Uppity-Negro.com: In Memoriam

First off, thanks to everyone who contributed on Free For All Friday. Not sure what Sir Tim Berners-Lee thinks of the notion, or of blogging generally, but I think it's a closer approximation of what he was looking for than the typical, one-to-many way many sites are run.

And the more I think about the right-wingers (apparently) destroying the comments section at Chomsky's blog, the less I like them. And I wasn't that thrilled with the fuckers to begin with. Nor am I sure how they justify having done so with their shrill, over-the-top complaints about PC Thought Police and how closed-minded the Left is and all that other shit Michele was venting about in regards to the DU message boards a while ago. I mean, at least they kept their shit in their own place, rather than trolling someone else's en masse. And I repeat my request for examples of similar behavior on the part of leftists. I mean, if anyone has an example of left-wingers swooping in on the new site of a conservative intellectual. . . wait, bad example. Conservative intellectual is something of a contradiction in terms.

What else? Saw a (not terribly flattering) mention on Ecto of Katie Melua, and went looking for sound samples. Came up empty on that, but photos of her caused me to wonder how many other brunette female pop singers there are on the charts these days. Most of the pop tarts that spring to mind are wee blonde things. This is possibly deeply meaningful, but again, sleep deprivation. Also, mounting disgust at the possible deep meanings.

There was a brief bit about Sevara Nazarkhan in Utne's indie culture 2004, but I'm really not sure she counts.

The history of a lone woman singing and accompanying herself on a string instrument is ancient. It is a familiar image in manuscripts and miniature paintings from Iran, Turkey, the Middle East, and China, the countries and regions of the legendary Silk Route. In places that evoke the exotic, like Bukhara and Samarkand – the cities of modern day Uzbekistan – music was advanced and courtly. A female singer and instrumentalist epitomised high culture.

Sevara Nazarkhan, a twenty-five-year-old, Uzbek singer, songwriter and musician, is a direct descendent of this past. Her instrument is the doutar - a fifteenth century, two-stringed, Central Asian lute that is plucked not strummed. When music was the preserve of shepherds and lonely wayfarers, the strings were made from animal intestines. As the Silk Route became better established and the dried fruits and animal skins that Marco Polo carried were traded for gems and Chinese porcelain, the strings were woven from silk. The doutar has a warm, dulcet tone. In Sevara’s hands and voice an ancient tradition breathes.

That's from the bio page of the Real World Records site for her cd Yol Bolsin (Where Are You Going). Worth a look even if you have no interest in her music (although, if you've never heard it, how would you know?); Peter Gabriel and his wacky band of misfits do good web design, they do.

Which reminds me, Ezra over at Pandagon criticized the design of Turning the Tide (possibly tongue-in-cheek, it's hard to convey that sort of thing in text, you know), which (to me) is a bit like refusing to buy one of Chomsky's books because it wasn't designed by Chip Kidd. Or something.

Right, music, politics, book publishing, the 'net. . . think that's superficially touching on enough issues for one morning, yes?

Well, there was an amazingly stupid comment made by Dean Esmay over at Andrea's, based on either a deliberate misreading of my "Oh look, I might get drafted into you moron's war" entry, or on his complete lack of reading skills, I'm not sure which.

Oh, and I'm racist. And offensive. Good thing racist, offensive white people keep reminding me of that, otherwise I'd forget. . .

Again, mirror. And again, they don't cast reflections, so that idea is out.

Update: Something for the Chi residents and refugees. At Dean's -- and you'll have to find the Ahhh, Chicago entry yourself, I fear automatic trackback and getting yelled at for "commenting" at his place -- someone asks, regarding WXRT:

Do they still have the lesbian disk jockey in the plaid flannel shirt who hates guns because one was used to kill "her man" John Lennon?

The joke, or course, is that the previous comment was:

Unbelievable--and Terri Hemmert is still there!

Ok, maybe that's not funny on several levels. . .