Music

All you need is internet access — no passport

Back in December I shared the story of the Turkish darbuka player Bilal Göregen and a South African musician, Dave Scott, founder of the band The Kiffness.

They shared their musical videos of a Finnish folk song on YouTube. Someone added a cat meme to Bilal’s original, then Dave remixed another version which has now gone viral!

At time of writing it has garnered 2.6-million views on YouTube and 10-million on Facebook! The two musicians have now agreed to split any money the remix makes.

In China, a schoolteacher played it to his class! …

Poetry Prompt

An acrostic poem

This is not an original idea — it emanated from the mighty pen of Lucy The Eggcademic (she/her) back in December.

Knowing that my memory doesn’t serve me well, my habit is to add a writer’s story to my Reading List. But I forgot!

I spent the last half hour wading through Lucy’s profile with sticky mouse (high humidity as a storm approaches) and found it!

You’ll find the link to her story at the end.

Her call was to write an “acrostic poem about one word from your language, and every letter represents something that explains what that word means. …

I’m thrilled that the Democrats have won both Senate seats in Georgia and I don’t even live in the US! But my sister does and I’m sure she’s as excited as I am, if not more!

Your current president outperforms any African dictator, past or present, in denying election results, complaining of conspiracies, and insulting anyone who disagrees with him. At least he can’t throw them in jail or make them disappear!

But he won’t back down.

My hackles rise each time I watch news featuring the Chump, dumping his lies on the American electorate. And his supporters believe every word he utters — scary stuff reminiscent of the dark days of fascism in the 20th century.

I confess I prayed hard that the Democrats would win a majority in the upper chamber of Congress, for the sake of the US and the rest of the world.

Sanity has returned!

Poetry

What can I tell from the smell?

Fresh baked bread
Calls my morning tummy
Yummy
Before indulging with real butter
My heart awakes and flutters
Listens for the grind of coffee beans
Which means
Caffeine

Tongue salivates
As olfactory bulb lights up
From the rich aroma relayed
Direct to brain’s deep limbic wells
Of memories, emotions tell the
Story to
Amygdala and hippocampus
Somatic engines rev up
Ready for another day

Evening scents of simmering curry
Cumin, anise, and cardamom
Twirl in a slow dance as
Nostrils witness romance of
Turmeric and cinnamon
There’s no hurry

My snout suffices to sniff and savor
Our sense of taste has limits
Four basic flavors
Sweet, sour, bitter, salty
Our sense of smell is never…

Ideastream

Maybe 2023 if we rob the IMF

Attack assault
Damn this editing software
Here’s me trying to enter 2021 with an erudite assay
Sashay into an idea stream using
Sofa-masticated words like what the hell is attic salt
Do you keep it upstairs or in the kitchen? (Canned laughter)

Apoptosis — sock it to me — holey soles
Dead skin cells are nails on toes

Covidiots claim the immoral high ground
Conspiracy theories abound
New Year parties in Wuhan
Feed their frenzy, play their hand
You see, agree,
They’re laughing at us, see them throng
So why should we believe the science?
Why bother to enforce compliance?

But help is on the way! …

Writing/Music

Just a rewind to unwind from the last 12 months

I’ve been in lock down from Medium for 14 days — a necessary quarantine to regain my equilibrium.

(Funny how Librium crept into the latter sentence, but I really needed a break before my brain crashed, rather than a tranquilizer.)

…

When writing becomes work, devoid of the desire to play with words, it’s time to down tools and switch off.

The pressure to perform, to produce, to maintain a presence, to entertain, to read and respond to other writers’ creations, every single day — all these factors were affecting my mental well-being.

Add to this toxic mix the fact that the ‘festive season’ is my least favorite time of the year, I was in danger of opening the door to despair and depression. …

Covid-19

Professor Salim Abdool Karim and Dr Anthony Fauci are joint winners of the Maddox Prize 2020

Professor Karim and Dr Fauci received this year’s prize for “standing up for science during the coronavirus pandemic.”

“The John Maddox prize is a joint initiative of the charity Sense about Science and the leading international scientific journal Nature. The Prize has been awarded annually since 2012 to researchers who have shown great courage and integrity in standing up for science and scientific reasoning against fierce opposition and hostility.”- Sense About Science.

This independent charity based in London advocates for sound science and evidence being recognized in public life and policy making.

Who is Professor Karim?

He’s our South African equivalent of Dr. Anthony Fauci; the face of a scientific and evidence-based approach to public health intervention. …

Music

The remarkable achievements of Bob Dylan spanning 60 years

The news on 7 December that Bob Dylan had sold his entire portfolio of 600 songs to Universal Music took me back to the days of my youth in the 60's when he first appeared on the music scene.

A reminder my biological clock is ticking!

Bob Dylan (Robert Allen Zimmerman), who took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas, was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota.

Dylan played in various bands in his teens and developed a passion for American folk music and blues and idolized folk singer Woody Guthrie. …