Arab and Muslim Comics

It is Islamic History Month in Kingston, Ontario in October, for the third year in a row. I thought I would commemorate it by dedicating a show to it. It turns out I had a lot more content than I expected so the show is actually 1.5 hours in length rather than just 1 hour. I should note that I recognize my theme does contribute to the conflation of Arabs and Muslims though my intention is far from it.

Works discussed:

• Palestine by Joe Sacco with Vee Blackbourn, Phd Candidate at Queen’s University, Department of English and Avi, CFRC DJ and comics enthusiast
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi with Dr. Dana Olwan, Queen’s University Department of Women’s Studies
• The 99 created by Teshkeel Comics and Samandal with Yazan Al Saadi (who needs no introduction)

Enjoy:

Alternative Comics

I realize that I promised that you would be hearing Yazan on the show with me, though I failed to test the new mic I purchased for the purpose of recording interviews from home. Turns out the recording was severely distorted to the point of being un-usable.

Luckily, I did end up hosting a live show with Mark Streeter, a fellow Kingston comic nerd (though he seriously outdoes me in comic nerdery). We talked about and around our definition(s) of alternative comics, comics criticism, some works of note and more.

Listen Up:

On Monday October 19th, I will be commemorating Islamic History Month in Kingston by featuring discussions on and with Arab and Muslim comic artists. Works I will be discussing with various commentators include:

• Arab in America by Toufic El Rassi
• Palestine by Joe Sacco
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
• The 99 by Teshkeel Comics

And I hope to have a surprise guest – a young Muslim woman comic artist who draws hers experiences.

To find out more about Islamic History Month events and broadcasts please visit: www.IslamicHistoryMonthKingston.org

shift in gears

You may be wondering why there haven’t been shows posted, and that’s because we haven’t been doing any the past couple of weeks. Audible Insurrections will be shifting time and focus and crew. Audible Insurrections will now air on the 3rd monday of the month at 4pm, starting with September 21st. And it will now be all comics all the time. Well, mostly comics anyway. And while Scott takes a break from radioland to focus on other projects, I’d like to welcome Yazan Al Saadi as a regular co-host and hopefully some other comics nerds for rants and commentary.

September 21st, we will be discussing alternative comics, since our first show focused mostly on superheroes. I hope that we will talk in more detail about specific texts and we will post it in advance so that if you are so keen, you can read it before the show airs.

If you love comics too and have suggestions or if you want to send me hate mail for changing the direction of the program, please email groundswell[at]riseup[dot]net.

Stay tuned…

PS Right now I’m reading My Life in a Jugular Vein (on the right). I picked it up at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore of all places.

eclectica

I was planning to focus the show entirely on Prisoner’s Justice Day, which was August 10, though when I heard John Hughes had passed away my plans changed. And they changed again when I went to Toronto and recorded my walk from Yonge and Dundas to Queen and Spadina. This is probably the most inconsistent show I’ve ever produced – so let me know what you think: groundswell[at]riseup[dot]net.

The show features an interview with and music by an old high school friend, Ryan Masters, who  was and is heavily influenced by John Hughes, as well as an audio clip of Susie Day, (partner of Laura Whitehorn, formerly of the Weathermen) recorded in May 2009 from Montreal, music from Nina Simone, Bessie Smith and Johnny Cash.

Listen with caution:

CFRC produced a four hour special broadcast for Prisoners Justice Day which can be heard from their website at www.cfrc.ca. It was a great mix of content produced by many volunteers. I encourage you to take a listen. If you are interested in getting involved in producing prisoner radio please contact the station staff.

I heart comics

That’s right, I said it – I love comics! So on this show, I (Sayyida) discussed with Yazan Al-Saadi, comics terminology, sub-culture, content and more. Thanks to Kristiana Clemens, Jeff Barbeau and Mark Streeter for their thoughts on the  medium, which are interspersed throughout the program.  And my apologies for the distortion of my voice

Please let me know what you think: groundswell[at]riseup[dot]net

What I’m reading right now: On the top left you see the cover of Paping (pronounced pah-PING) The Teacher’s Edition. John Mejias shares his experiences as an art teacher in the Bronx.

I also meant to play a song by the Sacramentos since they are playing Saturday night in Kingston at the Mansion. Check out their myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/lessacramentos

the music of my youth

Flying solo for the night, I (Sayyida) reflect upon the contradictions between my political values and the music I grew up listening to (and still listen to).

Gender Bending~

Listen to our second episode with Stephanie Jowett where we explore gender bending in music from the 1960s.

Dig it

Stephanie Jowett joined Audible Insurrections for conversation and music from 60s.

Check it out:

Marcel Khalife…

More info coming soon. In the meantime take a listen:

it’s no laughing matter…

AI#5–10/06/09
Breanne, our comrade in comedic arms, joined us in studio to talk satire. What ensued was an hour of Borat, Fox news, Jonathan Swift, ambiguous laughter and a plethora of $3 words. If you’re only here for the music (boo!, by the way), beats tonight: Solo Per Amore by Walter Rizzati opened the show; and we closed with Arawak’s Accadde ad Harlem.

stay cool,
s&S

Hear it: