the hotel where i happen to be staying in london is also the hotel where a lot of african and middle-eastern heads of state happen to be staying. i’m aware of this because of:
a-the armed guards sitting on folding chairs at the entrances to some of the hallways.
b-the women wearing burka’s in the tea-room.
and
c-the fact that 50% of the channels on the television are arabic or african (with a few japanese, korean, and chinese channels thrown in for good measure).
albania definitely has the best tv. do you get albanian tv where you are? it’s got a little eagle in the corner, that’s how i know it’s albanian.
well, i think it’s albanian.
albanian soap operas are great. and today i saw an arabic variety show that had a 4 year old boy doing choreographed disco dancing with an array of people in sparkley clothes.
that was pretty great.
there are certain cultural traditions that might make sense if you’ve grown up with them, but are pretty baffling if you have no shared frame of reference. like, for instance, the indian movie that i saw (and loved) that had a scene wherein the weak-willed antagonist was covered in paint by an entire village who were doing a choreographed song and dance number. and then everybody died, the antagonist, the protagonist, and all of their extended families.
i also really like music videos from around the world. the best music videos are definitely being made in pakistan with a camcorder and a person dancing in a field.
i mean, what more do you need than a camcorder and a person dancing in a field to make a music video?
i’d be curious to know just how much money has been spent on the making of music videos since the dawn of music video making.
probably well over a billion dollars.
that’s a lot. for little song-advertisements. maybe the record companies and mtv and etc should agree that no music video should ever be made for a cost of more than $1,000, and all of the extra money that would’ve been spent on music videos could be given to a good charitable cause.
i know, now i’m talking nonsense.
like bumble-bee man on channel ocho.
i wish that he were real.
-moby