Ahla friends,
My feed right now … and probably yours too :)
Okay, I’m officially taking astrology seriously now.
The special edition is here, and it contains so much: so many layers, dreams, intentions, contradictions, and unresolved tensions. It brought up some intense feelings across the board and many many opinions.
And then I look at this, and it just puts the biggest smile on my face.
Let’s get to it my friends
Samar
THE SHORTLIST
The Ones Worth Your Time
POETRY, FUNDRAISER
KAN YAMA KAN w/ R.A. Villanueva, Samee Sulaiman, Armin Antique, Max Ruin
Friday, August 14 | 6:30–8:30 PM
Blinky's Bar, Williamsburg
Kan Yama Kan, "once upon a time" in Arabic, is an evening of featured readings by R.A. Villanueva, Samee Sulaiman, Armin Antique, and Max Ruin, followed by an open mic. Three-minute limit, bring a poem or a story. Ticket proceeds support mutual aid in Sudan.
MUSIC
Maryam Turkey
Friday, August 14 | 7:30 PM
Public Records, Gowanus
This is Maryam Turkey's debut album release show. Hiragt El Rouh drops the same night, an album of Iraqi, Egyptian, and Lebanese folk traditions cracked open and reassembled through an SP-404 sampler, avant-garde jazz musicians, Disco Tehran's Arjun Shah opens.
COMEDY
Mohanad Elshieky: High Risk (Work In Progress)
Saturday, August 15 | 5:00 PM
Union Hall, Park Slope | 21+
Libyan-American comedian Mohanad Elshieky tests new material, calling it a work in progress and refusing to tell you what it's about. Says he'll agree with whatever you think it means. That is either a cop-out or genius, and either way you're going to laugh.
PARTY
Omar ؏
Saturday, August 15 | 6:00 PM
SILO Brooklyn, Williamsburg
Fresh off a 12-city international tour, Omar brings global dance music to SILO Brooklyn, African dance, francophone, Congolese, batida, Afrobeats, amapiano, desi, arabi, Caribbean. Plus unreleased material and originals not played on the tour.
COMEDY
Emil Wakim
Saturday, August 15 | 7:30 PM
The Bell House, Gowanus
Lebanese comedian, ex SNL Emil Wakim at The Bell House. Limited tickets, general admission, standing room. Go before it sells out.
COMMUNITY
Edy's Grocer Anniversary Block Party
Sunday, August 16 | 6:00–8:00 PM
136 Meserole Ave, Williamsburg
Six years. Edy's Grocer has been feeding this neighborhood, stocking shelves with things you can't find anywhere else, and being a quiet pillar of the community since before it was cool to care about any of that.
FOOD
Koshari, Kitchari, Arroz con Gandules: Food of the Masses
Tuesday, August 18 | 6:30–8:30 PM
The World's Borough Bookshop, Queens
Egyptian koshari, Indian kitchari, Puerto Rican arroz con gandules,three dishes from three continents, all built on rice and lentils, all feeding people who didn't have much else. A tasting and teach-in on what food carries when it travels
MUSIC
Faouzia: The Film Noir Tour
Monday, August 17 | Doors 7:00 PM, Show 8:00 PM
Warsaw, Brooklyn
Born in Casablanca, raised in rural Manitoba on Fairuz and Umm Kulthum, building a pop career under her full Arabic name by choice. Her debut album FILM NOIR came out last November on her own label, including "Desert Rose" sung entirely in Arabic. This tour took her to Jazzablanca in Casablanca — her first shows ever in Morocco. Brooklyn is one of the last stops.
THE FREE ONE
Free and Delightful
ART, FUNDRAISER
Beyond the Image: Palestine Benefit Exhibition Opening Reception
Thursday, August 13 | 6:00 PM
All Street Gallery, Lower East Side
An opening reception for a multi-media group exhibition examining how images of the Middle East and its diasporas are made, circulated, and contested. Painting, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, digital art, photography, installation. All proceeds go to The Sameer Project, a Palestinian-led mutual aid initiative supporting displaced families in Gaza. After-party at Beverlys at 8:00 PM.
YOU DECIDE
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