I can tell you this podcasting thing isn’t easy. But I managed to put together episode 1 of MixUp Arabia. I got some encouraging comments and email from people who listened to my test episode of May 21. Keep the suggestions and comments coming.
If you like the show (or feel sorry for me 
give me a vote on Podcast Alley.
In this episode I talk about my recent visit to Aqaba, the tourism branding project we did there, Dubai, cut and paste urban development and a great, related article in Bidoun magazine (a great publication focusing on art and culture from the Middle East) by WORK ac, a NY based Lebanese/American architectural team, who, along with other architects ponder Dubai’s urban reality an d future.
There’s also music, again from Yazan Rousan, the Aqaba Folkrore troup and a little clip of from the 1950’s by the late Egyptian composer Mohammad Abdelwahab, one of the icons of Arabic music of the last century. I inserted this clip as a protest against the lack of good experimental Arabic music on the web!
The link below downloads the episode (around 30 min/13 MB) in mp3 format. The best way to get a podcast is through subscribing to its feed through an iPodder application. Download one now and use it to subscribe to the RSS feed of 360east.com (the feed is http://360east.com/wp-rss2.php).
nger/songwiriter.
Email me suggestions, links and files (preferably links) to ahmad.humeid(at)gmail.com
Comments
7 responses to “MixUp Arabia Episode 1 is here”
I really enjoyed the podcast. The opening was great, and the song that followed is very well chosen! As was Abdelwahhab’s closing song. (Maybe next time you play Hanine’s remix). I really like the way you linked your discussion of Aqaba and Dubai, but I think you can benefit alot from a (heated) exchange on these themes: I think the issue of Dubai is very provocative: what does it represent on a socio-cultural level on an Arab scale? on an international scale? etc… The “formula” of Dubai goes beyond the Sheikh Zayed Road… and it would be great if you pursue this further… Dubai’s “success” is in creating an atmosphere (initially via buildings and infrastructure) that made it a commercial hub as well as a place of “freedom”. That’s the key for Aqaba, I reckon. It has to become an escape destination not for weekends but for years, and certainly, more for Jordanians and Arabs than international tourists…
What’s with the [edited] music, hehe
great stuff, you’re the pioneer of new media 
and oh, how about some music from Al risalah. that would be nice
Ammar, it’s funny you mention the music of Al Rislah movie (The Message). It was composed by the very same person who composed the Lawrence of Arabia music, namely Maurice Jarre, who happens to be the father of Jean michel Jarre!
This is great Ahmad, so thanks and I look forward to more. I’m also thinking about doing something similar (My first attempt was here).
But I have one humble suggestion. It might be better to make it shorter. 30 mins is quite a long time for me. So maybe if you could shorten the clip, or split it up into different sections. Or maybe just provide a time schedule showing when a new sections starts, so that one can just skip there if they want, without having to listen to the whole sound file. What do you think?
chanad..
Glad you liked it and it’s very interesting that you too are posting audio on your blog. Your advice for a shorter podcast is something I will seriusly consider, although many podcasts out there are around 40 minutes in length (some are as short as 5 minutes).
My advice to you, however, is to go for the MP3 format for audio, and to make sure your blogging system supports RSS enclosures (the latest version of WordPress does). This way the audio will be subscribable as a ‘podcast’ and playable in iTunes/iPods and any other similar players..
Thanks again..
Yeah, I will definitely use mp3 next time. The reason I didn’t before was because then my blog was hosted at blogspot.com and didn’t have any place to host my mp3 files (and i could host the flash files for free at imageshack). But now that I’ve moved and have lots of FTP space I will definitely use mp3. Thanks, and looking forward to your next podcast!