The Greatest Oscar of Them All

Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer is 103 and I'm following him on Twitter.

Playlist: 

Space Intro: Steve Miller Band http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pnKWesGVMg

Future Shock: Curtis Mayfield http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhs4s5kfpcI

Tomorrow Never Knows: Junior Parker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YKfu5sD24

Steppin' Into Tomorrow: Donald Byrd http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_irOIdpV4o

The Creator Has a Master Plan: Leon Thomas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZK80Mesqq0

She's Acid: FunkinEven http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-nKaGX93E4

Crazy You: Prince http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKupTBZoC1s

Sit Back, Relax, and Listen To The 8 Track

Way back when, before the Walkman, CD players, mp3's, and the iPod, people listened to music on a post turntable creation called the 8 track. Life may have seemed simpler then, but listening to music wasn't. Having the in-dash 8 track in your Vega was a great way to listen to Henry Mancini, Bob Dylan, and the Spinners from 1965 until the end of the 70's.

Winter in Miami: Love to New York, Southern California, and the Cold

I woke up from a dream about this Tradewinds song last night. I saw myself thinking about Jan and Dean's Surf City and driving this:

or maybe this:

but it could have been this:

(Thank God it wasn't this:)

In any case, this is what we do in Miami in the winter.

7 Relatively Obscure Sultry Soul Songs for Valentine's Day

Music for Mubarak: It's All Over Casanova

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3lw0qHNGJk

When Ali Met Sally

It is clear that I am expected to be more fearful about the Muslim Brotherhood than I was as a child of the Jewish Sisterhood. And if I had only paid better attention in that Sisterhood Hall to the social contract which was expected of me – if only I had fallen into line and for a Jewish girl, then I am certain -- we wouldn’t be in this mess today.

There has been a lot of talk about how the social media has contributed to the uprising upheaval in the Middle East. In Egypt, a lot of blame credit must also go to the morally reprehensible, aberrant behavior exhibited by wayward young multicultural Egyptian adults like Sally Moore.

 According to the Arab-worshiping reliable New York Times, “I like the Brotherhood most, and they like me,” said Ms. Moore, a 32-year-old psychiatrist, a Coptic Christian and an avowed leftist and feminist of mixed Irish-Egyptian roots. “They always have a hidden agenda, we know, and you never know when power comes how they will behave. But they are very good with organizing, they are calling for a civil state just like everyone else, so let them have a political party just like everyone else — they will not win more than 10 percent, I think.”

My question is this: how could Sally Moore, whose parents clearly were not paying attention to the apocalyptic warnings they must have been issued as children before intermarrying jumping off the abyss into some funk, know more than our flawlessly informed, right-wing media?

Tiptop Tiptoe

Not even excessive surgery could tarnish the beauty of the Miami City Ballet doing their Twyla Tharp thing to Nine Sinatra Songs at the Adrienne Arsht Center last night.

http://www.miamicityballet.org/Sinatra.php

I got chills which multiplied during the second go-round of My Way. I look forward to the creation of the ballet which will feature Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UjsXo9l6I8

KRS-Two and a Righteous Teacher

KRS-One was an 80’s rapper from Brooklyn. KRS stood for Knowledge Reigns Supreme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDd7UbJmdmw
Poor Righteous Teachers, also known as PRT, released their first recordings in 1989.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s4F9BZiWj8

I first read about Piero Scaruffi in the New York Times in 2005.  The headline read, “The Greatest Web Site Of All Time.” http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/arts/15morr.html

He has a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/piero.scaruffi

Piero Scaruffi has the most amazing web site information I’ve ever seen. It seems the only thing he does not know is how to design a website.

http://www.scaruffi.com/

The Uprising: Dignity and Courage Before It Turns

I remember fuul -- fava bean stew and falafel at Felfela, an oasis of calm in Cairo. I drank Karkaday, flaming red hibiscus tea sometimes called Agua de Jamaica in Mexico, and bought some to take home. I went to the Valley of the Kings, Edfu, Alexandria, Luxor, and Aswan. I sat and savored peppermint tea, once in the blazing summer, once in spring, and once in winter. Three times I visited in a 15 years span. Egypt was no paradise; the touts and hustlers are as conspicuous as the tourist, I suppose. One can hardly meet any of the millions who do what they are supposed to every day, never asking for anything. Travel in Egypt was difficult. But I recall the haunting tears of a gentle guide expressing love at the Muhammad Ali Mosque, his eyes fighting to remain clear. I became touched. I felt something. I should have learned something, but I was unprepared.

It is not for me to claim to be an arbiter. Three times there, but I did not really care for Egypt. Yet now I mysteriously feel something of the great desperation that those on the street in Egypt harbor. It is not guilt or shame. Though nobody wants it, it is sympathy. This is all I am capable of.

A few pictures are worth a thousand words, and a few songs worth a moment’s thought.

Get Up Stand Up: Bob Marley and the Wailers

Risin’ to the Top: Keni Burke: Keni Burke- "Risin´ To The Top" With Lyrics

Stand Down Margaret: The Specials

Courage: The Whitest Boy Alive

Sweet Day: Tokimonsta: Tokimonsta - Sweet Day

Time To Get Ill: Beastie Boys

A Very Precious Time: Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson

Time is Running Out: Doug Carn

Time For a Change: The Eight Minutes

When It’s Your Time to Go: Billy Paul

Never Can Say Goodbye: Isaac Hayes

If You’re Gonna Leave: Raul Midon

Before I Let you Go: Blackstreet

You Know I’m No Good: Amy Winehouse

Every Goodbye: Eddie Roberts: Play song from MySpace Music

Time to Say Goodbye: Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brighton

Last Goodbye: Jeff Buckley

Get Gone: Ideal