Jordan Archives - Media Guy Struggles

They Didn’t Make the Cut…

The Media Guy — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 02:42:00 +0000

“He who never made a mistake never made a discovery. ”

I love this quote quite frankly; it says it all. I hope this past weekend, I didn’t make a mistake with my forthcoming book.

In the weeks after two wildly lucky winners in Missouri and Arizona divvied up the $600 million Powerball jackpot, I found myself enviously pondering, as I tore up two my December Starbucks allowance, what I would do if I woke up one day with an extra $300 million in the piggy bank. While I was doing that I received this email:

From: maggie, the book editor assistant [mailto:xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 1:17 PM
To: ‘Michael Lloyd’
Subject: RE: Lloyd Book Changes #41

Michael,
Happy New Year! Just hung up with Amazon and we are awaiting Landscapes to go to press. I know we’ve asked for an interminable amount of changes, but we need to shorten the six weeks we gave you to bring it all to final AND we need the new layout by Jan. 25th. Get back to me when you can and, uhm, no pressure,
Maggie

Well, happy new years to you too, Maggie! When you get an email like that, what’s a Media Guy to do? I mean, I was still planning what to do with my first hundred mil… I’m fairly certain that ]I would not have poured it Lakers season tickets or JCPenney stock — my first order of business might have been finding a Westwood apartment with a few bedrooms, and maybe donating ten million or so to charity. But now I just had to get to work. I sequestered myself away from humanity and whacked my 250-page Landscapes of Life tome down to under a hundred pages. Really taking a book like this from 160 photos down to 90 was akin to choosing which of your children you love the most.

The new book cover designed by Anna Aladadyan.

I guess it could have been worse. Take a look at who didn’t make the cut elsewhere:

Anyway, I bring this up to honor five of my favorite photos that didn’t make the cut for the book. Without further ado…

5. RAZI. When you see images from the Middle East and similar places in Afghanistan and India, women are often depicted as rights deficient thirsty from the parched climate of domineering men whom seek to enslave their every whim: No shoes. Six to 10 children in tow, once always attached to the hip. Each woman with the same “help me” look sewn into her face. Razi, shown here, explores the beauty that multiplies from within. The picture seems to show her emerging from a cocoon ready to embrace the world and have it embrace her back. Her expression emotes innocent confidence and traces of power that we hope will be realized along with her dreams.

4, ABANDONED. Living in the bigger cities typically doesn’t give you the access to large areas that lack the residue of human activity. While traveling in Salalah, such a place exists near what would be the equivalent of prime beach real estate in Malibu. These hand-built row of ancient tract homes still stood tall, yet uninhabited as if they were resistant to the atomic bomb that surely must have detonated here. The area begged for answers. Who lived here? How did they live? What would make an entire town move en force?

3. THE LONG MARCH. On my way to Wadi Rum, the desert run where Lawrence of Arabia led the Arab Revolt, I spotted these two Bedouin trekking forward. I love the way they are walking while a truckload of people move past them; two generations of transportation dueling in opposite directions. The questions loom: How long was their trek? Where were they going? How hot were they in their black abayas on a hot desert afternoon?

2. NORIAS OF HAMA. The water wheels of Syria, aka Norias, have been delivering water to Hama for centuries. They also deliver a soul crushing sound that haunts the ears in a way that no other architecture ever has. Take a listen here.

1. THE MAN OF PALMS. By far my favorite picture that, alas, didn’t make the cut. The Yemani man in his traditional dress sat in this single spot for hours. He was there when I left to visit an abandoned fort. He was there when I came back for lunch. He was there when I ventured out the next morning. Same position. Same happy-go-lucky look on his leather face. He never seemed to move and was more part of the botanical surroundings than the palms he sat among.

With that bittersweet countdown behind me, I now hand of my book to the acclaimed Los Angeles designer An Na who will turn the images and descriptions that did make the cut into a work of art.

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World Travels: Snapshots of Forgotten Places

The Media Guy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:11:00 +0000

The Middle East is marked by incredible diversity and indelible images. One extended visit erases the misconceptions and opens an entire new world filled with laughing people and overwhelming hospitality. Sights, unseen outside of the region, jump with historical significance and endless stories. Here are just a few.

Isfahan, Iran…The cool blue tiles of Isfahan‘s buildings mix with the city’s majestic bridges, beautiful gardens and immense bazaar.

Sinai Desert, Egypt…Since the beginning of time, it seems the Bedouin men of the Sinai were never done drinking tea or coffee. Legend has it that any man who broke a coffee cup would be obliged to buy or make two new ones for the mess. This pact produced jokes at the expense of anyone so unfortunate as to break one. In the process the bonds of friendship were formed.

Essaouira, Morocco…The gateway of Essaouira transports you to a land Essaouira is celebrated for its cabinetmaking and lemonwood carvings. Common to the city is thuja. The arborvitae, or tree of life, is said to inspire artists from around the world.

Cappadocia, Turkey…Nature’s powers are alive in the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. The moonlike landscapes are formed by the continual erosion of the volcanic landscape by the wind and rain. Many say that if you leave Cappadocia without visiting here, your entire journey would be a waste.

Gabes, Tunisia…Accessible only by channeling across by boat, Gabes—a maritime oasis with over 300,000 palm trees—is a mesmerizing dream in the mist of the arid Tunisian countryside.

Petra, Jordan…”No hurry, no worry!” says the Jordanian fruit salesman as he provides refreshment near the famed stone city.

Doha, Qatar…Olivier Rochus of Belgium (in blue) dashes to make a return to Davide Sanguinetti of Italy at the Qatar Mobile Open.

Originally published in ALO magazine (www.alomagazine.com) by The Media Guy (that’s me!, Michael Lloyd).

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MGS Chat: HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan

The Media Guy — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:43:00 +0000

Inside the Palace, an Exclusive Talk with Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan.

Gaining some perspectives on palace life, women’s issues and more is as easy as spending a couple of hours with the princess. That is if you can stop her that long.

MEDIA GUY: Do you wear your crown in public?

PRINCESS SUMAYA: Not often. At the beginning of one trip, I managed to disappoint a little boy because I wasn’t wearing a crown, and I don’t believe he rightly thought I was a princess. He thought I should be like Sleeping Beauty [laughs]. That’s someone I would love to be like because by wearing a crown I don’t get much sleep. I am the mother of four children, a wife and a daughter. My day starts typically at 5 a.m., with managing the household and the usual mayhem when you are getting kids to school. It’s an attempt at a very typical family life.

MG: Is it possible to lead a normal life inside of a royal family?

PS: I think it is as normal as you make it. You can either want to live with frills and hold yourself in an ivory tower or you can be somebody who wants to get on and do it. This is how I am bringing up my children, and at the moment I am trying to find a creation or invention for the 48-hour day. I drop my kids at school and have to watch my daughter sing the national anthem, and then off to work. The children have violin lessons, tae kwon do and the swim team, so they don’t get home until nearly 5:30 p.m. Then the frenzy of homework, bath time and suppertime. My husband [Nasser Judeh, Jordan’s former Minister of Information] is away many evenings, and this is where I catch up on my work. The challenges of being a mother and getting my work done sort themselves out here.

MG: All of your duties: princess, head of the board of trustees at Princess Sumaya University for Technology and now heading the El Hassan Science City—do you do it out of a sense of duty or…?

PS: Everyone in my family has rallied around me on this and supported me, and I owe my sense of duty to my country to my father. We always grew up with the sense of serving our king and our country. It’s a passion for me as a daughter to realize a dream of my father to contribute as much as possible to the national development of Jordan. He spent his lifetime doing that, and I think I can harness his dreams under the one umbrella of El Hassan Science City and recognize it as a tribute to this great man.

MG: What is El Hassan Science City?

PS: El Hassan Science City will create a complete value-chain-based innovation ecosystem to solve high value problems for the Jordanian society while incubating Jordan’s next economy through greater value creation and value capture. This will also give Jordan and our entire region greater technology independence and hopefully bring peace through prosperity to the region. We will be able to harness clean energy from the sun, purify water for drinking and agriculture, and supply the basis for developing a knowledge-based economy.

MG: What about your personal technology. Are gadgets a favorite of yours?

PS: I have to be as modern as possible. We are tripping over Nintendo wires, and we hear “I’ve lost my PSP” and “Where is my iPod?” And then the nagging of “Please can we have a cell phone?” when they were at school. It was kind of sad because I had put my foot down and said the twins were not allowed to have a cell phone until they were 13. They were the only two kids in seventh grade without one, but their classmates arrived to their party with mobile phones for them.

MG: Help us gain some perspective on men and women in the Middle East and how women are treated.

PS: You are talking to a woman president of the leading applied scientific research institution in Jordan, who works there and isn’t just there as an honorary figure. I have a 14-person executive committee of which 5 are women. But we are just a few of the many in Jordan. You have women ambassadors, women senators, women members of parliament. We have equal rights for women in Jordan. The person who really spearheaded this was my grandmother Zein al-Sharaf. She got the first women’s movement started. From there, King Hussein supported women’s rights along with Queen Noor and now Queen Rania.

Of course, all of the women in my family have been tremendously supported by their husbands to work as well. My mother, who is not Jordanian by birth but is now by marriage, is committed to women’s issues and now heads the Young Muslim Women’s Association, which helps children with special needs. She was able to get the first community college especially devoted to women up and running. So with that goes the stereotypical image of suppressed women. I think in Jordan, we set ourselves as being very progressive when it comes to women. For other parts of the Middle East as well, all you have to do is look at some of the leaders and realize there are some very strong-willed women.

MG: As part of the board of trustees of the Jordan Museum, do you have a favorite piece of art?

PS: I can’t specifically say that there is a favorite piece, because probably the best museum in Jordan is Jordan itself. That is because we’ve come to describe Jordan is an open-air museum, and so the perfect piece is various sites around the country. Petra is an obvious choice, but another is Little Petra, which is the most special place for me.

MG: What’s the one thing you would like to do but can’t as a member of royalty?

PS: Go shopping without a little platoon following me and get on airplane and go wherever I want without having it all preplanned. I guess spontaneity is what I miss.

MG: What would the one place be?

PS: I’m not going to tell you because then people would follow me. I’ll send you a postcard when I get there [smiles].

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World Travels: Jordan, an Oasis of Peace and Beauty

The Media Guy — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:31:00 +0000

From the cloak of Wadi Rum serenity to the nutrient-rich mud from the Dead Sea, Jordan delivers to the heart and soul.

Why do we travel? Most of us have everything we need within a few miles of home: a place to sleep, our jobs, luxuries of life and entertainment and more. So what is it? For the majority of pleasure travelers it’s simple: the eternal unveiling of the mysteries of a dissimilar land, the search for the perfect view and clearest waters, and yearning to connect with something new and old.

Jordan’s history and places have been hinted about in popular culture. From Indiana Jones’s wild horseback ride through Petra, to Cleopatra’s thirst for the finest beauty products from the Dead Sea, to Peter O’Toole leading the Arabs through Wadi Rum, we have been teased with the beauty and mystery of a land typically known as a kind neighbor to Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

“Even without the buildings carved into the side of the mountains, the vast rock formations and canyon walls are worthy of “breathtaking” status. Centuries of earthquakes and neglect have left much of Petra’s history covered in sand and silt, which makes the mystery that much more alluring.”

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has no oil and is officially a water poor nation. But it has one incredibly valuable resource in the troubled Middle East—peace. It is not an easy item to export, but people flock there when they need it, making use of a plethora of five-star resorts and hotels until it is safe to go home. Iraqi business people who can no longer function in their own war-torn country are immigrating to Jordan in droves. They have created a massive building boom. Palatial homes and modern apartment blocks are springing up everywhere.

When I traveled there this past spring, I was struck by the misconceptions the West has of the Middle East. Americans, especially, tend to think of it as a menacing place, but nothing is further from the truth, considering that Jordan enjoys a crime rate well below that of Sweden. As soon as I said I was American, I was greeted with big smiles. People were not only friendly, but well-informed about our country and its current events, and they were eager to meet Americans.

For my complete take on Heshimite Kingdom of Jordan and the beauty of it all, here’s the ALO magazine URL: http://tinyurl.com/ykdhjev

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World Travels: Jordan and the Oud

The Media Guy — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:57:00 +0000

The Sound of Music: Keeping the beloved oud alive and well

Behind the counter of his Jordanian shop, its walls lined with musical instruments, Jerar Hallaby plays his favorite oud, calling to would-be customers as they stroll by.

Everyone in Amman loves music, he says, but these days few can afford to buy an instrument. Back when his father opened this shop in the teeming central business district, customers would fill the shop as if it were a fruit market.

“I could not sit here and have a conversation with you, as I am doing now. Believe me, it was packed,” says Hallaby, massaging his chin covered in salt and pepper stubble. His father imported instruments from as far away as Lebanon, Egypt and Germany, and in a workshop in the back, he used to make stringed instruments. It was here that Hallaby found his first love, the pear-shaped lute known throughout the Middle East as the oud.

His mind still in reverie, he picks up an oud and plays an exotic tune in a minor key, a song of hope and resilience. “You play this instrument for yourself, like you are having a conversation,” Hallaby says. “You can tell it things that you cannot tell to others.” He repeats this last phrase to himself, relishing it like a poem.

The love of the oud is centuries old. Pictures of oud-like instruments have been found on stone carvings and wall paintings of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The earliest ouds were thought to be carved from a solid piece of wood that resembled Chinese and Japanese instruments which are descendants of the ancient Persian barbat.

During the Moorish period in Spain, the oud gained its characteristic appearance. The staved wood and vaulted back design was carved from a single piece of flexible wood. This is where the oud gained its name, from the Arabic word meaning wood or flexible stick.

Cradled comfortably in the player’s arms, it is light as a feather and smooth to the touch, generating a gentle tone similar to that of the harpsichord or mandolin. The skillful technique of putting the wood together is what gives the oud its delicate and beautiful tone.

“Jordan has been good to me,” he says, still plucking his prized instrument. To many in the outside world, Jordan is a distant country, a peaceful oasis tucked in between Israel, Syria and Saudi Arabia, where Indiana Jones rode through the stone city of Petra. But a stroll through Hallaby’s shop is a journey through a land of music where the Tablah, also called the darbukkah or dumbak, and the qanun carry the workload of any group rather than a set of drums and an electric guitar.

Kids today let music come to them,” he says. “In my day we brought ourselves to the music. We could play three instruments and speak the same languages. Still, they love music. But they can’t play a note of it, not now.”

The glass cases of Hallaby’s shop look full, with gleaming trumpets, tubas and trombones. In one case full of ouds, there are woodwinds but not an electric instrument to be found. “But instead of playing this,” he says, tapping his oud, “they play that.” He points at a radio.

He shrugs. “It’s a different sound.”

As he plays the oud, using his thumb instead of a pick, deep tones reach out into the room. A young couple peers in through the trumpets and guitars hanging in the front glass window and enters the shop—she in a black head scarf, he in a Western sports coat and slacks—and listen patiently, appreciatively. They are the very picture of the new diversity and prosperity, spreading across the region.

Why isn’t Hallaby’s shop full now, as Jordan is enjoying one of its better tourism years? The answer may be found in the half dozen CD shops in this neighborhood, where every dance hit from Egypt, Lebanon, Western Europe and America can be found. “Playing your iPod takes no effort and requires no lessons,” he explains.

Once again he strikes a chord on his oud, telling it things he cannot tell others.

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