Arab specialty drinks, dancing and surprises at a special fundraiser loft party where we'll be releasing our Summer issue. Sounds by DJ Karim Sultan. I hope to see you there!

Date: Friday, June 24, 7pm

Location: 52 St. Lawrence Street (St. Lawrence and King Street East), Unit 315, Buzzer 0217

Tickets: $10 in advance/$15 at the door, available at kalimatloftparty.eventbrite.com

Some cool stuff from around the interwebs

2011-05-29T13:25:00.010-04:00

Lacoste Legends

Lacoste Legends brings together 12 legendary collaborators from various fields like music, media, design and retail, to create an exclusive collection comprising of 12 shoes. For the launch in Argentina, they recreated a newspaper with 12 headlines presenting the shoes and a newspaper dispenser containing the newspaper. [Via: Behance]

Listgeeks www.listgeeks.com

A social network for people who like to make lists of things, Listgeeks helps you create, share and compare lists of things.
The world's most inspiring bookstores

Places of note that will make you rethink those e-readers (which I'm not a fan of as you know from this post)

Herman Dune X April77

One of my favourite brands April77 has teamed up with Herman Dune for their latest collaboration to create the DAD chino. Details are awesome as always and the collection is available exclusively at Colette [Via: Modissimo]

Bowties: a user's guide

There's a guide for the now ubiquitous bowtie. [Via: Materialiste]

Gil Scott Heron X Jamie XX

Unfortunately, the legendary Gil Scott-Heron passed away on Friday. His last LP I'm New Here released in 2010), was recently remixed by Jamie XX from the XX. We're new here was released in Feb 2011).
[Via: Hype Means Everything]

The yuppie's guide to protests

2011-05-24T11:36:00.006-04:00

Having been part of the activist community for many years, I've learned a thing or two about organising protests - on both sides. Here's a handy list that you can use to get started on your next rally.

PS: This mostly applies to a Palestinian protest with an Israeli opposition on the other side. PPS: This blog post is not attempting to undermine my peoples, I do after all attend them and believe in the cause, I just also think we can change a few things about them to make them more efficient and make a statement.

Palestinian side

A loud woman on a mega phone yelling out the slogans and constantly reminding you of her refugee status: I want to mention that this may just be a Toronto thing because in other protests I've attended across Canada, this wasn't necessarily the case. She yells slogans like "Stop the Killing stop the crime, Israel out of Palestine" and "No Justice no Peace" but she stops, takes a deep breath and likes to tell you a story about where she's from and how she was exiled and all that. Sometimes it feels like the entire Palestinian story happened to this girl (Nakba, Naksa, Black September, Lebanon, Sabra and Shatila, Gaza) so you start wondering.
Someone performing spoken word poetry: If there's one thing I hate, it's spoken word poetry. There are over 800 reasons why I dislike it, which I won't get into, and for some reason there is always someone who wants to perform spoken word poetry at rallies. Unfortunately this is like the worst kind too.
Gaza: If there's one thing that's really bothering me about the conflict right now it's the separation of Gaza from Palestine. I can't help but get angry when I hear "Free Palestine, Free Gaza" as if the two aren't the same place/people. This is wrong and must be corrected and when you tell people they just look at you, shrug their shoulders and continue chanting it. Another thing that's always noticeable at rallies is that they bring someone from Gaza to speak. Usually this person has never been to Gaza, or visited once in 1995 and has some family there that discuss the situation with them but that's about it. Although they are really connected to Gaza it doesn't make them a credible source. In my opinion, if we changed their role from someone speaking about the situation to just someone giving an inspirational speech that would be better.
A previous revolutionary from either the PLO or PFLP to speak: Ahh the glory days! This is a staple event - the man never refers to his past, you just know who he is if you've read some books. He serves as the "motivational speaker" getting the crowd going and excited. Usually the man is a total 3ammo (uncle) wearing a leather jacket, a plaid shirt with a pen in the pocket, probably has a mustache, wears khakis and chain smokes. You relate to him because your dad most likely resembles him. Not mine though.
The Keffiyeh: The dude who only goes to Arab parties to meet girls decides to attend his first protest. His contribution? A keffiyeh. Also, everyone who owns a keffiyeh wears it on a day when a rally is taking place, it's the code.
Someone selling Marxist magazines: Rain or shine, these homies are there selling.
An elderly passing out flyers: Just like the Marxist magazine sales people the old folks are running around the crowd (rain or shine) passing out "flyers". Usually they aren't flyer size but either 8.5x11 or 11x17, typed with comic sans or times new roman and include way too much information. Let's get creative with visual communication materials, as I discussed here.
The backwards flag: No matter where you go, this is a staple item. The flag is backwards. Why? Don't ask me, it just happens...every. time.

Israeli side

Yep, those are rockets in the Palestinian flag colour

The core seven crazy members of the JDL: You can't have a protest without "The JDL Seven" as I call them. These homies will say whatever is on their mind. Like internet trolls, they scour the city for information on where a Palestinian related event might be and make sure to cause some trouble. I'm surprised no one has arrested them yet. Actually, that doesn't surprise me at all.
Offensive signs that if the other side had a sign with similar language we'd all be in jail (exhibits below)
Signs with slogans that are irrelevant: Usually talking about Islam and Sharia Law, they have nothing to do with the conflict, save us the 9-11 discourse.
Nationalist songs: They need to take slogan advice from their Egyptian neighbours
That crazy woman who walks around the city calling people "anti-Semites" and "self-hating" (usually found in Yorkville): She rips posters off poles and harasses anyone near them.

That reads "Sharia is the end of Freedom"

Maybe a little research on this topic will do you some good. Here's my reco: A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two peoples by Ilan Pappe

That reads "Stick the Nakba up your Wazoo"

My top...seven

2011-05-11T16:16:00.001-04:00

Several months ago, a conversation took place at Sweaty Betty's regarding my top five songs. It took me awhile, but I ended up compiling eight and then remembered only seven. So, here's my top seven list of songs (in no particular order) that I can constantly loop and never get sick of. I know there's more but you know how it is when you have to think of it on the spot. What are you top songs?

That's the way love goes - Janet Jackson

Away - The Cranberries

Lover's Spit (Beehives version) - Broken Social Scene

If I ever feel better - Phoenix

Never felt like this before - Charlie Smalls

Closing Time - Semisonic

Smooth Operator - Sade

Ladies and gentlemen...

2011-05-04T15:30:00.003-04:00

Last week I launched my new initiative, Kalimat Magazine - a magazine about Arab thought and culture created by Arabs (within the region and the Diaspora) for everyone. Kalimat is online for now but I'm hoping to be in print soon. Take a look at the online issue at www.kalimatmagazine.com and make sure to visit the interactive components (audio+video) under "New Media Extras". I hope you like it :)

Creative Type No. 3

2011-04-28T11:33:00.004-04:00

Last week, I attended the opening night of Creative Type 3 at the Palmerston Café and Gallery. Creative Type No. 3 is an annual exhibit of experimental typography, featuring the works of more than 60 artists and designers from across Toronto.

If you're interested in checking it out, the exhibit is running until May 1 at the Palmerston Café and Gallery. Drop-in gallery hours:

12PM – 5PM Tuesday – Friday; Saturday & Sunday 10AM – 5PM.

iPod touch snaps:

i like stuffffff.

2011-04-21T12:01:00.008-04:00

Nice! Old colleagues being used in the print ads. If I still worked at DDB, I wonder if I would've been suited for a criminal shot...hmmm...

Boys, get your summer ties out!

Kul stuff

I need a weekender bag.

Dope.

Social Design - Practice + Perspectives

2011-04-19T17:10:00.003-04:00

If you're in or around Baltimore, drop your "Wire" jokes for MICA Place in East Baltimore (814 N. Collington Avenue) on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 from 17h to 19h and learn more about using design as a tool for positive change. I've had a chance to visit MICA, meet some of the panelists and also tour MICA place and it's awesome.

Panelists include Mike Weikert, director of the Social Design (MA) and Center for Design Practice MICA, advisor for Project M, an international social design initiative, principal of Weikert Design and the creator of Small Roar; Ryan Clifford, Faculty Director of the MICA Design Coalition, project manager of MICA’s Center for Design Practice and advisor for Project M; Ryan LeCluyse, former AmeriCorps Vista, co-director of the M Lab, a rural community design studio, and founder of the bicycle co-op, BikeLab; and Becky Slogeris, MA in Social Design graduate candidate with an interest in the role of design in education reform, co-curator of Baltimore: Open City.

A portion of the proceeds from the event will support Baltimore art + design programs for urban youth. For more information please email Elizabeth.

You can register for the event here.

What you're likely to hear

2011-03-30T14:14:00.003-04:00

I meant to post this earlier in time for fashion week, but it completely slipped my mind. I've compiled a list of songs you're likely to hear at this season's LG Fashion Week in Toronto. Although LGFW started on Monday, there's still time to hear some of these jams on the runway. My predictions are usually accurate, but if I'm wrong then, sorry.

"Hello" - Martin Solveig and Dragonette
"Pharaohs & Pyramids" - Cut Copy
Most of the Toro Y Moi album
Far East Movement - "Like a G6" (Despite it being a last season and season before that runway hit, I think one designer will put it in)
Anything by Drake. Ugh.
"Safari Disco Club" - Yelle
Songs from the Twin Shadow album
"Snake Charmer" - Bag Raiders
Anything by The Black Keys
Songs from the TRON: Legacy Soundtrack
"Odessa" - Caribou (again, same thing as "G6" but it may come back)

What would be nice to hear:

Kalimat Magazine

2011-03-28T12:17:00.004-04:00

Back in the summer, I had an overwhelming amount of ideas floating in my head. The months of uncertainty that followed were spent sketching ideas and conceptualising.

In December, I finally had the finalised design and text for my latest project Kalimat Magazine and had a soft "spread the word" type of launch. April is the month where I will be launching the online portion of the magazine, which will be followed by a print edition in the summer (hopefully). On April 16th, Kalimat is hosting a Livestream of TedXRamallah, as part of our partnership with the TedX event. We're also going to have a few talks and live performances of our own. So if you're in the Toronto area, make sure you head over to Beit Zatoun at 612 Markham Street at 18h00 and attend this event.

And don't forget to check out and support Kalimat.

The concept of being busy

2011-03-21T15:16:00.002-04:00

We all have friends who are constantly bragging about how busy they are and why they have been missing in action lately, but frankly, I don't consider being "too busy" an excuse to not maintaining a relationship with people, even if it's a brief two minute phone call or message every month or so. I personally consider myself a busy person because I partake in a lot of activities. Alongside my full time job, I also do freelance work, run several personal projects, and volunteer, but I make sure to always have time to hang out with friends, socialize and send personal emails/messages checking up on them, even if they are far away.

People always complain about not being able to "find the time", but the truth is, it's not about "finding time" it's about "making time". Making time helps you manage, organise and prioritise. If you're constantly overwhelmed, maybe you shouldn't be taking up so many activities. The fact that we are constantly connected (internet is widely available, smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc), gives people no excuse to not respond to their messages and not keep in touch or send off a brief "hello, how are you?" If you find the time to check your Facebook account, write on someone's wall, post a few links, photos and comments, it's likely you check your emails and your cell phone messages. And if you have the time to do everything it is people do on Facebook, you surely have the time to respond to a friend who has been attempting to reach out to you for awhile with a simple message.

What shocks me is that most people who claim to be unbelievably busy are ones who are in school (don't get me started on people in relationships who choose to seclude themselves in a box, destroy all their friendships and then when their heart is broken, attempt to find a friend to lean on and can't find one). I went to university, and while in school, I worked, volunteered, and participated in countless students activities. I understand that some majors require more work than others

and that constant studying is a priority, but if all you're doing is school, then there really is no excuse. I understand your priorities, but one should never forget to maintain relationships with others.

There's no such thing as being too busy. The fact of the matter is, people like to pretend they are busier than they actually are. They check their phones constantly, attempting to show others how busy they are but in reality, they are just playing a silly game on their iPhone.

Caffeinated illustrator

2011-03-04T12:33:00.002-05:00

Forgot to post this but last month my coffee sleeve illustrations were featured as an inspiration on Paintlounge, a social painting tea space in Markham.

exhaustion.

2011-03-03T12:05:00.003-05:00

Sometimes you do things, impulsive things usually, and no matter how important they seem to you, it doesn't matter because it's not enough, it's never enough. Sometimes you let go of things, material things, and think that what you're going to pursue is more important than that but then you wake up months later and you're right back where you were initially, with the same faces and places surrounding you, you're left wondering if letting go of that thing, as material as it was, was right.

I've been awake for over 12 hours and it's 14h. I'm the type of person that thinks of 98 things at once...too many thoughts for her own good. I'm that person that runs on 4-5 hours of sleep and has more energy than a five year old. No matter how much I try to rest, my body still can't manage to stay still and I wonder if I am going to spend the rest of my life feeling this anxious. I'm convinced that when I die, I'll still be thinking and waiting and oh how I hate waiting! It's not because I am naturally impatient, it's the fact that I really have no idea what I am waiting for.

There is a Chinese proverb that says the three hardest things in life are loving someone who doesn't love you back, waiting for someone who never comes and not being able to sleep when you are so tired. I might be facing a mix of all three, or maybe just one, I may never know, but instead, I'll continue to wait, and not out of choice.

From my Reader: great ads from across the universe

2011-02-05T12:07:00.008-05:00

A friend suggested I use Feedly for my RSS feeds and I haven't looked back since. It compiles all your content in a nice magazine layout and has multiple sharing options. If you're using the Google Reader interface, switch to Feedly, not only because it's aesthetically more pleasing but because it gives you great options to discover on the sidebar and integrates more than one social network. After over a month of letting the unread count on feedly pile up, I finally got around to checking it a few days ago. This "From my Google Reader" post is a collection of great advertisements I stumbled upon and thought you'd enjoy to. So, yep, enjoy!

Agency: Giovanni+Draft FCB, São Paulo, Brazil [via 1, 2, 3]

A commercial using Star Wars is bound to be hilarious.

Agency: Deutsch LA [via: Fubiz]

"Put even your worries to sleep" - what the rich, powerful and famous dream about.

Agency: McCann Worldgroup, Mumbai, India [via: 1, 2, 3]

Agency: DDB Barcelona [via: I believe in advertising]

Agency: Colle+McVoy, Minneapolis, USA [via: I believe in advertising]

From my ears to yours: the yuppie's top music blogs

2011-01-31T22:06:00.004-05:00

Friends always stare at me and laugh when we go out dancing because I almost always know the beat and lyrics of the ambiguous song that's playing yet I never know any of the radio hits. Well, I don't own a car and I rarely watch television meaning I don't listen to the radio or watch music videos and so I seek help from the interwebs to fill the gigabytes of my ipod.

To help you enhance your musical palette, I have compiled a list of blogs that I frequently visit for new music. These blogs stay up to date and feature the freshest tracks and remixes. Several music blogs have come and gone, and many of the great ones are no longer active but there's always a new one to be discovered (bless the internet). May the contents be as much use to your dancing feet as they are to mine.

Analog Giant

Harder Blogger Faster

Yes, I adore disco. Discobelle.

Modular People

Gorilla VS. Bear

The Culture of Me

Hands down, a great podcast: Pig Radio

Just like Pig Radio, Freedom Record has a bumping podcast.

Big Stereo

Circle Square Triangle

Asian Man Dan

2011-01-30T21:00:00.008-05:00

[Via: David Lanaspa]

[Via: ViaCom]

[Via: Fubiz]

[Via: September Industry]

[Via: Coute que Coute]

[Via: The Shiny Squirrel]

[Via: The Sartorialist]

You don't need to have a lot of money to be presentable.

2011-01-30T11:18:00.001-05:00

As someone who has experience working with non-profits and community groups, one thing that bothered me was the mentality that presentable communication materials were only possible if the organisation had a lot of money. This is not the case. I will admit, not all organisations can afford to have such strong and effective messaging like Amnesty International who works with reputable advertising agencies like TBWA and Leo Burnett to name a few, but other communication materials such as newsletters, websites and posters can have great design and content and cost very little. All it takes is to trust that you CAN have these materials and looking for the help in creating them. Most organisations completely set aside the importance of these materials and attempt to produce anything using any software on hand.

Thoughts on "Incendies"

2011-01-23T15:26:00.006-05:00

After missing it in Gatineau back in October, I finally attended a screening of "Incendies", a film by French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, based on the play by the Lebanese-Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad, Art Director of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. I had mixed feelings about the film. The story is great - it keeps you on the edge of your seat, and the film is shot beautifully, but what bothered me was the location and the casting choices.

The film never refers to a specific location, all we know is that it takes place in the "Middle East" (read: Arab world). I read a story in the Globe that said all the names of the villages are made up in order for people not to associate a specific country with the film, but if you are familiar with the events of the Lebanese Civil War, you are aware the story is based on it. After all, referring to a 15 year war in the Arab region that involved people from refugee camps, Christians, Muslims, in a place where people speak an abundance of French, whose skyline is covered with destroyed buildings and make numerous references to the South is obviously Lebanon. With these facts, Villeneuve inadvertently identifies a location. By shooting in Jordan and not attempting to mask the location, he identifies another location. Anyone with knowledge about the region can identify location #2: the dialects of the actors, the street signs (Zarqa, Rainbow Street), the desert like appearance of the place, the clean streets, the random shots of Jordanian licence plates and a red, green, black and white flag with a white star, are all clues. I could not help but think of this throughout the film. For me, location plays a huge role, and its common for one city to substitute for another, but masking a location without truly masking it won't make me think I'm somewhere else.

Overall, the acting was convincing, however, the casting was odd. Belgian-Moroccan actress Lubna Azabal plays the lead role of Nawal Marwan. She has tried to convince us of her Levantine accent before (Paradise Now), but people (read: Arabs) wondered if she had a speech impediment because it didn't sound right. Lubna is a versatile and talented actress and her performance in Incendies is proof of that, however, her accent is not the least bit convincing, and leaves one hoping she speaks more French than Arabic in the film. And then there's Allan Altman in an Arabic speaking role. Allan deserves a big congratulations on learning Arabic and not butchering it too hard for the role, but it was obvious he did not speak the language. I do not understand why no Arabic speaking actor was cast in this role. Altman's character came 3/4 into the film and there isn't a lack of actors who speak French and Arabic.

Incendies is worth watching. The film is visually pleasing, the plot is strong, well scripted, and featured some great acting. For those that are not too familiar with the region and who do not speak Arabic, what I just mentioned will not bother you, but if you do, then it most likely will. I'm just giving you something to think about.

It takes two.

2011-01-18T23:37:00.002-05:00

My suitcase is on the floor. The clothes are still inside, unpacked, except for a few things. Maybe I should unpack, I feel like I've been recycling clothes. My bookcase is still empty, save for the books and magazines I actually unpacked. But things are still up in the air, which is why I've kept everything as is. Toronto makes me unproductive, or maybe it's the fact that my desk is covered with papers and doesn't feel like my space. May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January - that's how long I've been living out of suitcases and never have I unpacked them. Boarding passes from Beirut, Bilbao, Barcelona, Amman, Orlando, Chicago, Frankfurt, Toronto, Winnipeg and Ottawa peek out of the pages of my journal. My body has forgotten the concept of time, and my phone is tired of changing time zones and sim cards. I even stopped asking if the tap water was safe and just took my chances.

It's hard to believe that it's already 2011. The length of my hair is a sign of how much time has passed since the last time I was in my own house, sitting and relaxing on my couch. 2010, in comparison to 2009, was a much better year for me, I've accomplished a lot throughout the year, although sometimes I feel like I haven't. Despite the cloud of uncertainty that continues to hover over my head, the entire journey was necessary for my mental and physical health, it was an experience I may never have again. I had the opportunity to teach for the first time, to visit more cities in a day than I could ever imagine, to interact and meet some of the most fantastic people, explore and document societies and cultures and eat copious amounts of good food. What was the biggest lesson learned? That I need to pack lighter.
I have so much I want to write, but I can't seem to piece the sentences together.

Two years of maintaining this blog today, and although I haven't posted as much as I should have (I've even forgotten to post about my adventures with the bedouins in Wadi Rum and at the Red Sea) here's to another year of yuppie activism. I hope you'll still be reading.

Florida's theme parks through the ipod touch lens.

2011-01-04T13:01:00.019-05:00

Disney parks visited: 3

Disney tickets lost: 1
Amount of encounters with Mickey and Minnie: 1 from afar
Amount of photos with Disney characters? 1 (Pinocchio)
Amount of rides I was looking forward to and it was closed? 3 - 1 closed for maintenance, another for renovations and the last one replaced by another ride.

Amount of rides I was looking forward to riding but wait time was too long or my party was complaining? Definitely 8-10.

When I was 9, my parents took me and my older sister to Disneyland in California. I met all the Disney characters, got them to sign autographs and pose with me in photos I waited for anxiously (35mm days). I had a great time. A few years later, my parents took me, my older sister and a new addition to our family (my little sister) to Disneyworld and Universal Studios in Florida. This time I was older and taller, and therefore able to ride more rides. Again, I filled my autograph book with signatures from all the characters, and several films were processed featuring me posing with characters. We took another two consecutive trips, why we went down to Florida so often I don't know, but when you're a pre-teen, it doesn't matter.

My mother goes to Florida almost every year with my aunt, my aunt's granddaughter, and another addition to my family - my littlest sister. This year, my aunt and her two sons were also coming so it was going to be a big [sister] reunion. I tagged along for numerous reasons: it was better than spending two weeks bored and dying of cold in Winnipeg, my cousin recently moved to West Palm Beach and just gave birth to her first child, and I love rides, I'll go on anything (I like to live life dangerously).

Returning to Florida in my twenties makes for a radically different experience: I see these theme parks for what they really are, and not what I used to see them as. I observe everything around me, and decided to snap these observations with my ipod touch, as an experiment of sorts.

Disney's tag line is "Where dreams come true" but in reality it should be "Where your second mortgage will come to haunt you." Both Disney and Universal have hired the best of the best in strategy on how to get you to empty your pockets by the end of the visit. First there's the ticket prices (high season, low season), which can vary almost up to $30 depending on the day you choose to go, the food, and the exit through the gift shop. Now if your kids grew up in the Gulf, you're in for a treat (more on my solution for these bratty children in another post), you not only have to close your eyes when buying all the unnecessary items your bratty children want but you'll also have to get another bag at the airport to store the stuff they'll get bored of the moment they land back home. That's on top of their whining and complaining about long line-ups. Florida theme parks are the perfect example of America's insane love affair with stuff. A love affair that has been passed onto the world, thanks to technology and tourism.

When I compare Disney and Universal Studios, it's obvious that the one place plagued by avarice is Universal Studios. One day, the Islands of Adventure park was overcapacity and some rides had a waiting time of 200 minutes! What's more is everything from snack bars to bathrooms had a line up. If you wanted to buy a fastpass (a ticket that allows you to bypass the regular line), a single ticket sets you back $79.99 (more expensive than a one day ticket to the park), and is valid only at one park. Did I mention you can only ride the attractions once with this pass? Frustrated by the shoulder to shoulder traffic, we left the park, only to find that the area had been closed off and police was brought in to control the crowd who were lined up to get in. My mother goes over and asks if they could offer us a refund since we just entered the overcrowded park and found nothing but line ups and little room to move. They said no. Then she asked if they've offered anyone a refund. They said yes, twice: once when September 11th happened and another when Florida was hit by a hurricane. Disney knows its limits and has a much more efficient waiting time system. I've even personally witnessed an act of kindness: someone's credit card got rejected at the parking and the Disney employee gave them free parking. Disney has a promise to keep, making your dreams come true.

But what happens if you lose your Disney ticket? Well those dreams are crushed and replaced by nightmares, unless you're really into the Disney experience and book a room in one of their resorts then congratulations, something good has come out of your investment, your ticket is protected. And of course there's having a photocopy of your ticket. Otherwise, you're pretty much out of ~~money~~luck. Both Disney and Universal scan your fingerprints in order to "personalize" tickets (that's what they told me). It's merely a mechanism that ensures no one else uses the ticket. Disney, however, only scans it the first time you enter (if you have a multi-day pass). This helped me enter the park with my aunt's ticket when I lost mine. L'avare Universal scans it every time you enter the park, even if you visit every single day.

Guess who?

Aside from that experience, I was disappointed at the way character meetings work nowadays. Back in my day, I could go up to any character randomly walking around the park, take a photo with them and get an autograph. Now, children and parents must wait in long queues for characters to show up at specific times in order to meet them. I barely saw any characters, whereas back in the late 90s, I filled my entire autograph book - at both Universal and Disney. I even met Captain Hook.

Things that need improvement: aside from the silicon food, something needs to be done about the lighting in some places, i.e. Dr. Doom ride in Islands of Adventure. I ran into the people in front of me while in line.

Fast pass dispenser machines at Disney: Florida gets some unusual cold weather and only 2 out of 6 machines are operational. A long queue awaits. I ask the employee why the other machines are closed and why these active machines are swallowing people's tickets. He responds "it's the cold weather, the machine does not function properly." So with all the money Disney's making off of park goers and all the technology they possess, a machine does not work properly once the weather is below 7 degrees?

When I was young, I never realised how much my parents saved and spent on our Disney and Universal tickets alone. I stared at the children and all the things they cried for and felt so sorry for the parents, most of which cannot say no or just want to prevent a scene from happening. They'll understand one day, if they visit the park once they are older.

Disney's attempt at "nerdy" is hipster.

Mickey rides an Amsterdam cruiser. You can see it at his house in toontown.

No one does "mornings" quite like Minnie.

Seuss Landing - Islands of Adventure (Universal Studios)

He even smells like Strawberries.

Numerous items including Mickey's mailbox take this form around Mickey's house. Kinda narcissistic.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure

The detail is incredible, you can even buy butterbeer (delicious but how you'll feel diabetic), definitely worth the wait. The 4D ride in the castle is good, and the roller coaster is thrilling.

Creative Jamming

People I stalked

Oh c'mon, stop acting as if you wouldn't have taken these either. Panda hats? So cute.

It's kind of blurry but never in my life did I ever think I would only wait 5 minutes for this ride.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Dinosaur ~~Claws~~ Claus

Fix your accent.

2010-12-25T11:04:00.005-05:00

The small cup is suddenly a medium, and the weather is almost always in the double digits, even if it feels cold. These are the signs of being in America. I'm currently in Florida, on a family vacation. Normally, I would never take a trip with my mother, my two bratty little sisters, my aunt, her granddaughter, my nephew, my other aunt and her two sons, but since being in Canada (specifically Winnipeg) was making my hands feel like sand paper that's never getting softer even after constant use, I decided to get some sun. A part of me secretly wanted to visit Disney and Universal Studios again, it has been 13 years since my last visit and I adore rides.

Florida really is a swamp. The water tastes like it's straight out of the sewer. I attempt to keep my mouth completely closed when showering because I am constantly gagging.

Everywhere you go in Orlando, there are numerous restaurants and stores with wood as opposed to glass for windows. Closed up, probably due to the recession. West Palm Beach does not look as affected - its restaurants and shoppes are packed. But the senior citizens definitely overpower the amount of youth and so do the Lexuses and Mercedes.

*Photos taken in West Palm Beach

This...is...the...countdown: UPDATED

2010-12-24T21:42:00.006-05:00

I'm currently in Florida, with limited to terrible internet access that I am squeezing through freelance work, personal projects, and visits to theme parks, but it's important that I end off the year 2010 with a top music playlist. Last year, I compiled a list of songs that were descriptions of my feelings during every month of '09. This year, I'm being lazy, mainly because 2010 passed by so fast I can't even remember how I felt every month and what I had on loop, and also because the past four months have been confusing to say the least. Regardless, here's my list. Some of these may not have been released in 2010 but, whatevs. Happy Holidays!

*Songs are in no particular order.

**I just noticed that the 2009 post was posted on December 24, 2009.

***~~I AM GOING TO BE POSTING A DOWNLOAD LINK AS SOON AS I GET TO SOME DECENT INTERNETS, BUT THAT MIGHT NOT HAPPEN UNTIL JAN 1, 2011.~~ IT SEEMS THE INTERNET WORKS IN FUNNY WAYS AROUND HERE. IT'S SLOW/FAST, FAST/SLOW. DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE PLAYLIST HERE.
****SORRY FOR THE caps.

Ariel's Pink Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round (I know, I know, I'm agreeing with Pitchfork)
Miami Horror - Holidays
Tokyo Police Club - Favourite Colour (PUNCHES Remix)
Atlas Sound - Wild Love
The Radio Dept. - Heaven's On Fire (acoustic)
Black Strobe - Me & Madonna (The Twelves Remix)
Justus Kohncke with Alexis Taylor - Sorry
Jolie Cherie - Insomnie
Azari & III - Into the night
Girl Talk - On and on
Girl Talk - This is the remix
Summer Camp - Round the Moon
The Narcicyst - Mister Arab
MGMT - Congratulations (Erol Alkan Rework)
Jupiter - Starlighter
Cocteau Twins - Sugar hiccup
Twin Shadow - At my heels
Tamer Hosny - Yana Ya Mafesh
Elissa - Masdoma
Jens Lekman - Maples Leaves (EP Version)
Broken Social Scene - All to All
Kavinsky - Nightcall (Breakbot remix)
The Pipettes - Our Love Was Saved by Spacemen
Caribou - Odessa
Thieves Like Us - Never Known Love
Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours
Passion Pit - The Reeling
Blue Scholars - New People (Empire Remix)
Hussein Jasmi - Seta El Sobh
Toro y moi - Talamak
Deerhunter - Helicopter (Star Slinger Remix)

The most wanted ipad app

2010-11-26T11:31:00.004-05:00

Since the launch of the Apple ipad back in April (more imitations to follow), more and more people are opting to download digital books and substituting the physical book for the ipad. This disappoints me for a number of reasons, mainly because with the ipad (or kindle, etc), you can't be a thumb licking page turner. I mean, the mundane act of watching someone read a book is made very entertaining when said person licks their thumb, index finger, or whichever one, to turn the page, but with the ipad, this humourous act is completely eliminated. So I started thinking and sketching a digital solution to an analog action, and came up with an app which, I hope one day will be developed (sorry I don't have these skills) in order to make reading books on electronic devices entertaining for those of us who still like to carry a book, turn a page and admire other aspects of this ancient communication tool.

Enter "Thumb licker", an app for the ipad that gives you that old school thumb licking/page turning feeling with a new school feel. Coming soon to the app store.

This is...

2010-11-22T17:59:00.001-05:00

No wonder my bag is always so heavy.

no option for extension

2010-11-18T22:36:00.001-05:00

It's hard to imagine that today marks five years since she felt that feeling. Five years and everything since has been temporary. Her memory recalls the day vividly - even the clothes she wore, the accessory she had on her backpack, and the way she wandered around aimlessly, confused and unable to understand why she had done what she had done, but she knew it had to be done. She wonders if she's the only one who remembers this date, but it doesn't matter because here she is, five years later, still looking for that feeling, that feeling of permanency.

Until then

2010-11-16T23:30:00.002-05:00

She loves to put us down. All of us, not just me. "I won't tell you what people said about you, because I'm ashamed to tell you and hurt your feelings." I know deep down it isn't people, but it's her thoughts of me, what she thinks of me. I sense it in her voice, in her mannerisms. This is the reason why I feel like a television screen in the background when I speak to her, a program on mute, an image. I go to sleep hoping that in the morning what I saw, heard and felt was not true, but who am I kidding? I click next and next and next, I listen to conversation after conversation after conversation, all praising the most important people in one's life, and I wish, one day, I could participate. Until then, I keep pretending.

Inhale, like always

2010-11-11T20:45:00.005-05:00

She took a puff of her cigarette and said, "I have to tell you something".

I knew what she was going to say. She tries to be diplomatic but it's that smugness, that patrician smugness, one she isn't entitled too that comes out. I look at her and feel uncomfortable, like I always do. Silence, the awkward one. When she tells me what I knew she was going to tell me, I nod and say "yeah". I've heard it before. And then I think to myself, maybe she should add a "just sayin" at the end, to make her seem less arrogant.

2010-11-11T20:09:00.001-05:00

Kifak inta?

2010-10-17T23:16:00.008-04:00

The hot Iberian sun shines directly in my face, and I walk around squinting my eyes. I look at my phone to check the time...it's only 11am. I take it as a "welcome back" and I do nothing to stop the change in my facial expressions from extreme fatigue and squinting into happiness. I'm not a dreamer but when I dream, I dream of living in Spain.

The Basque

This trip would mark my third to the Iberian Peninsula. The first time, my family and I walked around Madrid, a visit I only remember through photographs of me running around chasing pigeons, throwing my arms up in the air or clutched in my father's arms with a large Rain Man poster above us or an El Corte Inglés sign in the background. More than twenty years later, I find myself scrambling to find the meeting place and stop in front of the exact same El Corte Inglés sign and attempt to recreate the photograph I remember vividly.

Replace the "Sex and the City 2" poster with "Rain Man" circa 1988 - Madrid

El Corte Inglés - Madrid

The second trip was, and will always be, the only family trip I have ever enjoyed. With my father acting as a historical tour guide, we exhausted our feet touring all of Andalusia. If there's something you need to do before you die, it is visiting Andalusia.

The Basque

My most recent trip included stops in Madrid, the Basque, and Barcelona. Offering independence to the latter two? Not on the agenda. But attempting to learn about their struggle/ideals definitely was.

The Basque

I arrive on July 11th, the date of the World Cup final (Spain vs Netherlands). I am set to go to the Basque country on the same day and understand how disrespectful a celebration of a Spanish victory would be to my hosts. A quiet celebration takes place, despite the Netherlands always being my number one team (Italy #2 - no one looks that good not scoring goals, Spain #3), when in Spain, cheer for the Spaniards!

Surprisingly, the Basque was filled with sameness. The men and women had similar hair cuts, piercings and style. Even the children had pseudo mullets. The biggest difficulty, alongside the enormous amount of rainy days, was language. No one spoke English, or French, and they had a certain dégoût for speaking Spanish (the ones I met anyway). I do not speak Spanish, but if spoken to, I can understand most of what is being said. The Basque people speak euskara, and unfortunately, it is difficult attempting to make up anything they said - especially in a small town. It's even more surprising that I managed to have an hour long conversation with a 70-year old coffee shop owner about the history of the town and about Moshe Dayan. Luckily, he had visual aids to help present his point, including putting his palm over his eye.

Donostia-San Sebastián

The Basque country is a beautiful place: the greenery that spread all over the mountains overlooking the beach in Donostia-San Sebastián, the hospitality of the people, and the fact that they are a wonderfully united community. Stylish teenagers, the ones you categorize into people who only seem to care about popularity, clothes, and "existentialism" were very aware of the Basque struggle and, better yet, active within community events. This was a shock, especially after coming from such a politicized place like the West Bank where many teenagers and twenty something steered away from politics and focused mostly on friends and music.

Barcelona

Once my time in the Basque is over, I take a trip to Barcelona for a few days before having to take my flight to Jordania from Madrid. Unfortunately, I only managed to enjoy being care free in Barcelona for a few hours because as we sat listening to Fairuz at the Arc de Triomphe, my bag, containing too many passports and id cards, got stolen. The moment I felt Palestinian (stateless) was when I had to walk into the Canadian consulate without a single piece of identification proving my citizenship and figure out how I can convince them I am Canadian in order for me to get a passport. Luckily, I found a scanned copy of my passport in my google docs (saviour) and I had my application sped up from 24-48 hours to 6 hours due to the urgent nature of the request. I managed to enjoy the rest of the day in Barcelona on foot checking out Gaudí's architecture and getting lost with my two [fantastic] companions.

I have never lost my wallet, credit card, money, or even a metro pass, or gotten anything stolen except a bag in Montreal that contained only my ipod which was taken when our rental car was broken into by some separatists (note: do not drive an Ontario license plate car in some areas of Montreal). It was not only shocking and upsetting to have all these belongings stolen and be left with nothing in a foreign country.

On my flight to Jordania the idea of this adventure coming to a close began to hit me, although I had almost a month and a half left. My plan A (what I would upon my return) failed and I had no plan B or C, but I did not regret a minute of this trip. I had met too many wonderful people, experienced a multitude of cultures, had a fatwa issued against me (Nablus), got held up for too many hours at checkpoints, and dipped my feet in many parts of the Mediterranean sea, amongst other things. But the idea or guilt of uncertainty starts to consume you, especially when you're asked in emails from friends "when are you coming back? and what's your plan?" After 1 year or so of not planning, it's biting me in the ass, I guess.

Liban

2010-10-03T19:01:00.010-04:00

Being a last minute person is organizing a trip to Lebanon the night before boarding a flight to Beirut. But I wasn't the person who organized this trip. I had to fly out to Spain from Jordan so the last minute planning of the Lebanon trip meant it was going to be a short stay and I was determined to make the most out of it.

Our flight was shorter than the drive to the airport and upon arrival, we are greeted by a Lebanese woman who defines the sentence "your typical idea of..." She comes bearing 8 inch stilettos (it's 11am), a pearl tie (yes, pearl), long, straight, jet black hair, and, wait for it...a diamond in her tooth. Mish Mish, our driver, is a young woman from Jounieh who greeted us with "hi, keefkom, ca va?" but spoke no French, and no English. I'm in love with the city and I just arrived!

On the road, billboards and posters commemorating Ayatollah Fadlallah lined the streets. Mish Mish drives us to our hotel, which, unknown to us, is in the Rawsheh area (right on the beach). We were ecstatic, until the receptionist tells us that it's actually the one in Al-Hamra (downtown, and equally as fantastic). Our driver becomes enraged and begins to curse and yell in the car. She hates driving in Al-Hamra's traffic. As we drive, I spot a friend I met in Cairo who lives in the US walking down the streets. She squeezes into the car with us and states the obvious: our driver is lost, and has been for over an hour. We finally get to the hotel and get rid of our ill mouthed driver, who expects us to use her services again.

Al-Hamra is bursting with energy, and Beirut's streets are filled with scars of the war and renovated Ottoman buildings. The food is fantastic, the people are lively, and the place is flooded with contradictions. I could walk on the beautiful streets and the corniche for hours, hours I unfortunately, did not have.

For years I've been looking forward to pay Beirut a visit, and I vowed I would not leave before I visited the Shatila camp. My friend provided us with a contact who was able to take us in the camp. I've had the opportunity to visit a number of refugee camps, but Shatila was one of the saddest ones I've been too. The electrical wires dangerously hang from the homes and destroyed buildings (such as the old PLO offices) are a constant reminder of the war.

Shatila camp

The mass graves of the victims of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre (only photo I could get)

At night, we head to rue Solidaire and watch Spain beat Germany to clinch a spot in the World Cup finals and realize, we'll be in Spain for that game.

The next day we jump into a cab with a driver we met the night before. He offered to accommodate our brief schedule and take us to Jeita, Jbeil (Byblos) and Harissa for $150USD, after bargaining. Our first stop is the Jeita grotto, the magnificent crystallized limestone caves. Photography was prohibited because it supposedly damages the caves, although the entire park is sponsored by Kodak. Ironic? The Arab world is filled with irony. And contradictions. If you're ever in Lebanon, Jeita is a must-see.

View from the top of Harissa

The second stop was Harissa, home to the enormous status of the virgin Mary on the very top of the mountain. The cold breeze was a nice change to the humidity that filled the Beirut air. It's crazy how much Harissa resembles Haifa, and the journey to the top of the mountain via téléphérique only brought back memories of climbing Haifa's many stairs during shabbatt.

Byblos

Our third and final stop was in Byblos, a city I've wanted to visit for a long time. I felt like I was teleported back to the old city of Akka as the two looked very much alike. After eating fish and buying a few old postcards (exactly as I did in Akka), we returned to Beirut.

Byblos

I am an energetic person, be it on vacation or during regular days of life. I attempt to cover as much as possible in the short periods of time I have. My brief stay in Lebanon could not be fulfilled without a stop to the ocean where we found ourselves the only women sans boob jobs or nose jobs. I almost wanted to buy those Vicks strips to put on top of my nose and pretend I had one (kidding!). After gaining a few more freckles, I squeezed in a visit to one of Beirut's many bookshops where I had to remember that I was only allocated 23kg.

Guide to being [really] Arab: Kasak Ya Watan, Duraid Lahham

2010-10-01T14:10:00.006-04:00

I thought I'd share with you one of my favourite videos, an absolutely fantastic satire on the state of the Arab world. The character Ghawar is speaking to his father, a martyr, updating him on the Arab world. At first, Ghawar tells his father what he wants to hear (the region has become one country). He tells him that he had breakfast in Baghdad, dinner in Khartoum and is speaking to him from Abu Dhabi). He continues, sarcastically, with the PanArab idea, and finally, admits to the realities of the situation.

*The clip is in Arabic

Petra

2010-09-21T00:01:00.006-04:00

The weather was boiling, and the car was much worse. We hopped in anyway because the bus takes far too long and drove the desert highway with a bottle of water in the back, just in case the engine heats up. We pass old caves and huts and stop on the side of the road to capture the view with our cameras.

My stomach is growling and I wonder why we didn't stop for food before. We find a burger shack, sort of like the chip wagons that rest on the side of the sidewalk in front of office buildings, waiting for hungry nine to fivers to get grease on their Tip-Top ties. Just my luck, the luck I don't have, the burger shack is closed. The man on the bench tells me a relative of the owner died, so he's not coming. "Allah yirhamo", I say, and we walk away. I try not to think about the fact that I'm running on coffee in 40 degree weather and walk.

Petra is over 2,000 years old (although the exact time of when it was built is not known). A once lost city (not really lost, just not known to Western civilization but inhabited by the bedouins of the area) built by the Nabataeans, it prospered as the capital of the Nabataean Empire from the 1st century BC.

The intricate facades sculpted into the sandstone red-rose coloured cliffs are magnificent and incredibly preserved. I take my mind off the hunger and focus on how [ancient civilizations] used to build and sculpt things. Ancient civilizations baffle me. What's even more baffling is the fact that this place used to have water...any trace of that is completely gone, just like they thought Petra was. I'm in no mood for history lessons, this is all you need to know.

Sabastiya

2010-09-06T07:31:00.009-04:00

It was my last day in Nablus, and although I'm not much for Roman ruins, I really had a desire to see Sabastiya, an ancient city about 15 minutes away from Nablus. My roommates and I climb into an old service which will get us to the steps of the ruins for four shekels. The service driver warns us that it may be difficult to find a way out of this city, but we take our chances anyways knowing full well this is Palestine - a taxi, service or a good samaritan is not far from where you are.

Settlement

A restaurant and a gift shop that reminds me of the one used frequently by Elia Suleiman in his films is on the right hand side. We begin walking and taking photos of the ruins, like tourists do. Once we reach the amphitheatre, a young boy begins to follow us. Our "no thanks" and "leave us alone" does not work on him, he's persistent. He begins giving us a tour and showing us things we may have missed. He tells us about the new discoveries, how much of the ruins have been stolen and sold to Israelis, how the park is closed when settlers come and visit (it is a national park for settlers - their settlement is visible from Sabastiya). The boy isn't much for the history of the place, just the history of what happened recently. The ancient city seems abandoned again, until you arrive to the "downtown" of the village of Sabastiya. The kid tells me many tourists come by, just not today.

The Basilica and Forum

I have not heard much about this city, it's not advertised as much as other places with Roman ruins, nor am I familiar with its history, but after my visit, I read up on it, so I'll give you a briefing.

The theatre

Sabastiya is a city built on a hill on the ancient site of Samaria. It has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt numerous times (sounds like Palestine to me). The early settlements date to the Early Bronze Age and the rocky summit of the hill was the centre of an extensive wine and oil production area since the Iron Age.

The Church of the Discovery

Under the rule of King Omri, a citadel on the acropolis was built. King Omri bought the hill from Shemer and moved his capital there, calling it Samaria. The city expanded its commercial and social relations with the Phoenicians when Omri's son, King Ahab, married the Phoenician Princess Jezebel.

The region has seen many conquerors including the Assyrian empire where the city was rebuilt by King Sargon II and re-populated. The town was transformed into a Hellenistic one by Alexander the Great when thousands of Macedonian soldiers settled there. The city was destroyed by the Maccabaean King John Hyrcanus in 108 BC. When Pompey conquered Jerusalem, the city was annexed to the Roman province of Syria and rebuilt in 57-55BC by Gabinius.

The columned street

In 30BC, the Roman Emperor Augustus awarded the city to Herod the Great who named it "Sebaste" in honour of Augustus (Sebaste is Augusta in Greek). The city grew to feature a temple dedicated to Augustus, a stadium, theatre and refortified the city with a larger wall.

The mosque

After Herod's death, his son Archelaus ruled the city until he was sent into exile by Augustus in AD 6. Roman Emperor Septimius Severus rebuilt the city at the end of the 2nd century when it was established as the colony of Lucia Septimia Sebaste. The current remains of present Sabastiya date from this period.

They told me this is John the Baptist's jail cell

Christianity soon spread all over the region of Samaria (in the first centuries AD), following that, an invasion by the Muslim army led to the city's submission to the army of Amr ibn al'As in 634AD. Upon the arrival of the crusades, the Byzantine church where John the Baptist's tomb lies, which was in ruins during this period, was rebuilt to be more magnificent then ever. In 1187, Sabastiya submitted to Saladin's nephew, Husam ed-Din Muhammad who transformed the cathedral into a mosque and dedicated it to Prophet Yahia (John the Baptist in Islam).

The ancient city was abandoned for many centuries and many of its monuments were never recovered.

I was disappointed to see the state in which the ruins lie. Graffiti filled the walls, garbage lined the floor of the mosque, and there was no proper lighting at night (it's no Baalbek temple). The owners of the gift shop tell me that despite this being a Palestinian town, the park is not under Palestinian control. It is run by the Israelis, and they do not maintain it. It's as if this park has been ignored, even though settlers come here all the time. It's strange...the whole time I thought this park must have been operated by the Palestinians because it is poorly maintained (the unfortunate reality that many historical places lack maintenance in the West Bank), but here these residents are telling me that because it is in Palestinian territory, it is ignored and Palestinians are forbidden for cleaning or maintaining it. Scapegoating.

As we get ready to leave, our "tour guide" invites us to his family's store. We buy water, I give him a tip, and then we are invited to a big party they are preparing for. "People from Jaffa are coming, you must join us!" The man tells us. We politely decline because we have plans for dinner, and I hesitantly leave Sabastiya. The truth is, I want to stay for the party. Maybe another time.

New work: Postcards from Palestine

2010-09-06T06:39:00.001-04:00

Type, backspace, type, backspace, finally, I got around to finishing a short piece for This is World Town called "Postcards in Palestine."

Oops...belated Ramadan Kareem

2010-08-26T06:47:00.001-04:00

How can I forget to wish everyone a Ramadan Kareem. Sorry for being two weeks late, but internet is really slow around here.

The Samaritan Village

2010-08-26T04:15:00.006-04:00

When I was told we were going to visit the Samaritans, I couldn't help but shiver with excitement. A few years ago, someone told me a spell was put on me by a Samaritan, the masters of spells. Being an Arab, I believed it, that's why I was shivering, and I was curious to know at what this group of people, which, one out of their small group of 750 had "put a spell on me", was all about. Prior to my visit, I met a young Samaritan girl. Her cat like hazel eyes instilled my pre-conceived fears even more, and until my visit, I did not sleep properly.

We got on the bus and up the mountain in Nablus. After a few arguments with Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) followed by persistent reasoning with said forces by members of the Samaritan community, we were allowed through. My visit to Mount Gerizim changed every idea I had of this community. The Samaritans (hence Judea and Samaria) live on top of Mount Gerizim in Nablus (right beside Mounib El-Masri's house). They are a small group - 350 live on this mountain and 400 in a locality near Tel Aviv. They speak Arabic, resemble each other (in-breeding to keep the Samaritan faith alive), attend the university in Nablus, and call themselves "Nabulsies."

Samaritans celebrating passover

Unfortunately, many people inside and outside of Palestine are un-informed about the faith and/or and do not understand it. I don't blame them. The discourse often presents only Judaism, and the Samaritans are silenced. One has to personally seek out the information for themselves. The Samaritans have various differences between them and followers of Judaism, mainly the location of the original holy place: the Samaritans regard Mount Gerizim as the chosen location for the temple, rather than Jerusalem's Temple Mount. It is considered to be the location where Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Zarb, cooked underground for a few hours

...and the final delicious product

After a little history courtesy of our guide, we were shown our meal in its final underground stage (zarb). We explored the mountain, met members of the community and then headed towards the dining hall to find the tables filled with plates of zarb, hummus and bread and members of the Samaritan community joining us for dinner.

Hebron

2010-08-12T06:55:00.012-04:00

My first visit to Hebron was in 2002 and back then I thought that after Gaza, this was the saddest place on earth. After experiencing Hebron again, I think it's safe to say that, in my opinion, this place is sadder than Gaza. Gazans are indeed under siege and live inhumane conditions, but the situation in the Khalil (Hebron) is unique, and has to be seen to be believed.

Checkpoint

The red mark represents "by military order"

Many Palestinians and visitors to the West Bank do not visit this historical old city located in the South (historical "Judea"). Hebron is the burial site of prophet Abraham, Sarah, prophet Isaac, Rebecca, prophet Jacob and Leah, making it holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews alike.

The first checkpoint to enter Al-Ibrahimi mosque

Prophet Ibrahim's burial site

The IDF does not allow repairs on certain heritage buildings so when they crumble, they occupy them and use them as a base.

The Ayyubids, the Mamluks and the Ottomans have all left their mark on the old city of Hebron. 800 years later, their homes continue to line the streets.

Unlike most old cities in Palestine, Hebron isn't a city of walls and gates. Its homes are all adjacent to each other, accessible if one were to jump roof to roof.

Apartheid has also left its mark here. 400 settlers, 1,500 soldiers and 5,500 Palestinians live together in the old city, unsegregated and discordantly. If you've ever wanted to visit a ghost town, this is it...Palestine's prison.

Below the homes of settlers nets have been installed to prevent the dangerous objects from reaching the Palestinians below. Sometimes settlers piss on them, throw acid and other chemicals.

Shuhada Street

Shuhada street, a former busy street for Palestinian residents and businesses in the old city that now runs through a settlement is now closed to Palestinian movement. Only Israelis and tourists may access it. The street is lined with 512 shops closed since 1994 due to military order and voluntarily due to the violence faced from settlers. Palestinians that continue to live on this street must enter and exit via their back doors or climb the roofs of the old city.

Under the Hebron agreement (1997), the city has been divided into two sectors: H1 (Palestinian Authority controlled) and H2 (inhabited by approximately 30,000 Palestinians is under Israeli military control to protect the settlers). The city has hundreds of checkpoints placed all over, limiting the mobility of Palestinians.

This is the house of an active Jewish Defense League member. He continously shouted "liar liar" at his Palestinian neighbour when he was showing us his home.

His neighbour has had the entrance to his home blocked and therefore has to climb and go through a few obstacles to get to his home.

I apologize...

2010-08-03T03:47:00.002-04:00

sincerely for my slacking blogging ways. I haven't even completed posting my Palestine adventures for you, and since my return from Palestine I've been to Petra (in Jordan), Lebanon, and the Basque country, Catalonia and Spain Spain (San Sebastian, Barcelona, Madrid). I'm working on Middle Eastern internet, well I mean East Bank (Jordan) internet, which is way slower than Palestine internet, which is slower than Spanish internet, and which is slower than North American internets. Again, forgive my delays, it's been quite a whirlwind, one that consisted of me getting my bag stolen which contained one too many passports, ids, credit cards, debit cards, and some cash. Stay tuned, I'll be posting in order of visit, promise.

Bethlehem

2010-07-14T19:04:00.005-04:00

In 2002, I lived in Bethlehem for two weeks. The city had just undergone a siege, you know when Israeli's surrounded the Church of Nativity? Bullet holes graced the old walls of the church where Jesus was born and this holy site usually filled with pilgrims was almost empty.

Look closely at the bullet holes that fill the outside walls of the church

My my time flies. Eight years later I stand in the middle of the agora of sorts in front of the church. The siege is gone and the Eastern European pilgrims, probably the crowd from the church of Holy Sepulchre I saw in Jerusalem, are lined up waiting for their turn to enter to the grotto where Jesus was born and pray. It's a different time.

Bethlehem always reminds me of the first time I ever stepped foot in Palestine. It was in 2000 during Christmas that I came here. The crowds were out and the lights were shining - it was after all, Christmas in the city where Christianity started.

The rent for these shops used to cost thousands of shekels, but since the wall came up rent is probably around 1NIS. So everyone's closed up shop.

The entrance to Aida refugee camp

The wall in Aida refugee camp

Bethlehem is the perfect example of Palestinian co-existence. A church stands near a mosque, veiled muslim women shop beside non-veiled women with crosses dangling from their necks and alongside the many tourists.

The old gate in front of Dheisheh refugee camp which was demolished recently (as it was still there in 2002). This was installed during the 1st intifada and of course soldiers were guarding the entrance.

The view from Dheisheh Refugee Camp's roof

A visit to my old "home" of sorts is not complete without returning to the place where I stayed, Ibdaa Cultural Centre in the Dheisheh refugee camp.

Jerusalem

2010-07-04T17:00:00.008-04:00

It's midnight and I'm standing on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. My white t-shirt shines in the night as I turn to see where she is and I see him running towards her, hugging her for the last time. Whenever I recall this moment, it reminds me of why I hate saying goodbye, because that's what it is, goodbye. And nothing is worse than a goodbye in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is the city that has taught me not to say goodbye. It is, to me, the most nostalgic place on the planet. There isn't more proof than the view from the roof of Ecce Homo. If you're a people watcher, welcome to your mecca. All sorts of people roam the streets of the old city, entering gate to gate, each with their own beliefs. The religious crowd searches for salvation while the tourists search for a facebook photo op.

Damascus Gate

When I arrive, I rush to Damascus Gate, my favourite of all the gates. If you're confused about East and West Jerusalem, just look for this gate, and the excessive garbage on the floor. History drips from the walls here. It's hard to walk around and not feel as if you're in the time of the crusades.

The markets of Jerusalem

I scour the market in search for something similar to prayer clothes as I rush to make it to the maghrib prayer.

Dome of the Rock, Haram El-Sharif

Inside the Dome of the Rock
Of course because of my appearance I have a little argument with the Druze officers placed at the front. If you've ever been to these parts, you know Druze soldiers/officers are the worst.

I've had the chance to pray at the dome of the rock twice before, and this is the first time I reach it during adhan. It is also the first time I see the dome in the night, and what a sight it is.

Jaffa gate, festival of lights
Damascus gate, festival of lights

The church of Holy Sepulchre

As I stand on top of the Austrian Hospice and stare at the festival of lights that illuminate Jerusalem, I notice that the church of Holy Sepulchre, whose domes stand out in the morning, has a cross shining a dark red in the night.

As beautiful at night as she is the morning, I pay her a visit early in the morning, entering via Jaffa gate and make my way over, along with the Eastern European pilgrims that rush to visit the holy site. It's a shame they don't build like this anymore.

I never feel like I've had enough of Jerusalem, regardless of how many hours, days, or weeks I spend here. And I don't think I ever will. That's the power of this place.

Cities of immigrants and oranges

2010-06-29T07:05:00.006-04:00

Tel Aviv from Jaffa

This is Tel-Aviv.

Ironic?

The shurut from Haifa takes 40NIS and drops you off in a grimy neighborhood. This is Tel-Aviv and not only does it feel strange but everything feels out of place. The name should've been the indication. If this isn't an identity crisis, then I don't know what constitutes one. I guess they are right when they say it's the South of France, many people look like they've inspired Donatella Versace's Eurotrash looks. The divide between the rich and the poor is like any other North American city, and looking at Tel-Aviv's skyline makes you feel as if you're somewhere in Mexico in the 70s, the hotels give it away.

Jaffa from Tel Aviv

Jaffa's clocktower. This makes roundabout #3 I illegally and dangerously cross to get a photo.

I wasn't really interested in spending time here anyway and 70s architecture or numerous Bauhaus style homes from the 30s wasn't going to make me stay either. I was more interested in taking a short walk to Jaffa, the Bride of the Sea, the city whose beauty is renowned, a city long inhabited and the city that smells of oranges. I also have a thing for walled cities, which explains my love for Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, Jaffa's walls were dismantled to ease traffic in the 20th century. Her old inhabitants were also dismantled, and must now live with the fact that all their old homes, previously inhabited by Arabs, now house galleries, museums and shops. The Arab population in Jaffa is evident, but due to Tel-Aviv's proximity, the population is more balanced than other old cities. Jaffa's old city doesn't quite feel like Haifa's old market, or Akka's old city. The narrow alleys are cleaner. Some homes are renovated and trees provide shading. Rarely do you find Arabs roaming the streets of Tel-Aviv, but in Jaffa you do, however, most of the shops selling "Falafel, Israel's National Snack" postcards are run by Israelis and flooded with fanny pack wearing Americans.

Jaffa port

The Arab Hebrew theatre

Cannons from the Ottoman era

Ajami café

It isn't hard to imagine how beautiful Jaffa once was and the peaceful harmony that resonated from it. I would live here because it's warm, its coast is blue and its cobblestones are old. I would live here, if it weren't for the obvious obstacles I face.

Sadness consumes me when I walk through the old city and I know if I stay any longer I'd sit still, constantly waiting for the smell of oranges that won't come to fill my nostrils.

Mahmoud Darwish poem on someone's balcony

Hanging rock

I Saw Ramallah

2010-06-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

The minara douwar - the main roundabout in Ramallah. It has undergone a variety of changes, most of which are very ugly.

The last time I was in Ramallah was 10 years ago. My newly married cousin lived in a beautiful apartment, working for some ministry and drove a Peugeot. My memory of the city itself is vague, and descriptions my friend's gave me as the years passed still could not give me a clear image of what it resembled. All I can recall was her pretty apartment, and how much she enjoyed life there.

An old building from 1924 set for demolition

Old buildings under demolition

One of Ramallah's oldest trees - deceased naturally. My guide made sure he got the municipality to examine the way it died.

Ten years later, I'm on a 15 NIS service ride that takes me to Ramallah. After exploring most of the city on foot, with a guide who also happens to be one of Palestine's most accomplished and popular writers, I've developed an idea of what Ramallah looks like and my feelings towards it. My guide, Ziad Jayyousi, not only photographs parts of the city with me, he knows every corner and every story.

The Al-Hambra Palace was a popular destination amongst honeymooners when they were finally able to enter Ramallah.

Yasser Arafat's grave

Palestine needs a Ramallah, but not quite in the sense that it is. You see Ramallah is the Tel Aviv of the West Bank, except its Jaffa is slowly being destroyed and its coast is missing. Owners of property dating back to the 1920s and earlier are selling off the land and making room for bulldozers (no not Israeli ones) that destroy and then provide space for tall buildings. These two cities share many other similarities: one is old but becoming new again, the other is new and replaced a near by city to make it look like it was always inhabited. Another similarity? Foreigners. Ramallah is a hub of NGOs and Westerners doing "research", researching what I don't quite know or care, while Tel Aviv is a mix of every Jewish person from anywhere in the world recruited by Israel to come and settle. The main difference? Ramallah does not have an overwhelming identity crisis or a McDonald's, which is ever so prevalent in all of Israel but mostly in Tel Aviv.

Al Kamandjâti

The oldest market in Ramallah.

*The title of this post is from Mourid Barghouti's novel I Saw Ramallah.