Political Violence

In my usual style on this blog of being pretty random, I'm switching from whimsical thinking about the circus to the much more serious topic of political violence in the Middle East and Africa. Events in this region have been moving so fast it is hard to keep track of which country is successfully or unsuccessfully overthrowing their dictatorial leader today.

On the bright side:
- The former President of Cote d'Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo, has finally been arrested and the newly elected President, Alassane Outarra, is taking steps to try to stabilize the country.
- The President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has promised to resign.
- Hosni Mubarak and his sons have been arrested in Egypt.
On the dark side:
- Protests in Syria over the brutal treatment of teenage anti-government protesters have led to the death of almost 100 people in a protest on Friday and more killings at the funeral of the killed protesters.
- The struggle between rebels with international support and the government and thugs supporting Ghadafi appears to be in a stalemate.
- Italian activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, was captured and killed in Palestine.

Where will the killing end? Where will the protests lead? Do the rebels have the capability and vision to lead these countries to a more peaceful future?

I have been looking over the recently published World Development Report on Conflict, Security, and Development for some context on the situation. The Report does a great job of emphasizing how the current upsurge in political violence is different from previous interstate war related violence and requires different thinking and approaches. The Report is also extremely critical about the ineffectiveness of international aid in preventing violence or addressing the multiple causes of cycles of violence. The Report comes with a interesting database and data visualizer that is fun to play around with if you are a numbers dork like me: http://devdata.worldbank.org/DataVisualizer/

Dreaming about the Big Top

All I remember from the circus when I was little was that riding on an elephant is especially boring and the clowns are sad and scary. Then I read a book about the circus in the US during the Great Depression (“Water for Elephants”) which made me feel really badly for the animals, and the people, but especially the animals. Recently Carlo found a 6 hour PBS documentary on the Big Apple Circus that changed my perspective of the circus, a little. The athleticism and dedication of the performers was truly amazing and the inside glimpse to behind the curtains circus drama was definitely entertaining. There is something romantic about the ‘gypsy’ lifestyle of traveling around all of the time, performing in a big tent, and basking in the oooos, aaaaaaws, and applause of the audience every night rather than sitting in front of a much less exciting computer-screen every day. But then there is the question of what act I would be able to do to perfection twice a day, every day, and not destroy myself. As much as I love the flying trapeze and flying in general, I think I would steal my NY capoeira friends’ idea of playing capoeira with fire-shoes.

Feeding my Soul with a little JAZZ

This weekend I went with my family to an amazing jazz concert of music by Charlie Parker at a theater in Rosslyn connected to Artisphere, one of my new favorite places in Virginia. Unfortunately, no, Charlie Parker was not playing as he died young in 1955. I had known little about him before the concert but now I’m a huge fan. I had no idea about the huge impact he had on opening up the jazz scene, fusing it with other genres of music such as classical and Latin music, and pioneering what later became be-bop. The saxophonist, Vaughn Amborse, and his bass and drum players who played this weekend were amazing.


Now’s the Time
Parker’s Mood
A Night in Tunisia

I’ve been inspired to face my fears regarding music and dive in to trying to learn how to sing, play berimbau, and even guitar. Luckily and unluckily I have a very experienced musician for a boyfriend to help me out but also to point out just how off I get. I have a difficult time staying in the right key and holding a steady rhythm which are major obstacles but I think, like anything else, practice makes almost perfect. Supposedly Charlie Parker would practice 15 hours a day. I’ll be happy both practicing less and not sounding as good. I enjoy listening to music so much that if one day I could make music that other people enjoyed listening to it would be one of my greatest accomplishments ever. I have full respect and envy for all dedicated musicians out there!

Naan Bread Recipe

I got ambitious and decided to try to make Naan bread. I am always afraid of making bread because for some reason my dough never rises. This time it rose thanks to some helpful hints from my mother -- give the yeast time to get frothy and place the dough in a warmed oven to let it rise (warm it then turn it off because you don't want to cook the dough). I had to wake up a little early to make the dough before leaving for work, but its kind of a nice way to get the day started working with your hands to knead the dough.

Makes 6 Naan.
Ingredients:
• 2 cups of All Purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch of baking soda
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1 small yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or powder)
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
Chopped cilantro or parsley

1. Dissolve active dry yeast in lukewarm water and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy.
2. Add sugar, salt and baking soda to the flour and mix well.
3. Add the oil and yogurt mix, this will become crumbly dough.
4. Add the water/yeast mixture and make into soft dough.
5. Knead until the dough is smooth. Cover the dough and keep in a warm place for 3-4 hours. The dough should almost be double in volume.
6. Heat the oven to 500 degrees with pizza pan or large flat pan inside for at least 20 minutes so stone is hot.
7. While the oven is warming up chop the onions and garlic. Sautee’ for about 5-7 minutes with a little oil and the spices (cumin, coriander and garam masala).
8. Next turn the oven to high broil.
9. Knead the dough for about two to three minutes and divide the dough into six equal parts. Take each piece of dough, poke a hole in the middle of the ball and add a spoon of the onion/garlic mixture and some chopped cilantro or parsley, pinch the dough to cover the hole and roll into 8-inch oval shape. Dust lightly with dry flour to help with the rolling and use a rolling pin, or if you don’t have one like me, a wine bottle or other bottle works well.
10. Place the flattened ovals of dough 2 at a time onto your hot baking/pizza pan into the oven.
11. The Naan will take about 2 to 3 minutes to cook, depending upon your oven. After the Naan is baked(Naan should be golden brown color on top).
12. Take naan out of the oven and brush lightly with clear butter or ghee.
13. Serve and enjoy!