teaser trailer (marc jacobs style)

So, we have to wait for tomorrow for a full rundown of The Girls Next Door's Arabian Nights party (but my TV exploded, so it may never happen). In the mean time check out the pictures from Marc Jacobs' notoriously lavish christmas party, this year inspired by the good ole' orient.

I wonder what Mr. Jacobs was thinking? Perhaps he was inspired by his good friend Wes Anderson.

girls next door

I just saw the trailer for next week's episode of Girls Next Door. The theme is "Arabian Nights." This can only bring great things. More to come.

two legs are better than one

I think stories like this make people think that the "orient" is so scary.

But it is also instructional:

1) Don't become a holy man.
2) Never accept a drink from strange men.
3) And finally never ever bend this way:

a-Rab

Now, this website isn't a blog, it's so pre-blog. a-Rab is a student magazine from Berkeley and it is the living manifestation of just about everything we talked about in class. They incoporate all the course terms in style without even knowing it. Here is an excerpt from their about section that will blow you away.

This is the a-Rab, and this is our narrative. We are here to tell our stories, ourselves, with our voices. We are transforming a democracy of corporations that speak in jingles and brand names into a democracy of humans who speak with stories and passion. We are here to provide a radical and alternative a-Rab perspective.

In addition, pay homage to the true populist blogging spirit a-Rab accepts submissions.

Go forth young solders!

Barack OBollywood

This has nothing to do with anything, but it is my blog so I do what I want! Not only does the following video make me want to vote for Barack it also almost makes me forget about his 360 policy flip on Israel.

The Angry Arab

According to the blog As'ad AbuKhali's favorite food is fried eggplant. But this Political Science professor has bigger fish to fry on The Angry Arab. Every day Mr. AbuKhali hunts and gathers news stories and then posts them with a fun link. His commentary is short and sweet, perfect for that angry Arab on the go. Although his main focus is the middle east AbuKhali often posts links to stories about domestic american political blunders. This addition is awesome because all of the news you need to continue watching your George Bush countdown widget is in one place.

Bidoun

Bidoun is a quarterly publication that is available in print and online that focuses on open exchange of ideas regarding mid east affairs, arts, and culture. I like to think of Bidoun as a svelte middle eastern version of Adbusters. Like Adbusters, Bidoun has a theme that frames every issue. The fall issue focuses on "projects." I think their defenition of project is amazing and can really help put all projects, inculding this one, in perspective,

Project: A task, a scheme, a public undertaking, public housing, to throw or cast, to jut out, to gauge or estimate, to make oneself heard clearly, and also to mistake one's subjective view for reality, to make an image appear on the surface.

Randa Jarrar

In another semi obligatory, semi out of love post here is Randa Jarrar's blog, rockslinga. From chronicling world news, to general cool things, to her own life and perspectives, Ms. Jarrar keeps it real for the kids. I know that was pretty evident in class, but I just wanted to emphasize how awesome and accessible she seemed. Big ups to friendly thought provoking people. My favorite part of the site is her personal timeline, "1992: I move to Greenwich, CT, which is so white it scars me for life."

Need I say more.

Banksy is back!

Everyone's favorite mysterious guerilla spray painter is back in business. This week Banksy returned to Bethlehem.

For those unfamiliar Banksy is a semi-anonymous graffiti artist whose main focus is social commentary and criticism. His pieces are often satirical and they tend to infiltrate the institutions that he seeks to critique. For example, he planted pieces of art in the British Museum mocking the museum system and consumer culture.

Banksy first used the apartheid wall in the West Bank as a monstrous canvas in 2005. This week he is back for round two.

Arabisto

The Internet is a truly magical place and Arabisto is a prime example.

This website is more than a blog, it is a comprehensive news source that also houses commentary and blogs. Founder Nadia Gergis says that her website

... is the Arab-American street. It’s probably the only place on the web where you can find a group of diverse voices who write on issues from the Arab-American perspective in a non-secular, unbiased manner ... we also provide daily breaking news from the Middle East and surrounding region that you won’t see on mainstream news.

One thing I find excellent about this website is that the bloggers, of which there are over 30, come from all over - Jordan, Egypt, the West Bank, France, Germany, Canada, etc. One of them, Nadia Abu-Karr, is a fellow Detroit lady who I happen to be Facebook friends with (I have no idea now that happened).

Belly

One of the Arab hip-hoppers we did not explore is Canada's hottest export, Belly. This 23 year old Palestinian-Canadian rapper is the best of both worlds, he is both commercial (his club hit featured Ginuwine) and political. His two disc album are like two little binaries - the club hits on one side and the political opuses on the other. Below is his video for "History of Violence" which blows Viggo Mortensen out of the water.



More about Belly at this surprisingly fair and balanced interview with Geraldo:

Kabobfest

It is only natural that the first real post be of KABOBfest. This website is where my idea was born. We need more humor in the critique and analysis of such serious issues as Israeli apartheid and the violation of everyone's rights that is the USA PATRIOT act. But the folks at KABOBfest also take time for arts, entertainment, and my favorite fashion police section - kuffiya kraze.

Leave these fellers some comments, read them, and laugh at their self proclaimed "healthy dose of sarcasm."

Welcome

I decided to create kaBLOGfest as an homage to the many Arab-American blogs we looked at over the duration of the course. The internet is chaulk full of resources, it can be overwhelming and, as we all know too well, time consuming. My aim is to have this blog be a resource to other Intro to Arab American Studies students of christmas past, present, and future.

There will be two types of posts on kaBLOGfest: 1) Relevant news stories, random happenings, and hot vids will be posted and tagged accordingly. 2) Blog summaries and reviews so when you are on a browse don't worry about checking the archives to get a feel for the blog you are in, I will have done the work for you. Plus, all of the posts will be tagged with the appropriate course terms to enable full laziness.

Enjoy and feel free to comment!