Monday, August 30, 2010
It's party time, then a trip down the dark side.....just a wee trip mind you.
This week we start exploring the jolly good fun that was this weekend.
Greg partied like it was still 1999, taking a trip to San Francisco, to see a ball game, with a bunch from his favorite Irish Pub....so you know this was a sober event.
Simon spent the weekend coming face to face with various predators, but mainly a surprised coyote and a rather unfriendly mommy bob cat, as she had 2 kittens in tow.
Ashok joins us this week and he says he just partied at the weekend....without going into more detail. Hmmm.
We beging exploring the dark side, courtesy of a couple of stories that made us all say "What the hell just happened?"
The first stemmed from a court case where the judge said it was OK for police to secretly tag cars, even when on your own property, with GPS tracking devices. WTF?!?!?!?! So, what year is this, 1984?
Greg then somehow manages to change the topic to 3D porn?!?!?! Don't how we got there, but we certainly did, in full technicolor detail....you have been warned.
We then explore more of the dark side, with government and non governmental snooping. We discuss new cases to prevent passports and credit cards being scanned. Cool.
We then discuss news that came out recently that billions have been wasted on projects in Iraq. Now who'd have thought that?!?!?!
Staying on the big B subject, we close discussing how billions seem to be donated to specific disasters, but very little seems to be utilized. The big case cited is Haiti, and Simon having spoken to someone from there recently, who said that it's just as bad today as it was right after the earthquake.
And on that happy note, we end this week's exploration of moments and stories that made us go "What the hell just happened?"
We end this week's episode with 2 minutes from a song from Iron Maiden's new CD...(which is fan-freakin'-tastic btw)
BMSMA.
G, S and A.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Mali, Dogons, Timbuktu and a little thing about a New York mosque.
This week we have a very special guest on the show, all the way from Mali, West Africa.
Apene is a tour guide in his native Mali and guided Simon when he and his wife visited there in 2008. They've kept in touch and when Apene came to the US to visit the US tour agencies he works with, they met up in San Francisco. Apene has just started his own tour company, so was here to talk with the local agencies. His company is called Mali Dogon Travel and you can see his web page here.
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| Dogon village scene. |
Greg joined the fun and we all had a great discussion, that turned into a very educational podcast, and therefore blog entry.
It was too noisy to chat and record in the restaurant but we started to record on the walk back to Mary's house.....thanks for hosting Mary, very kind of you.
Mali is an enormous nation, in West Africa, at the bottom of the Sahara. It is the home of famous areas, such as Timbuktu, The Niger River, and 18 different ethnic peoples, including the The Dogon People, of which Apene is one, the Fulani and Tuareg. We put links for these as we talk about them in the podcast.
When Apene refers to the Fulani people conquering the are and converting the population to Islam, and the Dogon people's moving to their current location to avoid conversion, they were referred to as the Fula Jihads.
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| Dogon Village looking up at the Bandiagara Escarpment with caves at the top, originally occupied by the Tellem peoples. |
We discuss Mali, the nation, the people, the travel and here are some photos from Simon's visit.
At the end of the chat, since Mali is a predominantly Islamic nation, we discuss the '"round Zero Mosque". Apene makes some very interesting points and it's definitely well worth listening to. A fascinating discussion all round.
We end this show with music from West Africa by Habib Koite.
However, the country deserves a few photos and here are some, taken by Simon during his visit there.
Traditional housing of the Gurunsi people (with defense in mind) in Burkina Fasu, the neighboring country to Mali and also visited by Simon.
Lady carrying food produce in the traditional way in Mali. They also carry large tubs of local beer like this too.
Apene refers to the local "Fetishes" that are used for religious purposes and sacrifices (usually of poor chickens). This is one of the more creepy ones, actually from Burkina Fasu. It smelled of dead chicken and blood.
One of the local children, standing in a doorway, close to where the previous fetish picture was taken.
A very happy and pleasant man we met in either Timbuktu or Djenne (can't really remember which but I think it was Timbuktu.)
A girl who found us a very curious sight, in Timbuktu.
Local pre school in Timbuktu.
Notice it's boys only.
River boat captain on the Niger River. If you click to enlarge the image and look in his glasses closely, you'll see the shape of the traditional boat we were on: very narrow and long.
A rather splendid looking mosque seen along the banks of the Niger River, Mali.
A Dogon musician, performing during a traditional masked dance.
Traditional masked dancers, ready to practice. The one on the right is the hunter. There are many variations representing different aspects of life.
The front of the Djenne Mosque, taken at sunrise, hence the lovely yellow coloring.
Here endeth today's edumacational blog. Hope you enjoyed....however....
BMSMA.
G&S
Monday, August 16, 2010
Friends, Romans, Countrymen....lend me your ears and anything else that isn't tied down.
This week we have a lot of ground to cover, so lets get stuck in....lots of edumacational links here today too so please click away.
We are joined again by our good buddy Ashok.
Greg opens with his story from this weekend, where he ventured to a kick boxing match and managed to survive being assaulted visually by the Play Boy babes who insisted on standing in front of him.
Simon then tells us all about his most recent trip. This one was a goodie for him, as it was to a family wedding in Plymouth England.... The evening meal on the first night there was close to the Mayflower spot, where the pilgrim fathers sailed from so he took his wife to see that.....again. They also walked past Plymouth Hoe, where Francis Drake was when the Spanish Armada were spotted. "Let me finish my game of bowls first."
Also, as a bit of extra bonus information.....do you remember from history that he landed in California too.......
The wedding was held in a 17th century house. It was built in the 1680's.
Simon's favorite memory was in his sister's kitchen the morning of the wedding hanging out while the ladies got their hair done. it was bloody marvelous.
After the festivities were over with they drove to London, to catch a plane to Rome, but not before a quick visit to Bath, originally a Roman town, with a sulphurous hot spring. Then they drove by Stonehenge, only a slight detour, to stay at Heathrow for flight next day.
Then they flew to Roma. Ciao!
Since it was August a lot of Romans were on holiday themselves and some businesses were shut down but there were plenty of tourists there, so they planned ahead and bought tickets online beforehand for most sites.......good travel tip BTW......
Have been to Rome several times so missed some of the more obvious sites, like the Colloseum and Forum (down town for ancient Rome), however we revisited some of our favorite places (buildings, piazzas and statues). Our second hotel was actually right next door to this church, one of our favorites. In it is where Bernini's astounding statue of Santa Teresa is.....and it is truly stunning to behold in the flesh..........and he carved it in his 20s.
Visited the Vatican and went into Sistine Chapel of course and onto St Peters. Glorious, but hardly pious and Christ Like. But again, wow, all the same.
What the hell, here's a list of some of the favorite spots not listed above.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galleria_Borghese. More Bernini.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_Proserpina_(Bernini) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_and_Daphne_(Bernini) Lots of other stuff to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_Navona to see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontana_dei_Quattro_Fiumi (Watch Angels and Demons)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musei_Capitolini
We have to mention this dude though as he's featured in a lot of roman statues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius
Then we move onto discuss a few other sticky subjects, because a lot of shit has been going on in the world since the last podcast.
Pakistan flooding. What's happening with the assistance and aid to them, the impact of terrain, and of course the Taliban.
We ask the rather difficult question of......
Where's the Muslim world donations? What about saudi Arabia, Kuwait?
We close by discussing, briefly, the NY Mosque and all the influences at play here.
(Cordoba House/http://www.cordobainitiative.org/)
The planed mosque is going to be built 2 blocks away from ground zero of 911. It is being proposed and planed by a group names after the site of the initial conquest of Spain (Cordoba) and plans to be dedicated on September 11th, 2011. Coincidence you think?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100816/pl_yblog_upshot/news-outlets-split-in-describing-mosque
Anyway, a packed program, but either way......here it is.
BMSMA!
G, S and A.
Monday, August 9, 2010
A Music-Filled, Waiter-Tested, Blackberry-Blockin' Blowout!
We then launch into our weekend: Greg goes to a cigar event (and you benefit from his vast cigar knowledge as a result, woohoo!) & a concert, and Simon rocks out at his OWN concert! A music-filled weekend it was!
Greg & Diane ... SMOKIN'!
Chaka Khan & Michael McDonald
(no, it really IS Chaka Khan next to him!)
Simon Rockin' Out, Mannn!
- Many US universities are a waste of money!
- Empty suits can be found in Corporate America!
- Housing in Silicon Valley is ridiculous!
- The "Waiter Test" is the best thing ever!
- The Gulf States (UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc.) restrict Blackberrry access?
- Android phone sales are outpacing the iPhone??
Live long, prosper, and KMSMA!
- Greg & Simon
Monday, August 2, 2010
"It's good to be the King!"
We start off by recapping on last week's podcast, the one with Jim....as it was very intense and covered a lot of ground.
Greg asks why we're surrounded by stacks of musical instruments and Simon explains.
We explore the concept of lobbyists, what they do and why it's not good for anyone really....Greg delves into the depths of his memory to explain where the name comes from.....The Hay Adam's Hotel.
We review a program on the world's most extreme airports and Simon gives a "Holy Shit" to some of them.
We discuss social manners and Greg's amazing experience with a very rude woman in a Panda (Pandora) Express and the obnoxious lady. Simon counters with his experience in a local pharmacy.
We touch on the subject of the new mega mosque that's supposed to be built near NY's ground zero, and what's wrong with it....and the history of Wall Street....and that the wall was originally there to keep pigs isolated.
We remember an old TV program....."Not the 9 o'clock news." and how great it was. One of the members was Pamela Stephenson. That brings us onto the quote from "History of the World"....."It's good to be the King."....."De Monet...De Monet!".......here's Simon's favorite sketch from Not the 9o'clock news featuring Pamela and Rowan Atkinson....."Gerald the Gorilla."........"Wild? I was absolutely livid!"
We are slowly remastering earlier podcasts, to boost the volume. These are not repeats, but are boosting the volume of the early releases.
The closing music this week is a little different. It's a bit of "Nocturn" by Kate Bush, which is from the CD Aerial....which is glorious. Here's the complete track.
BMSMA.....
G&S
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