"Mestaniak" (Live) from Ebtada el Meshwar **MUST WATCH**
This is, in my opinion, Nancy's greatest live performance ever. She is not only incredible beautiful and gives off an awe-inspiring stage presence, but her voice is at its peak here. This performance is from a popular music television show in Lebanon. "Mestaniak" is a song about longing and missing a lover. This is definitely a must-watch for all Nancy fans and anyone interested in Arabic music!
For lyrics and an English translation: http://www.allthelyrics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33463&page=13#post360114
"Salma Ya Salama" & "Funiculi Funicula" - Italian Opera and Egyptian Folk Mashup
"Yara with her soulful and soft vocals meets Tino Favazza, a Sicilian tenor. They come together to create a fusion where the Oriental music meets Opera."
Most people will recognize "Funiculi Funicula" from popular culture and what the media and entertainment tells us is Italian music, and those familiar with Arabic popular music likely recognizes "Salma Ya Salama," written all the way back in 1919. But I doubt anyone (including myself) has ever heard the two put together! This Italian-Arabic fusion song is FANTASTIC. I actually had a physical reaction to the sounds of this song, it was so good. I highly recommend that everyone listen to this incredible mashup!
"Habiby Dah" / هشام عباس - حبيبي ده by Hisham Abbas
Hisham Abbas (Egyptian: هشام عباس), is an Egyptian pop singer best known for this hit song. "Habibi Dah (Nari Narain)" blends traditional Indian instruments and musical elements and even Hindi lyrics with typical Arabic pop for a great dance hit. This song can be frequently heard at some of the parties from the community where I'm from, where music from the Middle East is what really gets everyone moving.
To my Bollywood-loving friends @neaa @saharhyunjoong have you heard this song? To me Arabic music enthusiast friends @peteryang292 @gabyrich @hannou @MasriDaniela what do you guys think of the song?
Top 10 Commencement Speeches According to Time
I'm really honored and humbled to say that I was selected to be the student speaker at the UCLA Department of Communication Studies Class of 2014 Commencement Ceremony! It took me a long time to write a meaningful and exciting speech that will hopefully be worth listening to. I found this really great list of fantastic commencement speeches given by some pretty famous people. The following is from the #1 speech by David Foster Wallace:
"'Learning how to think' really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed."
I hope I can be as good as these guys!
1) David Foster Wallace, Kenyon, 2005
2) Steve Jobs, Stanford, 2005
3) Conan O'Brien, Harvard (Class Day), 2000
amog32Well said @cityofkyle you're lucky to have had a professor who knew to share this advice; not all teachers are ready to show their students things that will actually enhance their lives. Why do we learn, if we aren't going to be affected by what we learn?
gabyrich@amog32 very well said. It's often difficult though to uncover where our beliefs, thoughts and emotions come from especially if we are trying to do it ourselves. Moving beyond our biases and our subjectivity can be hard, but once you do, it's incredible what you can accomplish and how your mind can open up to the world
"Abdel Kader" by Cheb Khaled, Faudel & Rachid Taha (Arabic / North African)
This is definitely a must-listen!!
"Abdel Kader" (Arabic: عبد القادر) is an Algerian traditional song made famous by the Algerian raï artist Khaled. It is featured on his 1993 studio album N'ssi N'ssi. After his 1993 original album version, Khaled released a solo live version of "Abdel Kader" in his live album Hafla in 1998.
The song gained further popularity after the live performance at Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy by Khaled, Rachid Taha and Faudel. The joint trio live version was included on the 1998 live album 1,2,3 Soleils.
I love the opening rhythm--it transports me to the Middle East and really speaks to my roots and the type of music I grew up listening to!
Human Photography & Art Project
My roommate has begun collecting passport-sized photos of people he encounters in his life and posting them up on his bedroom wall in our apartment. He's slowly been collecting these pictures throughout the year, and after I voluntarily gave him a picture of myself, he decided that he would make a life-long photo project out of it!
He's an art major and really doesn't deal with photography very much. But he certainly has an eye for aesthetics and art in general (which of course includes photography). He still isn't sure exactly what will come of this project or how he will present the photos, but he is still excited! It will be interesting to see how big his project becomes and what it will look like toward them end of his life.
@dillonk what do you think of his photo project?
dillonk@cityofkyle Interesting. I've seen many many many artists use found photographs to create a body of work even if they aren't photographers themselves. Heck, I saw one recently where a guy just went through old family photo albums to create his. Found objects have been a part of the modern art world for sometime and they have the ability to make a loud statement. I really like the idea of using passport photos as a body of work. The words of advice I could give to your friend, this project will benefit from 3 things. First, scale. He needs LOTS and LOTS of passport photos. Second, a killer title. Third, an artist statement about the work that really hits it home. He needs to be able to say some great things that make the work stronger than just passport photos. Otherwise the work isn't doing enough. Thanks for sharing this!
Bio
Undergraduate with a knack for all things different, smart, international, and/or fun.
