O.F.F.E.N.D.U.M.

"Straight Street"

2012-01-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

Commemorating one of the most ancient urban experiences in the world ...

________________________

Chorus:

it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight

Verse 1:

i took a stroll down the straight called str8
met a medicine man about 1/3 of the way
predecessor to the pusherman
with somethin to say
about an apple a day
keepin the sickness away
i valued his advice at face
at first
till he enlightened me to how precise nature worked
givin us citrus fruits in winter time for vitamin c
just met each other but im already invited for tea
(sub7an allah)
as fate would have it
he & i turned out to be related
a small world's even smaller when you're arab - aint it?
made it a point to soak in all his information
bout regenerative meditations
& preventitive medication
like a modern Ibn Sina
with a pretty calm demeanor
& a remedy for everything
that plagued the arab nations
yet when asked of how to cope with our impossible fate
he just said follow the middle path
to a Street Called Straight

Chorus:

it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
that's where we cease all hate
& pray to 3ish peace all day

Verse 2:

i took a stroll down the street called str8
met a spiritual teacher about 2/3 of the way
predecessor to the preacherman
with somethin to say
about a prayer a day
keepin the satan's at bey
he spoke of angels on our shoulders
and the angles of our solar
systematic self-destruction
metaphysical corruption
with a danger to our polar
ice caps
till it's out of our control
& in the hands of our beholder
we philosophized for over
20 minutes like that
taught me lessons
any questions he would
give em right back
said the answers were within us
& i didnt like that
but i realized later why he did it like that
i had so much more to learn
clock was ticking - couldnt stall
committed his words to my memory
his wisdom was enthrallin
yet when askin him what was the most important to recall
he just said follow the middle path
Straight Street & that is all

Chorus:

it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
that's where we cease all hate
& pray to 3ish peace all day

Verse 3:

i took a stroll down the street called str8
met a carpenter hard at work at the end of the way
predecessor to the architect with somethin to say
about not doin tomorrow
what should be finished today
he manipulated wood & metal till it followed function
building all through Via Recta
& Cardo Maximus junction
somethin told me he was wise beyond his years
i had a feelin
from the way that he'd exposed the beams
& ornamented ceilings
with an ambidextrous half
nonchalantly jest & laugh
sayin that my western education
made it hard to grasp
his connection to the past
deep-rooted in his craft
but was more than willing to share with me
the tools he knew i lacked
and for that i would be grateful
learnin how to build the monumental for the playful
& the humble for the faithful
yet when asked of how we'd stack against our impossible odds
he just said follow the middle path
Straight Street to the Gods

Chorus:

it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
that's where we cease all hate
& pray to 3ish peace all day

________________________

from SyrianamericanA, released 04 July 2010

Digital Download & Lyrics Available @ http://offendum.bandcamp.com/

CD Available @ http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/OmarOffendum

For more information on Omar Offendum, visit:

http://www.offendum.com
http://twitter.com/offendum
http://tumblr.com/offendum
http://offendum.blogspot.com
http://myspace.com/offendum
http://facebook.com/offendum

Copyright © Cosher Ink, LLC

"H-Town | 10.6.2011"

2011-11-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

I flew to Houston last month to attend my cousin's wedding & decided to set up a last-minute show ... It turned out to be a very memorable evening thanks to the Houston chapter of the Network of Arab-American Professionals (NAAP) - who graciously set up a concert for me at the Avantgarden.

Performing 'SUPERHERO':

Performing 'FINJAN':

While in Houston I also got to meet one of my dear friend's uncles, Mr. Farouk Shami - aka the 'richest hairdresser in the world' ... As I toured his headquarters, factories & warehouses I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride & admiration for what this Palestinian immigrant was able to accomplish through his hard work & vision (masha'Allah) ... He has a personal relationship with everyone on the factory floor & still renews his Barbering / Cosmetology license annually!

3iiish CHI!!!

"Domino Effect (The Time Is Now)"

2011-09-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I had the good fortune of premiering a new track from my next record on MSNBC recently. This clip was part of a larger video narrative on how Hip-Hop music has been influenced by & in turn is influencing the youth movements / revolutions taking place all across the Middle East & North Africa. My interview was originally recorded on the first day of Ramadan (August 1st) - but wasn't published until last week along with the following blog post:

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/15/7758131-how-rap-music-fueled-the-arab-spring-uprisings

Many thanks to Karl Bostic over at NBC for putting it all together & visiting cities like Benghazi, Cairo, Tunis & Jerusalem to get a first-hand look at what is taking place in the region. He initially contacted me when he first began to develop the story (late March) & said that he would take time to research the topic & establish genuine relationships with the artists before completing it. I have seen one too many 'parachute journalists' not take this approach & so I appreciate the way he did it that much more.

3iiish Peace!!!

'SyrianamericanA | Digital Release"

2011-08-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

You can now listen to (& read!) my debut solo album 'SyrianamericanA' on the official Omar Offendum bandcamp site -- http://offendum.bandcamp.com/

<p><p><a href="http://offendum.bandcamp.com/album/syrianamericana">SyrianamericanA by Omar Offendum</a></p></p>

3iiish MP3s!!!

"Look Up In The Sky ..."

2011-03-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

I first wrote these lyrics back in May of 2009 ... A year & a half later - guess who showed up ... Please take a moment to pray for all our sisters & brothers fighting for Freedom / Equality / Peace / Justice all over the Arab World ... Collectively they form our long-awaited "Superhero".

Lyrics:

Look Up In The Sky - Its A Bird - Its A Plane

Its An Arab Superhero & He Came to Bring Change

Unite The Divided & Free 'Em From The Chains

Of The Tyrants Who Reign in Vain & Pain

(Hey!)

Look Up In The Sky - Its A Bird - Its A Plane

Its An Arab Superhero - Yeah I know It Sounds Strange

But The Only Thing Keeping Us From Going Insane...

Is Knowing He'll Be Back Again (InshAllah)

While some men sank in trepidation

& banked on medication

from anxt of separation

this talib got by

& advanced through dedication

enhanced by preparation

& chants of meditation

his cognizance high

the mantra was fly

like bombs in the sky

a constant surprise

this impossible rise

through the ranks

steady walkin the planks

throwing rocks at the tanks

on the blocks of an occupied

middle east bereft

not an olive tree left

seein theft in the keys

to the lock he'd kept

steep steps

on the stairway to peace

he slipped

petroleum made these trips

that much slicker

billy crystalized a citylight's flicker

silly pistols fire a streetfight triggered

other men to fall off their grandstands

still he held his ground like a handstand (damn!)

Look Up In The Sky - Its A Bird - Its A Plane

Its An Arab Superhero & He Came to Bring Change

Unite The Divided & Free 'Em From The Chains

Of The Tyrants Who Reign in Vain & Pain

(Hey!)

Look Up In The Sky - Its A Bird - Its A Plane

Its An Arab Superhero - Yeah I know It Sounds Strange

But The Only Thing Keeping Us From Going Insane...

Is Knowing He'll Be Back Again (InshAllah)

Amidst military coups

and the critics of his literary views

he's pitted

wary - given very few

alternatives to violence

and yet & still he carries on through

scary obstacles contrary to...

popular belief

he can keep a cool head amongst

grief-stricken war-torn Middle East streets

sticking by the weak mothers of the bleak

futureless populace

confident he speaks (truth)

through the cracked concrete

of urban eruptions

proving that policies of

curbing corruption

further the function

of justice & earning the trust

of a people who've all been flustered

& cant move forward

but still make babies as though its all good

runnin around barefoot - cant afford sandals

huddlin by candles to pray

hey its nothing that a 3arab Superman cant handle

Look Up In The Sky - Its A Bird - Its A Plane

Its An Arab Superhero & He Came to Bring Change

Unite The Divided & Free 'Em From The Chains

Of The Tyrants Who Reign in Vain & Pain

(Hey!)

Look Up In The Sky - Its A Bird - Its A Plane

Its An Arab Superhero - Yeah I know It Sounds Strange

But The Only Thing Keeping Us From Going Insane...

Is Knowing He'll Be Back Again (InshAllah)

Like a couple bedoin homes I'm too tense/tents

Writin up some relevant songs - I do vent

Waxin poetic on the fact that pathetic

leaders act sympathetic

when we know they ain't sent not

one cent or qirsh of aid to refugees

pot belly kirsh they lay in SUVs

not really skilled - who braves the mess you leave?

what must we say to passover these

developmental disasters are lyin ahead

livin in denial like Egyptian Pyramids

comin to a point where the bubble's gonna burst

& desalinized water will no longer quench our thirst

we need a glass half-full for the youth - shine

an optimistic outlook from the roofline

like bat signals - till the criminals fade away

(hey!) here he comes to save the day …

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3ish Super-Peace!!!

"The Peace Revolution 2.0"

2011-03-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

I am honored to be the first voice on this amazing new mixtape by my brother Dany Neville ( http://twitter.com/#!/danyneville ) ... Featuring the likes of UGP, The Narcicyst, DJ Lethal Skillz, Arabian Knightz, Ramallah Underground, Hamdan Al Abri, Robin, Ayah & many more - this project is a testament to the hope for true unity that our generation represents for the Arab World.

Free Download -- http://www.mediafire.com/?mbg893dznwz038d

3iiish Peace!!!

"#JAN25 | Lyrics"

2011-02-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

"First they ignore you

Then they laugh at you
Then they fight you
Then you WIN"
- Ghandi

OMAR OFFENDUM:

I heard em say
The revolution wont be televised
Aljazeera proved em wrong
Twitter has him paralyzed
80 million strong
And ain't no longer gonna be terrorized
Organized - Mobilized - Vocalized
On the side of TRUTH
Um il-Dunya's living proof
That its a matter of time
before the chicken is home to roost
Bouazizi lit the...

and it slowly ignited the fire
within Arab people to fight it

From Tunis to Khan Younis
the new moon shines bright
as The Man's spoon was
as masses demand rights
and dispel rumors of disunity
communally removing the tumors
of rotten 7ukoomas
we're making headway
chanting down the dictators
getting rid of deadweight
opening the floodgates
like the streets of Jeddah
bawwabit il-thawra maftoo7a
oo ma ba2an sid'ha
we've been empowered to speak
and though the future is uncertain
man at least it isn't bleak
when our children can be raised
not in a cage - but on a peak
the inheritors of mother earth are meek

Freedom isn't given by oppressors
It's demanded by oppressed
Freedom lovers - Freedom fighters
Free to gather and protest
for their God-given rights
for a Freedom of the Press
we know Freedom is the answer
The only question is…

Who's next?

AYAH:

Time to push, and we aint falling back now
Time to fight, because we are all we have now
Do you hear?
Calling out for back up
Try to keep a look out for better days

THE NARCICYST:

Weathering the storm, pleasure to be born,
news media disseminate at heaven's gate's level of alarm...
3rd Person Dictators couldn't sever them till dawn
3 mill in your streets, We will live in Peace....
you will see it.
But First God Rest the soul of those who choose to be free
from poverty they rose
knee deep in robbery
souls will plummet and burn like Mohammed Bouazizi...
All I see is...
Al-Jazeera Logos,
Pillars of the State can now hear their own souls,
Karma waits for no man,
your presidential charm and armor break,
out of place in your own homeland,
Now Dip like Mezza..
imagine a million human march to Gaza,
From Qahira to Baghdad, siyasatkom saa7ira…..
3alamat Al-akhira...

AYAH:

Time to push, and we aint falling back now
Time to fight, because we are all we have now
Do you hear?
Calling out for back up
Try to keep a look out for better days

FREEWAY:

And that's where the beef ends
you should learn a lesson from oppression where it begins
black white yellow it don't matter what race
before you break us you can push us off the Deep end
different country same struggle we even
contemplate on squeezin when our kids ain't eating
only other difference is it's hot all year round there
winter time and your kids ain't freezing
but we all starving all grieving
and the people with the power ain't got heart enough to feed us
follow the procedures and I study my Quran
this is modern day signs we just waiting on Jesus
you should be the teacher of Quran to your kids
instead of wasting time watching Kelly Ripa and Regis
this is Egypt
home of the ruins last time we needed change it took Musa to move em
operation get rid of the pharoah
now we getting rid who ain't willing to share no
bread with the people we are all equal
true men of God, Fear God, don't fear no
person that's walking on the face of the earth
if he got a tank, knife, gun, bow or an arrow
long as there's breath
then there's still hope left
so let hope rise like the eye of a sparrow

AYAH:

Time to push, and we aint falling back now
Time to fight, because we are all we have now
Do you hear?
Calling out for back up
Try to keep a look out for better days

AMIR SULAIMAN:

wont be just niggas
wont be just spiks
a rabs pakis rednecks and hicks
the leaders aint helping them feeding their kids
the leaders helping pigs eating their kids
got me back on my Elijah eating to live
run up in the white house like i got a key to the crib

the house and the senate
ousted in a minute
takes these streets to wall street

this ones for kemit

they on that ghandi
they on that che though
but that che turn cairo fuego
Hard for the press to find a Scapegoat
When evey man woman and child at the table
They think they John Adams
They think they Ben Franklin
they want democracy
what them arabs thinkin
the world leaders now can see when
keep people from eating
the people will eat them

AYAH:

Time to push, and we aint falling back now
Time to fight, because we are all we have now
Do you hear?
Calling out for back up
Try to keep a look out for better days

- - - - - -

This song is dedicated to the brave, beautiful souls that made this Egyptian revolution possible ... Inna li-Allah, wa-Inna Ilayhee Raji3oon -- http://1000memories.com/egypt

- - - - - -

Artist Information:

Omar Offendum (MC #1) - http://twitter.com/Offendum

The Narcicyst (MC #2) - http://twitter.com/TheNarcicyst

Freeway (MC #3) - http://twitter.com/PhillyFreezer

Amir Sulaiman (MC #4) - http://twitter.com/AmirSulaiman

Ayah (R&B Vocalist) - http://twitter.com/AyahMusic

Sami Matar (Producer) - http://twitter.com/SamiMatar

Artwork by Ridwan Adhami - http://twitter.com/RidzDesign

Blamethelabel - http://twitter.com/blamethelabel

"#JAN25"

2011-02-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

For Our Egyptian Family...

Usershare link: DOWNLOAD!

#Jan25 (Produced by Sami Matar)

Inspired by the resilience of Egyptian people during their recent uprising, I teamed up with several notable musicians from North America to release a song of solidarity and empowerment. The track is fittingly titled “#Jan25″ as a reference to both the date the protests officially began in Egypt, and its prominence as a trending topic on Twitter. Produced by good friend Sami Matar, a Palestinian-American composer from Southern California, and featuring the likes of Freeway, HBO Def Poet Amir Sulaiman, Canadian R&B vocalist Ayah, my brother The Narcicyst & myself – this track serves as a testament to the revolution’s effect on the hearts and minds of today’s youth, and the spirit of resistance it has come to symbolize for oppressed people worldwide.

Artist Information:

Omar Offendum (MC #1) - http://twitter.com/Offendum

The Narcicyst (MC #2) - http://twitter.com/TheNarcicyst

Freeway (MC #3) - http://twitter.com/PhillyFreezer

Amir Sulaiman (MC #4) - http://twitter.com/AmirSulaiman

Ayah (R&B Vocalist) - http://twitter.com/AyahMusic

Sami Matar (Producer) - http://twitter.com/SamiMatar

Artwork by Ridwan Adhami - http://twitter.com/RidzDesign

Blamethelabel - http://twitter.com/blamethelabel

Produced by Sami Matar. Shouts to Blamethelabel, Mb.

I had the good fortune of being interviewed about the track on Aljazeera English while I was performing in Doha this month as well:

Here is a slightly more elaborate interview/report done later that day by Tarek Abu-Esber of the Doha Film Institute:

The song has also been featured on:

Aljazeera Blog -- http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/07/live-blog-feb-8-egypt-protests

NPR -- http://www.npr.org/2011/02/11/133691055/Music-Inspires-Egyptian-Protests

VIBE -- http://www.vibe.com/audio/new-music-freeway-amir-sulaiman-ayah-narcicyst-omar-offendum-jan25

Complex -- http://www.complex.com/music/2011/02/freeway-amir-sulaiman-ayah-the-narcicyst-omar-offendum-jan25

MTV | Iggy -- http://blog.mtviggy.com/2011/02/12/jan25-new-single-inspired-by-egyptian-uprising/

MissInfo -- http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/exclusive-freeway-addresses-egypts-uprising-on-jan25th-with-amir-sulaiman-ayah-the-narcicyst-and-omar-offendum/

NahRight -- http://nahright.com/news/2011/02/07/freeway-amir-sulaiman-ayah-the-narcicyst-omar-offendum-jan25th/

Ta7ya Masr ... 3iiish Egypt!!!

"SyrianamericanA (Album) + Destiny (Video)"

2010-07-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

After years of writing, recording, beat-making, & touring - I am proud to announce the official release of my debut solo album "SyrianamericanA" ... A Nation-State-of-Mind where everything is connected and everyone is welcome!

You can purchase a copy directly @ https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/OmarOffendum

I am also proud to premiere my first official music video for a bi-lingual track on the album called "Destiny" - filmed / edited by Laith Majali:

Omar Offendum "Destiny" Music Video from laith majali on Vimeo.

Many thanks to everyone who helped the record come together over the past few years ... I couldn't have done it without you all.

3iiish Release!!!

"FEN Magazine"

2010-03-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

Fen. It’s the Arabic word for art.

The first and only of its kind, FEN Magazine is an online publication devoted to covering, elevating, and promoting collaboration between Arab-American artists around the world. It’s the premiere destination for anyone seeking to discover, follow, or support Arab-American art.

Thanks to the homey Seif (co-founder / creative director) I had the honor of being featured twice in this month's issue - in the "FEN Five" top music picks for an exclusive track called "Hustle On" off my upcoming album, and in the "What's Popular" section on the main page for my rendition/translation of Nizar Qabbani's "Qariat il-Finjan" (aka The Fortuneteller).

I met Seif a couple years ago while performing @ Case Western University in Ohio - he was DJing a set for Ragtop & I ... Check him out in the pic below!

Proud to see him & Marwa take the initiative to not only put a magazine/website like this together - but to do it so well.

3iiish FEN!!!

"Syrian-American Reflections"

2010-03-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

"Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror..."
- Khalil Gibran

Kinda Hibrawi is a gifted Syrian-American painter, calligrapher, using her work to bridge the cultural divide between East & West in a profound way...

May Alhassan is a talented Syrian-American performer & PHD candidate @ USC, using her work to bridge the cultural divide between East & West in a profound way...

Reem Salahi is a brilliant Syrian-American lawyer & online radio host using her work to bridge the cultural divide between East & West in a profound way...

(See where I'm goin with this?)

I, Omar Offendum, a Syrian-American Hip-Hop Artist using his work to bridge the same cultural divide, had the pleasure of sitting down with these inspiring Shami / 7alabi sisters to talk art, activism, & good ole' fashioned SyrianamericanA on Reem's radio show - which was coincidentally being recorded @ Advent MP Studies, where I am putting the finishing touches on my solo record.

In the process I got to see three (much prettier) reflections of myself ...

I met Kinda several months ago & had the honor of performing at her most recent solo art exhibition in Santa Ana - titled "Dear Mr. Gibran" ... A stunning collection of vibrant Arabic calligraphy paintings inspired by the words of Khalil Gibran - a Syrian-American master of verse who's work resonates with human beings all over the planet ... After getting to know her a little better, we realized our stories were even more similar than we had initially thought - as the birth connection to the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia also became apparent.

I met May when I first moved to LA in the summer of 2004, and have had many a wonderful conversation since ... One which was previously posted on my blog when I was a guest on her show "ART-What's Happening" earlier this year ... Her keen intellect, ability to understand / process important socio-political events & deliver her points in an animated way is a breath of fresh air indeed ... That is why her involvement with the "Hijabi Monologues" project has been so important in my opinion - she does a great job of opening up the discussion to a broader audience.

I met Reem only recently, but have known of her for quite some time now ... Her dedication to justice is truly inspiring - a lawyer who has used her knowledge to champion civil rights & empower the disenfranchised members of our communities for years ... A UCLA & Berkeley grad, she is president of the Muslim Bar Association & host of One Legacy Radio's popular new show "OBJECTION"... She also recently delivered a series of passionate report-back lectures on her experiences in Palestine after the vicious bombardment of the Gaza Strip in December/January of 2008 - which resulted in the loss of over 1300 innocent lives, & the destruction of countless homes, schools, & government buildings ... Needless to say this sister not only talks the talk, but walks the walk - masha'Allah.

Our discussion was so fruitful that it had to be split into two shows - follow the links below to listen:

Activism Through Art - Part I

Activism Through Art - Part II

Reem would later feature my poem "New Year's Eve in Gaza" - with a powerful sonic backdrop provided by the one & only Sami Matar of Advent MP - on a subsequent show commemorating the one year anniversary of Israel's 22 day attack on Gaza - Remembering Gaza

We all have a shared heritage & similar story ...

We all have a similar vision for our communities ...

We all represent that lovely little nation-state-of-mind I like to call SyrianamericanA ...

3iiiish Sooooooriiiiiiis

"Motherland Tour Recap 2010"

2010-02-05T13:48:00.001-08:00

During the month of January I had the pleasure of performing at seven different venues in four major cities across the Middle East - Beirut, Amman, Doha, & Dubai to be exact ...

I was an Arab on the move!!!

BEIRUT:

01.07.10

The three members of The Human Writes Project (Mark Gonzales, Nizar Wattad aka Ragtop & myself) were invited to participate in the 3rd annual CASAR Conference at the American University of Beirut (Jan 6 - 9). Since our presentation of Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets at the same conference back in January of 2008 was such a success, we decided to follow it up by showcasing more of our actual poems / songs in a new piece entitled Mid-East | LA. Choosing several works that were relevant to this year's theme - Connections & Ruptures: American & The Middle East - we printed out a lyrics sheet for audience members to follow along & reference during the Q & A session that followed.

Unfortunately Mark missed his flight due to circumstances beyond his control, so Nizzy & I scrambled to edit our set last minute in order to make up for his absence. While we would have loved for him to be present, we had plenty of experience performing together so the show went on without a glitch ... Folks in attendance included AUB students, faculty, two deans, the provost, professors from around the world, local Lebanese hip-hoppers, ambassadors, club promoters, family, & close friends - hitting us with questions that ranged from "when did you start rapping?" to "where do you see Arab hip-hop going in the future?" ... I am proud to say that it was one of the most anticipated & subsequently well-attended presentations at the conference.

01.10.10

A few nights later, as a follow-up to the academic performance, we teamed up with DJ Lethal Skillz & the good folks of Immortal Entertainmen t to put together an evening of beats / rhymes at a club venue called THE BASEMENT - featuring all of the best in local lyrical talent (Malikah, RGB, Zoog, Chino, Ramsees, i-Voice) ... Also on stage that night, the legendary DJ / Photographer duo MOCHILLA - B+ & Eric Coleman - from Los Angeles, as well as Ragtop, Mark Gonzales (who was finally able to get on a plane), & of course yours sinSyrianly ... It was a night to remember, with each part of the line-up holding their own on stage & representing for Hip-Hop!

Earlier that day I also did my first arabic interview with the US-based satellite-TV station - Alhurra ... Now I'll be honest, I did cringe at the thought of being on that channel at first (& still do to some extent) given their blatant news bias during the Bush-era - but after what I felt were honest discussions with friends & various producers of the specific program I was to appear on (Al Yawm), in which I was assured they had recently taken a more realistic & unbiased approach to their content, I went ahead & did it ... The result was a brief discussion on "everything Offendum" one can possibly fit into an 8 minute segment.

Prior to leaving Beirut I also made sure to shoot the final scenes of my upcoming music video with good friend Laith Majali ... Since the song is one of the bi-lingual cuts on my record that directly highlights the difficulties of being torn between the East / West, we felt it was necessary to shoot half in the US (Los Angeles) & half back home in the Middle East. Beirut offered the perfect backdrop with its picturesque mountain / beach landscape & gritty urban feel ... Not to mention the fact that I have many a fond memory in that beautiful city, as a number of my family members & close friends live there. In fact, some of the scenes were even shot on the balcony of my mama's apartment!

AMMAN:

01.12.10

Ragtop, Mark Gonzales, & I were then flown to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to perform at two events in Amman. The night we arrived, we hit the local Safeway to stock up & were pleased to find an assortment of Masafi products to choose from ... Unfortunately, the abbreviation for "assorted" in Jordan is the first three letters of the word - which confused the hell out of Mark & I as we passed by the juice aisle...

01.13.10

The morning after our arrival, we headed for Play 99.6 to promote our upcoming shows. It was the very first station in the Middle East to show us love (back in '06), so it was nice to reconnect with some of the same folks at the station & do another interview with Amman's finest English radio-personality - the one & only Lee McGrath.

Later that day, we met up with friends on Al-Rainbow Street to have lunch at the famed Kafeteria Al-Quds - serving up the best falafel sandwiches in the whole Kingdom ...

01.14.10

Our first event in Amman was at the Royal Film Commission - a financially & administratively autonomous Jordanian government organization established with a vision to develop an internationally competitive Jordanian film industry ... We were invited to present our Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets performance-lecture, while Nizar ran some screenwriting workshops during the day.

Thanks to the hard work of our good friend & RFC employee Carla Dabis, the event was a huge success ... The setting was intimate, there was a non-smoking policy (which was a big deal for me in Amman as it is arguably the smokiest city in the Middle East), & we were able to fill up the main room with 75 eager listeners who engaged in a wonderful discussion with us afterwards.

01.15.10

The following evening we were slated to perform at Immortal Entertainment's debut event in their hometown of Amman - held in one of the premiere nightclubs in the city, a cool two-story venue called FLOW... Once again, Mochilla spun an unforgettable opening set, followed by performances from Mark Gonzales, Ragtop, Malikah, & myself ... DJ Lethal Skillz & Coleman held it down for us on the one's & two's & kept hundreds of Jordanian folk happy well into the next morning.

This video by Laith Majali shows clips from both Immortal Entertainment events in Beirut & Amman - nice job DBM...

When I sent the clip to Arab-American Comedian Dean Obediallah, he said it reminded him of a beer commercial =)

01.17.10

While I truly had a blast in Amman, the combination of smokey cafes, recycled airplane air, & constant temperature fluctuations finally caught up to me on my last day there ...

Thankfully there was a pharmacy at Queen Alia Airport!

DOHA:

01.19.10

Our next stop was Qatar, where I performed back in November of '09 during the DTFF, & was happy to be back so soon as I have many a good friend in Doha ... Thanks to Aalaa - a fellow ISA Falcon - me & the boys were invited to perform Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets at Education City. We helped Mark Gonzales facilitate a writing workshop for some students / faculty during the early afternoon, & presented the performance-lecture in the evening at Carnegie Melon Universitiy's Majlis (seating area).

Since the good folks at the DTFF had not been able to properly film my concert during last year's festival, they offered to document this show & conduct a short interview. The result is a clip that gives viewers a sense of what this ground-breaking performance is really like ...

It also clearly illustrates what a stressed-out / pre-show Ragtop, diva-esque / clogged-nasal Offendum, & workshop-conducting / motivational-speaking Mark G look like ;)

Special thanks to Ahmed Shihab-Eldin & the DTFF crew for producing this clip!

DUBAI:

01.20.10

Our final destination was the United Arab Emirates' most populous city of Dubai, where we were booked to perform at a cool little venue in Le Meridien Airport Village called ALPHA. My buddy DJ Solo (aka Wriggly Scott) had agreed to back us up at the show, so we rushed to his place soon after we arrived to work on our set for the evening. In the process we also copped a few beats from him, for collaborations that will appear on his next record due to be released later this year.

The show at ALPHA was a success, with many familiar faces in the crowd to help welcome Ragtop & Mark Gonzales on their first Dubai visit. I was still suffering from a severe (Amman-induced) chest cold, but was thankfully able to push through the set without any awkward mid-verse coughs.

Special thanks to The Baraka Group for putting yet another wonderful event together!

01.21.10

The Human Writes Project's last performance on this Middle East tour was at SHELTER, where I had my first Dubai show back in October of '09. It was an evening of spoken word coordinated by Hind Shoufani of The Poeticians, & featured a number of local poets & writers. Given that Dubai is such an ethnically diverse city, our global perspective was welcomed with eager ears & open minds. It was the perfect capstone to our tour, as I said good-bye to the fellas later that evening & prepared to spend the rest of the week in the UAE with family & friends.

ABU DHABI:

01.22.10

I've had relatives & friends living in Abu-Dhabi for many years now, but never got to see it on my trips to the UAE as I usually spent most of my time in Dubai while I was there. So my sister, niece & I made the 80 mile drive down one day to visit our uncle, aunt, & cousins.

On the way back, I asked that we stop by the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, named after the founder & first President of the United Arab Emirates who is buried on the premises. It is the eighth largest mosque in the world, & the design was inspired by Arab, Mughal & Moorish architecture.

The mosque is large enough to accommodate 40,000 worshippers, & contains both the world's largest carpet (60,570 sq ft) & world's largest chandelier (49' high x 33' diameter). With no expense spared in its $545 million dollar budget, it is an awe-inspiring edifice that attracts thousands of Muslim & non-Muslim visitors annually.

DUBAI:

01.25.10

Just before heading back to the US, I had the good fortune of doing an(other) interview/studio-performance on Dubai One's hit show TWENTY SOMETHING. I was asked about my upcoming album, recent tours, & opinions as an artist who has sought to bridge the gap between "East & West" through music. The brief interview was followed by a live performance of my translation / rendition of Nizar Qabbani's "Qariat il-Finjan"...

Click on the following link to check out the full episode: http://www.dubaimedia.ae/Media/view/54744

Props to Yara, Rema, Marwan, Annah, & the whole crew for making it come together so nicely!

- - - - - - -

Needless to say it was a very productive trip from start to finish - al7amdulillah ... I am certainly looking forward to the next Motherland Tour & hope to stop in more cities along the way if time permits.

3iiish Middle East!!!

"3iiish Day 2009"

2009-12-18T07:33:00.001-08:00

I am officially 10220 days young today ... feeling blessed, inspired, & loved ... al7amdullilah - all praises due to the most HIGH!!!

"DTFF | 2009"

2009-12-01T11:50:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month I was flown out to Qatar to perform at the first ever Doha Tribeca Film Festival - a joint partnership between the Qatar Museum Authority & Robert Deniro's world-famous Tribeca Film Festival. From start to finish - executive director to youngest intern - the organizers of this fabulous event did an incredible job putting every aspect of it together. I had a blast meeting Hollywood A-listers, mingling with the rising stars of Arab cinema, & reconnecting with many old friends who now call this booming Gulf city their home. Thanks to some wasta-connects on the staff who put in the recommendation, & a few Youtube clips which helped seal the deal, I was given the opportunity to do my Hip-Hop thing in front of hundreds of new faces at The W Hotel in Doha - one of my favorite hospitality chains & the very first in the Middle East!

Martin Scorcese delivered a speech at the intro luncheon ... I got a kick out of the arabic translator (standing to his left), whom rather than simply relay his sentiments in another language, took it upon herself to literally translate everything he said word for word - including all references to himself ... meaning, she would grab the mic after every other sentence and say "I Martin Scorcese am ... etc."

Sir Ben Kingsley (Ghandi!) answered some questions for a local journalist after lunch ... Apparently he & Scorcese had the same tailor - he just preferred a sim fit?

Legendary Egyptian comedic actor 3adel Imam strolled down the "red carpet" at the opening gala ... just seeing him made me crack up ... the look on his face was classic!

Fireworks lit up the sky behind the Museum of Islamic Art - designed by the one & only I. M. Pei ... The courtyard in this photo was modeled after the historic Ibn-Toloun mosque in Cairo, and provided a stunning backdrop (foredrop?) for the beautiful pyrotechnics display that evening.

On the second night of the festival, Maysoon Zayid & Dean Obeidallah did their side-splitting comedy thing on stage just before my performance (Spice Market Restaurant @ The W Hotel ) ... No better way to start the show than with two of Arab-America's funniest comics killin it for the Qatari crowd!

On the other side of the restaurant, my stage was set up between DJ Sam's (Doha's finest) turntables & the enormous open bar ... Took a few songs to warm folks up (& draw their attention away from the free booze), but once I did - it quickly became a night to remember. Shout-outs to the coolest Soori in Doha, Omar Chaikhouni in the corner of this pic ;)

"Throw ya hands in the airrr & wave em all around like you just dont carrre" ... Told you I got their attention ;)

The next evening I attended an open-air screening @ Souq Waqif of the 1969 Egyptian film "Al Momia" (The Mummy) - digitally remastered by Martin Scorcese's World Cinema Foundation. While many of the people in attendance fell asleep under the peaceful night sky, I was captivated by the struggle this film portrayed - does the protagonist allow the "effendiyah / city-people" (sound familiar?) to take the ancient sarcophagi of his ancestors ... or let his fellow tribesman rob & loot them to no end? ... I can understand why this is one of Marty's favorite flicks =)

During the last day of the DTFF, following a screening of the "Team Qatar " documentary, I was asked to participate in a mock-debate with Maysoon Zayid. We each had two local high-schoolers on our team leading the way & Dean Obeidallah served as the moderator. While the debaters on the other squad were certainly formidable opponents, they ultimately proved no match for my team (ain't that right Mr. Hubrack?) =P

On closing night, following an outdoor screening/premiere of "Cairo Time", the boys from DAM came through to rock the mic - representing for Lod & all of Palestine ... Since I recently recorded a track with Suhell about the Gaza massacre, he asked me to join him on stage to kick my verse ... I've had the good fortune of performing with these brothers several times over the past couple of years during their US tours & I can honestly say they get better & better every single time!

I had some final after-party fun with two of the best young Arab directors in the industry, Amin Matalqa (Jordan) & Ali Mostafa (UAE) ... Keep an eye out for their work on a silver screen near you!

One of my personal highlights of the festival was getting to know the beautiful & incredibly talented Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass ... Her role in the the DTFF Grand Prize Winning film "Pomegranates & Myrrh" (written/directed by the lovely Miss Najwa Najjar) was absolutely spellbinding ... She was funny, sharp, smart, strong, & caring - true to the character of most Falasteeni women I know!

Thanks again to all the hard-working folks at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival who made this first event such a success - looking forward to many more insha'Allah!

3iiish Movies!!!

"DUBAI Show @ SHELTER"

2009-11-27T08:09:00.000-08:00

Upon departing from Beirut last month, I made my way to Dubai, the Arabian-Gulf city of life that inspired one of my previous posts.

Thanks to the hard-working folks at The Baraka Group & Showtime Arabia, I was given the opportunity to showcase my latest tracks and poetic musings at a venue called SHELTER in Al-Qouz (a warehouse district). This place is really unique in that it "is a first of its kind community workspace that allows individuals from various creative disciplines to engage in an environment that nurtures entrepreneurial small businesses." Since it isn't a typical club venue that serves alcohol, my beloved niece and nephew were able to invite their high-school friends to watch Khalo Offendum rock the mic in their hometown - without having to lie to their parents about where they were going (ain't that right Tala ;) ... Furthermore, it serves food/coffee from one of the best restaurants in the city, mOre cafe' ... so you know my fat-a** was happy!

The show itself consisted of an opening performance by up and coming Indian comedian Nitin Mirani - whose hilariously relevant jokes and impersonations of the various accents found in this Middle Eastern melting pot were the perfect intro to my 1-hour set ... Given the number of Arab expats and International citizens in attendance, the global perspective I've been pushing with the material on SyrianamericanA was well-received ...

This event was subsequently covered by Dubai One TV and Showtime Arabia's "Show Me More" - all you FB heads can peep the latter interview here:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=331781300200&oid=71465053272

I also premiered my OFFENDUM logo design at this event, a new take on the classic evil-eye that I hold so dear - where two of them meet to form an "OO" that serve as both my initials and an homage to the turn-tables that make what I do possible at each and every show ... This was projected on the wall, flat screen TVs, and printed on some really cool T-Shirts that a few lucky customers got to take home that night ... In the photo below is my good friend Ernst van der Poll, whom you may remember from an earlier post I put up back in April about the local youth diving initiative known as Tawasul ...

In retrospect I realize that these shirts are perhaps not the most flattering for women to wear, so I will make it a point to design a line with a smaller logo print in the middle of the shirt =P

A few nights before I left the Emirates I also had a chance to to do a special 2-hour radio interview on DUBAI EYE - 103.8 (thanks Yara!) ... I gave listeners a taste of what to expect on the solo record, and answered some interesting questions that ranged from:

"When are you gonna do a show in Abu Dhabi?"

to ...

"Why are you doing this, music is 7aram!?"

Just before departing from DXB I stopped by the duty-free music store to browse the latest Middle Eastern music releases and stumbled upon a pleasant surprise ...

Shout-outs to Fred Wreck, Shadia Mansour, Don Legend, Murder Eyez, Rojeh, DAM, and of course the one and only - MC Amiiiiiin (ta7ya il-gumhooriyah ... il-3arabiyah ... il-Masriyah ... 100/100 ;)

3iiish CDs

"YAAA Conference"

2009-11-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

Last month I was given the honor of presenting my music / poetry at the closing ceremony of the Yale Arab Alumni Association Conference on Urban Sustainability (October 2 - 3) at The American University of Beirut. This was a ground-breaking event in that the organizers were able to bring together some of the best & brightest from academic, architectural, entrepreneurial, environmental, & cultural circles to debate the future of the Middle Eastern city in its many forms. Each of the panel discussions were inspiring in their own way, leaving everyone who attended with a renewed sense of appreciation for where they were from, where they lived, &/or where they wanted the Arab world to be ... and what better place to host such a significant conference than the fabulous city of Beirut - where history, modernity, culture, & innovation converge in a uniquely Middle Eastern / Mediterranean way.

I may be bias, but the panel on education was of particular relevance in my opinion, since it directly addressed the future of the Arab city & how to best prepare the MENA youth for the challenges that lie ahead (remember - upwards of %60 of the population in the Arab world is under 30) ... and it featured one of the star panelists of the event - a man who was recently named one of the 500 most influential Muslims on the planet - my brother, Mohamad Abdullatif Chakaki.

My show was at a lovely little restaurant on Rue Makdissi called Walimat Wardeh - an old Lebanese house turned restaurant/pub ... A couple hundred friends/fans packed the smoke-filled, humid space as I did my thing on the mic - covering a range of topics that I felt represented the inter-disciplinary goals of the YAAA Conference.

Lea Hakim, one of the dedicated conference organizers, had this to say about my show:

"It was an honor to have the privilege of your performance in the conference party at Walimat Wardeh. Your performance and the vibe that night were electric!"

Electric ... maybe thats why they call me Ohmz =P

When I was done, I slowly slipped out of the restaurant & walked over to a shawerma spot on Rue Hamra to fill my empty belly ... Pita bread, garlic mayo, pickles, & tender slices of marinated/roasted chicken to be exact ...

Prior to leaving Beirut, I made sure to indulge in one of the most amazing culinary experiences in the city - Mayrig Restuaruant in Jemmayzeh - if you don't know, you better ask somebody ... This Armenian establishment is top-notch, & is just one more reason to love Lebanon & its diverse blend of culture/cuisine. All the dishes are prepared to perfection, & presented in small portions that are shared throughout the table - salads, fattehs, kibbehs, kiftehs, soujouks, & kebabs ... Two of my favorite dishes there are the rice kibbeh (kibbeh prepared with rice instead of bourghul), and the cherry kabob (sweet/savory gooey goodness) ... To top it all off this ice-cream lover got to taste 4 unique twists on the classic desert - marzipan, rose petal, halawah/halvah, & karawyeh (again, if you don't know - you better ask somebody!) ...

3iiish Feast!!!

"The Independent Monitor"

2009-09-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

Recent article about yours sinsyrianly ... thanks Sarah!

3iiish & Read!!!

"Ramadan Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar)"

2009-08-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Ramadan Mubarak - from my President to yours ...

3iiish Fast!!!

"Summer 2009 - Recap"

2009-08-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've had quite a busy summer - so much so that I haven't gotten around to typing up a single blog post in over 2 months ... Friends got married, families reunited, concerts were attended, and heros passed away ... Please accept this modest multi-media recapitulation of some of the more interesting events that took place during my digital absence >>

Michael Jackson (August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009):

The very first concert I ever attended was Michael Jackson on his world-famous BAD tour ... My mom often recalls how I lit up our nose-bleed seats with dance fever - rocking a shiny silver jacket with my little Syrian fro - just trying to shine like Michael ...

The other two memories I have of that night:

1) Charles Mann (Washington Redskins) sitting a few rows behind us with his family!

2) My brother Mo falling asleep during the loudest song of the night ... Dirty Diana!

Michael - may you rest in eternal peace knowing your music lives on forever ...

3iii-hiiish!!!

Rock The Bells @ Merriweather Post Pavilion - July 12, 2009:

For the second year in a row, Mr.Tibbz & I attended the ROCK T HE BELLS concert at the Merriweather Post Pavillion, one of the greatest outdoor venues in the United States - designed by the one & only Frank Gehry ... This was an unforgettable concert featuring some of the greatest hip-hop acts of our time - including Nas, The Roots, Common, Kweli + Hi Tek, Big Boi, M.O.P., & K'Naan ... Unfortunately, Damian Marley (one of my favorite live performers) was a no-show, but all the other acts certainly held it down - especially The Roots ... Besides, I eventually got my "outdoor reggae concert fix" later on in the summer ...

6-Year anniversary at OTJ Architects:

Since graduating from the UVA School of Architecure in '03, I have been working for the same DC-based firm - OTJ Architects ... When I first started 6 years ago, we were comprised of 18 design professionals split into two teams (Commercial / Government) in a small Georgetown townhouse ... Since then, we have grown to over 45 employees in four design studios, won several AIA & IIDA Awards, worked on several major LEED projects in Washington DC, & purchased our own office building Downtown - the only architecture firm in the area to have done so ... Needless to say I am proud of our firm & the work we do ...

Funny thing about our building - it used to be home to the legendary local hotspot "The Zei Club" ... I vaguely remember trying to sneak in there when I was younger & not getting in ...

Northeast Road Trip - NYC / Bronx:

I accompanied my sister & her kids to NYC so that my niece could check out some universities as she is now a senior in high-school ... This is the part where one normally complains about how old they are getting ... Not me - I'm closer in age to my niece than I am to my sister & I take every opportunity I can to remind her of that ... isn't that right Rammoush ;)

During the trip I spent a night at my friends' place in the Bronx & woke up to the sound of a rooster's crow ... in the Bronx ... a rooster ... crowing ... ?

Nationals Game (we beat the Mets!):

Mr.Tibbz scored some tickets to a Nats game from his (motha-f*ckin) job ... My first time at Nationals Stadium - I was very impressed ... Not only could you get a great view from pretty much anywhere, but they serve the one & only Ben's Chilli Dogs there ... if you dont know, you better ask somebody ... and to top it all off, we actually won - the second game in a row!?

Nomadic Wax Photo Shoot:

My buddies over at Nomadic Wax (international fair-trade hip-hop label & production studio) asked me to model some of their new fits for a photo-shoot they were doing in Washington DC ... So me & Waterflow of Wageble (Senegalese Hip-Hop crew) roamed through Adams Morgan & U Street ... Visual aid >>

Photos from this shoot went on to serve as my first appearance in Billboard Magazine (Sep 12 2009) - thanks of course to the good people of Nomadic Wax!

Indian Christian Orthodox Wedding:

If you've never been to one, you don't know what you're missing ... After a 1.5 hour Orthodox Church service on our feet, the newlyweds walked into their wedding reception to the sounds of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize" ... followed by some banging Bhangra beats all night long ...

Congratulations to Genvieve & Reggie!!!

Mixing the SYRIANAMERICANA album:

My first solo album has been in the works for quite some time now (2 years?) - but trust me, all good things come to those who wait ... It is currently being mixed in two places - Montreal's UrbanLab Studio & Southern California's ADVENT MP studio ... with production by SandhILL, Oddisee, CessLess, & yours truly - this record is "what your mama would want" you to listen to ... so stay tuned!

Filmed a New Music Video:

Laith Majali - great friend & amazing street photographer/filmmaker/editor extraordinaire - spent the summer in Los Angeles ... We took some time out of our not-so-busy schedules to film a video for a track called "Destiny" ... Its one of a handful of bi-lingual cuts on the album & deals quite literally with the idea of being torn between the "East & West" ... check out some stills from the video shoot on Laith's blog!!!

Reggae Fest @ The Hollywood Bowl - August 9, 2009:

As I said earlier, I eventually got my "outdoor reggae concert fix" by going to see Toots & the Maytals at the Hollywood Bowl, another one of the greatest outdoor venues in the United States ...

I've lived right next to this venue for years & never went to a show ...

I've suffered through miles of traffic for years because of this venue & never went to a show ...

I've found it nearly impossible to park at some of my friends' places for years because of this venue & never went to a show ...

Now I know exactly why ... It's incredible ... 17,000 people can sit comfortably in the middle of the Hollywood Hills & watch some of the most amazing performers from every musical genre' do their thing ... and you can bring a cooler filled with pretty much anything you want inside ... what better way to watch a concert - let alone the legendary Toots & the Maytals ... and "when the sun sets - the fun starts", as the gentleman sitting next to me so accurately pointed out when we first got there ... big ups to Matt for taking the initiative on this one!

Joshua Tree National Park - August 23, 2009:

The homey Ragtop & I took a little road-trip, per our buddy Fahad's request ... He was visiting from London & said the only thing he absolutely HAD TO DO while in Los Angeles for two weeks was visit Joshua Tree National Park ... So we did ... and what a magnificent place it is ...

For those of you who aren't familiar with this place - or still think I am talking about a U2 record - please educate yourselves ... It is absolutely breathtaking - from the trees it is named after (Yucca brevifolia aka Joshua Tree) to the canyons & sci-fi rock formations of the Hidden Valley ... there is an undeniable energy in that part of the Mojave Desert ... and I am thankful that I was able to experience it ...

3iiish (Joshua) Trees!!!

"The Narcicyst"

2009-06-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

"Some rappers have the gift of heightened intellect and understanding; others enjoy savant-like linguistic skills. Narcy may be blessed with the deadliest combination of the two that hip-hop has ever seen."

- Chris Faraone

My dear friend & partner-in-rhyme The Narcicyst - Iraqi-Canadian MC extraordinaire - just released his self-titled solo debut & is turning many heads ... The Boston Phoenix recently gave it 4/4 stars (He was robbed - it deserved 5!) ... This is hands-down the illest album of the year - and I'm not just saying that because Omar Offendum is the only other MC featured on it ... The beats bang, the lyrics inspire, & the overall mix is unlike any Hip-Hop record I have ever heard ...

For those of you who have yet to purchase your own copy - quit half-steppin & click here >> http://www.iraqisthebomb.com/

3iiish Narce

"What's Happening"

2009-05-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

"We have a real Baqlawa treat for you today - to be culturally specific ..."

- May Alhassen (Doctoral Student @ USC)

No Shirley ... No Roger ... Just a bunch of 3arabs on this "Rerun" of What's Happening ...

Hosted by a Levantine version of Live with Regis & Kelly meets The View - Will Youmens, May Alhassen & co... Featuring yours truly performing my rendition of Nizar Qabbani's Al-Qaseeda Al-Dimashqiya - a track off my solo debut SyrianamericanA ... Followed by a collaborative performance with DC-based punk rock drummer Omar Bagnied ... The Egyptian Travis Barker ... Travis Abu-Bakr if you will ...

3iiish ... Sweets?

"Pacific Plastic-Fantastic"

2009-05-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

"We've changed the composition of ocean water almost a thousand miles from f*cking shore ... Where is it all coming from? ... Everywhere ... The world is plastic ... It's a plastic fantastic world ... Its our society ... Its our way of life"

The VBS.TV crew sets sail on a journey to discover what they initially believed to be a "Garbage Island" in the Pacific Ocean ... The sad reality that it is actually billions of particles of plastic broken down into different shapes & microscopic sizes over the years - completely transforming the chemical make-up of seawater - is what they were ultimately faced with ...

I selected this particular clip because it showcases another brilliantly disheartening way to use the term "plastic-fantastic" - but the other related videos on the page are definitely worth checking out as well ...

3iiish Seas ... Please ...

"The Street Called Straight"

2009-05-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

"Rise and go to The Street Called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight."

:: Layla Lounge :: Washington DC :: April 19, 2009 ::

3iiish Streeeeets

"Tawasul"

2009-04-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

"Tawasul means reach out in Arabic. It aims to engage young people and students in grassroots conservation and restoration ecology."

Find more videos like this on Tawasul

Dubai has been getting a lot of attention recently ... A number of faultfinding articles written by architectural critics have popped up in the wake of it's recent financial decline ... While others have sought to give off the impression that the race is still on for it to be the number one economic & tourist destination in the MENA.

In a previous post I too shared my thoughts on this Emirate, with a specific focus on migrant labor exploitation in lieu of what I described as a "rapid, inorganic, contextless design" - something that many countries in the region have their fair share of.

At the same time I made a conscious effort to distance myself from the typical doomsayers by bringing up the fact that it has a unique ability to draw from cultures all over the world and create spaces where they can engage one another in fresh and exciting ways. One shining example of this is the extraordinary new initiative known as Tawasul - started by some very passionate diving instructors, environmentalists, & even a family member of mine.

As Ernst van der Poll explains in the video I've embedded above, it gives the young people of this ancient port city the opportunity to reengage the underwater world they are surrounded by in a more humble and inspiring way. Since pearl divers were some of the very first people to settle and make a living in Al-Wasl, this project literally brings Dubai back to its roots.

Tawasul‘s mission:

To cultivate environmental awareness and interest within the youth of the U.A.E in preserving the marine environment and its resources.
To deliver environmental education, sustainable lifestyle and responsible consumption workshops mobilising the diving community youth to participate in environmental conservation locally and internationally.
To promote corporate support for local schools thereby strengthening corporate commitment to the conservation of the marine environment.
To foster a collaborative spirit across cultures in raising awareness on the fragile nature of marine life and to set common conservation goals.
To apply techniques that preserve underwater life and cultural heritage.
To support research on environmentally sound approaches to interactions with the marine life on a recreational or commercial level.

3iiish Seas!!!

"Mokugift"

2009-04-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

"We are honored to partner with mokugift as part of the UNEP Billion Tree Campaign. Mokugift is taking creative approaches with its online gifting service and iPhone application to help the Billion Tree Campaign achieve a target of seven billion trees."

- Satinder Bindra, Director, UNEP

moku: district, island, islet, section, forest, grove

Omar Offendum Loves Trees - Plant One Please!

I was recently asked to participate in the Mokugift Artists & Athletes program. This unique initiative allows my friends/fans to join me, Mokugift, & UNEP in the fight againts global warming by planting trees in areas of our planet that need them the most.

Academic research by Dr Bala of Lawrence Livermore National Labratory shows that trees planted in tropical zones are the most beneficial to the fight against global warming. His study covered the effects of carbon dioxide absorption, reflection of solar radiation, and reflection of solar ration from increased cloudiness. He also accounted for the warming effect of heat held by absorbed sunlight. Therefore, Mokugift trees are planted in the following 12 tropical countries: Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burundi, Senegal, Zambia, India, Philippines, and Haiti

Mokugift is proud to partner with two award-winning, tree-planting organizations to plant trees in twelve countries fighting deforestation and poverty: Trees For The Future (TFTF) and Sustainable Harvest International(SHI). TFTF and SHI educate local communities about planting techniques that enrich the land and empower them to overcome poverty. As each participating family proudly graduates from these programs with healthy farming knowledge and enriched lifestyles, they inspire other families to adopt the same techniques.

No one is hired to plant the trees. Farmers apply to be part of the programs. Mokugift partners educate local communities on farming techniques while also providing resources such as seeds, materials for nurseries and irrigation equipment. Local communities and farmers plant the trees because they want to enrich their land and community in a way that they will be proud to pass on to future generations.

Fore more information, visit >>

http://www.mokugift.com/fanmail/omaroffendum

3iiish Trees !

"Don't Hold Your Breath"

2009-03-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

"The main problem, he said, is that Damascus is never in a hurry, while Washington always is..."

A recent article in the BBC was full of classic quotes from different players in the Syrian-US Politcal theater ... Here are a few that I found amusing >>

"The Iranians could take 20 years to weave a carpet ... And the Syrians would say to them: Don't rush, we have plenty of time. But the Americans want to eat their hamburger in three minutes and move on."

An existential problem to say the least . . .

"George Bush's plan failed, Syria won and Syrians now feel that their policies were correct all along..."

What exactly did we win? A medal? A gift-certificate? A new car?

"I think beneath the bravado, Syria is in fact uncomfortable with Iran and that both President al-Assad and his people would prefer to look to the West," (the former US ambassador to Israel) says.

Compass references (East/West) are meaningless ... I mean technically, Iran is "look(ing) to the West" when it allies with Syria ... isn't it?

"Two years ago George Bush decided to ban me from entering America and to freeze my assets in the States. I laughed: I have nothing to lose in America."

I am tempted to say "ignorance is bliss" ... but i'm afraid that would be ... blissful ?

"People in the region understand that the US policy has been very fickle"

If by "fickle" he means - aggressive, one-sided, & misguided - say word.

"Obama's silence on Gaza was noted in the region ..."

Sad but true ... you all know how much I respect The Man ... but this was weak. Especially since his rationale was the whole "one president at a time" thing - while he went out of his way to condemn the attacks in Mumbai just months before ...

But when it comes to real changes no-one in the Middle East is holding their breath.

SyrianamericanA in a pistachio-nutshell my people ...

(Pray for &) 3iiish P E A C E

"Calligraffiti"

2009-03-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

"It is music which feeds my creativity while I am lost in the world of colours in my studio for endless hours each day..."

- Madny Al Bakry

As a kid, I used to love visiting my Omani friend Layth's house ... Much of his family had grown up in East Africa (Tanzania / Kenya / Zanzibar) & this had a very strong influence on their traditions at home. They spoke Swahili, cooked East African food, & adorned the walls with vibrant Afro-Arab paintings by his maternal uncle Madny. The colors used to literally jump off the page & the best word I could use to describe them was "fresh" - both in the literal & hip-hop sense of the word ... He depicted everything from fisherman & sunsets, to spectacular calligraphy the likes of which I had never seen ...

I recently had the pleasure of reuniting with Layth after several years apart & he was quick to inform me that his uncle had put up a website to display his unique work. While it doesn't showcase any of his land/seascape paintings - it does display a number of his calligraphy pieces ... I was pleased to see that he decided to call them "Calligraffiti" as this only reaffirmed their freshness to me ...

So without further ado ladies & gentlemen, I present to you the fantastic work of Mr. Madny Al Bakry >> http://www.madny.net

3iiish (a fresh) Peace!

"T'3iiiiiiiish Sooriya"

2009-02-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that "Omar Offendum's mother" sent him this joke today :

يروى أن صياداً عاد إلى زوجته ‏وهو يحمل سمكة كبيرة ‏طالباً منها أن تقليها في الزيت

‏فاعتذرت له الزوجة لأنها لا تملك زيتاً ‏بسبب ارتفاع سعر الزيت

‏فطلب منها الصياد أن تشويها

‏فاعتذرت له بسبب ارتفاع سعر تعرفة الكهرباء
فطلب منها أن تطبخها على البوتاغاز
‏فاعتذرت له لأن أسطوانات الغازمفقودة في الأسواق
فطلب منها أن تطهوها فوق المدفأة

فاعتذرت لأن المدفأة لا تعمل لأن المازوت شحيح و ثمنه مرتفع
فقال لها تبليها بالصلصة ولنأكلها نيئة

‏‏فلما علم أن سعر كيلو البندورة ‏قد وصل إلى أغلى أسعاره

‏أخذ السمكة وألقاها
غاضباً في البحر مرة أخرى

‏وهنا هتفت السمكة وهي في الماء

‏تعييييييييييييييييش سوريا

(note - this AP photo of a Syrian man gazing at the Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights through what I would like to call an "omnocular" has absolutely nothing to do with the joke ... I just liked it)

"Plastic-Fantastic"

2009-02-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

(Noun/Adjective)

The rapid, inorganic, contextless design of urban space in the 21st century - with complete disregard for the social, political, & environmental impacts of such hyper-growth.

Did u just build that 120-floor underwater skyscraper in 2 months? That's so Plastic-Fantastic!

[Urban Dictionary Entry - Dec. 23, 2008 _ By Omar Offendum]

I love(d) Dubai ... Since members of my immediate family moved there to set up shop in the earlier part of the decade, I was blown away by how different it looked every time I would visit ... I was just beginning to study Architecture at the University of Virginia when the global fascination with this shiny new Emirate started to form ... The PR Campaign was unparalleled, & all the "StArchitects" on planet earth were racing to get on it's royal radar with hopes of cashing in & building out ... It seemed as though anything was possible - 7 star hotels, indoor ski resorts, underwater palaces & air-conditioned beaches ... Not to mention the world's largest anything & tallest everything ... It was starting to become one of the world's most marvelous destinations - and a stroll through any of the countless shopping malls built on it's virgin sand could only serve to bolster this notion, as every single face I passed by seemingly represented a different ethnic background ... it was a fantastic sight to say the least.

Yet since the indigenous locals barely accounted for %15 of the population (& typically kept to themselves), I couldn't help but notice that the overwhelming majority of people who lived within the city were of South Asian descent (upwards of %60) ... Furthermore, most of these people were laborers - opening doors, driving cabs, cooking meals, & above all - constructing buildings ... As a student of built form, I couldn't help but look up - and the higher I looked (my neck started to hurt as the years went by) the more I would see dark faces in yellow construction hats & orange/blue/green jumpsuits ... Eerily similar to those worn by inmates in the United States & GITMO ... Sweating away at all hours of the day & night ... Providing the housing, office buildings, & retail/recreational space necessary to make this real-estate agent's dream a reality ...

At first I tried to justify it, convincing my conscience that their living conditions must be better than they were in their home countries - and that they now had the opportunity to send much needed income back to their impoverished families overseas ... After all, this was the rationale used throughout the Arabian Gulf region (& not just by "Khaleejis" mind you) over the past several decades to explain why it was OK to treat such immigrants as second class citizens - at the workplace on construction sites & factories, in schools as teachers & janitors, at home as live-in maids & cooks ... their fate was generally the same (and I am usually one to stray from making any generalizations) - they had tiny basement bedrooms they often shared with several other individuals, ate measly leftovers of lavish meals they cooked & served, braved the intolerable desert heat at its most extreme hours, & often suffered verbal/physical abuse with nobody to call on for help when it got out of hand ...

Besides, migrant labor was used all over the world (from time immemorial) to bring the dreams of the rich to fruition - Surely this wasn't any different?

This slippery slope seemed more & more ludicrous whenever I would try to vocalize it ... Leading to difficult discussions with many friends & family members whose livelihood depended on the success of the Dubai experiment & the employment of South/Southeast Asian migrant workers ... I was even told to be careful of who/what/how I criticized this particular aspect of society as it could get me into a lot of trouble with certain authoritative figures ...

Yet this wasn't some "jealous Westerner's quest to expose the ills of a successful Eastern city" - a notion I find very insulting on a number of levels ... It had a very personal effect on me, as the son of a Syrian Civil Engineer who made a living off of construction projects throughout the Eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula ... To this day my father's colleagues & employees speak highly of his moral character - and the care with which he dealt with every individual he interacted with on his construction sites ... Many of these individuals knew him longer than I did, & certainly had more professional experience with him - so their opinion of his work ethic & ethical standards is even more valid than mine on this matter.

For proof of this I didn't have to look any further than my own home ... During most of my childhood & teenage years, we too had a live-in housekeeper - a man from the Indian Subcontinent whose life story is nothing short of the American Dream ... He was a small, thin Desi teenager when he first met my father at a construction site in Al-Khobar - confessing to my dad with brutal honesty that he would be much better suited for household chores than heavy lifting ... and thus a couple of months after I was born, he moved in to our home ... He didn't read or write, but he could cook some delicious Indian food & had a wonderful sense of humor ... He helped my father as he tended the garden (& called him Baba), set the table as my mom prepared us dinner (& called her Mama), & listened to some hilarious Indian-Disco music as he did our laundry (& called us Brothers/Sisters) ... It wasn't long before he would move to the United States with our family in 1985, gradually sending thousands of US dollars back home to his parents/siblings overseas & eventually getting his American Citizenship with the rest of us ... He would later marry, father a child of his own, & move out of our house into an apartment with his new family ... When they outgrew the apartment & purchased a house in the upper-middle class suburbs of Northern Virginia, I found myself visiting him for a little taste of "home" - since most of my immediate family had moved back to the Middle East by then ... On one of these occasions I noticed he had rented out a room in his basement to a Kuwaiti college student - and that he somehow didn't even see the irony in this beautiful twist of fate ... He was simply proud of the fact that he was now in a position to provide shelter to an immigrant teenager the way our father had provided for him years ago ...

As I look back on this part of my family history (& I most certainly consider him to be a part of my family), and listen to the tales of Dubai's recent real-estate market collapse, I wonder if people can learn from his/our story. It is often stated that you are what you eat, & that if a chef is upset with you, your stomach will be too - well I would like to think the same applies for architecture. While the economic crisis hinged on many different external factors, one can't ignore the simple fact that if these real-estate developers were not in such a greedy rush to build bigger, better, faster - a process more akin to the temporal & unsustainable qualities of plastic than the everlasting nature of timeless architecture - the bubble would not have been so big & prone to such a disastrous burst.

Please do not misunderstand me - I am not at all happy about this ... Nor do I intend to impart an apocalyptic fate upon this glorious boom-town ... Again, the livelihood of many of my family members & closest friends depends on the success of the Dubai experiment ... I want nothing more than to see a flourishing "City of Life" where Al-Wasl used to humbly stand ... It is after all one of the few places in the region that has welcomed people from all walks of life - for better or worse ... One of the few places where one can enter a museum & see breathtaking works of art from all over the Muslim world, without them being censored based on which sect they belong to or language they speak ... It is Dubai's unique history of economic openness & diversity that made it so - and yet sadly was its achilles heel with respect to this current credit crunch ...

Perhaps this can be seen as an opportunity to bring about change ... not just that US presidential campaign buzzword type of change ... a true, lasting, positive change that can warrant Dubai's being the shining example of what similar cities in the region were/are striving for - not simply attempting to copy & paste ... speaking of copying/pasting - one Emirati writer recently posted this quote on his blog >>

A lot of us Emiratis feel this downturn is exactly what we have needed. The chance to finally slow down and see things as they are without the stink of greed distorting everything. To finally concentrate our efforts where it counts such as improving our schools and colleges, completing the metro, building a stable civil society, and a sustainable economy. (http://secretdubai.blogspot.com/)

The Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him once said: "Innama al-a3maalu bil-niyaat" (roughly translated as "actions are based/judged on intentions") ... After watching the al-Jazeera special I've embedded at the beginning of this post, what can one infer about the intentions of these developers / contractors / agents who exploit(ed) these human beings?

Well, I for one feel that they gave into the Plastic-Fantastic notion of "if you build it, they will ...buy" - but who am I to judge ... I'm just an Architect / Hip-Hop artist from SyrianamericanA ...

This is already the longest blog I have written to date, but honestly doesn't even scratch the surface as far as what would need to be covered were one to provide a wholistic assessment of this dynamic & rapidly-changing part of planet earth ... That said, for those of you waiting for Omar to shut up & Offendum to kick in, this one's for you >>

Plastic-Fantastic

City of Dreams

but everyday in Dubai

aint as pretty as it seems ...

dont believe me?

ask anybody behind the scenes

overworked & underpayed

yet they're keepin it clean ...

Plastic-Fantastic

City of Dreams

but everyday in Dubai

aint as pretty as it seems ...

dont believe me?

just ask anybody behind the scenes

they can tell you exactly what i mean ...

The HIGH-rises

somethin to scrape skies with

jump suit - orange & blue

slave disguises

85 to a nine room house

divided

8 bucks a day justified it

and thus provided

the man power needed to erect

the worlds biggest sand towers

leadin to a (w)reck-ord setting

half-a-million Desis getting

no credit for the day - sweating

it away betting

it'll say 50 on thermometers today

that's over 120 fahrenheit - but hey

ain't no Michael Moore here

they just like more here

bigger-better-faster-strong Kanye malls here

ski slopes in the desert

make you wonder how the hell we ever coped in the desert?

bedo soaked in the pleasure of a hopeless endeavor

to endulge in a measure contest

a mine is bigger than yours - complex

situation that im lovin & im hatin

emotional fluctuation

like real-estate speculation

its a risk taken

but the high is in the stakes

flippin a condo twice

& thats before the ground breaks

oceans cars & cranes the apparent soundscape

reclaimed coasts & man-made islands - drowned fate

that sounds great on satellitle tv

believe me

all that glitters aint gold in the DX(7abi)B ...

Plastic Fantastic

City of Dreams

but everyday in Dubai

aint as pretty as it seems ...

dont believe me?

ask anybody behind the scenes

overworked & underpayed

yet they're keepin it clean ...

Plastic Fantastic

City of Dreams

but everyday in Dubai

aint as pretty as it seems ...

dont believe me?

just ask anybody behind the scenes

they can tell you exactly what i mean ...

(If you turn your head sideways, the verse kinda looks like the Skyline =)

3iiish Peace Dubaby

"Syria ... Virginia?"

2009-02-01T21:24:00.001-08:00

It has recently been brought to my attention that some folks thought I was talking about cities in the United States when I referred to Syria, Damascus, etc ... Honest mistake given that these are in fact not too far from some of the places I grew up ... Here is a short list of these (ironically) American cities that confused some of you >>

Damascus, Virginia

Damascus, Maryland

Syria, Virginia

Lebanon, Virginia

Jerusalem, Virginia

Alleppo, Pennsylvania

Palestine, Texas

Let me set the record straight (like The Street Called ... ) :

I meant SYRIA - the nation/region in Southwest Asia bordering Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, & occupied Palestine ... the capital of which is of course the great city of DAMASCUS, one of the longest continuously-inhabited cities on planet earth ... so nice, they named it once ...

3ish Peace

"Alphabet Soup"

2009-01-30T17:58:00.000-08:00

Since this is my first musical post, I’d like to take it back to the basics …

The ABC’s if you will ...

Produced by CessLess – a talented young beatmaker from Manhattan – and featuring yours truly - Omar Offendum … this track is a little taste of what’s to come in 2009 …

Allif – Baa’ … Alpha – Beta … A – B ... See ya later ...

Alphabetic
Brothers
Can
Disseminate
Energy
Fluidly
Guiding
Hereditary
Imagery
Justice
Kindness
Lovely
Marriages
Never
Of
Perimeters
Questioned
Regularly
Suspected
Terrorismist
Under
Victory's
Watch
Xenophobic
Young
-
Zealots
-
Yeild
Xeroxed
World
Views
Unintelligent
Televangelists
So
Readily
Quoted
People
Often
Needing
Motivation
Lost
Kids
Joke
It
Hurts
Getting
Fingerprinted
Everyday
Discriminated
Called
Barbaric
-
Arab
-
By
Crusaders
Desecrated
Entering
Foreign
Gates
Hesitantly
Immigrated
Journeying
Kaleidoscopic
Languages
Miseducated
Naturalized
Organized
Prophesized
Quadraphonic
Record
Set
Typed
Up
Verse
War
Xylophonic
Yell
Zero
1
2
3
4
5
6
+10
Alphabetic Bars spit
that's it...

(3iiish Peace!)

"Unsettling..."

2009-01-28T11:49:00.000-08:00

"Experience shows that the world belongs to those who are stubborn ... and we are very stubborn ..."

- Mayor of a West Bank Settlement

If you still wonder why a 2-state (3-state?) solution maketh no sense ... peep game:

3iiish Peace - or die tryin ...

"Step 1"

2009-01-22T20:35:00.001-08:00

By the authority vested in him ...

( and in the interest of justice ... )

Ensuring the treaty obligations of the US ...

( including the Geneva Convention ... )

Observing core standards of conduct ...

( not just when it's easy - but when it's hard ... )

The Man issued executive orders to shut down Gitmo today ...

"We intend to win this fight - (but) we are going to win it on our own terms."

Thank You for following through Mr.President.

( Now please remind the Israeli PM about the Geneva Convention next time you see him ... )

3iiish Peace

"P.B.O."

2009-01-21T17:29:00.000-08:00

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."

- President Barack Hussein Obama

Regarding Obamania ... couldn't help but feel taken by the scene in DC yesterday ... After all, it is where I grew up - and where so much good (& bad) happens ... Yesterday was definitely a positive step ... America needed it & the world needed to see & hear it ...

Although, like many Arabs/Muslims, I am concerned about some of the stances he has taken with respect to our foreign policy - particularly his most recent choice to not speak up when over a thousand Palestinian civilians were slaughtered in Gaza on our dime ... He did (finally) address both Muslims in America & the "Muslim World" as a whole ... Offering a hopeful alternative to the rocky relationships that have existed thus far ... Allowing them to see what a peaceful transition of democratic power looks like - something our people rarely get to witness ... Let alone what a basketball-playing, daps-giving, cigarette-smoking, inspiring-speech-delivering, community-organizing, smooth-operating, new American leader with a Swahili/Arabic name looks like!

My immediate fam is in Dubai right now, and the feelings Abu-7meid expressed are undoubtedly what I would be feeling were I with them ...

But alas, I was not ... I was here in Los Angeles with my better-half's family & a few close friends ... A mosaic of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Black, White, Brown, & Beige Americana ... so these words meant that much more to us:

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

Thank You Mr.President ... I sinsyrianly HOPE WE CAN!!!

3iiiiiiiiish

"(Are You Gonna) Miss Bush?"

2009-01-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

"Israel is probably the only place on earth where Bush can still get a standing ovation..."

- Peter Berkowitz (Hoover Institution)

I spent my formative years, 18 - 26, living under President George W. Bush ... His aggressive & unethical foreign policy, neglect of one of our nation's most historic cities, and mastery of public speaking was an endless source of inspiration for a young 3arab-American MC ...

But will I miss him?

No ... ( & feel free to insert your own "Heeeeelllllllll" before that )

Will I still have stuff to rap about when he is gone?

Yes ... ( to quote Jason Solomon - "Same Sh*t - Different Saddam" )

Would I throw my shoes at him if we ever crossed paths?

No ... ( do u have any idea how much Wally's cost now people? )

3ish Peace George ...

Enjoy your last week at the office ...

"Destinations - 2009"

2009-01-12T12:34:00.000-08:00

The NY Times has recently revealed "The 44 Places to Go in 2009"

"From the Aegean Sea to Zambia, this year’s most compelling destinations are awash in sublime landscapes, cutting-edge art, gala music festivals, and stylish new resorts."

Beirut is #1 ... rightfully so, with its picturesque Mediterranean coastline, stunning mountain views, historic architecture, & world-class cuisine ... Beirut is arguably the most colorful & vibrant city of Southwest Asia (and just a short drive away from Damascus) ... I have had the pleasure of staying there many times during my travels back to the motherland ... I have dear family members & very close friends who call it home ... I've tasted some of the most delicious food & seen some of this earth's most beautiful faces in between its bullet-ridden walls ...

I've even written, recorded, & performed some of my favorite tracks in B.C. ... Beirut City ... Mini-Viet ... The Root ... To quote Marshall Mathers:

"Oh Yeah, don't think I won't go there ...
Go to Beirut & do a show there!"

Washington DC is #2 on the list ... again, rightfully so (bias Omz?) ... it is basically a swamp that was paved over to make room for the capital of the United States of America ... Designed with a French sensibility - it is the District of Columbia ... the Diamond District ... the City of Trees ... Chocolate City ... where homeless people can be seen from the steps of the Capitol Building ... where over-qualified cab drivers pick up uneducated ambassadors ... where Duke Ellington & Marvin Gaye composed some of the finest music of their respective generations ... where I learned how to read, write, rhyme, live, & love ... my stomping grounds ... my home-away-from-home thrice removed ... Washington D.C.

From Ethiopians to El Salvadorians, the DC-Metro Area (which includes the suburbs of Maryland / Northern Virginia) is home to some of the largest immigrant communities in the nation. No matter where you're from, I am sure you will find a solid culinary representative in Washington. One unique example is the landmark restaurant known as Ben's Chili Bowl - located at 1213 U Street, right next to the Lincoln Theater, in the Shaw neighborhood of Northwest D.C. (whaddup Bro-Mo!) Founded by Ben & Virginia Ali in 1958, it was frequented by both police & protesters during the 1968 riots. My college friend's father, Kwame Ture (known at the time as Stokley Carmichael), reached out to a fellow Trinidadian when he asked Ben to keep his restaurant open during those tumultuous times - at which point the Alis obtained the necessary permission from city officials to stay open past curfew. The destruction of businesses and subsequent economic decline of the neighborhood from the mid-70s to mid-80s eventually led Ben's Chili Bowl to reduce its staff to one employee. While it has recovered considerably since then, Ben & Virginia's son Kamal recalled that difficult chapter in DC history:

"We stayed and had a following, because the Chili Bowl was like the neighborhood barbershop. People would sit here and chat. There was always a family presence and the locals protected us."

A heartwarming statement, especially as one thinks about how Muslims in America were treated post-9|11. Not surprising though, for to fully appreciate Washington D.C., you have to understand America ... and all these beautiful contradictions it embodies ...

Now I'd comment on #3, but I have yet to visit the Galapagos ... I did watch a fantastic special on the Discovery Channel about them though!

Finally, if you care for the 4th - 44th "Best-according-to-the-NY-Times Destinations to visit in 2009", here's the link again ... Just remember, if these were the Travel Olympics, none of them would get a medal ...

3iiishoo

"Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself..."

2009-01-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

Meen (Who)?

Syrians call me:

3umar Ibn 3abd al-Latif Ibn Muhammad Al-Shaqaqee

Americans call me:

Omar A. Chakaki

My mother calls me:

3ammooora

My father called me:

Abu-Khattab

My family calls me:

3umar Curly

My people call me:

Omz

But you can just call me:

O F F E N D U M

Shoo (What)?

As far as this blog is concerned, O.F.F.E.N.D.U.M. stands for “Omar’s Favorite Foods, Events, News, Destinations, & Underground Music” … A digital space where I – a Syrian-American Muslim MC / Architect / Graphic Designer / Beatmaker / Amateur Photographer / Peace Activist / World Traveler / Food Enthusiast / Friend / Son / Grandson / Brother / Uncle / Cousin / & Cultural Critic – can come to display my latest findings, reflect on previous experiences, or inform you of things to come ...

Wein (Where)?

SyrianamericanA … a nation-state-of-mind.

Where everything is connected & everyone is welcome!

Eimta (When)?

This blog was started on my 27th birthday … A nice age to sit back & reflect on what one has accomplished (or would like to achieve). The frequency of my blog posts will depend on a number of variables – workload, internet access, inspiration, motivation, etc. – but I have never been one to rush things …

Leish (Why)?

I hope to tell a story that connects the diverse people & distant places that have influenced me … that have shaped this mental state I call “home”.

Keef (How)?

These blogs will come in the form of my own personal writings, poems, songs, images, videos, & ramblings – as well as linked articles, songs, videos, & sites I may come across.

While I intend for every post to contain a worthy message, I look forward to looking back on them at a later date and drawing from the collective experience … after all my people – it’s the process not the product … 3iiish Peace!

"Ras Al-Sana"

2009-01-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

! ! ! ? ? ! ! ! H A P P Y N E W Y E A R ! ! ! ? ? ! ! !

Resolutions are 'bad for your health' . . .

"In 2009, instead of making a New Year's resolution, think positively about the year to come and what you can achieve." - Paul Farmer

"Abu-Mohamad"

2008-12-31T11:57:00.000-08:00

December 31, 1941 ...

67 years ago today ...

My father was born on the banks of the Orontes River ...

(Al-Nahr Al-3asee)

In a newly-independent "Syria" ...

From his humble beginnings, he went on to become a successful civil engineer who oversaw construction projects on several continents - supporting countless friends, family members, & complete strangers along the way.

Although we only knew one another for 12 years, his legacy continues to influence & inspire me everyday ... Happy Birthday Abu-Mohamad!

"Biddee 3ish"

2008-12-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

December 18, 1981 ...

27 years ago today ...

on the Eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula ...

Salma (Damascus) & Abdul-Latif (Hama) had their 4th ...

and named him OMAR ...

His first words:

"Biddee 3iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish"