tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post8304922610804541722..comments2024-03-28T17:17:14.536-04:00Comments on the daily howler: The greatness of the other perspective!<b>bob somerby</b>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02963464534685954436noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-24840354311701620102014-03-08T06:22:58.560-05:002014-03-08T06:22:58.560-05:00The article by Randa Jarrar was offensive. Bellyda...The article by Randa Jarrar was offensive. Bellydancers from around the world (not just white Americans) should and often do travel to the Middle East to study, learn about music and culture. Unfortunately, some are naive, or their teachers don't parlay the importance of respecting the culture. That may be one of the sources of Randas rants. If she, as a writer had done her research (which all good writers should do), she would know that there are lots of dancers of all ethnicities trying to raise the image of "belly dancing", find ways to make it sustainable with dignity, and studying diligently as life long students of the art. Meanwhile, there are lots- in the Middle East and in the US who really drag it through the mud. She must have seen those and missed the beautiful dancers, the women whose lives are healed through dance, the depressions that are lifted, the back aches that go away, and the happiness that is shared through BD. Any of Ms. Jarrar's real points got lost in a poisonous haze. <br />There is a lot out there that can offend folks from the Middle East, but being more offensive than thou doesn't get the point across. Some of her valid feelings have been riduculed and rejected, as they should be because of how she presented them. At least it has folks thinking and talking.Tamalyn Dallalhttp://www.tamalyndallal.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-41330139138943960732014-03-07T00:20:09.808-05:002014-03-07T00:20:09.808-05:00It's good that we have real-intellectuals like...It's good that we have real-intellectuals like you who really do know more about music to tell us what it's all about.deadratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-33743028055089793922014-03-06T08:42:47.838-05:002014-03-06T08:42:47.838-05:00American music is also influenced strongly by Celt...American music is also influenced strongly by Celtic folk music brought to these shores by poor whites. It is also influenced strongly by French folk music brought to the very deltas of Mississippi.<br /><br />Indeed, American music is influenced by every culture who lived here, including Native American, and Mexican music, hence the brief salute given by Linda Ronstadt to her musical roots.<br /><br />Simon recognized this very clearly on Graceland, and Bob's oversimplification of that album is what you expect of a pseudo-intellectual who thinks he knows more about music than he actually does.<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-9659209208224638152014-03-06T08:33:31.035-05:002014-03-06T08:33:31.035-05:00He doesn't have to have hired slaves from Miss...He doesn't have to have hired slaves from Mississippi to play on his album for the music inspired by African slaves brought to that state to have influenced American music. We all know that Simon went to Africa and hired African musicians for his album. We also all know that the people from African brought to America as slaves influenced Southern music, including jazz and blues, which in turn influenced Elvis. Why be so obtuse?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-73068566153254896222014-03-06T06:29:49.079-05:002014-03-06T06:29:49.079-05:00"In Graceland, Paul Simon traced the ways the..."In Graceland, Paul Simon traced the ways the music he came to perform moved through New Orleans and up the Mississippi toward a literal and figurative Graceland."<br /><br />Well, I guess if the African bands such as Boyoyo Boys, Juluka, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo that inspired this album came from New Orleans up the Mississippi, Bob would be correct.<br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-86582813555055680452014-03-05T22:59:09.171-05:002014-03-05T22:59:09.171-05:00I like Pink.I like Pink.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-66308790018036711942014-03-05T21:16:39.882-05:002014-03-05T21:16:39.882-05:00"We’ll each be permitted to do the things our..."We’ll each be permitted to do the things our ancestors were doing before the 1890s. Please don’t step outside those ancestral lines!"<br /><br />That's absurdly unfair to the piece and the author. She's engaging with an entire history of Orientalism and the appropriation of Arabic cultures by white people. It's similar to the entirely valid critiques of Jared Leto trans gender folks have been voicing. It's about power and culture, which is why the author explicitly talks about black face and drag. I appreciate's Bob's take on lots of things, but this is way of the mark to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-25530009325065394202014-03-05T18:01:00.499-05:002014-03-05T18:01:00.499-05:00Brilliant, Bob. Just brilliant.Brilliant, Bob. Just brilliant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-64357876606473128952014-03-05T17:36:55.279-05:002014-03-05T17:36:55.279-05:00Our culture's cosmology is by far the coolest....Our culture's cosmology is by far the coolest. General Relativity plus the Standard Model. People all over the world are invited to participate, and some of them do!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-8063119227725564812014-03-05T16:53:05.000-05:002014-03-05T16:53:05.000-05:00Great Salon link -- a click-bait troll speech if e...Great Salon link -- a click-bait troll speech if ever there was one. Randa Jarrar should feel lucky to have the option to return to a homeland that is virtually devoid of any minority populations whatsoever to offend her, something not many Americans can say.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com