Crash This Train

This song is a prayer to stop the mad ride we are on; 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan.......

An unstoppable force

Ahmed Fadaam, an Iraqi refugee working in Elon, North Carolina had his sculpture vandalized on Saturday Nov. 15th, 2008. Someone came into his studio while he was away and attacked a statue of women he was preparing to cast. It is too ironic that Ahmed was at the Visualizing Human Rights Conference in Chapel Hill when this act occured. Add to this that the statue is in honor of women in Iraq who are loosing their freedom through intimidation and violence. It is also too ironic that Ahmed had his art and University art program destroyed in 2003 during the looting of Baghdad. Most people would throw their hands in the air and give up.

Ahmed has repaired the sculpture, after documenting the violence leveled against it. He writes:

"I have fixed the statue and will cast it soon, nothing can stop an artist from doing his work and tell his message, art survived and will always do because of us, the artists. and a bunch of people like those who burned my school in Baghdad in 2003, or those who have attacked my statue now will not stop you or me. All the best and God bless you."

More on this event with pictures of the damage and repair can be seen at: http://www.elon.edu/pendulum/Story.aspx?id=1332

Iraq, Paper, Scissors

I recently read a quote that said there are only two kinds of people; those who create, and those who destroy. I had been thinking about that statement a lot when I came across this project on my friends' blog Groundswell. These Iraqi veterans are reinventing themselves in a profound way. This is a touching and thought provoking project.

This one is a heart breaker, too.

Iraqi children at play, photo by Hadi Mizban

As I look over the entries in this blog I see some pretty sad pictures, Hadi's included. I guess Michelangelo said it best when criticised about some tough imagery of his in the Sistine Chapel. He said "Make the world appropriate and art will soon follow."

This video is a real whopper too. One judge I use to decide to share something on this blog is whether it breaks my heart or lifts it up. Kris Kristofferson's song "In the News" does both. The images and words are a heart breaker. The song is mostly about the war. But there is something in his voice that lifts my heart. Maybe it is the age in it, maybe it is the restrained power and conviction or the wise lyrics. If God is a man, he sounds like this right now- old as the hills, and tired, so tired at our deadly games.

I write this just after having walked outside on a beautiful fall afternoon. God is out there too, smiling in the sunlight, giving us all a second chance. Watch the video, then take a walk outdoors- I hope that helps strike a balance.

"Chat the Planet" Much More Than Chatter

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Chat the Planet is a web based project that uses video and the internet to connect people young and old from all around the world. I just finished watching two episodes of "Hometown Baghdad" and my mind is blown by what they are doing; showing us the lives of 3 young Iraqis struggling to live in a war zone. This is hard stuff, be prepared when watching the next to the last episode, but important. I am reminded of a Spanish saying "Eyes that cannot see, heart that cannot feel." See this site-now.