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Touring the Orient with a Trumpet and a Notepad
The adventure begins in earnest in Frankfurt. Here is where the real intercontinental flights take off – the planes are much larger, and the stewardesses look much more chic, move more eloquently, and wear a permanent smile.
Some 15 minutes before we land in Teheran comes the great transformation – all the women pull out their headscarves, put them on, and adjust them properly so that with not too much hair shows, but also not too little.
The international airport in Teheran feels very comfortable straightaway. Everything is visibly laid out and the surroundings possess an atmosphere something like a faded tearoom, only decorated with worm-like writing on neon signs. The souvenir shop sells life-size replica plastic bazookas. Apparently, the myth of the resistance fighter plays an important role here.
We are then taken to the domestic airport. Here, there are separate entrances for men and women. Even when we were on the intercontinental flight, a young Iranian offered our singer Hajnalka an impassioned apology for her having to wear a headscarf, as if he personally felt responsible.
The waiting lounge looks like a Salvation Army dormitory. An Iranian is lying on almost every bench, sleeping until the check-in counter opens, shoes off and orderly stowed away in pairs under the benches.
It is three in the morning and we drive through Teheran. Chains of light and neon effects – on all buildings and public spaces – are obviously very popular here. It looks like Cologne's "Schildergasse" at Christmas.
Emerging out of the darkness over and over again are small groups of street sweepers, dressed in orange-colored overalls and facemasks, risking their lives by sweeping in the middle of the city expressway. They carry grotesquely large brooms with shovels at the opposite end. It seems to me like they are part of a misguided government work program – or a prison battalion.
Next stop: Shiraz (click 2)Shiraz
We arrive in Shiraz early in the morning. First to the hotel and a few hours of sleep. Shiraz is located between mountains and a plain. The predominant color of the region is dusty brown. The beauty of Shiraz lies hidden in the city's large gardens and parks.
We rehearse with Iranian musicians at the local cultural center. Mohammed, the percussionist, doesn't understand English, but catches on pretty quick. Hanni practices a couple of pieces with two girls and three boys from the local choir group.
We then arrange everyone together on stage. Six performers sing in unison and it is pretty impressive. The head of the local organizing group, the Fars Foundation, sits in the hall and listens closely. The sound levels have to be carefully adjusted so that the male voices appear somewhat louder than the female voices, as women are not allowed to sing in public in Iran.
Later in the hotel, I am approached by two Saudis, who are here for a tourism congress. They express total enthusiasm on hearing that I am a musician who has come to Iran. They already read the concert announcement and truly regret that they can't attend.
They wish me all the best, and, extremely pleased, shake my hand. This all takes place within the span of 40 seconds. I am overwhelmed by this openness, warmth, and friendliness of strangers. The Iranians are also all so unbelievably curious. As a foreigner, I am spoken to on the street, asked about Germany, what Germans think of Iran, and so on. Small groups of people gather and are excited to be able to speak with a foreigner.
The next day begins with a bit of tourism. We visit the ruins of Persepolis. Our guide is Shiva. She is young, very pretty and dynamic, speaks excellent English, and takes her job seriously. Persepolis is impressive, but the heat is sweltering and there is not the slightest bit of shade. Tonight is the first concert of the tour.
Some 800 people show up at the Shiraz Palace of Culture. The audience goes wild for the Bavarian and the Iranian songs. Real enthusiasm. After the concert, Zaha, one of the singers, was worried. She could be heard singing alone for about 20 seconds and some moral repression idiots promptly made a scene.
The next day we hold a workshop at the cultural center in a small hall. Like everywhere else, the room is framed by portraits of Khomeini and Khamenei to the left and right. The workshop turns out to be more of a press conference and a question and answer session.
There are about 30 people, mostly young, in attendance. I sit with Raimund on stage and answer questions. Time and again, band members are asked to give special explanations about their instruments.
The level of questioning is actually surprisingly high compared to international standards and shows background knowledge of music and a level of intelligence. Not just the usual, "What does the name of your band mean?" or "What was the inspiration for these pieces?".
We are subjected to some very specific technical questions. Gellert has to explain the secret of the fourth valve on his tuba, they want to hear special sound effects on the trombone, and we are even asked about "post-modernism in music" and my opinion of the group "Rammstein."
Return flight to Teheran. For the first and only time in Iran, I see a portrait of President Khatami next to the unavoidable other two at Shiraz Airport. The lighting around Khatami, of course, doesn't work. While the other two shine, he sulks in the murky darkness. This probably reflects the true balance of power in the country. It has to be said that Khomeini looks exceedingly good, very charismatic – with the gaze of Sean Connery.
Teheran is gigantic and it is all uphill. There is a 700-meter difference in height between the southern and northern parts of the city. Northern Teheran is located at an altitude of 1700 meters – you can see the mountains and the smog is somewhat more bearable. As a result, the north has the better residential area and the rents are beyond the means of the average citizen.
We drive by the street in which Khomeini lived. Khamenei, in contrast, lives in the center of Teheran, which is considerably cheaper. He isn't as rich as Khomeini, says Babak, our tour guide. His portraits really do have a touch of "the ordinary man" about them.
Apart from that, today I noticed for the first time a huge wall painting celebrating Islamic martyrdom nonsense. We later experience more religious ecstasy at the Shiite holy shrine housing the remains of Emam Zadeh. He was the son of an imam and was tortured to death by the Saudis. Babak asks if we, as Christians, are also allowed to visit the holy shrine. We're allowed.
As always, men and women are separated. Hajnalka was given an extra black chador to wear. Once inside, we find a relaxed, cheerful, and peaceful atmosphere, and it feels like an oasis of calm in contrast to the hustle and bustle of the neighboring bazaar. We enter the actual shrine, with our shoes off.
It is a small room vaulted by a dome covered in mirrors. Behind a continuous metal mesh lies the coffin of the martyr, draped in a silk cloth embroidered with citations from the Koran and a large book on top.
The men here inside are visibly moved, sobbing, kissing the bars of the mesh, rubbing the walls with their hands and then massaging the holy aura in their faces, and praying fervently. Even more moving is what one hears from the other side door separating the shrine. There women are wailing, singing, and sobbing – and rather loudly.
They are certainly making considerably more racket than the men. I am quite moved to see these people so animated and vulnerable. It is an intimate situation, and I am torn back and forth between a deep respect, a feeling that it is a great privilege to witness this, and uncertainty as to whether I am disturbing something and if I should really be here at all.
Next stop: Beirut (click 3)Beirut
Flight from Teheran to Damascus. The next day marks the start of our bus trip adventure – Damascus to Beirut by land in a minibus. We have two choices with respect to air conditioning: either have it turned on with the ice-cold breath of death coming out of every crack or turn it off and sit in a sauna and be broiled.
We have already been waiting for an hour at the Syrian-Lebanese border. There is a lot of traffic here, but everything is taking its course – slowly. Raimund has already been approached by the chief border guard. Fitting his station, the guard proceeds to scare the wits out of him.
It seems to me that in this region, the little game of making clear who is boss - part of the standard repertoire at every border crossing around the world - is staged here with particular passion and an appreciation for theater.
Behind the veil of a thoroughly sincere and polite demeanor shimmers the possibility that at any moment the slightest signal of displeasure from the local powers-that-be could prevent our entry. And this was only the departure from Syria! We just assume that everything is fine.
We rejoice too soon. There remains another border station and here unfolds the first border crossing drama of our trip. It is a quiet, slow moving drama without any actual dramatic moments. After we fill out the omnipresent embarkation cards, they don't want to let us pass. The head guards are called in and discussions begin.
The actual problem only becomes clear bit by bit. It has something to do with a missing work permit and whether we are there as tourists or engaged in some sort of business. Our visas state the reason for our visit as "concert musical," so we can't claim we are traveling for purely personal pleasure. In any case, the visa as it stands is invalid.
There is no indication whatsoever that they want to harass us. It is simply that no one wants to make a mistake. A German band crossing from Syria to Lebanon is apparently a special case without precedent.
So we wait in an air-conditioned kiosk at the border, drink tea, and sample a selection of Arab cookies and chocolates. The TV is airing an Egyptian soap opera about girls in a judo school. Absurd overacting by all involved.
Meanwhile, a border soldier makes friends with us and wants to come to our concert. We politely decline his invitation to visit his home in Beirut due to our tight schedule. After four hours, we are finally issued new visas and can continue our journey through the desert-brown mountains towards Beirut.
The largest part of the city currently looks like a wet dream come true for investors and real-estate developers. Construction is going on everywhere – glass palaces, Potsdamer Platz-like environments, and even a section of historical Beirut circa 1920 is being faithfully reconstructed.
In the evening, we go down to the "Barometre," a bar and underground meeting place for local young people. We sit packed together at a round table and drink Arrak. Everywhere here people are subjected to the icy breath of an air conditioner. The locals seem quite used to it, but I am starting to feel ill. Arab pop songs are sung at our table and we are right in the middle of things. All at once, I feel good again.
The next day's concert is held in an old former movie theater. The building is rather ugly, but enormously large. It stood empty for years and now the plan is to bring it back to life, culturally speaking. We are the opening act for the new cultural series.
After the concert, I meet with Mazen Kerbaj, (presumably) the only trumpet improviser in the Middle East. We have a very pleasant and animated conversation about the heroic battle by the handful of improvisation musicians in Lebanon against the ignorance and abuse of the daily press. Mazen is the first person I have ever met who can cover his shirt in red wine stains faster than I can.
Next stop: Damascus (click 4)Damascus
Back to Damascus on the tour bus. In contrast to Beirut, Damascus is truly the Middle East. Everything is much more fragmented, bazaars, souks, traders on the streets, water pipe smokers in small cafes everywhere, and hustle and bustle on every corner. Here, as well, the people are extremely open, friendly, and interested in foreigners.
We wake up early the next day. A tour through the old city of Damascus begins at nine. Half the band has been hit with an oriental intestinal tract infection and our tour group is correspondingly smaller. Five of us march along behind our guide, Dr. Omar Madani.
He is a friendly old gentleman, an architect, who after three years of unemployment turned his energies to the tourism sector. On the way to the old city, we notice many Muslim pilgrims, especially black robed women from Iran, Pakistan, and Iraq.
A memorable scene takes place at the entrance to the Souk Hamidiye. A crowd of these black-garbed women, each reminiscent of the palace ghost, congests startled and cackling at the foot of an escalator. Some of them are already on the escalator and have broken into a state of panic. Screeching, some have sat down or even fallen over. The escalator has to be stopped and only after massive encouragement by a number of male passers-by does the group succeed, reluctantly, to climb the stationary escalator.
Most likely, these women have never seen an escalator before in their lives. Why they just didn't use the directly adjacent normal staircase remains a mystery.
That evening we give a concert in a 1960s built amphitheater in Tishreen Park. Towards the end of the concert we exhort the audience to dance, and they comply enthusiastically, which is not usual elsewhere in the Middle East.
Next stop: Aleppo (click 5)Aleppo
We leave for Aleppo at nine in the morning, four hours by bus. The landscape is largely desolate – a brown, stony hill desert. There are only isolated settlements with green fields. The land is irrigated here to grow vegetables for Damascus.
The country has obviously been suffering a shortage of diesel fuel for the last few days. Our driver stops at every petrol station and is greeted with shoulder shrugs and negative gestures. There is simply no fuel. Diesel in Syria is state subsidized and extremely cheap, but exclusively for use in buses and trucks. There are no diesel cars in Syria.
We will only be one day in Aleppo, so as soon as we arrive, we head straight off for the bazaar. Spread out over eleven square kilometers, it is the largest bazaar in the Middle East. After a bit of searching about – most of the city's residents can't speak English and therefore couldn't read the map given to us by the hotel – we find ourselves right in the middle of the souk, and it is more Middle Eastern and fragmented than in Damascus.
Here we are surrounded by just about everything – halved mutton, layered and decorated pyramids of coffee with cardamom, wedding dresses, gold, Berber costumes, cloth, hardware, rugs, and tents.
Back to the hotel and then directly to the concert venue by bus. The concert is to take place at an abandoned Syrian Army barracks located on a mountain with a panoramic view over the city. The former splendid garrison headquarters is built in an Arabic pseudo turn of the century "Gründerzeit" style with balconies, wide staircases, and pointed archways.
It has been abandoned for many years. The doors are hanging crooked at angles, the windows are broken, it is overrun with weeds, and cypress trees are thriving on the fallow land. A real ghost town – idyllic and surreal on account of its military past, but also a little creepy. Yet a fantastic backdrop for a concert.
Our stage has been built on the sporting grounds. You can see the black and white painted cement hurdles over which the soldiers were chased. A huge frame with climbing ropes, a horizontal bar for chin-ups, basketball rings, and everything in black and white cement style.
In the shattered window of a garrison building hangs an oil painting on cardboard. It depicts battle scenes with the Syrian flag waving victorious over a shot up tank with a Star of David. This scene was probably pure wishful thinking. As far as I know, such a victory never took place in reality.
A pleasant evening breeze is blowing and the sun sets with a mild golden glow. Suddenly, we are sitting in the dark on stage. There is no electricity. For the last two hours, a number of Syrian technicians have been working around a transmission pylon, trying to tap electricity from the power line, obviously without any success. An hour-and-a-half wait in the darkness follows.
A generator finally arrives along with delicious shawarma and falafel sandwiches for all. The bus is transformed into a dressing room and everything now seems to be going well.
Raimund tells me that the garrison was built in 1910 by Germans for the Ottoman Empire. That explains the Wilhelminian-Syrian mix of architecture.
The generator runs, the concert takes place, but it is rather windy and for the first time during the tour I am glad that a jacket is part of my stage costume. There isn't enough time for a sound check – the public has been sitting with amazing discipline on little plastic stools for an hour already in the wind.
During this time, our sound technician Stolli has turned the sound system on full blast and bombarded them with 1980s disco hits. He seems to be having a good time.
Unfortunately, we can't see the public. The first row is some 30 meters from the stage and we are directly facing the spotlights, which blind us. We are therefore playing in the dark without a sound check; the drummer is still weak from illness. He and Matti (the trombonist) caught the bug today. I am one of the few remaining without any gastro-intestinal problems.
This all made it a difficult concert, but the audience was pleased and even clapped for an encore, which is not usual in the Arab world.
Another day on the road – the same route back to Damascus. I chat with Manfred Ewel, the director of the Goethe Institute, about twelve-tone music and African art. At the Goethe Institute, I briefly go on the Internet and by chance read that this morning at 10:45, as we were still in Aleppo, the Israeli secret service blew up a Hamas leader here in Damascus and subsequently assumed responsibility.
For a moment, I feel a slight sense of unease that a foreboding of violence and terror has directly passed us by.
We continue to Amman. We wait at the Syrian-Jordanian border one-and-a-half hours. This time, everything goes smoothly. At the main checkpoint, a number of rows of wide, bricked-in tables have been installed between the lanes.
Here guards intensively search, frisk, and control. Not for us, though. It must certainly have to do with the fact that our bus driver has discreetly bribed the responsible authorities with various banknotes, as he has apparently done at all the previous border crossings.
The sound of overexcited birds twittering away can be heard throughout this roofed inspection hall. It is like we are in a giant exotic aviary at the zoo but judging from the uniform intervalls of the sound I guess it must be an audio cassette to ease the minds of the people waiting.
Next stop: Amman (click 6)Amman
Amman is a relatively young city, even more Western than Beirut, rather chic, many new buildings, traffic circles, and six times as expensive as Syria. We meet with the director of the Goethe Institute at the hotel. A humorous fellow, from Franconia, I believe, and who is married to a woman from Istanbul. She will be cooking for us tomorrow evening and that is an enticing prospect. Apparently, the head of the Jordanian secret service is his immediate neighbor and diagonally opposite lives the daughter of Saddam Hussein.
The next day we take a trip to Mount Nebo with a Goethe Institute trainee and its driver. This is where the Jordanian plateau steeply falls in the direction of the Jordan Valley. It offers a breathtaking view over half of Palestine. To the left, the Dead Sea is glittering.
Monastery ruins on the site mark the grave of Moses. Supposedly, it is here that after 40 years of wandering in the desert, he stood together with the people of Israel, saw the Promised Land, and promptly died.
That evening we are given a private reception at the Goethe Institute director's home. He lives in the diplomatic quarter, full of tasteful, large modern buildings with brand new Toyota luxury jeeps and Mercedes parked in front.
On every other corner, a street is closed off and heavily armed police urge us to move on. His is also a new building, but slightly Jordanian in style, with brick arches and pillars on the balcony. The home doesn't appear ostentatious, but rather pleasantly spacious and it is tastefully furnished with old oriental furniture.
After we return to the hotel, Gellert, Marcellus, Afra, and myself throw the first proper room party of the tour. My colleagues have supplied themselves with cans of Amstel beer. I keep to Fanta and Pepsi. There was no wine to be found, and certainly not at the hotel.
A young fellow from the hotel's security service has a look in, since we left the door open. His name happens to be Jihad, and he is very bright, open, and tells us all kinds of stories. He finds Germany great, although he has never been there. He imagines it as country with a lot of work, much money, and easy living. We set him straight.
He promises to come to the concert tomorrow before his shift at the hotel begins. He has to work the night shift six times a week in order to finance his brother's studies.
The next day, I walk down the main street to have breakfast downtown. This is the old section of the city, which here means the 1930s. Some of the vegetable dealers at the local market sing little songs they probably made up themselves in praise of their wares.
The melodies are unremitting and repetitive, but sung well. The heat and the crowd start to get to me and at times I feel somewhat queasy, especially on corners where strange scents of stewed mutton bring me to the point of throwing up. But I am always relieved the next moment by the fragrant smell of cardamom or fresh fruit.
Back in the upper part of town. Freelance scribes sit in front of the courts and consular buildings at small camping tables equipped with sunshades. They properly fill out applications, forms, and any sort of paperwork for a fee, as well as offering legal advice from the sidewalk.
Later we take the bus to the concert location – King Hussein Gardens (almost all public places seem to be named after the former king). The newly built park grounds are surrounded by walls with formal entrance gates with gatehouses. Nothing here seems to be completed yet – the planted trees and bushes are much too small. The atmosphere is one of wasteland and Disney World – without the Disney.
The Amphitheater in which we are to play is massive. At least it has been completed, although it is baking hot in the brutal afternoon sun. There is not the slightest bit of shade here, so we disappear into the underground catacombs of the dressing rooms. The concert turns out to be very good.
Next stop: Jerusalem (press 7)Jerusalem
The most important border crossing point from Jordan to the West Bank is the Allenby Bridge. Stretching across the Jordan River, this border crossing is one of the most impressive locations that I have encountered on the trip. Even the organization of this crossing from the Arabic world into Israel – and since the annexation in 1967, the West Bank is de facto Israeli territory – required months of elaborate preparation.
Before the trip began, we all had to apply for a second passport, because the Israelis forbid anyone entering the country who has an Arabic stamp in their passport. The reverse case is true for Arabic countries.
A chubby, gum-chewing Israeli soldier seriously scrutinizes my virgin passport. The next moment, I am through the cordon and in the Promised Land.
It is 40 degrees Celsius outside and we get back in the Goethe bus and drive through a barbed-wire corridor and roadblock reminiscent of East Germany into the West Bank.
The buses of the Goethe Institute are recognizably painted with the German flag on both sides and on top. This has little to do with patriotism, but rather is an attempt to prevent being mistaken for Israelis by Hamas fighters or for Arabs by Jewish settlers. Either situation could be deadly. Vehicles are ever more frequently being attacked by rockets and automatic weapons.
Ramallah is like a large open-air prison surrounded by barbed-wire fences and the new, notorious Israeli-built wall. One can only enter or leave the city via two checkpoints. One of these is reserved for diplomats. Palestinians are forbidden to cross here.
The diplomatic crossing is not as severe as at the other checkpoint, but the sight of a 19-year-old soldier with an automatic weapon and bullet-proof vest, whose Rambo-like posing probably arises out of a mixture of uncertainty and delusion, is enough to make it clear to me that this is the gateway to a completely other world.
On this side of this border we take a shared taxi, and drive along a well-built city highway to the famous Damascus Gate, which in Arabic is called Bab-al-Quds.
In these parts, one's sympathies are made quite clear merely by choosing to use either the Jewish or Arabic name for this gate. One is either a supporter of the strict Zionist faction or that of the Palestinians, who claim the eastern part of Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
In any case, this gate is the heart and entrance to Jerusalem's old city, which is populated primarily by Arabs. Andreas explains to us that East Jerusalem has the most all-encompassing surveillance of any city territory on earth. And in fact, I now discover hidden video cameras in every nook and cranny and on the corner of every house. Surveillance really does seem to be complete.
We visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which holds a number of chapels and shrines, each administrated by one of the large Christian world churches.
The tomb of Christ (in which, of course, Jesus never laid) is looked after by Egyptian Copts, in the Syrian Orthodox cellar you can see burial shafts from which the resurrected Jesus disappeared, the Greek Orthodox section features the true cross, which was found in a historic trash heap, the Roman Catholics have a beautiful capella, and so on.
Everyone, it seems, has their own holy corner. The stone slab upon which the body of Jesus was washed and anointed is soaked daily with aromatic oils so that pilgrims can rub the messianic fluid on to cloths they bring with them from home.
It is not far from this first-class holy site to the next one – the Wailing Wall. The path leads straight through bazaar-like Arab alleyways, which certainly must be unpleasant for the orthodox Jews who are crossing our path with increasing frequency. Without looking either to the right or to the left, they make their way through assumed enemy territory at a veritable marching pace.
The large plaza in front of the Wailing Wall can only be entered after passing through an identity check and a metal detector test.
It is unusually full here. This probably has to do with the fact that the Feast of the Tabernacles begins tonight and many orthodox Jews from around the world have come to Jerusalem for the occasion and to pray at the still standing Western Wall of the legendary temple of Solomon.
They greet each other, chat a bit, are boisterous, and even dance together in a circle. Everyone is dressed in their "Sunday best" and the very orthodox women have shaved heads and wear wigs.
At a certain distance from the actual wall is yet another barrier. We cannot pass, as we are neither of the proper faith nor do we have the appropriate head covering. Praying here is also separated according to sex – women right and men left.
After so much religious life, we are exhausted and take a shared taxi home. It is already night and the checkpoint closes at 1 AM. After that, you can't get in or out.
Next stop: Ramallah (press 8)Ramallah
The craziness of Ramallah continues undiminished the next day. My feelings tell me I am now truly right in the center of the Middle East conflict. In the morning we go the cultural center, a brand new, relatively attractive theater on the edge of town with a view of Ramallah.
The Japanese sponsored the construction. Everything is spotless and of the very best quality – quite a contrast to the rather run down districts surrounding it.
We are greeted in the entranceway by a life-sized photograph of Arafat in front of the Dome of the Rock. He has a distinctly bulbous nose, but otherwise looks quite relaxed, friendly, and confident. This might not have been the case in reality.
We do a sound check and then rehearse a few songs with a Palestinian singer. Her name is Reem, she is a shade over 40, has three daughters, and sings beautifully. She is an Israeli Palestinian and lives in a village on the West Bank.
Actually, Reem is not allowed to travel to Ramallah. She is here illegally, although she has often sung and taught in the city. Every time she had to be smuggled in at her own risk by the Goethe Institute or the German Embassy.
There is a rumor going around that even Daniel Barenboim had to be smuggled out of Ramallah in the trunk of car after giving a concert here.
Reem tells us of her everyday life and I am once again deeply moved. She says that absolutely no one in Palestine thinks about what will happen next year or can make any sort of plans for the future.
It is all about survival and one has to devote a considerable portion of one's life just to organize getting from one place to another, how to bring your children to school across a checkpoint or how to visit your sick father, who now suddenly lives on the other side of a ten-meter high wall.
We turn on the television that afternoon. Israeli soldiers fired a tank shell into a market place in Gaza, killing 24 people. Half of the dead were children. Al-Jazeera shows nothing else the whole afternoon. Only dead and injured children and their desperate and crying parents.
Switching stations on the hotel TV, RAI Uno is showing a competition to make the world's largest pizza hosted by smiling, seemingly empty-headed beauties. After this television experience I can completely understand the sense of hate expressed by those in the Arab world towards the West.
We consider whether it would be best to call off the concert. We go on with the show, nevertheless. Farid, the director of the Goethe Institute in Ramallah, will give a brief speech dealing with the events in Gaza before the concert.
There is the apprehension that not many people will show up, either out of dismay or fear. Yet, quite a lot of people do come and it is the most memorable, beautiful, and intense concert of the tour.
We change our program and begin with rather contemplative pieces. I am somewhat tense to start out because I don't know how the audience will react. Yet from the first song onwards, they are a very attentive and warm crowd, enthusiastically applauding. It keeps on getting better. Towards the end of the show, everyone is in a real party mood, they dance, and demand an encore.
The audience is obviously grateful for the music. Many come up and approach us afterwards and thank us.
Even some foreigners living in Ramallah are visibly pleased that we had the courage to come here. They asked us to tell everyone at home what life is really like on the West Bank and to help fight against the distorted image promoted by the media.
Upon leaving the venue from the performers' entrance and out in the open, we look down at the city. Shots can be heard repeatedly. Andreas explains that after such incidents as in Gaza today, an unofficial, mandatory national mourning, in other words, a compulsory general strike, is usually called.
Members of militant underground groups, Hamas, and Al-Aqsa Brigade, roam masked through the streets and shoot into the air in order to intimidate the population and to force shop owners to keep their businesses shut. People out on the street are sent home so that no one can have a good time.
And, indeed, we too get caught up in this. We all drive to a nice garden restaurant, sit down, and prepare to order, when a number of armed figures masked in black appear, demanding that the waiters turn off the music and bright lights.
Immediately afterwards, we hear a couple of shots nearby. The air rings with the loud and nasty sound of gunshots. The whole nightmare has soon passed, but the effect remains. The pleasant atmosphere has been trashed. Most of the guests in the garden get up and go home, quietly and disciplined.
For a brief instant I am worried. The situation is stressful and uncomfortable. Then the waiters come by and calm us down. "Don't worry, everything okay!"
Slowly, the shock melts away, normality returns, but the restaurant empties quickly.
Next stop: Tel Aviv (press 9)Tel Aviv
We leave Ramallah, travel in two buses via the diplomatic checkpoint and once again into the West Bank towards Tel Aviv. We have a guest with us, a young Palestinian from Nazareth, who also shouldn't have been in Ramallah. With our diplomatic status we smuggle him past the checkpoint into the West Bank. Everything goes well, although at the passport control the guy trembles like a leaf, turns pale, and struggles to maintain his composure.
The hotel has a fabulously central location, only ten minutes from the beach, and is housed in a former Bauhaus styled movie theater. There are quite a lot of well-maintained buildings from this period as well as from the 1950s. Architecturally charming. I embark on my first walk through the city.
For the first half hour I am still very tense. I am constantly checking my surroundings. Can I get through this crowd? Don't wait at the bus stop! Are there any suspicious characters here? The feeling that you can be blown to bits at any moment is both extremely present and yet diffuse, as I have no way of judging if, when, or where.
To some extent, I too am infected with the Israeli permanent paranoia, but it soon relaxes its hold on me. My safe return to the hotel is notched up as a success. By my next excursion, the fear is gone. It is probably the same for the people who live here. You have to simply get on with life. If you think about bombs the whole time, you will be completely paralyzed and unable to do anything.
And despite this, the threat is ever-present as a possibility, as a hidden tension, preventing everyday life from ever getting too simple or too unconscious.
Once again, the next morning brings two hours of beach life with swimming, sunburn, and snoozing. Things here are also very similar to every other Mediterranean marina. In the afternoon we drive to the concert hall, a relatively newly-built cultural center with a medium-sized theater.
Just this once, we decide to go out to eat before the concert, which turns out to be a mistake. First of all, the food is bad, or at least the main dish, and second, the whole concert long it feels as if there is something heavy in my stomach that occasionally wants to come up.
I should have known better. The concert, nevertheless, goes okay, but nothing special. We had to ask if we could start with our German march "Hoch Heidecksburg," yet it wasn't a problem.
Andreas and Samira came to the show with some friends as the West Bank fan delegation, and I was truly moved. We see the director of the Tel Aviv Goethe Institute for exactly thirty seconds before he disappears again.
Back on the road again. We drive to Ben-Gurion Airport. This is the only international civilian airport in Israel since the destruction of the EU financed airport in Ramallah by the Israeli military. Hard-core security technology is everywhere. There is even a checkpoint control at the approach to the airport.
The check-in runs as follows: first, an army of security agents swarms out and receives the travelers. Most of the agents are quite young and the girls have to wear ill-fitting uniforms. The shorter agents wear what appear to be orthopedic insoles in their running shoes, so that they look taller and can maintain a sense of authority.
Then the interviews begin – all kinds of questions about where you come from, the purpose of your journey, the name of your bus driver, the name of the bus company, what you think about Israel, etc. After successfully completing the interview, a green sticker is affixed to your luggage.
Then on to x-raying the luggage. Of course, our two Iranians (the percussionist and the singer) are particularly suspect and are thoroughly examined. Afra's clip microphone was taken away to be checked – the cables make it look like it could be a detonator. In the end, they also get the green sticker.
Then we are checked-in, interviewed again if necessary, and once again scanned together with our hand luggage. Everything is conducted professionally by mainly female personnel.
The flight is without incident and we are in the air for only about an hour.
Next stop: Cairo (press 10)Cairo
Cairo is gigantic, and you can't help but notice this right away. The city highway runs through a sea of houses. The mosques have palatial dimensions; the enclosure walls of large building complexes are decorated with many arabesques.
At the same time, the level under the highway is full with Arabic stores. The hustle of the bazaar lasts far into the night – everything is lit up, the stores are open, and many people are on the street.
In comparison with most Arab countries, there are a surprisingly large number of illuminated advertising billboards plastered to the left and right at various levels along the highway.
One also notices the Coptic churches, built in Romanesque style, but a little more ungainly and, above all, not so old, with their three dimensional neon crosses on the roof.
We cross the Nile a number of times and it is very wide here. The island on the Nile on which our hotel is located bears the pretty name 'Zamalek'.
The bus to Alexandria leaves at 11 AM. We stop at various locations throughout Cairo to pick up the members of Mohammed Mounir's band. They sit at the back of the bus, we sit in front, and the first chance to talk only takes place when we stop for a break at the highway rest area. The trip is a good three hours drive.
The new hotel lies about forty minutes outside of Alexandria on a dusty secondary road between large refineries and a restricted military area. The hotel is somewhat of an oasis, a sort of Club Med facility in safari park style. Its name, accordingly, is Africana. It is just the right kind of place for hanging around – first at the pool, some swimming, and then lying in the sun with drinks, food, and a water pipe served by the personnel.
A joint rehearsal is scheduled for 6 PM, but by Egyptian reckoning that would be around 7 PM anyway. It's a great confusion from start to finish. We rehearse in the basement pub of the hotel. In a matter of minutes, there are already fifty people packed into the small space.
In order to rehearse, we have to form small sub-groups, simply begin playing, and try to ignore the general level of noise. Sometime or other, Mounir joins in and sings along. It is just unbelievable, like the sun suddenly begins to shine.
Normally he gives the impression of being a disorganized Egyptian with a mild drug problem, but as soon as he sings, he is 100% present, his whole face just beams like a small child, he radiates without end, he is simply charismatic. What a transformation.
And this is exactly what makes the difference between a superstar and the 100 or so other Egyptian pop singers. The rehearsal continues in this fashion, everything takes a long time, but it all seems to work, somehow.
After an hour, Mounir's trumpeter shows up. He is a small, balding man and he speaks German. He is an amusing fellow, a classical musician who had studied music in Frankfurt and plays the C trumpet. He teaches at the conservatory in Cairo, directs a brass orchestra, and takes on every possible studio job. We quickly begin to talk shop about trumpets and mouthpieces, and, for a change, I actually enjoy this sort of conversation.
Next stop: Alexandria (click 11)Alexandria
The bus leaves for Alexandria at noon, and sightseeing is offered for those interested. We first have a look at the citadel. On the sight of this fortress once stood the Pharos of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Afterwards, we are off to the bazaar, at first altogether in a group, but quickly enough it strikes me as foolish, so I turn off on to a side street. Here everything is quite pleasant and calm – it is the stationary wholesalers' district.
I take another few curves and walk a few streets over and I find myself in the middle of the grocers' district. This is a real hard-core bazaar, back in the crowd once again. Pedestrians are moving at a snail's pace on account of the donkey carts and small trucks loading or unloading their wares. You only have about ten centimeters to squeeze past the donkey and the pyramid of vegetables.
There is every imaginable kind of vegetables on offer – appetizing and unappetizing. The sellers have little coal basins set up, which burn incense like crazy, probably to keep the flies away.
I see whole streets filled with live animals, especially birds of every type in homemade wooden cages. Turkeys are running around free, cackling, fluttering, and accompanied by a strong smell. There are pheasants, sheep, and goats. Finally I see a display decorated exclusively with cow heads.
Blood collects in puddles on the road in the butchers' alley. A bull of a man cooks cow bones in a large cauldron and is sweatily scraping the last bits off one of the bones. After wandering about for a short time in this parallel universe, I fall into a trance-like state.
While right in the middle of this miasma, I get an acute queasy stomach. I feel sick and faint and have to find a toilet immediately. I must catch a taxi and get to the concert venue.
Of course, I get a taxi driver who can't speak a word of English and even "Biblioteca Alexandrina" means nothing to him. He nonetheless drives on at random. After further failed attempts at communication, we finally invite a gentleman in a suit up to the taxi. Luckily, he speaks English and translates my desired destination to the driver.
We don't play in the actual library, but rather in the directly adjacent conference center. It is a large hall with very comfortable seats. We do a sound check, Mounir takes longer. Although not everyone has found their seats and people are still being let in, we have to begin playing. Due to technical reasons, we are instructed not to wait. Despite this, the audience claps along to the Hoch Heidecksburg and clearly has accepted us. They are a great public all the way through our sixty-minute set.
The stage is quickly rearranged. Then comes Mounir's classic sense of drama. One after another, first the percussionists, then the bass, guitar, and keyboard join in the groove.
Only after Mounir appears on stage, however, does the audience erupt in a wave of enthusiasm. Everyone is screaming, and he gets a standing ovation just for coming out on stage. The mood continues for the next eighty minutes. He brings out all of his hits and the public sings along. We play the last three songs together to massive applause. Friendship and brotherhood – everything is great.
In the morning we travel by bus back to Cairo. After checking in to the hotel, Afra, Matti, Christian, and I drive to the street where the music business is located. There we see many tiny shops mainly selling drums, ouds, and kanuns. We first visit a small oud factory.
The shop is no larger than a small kiosk. It is divided into two levels by wooden planks at about a two-and-a-half meter height. The second floor is only accessible by a chicken ladder. A carpenter sits up there building the ouds. Hanging on the wall are completed curved oud bodies with a variety of wooden inlay patterns.
The boss and an old lute virtuoso sit at the desk, talking and smoking. We simply come in, say hello and chat a bit, and the boss invites us to take a leisurely look around.
We make a quick stop at the Khan Al Khalili bazaar, but then get stuck on the main tourist strip. Time is running tight, so we jump back in a taxi and return to the hotel. Taxi rides in Cairo are an adventure unto themselves – fast, creative, and with sustained horn honking through the traffic madness. Certainly not recommended for those with weak nerves.
We are picked up from the hotel in the afternoon and, for once, the bus is on time. The concert will be held at a handball stadium on the edge of Cairo. The stadium is architecturally quite amusing, as the spectator stands are only on one side of the semi-circular playing field. The interior is completely laid out with identical Persian rugs – just like in a mosque.
And by sunset, a few of the technicians and guards actually do begin to pray and quite elegantly throw themselves synchronically to the floor. This public, archaic, and here completely natural practice of praying, come what may, is something that no longer strikes me as odd.
I have even gotten used to the muezzin and find pleasure every time I hear the sound. The calls to prayer provide an excellent framework to structure one's day and also offer a moment of reflection reminding you that there is a spiritual dimension to every day life beyond business and personal concerns. They should introduce the practice to Germany – a muezzin calling everyone five times a day.
Before Mounir arrives, all of the dressing rooms are searched and sniffed by bomb-detecting dogs. In all other respects, the contingent of security forces is quite large. After an attempt on his life not long ago, Mounir has understandably become rather cautious.
The concert is fantastic, a great conclusion to the tour. Some 8000 people attend. It is, on average, a relatively young public, and they even go wild for us, the Schäl Sick Brass Band, as the opening act. They cheer, dance, and wave their arms high. When Mournir takes the stage, emotions are fully unleashed to the point of mass hysteria. It must have been similar for the Beatles. Once again, we play the last three songs together. Everyone is happy. No encore.
Epilogue: The flight to Frankfurt (click 12)Frankfurt
The bus reserved to take us to the airport doesn't show up, so we have to take four taxis and a luggage van, but still make it on time. We have to pay 1014 euros for excess baggage weight, otherwise the flight is fine – good food, red wine, and Robbie Williams videos.
Just before landing, Matti throws his Lufthansa pillow at me for fun. I hit back suddenly and crushingly. Within moments, a wild pillow fight breaks loose in the Airbus, quickly spreading from the SSBB to a French bowling team. Giggling and a few, short moments of anarchy while the plane descends.
After a couple of minutes, the head of the bowling club puts an end to the amusement with the words, "C'est fini, discipline..." I believe that it is this art of self-control and moderation in excess that allowed France to become the Grande Nation. The pillow fight subsides. It's a soft landing.
Udo Moll
© Udo Moll 2004
Translation from German: John Bergeron
Egyptian-German World Music
Mohammed Mounir and the Schäl Sick Brass Band
The Egytpian musician Mohammed Mounir gave a concert in Cairo with the Schäl Sick Brass Band from Cologne. Frederick Richter reports on the audience's reaction.
Musical Worlds
The Islamic world and Europe are home to a longstanding independent, modern music scene that transcends belly dance and folk music clichés. In this dossier we present some of its most important figures, styles and encounters.


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StarTech.com Shielded Cat6a Molded STP Patch Cable - Patch cable - RJ-45 (M) - RJ-45 (M) - 14 ft - STP - CAT 6a - molded - grayItem#:� YYI2-14428L �|�Model#:�C6ASPAT14GR
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The 50-micron gold connectors deliver optimum conductivity and eliminate signal loss due to oxidation or corrosion.
For easier cable runs, the snagless connectors protect the RJ45 clips during installation, making them less likely to snag or break. This ensures a sturdy connection by preventing the cable from becoming loose from the port.
Plus, the molded boots offer strain relief that stops the RJ45 connector termination points from bending at sharp angles, which reduces the risk of damage to the cable that could decrease network performance.
Network Cable Type: Patch cable - CAT 6a
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- StarTech.com logos are registered trademarks of StarTech.com. All others trademarks and copyrights mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

subset: commoncrawl


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Aside from making us feel ancient, Twitter's 10th birthday is filling us with all sorts of nostalgia.
So many iconic moments have gone down since Twitter was founded 10 years ago today, it's hard to keep them straight. Of course, you could never forget the famous Oscar selfie Ellen DeGeneres tweeted in March of 2014. So many celebs in one photo definitely broke the internet for a bit. To date, it's the sites most retweeted pic.
While that Twitter moment may be common pop-culture knowledge, did you know the invention of the hashtag also started on the same social site? I know, right? It's hard to recall a time when that little '#' was just a weird button on our phone. Whether you're into selfies or hard-hitting news, it's all gone down on Twitter over the past decade. We've rounded up a list of the sites most epic moments, including stars first tweets, iconic pics, and more, for your scrolling pleasure. Happy birthday, Twitter! We heart you.
1. The #hashtag is born. The man behind the hashtag we all know and love is Chris Messina. What started as a simple tweet suggestion, literally took over our lives.
2. Caitlyn Jenner joins Twitter. The "I Am Cait" star broke major Twitter records by gaining 1 million followers in under four hours. The epic record was held by @POTUS before Jenner killed it on the social media site. Her very first tweets were her iconic Vanity Fair cover and a touching message to her followers.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio wins an Oscar. The award for Best Actor wasn't the only accolade he walked away with that night. His crowning moment sparked over 400,000 tweets per minute across the globe. In that instant, his win became the most-Tweeted minute ever to occur during an Oscars telecast. Likewise, when the actor posted his winning tweet to his Twitter page, it was shared over 370,000 times. February 28, 2016, was a good day for Twitter and DiCaprio both.
4. @FoxDrive is the first to live-Tweet a TV show. Was there ever a time before live-Tweeting? These days people do it for everything from overheard arguments to their favorite shows. The first live-Tweet happened on April 16 of 2007. Are we really that old?
5. The Miracle on the Hudson. Talk about an unforgettable Twitter moment. The water landing was first discovered by a photo taken by Janis Krums. Unreal.
6. The first Royal Baby is born. The internet went wild for this one. When Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William welcomed their first child, over two million mentions of the news occurred on Twitter within one hour of his birth. Following the actual announcement of the birth of Prince George Alexander Louis birth, more than 25,300 tweets went out per minute.
7. Ashton Kutcher beats CNN to be the first person with a million followers. Quite the honor back when it happened in 2009. Another fun fact? On this same day, April 16, Oprah Winfrey sent out her first tweet.
8. Pro-democracy protests in Cairo. These protests unfolded on Twitter which basically marked the first time social media was used to fuel/organize a political revolution. This iconic Twitter moment happened in January of 2011.
9. Lady Gaga announces role on "American Horror Story." The actress/singer, who is the 6th most followed person on Twitter, posted the news in February of last year. At the time of her Twitter announcement, "AHS" fans joined forces with her Little Monsters to spread the news. Fun Fact: "AHS" fans are some of the most active Tweeters when it comes to talking about TV.
PHOTOS: Biggest Celebrity Twitter Feuds
READ: You'll Never Guess Which Celebrities Have the Best Grammar on Twitter


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Here is an awesome drawing that I did yesterday on a pretty cool skull tattoo. I have really wanted to make a skull version of the new drawing style I have been doing lately. I just needed someone to ask me to make such a tutorial. It's not going to be that hard to replicate because the design is pretty simple. The only complex part of drawing a skull tattoo is the coloring aspect of it. If you want to make your skull tattoo in a colored state like the one you see here, all you have to do is use some paint, or even a coloring program that you know how to use. Anyways, I can't really say anything more about yet another skull tutorial because I must have drawn more than eighty skulls for the site and each one has its own unique description. I think you will enjoy drawing a skull design because I know there are so many of you that love tattoo art. Adios mi amigos and enjoy your drawing day!
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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CaptureBack overhead scanning
CaptureOne overhead scanning station:
The CaptureOne Overhead scanning station is comprised of a medium format camera with a hi-res digital back. The combination of the speed of a film photography camera with a digital image capture sensor make the CaptureOne station the most versatile, fast, and powerful scanner at our disposal.
The captureback can be used for large format materials upwards of 36 to 48 inches. Due to this scanners very fast turn around time on the image capture cycle, our group relies on this scanner to take on all different types on materials. some materials that are scanned on this scanner are; newspapers, manuscripts, maps, photos, large format negatives (on a lightbox). Large collections with many objects that need scanning are completed much more rapidly with the capture back as apposed to a flatbed scanner.
Technical Information:
Default Setup
- PhaseOne P45 DigitalBack
- Mamiya 645AFDIII Camera body
- Kaiser motorized column
- Custom made Digital Transitions scan table
- 80mm lens at f7.1 and a 1/40 of a second, shot in "Mirrorup" mode
Default File/Output Settings
Camera Raw *.IIQ output from the digitalback, these files are then output as lossless *.tif files by the CaptureOne software.
Associated Hardware
- Buhl Soft Cube series SC-150 lights, 4300k
- Mamiya electronic cable release, with 12ft cord
- anti-static wriststrap
Associated Software
Type your text here.
Type your text here.
Resources and Links:
Type your text here.


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by Anneli Rufus
Mr. Espresso, the family-owned-and-operated roastery that supplies coffee, beans and espresso machines to some of the San Francisco Bay Area's best and most star-studded restaurants, just celebrated its 35th anniversary with a party at its Oakland headquarters.
Having grown up in Salerno, Italy, during and immediately after World War II, Carlo DiRuocco immigrated with his French wife Marie Françoise and two eldest children to Alameda, across the bay from San Francisco. Having worked during his youth at an Italian coffee roastery and having loved espresso all his life, Di Ruocco was startled at the scarcity of well-made espresso near his new home. How could the eminently diverse Bay Area, already food-savvy in the late 1970s, have so few places in which to enjoy a cup of this classic high-octane treat?
Continue reading "Oakland Coffee Roaster that Supplies San Francisco's Top Restaurants Celebrates 35 Years" »


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Latest News
Gulf oil spill's economic impact will be long term
As oil seeps into Louisiana marshlands, economists say the financial fall-out is only just beginning to spread across the Gulf of Mexico — and possibly beyond.
Even if BP teams succeed in capping the undersea gusher, the economic damage could drag on for years depending on how much oil actually lands ashore and how extensive the damage is to Gulf fisheries.
"I think things are really bad," said Nathaniel Karp, chief U.S. economist for BBVA Compass, a Birmingham, Ala., bank. "It could get even worse."
Calculating the degree of economic damage remains a guessing game, as scientists question how much oil will actually touch ground and how far the spill will stretch.
But there's consensus that the stakes are huge, with the seafood industry facing the biggest threat but tourism capable of delivering the most severe economic blow.
In the weeks after the spill as fears of contaminated water spread throughout the Gulf, dive operations as far away as Key West reported cancellations.
Hotels in coastal cities report scattered cancellations and a severe drop in bookings.
"We're not getting the phone calls," said Tim Kerigan, tourism director for Florida's Gulf County. Summer home rentals are off a staggering 80 percent since the April 20 explosion on a BP oil well on the Gulf floor, he said.
Moody's, a major credit-rating agency, recently warned of strains on tax revenues for local governments across the Gulf if property values take a dive because of oil contamination. The report even warned that -- in a nightmare scenario of currents taking large amounts of oil to the Sunshine State -- the spill could slam Florida harder than the recession.
A May 5 report Karp helped write for BBVA predicted the spill would deliver a $4.3 billion economic hit, mostly from losses in tourism and fisheries. "In the long-run, environmental damages have the potential to wreck local economies," the report noted.
Karp said he would probably increase that number if he were writing the report today. ``I'm more worried now,'' he said. ``Even if we start seeing some positive results now in terms of the leak, you still have all that oil.''
In Louisiana, so far the only known coastal victim of the gusher's oil, tourists and seafood wholesalers spend about $1.5 billion a year, according to government figures. Mississippi and Alabama rely on tourism and seafood for at least $5 billion.
Even with the hope Thursday that spewing oil would be stopped by a risky BP effort to plug it with debris and mud, Gulf businesses fear their troubles have just started.
``We're not at the beginning of the end,'' said Kevin Voisin, vice president of new business development and Motivatit Seafood in Houma, La., an oyster plant that shut down Wednesday because it had no oysters to shuck. ``This is the beginning of the beginning.''
Seafood restaurants across the country could see prices rise and demand fall if plants like Motivatit continue struggling for supplies or regulators declare Gulf seafood a health hazard. But as the oil crisis stretches into its second month, some are beginning to conjure even more far-reaching problems for the Gulf economy.
If the Gulf oil slick becomes a navigational hazard, cargo ships would avoid nearby ports -- straining key economic engines to coastal cities. And the oil industry itself -- worth about $70 billion to the Louisiana economy -- could end up a financial casualty if the spill prompts a regulatory crackdown. On Thursday, President Barack Obama halted exploratory drilling for undersea Gulf wells while Washington reviews safety rules for the operations.
``We have a number of people who actually work on rigs or on platforms,'' said Loren Scott, an LSU economics professor emeritus who now runs a consulting firm in Baton Rouge.
``Our biggest concern is if they start putting restrictions on, that will really slow down the activity in the Gulf -- or add so much cost that they'll go somewhere else to drill,'' said Scott, whose clients have included oil companies.
Semoon Chang, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of South Alabama, said he's increasingly worried about the Gulf itself becoming a barrier to commerce.
``I just don't know what's going to happen to commercial shipping there,'' Chang said of the Port of Mobile, which generates about $263 million in revenue and taxes each year, according to state statistics. ``Big container ships, will they come if they know they have to navigate through oil-contaminated water?''
Florida's tourism board has drawn up contingency plans for spending $250 million on a campaign to counteract an oil-covered beach in the Sunshine State -- a scenario the plan describes as ``devastating.''
Last week, Key West was the subject of national headlines when tar balls washed up on some of its beaches. They were later found to be from regular pollution, not the Gulf spill.
While tourism officials feared fall-out, new figures from Smith Travel Research show occupancy actually increased 6 percent last week in the Keys to just over 80 percent compared to a year ago.
Still, hotels appear to be cutting prices to lure guests to the coast.
Keys room rates dropped 3 percent, and hotels throughout the Gulf during May saw rates drop twice as fast, according to a special Smith survey of coastal lodging markets.
Along the Gulf, Smith found, hotels are filling more beds than they did a year ago, with occupancy up about 6 percent last week to 58 percent.
Moody's noted that personal income jumped nearly 10 percent in Alaska in 1989 after the Exxon Valdez spill.
But ultimately the spill cost Alaska about $2.8 billion in economic activity, thanks in part to the severe damage to the Pacific herring fishery.
The Moody's report saves some of its grimmest hypotheticals for Florida, which has yet to be linked with any oil from the Deepwater well.
``The state's high dependence on tourism dollars and jobs is significant, and a gradually worsening disaster with any part of Florida's 1,197 coastline miles could have long-term implications even greater than the recent recession or Hurricane Ivan in 2004,'' Moody's wrote.
For now, fisheries are taking the biggest hit.
``So far, it's been devastating,'' said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance and owner of a seafood shop in Tarpon Springs.
``It's the worst time in the world for this to happen to our industry. Because our shrimp are moving offshore right in those underwater plumes,'' he said.
The Gulf accounts for about 73 percent of the nation's shrimp output, according to federal statistics, so a severe blow to that fishery could ripple through dining circles across the country.
Due to the spill, roughly 22 percent of the Gulf is closed to seafood harvesting -- mostly idling oyster and shrimp boats that operate within the 55,000 square miles of sea now off-limits.
Glen Brooks, president of the Gulf Fishermen's Association, said most of his members with commercial fishing boats are still fishing in the Gulf. ``Most of that area that's closed is in waters we don't fish anyway,'' he said.
The waters closer to the shore of the Florida Panhandle remain open, allowing boats to continue their hauls.
Still, Brooks worries about long-term damage to the industry should the oil contamination wipe out future generations of fish. Brooks said fish spawn in the deep waters of the oil spill.
``All that larvae is up in that water,'' he said. ``Those are fish we'd probably be catching six to 10 years from now.''


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Matt Selby's Corner House restaurant screens hunger movie "A Place at the Table" Sunday, share of proceeds to charity
Here at Colorado Table we give a boatload of attention to ambitious chefs and to restaurants serving everything from truffles to "housemade" tater tots. Sometimes, it all seems a bit much. New restaurant, helmed by driven chef, opens in trendy neighborhood. Investors dump $1 million in the place. Chefs from around the country and across Denver flock to the kitchen, where they work 16 hour days to pickle their own kimchi and form terrines out of pig trotters and assemble an "eclectic yet approachable" wine list. People mob the joint, not hesitating to drop $60 for a few drinks and a small plate. I'm not talking about one restaurant – this happens over and over again, it seems, especially during the past five years.
On the one hand, good for Denver. There is a ferment here – a good one. On that other hand, though, for God's sake – it's food. It's sustenance. Only a select bunch get to hit these hot spots. For most people, all of this culinary creativity is out of reach.
I'm glad to see Matt Selby's Corner House host a viewing of the movie "A Place At The Table," which examines hunger in America. The movie is free, and 25 percent of all beverage and food proceeds from the evening go to Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry, a national nonprofit that fights hunger among American children.
The event takes place at 4 p.m. at Corner House (2240 Clay, 720-287-1895, cornerhousedenver.com)


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But I've got news for them, too. I was too young to be involved in that movement, but I felt I could play a small part in the continuing battle for justice by helping rebuild some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. We are a better country than this. The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives – on health care and education and the economy – Senator McCain has been anything but independent. We are the party of Roosevelt. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."
John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and service because they've defined his life. The UCC is still listening. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. I am emphasizing such investments within my country.
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Barcelona sold David Villa to Atlético Madrid this summer, partly because he's old and he never quite recovered after breaking his leg two years ago, and partly to make room for new signing Neymar. But David Villa is a legend, and he's a legend because he's long been one of the best finishers in the world, so in the Spanish Supercopa first leg, he had a chance to score a spectacular volley goal against his old club, and he did. Of course he did.
Barça are dominating, but Atlético Madrid are currently leading, 1-0.


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There are renewed calls for the use of electric dog collars to be banned in the UK
The 'cruel' devices have come under the spotlight following calls for them to be outlawed in Scotland by a Tory MP.
And, the collars are already banned in Wales, with one owner receiving a £2000 fine for continuing to use a shock collar after the ban.
However, in England and Scotland there are merely guidelines over the use of what are described as 'training aids'.
This has led the Scottish Government to work to bring in new regulations which they insist will introduce tighter controls on the use of the controversial devices than those which currently exist in England.
However, Nicola Sturgeon is under increasing pressure to ban the use of electric dog collars after more than 10,000 people signed the petition created by Conservative MSP Maurice Golden.
Electric collars are intended to be used by dog owners and trainers on animals with serious behavioural problems, but charities and campaigners claim they are cruel and say that they should be banned outright.
It has been estimated that up to 500,000 people across the currently UK use the collars, which can provide shocks lasting up to 30 seconds.
The West of Scotland MSP, who believes that simply regulating the sale of shock collars would legitimise their use in the minds of dog owners, has also won the backing of several prominent animal charities.
"Electric shock collars are harmful, and the expert advice is clear that electrocuting dogs doesn't help train them," Mr Golden said.
The move comes at an unfortunate time, as the UK Government this week voted to rule that 'animals cannot feel pain or emotions' while debating the EU withdrawal bill.
Any moves to ban the devices via the UK parliament would only affect England. However, a similar petition exists, started by Sophie Barrick, who has a degree in animal behaviour.
Her petition - which also calls for the banning of 'prong collars' - calls for the shock devices to be banned as "all they do is inflict fear and pain". However, only 2,810 people have signed it to date.
SSPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn added: "Any training or control device that can inflict pain on an animal, from which it has no means of escape, should not be used.
"We can see no reason why they should be allowed for sale to the general public, given that the Home Office banned their use by trained military and police personnel over a decade ago."
Electric dog collars have been banned in Wales since 2010, where their use can result in a fine of up to £20,000 or up to six months in jail.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We are determined to introduce strict regulations on the use of electronic training aids.
"Our plans will limit the use of stimulus collars to a small number of qualified, professional trainers.
"This approach is designed to help prevent the euthanasia of dogs with serious behavioural problems, which may not respond to other forms of training."


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The Sports Management concentration within the Business major has become an increasingly popular course of undergraduate studies. Businesses in the sports industry are placing greater emphasis on recruiting and hiring college graduates with academic backgrounds in Sports Management, particularly those with an accompanying business background. This concentration allows students to develop a better understanding of the nature of sports as an industry and a business.
The wide range of sports-related business in the Hudson Valley region will provide opportunities to introduce students to the industry, both in and outside the classroom. They offer opportunities for research projects, class studies, and internships.
The goal of the business program at the Mount is to provide pre-professional training in business within the context of a comprehensive liberal arts education. This concentration adds four learning objectives:
Examples of internships Mount Sports Management students have participated in:
Students are required to obtain 27 credits in Business, 21 credits in Business-related fields, 39 credits in General Education, and 33 credits in liberal arts electives. In addition to meeting the criteria for major in Accounting or Business, students must complete 15 credit hours of their 48 major-requirement in five sports management courses.
The School of Business at Mount Saint Mary College has received specialized accreditation for its business programs through the International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE) located at 11374 Strang Line Road in Lenexa, Kansas, USA. The business programs in the following degrees at the listed locations are accredited by the IACBE:
Learn more about the College's accreditation, or visit IACBE.org


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Remote Monitoring
Telehealth Program
Sentara Home Health was the first in the region to introduce telemedicine into the home. The telehealth program equips patients with self-monitoring equipment to measure blood pressure, pulse, weight, and blood glucose. Our telehealth program allows home care nurses located miles away to monitor patients' vital signs while they are in their homes. These frequent checkups have contributed to a decrease in emergency room visits and hospital readmissions.
The telehealth program monitors patients with a variety of medical needs and diseases, including asthma, congestive heart failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The small Philips telemonitor, used by Sentara Home Health, gives patients the ability to easily perform important measurements daily and/or as often as they want.
Patients enrolled in the Telehealth Program can also answer clinically reviewed questions specific to their condition with a touch-screen monitor. Within minutes, they electronically transmit this information to a home care nurse – all from the comfort of their home. Through a combination of in-home visits and telehealth encounters, Sentara's Home Health nurses are able to identify worsening conditions early and notify physicians in time to avoid hospital or ER admissions.
For more information, call 800-HOMECARE or 1-888-461-5649 outside of Virginia.


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Defying the Taliban
The fact that the presidential election in Afghanistan went off relatively peacefully has been widely acclaimed as a great success, especially as there were more than enough reasons to be anxious in the run up to the poll. The past weeks have seen numerous attacks throughout the country, with the extremist Taliban claiming responsibility. Even the city centre of Kabul, previously assumed secure, was not left untouched by the violence. Among other places, a number of polling stations and a luxury hotel frequented by many foreigners were also attacked.
As if that weren't enough, the extremists repeatedly called on people to boycott the elections. "Whomever you vote for, you're voting for the enemy!" announced Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahed in an official statement. It exhorted citizens to stay away from all polling stations. As it happened, however, the Taliban's plan did not work. Even before election day dawned, many Afghans refused to be intimidated by the threats.
According to information from Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC), voter turnout was around 58 per cent. In particular, the IEC emphasised the fact that many women had cast their votes. High turnout proved to be a problem at many polling stations: there weren't enough ballot papers in many provinces, which meant that many people couldn't vote; in other areas, polling stations had to keep their doors open longer to accommodate voters.
Overshadowed by violence
According to the Afghan Ministry of Defence, 690 violent attacks were carried out on polling day across the country and no less than 165 rebels were killed. However, it is impossible to verify these claims. Afghan media, such as the highly respected Pajhwok news agency, reported that there were 140 attacks and that 89 Taliban were killed on election day. The news agency also based its reports on sources from the Ministry of Defence. In any event, there were no massive terror attacks resulting in high casualty figures.
The Taliban concurrently issued a completely different depiction of events. The extremists took to Twitter to announce that there had been over 1,000 attacks across the country and that the majority of polling stations were closed.
Signs of election fraud
Irregularities were also reported. In many provinces, witnesses claim to have seen people casting more than one vote. In those parts of the country controlled by militias, the election conformed to the wishes of the relevant local warlord. At the same time, some people were not provided with any ballots whatsoever and were therefore unable to vote. Some individuals exploited this situation by selling their ballots at exorbitant prices.
The highly praised Afghan National Army, whose task was to provide security, often showed itself in a rather negative light. Among other things, it is said to have prevented journalists from reporting on events and to have disturbed the election process.
Final election results will only be made known in a few weeks. Until then, there is a widespread fear of election manipulation of the kind that was reported in 2009. At the time, Hamid Karzai was accused of massive election fraud. This time too, over 160 complaints of irregularities were made to the electoral commission on the first day alone.
The election campaign itself was anything but fair. Just a few days ago, the commission came to the conclusion that a number of candidates had engaged in unfair practices during their campaigns. Zalmay Rasul, one of the favourites, was accused of having forced people to attend his election rally in the province of Kandahar. Rasul was forced to pay a fine equivalent to approximately €1,200 as a result.
Three favourites
Right from the very start of the count, experts and observers predicted a neck-and-neck race between three candidates. One of them is the aforementioned Rasul, a Pashtun who served with the Karzai government as foreign minister and who previously lived many years in exile with the former King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir.
Polls suggest that another Pashtun, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, is currently leading the field. He has also spent long periods abroad, teaching as a professor in the USA and working at the World Bank. He was once finance minister under Hamid Karzai. The American magazine "Time" regards him as one of the great thinkers of our time.
The third front-runner is Abdullah Abdullah, who ran in the last presidential election against Karzai in 2009. Abdullah was once one of the most loyal followers of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Tajik warlord and leader of the Northern Alliance. For this reason, Abdullah can rely on the firm support of the country's Tajik population.
Karzai's political manoeuvres
In the run up to the elections, all three candidates made clear their intention to sign the strategic partnership agreement with the USA. This fact has probably pleased President Karzai most of all. According to the well-known Afghan political scientist and journalist Ahmad Waheed Mozhdah, Karzai is certainly aware that this agreement will do Afghanistan more harm than good. "If you look closely, it is perfectly clear that the agreement is little more than a colonial pact. Karzai knows this and wants to get rid of his reputation of being little more than a puppet," says Mozhdah.
The political scientist even goes so far as to claim that Karzai's strategy is to ensure that he is one day acclaimed a national hero. "But regardless of who succeeds Karzai, the country's situation will only get worse," predicts Mozhdah.
Whether this will be the case or not, remains to be seen. For the moment, at any rate, the world waits to see which candidate will garner the support of the majority of Afghan voters.
Emran Feroz
© Qantara.de 2014
Translated from the German by John Bergeron
Editor: Aingeal Flanagan/Qantara.de


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The Winter 2013 Issue
Industrial societies have spent several centuries trying to conquer nature. Instead, we've produced mass extinctions, climate change, and pollution. What's a better way for humans to live on Earth? Nature is telling us, if only we would listen.
Click here to PEEK INSIDE this issue.
OR, get 2-for-1 gift subscriptions by clicking here.
New Visions
Solving today's big problems will take more than a quick fix. These authors offer clarity about the roots of our problems and visions of a better way.
The Solutions Are All Around Us—in Nature
An architect, a biologist, and a chemist search for design secrets in owl feathers and spider webs—and launch a new sort of industrial revolution.
PLUS: "I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen." —Terry Tempest Williams
Nature's Economy is Down-to-Earth
To make a sustainable economy, think like a mountain, a grassland, or a cell in the human body.
World and Community
New models that foster justice and real prosperity, and sustain the Earth's living systems. How can we bring these models to life and put them to work?
How the sky, rain, geography, and cultures of our place shape us.
It's time to quit flushing the good stuff. Here's how to turn waste into a resource.
Farming Fish, with a Side Salad
How to grow food more like nature.
Invasive Species: If You Can't Beat 'Em, Eat 'Em
A tasty solution to the invasive species problem.
The Power of One
Stories of people who find their courage, open their hearts, and discover what it means to be human in today's world.
Color like a butterfly, build a city like a forest, nap like your ancestors, and more.
12 steps, from lawn to permaculture haven.
Breaking Open
Humor, storytelling, and the arts—taking you into unexpected spaces where business-as-usual breaks open into new possibilities.
Also in the Winter 2013 Issue ...
"You Are Safe With Us": How Ordinary Iraqis Rescued U.S. Civilians in the Midst of War
Three U.S. peacemakers find help in an Iraqi town during U.S. bombing.
Should Chiapas Farmers Suffer for California's Carbon?
Why Mexico's indigenous people are wary of conservation money from California.


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Seven years ago, when The Blair Witch Project showed up, it had the world dancing to its tune. Why, you ask? Well apart from the creepy factor that it tacked on, it made an assertion. That the movie was an actual footage of students who disappeared in the woods, and that everything that happened, really happened. So, even whilst the world watched ensuing chaos in stark dead silence, in the back of their mind, they were thinking it was all a true story.
One of the directors of the movie, Eduardo Sanchez went so far as to create a website in order to nail the myth further down. His website built this hoax around every character in the movie, and declared them dead too. They claimed the tape was actually retrieved and then was edited down to fit the cinema view time. Creators had claimed that it was the actual footage. Hence, the world went nuts.
That's what worked for it in the first place. The lie that it was built on. It reminds me of how as a kid I went on to create a gargantuan footprint in my backyard to have my friends convinced that Godzilla had actually stepped on our lawn. I was so sure that I would create its left leg imprint as well in the nearby field, to make it seem all very palpable, that if it weren't for the exhaustion my fake Dino might have had a chance. It would have created the next day's headlines. At least in my head, it would have.
That very equation, the thrill it tags along when you say a ghost is real, or a witch's black magic made it happen, that's what rivets our attention instantly. Had they cleared that out even before releasing The Blair Witch Project, maybe it wouldn't have remained as popular.
No wonder, there are marketing statements whenever a horror movie releases. Like when someone claims you cannot watch this movie alone, and you take it up as a challenge. You wonder if it is really that scary. But the bottom-line is with an assertive defiance gnawing at your soul, you end up watching the movie. Just to see that for yourself, as to what makes someone fling such a ballsy assertion?
It has worked many times in the past, still works every time, and will keep on working in the long run. Because for a split second we let our sanity get deluged by our fear quotient.
The Blair Witch Project's marketing was beyond that. They had thought it all through, to make a hoax so palpable that the whole world would believe it. They buried their actors and asked them not to show up until their lie came out first out in the open. Hell Donahue's mother would even receive sympathy cards!
Directors of The Blair Witch Project made sure that video camera shots looked realistic bringing the right amount of shakiness to it. Emotions oozed out real, and they wanted to make sure that despair spoke enough. Nobody wants to be shot at when they are really pissed. So, there was always someone shouting at poor Heather who wished to document everything.
Not even for a second in the movie do we get to see a glimpse of the witch. But her witchcraft acts are strewn all across. Bawling voices of the children, voo doo acts across the tent, mysterious disappearance of Josh and messing with the head of the cast are all suggestive of badass sorcery.
It is a great way of shooting the movie actually, as that elemental surprise is always lurking in it. You are constantly wondering how a witch might appear out of the blue and scare you. You invariably shiver to that very thought.
Haven't watched it yet? You can buy the DVD from here:
Now that a follow up of The Blair Witch Project is going to hit the theatres pretty soon, I don't really have high hopes for it. Primarily because the world already knows. Even if you end up hunting the real witch and show glimpses of her, it still wouldn't be the same. Primarily because it will always lack the freshness of the original, and the insane viral lie Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez created is now out in the open.
Check out the trailer of the Blair Witch Project, the first installment here:


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Take a look at the Services section to learn more about how we can help you find and capture the heritage of your family history.
We began genealogy like most genealogist by researching our own family. What we have found is while there is some luck involved there is a bit of science as well. Sure you can get out there an beat the pavement' but weI have developed a system and the tools that gets your relatives found fast.
A fire in 197' at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed millions of military records and damaged millions more. Less than 20 percent of the army records for 191'-1959 survived. These record losses make the World War I draft records extremely valuable to family historians. They are filed by the Selective Service Board of Registration. For this reason metropolitan areas are more difficult to search due to the increased number of registration boards. Several forms were used at different times' however' most of the draft records usually contain the name' birth date' birthplace' residence' and employment information. Some also contain personal information such as height' eye and hair color.
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|Women's Head Coach
|Alma Mater:
|New Mexico
|Graduating Year:
|12 Years
Darcy Ahner is in her 13th season as head coach of the University of California San Diego women's track and field program in 2020, having guided the Triton women to unprecedented levels of success in her decade at the helm.
In 2019, Ahner led the Tritons to a second-place finish at the CCAA Championships. Nine individuals gardened All-CCAA recognition, three of which earned the conference award in multiple events. Five scholar-athletes qualified for the NCAA Championship meet after being selected All-West Region. Natalie Caraway was named USTFCCCA First Team All-America for her efforts in the high jump, while Claudia Cox received USTFCCCA Second Team honors in the 400 hurdles.
The Triton women have placed in the top five in the NCAA Championships three out of the last nine years. The 2009 season proved to be a banner one for UCSD on the women's side as Ahner led the Tritons to several meet victories, including a fifth consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title. Two Tritons went on to win individual national titles in their events, paving the way for an unprecedented third-place team finish at the NCAA Championships and a final ranking of No. 2 in the U.S. Track and Field Coaches Association National Power Rankings. In 2016, Ahner was appointed to the coaching staff of USA Track & Field (USATF) for the Pan Am Combined Events Cup in Ottawa, Canada.
Ahner, who also serves as an assistant with the men's program, has over 25 years of college coaching experience, including 16 seasons on the La Jolla campus. She served as associate head coach for both the men's and women's teams in 2006 and 2007 and was an assistant coach for both squads from 2000-05. Known as one of the nation's most talented and versatile collegiate track and field coaches, Ahner's successes have spanned all three NCAA divisions.
Ahner joined the staff at UCSD in 2000 after nine years as an assistant coach at the Division I level. She spent seven seasons at her alma mater, the University of New Mexico, coaching the jumps and multi-events. While at New Mexico, Ahner's athletes dominated the high jump in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), as four different athletes won four consecutive WAC championships. Seven athletes achieved individual WAC titles in seven years and four broke school records. During her tenure, seven athletes qualified for the NCAA Division I Championships, producing one All-American.
After her stint at New Mexico, Ahner spent two seasons coaching jumps, hurdles and multi-events at Northern Arizona University, where four of her athletes were NCAA Division I qualifiers, including an All-American in the heptathlon. Five athletes achieved Big Sky Conference individual titles, while three set new school records.
Ahner's first 13 years at UCSD have seen her athletes rewrite the Triton record books in the men's and women's jumps, hurdles and multi-events as 10 out of the 12 records have been set by athletes during her coaching tenure. Her athletes have won a remarkable 47 CCAA individual conference titles and 26 have earned All-American honors. Under Ahner's guidance, Tritons have won four individual NCAA National Championships, and three were second place runners up, including Champions, Whitney Johnson in 2008 (triple jump), Christine Merrill in 2009 (400 hurdles) and Linda Rainwater in 2008 (heptathlon) and 2009 (high jump). Ahner has been selected as both the CCAA Coach of the Year and the NCAA West Region Women's Coach of the Year twice and the Tritons were named a USTFCCCA Academic All-American Team in 2009-2012 and 2016.
A Level II USA Track and Field certified coach, Ahner is also a NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and serves as the strength and conditioning coach for the Triton track and field program. She was a coach for the 2008 U.S. Paralympic Team in Beijing, coaching two athletes to gold medals and new world records in the high jump and the pentathlon, while three others claimed silver medals.
As an athlete, Ahner competed in the heptathlon while at New Mexico, setting school records in the high jump, javelin and heptathlon. She was honored as the Western Athletic Conference Most Valuable Athlete in 1989 and was the conference heptathlon champion in 1988 and 1989. Ahner was a three-time NCAA Division I Championships qualifier, as well as a World Championships trials competitor in 1990. She graduated from New Mexico in 1990 with a degree in psychology and education.


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How to Do the Triceps Kickback
The triceps kickback exercise works your triceps, which assist the chest in just about every pushing movement. Use caution when doing this move if you have elbow or lower-back problems.
Performing triceps kickbacks
Follow these steps to perform this exercise:
Stand to the right of your weight bench, holding a dumbbell in your right hand with your palm facing in.
Place your left lower leg and your left hand on top of the bench.
Lean forward at the hips until your upper body is at a 45-degree angle to the floor.
Bend your right elbow so your upper arm is parallel to the floor, your forearm is perpendicular to it, and your palm faces in.
Keep your elbow close to your waist.
Pull your abdominals in and bend your knees slightly.
Keeping your upper arm still, straighten your arm behind you until your entire arm is parallel to the floor and one end of the dumbbell points toward the floor.
Slowly bend your arm to lower the weight.
After you complete the set, repeat the exercise with your left arm.Credit: Photograph by Sunstreak Productions, Inc.Make sure your shoulder doesn't drop below waist-level during the triceps kickback.
Tips for completing triceps kickbacks
Keep these tips in mind as you perform this exercise:
Keep your abdominals pulled in and your knees relaxed, and don't allow your back to round.
Don't lock your elbow at the top of the movement. Straighten your arm, but keep your elbow slightly bent.
Don't allow your upper arm to move or your shoulder to drop below waist-level.
Keep your wrist straight.
Gym alternative: Triceps-extension machine
Use the triceps-extension machine at your gym as an alternative to using dumbbells for this exercise. Follow these steps to use the triceps-extension machine:
Adjust the seat so when you sit down with your arms straight out, they're level with your shoulders and your elbows are lined up with the moving hinge or pulley of the machine.
Sit down and tip the handles back so the hand grips are alongside your shoulders.
Grasp a handle in each hand with your palms facing inward.
Straighten your arms out in front of you to lift the weight stack, and then slowly bend your arms to lower the weight.Credit: Photograph by Sunstreak Productions, Inc.Use the triceps-extension machine at the gym as an alternative to the triceps kickback.