Back from Itiopia encore

Had a wonderful time. Thanks to everyone!

Hari Kunzru tells it like it is...

I get great pleasure from writing, but not always, or even usually. Writing a novel is largely an exercise in psychological discipline – trying to balance your project on your chin while negotiating a minefield of depression and freak-out. Beginning is daunting; being in the middle makes you feel like Sisyphus; ending sometimes comes with the disappointment that this finite collection of words is all that remains of your infinitely rich idea. Along the way, there are the pitfalls of self-disgust, boredom, disorientation and a lingering sense of inadequacy, occasionally alternating with episodes of hysterical self-congratulation as you fleetingly believe you've nailed that particular sentence and are surely destined to join the ranks of the immortals, only to be confronted the next morning with an appalling farrago of clichés that no sane human could read without vomiting. But when you're in the zone, spinning words like plates, there's a deep sense of satisfaction and, yes, enjoyment…

Never been a fan of Radiohead...

...but I likes this.Thanks to J Kelly Nestruck's blog.

"I was pain in the ass, maybe"

I'm writing about reggae in Ethiopia at the moment. Here are a few choice examples:

I've got sunshine...

...on a cloudy day. Seeing as all I'm doing these days is sitting in front of a computer, I tend to try and find bright spots any way I can!

Down with daggering...

Well, looks like it's not just NeYo that has a prob with "Rampin' Shop". I wonder if the ban on all things daggering related will apply to tunes like 2008 smash "Lollipop"?

p.s. Woulda embedded the vid, but the horrible font titles they've introduced on embedded youtube videos really bother me. I'm not a design expert or anything, but it's really awful--especially on blogs where people have taken the time to make their layouts look good. Boo!

UPDATE: dancehall.mobi just posted the official word from the Jamaica broadcasting commission.

Abby Lakew, awahdishallo!

I've loved these tunes ever since I heard 'em blasting from some bus driver's horrible soundsystem. She's pretty cute too.