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Jul. 19th, 2006 11:53 amUnplugging the ethernet cable on the home modem for the umpteenth time last night, I heard a strange crackling noise, like maybe the connector was crumbling away inside, so I ordered a new modem today. Even if the modem isn't the problem, at least I can return the one I've been stupidly renting all these years and eventually save some money...
Watched a fascinating movie last night, the Egyptian film Adrift on the Nile, based on a novel by Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. On the surface it's about drug use amongst the monied and educated classes, but deeper it's about three generations of Egyptians losing faith in their country and losing faith in themselves, and in the process damaging Egypt tremendously. The symbolism and message delivery are a little heavy-handed at times, but it is beautifully filmed (each face is a character study, a la Kurasawa) and ultimately quite affecting. I learned a lot about modern Egyptian political history watching this. It even features a small amount of mediocre belly dancing, in a scene on a movie set where one of the characters, a handsome leading man, is filming. I was glad to have recently read "Khul Khaal: Five Egyptian Women Tell Their Stories" because I was able to catch some slang and euphemism that would otherwise have completely escaped me--for example, the song in the movie in the movie was about how the lady's washbasin calls out for her to bathe, but she won't bathe until the man she loves says he'll marry her. Now that might sound like a bad strategy, but as I learned in the book, "to bathe" is a euphemism for "to have sex," so really the song is saying you're not getting any, no matter how much I want it too, until you make an honest woman of me.
Thus concludes Badriya's cultural lesson for the day. It is great to be learning this stuff though, because it can only add to my dancing and also potentially keep me out of trouble, should I encounter any more songs about baths and washbasins ;-) It was also interesting that while the movie was set during the 1967 conflict with Israel, Israel is never mentioned by name in the film--but the US is blamed as being the root cause for the war. Plus ca change...
Finally had a chance to watch the Dina vcd that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nepenthe01 gave me--that Dina just so completely rocks my world. I love the way her expression can move from anguish to mischievious giggle, and it all feels authentically from the heart. She really gives it all. I think it was from one of the Ahlan wa Sahlan festivals, I recognized the stage area and also Raqia Hassan was frequently shown sitting in the audience, along with other dancers that I thought I recognized. This probably makes sense to like five people on my friends list, it occurs to me.
So looking forward to being able to do something productive when I get home from work tonight, and not feel compressed into a fat blobby pancake by the heat...
Watched a fascinating movie last night, the Egyptian film Adrift on the Nile, based on a novel by Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. On the surface it's about drug use amongst the monied and educated classes, but deeper it's about three generations of Egyptians losing faith in their country and losing faith in themselves, and in the process damaging Egypt tremendously. The symbolism and message delivery are a little heavy-handed at times, but it is beautifully filmed (each face is a character study, a la Kurasawa) and ultimately quite affecting. I learned a lot about modern Egyptian political history watching this. It even features a small amount of mediocre belly dancing, in a scene on a movie set where one of the characters, a handsome leading man, is filming. I was glad to have recently read "Khul Khaal: Five Egyptian Women Tell Their Stories" because I was able to catch some slang and euphemism that would otherwise have completely escaped me--for example, the song in the movie in the movie was about how the lady's washbasin calls out for her to bathe, but she won't bathe until the man she loves says he'll marry her. Now that might sound like a bad strategy, but as I learned in the book, "to bathe" is a euphemism for "to have sex," so really the song is saying you're not getting any, no matter how much I want it too, until you make an honest woman of me.
Thus concludes Badriya's cultural lesson for the day. It is great to be learning this stuff though, because it can only add to my dancing and also potentially keep me out of trouble, should I encounter any more songs about baths and washbasins ;-) It was also interesting that while the movie was set during the 1967 conflict with Israel, Israel is never mentioned by name in the film--but the US is blamed as being the root cause for the war. Plus ca change...
Finally had a chance to watch the Dina vcd that
nepenthe01 gave me--that Dina just so completely rocks my world. I love the way her expression can move from anguish to mischievious giggle, and it all feels authentically from the heart. She really gives it all. I think it was from one of the Ahlan wa Sahlan festivals, I recognized the stage area and also Raqia Hassan was frequently shown sitting in the audience, along with other dancers that I thought I recognized. This probably makes sense to like five people on my friends list, it occurs to me.So looking forward to being able to do something productive when I get home from work tonight, and not feel compressed into a fat blobby pancake by the heat...
