Nefisa's Archives - APRIL MAY JUNE 2006

APRIL MAY JUNE 2006

[The small update below was the only one on nefisa for the month of June, it was given sometime in mid-to-late June] :

This is nefisa, my website, welcome to it. Above this writing is this months song, welcome to it's sound. This is one link which can be explored. As some people somewhere else in the world often say, "Marhaba"

Today is the longest day of the summer, they call it the summer solstice. It's a warm night across the American east-coast. In a short-time, nefisa (and I) will be relocated back to the UK. Presently, I lie in a hammock overlooking stars with lightning bugs creating sparks in front of a large collection of midnight trees.

Space is everywhere, get inside the cracks and breathe there instead.
peace,
Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi

MAY 31- Two articles, one of great interest to those who want to know a little more about Bolivias new President, who is welcome to come stay in my house anytime, and another very incisive article on the world bank and some of the history of it. I recommend the first one if you don't have much time, it's really worth it. Both of these were both written by a very smart and caring man who I once saw giving a talk in London many years ago, George Monbiot, his website has also been added to my links section - you'll find many interesting pieces there so explore it. On a side-note, if you've ever wondered just what the world bank is then go check Wikipedia, they have a good in depth 'overview', right here... educate yaself .

Related... I saw a documentary by Sean Langan maybe two years ago... in fact, here, I just found the link.. he was basically travelling throughout South America, and in one of the programmes, in Argentina, he saw the implications that a lot of the policies of the World Bank and the IMF were having on the poorest people there. It was this image of these beautiful children running around a garbage site miles long, waiting for the truck to come and dump garbage, waiting for it as if it were an ice-cream van. It really messed me up. When the truck dumped all those bags of waste down into the site, these kids ran to the bags, and ripped them open, and ate the garbage. The rotten left-overs. True it was quite a sensationalist bit of film, but it's ridiculously obvious that these big financial corporations are the systems that have the happiness of the world in their hands (to put it nicely, and poetically). Solutions to all these horrible injustices will come soon, and some already exist, but as far as mainstream society goes, we all have to be better educated on these problems, as intricately as possible, before we start collectively finding solutions. No use looking for people to blame, it's all about knowing the deal. Read that first article on Bolivia's new Presidente up above, it's good.

Peace, Y.

MAY 28- Here's a review I spent the last hour of my life starting and finishing. Check that, and others out in the cakes (reviews) section. It's late and I may be up all night. This is a good review, if you want to see the film just go and rent it or buy it, don't bother reading the review. The film is 'Sayonara'. Peace, Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi

MAY 26- I just saw a headline that read 'Bush & Blair Acknowledge Iraq Setbacks'. But on first glance, I thought it said 'Bush & Blair Acknowledge Iraq Starbucks'. That says a lot doesn't it? I wouldn't have been suprised if that was the actual headline either, that's even sadder. Peace and love, rise up from the dirt- Y.Misdaq.

MAY 24- Muslimyouth.net , who only last week I put on my new links page (in case you couldn't tell, I'm quite proud of my new links page) have just recently featured a review from this very website on their website. They felt that it tied in with a lot of their content so they kindly asked my permission to use it. I said yes, because why wouldn't I? So, there it is, a review for a film that I really liked, In This World. Peace, Y.

MAY 23- Here's an interview with one of the most eloquent musicians alive. I used to see John McLaughlin in various documentaries about Miles Davis and read a lot of things he had said in articles or album liner notes, always getting a good vibe. Each time I saw him speaking I was struck by how gentle he came across, very sensitive and intelligent. It's really very nice that he's still living today, I've always been struck by just how young he looks and seems, and it kind of fits in with my theory that people who are lucky enough to do something they love doing as their job, age very gracefully. This becomes even more true when considering the 'job' of being an artist, being creative, which is something that should, by its nature, keep you young and learning. The interview is from 1999 I think, so it's a little old, but that makes no difference. It's from an amazing music website which I came across a few days ago and have been going through relentlessly ever since, I'm adding it to the links section of this website (Innerviews .com)

Peace, Y.Misdaq

MAY 22- good article, file this one under hip-hop... the author- Hector Gonzalez, is spot on about just about everything, I was also maybe 14 or 15 when Tupac was shot, and hadn't yet appreciated what the guy was all about, but within a year or so I think everyone who came into contact with his music could understand why his death was such a significant one. You can say 'not everyone has charisma' yes, granted, but not everyone has that KIND of charisma, and Tupac had it. I'm in training to finish part of what he started myself, hope every other member of the hip-hop world is too. Hip-hop is a world for young people. Young Soldiers. I remember Tupac would always be talking about soldiers in his songs, when referring to people, kids, anyone. I think that's because he understood that life is tough, and the physical/struggle/war side of things could never be completely ignored. Also, as a side-note and in relation to the article, I think the author's comment on wu-tang clan displays a lack of the depth of understanding on just how much social-action there is in the Wu's lyrics (with the possible exception of method man!)... Peace all, Y.

MAY 20- I got a good spam e-mail today. I get around 200 of those annoying e-mails per day now, which makes sifting through real and fake e-mails quite a task, but I'd like to share this one with you because it was brief, powerful and incredibly funny. All at the same time. It comes from someone with the almost certainly fictitious name Efram Spagna, and here's how it goes:

"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.

If hard work is the greatest thing on earth, Ill try Mars."

peace,
Y.

MAY 17- I wrote a poem a few nights ago. You may see it in the QUILLS (creative writing) section...

Also, one year ago today my second album was released. If you're new to website then check it out.

Peace and love,
Y.

MAY 16- Two articles that a good friend sent me half an hour ago. Peace and peace. Y.

MAY 15- Congratulations to Laini on her new job as librarian of the children's library in Brimfield (which is in Illinois, which is in America) It's a perfect job for that lovely nefi-lady, and as she told me in an e-mail yesterday, they have a guinea pig there. And I love guinea pigs. Congratulations to the guinea pig too.

Peace and life,
Yoshi.

MAY 11- It's May 10th for another hour actually. A new section has been added to this already intricate website. LINKS OF NEFISA is a place where I link you up to a few things you may not have known about before. These are all worthwhile in some way or another. They're websites from my favorites list which need to be spread around, because they do good in this world. If you want to get to the links page in future, just go down to the ARCHIVES at the bottom of this page... Needless to say the links section will expand with time, and if you yourself have any suggestions for websites that you think I'll like then e-mail me. The rain drops in the district of columbia and I say peace for the evening, Y.Misdaq.

MAY 09- Welcome to nefisa. If you don't know quite what's going on here then let me introduce myself, I'm the webmaster, a lot of people call me Yoshi but my real name is Yusuf. I was born and raised in the city of Brighton on the South-Coast of England. I was born into a world of 2 Afghan parents and one Afghan brother. I'm Afghan too. I'm also English, British, and American (all by association). My family live in a country called America, however I spend most of my time working as a musician and writer in Brighton, also travelling when I am fortunate enough. At present I am writing from just outside Washington D.C. which is the capital of that previously mentioned country called America. I created this website for artists who are working and striving, like me, to get their voices heard and make a living from doing what they love. Sometimes this can be a very frustrating experience. I'm not expecting this website to launch anyone's career, but when you are in a situation which is often so difficult, it's nice to know that others are there with you. That's one of the main reasons this website is here, for people like me and the others you'll read about in the profiles section (and some in the 'friends of nefisa' section) to feel at home. Another reason for this website is you, yes you. I want you to have a look around and see all the various things that I've displayed on here, to take in all the different artists, their styles and biases, and to feel the diversity of it all. To like, dislike or even ignore (if you like). "It's a bit unfocused" is what many visitors have told me through the years. Also, a lot of people wonder why I don't have a website just about myself, like just about everyone else does. My responses to them usually go something like this "The world is a bit unfocused sometimes too, it's up to you to take what you want from it. As for me, I'm just one other person in that unfocused world, my stuff is displayed on here too, but it's not the only stuff that's displayed because that's not the truth of how things are." In other words, this website is a world, and I've often called it 'my world', but don't let that limit you- this website is yours.

What? That didn't make much sense? Tough.

Enjoy nefisa.co.uk .smileyface.

As far as updates go, this months front page artwork is by a very gifted artist called Steve Tobin, who sculpts. He is a sculptor. I came across him by accident a few moments ago. That's the funnest way to come across things, by accident. Have a look at his work which is quite amazing, if you want to see different angles of the picture on the front page then just hit the 'shelters' tab on the left hand side of his website.

Also, newcomers should know that I feature an official song by an artist who's already made it to some extent, every month (find it at the top of this page, just below the logo and the date) This is a risky feature for nefisa which may or may not get me sued one of these days, but it's a risk I'll take because sharing positive things is too important, and because whoever sued me couldn't really take much from me in light of the fact that I don't have that much money. Anyway, this months song is by Donovan, a Scottish musician who emerged in the 60's. He's amazing. I have also reviewed the album from which this song comes, and you can read that review in the CAKES (reviews) section... Regulars may have noted that I have not reviewed any music in a long time, I've been listening just as much if not more to all kinds of things, but it's only now that I feel I have the luxury of writing more reviews...so please read and enjoy ;)

Peace all,
Y. Misdaq aka yoshi.

APR 26- Movements footprints and flames. Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I've been very busy doing last minute packing and saying last minute goodbyes to long old friends, a few of whom I may not see again. That's Brighton life. I'm going to travel to America again for a while for both music and family reasonings. This website will probably not be updated until a little after the beginning of May, so please be patient whilst I relocate, once more, temporarily. I am leaving tomorrow morning.

Take care, put your love in the air.
I'll look out for it when I fly in the sky.
Y.

APR 22- Here's my discovery of the night... Pygmy Marmoset Monkeys. The smallest monkey in the world... Read more here. Then look at this , this, this, and finally the nicest of all, this.

On another note, tomorrow nite I am attending the opening night of a gallery featuring the latest work of nefisa member Simeon Aston (check the profiles page to read more about him!) and in this gallery they're going to be showing his latest series of paintings, which is already on this website (because I stay one step ahead of the rest...) Go to the ORBS section if you haven't yet seen it and take in some fresh vistas for your ojos. Ojos means eyes in Spanish for all of you who didn't know. Peace out and speak to you next time muffin-heads. Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi.

APR 21- ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A SPEAKER WHICH KEPT THROWING LOVE OUT OF ITS TWEAKERS AND TWEATERS AND WOOFERS AND HI-FI'S AND WI-FI'S. IT SPAT LOVE OUT IN RADIO WAVES, IN OCEAN WAVES AND MICRO WAVES. IT SPOOKED NORMAL KIDS AND INTRIGUED WEIRD KIDS. JUST LIKE THIS POST. JUST LIKE A GHOST.

Yours sincerely, Bajambo Johnstone III, doctor of philosophy and neuroscience at Honolulu University.

PS- Newcomers to this website, do not be alarmed or offended, just ignore this rubbish and read this.

As for the rest of you, go read a book!

APR 16- DJ Spooky is an artist I'm listening to at present, I've been checking a couple of his albums out, and whilst my mind isn't yet made up about the music, I'm very much interested in the man himself. He recently went to New Orleans to listen to some real stories of local residents and this very revealing programme is a result of that visit. LISTEN. And some photos whilst listening will help you put a face to a couple of the voices, regarde, although I heard this programme whilst walking around and found it perfectly adequate, in fact I regret ever seeing those photos and I only saw them a few moments ago. Enjoy the programme and be interested, peace and love,
Me, the man you know.

APR 14- It's 1:23 am. I just played tennis with a friend from India, it was fun. I'm about to go to sleep but I wanted to link you up to two things. Firstly if you'll go to the QUILLS (creative writing) section, you'll find a depressing new poem I just wrote called 'shooting down'.

Secondly, this article really caught my heart. Read it, it's about camels. I must say, I once rode a camel in Egypt, as a tourist. I was a young child of no more than 15 years, and my buddy Gareth was also there I remember. The guy charged me 1 pound, which was fair enough I thought. I think I caught lice because I was wearing shorts. I'd like to ride a camel as an adult, I'd like to be with a camel for a long time. I know the men who ride and look after their camels treat them very kindly and as equals, camels have a lot of dignity, perhaps on a par with elephants and bison I'd say, they are that noble in my estimation. Anyway, this excellent article confirms a lot of the wonderful things I had read about the relationship between men and their camels from the book 'Road to Mecca' (by Muhammad Asad)

Incidentally, that's one of the finest books I've ever read, read it. I disagreed with one or two opinions the author gave, but it's such an amazing accomplishment that it needs to be read, so much of someones insides brought into writing, it's remarkable. And now, silence.
Y. Misdaq.

APR 12- "Byebye Berlusconi" (with pleasure)

APR 11- This is a song that always had me, and the part I quoted especially really affected me when I first heard it, I guess it was in the late 90's, wow, and when I remember it now, it still affects me. For me, back then, and last night, it represented night-time tears, those hours long after midnight where I'd be writing my deepest stuff, creating the most disturbing and affecting sounds, and after all of that, praying with such emotion. It's a gift really, from a true brother of mine. The full song is featured up above this writing and will be so for the rest of this month. Peace, Y.

"It was love for the thing that made me stay in the house
Spendin' time, writin' rhymes
Trynna find words that describe the vibe
That's inside the space
When you close yo' eyes and screw yo' face
Is this the pain of too much tenderness,
To make me nod my head in reverence?
Should I visit this place and remember it?
To build landmarks here as evidence
Night time, spirit shook my temperment
To write rhymes that portray this sentiment
We live the now for the promise of the infinite
We live the now for the promise of the inifinite
And we believe in the promise (love, love..)"
Mos Def - Love

APR 08- Two updates for you today. One is a repeat though, so perhaps just one update! A member of this website who shall remain anonymous for the time being, and whose name is Nadia, forwarded me this link a week ago. I knew that I wouldn't be able to take 90 minutes out of my super busy schedule just to sit down and watch it though, so I didn't until last night. It requires a certain quiteness, a certain calm, the kind of spare evening where you would feel okay just sitting down and watching something. So whenever that time is for you, please sit down and watch this documentary. I have to say that it's something everyone should see. You'll need a fairly hi-speed connection and then you're good to go. Please watch it, it ties in with this lovely website completely, and more than that, it will just educate and increase you in many ways, so it's worth it. I'd normally blabber on for paragraphs about something this good, but for once I'll just be silent and hope that you watch it sometime. TITLE: "PARADISE FOUND A DOCUMENTARY ON ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE."

And the repeated update? Nothing major, but I am now hosting, in the DRUMS (audio) section, the most recent remix I did for the electronic music label hippocamp. It's a remix of the Beatles song 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' And hearing it just now, with a friend, and for the first time in about 5 months, I have to say that it's the most experimental piece of music that I've put out, and it's a trip in every sense. A positive trip upwards from the earth. So dig it if you haven't heard it! Here's the link to the entire album should you want to download all of it! There's also a new quote in the DRUMS section.

And peace.
Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi.

APR 06- This morning is April 06th- that means my milk downstairs has gone bad, technically, although that won't stop me from taking one last sip if I need to. Before I give you the update for today I want to share something. My friend from Japan had a dream about me, it goes like this:

It's morning in Japan, she is walking towards the bus-stop, and she is brushing her teeth as she walks. I am walking towards the bus-stop from the opposite direction, and I am eating something as I walk. I am also wearing a pink jumper. There is a little Japanese boy who walking in my direction, presumably he's also going to get on the bus. As I catch up with him I look down, still chewing whatever it is I'm eating, and I say "Did you have breakfast today? You must have breakfast, it's important!"

And that's where my involvement in my friends dream ends. For the record, I did just have my breakfast, and I do own a pink jumper.

Here's a radio show segment which is very interesting, about comparative religion I suppose, in a contemporary sense. I listened to it a few nights ago and found it very interesting. listen or download the guest is Karen Armstrong who's one of the most level-headed intellectual writers I've come across, and who's books I'd recommend anyone read.

Peace,
Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi

APR 03- Welcome. What? You have no idea what this website is all about? Click on the nut-shell to satisfy your curiosity.

And welcome to you too, familiarons. I hope you're happy. Before I begin to talk about todays updates, let me say that I just saw a film called 'Broken Flowers' which, like all Jim Jarmusch films, was generally what I'd call 'good', had a fresh soundtrack, and was quite natural. But also, like most of the dudes films, it didn't really grab me. But that's okay, I don't demand to be grabbed or satisfied everytime I see a film.

I have more art for you. It is by nefi#2: Simeon Aston, who was the first person I invited to join this website way back in 2002. He's been working on these canvases for the last few weeks, and I was quite amazed when I saw the final result, because I'd gotten too used to his comic-book drawings which he spends most of his time on. This series, simply called 'Bjork', consists of 3 paintings of some Icelandic singer who Sim, and myself, both like a lot. Go to the ORBS (visual arts) section and ... 'enjoy!'

Regarding the audio clip above, let me tell a story... Many years ago a friend had a film in his video collection which he didn't really like. At the time (it must have been during Winter) I had gotten used to borrowing a film of his a couple of times a week, he had (and still has) a huge collection. The film was 'Breakfast of Champions'. Despite one low point, I quickly declared (to myself, in my mind) that this was one of the best films I had ever seen. But years later, in 2005, I discovered that it was based on a book. And like every time when I have found out a film was based on a book (if it wasn't very obvious already, that is) I said to myself "Yes, that makes perfect sense! Of course it was based on a book!" So I promised myself I would read that book, because I could tell, I just knew from the storyline of that film, that the book must be infinitely more interesting. I forgot about this for a couple of months, then in the house of an old friend in California, I was reminded of the author of that book, Kurt Vonnegut. My friend had 'Cat's Cradle', which along with 'Slaughterhouse Five' is one of Kurt Vonneguts most well known and popular novels. I haven't read those two yet.

Upon my return to Washington, where I was living this past Autumn, I finally bought 'Breakfast of Champions' (at a discount price from the bookshop I was working in at the time). I began reading, and realising that this man, Kurt Vonnegut, was just so good that I couldn't believe it. From the first page it had me. And things got scarier the more I read. Because I realised that I have been in this mans shoes, I've seen the world the same way he sees it in this book. And then it hit me that this story was also quite similar (although probably not to anyone else except me) to my second novel, which is still unpublished. And even stranger that the person who had reminded me to buy this book, my friend from California, first met me when I had begun writing that same 'second novel' back in late July 2004. I kept seeing (or reading) echoes of myself in this soulful work, I was understanding exactly how he must have felt when he wrote this or that passage. Like my second novel, it seems to have been written recklessly, and that's what I loved about it, the reckless spirit that ran through it and the author. So I read another of his books this last week, Timequake. That one was even more 'all over the place' and just as engaging. I feel as if I have found yet another friend and teacher in life, and I'd really like to meet him before he dies. This is a very short excerpt from an Audio-book of Timequake. A funny story which I liked. 'Enjoy!'

Keep checking back as I update this site often and often. Thesedays I am preparing my slightly updated studio for some serious recording coming up. Lots of live stuff. Voices and percussion. Drums and peace.

Peace,
Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi