Christian's Journal

Here's my first attempt...

I'm pretty happy with how this came out... there are a couple of flubs... but overall, I think it's a good indication of how far I've come in the past few months... and of course, how far I have to go still... But still, I am pretty happy with it...

Please feel free to comment...

OK, my wife may be the coolest in the world...

Got this yesterday...
http://www.sazmuzikaletleri.com.tr/mizrapli_sazlar/100-B_oyma_gurgen.jpg

It was actually a more expensive model than the one Tracie ordered... So I called the guy to find out what we needed to do to get square, and he said I should keep it an have a merry Christmas...

In other news, played with the guys last night till about 11:30... I need to continue to work on my Taqsim skills (ie, solo/improv) cause it sounds rough...

 

and

http://www.myspace.com/3oud

So after the Renn Faire, Yasmine gave us a list of classic bellydance songs to learn.... It's cool to have a patroness....

And to make it even more fun... the songs are kind of hard... Not so much technically, but there are a lot of melody changes durign the song... Also, up until now I've been learning songs that are like 2-3 minutes long... Most of these are 4-7... so there is more to remember.... So for the past few weeks, I've pretty much been listening to the same 20 songs...

Good news is that I'm getting closer to having Leylet Hob down. It's a song by Mohammad Abd El Wahab.

Also working on another song by Abd El Wahab called 'Ahwak' and a few other songs by Helm....

I've been using a program called "the Amazing Slow Downer" - which was worth the $60 I paid for it.... It lets you slow down songs (duh) without changing the pitch/key of the music... and will let you bend the pitch to match your instrument (ie, put it in a different key) -- for Ahwak, I found a really pretty version played on the Qanoon - but it was WAY to high for me to play on the oud... So I bent the pitch down by like 10 steps and now I have something to learn by...

At any rate, to leave you with something... here's a version of Ahwak by Le Trio Joubran...

Woot, 35 as of last Sunday....

Hey Trav,

Makes me think of this song....

The bottom line is that people are basically stupid... In groups, they are even dumber. One of the most frightening things to me is people who will blindly identify with a group but can't tell you why... Conservative or Liberal - equally lost.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31186384@N02/

[01] Do you have the guts to answer these questions and re-post as The Controversial Survey?
Duh!

[02] Would you do meth if it was legalized?
No, but I would do shrooms...
[03] Abortion: for or against it?
Neither - I think it's an individual choice... I would like to see more people not have to make that choice though...
[04] Do you think the world would fail with a female president?
Nope - but I think Americans are too dumb not to think so...
[05] Do you believe in the death penalty?
Yup
[06] Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?
Yeah, but I don't smoke it... I'm pretty OK with most drugs that don't destroy your soul...
[07] Are you for or against premarital sex?
For
[08] Do you believe in God?
Yes - I believe in a higher power
[09] Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?
Yes
[10] Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the USA?
I think we should make it easier to immigrate...
[11] A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it?
I doubt many 12 years olds are able to support a child.
[12] Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen?
Yes, and the driving age to 21
[13] Should the war in Iraq be called off?
At this point we can't... I am totally against it.. but we just can't pull out.
[14] Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree?
I think you should have the right to off yourself
[15] Do you believe in spanking your children?
No kids, but YUP I sure do
[16] Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars?
Yes, but I would burn you for a million dollars... I could give half to some cool Vet charity and feel guilt free... Thanks for the cash sucker...
[17] Who do you think would make a better president? McCain or Obama?
Obama - I think he's a better public speaker.. and we've had stuttering idiots in the big chair for too long
[18] Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers?
As we used to say "We don't care if you don't like us"

You are a Social Liberal (66% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (11% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid.com: Free Online Dating Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

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Dude, she named her kids Trig and Track... WTF? Putting lipstick on a pig indeed... You can make up for a lot... but to name your kids Trig and Trak just shows that this person is a Grade A IDIOT.

Here's funny skit from Saturday night live...
http://nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/#tags_content

Global Warming is just god hugging us closer.... Just too funny...

Also, here's a cool article from Al-Ahram
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/915/op8.htm

Who knows where to find music by Duke Conn online?
I know Bryce used to have a tape... But I can't find anywhere to download the stuff...

In other news, I've just about got "Knight's Leap" down on oud... I've been playing "Jerusalem" a lot... You know, it's the "I have seen Jerusalem, and I have shared battle and bread with the bravest men, dewlt midst the perels and pleasures of Outremeur, and I've carved my cross on the wall of his tomb..." I've been playing it a lot slower than the sung version so it sort of comes across as chamber music... I'm also thinking about "Lady of Shalot" too... I think it would give me a lot of room for ornamentation...

Ya'lla enjoy now... Anybody know this singer's name... I'd love to find more of her stuff...

So here's a question out there.... Do you guys think we're alone in the Universe? Do you Believe in Aliens... Do you think they have visisted Earth?

Me, I'm a yes on all three...

OK, so I taught myself this song yesterday and I've been playing pretty much non-stop

I'm not so comfortable with the song that I can swing it yet.. and I'm completely playing it too slow... I'm guessing another 100- 200 reps and it will be worked into my muscle memory and I'll be able to do something other than plod through it.

But this was one of the first songs I heard on the Oud that I completely dug... so I set it as a milestone to shoot for... And I'm so completely jazzed that I figured it out that I just had to record and post it...



BTW - Happy Ramadan!

I miss Rage Against the Machine...

Hooray for Change! Compared to 4 years ago...

I'm better off financially, but that's because I'm pretty smart and work my ass off... My job is secure, but that's cause rich people freak out of they think you're sending thier account to India. I work for an ethical company, but I know that's not the case across the board. I think we've lost that sense of stewardship at the CEO level and it's been replaced by bringing earnings to the shareholders this quarter... not doing what's right for the company in 5 years... As far as debt, I'll be paying off student loans forever, but I was able to go to school. Gas prices are stupid high... Last night I filled up for $3.42 and was thankful (compare that to 4 years ago) Weather is starting to get more and more weird as we continue to trash the environment. I don't feel safer when I walk through the airport and they x-ray my shoes. I'm always proud to be an American, but I'm embarassed at our foreign policy. From start to finish, I've been disgusted with the war in Iraq. I'm scared that the Religious right will take control and put a cross on the flag (can you say .. oooooohhhh Canada, My home and native land...) - so yeah, I'm ready for change... 8 is enough indeed. Can Obama do it, hell I don't know... The promise to remove our dependency on Foreign Oil may be up there with the "No new taxes" line we heard with Bush... but it makes me hopeful...

In addition to working on stuff for the Faire... I've been working on this "tasty jam"

Unfortunatly, I can't find any of this guy's other materiel... which really sucks cause this song is like a really peppy Hamza El-Din song.

Enjoy....

Wow, it's been forever since I actually posted to this thing....

Latest updates.....

Still love the motorbike... I put highway bars and pegs on it.... so now it's way comfortable.
Broke my collarbone playing Ice Hockey...  it's finally healing up...
Playing the Oud - We'll be supporting a belly dance troupe at the Carolina Renn Faire.

Going to Flight of the Falcon this weekend....