Photographer Khozga Hasan has been documenting Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who have been battling the Islamic State in Iraq. Erbil, Iraq-based Rudaw News’ website has the article here for your perusal.
Politics
[Art] Beauty and Desecration: We must rescue art from the modern intoxication with ugliness
Roger Scruton discusses ugliness in art and how to, if not fix the problem, then strive, at least, for better-quality art.
Read more here thanks to Another City, A Journey Of Orthodox Culture.
[Music] The Mariachi Men of Yugoslavia
Jonny Wrate of Roads and Kingdoms Magazine writes the article for the year for me!
Many years ago, while living in Macedonia, my friends and I would discuss music, and two, Igor and Goran, turned me on to the fact that Mexican music was actually a big deal in the former Yugoslavia. It was the most amusing thing I had ever heard, as I grew up with a lot of boleros in my house (Los Panchos, Los Tres Ases, and others, for example). It blew my mind that such a scene would exist, but they were emphatic in telling me that such a creature DID indeed exist. They even showed me record covers like the one above, recorded by the ever-tacky, ever awesome Ljubomir Milić.
Wrate’s back story really does a nice job of filling in the history of a very unique time in my beloved Balkans which ties into the music I loved as a child.
[Music] Les Choeurs de l’Armée Rouge MVD – Maroussia (Marusya)
Les Choeurs de l’Armée Rouge MVD (The Red Choir Orchestra and Ballet) make a joyful racket with one of Russia’s most endearing folk songs, Marusya.
[Art] Banned Russian art squirrelled away in Uzbekistan
I’m a bit late with this article, but it discusses a treasure trove of art which was forbidden in the Soviet Union. It turns out that these pieces were socked away in the Karakalpakstan province of Uzbekistan.
The AMOT… Wiki
Not a true wiki, but a place to house links. If you’re an interesting net-label or a radically interesting band, film-maker or writer who wishes to be archived here, let me know.
[Video] Frank Zappa – Titties & Beer
Frank Zappa loved to annoy. I grew up watching him battle the Parent Music Resource Center (PMRC), among whose more famous founding members was Tipper Gore, ex-wife of then Senator (and complete douchebag to this day) Al Gore. Though he was, and is, a sleazy huckster, his wife ended up making friends with Frank’s widow, Gail.
As lyrically inane as it was, Frank was one of the best musicians of his day. I miss him, as I’m sure millions still do.
[Lit] ‘Dr. Zhivago’: The Classic Book That Was Almost Never Published
Russia bans books and movies from time to time. It takes a lot of cheek to compare banning a literary classic like Boris Pasternak’s ‘Dr. Zhivago‘ to trash like Pussy Riot, but this is what one learns to expect from the Huffington Post.
Still, the literary world would have been a poorer place had ‘Dr. Zhivago’ had never seen the light of day.
Read Petra Couvée’s article for HuffPo here.
[Lit/Culture] Why Did Borges Hate Soccer?
I’m ambivalent towards soccer. As a kid, I supported a few teams (namely Celta Vigo and Cruz Azul), but never felt the raging support some comrades who love ‘the beautiful game’ felt for their teams. It was no big deal to me, just something fun to watch.
Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges, who witnessed fascism and Peronism destroy his country, makes some valid points against soccer for the same reasons people who become zealots for politics and religion (even fashion, as I’ve seen some women go at it over dresses more than once in my life). It causes strife and division for no good reason.
The New Republic posts the story here.
[Art] George W. Bush, Painter
Bush Derangement Syndrome continues.
George W. Bush turns out not to be a bad painter at all. Unlike some former presidents who lack the dignity to keep silent after their terms are up, at least Dubya had the decency to pick up a peaceful hobby.
The Los Angeles Times offers a slightly sneering synopsis of the former POTUS’ appearance with Jay Leno recently.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 