The Good and Bad in the World

There are definitely many perks to sucking at the teat of academia. Between the hours spent at the computer, listening to the cellulite congeal on my thighs, I get to meet interesting people and hear some of the World's leaders and leading experts talk about how they're trying to make this planet a little bit better.

Yesterday, in preparation for an event with a high-ranking Turkish official, I had the privilege of leading a combined American/Turkish security delegation through part of the campus. It was nothing short of hilarious. Imagine two big American State Department guys, a Boston-born ex-cop and a Virginian ex-military, as well as two tall Turkish security officials, one young, smiley, tall and lanky with longish hair, the other with a square face, was mostly silent and smoked a cigarette at the first opportunity. In the same two minute-span on our walk back from the school, the American guys made fun of me for being an environmentalist and the one English-speaking Turkish guy complimented me on my shoes. It's nice to know that someone in the world thinks my beat up Target flats are "fresh."

Friday, I sat in on two events with Jordanian businessman, all-around superstar and founder of ARAMEX Fadi Ghandour. ARAMEX is essentially the FedEx of the Middle East. People like to think that you can't easily do good business in the region, let alone start and new company, but Fadi has proven this assumption wrong several times over. He was also instrumental in founding one of the first successful Arab social networking websites, which spawned a flurry of web-based start ups in the Middle East after it was bought by Yahoo in one of the largest acquisitions of a knowledge-based company outside of the U.S. AND, he's into social entrepreneurship. More specifically, he sees entrepreneurship as a way to solve social problems that governments are failing to address, much like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood have done. Hamas initially won votes in Gaza because it provided essential services that no other entity would. If businesses can tackle the needs of their communities in the absence of government support, gangs and terrorist organizations won't have to. Now that's good stuff.

Earlier last week, we hosted two events to highlight both sides of the current peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Both speakers said nothing is going to happen- surprise, surprise. However, good points were made at both events and I will report on them when I have my notes in front of me.

As one might imagine, given that the events were in Cambridge, Mass, there were only protesters at the Israeli speaker's talk. This guy scared the crap out of me when he pulled a Palestinan flag out of his pants. I thought it was a gun at first. Despite my personal feelings on the conflict, I found his disruption of the event really off-putting and unprofessional, especially since he held the flag backwards for much of the event.

There are more strategic ways to make a point.

This weekend, Wyatt and I went to Berklee's Beantown Jazz Fest on Columbus Avenue. Highlights included lots of free stuff, tasty ethnic food, and two great bands from New Orleans: Jon Batiste Band and the Wild Magnolias. The latter came with Mardi Gras Indians in tow.

Tonight, Noam Chomsky was on "On Point" on WBUR addressing my recent fears that the Tea Party will take advantage of less-than-straight-thinking Americans in this fragile economic time and smother our country just as Hitler did in Germany. Chomsky doesn't think things will happen just like that but he did say the comparison was worth considering. Eek. The show was also good fodder for my campaign to get "On Point" a better interviewer than Tom Ashbrook. I swear that guy is the most socially awkward host on the radio. He kept trying to talk over poor 81-year old Noam and he just comes across as a big tool. Sorry Tom. I love your show but show a little more tact

Bikes! and other fun stuff this weekend

Thanks to the Boston Cyclist's Union, MassBikes and a host of other groups, we finally have bike lanes along Centre Street in JP! A-mazing!

The Union is also giving free bike tune ups at Farmer's Markets across Boston. What a great idea that is.

This weekend is the Tenth Annual Bicycle Film Festival in Boston. Films are showing at the Brattle in Cambridge. Saturday night there is an after party with free beer at AdHoc. in JP- also a swell night cap for a day at Berklee's Beantown Jazz Fest.

Randos

I'm sitting in the kitchen with Veronica, listening to Jamiroquai and talking about how great Fall is, mostly because of squash, especially the delicata variety. I'm convinced it makes the best soup.

If it's been awhile since you've listened to Jamiroquai's Travelling Without Moving, I highly recommend it. I don't know what it is about me and loving skinny men who sing like women but it really is some of my favorite music: Beck's Midnight Vultures, The Scissor Sisters, Prince, Darondo, Justin Timberlake, Republic of Loose...and the list goes on. I'll try to think more about just what it is about falsetto that really gets me going.


I've also been really into old N.W.A. lately, don't ask me why. It kept coming up on my shuffle and then I committed to giving it some real love.

I'm in the midst of writing a review of Love and Death, the first ever internationally distributed album from Ghanaian Fela Kuti contemporary Ebo Taylor . It's freaking solid. If you want to impress your friends at a party, buy this album. Maybe even on vinyl. Warning: it may cause a lot of spontaneous booty shaking and people may call you a pretentious ass 'cause they'll be jealous of how ahead of the curve you are.

These are a couple photos I forgot to include in earlier posts: cosmos at Allandale and a scene from the Life is Good fest.

Kurt Vile, Haiti and OK Cupid Profiles

On a solid recommendation, I've been listening to a lot of Philadelphia's Kurt Vile. I have a feeling he's going to be instrumental in getting me through the winter. A little bit like Atlas Sound with a Devendra Banhart twist. Vile matches simple, eccentric lyrics with very intricate, distorted but welcoming melodies that make you want to curl up with a comforter and stay in bed all day.

For anyone who's interested in the current political climate in Haiti there was a great piece in the New Yorker recently that discussed Wyclef's rejection as a candidate and the country's prospects for progress post-earthquake. Thirty percent of Haiti's public servants died in the earthquake. Try running a recovery project with that staff scenario.

On a lighter note, Campus Progress has a fun little article on what white people, black people and middle eastern people like, according to their OK Cupid profiles.

And We're Back

First, I want to put a plug in for Yellow Bird Project. The company gets indie rock bands to design special t-shirts for a charity of their choice. The newest is an Andrew Bird shirt. It features a peacock riding a bicycle and proceeds from the shirt benefit therapeutic riding.


This was my first weekend in Boston in a couple weeks. It's always exciting to be home and I really packed a lot in.


After an awesome dinner of butternut squash tacos in front of the US Open Men's Semi Final, courtesy of my girl K-Momma, I joined my buddy Taylor for a show by Neutral Uke Hotel.


Members of local bands Golden Bloom and the Motion Sick came together to play all of Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over the Sea, with ukuleles. It was a close second to Norm Moghtaderi's extrememly passionate solo guitar rendition of the album. Norm sings "Oh Comely" like nobody else I know. That said, Golden Bloom's Shawn Fogel nailed the Jeff Mangum singing style (which is not an easy feat) and there was something really endearing about the group's lo-fi setup of dueling ukuleles, melodica, drum kit, euphonium and trumpet. The small crowd at Berklee's Club 939 sang every word, clapped and stomped their feet together as one loving unit of love for all that is that eccentric, epic album.

Here's a taste of the Neutral Uke Hotel sound, in the style of the Blogotheque takeaway shows:




After that show, we went to Inman Square to get our dance on with the Nephrok! Allstars at Atwood's. Frontman Nephtaliem McCrary and his band delivered solid funk with original songs carefully placed between covers of the Meters, Sly and the Family Stone, the Pointer Sisters and other funk-you-up classics. The second set was all P-funk covers, in honor of two original band members who recently passed: Garry Shider and Phelps "Catfish" Collin. The latter legendary funk guitarist played with Parliament-Funkadelic and James Brown's J.B.'s alongside his brother Bootsy Collins.

Phelps Collins playing with James Brown in 1971. Rolling Stone, 2010.

Today, I peeled myself out of bed to go to Day 2 of the Life Is Good music festival just outside Boston in Canton, MA. Highlights included the African tinged blues rock of Asheville natives Toubab Krewe and New Orleans' golden boy Trombone Shorty with his surprisingly young but totally sick band Orleans Avenue. I caught their show at Jazz Fest in May but this time the crowd was small and seeing that beautiful man up close was a real treat.

Trombone Shorty: So hot right now.

The encore was a second line style march through the crowd for a "Saints Go Marchin' In" sing along. A-mazing!


There was something a little weird about being at a family-friendly festival sponsored by a clothing company but it worked and in some ways it was much more pleasant than the usual hippie-tacular festie vibe. I think people feel weird about doing hard drugs near kids.


This is what I find myself eating for dinner almost every night: veggie slop over pasta or lettuce.
Dear readers, please help me come up with something new. If it's something I can still make in one pot you get bonus points.


This is a Mexican Hat flower. Grew it myself. No big deal.

Excited for the cabbage and japanese eggplants coming along. Yesterday I planted some garlic to enjoy next summer. We'll see if it makes it threw the winter. Fingers crossed!

This week Wyatt plays with critically acclaimed NOMO. Go Macrotones!

Dinner

Thank you Melanie for introducing me to this amazing website.

Wondering what to make for dinner? You'll never have to worry again with this handy website: WTF Should I Make for Dinner?

Summer Camp Wedding

Last weekend my friends Jesse and Johanna were married at her family's home in New Hampshire. The rest of the wedding weekend happened at the nearby Birch Hill Camp. Camp weddings are definitely the way to go. It's like a retreat, minus the ice breakers, plus a lot of your friends and other awesome people who are totally pumped to be there.












There were babies, dogs, fires, skinny dips, dancing shoes, lots of bacon for breakfast and a big trampoline in the lake. At the reception both "visions of Johanna" and "Jesse's Girl" were played.




This little darlin was the flower girl. Notice we were in a rec hall.

Tomorrow Wyatt and I are off to D.C. where we will reunite my little brother with his Cadillac and, god willing, eat a lot of Chesapeake Bay blue crabs. Happy Labor Day to all!