what's in my ipod

what music in my ipod does not automatically translates as what music I currently listen to, some are, but the other half are music I intend to listen, if I have the patient to wait for the particular bits that will intrigue my interests, however some are in constant play on any bike-ride, or heating Cornelius.

from most often being listened order, here are they

mew - and the glass handed kites

I once witnessed their live in a collective concert, and pretty much blown away. I instinctively realize that all the material brought in the concert came from this particular album, one I always have but failed to listen due to its nature of coming into my hand with another album by the now deformed Sikth.

the whole pieces blend together seamlessly and enjoyable from get go. Mew's androgyny vocalist (you can google for his name) did his part perfectly without trying to be someone else, no growl what so ever is present for a well arranged progressive-pop album.

despite being quite a fan of this album, I find it hard to listen to other of their stuff, and have often short in patience to wait for a hook.

the other fact why I like this album so much is anybody can sing to it if they can catch the breaks on each song, though blended with other songs, making it an enjoyable singing-to-a-tune experience.

opeth - ghost reveries

a considerably old release by opeth, an all time favorite prog-deathmetal band, or at least in this album, from sweden. the grand conjuration was the initial reason why I love this album, as it grew on me on successive listen. but I can swear to you that Mikael Åkerfeldt made the scariest growl I have ever listened to, and I have listened to a lot.

it is in this release that opeth, in my opinion, managed to sound exactly like it should, which is an understatement. I used to have the latest album in my ipod, but was deleted as I hardly listen to it.

a post in sputnikmusic illustrated it like, knowing your beloved girlfriend had changed into a hot sexy office woman who never wear nothing but miniskirts, hot, but not the reason why you're in love with her back in the days.

I guess each release by opeth cater to different types of listeners, and this one cater to my type of listener. this album by far have the most played songs in the ipod.

jaga jazzist - what we must

what we must represents the zen of music, the pinnacle of heartfelt symphony and the sky-is-the-limit types of arrangements. with ten active members all in all, the results are impressively out of this earth.

as the album that got me listen to the norwegian prog-jazz in the first place, I found myself unable to find anything on par with the mastery of this album, arrangement wise or ear-friendly wise, at least to my ears.

as far as european styles go, some of the best songs in the album follow the similar pattern of building up to a climax, ending them with a blast or a happy ending, a stellar performance carried flawlessly to no end.

the album managed to get me to some of the hippest norwegian musicians around, including Mattias Eick and band leader Lars Horntveth. for lack of a better statement, no ipod is complete without what we must in it, and what you must is make the time to listen to the album.

Egypt crisis looms

The crisis in Egypt is not over. At least according to this letter made public at one of the groups I followed,

I know this has nothing to do with the regular post I put in this stupid blog, but still, this letter deserves whatever publication it can get, serving its purpose as a notification, and a warning for those concerned.

the letter is courtesy of Harry Surjadi, sent by Joyce Barnathan who interviewed Yehia Ghanem.
ps. PressTV, whom I worked for six months back in 2011, also had an interview with Yehia Ghanem on Sept.11, 2011, before the following indictment.

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courtesy of PressTV

Now that the U.S. employees of the NGOs indicted in Egypt are out of the country, many Americans think the crisis there is over. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The International Center for Journalists has two Egyptian employees facing criminal charges that could land them in jail for five years.

Today, the Egyptians (and one American who chose not to evacuate) stood in a cage in a Cairo courtroom during a new hearing. One of them was Yehia Ghanem, ICFJ’s project director and a seasoned editor and war correspondent at the state-run newspaper Al Ahram. He was organizing our program for professional and citizen journalists when he was indicted.

All of us at ICFJ feel it is so important to understand how difficult this situation is for the Egyptians who work for U.S. NGOs. For that reason, I want to share with you excerpts from my exchange with Ghanem.

Q) What is the most difficult part of this ordeal?

A) When my 11-year old daughter called me crying over the phone to ask if I had taken a bribe from the U.S. to harm the national security of Egypt. The reason she asked: the investigating judges went public with the indictments without bothering to inform us—the accused—beforehand and at least give us a chance to let our families know before they went to the press. I was in the car on the way to my office when my daughter called me. I hurried home to find my children in a state of shock. I had to swear to them that their father is an honest man who would never betray his values, not to mention his country.

Now that the Americans under indictment are out of Cairo, what is the situation for you and the other Egyptians?

I do hope they will not sort out this fictitious case in the same political way it got started. For if they do, many questions will remain hanging over defendants’ heads in the eyes of the public thanks to merciless character assassination campaigns in the media. The best way to end this case is in the court of law, to prove not only the innocence of the wrongly accused, but also to expose how the whole situation was faked—and by whom. Such exposure will be a message for tomorrow's fakers not to be born today.

Many of us were distressed to see you and other Egyptian defendants put in a cage during the first hearing. What was going through your mind then?

Anger, pain and defiance are the right words. I got carried away by a variety of thoughts: How many out there deserve to be in the cage instead of me? How many people are at large and enjoying what they usurped from this nation, yet they are out there entertaining themselves by watching me in the cage?

How were the other defendants?

I saw a young lady, one of the defendants, crying her eyes out. She asked to hide behind my back—away from the photojournalists flashing their cameras. Then I felt even more angry over those who were forcing a 25-year-old to go through this ordeal.

I asked her: “Did you do anything that they alleged?” She swore to God that she did not. I said: “Then you should not feel ashamed to face the cameras. You should stand tall and face them. You should make them feel ashamed to force you into this cage.” Moments later, her tears dried up and she was standing beside me defying cameras.

You were about to be promoted at Al Ahram. What is your situation there now?

I was denied the promotion to chief editor after many colleagues took advantage of this faked case. They launched a campaign against me without giving me the right to respond. Some went as far as to call for banning me from the premises of Al Ahram. I do thank the chairman of the board who refrained from doing so. For now, I still hold the position as deputy chief editor.

A new court date has been set for April 10.

Yes, in spite of all this, I am going to trial, standing tall, believing in what I did, and knowing that I am being tried for things that I did not do. I am going to the trial with absolute trust in divine justice, in my country and in Egypt's judicial system. I do believe that Egypt is worthy of any sacrifice, even the soul itself, even if that means being dragged to criminal court on baseless charges. It is such a cheap price for a much better and more beautiful Egypt.

How is your family coping?

They are confident of my innocence and my integrity. However, they are suffering intolerable pain because of the fierce campaign waged by media against me. Meantime, I keep telling them that one thing I learned throughout the 18 years that I worked as a war correspondent is endless patience, which has become one of my favorite virtues. Also, I learned from this kind of journalism that you should not be afraid of the sound of a bullet. For as long as you can hear its sound, you know you are still alive. So the louder the noise from bad people, the more certain I am that I am alive and even kicking.
So please, remember that there still are people on the ground, who are fighting for their dignity, respect and livelihood in Egypt.


Best regards,
Joyce Barnathan
President
International Center for Journalists