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KANO-ONLINE MEMBERS DAILY DIARY

Started by Dan-Borno, April 19, 2007, 08:42:52 AM

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bakangizo


Abdalla


Well here I am in Morocco, to be precise, a town called Assilah. I am here to attend the CONFERENCE ON MUSIC IN THE WORLD OF ISLAM which will last from 8th to 16th August this year. It was organised by Maison des Cultures du Monde, Paris. Full details at http://www.mcm.asso.fr/site02/music-w-islam/presentersen.htm. The Conference brings together over 60 anthropologists, ethnographers, ethnomusicologists and musicians together in one place to share ideas and field experiences. My paper is titled Transnational influences and national appropriations: the influence of Hindi film music on Muslim Hausa popular and religious music. Strange, innit, how a very innocuous topic could generate such international interest.

Assilah is a beach town, with a lot of beach bums (both resident and tourists from other part of the country on holiday, including LOTS of children) strutting around trying to look cool. These guys are weird. They are Muslims, but they believe they are more European than Europeans. Islam is not certainly close to their hearts. I mean I went to the Friday mosque and only older youth and old people are there -- the teeming young people that throng the beach front (not to mention infront of the mosque too) just disappeared; and re-appeared AFTER the jumu'at prayers.  And by the way, FOREIGNERS are not allowed inside mosques! A friend from Singapore who looked faintly Malaysian was denied entry to the mosaue.

The conference is getting really interesting for two reasons. First I am learning a lot from seasoned ethnographers and getting one or two ideas for my own research in Kano; second, I was given a verbal (to be followed by firm written) invitation to go to the University of Michigan next year and present the SAME paper I presented here -- the guy in charge of the African Studies program was highly impressed with what I presented. Alhamdulillah.

I have also met ethnomusicological legends that I have only READ about, such as Margaret Kartomi who has done a lot of interesting work on BORI in Indonesia and Java.

The food is super fantastic -- world class cuisine for breakfast (which I don't eat because I have not cultivated the habit of eating breakfast throughout my relatively young life), lunch and dinner. Dinner is always followed by a live CONCERT from one reknowed world musician or other -- giving me ideas for futher things like that in the future.

So all told, Alhamdulillah. WE are not even midway through the program, so there is lots to cover (about sixty papers in all).

Till I write again. Regards to everyone.

Abdalla

bakangizo

Hobbasa, Prof  8) You do make us proud. Amma don Allah try tone down your paper, so dat foreigners no go bilif say we for kano don dey borrow-borrow so tey we don spoil finish ;D

I envy you. Don Allah ba za ka sa ni in dinga rike maka jaka ba zuwa tafiye-tafiyen nan?

hafsee

God i hate to judge but 2day I saw a guy, he had rings in both his ears periced, has a necklace on. He got his hair braided and his pants almost falling down. Every time i see guys like this i cant help but wonder why do some GUYZ wanna go thru the pain of sitting for so many hours braiding thier hair when they dont really have to it? pierce their ears noes and all when they dont really have to do it. i guess is the generation guys wanna be girls now(sry some guys) how gay is dat LOL.
wat ever u do good or bad comes back to you

Abdalla

#79
Quote from: Bakan~Gizo on August 10, 2007, 04:49:59 PM
Hobbasa, Prof  8) You do make us proud. Amma don Allah try tone down your paper, so dat foreigners no go bilif say we for kano don dey borrow-borrow so tey we don spoil finish ;D

I envy you. Don Allah ba za ka sa ni in dinga rike maka jaka ba zuwa tafiye-tafiyen nan?

Lol! Ai wadannan tafiye-tafiyen na almajirai ne kamar mu, kai kuwa ai watakila hamshakin malami ne! Would you believe my next stop in September is Basle, Switzerland -- I might get some cheese for you! ;D

You did raise a very important point concerning "borrow-borrow" or to its more anthropological term, "appropriation". About 60 papers are being presented and most of them touch on the issue of borrowing styles of music from other cultures. Unfortuanately, in the absence of cherished and accepted Hausa musical tradition, the borrow-borrow of Hausa does not really bother anyone -- either way, music is a low class activity, so no one cares whether it is original or borrowed.  This is not peculiar to north of Nigeria, it is prevalent in other non-Western Muslim societies (e.g. Azerbaijan). Here in Assilah, they have street vendors selling Arab music -- most of it patterned on Western pop melodies. Sigh. "Globalization" eh?

I am trying to see if I could do the little that I can in creating what I call HAUSA ART MUSIC. This is music that FORCES you to listen to the genius of the players -- in other words, we will focus on the instruments, and acoustic too, none of this synthesizer stuff. I have already arranged one performance of just two minutes with AREWA (Nasiru Garba Supa's band) and I want to see if we can take it to the next level -- producing performances that last at least 30 minutes non-stop; and NO SINGING!!! I want to take them to a situation where the instruments SPEAK on their own, not to follow the voices, as is typical with Hausa music which is a call-and-response formation between the music, the instruments and the vocalists. All this pretty ideal, but time, energy and money are needed to do this, and this is going to be tough getting these.  :-\ :-\ :-\

Well the conference ends on Monday, but I will hang around the town for two more days, writing my report on the beach before heading for Amsterdam and a seven hour wait. No sun tan, though; I am already deeply tanned! ;D ;D ;D

bakangizo

Quote
"Globalization" eh?

I am trying to see if I could do the little that I can in creating what I call HAUSA ART MUSIC. This is music that FORCES you to listen to the genius of the players -- in other words, we will focus on the instruments, and acoustic too, none of this synthesizer stuff. I have already arranged one performance of just two minutes with AREWA (Nasiru Garba Supa's band) and I want to see if we can take it to the next level -- producing performances that last at least 30 minutes non-stop; and NO SINGING!!! I want to take them to a situation where the instruments SPEAK on their own,

Globalization, what do we do about it? Nothing I guess, so we might as well make the good out of it. And it's not only about music or movies. It encompasses almost our whole way of life. The way we talk, walk, dress etc are rapidly changing; swallowed by eastern/western cultures. And what are we doing about it? Just yesterday someone was telling me he now finds it easier to express himself in english than hausa. That set me thinking: where will our dear language be in the next 100 years?

About the Hausa Art Music thing, I believe you're doing a great job. I loved AREWA's performance during that concert at BC; tradition laced with modernity. Talking about "non-stop music/instuments without singing"  reminded of  a music like that someone from Niger Repub. gave me. I forgot the musicians name. It was long ago, I used to have his tape which I enjoy a lot. Sort of a "jazz", you know.

Sai na ga "cheese" daga switzerland.

Dan-Borno

The Prof himself, doing what he knows best.  I only pray
that all these reforms and researches you are making will
have the backing of the Government.  As you said above,
it needs time, energy and opening the purse.

Preserving culture is a welcome development, and from
all indication its not an agenda, especially in the northern
part of this our great country.  Watching most southern
nigerian films, you will understand how they try their best
in maintaining and propagating their culture.

So, kudos to you Prof.

Bakangizo, cheese din kuma ba tayi ne?
"My mama always used to tell me: 'If you can't find somethin' to live for, you best find somethin' to die for" - Tupak

bakangizo

Quote
Watching most southern
nigerian films, you will understand how they try their best
in maintaining and propagating their culture.

So, kudos to you Prof.

Bakangizo, cheese din kuma ba tayi ne?
Well, most of those southern films are more western than than Amerircan Films these days ;D
Maganar "cheese" kuma ni kadai akayi wa tayi. 8) Amma zan dan gutsura maka. Kai dai bari a kawo tukun.

Quote from: hafsee on August 11, 2007, 09:23:55 AM
God i hate to judge but 2day I saw a guy, he had rings in both his ears periced, has a necklace on. He got his hair braided and his pants almost falling down. Every time i see guys like this i cant help but wonder why do some GUYZ wanna go thru the pain of sitting for so many hours braiding thier hair when they dont really have to it? pierce their ears noes and all when they dont really have to do it. i guess is the generation guys wanna be girls now(sry some guys) how gay is dat LOL.
Well, Hafsee barka da zuwa forum. A ina kika gano wannan saurayi mai 'yankunne? ;D

Al-Nazeer

I agreed with you 100% what you said about the soldier who colect N50 bribe from you. But waht I want you to under stand is that is not his fault. Just go to Ghana here you find out what they pay there Soldiers salary is mothern Nigeria. You keep somebody on the street for 24hrs and you feed him with small food may be twice in a day, how do you expect that soldier to perform 100%. Its the duty of all of us to continue helping them with other things like bread or water when we are passing. I beleived that if to say you offered him a Loaf of bread that very time he will prepared it mothern that N50. If you can recalled the time when Taliban Group attack Police Station kill many Police officers in kano recently, it was the same soldiers that came out and attack the Group that time. I beleived that very time they ask you to go near them that very time you can not do so. So if they are in action you cant think of soldiers asking you for anything. But because the situation is calm even the Government cannot feed them the way they feed them when they are in war front. So my brother try to understand the situation. Thanks
The hard way the only way

dan kauye

Okay.My presense should be felt here  like a Black Panther movement.Didn't some pop star used that line in a recent hit? OK,whatever..no idea's original.And speaking of ideas,isn't this very thread a spin-off of another thread I did a couple of years ago with the title "Diary Of Dan-Kauye" or some ish? Duh,I know ,but still! Still on the concept of idea,you ever have an idea you think is original, but then as you start to tell someone about it, they cut you off in the middle by letting you know where you can find the same idea taking place somewhere else? (Damn you, pre-existing potato-powered alarm clock.)


Now, far be it from me to chime in on other people's business,but why are some people so dumb? I'm not condescending in any way,neither am I conceited.And I'm more accomodating than ,say,a refugee camp in Nothern Jordan,metaphorically speaking,of course.Or so I think.But being dumb is something I just can't stand.I know ,I know,but jeez,I'm just allergic to people who lack common sense,reasoning,and are set in their own little ways.Yes,of course,I'm talking about someone I know of.I wanted to help him out but I just couldn't bring myself to tell him that he could use the help of some ruwan zam-zam,Burt's honey,lots of rigorous IQ exercises and the like.Maybe,just maybe that could help him deal with the problem in question.And while I'm at it,I might as well use this medium to express my admiration for the champions of what I'd personally call "well-rounded personality on this board.I'll mention but a few people whom I hold in great esteem,not that I feel any different about other member though.

Numero Uno would be Husna.A very candidly outspoken woman,with vast wisdom and experience on so many different aspects of life,and on so many different levels to.Mallam Abdallah comes close .I admire his energy,drive,passion and commitment for his career.Jeez,is there any expression left that doesn't sound rehearsed,generic or corny? And who wudda thought Anthropology could be that interesting!!!! Every now and then,I try to upstage my knowledge on the and oh,you should take all the credit.Assuming you read this,that is.

What's that smell? *sniffs* *runs to the kitchen*  *knocks on wood* Apparently,someone,probably Abba,my flatmate, left the gas burner turned on.I haaaaaaate that pungent smell.Okay,where was I?

Ah,and of course,Mallam Waziri.I mean who doesn't revere him? But that's as obvious as saying the sky is blue.Or is it?

Now,I love all y'all.You'll mentioned,along with your traits that I love,or dont,in the second installment if this entry.Just so you know!!!


Here's some stuff I was thinking about on the treadmill earlier today. I don't bring my phone,which's equipped with more music than itunes ,to the gym anymore. I can't really explain it except to say that there's something unsatisfying about it. The songs kind of drill into my ear when I'm working out and I can't concentrate on the parts of the music I want to. (I told ya I couldn't really explain it.) ;D


1.) Why do they sell junk food at gyms? I mean,why would you waste your time and energy,and the instructor's,just so you would take in more calories after the work out? It defeats the purpose of the workout.I seriously don't see the logic there.But to each his or her own.. ::)

2.) I just saw a commercial for Lexus featuring Elvis Costello, and as I like to pay attention to my reactions when I'm being sold something(as if I could ever afford a Lex,duh), I thought this was an interesting one. Here's the order of impressions made on me.

a. Oh look, there's Elvis Costello.
b. Man, that guy looks cool. I hope I look that cool someday.
c. How old is he? He's just plain cool. And it's got nothing to do with age. I'd like my cool to have nothing to do with age.
d. Do you just decide to do that and you can? I hope so. I'm deciding right now to be that cool.
e. He's talking about Beethoven. Interesting.
f. He's in a Lexus. Cool looking car.
g. Oh, it's a Lexus ad, centered on the stereo system.
h. THAT STEREO SYSTEM SOUNDS GREAT, I BET.


Two things here interest me - number one, at no time during the commercial did I have the response of "Oh, look, Elvis Costello got paid to do a Lexus commercial. Times must be tough!" The words "sell-out", "shill", "hock" also never came to mind. Just how cool I thought Elvis Costello was and how that stereo system looks like it sounds great. And that's where number two comes in. How difficult must it be - and subsequently how impressive is it - to sell a sound to you over a TV commercial? The car looks like it smells like brand-new upholstery and that stereo looks like it sounds great. Elvis looks cool, the car looks cool, and everybody goes away happy. Maybe I'll re-think my stance on things... :)


3.) Reading on a treadmill is very bad for my eyes. :'(


4.) I want to hear Donny Hathaway's "The Ghetto" from Donny Hathaway Live. You should find it if you can. It's one of the best recordings of all time. 8)


5.) That Donna chick is so hot she's burning! And she's beautiful on the inside too.I mean,could there ever be anything cooler than having your towel handed by a traffic-stoppingly,stairs-falling,breath-takingly gorgeous chikalah after a long boring session of aerobics? ;D ;D :D




And then my 20 minutes was up and I moved to work on back and obliques. I stopped thinking so much then, so that's all I've got for now...


Dan-Kauye.
Dan-Kauye's Artist Of The Week;Robin Thicke

amira

*Each day is definately defining me and finding me*

sdanyaro

To 'yanuwa... ni dai yau na zama dan Arewa a London. Yau Allah da ikonsa ya bani halin lekowa wannan garin birnin Lodon. Kafin aje ko ina, nidai abinda na fara lura dashi a wannan garin, shine.. komai yana da dan karen tsada anan. Misali, daga Airport sai da na biya kudi wuri na guwan wuri har Fam Hamsin da biyar (Kudin Ingila) sannan aka kawoni Masauki (Hotel). Kuma shi kansa hotel din - daki dan tsirit amma ance sai nabiya kamar Fam Tamanin kowace rana. Sannan wannan Intanet (Internet) din da nake amfani da ita sai da aka cajeni Euro Sittin ta catin Credit Card sannan aka kyaleni in hau a dakin nawa na sati daya kenan fa kacal... To lalle fa inna jin yau na zama dan Arewa a London. BTW, if there is any Onliner around this town, it will be good to say hello... I am putting up at the Greenwich? area of London? till next Sunday when I plan to pack my few things and head towards Germany for another week after which I should be back in Nigeria by way of Amsterdam...

Haza wasalam,
Nine mai sauraron ku,
(Dan Arewa a London),
Salisu U. Danyaro.

bakangizo

Never knew London is so expensive. What's the minimum wage like over there?

sdanyaro

Quote from: Bakan~Gizo on August 20, 2007, 10:19:11 AM
Never knew London is so expensive. What's the minimum wage like over there?
I really do not know the minimum wage here. All I know is that thinks are relatively more expensive that other countries I have been, but also my Kyauyanci and Bakwonci might have contribute to this as well.

IBB

IHS