Book: Decoded by Sean Carter

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I am currently reading Decoded, a book by Sean Carter famously known as Jay-Z. I’ve been listening to Rap music forever, and Jigga is deep.

Here is a line from a song called Beware, and he says “Before bin Laden got Manhattan to blow, Before Ronald Reagan got Manhattan to blow” blow in the first meaning 9-11 and the second which means the drug cocaine.

Explaining that lyric in the book he says:

“Ronald Reagan got Manhattan to “blow”—slang for cocaine—through the whole Iran-Contra scandal, which got the United States involved in the drug trade that brought crack to the hood so they could finance the Contras in Central America. In the worst years of the crack epidemic—the late eighties and early nineties—there were literally thousands of homicides annually in New York. So juxtaposing Reagan and bin Laden isn’t as crazy as it may seem. This is a piece of our recent history that people like to forget or pretend never happened so they can maintain some fantasy of American purity—which is why I thought it was important to include it in this rhyme. It’s that same sort of historical amnesia and myth of America’s innocence that led us into the war in Iraq. In my little way, I’m trying to kill that myth by reminding people of the truth—because that myth is a dangerous thing for the whole world.”

And this is one of the reasons I like Rap, I’m not done with the book yet, and if you are into books, find me on goodreads.

Riyadh Book Fair Fights 2011

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For a very unhealthy book sellers/authors/readers market, they sure get passionate about book titles and fictional stories. I imagine Oprah’s book club would have a hard time meeting regularly in Riyadh.

Book: Roads of Arabia

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I got something delivered to my door recently, I decided to share my initial experience with the world

It came in a big box

The box contained a book

The book was huge

It was also inviting, with smiles from the beginning

With very nice pictures

Camel Caravans that crossed the land hundreds of years ago

And ancient cities that are no longer inhabited

And cities (Mecca/Makkah) that are more inhabited now then any other time in history

And more nice and rare pictures, those that show recent and ancient history

Jewels

This looks a lot like Versace

And this is proof that a Kim Kardashian body was the thing way back in the day

Many old blog posts in ancient languages

And history lessons, that is where the origin of the word Arab comes from

I will learn a lot from this book

The desert, in the right weather, is a very pleasant experience… though I prefer the sea

Did I say the book was huge? I’ll say it again for emphasis

And it did come from the Louvre.

CNN made a report on the exhibit, I saw it at susristube and because it was fitting this post, I also added it here, it is almost like walking in the exhibition it self.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Saudi Arabian exhibit at the Louvre in France, and I mentioned the book that was only available at the Louver’s book shop. My friend Saudiaspire said he would get me one, lo and behold… here it is, and it is a gem. Thank you very much my dear and kind friend, I just hope I can one day give you a gift as precious as this.

Nomad – Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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I was at the bookstore a few days ago, where I noticed that Ayaan Hirsi Ali came out with a new book called Nomad. I read her book Infidel, and I found it very interesting, I do not discount her experiences as a former Muslim, we all go through life like the blind men and the elephant, I my self had a few brushes with the KKK when I was in America, and if I had to base my experience on that, and only that, well… you know where I am getting at.

But I find her reverence by the western media a little over the top. I understand that she does this to get her protection extended by whoever is footing the bill for her to live surrounded by bodyguards and of course to live off what she makes from her books, I do not think that she (or anyone for that matter) should be killed for leaving Islam, Islamic history is full of stories of those who left Islam and nothing happened to them.

However, I do not like that she seems to paint Islam as absolutely bad, and Christianity as absolutely good, here is an interview with Tavis Smiley who, as a Christian, questions her (actually corners her) about that.

I am not saying that some terrorist are not Muslims, in fact, all terrorist are Muslims… except the 94% that aren’t.

She did somehow, change her words, after her interview with Tavis, to “some, not all Muslims” but Stephen Colbert also makes a little fun of her admiration of Christianity (even though she says clearly she prefers others to Jesus) so it only makes me feel like she is trying to appeal to the majority of people in the western world.

I might flip through the pages next time I see the book, but at the moment it is not on my list of books to read (not a very impressive list I know, but I do/did not update it often).