The Tossers in the Orange T-shirts.

I was Wired at The Al-Ansaar Souk during the long Christmas weekend thingy. By that I mean .. I got a new show on the Al-Ansaar radio station called “Wired” :) Even MJ got a special Feature showcasing his specialty–> Video Games :)

Check it out here… http://wiredislam.blogspot.com and let me know what you think :)

Got a gig as an MC for the entertainment sections at the souk itself as well, my first time so was a bit nervous. Anyhow I was showcasing the New “Durban’s First Islamic boy Band” Waahid… A website will be up soon to showcase their stuff… Brilliant. It’s sort of Zikr with a modern touch of beatboxing and voice rhythms in the back. really really awesome. anyway more about that later.They wanted us to wear these horrid Bright Orange T-shirts withthe cliche’d tag of “crew” at the back and some half-baked excuse of a souk logo on the front. Ewwww. so much for attracting the youth, any MC wearing that crap would be ridiculed, as we probably were the first time we wore them due to sheer nervousness and not really knowing any better than to chellengethe authority figures who shoved them on us.

Next year I’m freakin desiging the T-shirts. maybe even get matching scarves for the girls… taht would be a cool idea, eh?

MJ’s segments were the coolest, he did a skit of weakest link in which he totally ripped off the dumbest contestants ever… for example… “Name one of the Khulafaa-e-Rashedeen.” “Umm… what’s that?” “One of the four Caliphs after the Prophet Muhammad.” ” ummm.. Bilal?” “Please don’t embarass your parents in the audience who paid so much money for you to go to an Islamic School.” LOL … or the one guy who couldn’t get “birds of a feather flock together” got told to “Flock off.”

As for the weakest link staples… MJ’s version had “Whose brain isn’t halaal certified?” “Who’s a few chips short of a Kiki’s meal?” and some other killer ones :P apart from that he also co-hosted a show with arm-wrestling… that was probably the most I ever laughed.. I’m sure he’ll showcase it on his blog :P

So I waschilling at the beach and getting my ass beat on the arm-wrestling table… serves me right to challenge the boys from overport and chatsworth who live at the gym… ouch. The guy’s forearm was bigger than his thighs…

Survival skills kicked in though and I very intelligently didnt opt for a re-match… We also got sponsored some really cool Islamic T-shirts in place of the hideous orange things all for the price of mentioning the boys on stage :) Marketing… all Marketing :) We even got free chow for mentioning Cafe Medina on stage :P Hey, no advertising’s for free eh?
Latest Controversy… Waahid, after performing for 4 days straight and selling all of their 100 limited edition CD’s, were banned from playing at the souk from yesterday night because some Dumbass who absolutely loves the stage says that what they are singing (dua’s, etc.) can only be sung in a certain way and the way they’re doing it… with beatboxing and singing in the background is not allowed… Haraam! *sigh* I wish these people would get a brain. If Waahid wasn’t on stage the youth would be nowhere near the stage. Unfortunatley people are too conservative here, too narrow-minded and would rather have their kids listening to “Smack That” instead of really really cool sounding Zikr, the kind you wouldn’t mind blasting through mint road on a saturday night. Word. it is that good :)

That’s it… will update more later.

Wasalaam.

M.

F**k Indian Durban.

(Please excuse the rampant Profanity in this post, I really , Really need to vent.)

I can’t wait to get out of this God Forsaken place. All Durban has is the beach. If it didn’t have that it would be the ultimate hell hole. There is a reason why it’s only good for holidays, especially if you’re an indian. The things I have to endure in this place crawls under my skin. Constant Gossip, Racism, Classism, Caste Systems… FUCK! I am so sick of it. Every single indian female I run into (okay maybe not ALL) has this insatiable desire to know every little detail about my life… FUCK OFF! I swear I’m at my wits end… apart from friends like MJ and some others which make this ride in Durban just a little bit less tedious, this place is… oh fuck it.

I’ve had old indian women confess… “I know I’m racist, but that’s just the way it is…”, I’ve had constant questioning of mundane things like.. “Where you going? Where you went? What you did there? why?” WTF? like it’s anybody’s fucking business. I once looked dead straight at one aunty and said “Naah, I’m just tired from the strip club last night, and tonight we’re hitting the entire strip on point road.” Now, the thing is , these aunties know me too well to know that I’d never actually do any of those things… so I think they got the sarcastic message… “I don’t want to answer you, Leave me the fuck alone.”

Recently, I actually felt depressed, I mean seriously depressed… and I only realised this after the fact… I have never been depressed in my life, infact, my philosophy on life is that a Muslim can never be depressed (think about it). I can only conclude that this place (said with all the gusto of Agent Smith from the Matrix)… I feel infected by it.
Between Racists, Classists, Bigots, Hypocrites and just plain fucking idiots. I wanna go home :( Now try and ask me why the fuck I miss Johannesburg so much. You know why.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…….

Peace, (Ironic, I know…)

M.

UPDATE: Continuation at F**k Indian Durban, Part 2

Old Stories and My Stories.

Our Elders… more specifically, the old women, the overworked mothers of the previous generation, whose strife shows on their faces today. I’m only mentioning this because I went to visit my grandmother last night, my only living grandparent at the moment and a very sweet old lady :) She was with one of her childhood friends who was equally entertaining… going on with stories about how she was in the kitchen since she was 9 years old… how her mother and her siblings used to work in the kitchen everyday becuase they had to cook for like 40 people living under the same roof… and not just any chow.. it was fresh roti’s every single day and Alloo Fry (Fried Potatoes) and some other equally yummy foodstuff. the stories were very entertaining, told with all the gusto of a woman in nostalgia, makes them all the more lovable, even though they’re so vulnerable at that old age.

On a weirder note… I was served at Steers by a waitress named “Duh”. How can her parents be so cruel? Unless I’m being ignorant and “Duh” actually means something in one of our 11 official languages, which it probably does and I probably am being ignorant… but it was funny anyhow, since it did catch me by surprise.

I am trying to focus nowadays on more important things though… trying to prioritise… what the hell is most important to me and how do I go about achieving it. I spent a lot of time now finishing some episodes of my favourite series, Prison Break. Now that’s done, I think I really need to DO something, time for me stagnating with non-essential meanderings in life is just not worth it anymore.

If I always do what I always did, I’ll always get what I always got, and I freakin HATE what I always got… shit’s got to change, FAST.

I got a radio show booked on Radio Al-Ansaar called “Wired” and I am focusing on Jacking up all the internet hooked people in KZN with some knowledge on Tools, Trends and Islam on the Internet. Let’s hope somebody gets some inspiration. Word. Obviously I’m also gonna be focusing on Blogging and maybe call a few blogger friends on the show to share their experiences.

Alright… today’s clean-up day at work, so I better get at it. I have So much junk on my desk it’s beginning to get embarrassing.

Peace,

M.

The Good Weekend…

I have this theory that everyone learns the truth eventually… some earlier than others… but eventually you’ll learn it, reality will klap you hard if you dwell in ignorance too long…

That was a snippet of a conversation with QL on the fact that music nowadays is screwing up kids to think that bling bling and low morals and SEX all the time, instant gratification is the way life should be lived… Whatever happened to the 90′s angst-ridden, fight-the-power lyrics and music? Even the R&B love everyone, life-is-so-fragile stuff was better than today’s crap…
Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Alanis Morisette (got married, lost it), Jewel (Her old stuff, before she sold out), Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey (Before she became a Ho), NOFX, The Offspring, Propaghandi, Megadeth, Live, Lauryn Hill, The Fugees, 2Pac, Notorious BIG (his old stuff’s good, but he probably started this current no-moral trend along with 2 Pac)…

Our Generation got traded truth and now all that’s being dealt is Bullshit, Ignorance and a Culture marinated in Self-gratification. You better watch your kids/nephews/nieces closely… in the current atmosphere they’re bound to get fucked up in so many ways unless they’re grounded properly… this shit is hard to do.

The Weekend was Brilliant, I Love Jo’Burg… I don’t know what it is… when I was there this weekend, I just felt ONE with the concrete and Steel. The only thing beating it was the company, Saturday night in particular… brilliant.. started with a quick supper and run-around Fordsburg square and calling various people asking if they up for a night-out with a lonely Blogger from Durban.. anyway, Saaleha obliged constituting a coven of half blogger, half-normal people to convene for this Coffee and Conversation.

So we ended up at an obsucre Little coffe shop called Soulsa, where 5 of us rattled the night away on caffeine and this really cool Almond-yoghurt phyllo pastry with seasonal fruit dessert… Amazing Stuff… conversation went from Jacob Zuma to the Culture of Small Towns like Azaadville Shareef (hehe) and Laudium and everything else in between, also a little bit of analysis on blogging, and how people find time to do it. I’m still trying to answer that one. The time flew from 8:30pm Coffee & Phyllo to 1am Cappuccino and Strawberry and Mint water (another WOW! item on the menu and its free)…

For all the other bloggers who couldn’t make it… you better make it next time, because a night out like this where we connect with people we only ever connect with on an intellectual or emotional level is seriosuly enlightening. Sheer Brilliance. I was reminded by MJ that I shoulda invited him as he woulda came with me on my bus ride… Next time Bro :) Don’t worry.. I’ll keep you in mind :P

Btw, I’m blogging at Muslim Movie Reviews, check out my post on the movie “Gangster No.1″… more movie reviews to come!

UPDATE: I’ve committed a travesty by not mentioning The Constant Traveller (see the 1st Comment), whom I must say I had an Excellent Akhalwaya’s filled lunch with on Saturday… those WITS Specials Rule! Convo was on how we’re gonna Guerilla market the struggle for Palestine.. Lotsa idea’s, let’s hope they materialise!
Peace,

M.