things i currently remember (and may continue to remember with the help of this post) from 2008.

reading
lord russel’s history of western philosophy putting the smallness of religion in perspective; james kynge’s china shakes the world explaining much of my deep sino-pull; sen’s the argumentative indian illuminating much that underpins my love of mother india; nassim taleb’s fooled by randomness revealing the increasing importance of non-linearity, power laws and markets in my views of everything.

film
rashid masharawi’s laila’s birthday at the highlight that was the cairo international film festival, probably my film of the year; a perfect day- hadjithomas and joreige were 08 revelations although je veux voir was disappointing; husbands and wives because no year is complete without a little woody allen; the strange comfort of being back in a car with kiarostami in ten;
finally watching three colors red (lower key but no less special than expected) and revisiting blue and white; the lovely circular parallelic before sunrise to sunset experience; plenty of dylan via the startlingly inventive i’m not there, the constant chronicles companionship and modern times / time out of mind. jia zhangke’s still life, ray’s adversary, egoyan’s calendar and of course the 5th dubai film festival (reviews coming) all worth holding inside.

shows
super:anti:reluctant- mugwumpin‘s imaginatively hilarious dissection of the very american obession with the superhero at the cairo international festival for experimental theater with the hugely talented denmo ibrahim.

100copies at the mohamed mahmoud khalil museum review and video forthcoming.
zi yo (now pet conspiracy) at 2 kolegas in beijing- the gig of the year for me.

basim magdy at townhouse; london festival of architecture; martin parr’s dubai exhibition (perfectly formed); picasso in abu dhabi surprisingly (for woman as a cow? alone); meeting tyler brule; living in beijing; lumi‘s rooftop gig at dubai media city; buying my first apartment (shortly before the dubai bubble popped!).

www
my internet habits went through major positive disruptions via twitter (@qoolquest, @fredwilson, @timoreilly, @esperenza, @sashafrerejones) rss (ahmed’s twhirly chunks, dilettentsia, alex ross, umair haque, felix salmon) and podcasts (econtalk, ny times, new yorker, the moth, open source, sound of young america, studio 360, andrew marr, melvyn bragg, this american life).

music
bon iver. thurston moore- trees outside the academy, bill evans- moon beams, sunday at the village vanguard, brian eno, jay electronica- eternal sunshine. judee sill, daniel lanois. as always i’ve enjoyed reading about music almost as much as listening: jennifer peterson’s sampling folklore, sasha frere-jones, the mire, simon reynolds).

happenings and doings
semi-retirement in cairo, tenderly engaging with the megalopolis and working hard at learning to love it. meeting will ward, reading marwa rakha, forsoothsayer, inanities, the skeptic, @embee, mona eltahawy.
running in nike frees. boarding in faraya. kitesurfing at soma bay.
moving from dubai and then returning as a tourist (for the first time in my life) to people and things i love bateel cafe, bentoya, ostadi, pars, the third line, five green rip, traffic, dosc.
my soul-twin getting hitched in karachi where i got to hang out with yousuf bashir. wedding trail that also took took me to london’s park lane and beirut’s mountains.
embracing the evolutionary fitness / primal / paleo lifestyles.
us politics of course, the primaries in particular.

some of 2008 in photos and music.

2008

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