DarrenConley.com

Well kids, it’s time for another bunch of YouTube links that I seem to regularly visit. I find that more and more I am using YouTube as a kind of mobile iTunes to listen to music when I’m away from my home computer, as well as to check out music that I may consider purchasing in the future.

The links that I’m sharing below represent a healthy smattering of what I’m listening to these days. Why should you care? Because maybe you might like some of this stuff too. And if that’s the case, perhaps you have better taste than you previously gave yourself credit for. Or perhaps I have worse taste than you previously gave ME credit for. Either way, why don’t you give some of these a listen, and see what grabs you?

While some of these links are actual music videos, many are simply still pictures or album covers that are just filling the visual space while the music plays. I chose these selections for the music, not the video, so keep that in mind.

This first one is a song I originally heard while I was on the plane on the way back to Qatar from Canada after Christmas this past year. Imogen Heap sang a song on the Narnia soundtrack that we used in our wedding ceremony, and since then I’ve been checking her out more and more. This song is my favourite track from her latest album:


This next song by The Waiting is 15 years old, but I only got a hold of this album recently. At least two friends of mine (maybe three?) toured with The Waiting doing lighting production back in the day, and even before that connection I was already a fan of their music and especially their lyrical talents. This song was stuck in my head for about 4 days straight after I listened to it recently:


I think I first heard E-Type on the radio in Canada when I was hanging out with a crowd of people from McMaster who were far more into the club and dance scene than I ever was. I’m very picky when it comes to liking Dance music, but if it’s catchy enough I can get into it. This song is not my favourite by E-Type, but right before Larissa and I went to Zambia last summer, this song was stuck in my brain constantly:


Yeah, another dance tune. This song is absolutely juvenile lyrically, and undoubtedly about sex, but man, the beat and especially the melody on the chorus must resonate with some particular chunk of my cerebral tissue, because I can crank this song and listen to it on constant repeat without getting tired of it. I’m guessing that the title “Tony The Beat” is based somehow in Cockney slang, but I’m not sure of the meaning. Can anyone enlighten me?


The first time I heard this next song by Lacuna Coil was when I was playing Rock Band at a buddy’s place here in Qatar. As soon as we were through the first chorus, I said to myself “Self, you need to find this song and listen to it again, because it is pretty much awesome.” I dig grindy guitar, melodic tunes, and female vocalists, and this song has a healthy blend of all three elements. My only complaint about this particular video is that the audio is a bit too quiet:


Back in our late teens, my friend Jed went through a phase when he used to walk around singing this song 24/7 (or at least the chorus). At the time I didn’t really care for it, but this past year I found it on YouTube, and I gotta admit, it’s one of the catchiest glam rock tunes in the history of teased hair and ripped denim:


It’s hard to keep up with the new North American TV shows when you’re in Qatar. However, I noticed on Facebook that a lot of my friends seemed to be getting excited about this Glee show, so I checked it out. This was the top YouTube song from the show, and after I listened to it I could hear why. An awesome rendition of a classic rock tune:


This song is almost 15 years old, and I know that I heard it back in the mid 90s when it first came out, but for some reason it completely disappeared from my head until recently, when I came across it as the background song to a video I was watching about a mall in Dubai. I love the energy in this song. The only thing I don’t like about this particular video is that it ends abruptly, but I haven’t found a comparable high-sound-quality version on YouTube yet:


Enon is a band that I’ve sampled very little of beyond their song Daughter in the House of Fools, which I came across a couple years ago through Relevant Magazine’s website. But one day YouTube suggested that I check out this other song of theirs called “Rubber Car”, probably because I had “Daughter” saved in one of my playlists. As I first listened to Rubber Car, I almost shut it off about 5 times before making it to the end, thinking that it was not for me. But then I found myself listening to it again. And again. And again. By the fifth listen, I liked it. Weird, eh? Guess it’s an acquired taste. Give it a listen or five and see if it happens for you too:

The end of our first year in Qatar is winding down, and it seems that I’m busier than ever (although mostly with my own projects – my employment responsibilities are minimal at this stage of the game). Now that Larissa and I have had many months to give our apartment that “lived-in” feel, I thought it might be appropriate to take some video footage of our place and post it on the internet.

This video got me in trouble the first time I showed it to Larissa, since we didn’t actually tidy up anything before I shot it. But after some enthusiastic begging, she’s allowing me to post it, with the disclaimer that I remind our viewers that our apartment is not normally like this. Sometimes our kitchen is much messier.

Anyway, without further self-incrimination, I give you the apartment tour:

In Greek mythology, there is a character called Cassandra who was able to foresee the future, but was cursed such that nobody she told her prophecies to would believe her.  While I myself do not have the ability to see the future, I often feel like I am cursed with a similar fate.

You see, I have this great drive to show people things that I think are cool or funny or entertaining (I like to call it my "show and tell complex").  I love to be the person who introduces someone else to that new TV show or book or movie that just happens to blow their mind or make them laugh uncontrollably.  Perhaps this is some carry-over from my childhood insecurities – that if someone thinks that what I'm showing them is cool, they will in turn think that I'm cool by association.  But here's where the Cassandra factor kicks in:  I think I may be cursed to have nobody think the things I'm showing them are cool, simply because of my act of showing them.

For instance, for years I tried to encourage a friend of mine to read the Narnia series, because I thought they were great, and I was sure he'd like them too.  After rejecting my encouragement in this endeavor many times, my friend finally did read these books and enjoy them, but only after someone else told him that he should read them.

Similar situations have occurred with many other things that I've been interested in in the past.  The video game Rez, the TV show Babylon 5, the music of Evanescence, etc. etc.  It's extremely frustrating to think that, if people were to come across these things on their own, without my intervention, they would probably like them as much as me.  But because I had to "hype it up" for them or introduce it to them in a different context (that is, a context which includes me), people often shrug their shoulders and say "meh, whatever".  

The latest such incident happened earlier today when I showed a YouTube video to Larissa that I thought was pretty funny.  I didn't find the entire thing absolutely hilarious, but I have to admit that when I watched the part with the dog (see the embedded video below) I laughed out loud, even on second and third viewings.  Check out the video and see what you think:

You know, it occurs to me as I write this that whatever your reaction, it's a win-win situation for me.  If you think that the video is stupid, my point about my show and tell curse is further proven, and if you think it's cool, then we can be better friends through our shared humour connection.

[editor's note: I couldn't decide on the best way to end this post, so you get to choose your own ending!  Please regard only one of the options below as canon, as per your own preference]

A. Unintentional win-win situation!  Hurray!

B. On an unrelated note, bananas sometimes give me heartburn.

C. This same curse often happens with people, which is why I've stopped making introductions.

D. If you're someone who happens to be cursed with this same situation, then please do not tell people to read my blog.  I don't want you making people think that my writing is uncool.

Mobile phones (or "cell phones", as we more often say in North America) are ubiquitous here in Qatar.  Every street has several mobile phone vendors, and every person has at least one (and sometimes more than one) mobile phone on their person at any given time.  Why have more than one?  Some Qataris run several businesses, and have a separate phone for each.  Some people also buy several cheap phones to reserve easy-to-remember phone numbers which they want to hold onto and sell to interested parties for a profit. 

Besides these factors, in a country where people regularly go out into the middle of the desert for recreation, away from any identifiable landmarks or geographical features, it makes sense to have at least one mobile phone (preferably with GPS capability) which can be used to call your friends for help in case you run out of gas, get a flat tire, or find yourself paralyzed by a scorpion sting. 

When Larissa and I first arrived in Qatar, Larissa was given a mobile phone as soon as she set foot on campus.  It was a prepaid service that the college had set up (as it does for all its employees) and she had about $30 or $40 worth of talk-time already deposited in her account.  Since I was not an employee, I was not given a phone, but it was not long until I caved and bought one for myself, despite my not wanting to own one in Canada.  It wasn't so much that I was afraid of getting lost in the desert – I was more afraid of losing Larissa in a mall or grocery store, and having to spend 20 minutes making a systematic search down every aisle before finding her browsing for new handbags or continuing the unending search for "really comfortable shoes".  

Having a phone each has come in very handy, since she can now go to "frozen goods" while I take care of the long decision process that is cereal-buying.  [Aside: They are all out of 750g Frosties at our grocery store right now, and since I refuse to buy boxes that are smaller than that, I have to spend a good deal of time weighing the various factors of taste, price, and nutrition against each other until I can settle on a viable alternative.]  Since there is a decent mobile signal anywhere in Doha (even in my bathroom – it's been verified through use), I can call Larissa after I've grabbed my box of Honey Nut Shredded Wheat and meet her in one of the several junk-food aisles, so I can get permission to buy some white chocolate with coconut (truly the pinnacle of Aryan chocolate evolution).

After becoming employed at the college myself, I also was given a free prepaid mobile phone, making me one of those crazy people who now has two mobiles.  Since the phone which I purchased myself is slightly better than the one the college gave to me (colour vs. monochrome screen, nicer color phone body, more shiny, though otherwise identical), I switched out the SIM cards for each phone, and stuck with the college phone number.  This new number appears in the college computer system under my contact information, so I thought it best to use it.  My old phone, along with the still active service, is being saved for use by anyone who decides to come over and visit us (like my parents this April, for instance). 

Since all of the phones given to college employees are the Nokia 1200, I hear a lot of the "Nokia Tune" ring tone every day.  In fact, I heard this ring tone just minutes ago as I was writing about cereal shopping.  I started doing some thinking about this particular ring tone – thinking along the lines of "Who created that tune?  Why do so many people use it?  How many variations of it are out there?  Is it part of a longer song?" 

For those of you who are now completely lost, let me attempt to draw you into what I'm talking about.  I'm talking about that ring tone that goes "Do-do doo doo, do-do doo doo, do-do doo doo, dooooo", in decending notes.  If you can read music, it looks like this when written on a staff:

You can also see a YouTube video of someone playing it on piano below:

Now that we all know what I'm talking about, allow me to continue.

It turns out that this song is actually a song called Gran Vals, written by Francisco Tárrega in 1902.  Back in the early 1990s, Nokia bought this song, grabbed an excerpt from it, and started throwing it onto all of their phones, so that today it is the most widely recognizable ring tone in the world.  

Isn't it crazy to imagine, over 100 years ago as Frank was sitting down and fiddling around with some new diddies on his guitar, that 13 notes from one of his songs would survive into the new millenium and become one of the most recognized tunes, in every country, on the entire planet?!  Makes you wonder what sorts of things you might be working on today that are going to become part of the worldwide experience of future generations!  [Aside: I have always dreamed of writing a tune that would supplant the Happy Birthday song one day.  This story gives me hope that my dream may one day come true.]

In looking up information about this tune, I came across a few other cool videos that you might want to check out:

There is this really keen sounding Fugue, based on the Nokia ringtone.

Check out how this small orchestra reminds people to shut off their phones at concerts.

Here is the original Gran Vals composition, played by a dude on YouTube.

You may be wondering if I myself use this song as the ringtone on my mobile phone(s).  The answer is no – I use one called Swimming, because it sounds cooler, and because I don't want my ringtone to sound like everyone else's.  Ironically, this is the ring tone that everyone else with this phone decides to change it to.  At least people seem to like my taste in mobile phone music.

Hello all!  Sorry I've been negligent in the posting lately.  Ever since I started actually working for a living, it seems as if my days are filling up faster than they used to. 

So, to tide you over until my next dose of blogging inspiration hits, I present this YouTube video which brought back my childhood like nothing before:

What's really cool about this commercial is that if you go to the comments section on the YouTube page itself, you can see comments made by some of the now-grown-up kids from the commercial.  

So the other night, while Larissa was Skyping it up with her family, I was in the living room minding my own business and watching some TV (I think it was either Knight Rider reruns or Freej) when all of the sudden I hear some beeping coming from the kitchen.  

"Hold on a minute," I think to myself, "Larissa is in the office on the computer, and I'm in the living room watching TV, and there are no other people living in our apartment, and I don't remember anyone coming over to make use of our microwave, so there must be something funky going on here."

I walked into the kitchen to find this terrifying phenomenon staring me in the face:

Obviously a Jinn has decided to inhabit our microwave in order to cause mischief in our normally peaceful home.  If any of you, my humble readers, know of some way to exorcise Jinns from kitchen appliances, I would be extremely grateful.

In the meantime I'm hoping that the Wii remains free of supernatural influence.  I actually use it from time to time.

I had a little trouble in deciding what to name this post.  At first I was going to call it "Ramadan Dinner", but then I thought that I should probably call it by its actual name.  When I asked Larissa what the real name of the meal in question was, she said it was Suhoor.  However, when I verified what Suhoor was using this Wikipedia article, it said that it referred to a morning meal, while the event I'm about to describe to you happened at night. 

The evening meal that happens after sunset during Ramadan is called Iftar, so I asked Larissa if that was the name of the meal which we ate (and which this post is about).  She said no, that Iftar happens earlier in the evening, immediately after sunset, while the meal which we ate (and which I want to tell you about) happened several hours after sunset.  So I suppose what I'm talking about here is a very, very early morning meal (like, before midnight), even though I'm calling this post "Ramadan Dinner" after all.  Maybe I'll add a question mark in brackets.

So, the other night (Friday, to be exact), Larissa and I went to this dinner-type-thingy which is probably called Suhoor.  Here's how this dinner thing works:  During Ramadan, Muslims fast during the daylight hours.  After sundown, they break the fast, typically with some close friends and family.  Then, as the night continues, many of them like to, for lack of a better term, party.  Usually this involves more food, and possibly some shopping or visiting of well-liked acquaintances.

When it comes to the food portion of "party time", there are many businesses in Doha that are more than happy to cater (literally) to the hungry Qatari citizen (or expat, for that matter).  To this end, all of the large hotels in Doha have set up elaborate tents, where they serve extravagant meals for inflated prices.  Since we are here in the midst of this and since we have some extra cash lying around, we thought we'd give one of these tents a try.

We noticed a sign-up list in the lobby of our apartment for an outing to one of these tents that was being arranged by someone in our building.  Since signing a paper was much easier than picking a hotel and trying to find our own transportation, and since we knew some of the others who were going, we signed up.

Transportation was being provided by Johnson and his (4 person) fleet of drivers.  Have I mentioned them on this blog before?  Ah yes – briefly, in this post.  Anyway, our favourite driver from this company, Tiju (sp?) was our chauffeur for the evening.  He knows all the shortcuts and back roads, and even though we were the last car to leave, we were among the first to arrive.  The meal began at around 9:30 or 10:00pm.

The tent was set up along the waterfront of the West Bay area of Doha, and the walkway and trees leading up to it were covered in lights.  This particular tent was being run by the Intercontinental Hotel, and it was pretty freakin' huge.  It was the size of a large convention hall, and the entire apparatus was fully air conditioned.  I would say that it could hold about 500 people.  

We were seated at a long table with the 25 or so other people who came from our building.  The food was set up buffet-style (see the pictures below), while drinks were served by the wait staff.  I should tell you that it cost about $75 per person, and that did not include drinks (i.e. water).  You could also, for a little bit extra, order a Shisha, but we passed on that option.

The buffet consisted of several different sections.  Closest to us was the salad table, which you can see in the picture below (click on the picture to see it larger):

Since I generally find that salad is not difficult to make at home or find at most other restaurants, I usually skip it at a buffet.  Also, I like to save room for MEAT!  Wow, I look like an enthusiastic carnivore when I put that in capitals.

On the other side of the salad spread was the desert table, pictured below:

This is actually only a portion of the desert table (I couldn't get it all in one shot).  The next picture focuses on the stuff that's at the far end of the picture above:

Most of these desserts are fairly typical options that you'd find in dessert or pastry shops in Doha, and unfortunately, most of them look far better than they taste.  However, the chocolate mouse cake was killer!

Between the salad and the dessert sections, there was an area where these two ladies were making crepes, and you could choose several different options of what you wanted inside of them (cheese, yogurt, some other stuff I can't remember, but Larissa said it's thyme).  I didn't get a picture of that part of the buffet, though, because I didn't feel like asking permission to shoot the crepe table.  It felt a little too touristy.

Behind all of the above sections was another smaller tented area where they served most of the hot dishes.  There was a wide selection of meats, mainly consisting of chicken, beef, or lamb.  There were kebabs, BBQ'd items, and stews.  However, the best option for consuming meat was to have it as part of a prepared-while-you-wait stir fry!  Honestly, I couldn't get enough of this stir fry action!  It was like Asia and the Middle East made a deal to deliver the best tasting meat & vegetable combination directly to my mouth for that evening.  Here's a picture of the stir fry making area:

Yeah, I know I sliced off that guy's head.  I was so focused on the food!

Beside the stir fry was an area where they prepared Falafel.  I tried some.  It was okay, but not really my thing.  Behind that area was a place where you could get some stuff that was like a Samosa, but with an Arabic name.  For some reason, I took a picture of Larissa standing near it:

I can't remember if I liked them or not.  I think I didn't care for them much.  I was way too focused on the stir fry.  Man, that stir fry was tasty.

After most of the eating had been done, they began with the live entertainment.  Actually, there was a guy on stage playing traditional Arabic music for the better part of the eating as well, but we kinda tuned him out after a while.  The real entertainment began when the Whirling Dervish came out.  I would explain what this guy is all about, but first, this Wikipedia article explains it much better, and second, some video footage would probably give you a better taste of the experience.

This was only a small portion of his entire dance.  He actually starts out with just one of those round things, and then as he continues, they multiply.  He holds them in different configurations, and spins continuously for about 10 min or more.  

I have a second video of him spinning around with his skirt (?), but I should explain a couple things about it.  First, the reason why it goes in and out of focus is because there are many people standing in the foreground between the dancer and I, and our little digital camera gets confused as to who it should be focusing on.  Second, I have no idea what the significance of the folding is.  Third, yes, that is me sounding dumb toward the end of the video.  I think I forgot that our camera records audio as well.

After the Dervish was finished, we had a band come on stage and play some traditional instrumental music for a little while.  Later, the band was joined by a singer.  I managed to capture a bit of footage of the singer and the band:

By the time she had done a couple songs, we were getting really tired (it was about 11:30, and we're used to going to bed at 10:00 and waking up at 5:30 or 6:00am), so we put in a call to Johnson, and had him send Tiju to come pick us up.  In about 15 min, we got our "I'm here!" call on the mobile, and were escorted home, very tired and very full!

All in all it was an enjoyable experience, although you can find a good meal of comparable quality for much less money within walking distance of our apartment.  It was good to have participated in a piece of the Qatari lifestyle, however, even if we aren't fasting, or rich (yet)!

We just got back from a killer Newfoundland party that was happening in an apartment above us.  There was food, there was drink, there were many people older than us by ten years or more, and there was a lot of group singing.  Yes, you heard me, singing.  Although you wouldn't have actually heard me singing if you were there, since most of the songs were of the "country music" genre, and I don't know many of those by heart. 

The highlight of the party, by far, was watching George play his "ugly stick", which he made himself, and has played onstage with several local bands back in the homeland (i.e. Newfound).  It's basically a stick with a bunch of pop caps attached to it (creating a tambourine-like effect when it is shaken), along with a boot which is nailed to the bottom.  He plays the ugly stick by shaking it, stomping it, and hitting it with another stick.  It sounds a little loopy to describe, but it is a sight to behold.

Luckily, we were able to shoot some video footage of George "workin' the stick".  Take a look at this action:

If you're wondering what song they're singing, it's called Kiss An Angel Good Morning (click for lyrics).  Here's another video of George in action:

At one point, the stick was passed to Larissa, who gave a very respectable performance for someone who has never worked a stick before.  (no, I'm not going to make that joke)

I've become inspired to try to create an ugly stick of my own now.  If any of you happen to come across a suitable stick in the near future, set it aside, and try to drink some pop from bottles too.  Here it only comes in cans.

I'm posting this video to use for a presentation that I'm giving on international pronunciation of English this Tuesday.  If you're not in my class, you don't have to watch this.  Of course, you're more than welcome to check it out anyway.

My presentation will involve analyzing the English pronunciation in this video in order to determine the key features which may contribute to possible misunderstanding.  If you want to play along, you can try to transcribe his speech, then figure out what pronunciation features hindered your understanding of it, and what features had no effect.  If you enjoy this kind of stuff, you may have a possible future in Linguistics.  If not, feel free to read this post about drinking your own pee.

Special thanks to Julie Lewis for showing me this video.  The best commentary on the Britney Spears situation, and a good reminder for all of us.  It's just over 12 minutes long, and well worth your attention.