David Adler
Tartit, from Timbuktu (2)
Another phenomenal moment with Tartit.
Tartit, from Timbuktu (1)
The most striking music I heard in Fes was by Tartit, a Tuareg (Tamasheq) ensemble from Mali. Two of the men played ngonis, which they tuned by adjusting tight leather straps with their thumbs. The women played hand drums; one of them would occasionally pour water on the cloth covering her instrument, resulting in a deeper tone. Her hands were
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I woke up in my own bed yesterday to the sound of a Philly garbage truck, and in my haze, I thought the sanitation workers were shouting in Arabic. I’d been in Fes, Morocco for only a week, yet my consciousness was pretty well altered. I’ve finally got it together enough to provide photo-album links on Shutterfly, not only of
Back from Morocco…
…and an unforgettable experience at the Fès Festival of World Sacred Music. Writing will ensue. But first, unpacking and regrouping. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Pause
I’m going abroad tomorrow for a week. Posting will resume again soon.
“Boo hoo”
That is the published view of Michael Goldfarb, John McCain’s new Deputy Communications Director, on the matter of torture techniques once practiced by the Khmer Rouge and the Soviet secret police. Another example of torture-opponent McCain’s lack of principle. By the way, it’s time to pull the mask off McCain’s “I was wrong” routine — his apology for backsliding on the
Point-counterpoint on “naïve”
It’s frustrating to see liberal hawk Oliver Kamm recite John McCain’s talking points on Obama’s supposed foreign policy naïvete. The argument, as we know, centers around Obama’s assertion during the July 2007 YouTube debate that he’d be willing to meet with hostile foreign leaders. Yes, this was an answer that I criticized myself. I still think it was hasty and
The far left attacks
Via Gene at Harry’s, we find that left extremist John Pilger, an apologist for Palestinian suicide bombers and Hezbollah, a declared supporter of Iraqi insurgent fanatics, is now assailing Barack Obama as a warmonger, an Islamophobe, you name it. I love this bit: An Obama victory will bring intense pressure on the US anti-war and social justice movements to accept