25 posts tagged “new york times”
At some point during the day I like to log on to the New York Times web site to check out their "Pictures of the Day". Since I don't own a television by choice, it's a great way to kind of get the visual images of the day's news events. I was very intrigued and pleased by this picture today.
Sometimes I just really love picking up my morning New York Times and finding articles that are so right on with where I am in my head. Today was one such day.
When I worked at Shaman Drum bookshop in Ann Arbor, MI I had the great privlege of introducing several notable authors who visited the store to do readings and signings. Included among these were Manning Marable, Michael Eric Dyson, Walter Mosley, and the Haitian author Edwidge Danticat among others. Today on the front cover of the New York Times Arts page was a two part review written by the literature and book critic of the NYT, Michiko Kakutani. The first book that Kakutani reviews is from Edwidge Danticat entitled Brother, I'm Dying. The second book is from the Dominican-American author Junot Diaz entitled The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
I have been a fan of Edwidge Danticat ever since I read Krik Krak and was able to meet her at Shaman Drum. I've been following her career from the pages of her subsequent books and through the media. I've only read short stories from Junot Diaz in The New Yorker and really should get around to reading his oft-mentioned book of short stories Drown. I love "homeboy's" style. I look forward to reading both of these novels from the ever connected Danticat and Diaz, the beautiful sister with the Haitian roots and the hip brother bringing mad knowledge from his Dominican-American perspective.
For more on these two, please check out The New Yorker's "Out Loud" podcast in which Danticat discusses Díaz’s 1995 short story “How to Date a Brown Girl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie)” with The New Yorker’s fiction editor, Deborah Treisman.
One of my biggest pet peeves besides the ubiquity of MySpace users surrounding me at the public library where I am blogging from right now (My God don't people use the Internet for anything else these days?), is annoying ring tones that blare from people's phones. I've got my mobile phone set to a discreet electronic tone that is usually only audible to me when not on vibrate.
I was very curious this morning when reading the "New York Times" to see a story with the headlines "Family Challenges Verizon Wireless Deal to Sell Bob Marley Ring Tones". It looks like Verizon just circumvented the Marley estate or the consent of the Marley family and went directly to Universal Music Group to license the music of Bob Marley for ringtones on the Verizon wireless service. While I must admit that I might like to have "Exodus" or "Get Up Stand Up" as a ringtone, I view the music of Bob Marley as a little too special to relegate to ringtone status. It will be interesting to watch how this one plays itself out.
Here is the press release from Verizon surrounding the issue.
I love music and I love to write. I am not a musician but I am a writer. Through the years many family members, friends, and professional colleagues have suggested to me that I become a jazz critic or a music writer. I have always been hesitant and a bit skeptical becaue while I like reading about music I often return to the much quoted words of Nat Hentoff, jazz critic par excellence ...
"John Coltrane would ask me not to write the liner notes for his albums because, he’d say, 'If the music can’t speak for itself, what’s the use?'".
In any event whether or not I write about music myself, I do enjoy writing on music when it brings something else to the music and keeps me informed. While I am not a big fan of his writing or his opinions on music, I will admit the I admire the career trajectory of Kelefa Sanneh and I am a bit envious of his current gig. Sanneh is a "New York Times" music critic who focuses on rock and roll, hip/hop/rap, and pop music in general. I first became familiar with Sanneh when he served as deputy editor of "Transition ", one of my favorite magazines which is based at Harvard University and edited by Henry Louis Gates and Kwame Appiah. "Transition" features provocative articles and stunning black and white graphics while focusing on issues of race, culture, and politics. From "Transition" to the "New York Times", that's quite a career path for Brother Sanneh. Congratulations and keep up the great work.
Now my main man Nate Chinen is a different ball of wax all together. I truly love the way this guy writes about music and most specifically the way he writes about jazz. Chinen in addition to being a "New York Times" music critic focusing on jazz also is a frequent contributing writer to perhaps the most informative jazz magazine on the market Jazz Times. Thanks Brother Chinen for keeping me informed of what's going on in the world of jazz.
My mind has been on Africa and food these days. Africa is on my mind almost constantly. Food is on my mind because I am enjoying the glories of summer vegetables and I am on a pretty good steady diet these days.
Not a day passes that in some way I don't reflect on my time spent in the Peace Corps in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo). I loved eating fresh fish and dried fish there along with rice and beans, wild greens, fresh pineapple, fresh mangoes, and goat among other things. Reading the New York Times these past few days I've been apprised of what seems like a truly sad story in the case of Zimbabwe where it doesn't look like anyone will have anything to eat if things keep going the way they are going with Robert Mugabe's and Zimbabwe's dire economic policy situation.
On a brighter note ... when I lived in Ann Arbor, MI I was a habitue of a local restaurant there that came and went with much fanfare. It was called Latdior. The cusine was from Senegal, the West African country pictured above. If you have never had Senegalese food then you are truly missing a culinary sensation. The people of Sengal do things with fish, chicken, and lamb that make you want to slap your mother as they say. Latdior in Ann Arbor featured many of the traditional Senegalese dishes done in a very authentic style. I ate there several days a week because the food was so good. Traditional Senegalese dishes include thiebu djen (fish), yassa (chicken), and mafe (meat w/peanut sauce). The New York Times just reminded me of how much I love the food from Senegal. Please visit this very infomative article about a often overlooked and underappreciated cuisine. To my friends Michael and Keisha who live in Harlem, I look forward to exploring some Senegalese joints the next time I find my way up past 116th Street ...
Alright we are approaching being in ABQ for a complete year. I love this place. Nice to see this in the New York Times ...
While doing some research on Georgia Popplewell I discovered that she was going to be a speaker at the 2007 IdeaFestival. The IdeaFestival will take place from September 13 - 15, 2007 in Louisville, KY. To learn more about the IdeaFestival ... please click here. The IdeaFestival is described on the program website's "About Us" page as follows:
"Founded in 2000, the IdeaFestival (IF) is a world-class event that attracts leading and highly diverse thinkers from across the nation and around the globe to explore and celebrate innovation, imagination and cutting-edge ideas.
The IdeaFestival is a unique non-linear program designed to stretch people's horizon's and promote breakthrough thinking... utilizing multiple venues to showcase, discuss and "connect" important ideas in science, the arts, design, business, film, technology, education, etc.
The Festival is designed to appeal to a broad cross-section of people - with presenters selected for their ideas, achievements, and their ability to communicate to a wide-ranging audience.
An important value of the IF is its accessibility. Strong support from sponsors allows the event to be priced at a level (with many events free) that provides for participation by a large diverse audience including students and young people." [emphasis IdeaFestival website "About Us" description]
I was particularly intrigued to learn of one of this year's program speakers, Ndesanjo Macha who is a Tanzanian blogger, journalist, lawyer, and digital activist currently based in the US. On my own resume I list Spanish, French, and Swahili as the foreign languages I have had experiences with. While living in the Katanga (Shaba) province of Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) I spoke the language Kiluba of the Baluba people but was exposed to Ki-Swahili and spoke it some as well. Ndesanjo Macha blogs in Swahili for the blog Jikomboe. I don't think I'll be attending the IdeaFestival this year but was happy to learn about a man who blogs in Swahili. Awesome! Some of the other participants/speakers scheduled for the 2007 IdeaFestival that appeal to me are: Mindy Faber, Producer, Director, Educator with Filmmakers Studio; Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times; Steve Wozniak, Co-founder of Apple, inventor, entrepreneur; Ethan Zuckerman, "Global Voices" leader and founder of Geekcorps; and of course one of the people that I admire, Georgia Popplewell, Trinidad-based media producer, journalist, editor, blogger. I'll be following the event via the podcasts and the website. These people are doing the kinds of things I am interested in ...
