A man went around town in Italy and filled in all the cracks in the walls with clicked-together patches made from legos. Link (via Boing Boing)

Pretty cool video of Homer drawn completely using CSS.

Someone decided that the Jerash Festival, held yearly since 1981 in the Greeko-Roman ruins of Jerash, is no more. Instead, we’re having the “Jordan Festival”, which according to an announcement by the (boooooo) Ministry of Culture “a nationwide concept and a theme-oriented carnival to take place at the Kingdom’s various governates.”

Apparently, the Cabinet wants a festival “which not only includes an array of cultural and folklore activities, but helps promote the Kingdom’s archaeological sites”. A film festival will take place in Amman, while folklore and traditional dance and concerts will take place in Jerash. Poetry reciting events and literature debates will take place in the rose-red city of Petra.

I think this is an absolutely horrendous idea. The Jerash Festival has been a landmark of Jordan for the past half-century, and it is a crime to just kill it off. The Jordan Festival in actuality isn’t such a bad idea on its own, but why did they decide for a replacement rather than a complement?

What do you think, was it a good idea to kill off the Jerash Festival or as bad an idea as I think it is?

For Week One, go here.

Yesterday we got the chance to attend one of dance performances in the Zakharef in Motion event at Al-Hussein Theatre in Ras Al-Ain, namely, the tap dancing show by the New York Dance Ensemble. It was really awesome, in fact, it was one of the best events we’ve been to in a while. The show was interactive, fun to watch, funny, and different.

Moses suposes his toeses are roses
But Moses supposes erroneously
And Moses, he knowses his toeses aren’t roses
As Moses supposes his toeses to be

The best part is, although the NY Dance Ensemble will not perform again, there’s a dazzling array of other shows that you can watch (for free) for the rest of this week.

Today, the 24th of April at 5:00 - The New York Tap Ensemble with a “special performance for children and youth” (not sure what that entails) and a short performance by Ryuji Yamaguchi.

(All show below are at 7:30 PM, at the Al-Hussein Cultural Center, and for free!)

Saturday: ISH from Holland.

Sunday: Mal Pelo from Spain.

Monday: Dansgroep Krisztina Chatel from Holland.

Tuesday: Compagnie Trafic de Style from France

Wednesday: Folkwang Tanzstudio from Germany

Saturday: Compagnie Thor from Belgium.

For more details about each show check out this post on Khobbeizeh.

Truth is, I never really learned to write.

Although I always held words very highly, I was only taught to equip letters to suit my purpose, and that was usually to jot down information or fill out forms. All my other dealings with words was and continues to be through typing- ordained digital light.

When I joined the Syntax team, I was bombarded with type and calligraphy. Literally speaking. I discovered that there are more details, counters, and curves to letters than what meets the eye. I realized that there are a million ways to describe the way a letter looks. I also realized that I didn’t know much about this world. So when a colleague put up the opportunity to take a four week workshop on Arabic calligraphy with Syrian calligrapher Saleh Nasab, I found myself getting really excited.

I know that four sessions with reeds and ink will not even begin to scratch the surface of Arabic calligraphy, but hey, it’s a start. Watch this space for a weekly photographic recap of two hours spent learning to write.

Spotted in London by Spiekermann. Hattip Lina.

Of course, I strongly disagree. At least in our part of the world, we need more redness.

http://cubo.cc/

It’s so freaky it’s mesmerizing.