Goodbye 2011

Personal 0 Comment

What a long year 2011 has been, as I try to recall all the events that happened in it, I still cannot believe it all happened in one year, the global social tectonic plates shifted violently this year, and I am sure the aftershocks will continue to happen for a while.

I have not been away, but unfortunately some russian hackers injected some bad code into my blogs and redirected people to their website, it took me a looooong time to clean it all up, especially with how busy work and personal life has been lately.

So here’s to a year I will never forget, I just hope there are no more surprises… However, if the Mayans were right, then we have not seen the beginning of it.

Like a Virgin Driving For The Very First Time

Politics 5 Comments

I first read this as it spread through twitter, then it popped up on Facebook. It was first on the daily mail, then on the BBC.

While far fetched,  and no release in Arabic of this news at the time of this post, and no names of who from the counsel approved and submitted the claims if women drive in Saudi “there will be no more virgins” and homosexuality will be rampant, I cannot buy it, something must have been lost in translation.

And the guy who says he was at a cafe in a neighboring country and a woman was checking him out, alright Muhannad, even Kanye with his ego is not that sure if a women was checking him out (link to song).

If this is true, then it would not be more far fetched then the WA Liberal MP who claims Australians are unknowingly being converted to Islam by eating Halal meat, in a speech addressed to the Australian Parliament nonetheless… I just wonder how those people make it all the way to the top like that, but then I remember George W. Bush and I get even more frustrated, oh well, it ain’t all good like Shaka khan sang with De La Soul, that’s the truth.

Video: One Day On Earth 11-11-11 Jeddah

Movies 2 Comments

I shot and edited some videos to submit to the one day on earth project, this is what I ended up with.

Since 11-11-11 was a friday, which means it is usually a travel day for me, the only time I had before travelling was right after the Friday prayer, which is mostly family time for most people, so the streets were empty except for a few people fishing.

Most of it was in Jeddah except for the desert scenes which were on the road between Jeddah and Yanbu.

I hope you enjoy, and if I am lucky, some shots will be included in the final One Day on Earth for this year.

The New Slaves of The Gulf

World 1 Comment

Art should invoke emotion, positive or negative, as long as an emotion is stirred within you, then art has done its job.

I came across this series of pictures, which is something I wanted to do, once I get enough courage to photograph people, or train myself to run fast while carrying my camera, which does not seem like it will happen anytime soon.

The pictures are of the Asian workers in the gulf, I hated them being labeled as slaves, I wished they would’ve showed them for who and what they are, strong responsible people trying to make a decent living to support the families that they have in their homelands while going through whatever it is that they have to go through.

I dislike the way they are treated and their living conditions, again, I will not get into that, as I have gotten into that before, but I wish the pictures celebrated them and the work they do instead of demeaning them more.

I met many of them throughout my career, I still do, each has his own story, which is different yet similar to all our stories. The job they had, offered them the opportunity to give a better life to their families, to send their kids to school, to be able to pay for a parent’s medication, or to save enough for them to start a life of their own, somehow someway, the same as the those who work two jobs or commute for hours in each direction to be able to provide for themselves or their loved ones… to most of this world, having a career is a farfetched dream when you cannot have a roof over your head and don’t know where your next meal will come from.

Asia has been exploited for centuries, the American railroads built my Chinese workers yet never being acknowledged for their contribution nor even getting their pictures taken at a railway opening, or even in Australia where they were taxed heavily (more than others) when working in gold mines, I am not saying it is the Gulf’s turn, I wish it wasn’t so, I am just saying whatever conditions that have kept it like that, has been going on for centuries.

Tomorrow – Bokra

Music 0 Comment


Thanks for my friend Saudiaspire for letting me know about this, it completely slipped under my radar.

Quincy Jones, the multi-Grammy winning producer and multi-media entrepreneur, and Badr Jafar, an Emirati social entrepreneur, entered into a joint venture, The Global Gumbo Group, earlier this year to develop multi-media opportunities across all entertainment platforms including music, film, television, publishing and digital applications in the Middle East and North Africa.

The company will initially be focusing on producing live entertainment opportunities in the Middle East for Western artists in collaboration with renowned Middle East and North African artists. The Global Gumbo Group will also look to nurture new Middle Eastern and North African talent, and acquire content from the region to introduce to the West.

All funds raised as part of the single’s global distribution will be collected by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture in support of the United Nations World Food Program, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation among others, to finance educational programs in music, arts and culture for children from across the Arab world.

www.tomorrowbokra.org

The song is a direct translation of Quincy’s original song, I did not like the song in Arabic to be honest, but I do like the initiative, I hope it works.

Tomorrow = Bokra in Arabic

Boker tov = good morning in Hebrew

« 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 »

↑

© Qusay 2012