We decided it may be a bit too much for us to plan on our own so we found an organized tour that was offering a two week tour of Mali prior to and after the festival. Turned out it was a great idea.
http://www.sagatours.com/essakane.html
(Sorry if neither of those links work)
We chose a flight that had an 18 hour layover in Casablanca, Morocco so we got the opportunity to explore. The airline (Royal Air Maroc) got us a hotel and shuttled us from and back to the airport.
We got to Bamako to begin our tour which took us from there to Djenne to Songho/Sangha/Sevare (Dogon Country) to Timbuktu, then on to the festival in an oasis area in the Sahara called Essakane, then back to Timbuktu to Mopti to Segou then back to Bamako. It was a total of about 1100 miles of driving on roads (paved and NOT paved), cliff-sides, on car ferries across the Bani and Niger Rivers and lots of sand dunes. We met lots of different people and tribes in these towns and along the way - Bambara, Bobo, Bozo, Dogon, Fulani, Songhay and Taureg.
(There were several hundred of these termite mounds on the road from Bamako to Djenne; this one was about 9 feet tall)
There were about 5000 attendees and roughly 20 music performances during the three days of the Festival au Desert.
You can begin the photo and video tour here…
Another reason for this post is that we HIGHLY recommend you visit Mali. The country is amazing.
I can (and usually will) geek-out about many things and one subject is Mid-Century Modern furniture. (Julie is guilty of this too) I’m not a master but I’m working on it. A few months back I purchased a new Eero Aarnio-style (not an actual Aarnio) Ball Chair with a speaker system. I had trouble getting it into my house and had to take the front door off the hinges to barely squeeze it in.
I’m in the final stages of moving in with Amy around the corner to a new home and after measuring all the doors and doorways it was determined that we WOULD NOT be able to get the chair into the house. Amy measured the front window and found that the chair would fit through it easily. The problem was that our new place is a duplex and we live on the second floor.
I contemplated building scaffolding or hooking up a wench/pulley system but decided instead to just ‘strong-arm’ the thing through the window. I put out the call to friends last Friday to see if anyone could help and got a few volunteers on Sunday. I went to Home Depot to buy rope and one of those big blue tarps with eyelets to run the rope through. The tarp was probably a little too big but it helped cushion the chair a bit more.
I may have been the sweatiest negro in town that day.
We didn’t get photos of the actual hoist cause all hands were busy pulling.
Big thanks to Reggie for being the anchor, Julie, Julie’s brother Glenn, my friend Bart and of course Amy.
I'll likely hire some professionals when it comes time to move it out or actually build a scaffold to make it easier.
One of the organizations/services we fund is Public Radio Exchange (PRX). It is a HUGE database of audio stories and documentaries from stations and producers around the world.
Here’s the explanation from the web site:
'PRX is a web-based marketplace for public radio pieces. Programmers find and air work from other stations, independent producers and international broadcasters. Producers - station-based or independent - license their work directly to stations.'
The site offers FREE membership so you can listen to programs/pieces before they potentially hit the airwaves. You can leave feedback/comments that GM’s and program directors read to help them decide which programs to pick-up for their stations.
I encourage you to sign up and search the site for stories that catch your interest.
As my first post I wanted to share some observations from my first and hopefully last time to appear as a witness before a Grand Jury in Superior Court.
I won't get too invloved with the story but it begins with an 'acquaintance' (person A) STABBING a good friend and former coworker (person B) in the back outside of a bar when they were leaving. They had 'exchanged words' earlier that night inside the bar but had seemingly calmed down prior to preparing to depart. They did not know each other before that evening and I was not present.
In mid-January I threw a party where a large number of folks were in attendance. Possibly one too many. Anyway, persons A and B happened to arrive at the party roughly at the same time on my front stoop. Person A did not immediately recognize B so B explained exactly how they met. Again, words were exchanged but there was no physical altercation. I was not witness to any of this either but B found me and relayed the full story and how this newest encounter violated a 'stay away order'. I asked A to leave and A complied after finding friends to inform them of the reason for leaving.
I thought that was where the story would end for me with regard to this.
After being served with an overkill of subpeonas (2 by mail, 2 faxes at work, 1 in person) I met with the presiding attorney and Metro police officer in charge of the case this morning. I gave them my account of the events the night of the party then I took the stand to tell the story to the 23 folks sitting in a windowless room for who knows how many hours. They took some notes, asked a few questions and inquired as to when I was planning to throw another party since they now know my address. All in all it was not a terrible experience but I'd love to cross that off the list for good.
Here's where the story veers a bit. (or more like where my boredom level reached a peak and I began to take note of items back in the attorney's office)
I don't usually spout off about my social or political views unless involved in a one on one or small group conversation. I'm most definitely liberal leaning but I'm always interested in hearing all opinions or reading more than one news source to cultivate my own views with the most info possible. I grew up in southern Ohio and over the years have worked closely with several folks that do not share my beliefs so I'm fairly comfortable in most any conversation (I spent a summer working with a klansman back in the late 80's). I guess I would be called tolerant.
Back to my point. The attorney's office was WELL stocked with pro-Bush and Republican propaganda as well as numerous photos of great 'grand ole party' presidents. I believe there were two talking W dolls on his shelves. Along with these items he took the opportunity to let his politcal views drop into the conversation on a few occasions. I blew it off cause I wanted to make my appearance as brief as possible but definitely felt as though I could never engage in a meaningful conversation with this guy before he would try to slant it his way.
I tried not to let that bother me too much but then I noticed the most disturbing artifacts in his office behind my head. There were several drawings by a child or children on the wall of hearts, trees, homes, horses and little traced hands. Each drawing had a similar theme in that they ALL had writing on them expressing thankfulness for Mommy, Daddy, President Bush and bears (in that order). All of them!
I know there are numerous liberal-thinking parents out there that try to influence their children from an early age but it never seems to be done with as much hate and absolute disdain for the other side. I'd like to believe that we're not all that different and basically want the same things in life but reality tells a much different story.
I'm hoping that this particular attorney nor any of his offspring never, ever get Supreme Court consideration.
I received $40 for my trouble but I'll likely donate the check to a cause or organization.
Any ideas?
Thanks for reading.
P.S. the cop only snored a couple times during proceedings
