Dusty Wyndow Blog

Who would've thought that one day my blog, the Dusty Wyndow blog, would wear the cape of one of the world's top silent performers (yet not as famous as Charlie Chaplin)? Here's how, and why, it all happened. It had come to a point a while ago where I grew really tired of playing youtube and soundcloud music, track after track, to keep myself and my tiny desert house entertained. Music just wasn't doing the job anymore. It was all until one day I found myself playing movies as early as the 1920s, surprised by the fact that we actually had movies back then. I had always made fun of the way our grandparents would be taken so damn serious by what's displayed on that big luminous screen: Actor falls down? they gasp and their faces turn white. Train wagon coming their way? Some would probably jump off their seats, wholeheartedly believing it is actually happening! Never had the slightest clue this phenomenon would reach my chores as well. It was when I decided...

I loved the area span of the event's location: A long street (Kataeb street as locals call it) filled with merchandise stands on the sides, two platforms, one at the end (for sporting activities) and one at the middle where bands were playing and various activities were held throughout the day. Gymnasts performing in the center of the crowd I first headed to the "Jesuites Park", first thing that catches your eye once you step foot in Rmeil, where I was supposed to meet with the rest of the free huggers to start our last flashmob for this year. Good thing we chose the car free day for our flashmob, the whole ambiance of joy and calamity, the positive vibes in the air and the whole serenity of the place gave us that push we needed to withstand the whole 6 hours with a smile on our face the whole time. "Le Jardin des Jesuites" has turned into the children's playground Clowns, Clowns Everywhere Children and toddlers were filling the park, while two you...

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist. (Read more about the  30-Day Challenge ) COLDPLAY There is no room for doubt when trying to answer which is my favorite band of all time. Setting aside all the commercial aspect their fame gave them, or the fact that their music imposed their presence in the field of alternative style, I proudly am an old admirer, ever since their first single where actually very few knew of a band called " Coldplay ". Back in those day there were still traces of Metallica and Nirvana fans, also mostly Pink Floyd people and surely the on-going wave of new pop singles. But I chose otherwise, in fact their music chose me. Having spoke of it, how do you choose your favorite band? What are the criterion? Well personally, there is no other band, no other style that I can repeatedly and constantly listen to without ever getting bored nor feeling the itch to switch to the next track. Coldplay have been playing and composing now for more t...

Rushing from the Poetry night in one of Mina's old alleys to the Safadi Cultural Center in downtown, we thought we'd missed on the most extraordinary part of the Soufi Dance Concert ever since we were 40 minutes late. The auditorium was amazingly FULL, all booked. Some VIP personnel were filling the first two rows and photographers (both photo and video) were filling the stair steps, one of them was a friend I recognized instantly. I was kind of stuck in a corner due to the amount angles being covered by all the video cameras recording the concert, but a damn excellent corner it was! I'll leave you with the photos.

Now for the real thrill, the Music Festival, held in the capital on more than 6 stages spread around its streets. The city was shining from afar, many performers took the stages and brightened the night with their chilling music, soft tunes, raging voices and unbelievable ambiance. More than 50 photographs of the event are displayed in the Facebook Album  . All respect goes to the organizers, who succeeded in bringing unsurpassed life to the city like never before. Nejmeh Roundabout was filled all again with the love it used to have. Martyr's Square center had surprisingly more than 400 pair of feet gathered there for a non-political reason. Young and old were enjoying amazing foreign bands taking over Beirut roads filling up the air with extraordinary musical perfume. All was great, even police members were among the crowd every once in a while. In the end I have to admit: Lebanese people? Sometimes you make me proud. ...

Seems like this is one of the few events/occasions that slipped my mind - feels a bit shameful to have left that out. The following is my own footage of the German Music Concert held at the Safadi Cultural Center in my old town Tripoli, still having the strongest hangover since the latest rumble in town calmed down. Music was so enchanting that I was tempted at SO many times to hold my camera by the hand and just listen, but the sight was obviously too good to miss. I'll leave you to the photos.

Wednesday May 9th was expected long ago. Ever since my financial status went drowning this month, I started eventually considering to skip that concert at the Sunflower Theater for the sake of saving the money (yes, an engineer can be broke every once in a while). Although I had already made my mind, and thus made other plans (that didn't need money of course), a new/old friend actually volunteered to lend me the amount for the sake of going there and enjoying the show. Having sat down to talk made it really awkward for the first few moments, but then the tongues just rolled (at least for me) and we spoke the whole waiting time, well actually half of the time we were speaking about Ray, and she might have convinced me on one or two thoughts to seriously consider about my issues. Alas, the bell rang and it was time to meet the almighty (supposedly) Tamer Abou Ghazala, frequently figured as the artistic nutcase performing on stage. Performing Nutcase - Very High ISO The stage...