STORIES, STORIES

On Podcasts by Khayra Bundakji I ’ m not sure why or how it happened, but music never was a part of my life like it was for my peers. Whenever anyone would offer to the conversation how moved a song made them, it just wouldn ’ t register. Much like boys, much like makeup, much like fashion, it was yet another socially ostracising quirk of mine to not connect with or remember lyrics of music. Then one day, on my daily 45-minute commute to university, I discovered NPR. Terry Gross from Fresh Air , Ira Flato from Science Friday , and the gang from GeekSpeak added a dimension to my grayscale Saudi life I didn ’ t realise I lacked. This was before I had friends to discuss science or pop culture. Finding radio shows that felt I was amongst friends reunited me with a piece of my heart I didn ’ t know existed.     Once I gluttonously got through international podcasts, I desperately searched for something that would speak to me. Something, say, in Jeddah. Leading me ...

Making (Radio?) Waves by Nessreen It’s Sunday, the sun is shining painfully bright through my window and falls right on my bed, where I have thrown my laundry. I’m sorting through my clothes thousands of miles away from Jeddah, here in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, and I’m laughing into a freshly laundered shirt.  Listening to The Low Priority Que (The LPQ).  “And where the hell was Ghost this whole time?” Hakeem says, outraged, in the middle of a discussion about -SPOILER- Jon Snow’s demise on Game of Thrones. “Sam gets in a minor scuffle and mashallah Ghost is there to save him, but while his master was getting shanked by his own people, where was this Ghost direwolf?”  “He was probably up there on the wall, heard Jon Snow was in trouble, looked around and thought, Uff meshwar ,” says Tamim .  Well, never mind that I bungled the transcription of that sound clip (you can listen to it yourself and point out where I made mistakes right here ), and never min...

In November 2009, I was out with a bunch of friends, one of them Camilo Moreno of the long, curly, brown hair and Spanish drawl, and we got to talking about sound engineering. Camilo worked in film, and he knew a lot about microphones and recording sound. At the time, I had been nursing this "brilliant" idea of recording short, fake interviews with random friends in Jeddah and then posting them online, because who wouldn't want to listen? Right? Who wouldn't want to listen to me ramble on and on? So I asked Camilo to help me with the sound. A few weeks later, at Helmy's studio, they both designed a make-shift microphone stand with tape and a camera tripod, and we recorded our first fake interview , amidst a lot of nervous giggling and awkwardness, mostly from me as I was unsure of what I was doing. By then, it already started feeling like something I would be spending a lot of time and money on, and I wasn't so sure I wouldn't be wasting my time. ...

I did an impromptu piece a while back for a live audience about things that I don't understand. This has always been one of my insecurities - how I'm so often way too dumb to understand a lot of things that are SO SIMPLE. I constantly overcompensate; I'm always careful not to "sound stupid", always Google things. I might have enumerated all the things I don't understand in jest, but it was really tough for me to actually admit to this. To a large group of people. Most of whom I was trying to impress. To announce that I am, in fact, a huge dumbass. But you know that awesome and rare moment when you're among a bunch of people and you get that feeling that "hey, these are MY PEOPLE"? That. Here's the audio to that (I'm also sharing it on the podcast ), recorded by Squeek . I love how the audience talked to me. It reminded me of all the things I loved about studying Theatre in uni. I might have been lucky (or cheating) because I had so...

Remember how I promised to get back on the podcast and deliver ?  Well, I did. Here's our first episode for 2012 . The podcast is one of the more difficult projects I've worked on. I've had to wrestle with a lot of demons, both imagined and real, to keep it going. I question its existence most of the time, even though I enjoy it and the whole process - from the guest-hunting, the scheduling, the content-producing, the sound editing, the recording itself, the constant explaining I have to do, down to the publishing of it.  Under normal circumstances, I shouldn't even have to think about these things. Having a podcast is probably the lowest-maintenance side-project anyone can have. IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.  Here in Jeddah, I walk on eggshells. There are any number of knives and all kinds of sharp objects hanging right above my head; I want to reach a lot of people, but I don't want to be popular. I want to talk about REAL things, but I don't...

I've been a lazy ass about the podcast lately, having all kinds of valid excuses for not devoting any time to the Production, Recording, and general Doing of it. Last week, I said to myself, I says: "If I get a sign from the universe, then I will get off my butt and record an episode WITH SO MUCH HASTE that the world's ears would ring." And then this happened. YOU GUYS!! He @nessreen -ed me!! CHRIS HARDWICK!!1! Here's why this was a sign.  1 - The Nerdist podcast is one of my favoritest bestest lovest podcasts in the world. I love comedy, and I love podcasts, and I love funny people, but most of all, I love this show. Their episodes are hilarious, fun, and introspective, and every single time I listen to their episodes, I am reminded of why I started the podcast, and how much fun we have when we record episodes.  2 - It's a reminder of how the internet has made it so much easier for me to do the things I like to do (like dir...

Y'all know how I can be a little cuckoo, as do my friends, but it's awesome that they still support me. Here's a photo of the other night's podcast session with the awesome Diya at Libra Productions . It was taken by my brother Ayman, because I was too busy not taking pictures. (I'll still count it as part of my 365 Photo Challenge. Like a bawss.) Check out the new episode on the podcast by clicking HERE NAO .

Our first stand-up comic on That Jeddah Podcast , Rami, is also secretly Adam Levine (of Maroon 5, don't act like you don't know). -- And this is Diya, who saves me hours of editing. -- And this is Dee; she doesn't need introductions for she is no stranger in this blog. This day felt exactly like it looks here. 

Thanks to my environmentally-friendly friends who joined me for an episode over at That Jeddah Podcast , I had a craving for some nice, yummy pizza that is not Pizza Hut.  Pizza Fusion it is. Good Shit I Ate. Also, don't forget to listen to the podcast, subscribe, and tell your friends! 

This birthday-filled weekend. Was nuts. We had Sally's birthday lunch over at Chez Siran  where food was yummeh. I took my 50mm out to play after I found it hidden in the deep, dark recesses of my bookshelves (haha I thought I had lost them), and it was a nice change of lens. So, here. I start with a Shit We Ate  photo. Or more appropriately, Shit I Was About To Eat. (And Then Ate.) And a happy birthday to Sally ! I thought it was just me and my stupid girly hormones, but it turned out we were ALL feeling a bit nail-polishy that day. I have more pictures of this day, but I interrupt this regular program to plug the new episode of THAT JEDDAH PODCAST . Also, here's the fan page for your Liking needs. Like us, please. *whimper*

Ultimately, this blog is for shameless plugs of the things I do. Therefore, here's the new episode of That Jeddah Podcast. Click HERE to go to the podcast blog site.

Twitter has made us indecisive over-sharers. By us, I mean myself. I occasionally refer to myself in the first person plural. By occasionally, I mean a lot of the times. We tell people things we don't need to share, we ask people to help us make decisions that we can make on our own, and we flood timelines and feeds with sad faces to denote our unhappiness and desire to be given attention. Just saying. Today, I shall give Twitter a rest. I ask you, Internets, to help me make a decision. I have acquired two games today: Red Dead Redemption and Heavy Rain. What to play? Also, happy "technical" anniversary to That Jeddah Podcast ! Congratulations are in order, not only for surviving a whole year with a lazy producer, but also for getting offers for sponsorship, which was the main purpose of all of this to begin with. Muwahaha!! XD Also also, follow me on Twitter here . To help me make more decisions.

Here is the visual representation of my relationship with my older sister J, me being the one on the right, and her on the left. (Yes, I am considerably taller than her.) Here are this week's recommendations: * Law Abiding Citizen . That 2009 movie starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say that even though I give it a 7 out of 10, I liked that my sister and I got to re-discuss some of our favorite moral-dilemma topics such as capital punishment. Other topics we debated (yes, while the film was playing in the background): Gerard Butler's hotness (or notness!), the importance of psy-wars, and how filling and much healthier watermelon is compared to siopao (a Chinese/Filipino delicacy). Don't ask. * Dancing to " My Sharona " and then totally air-guitaring at the part where they go "my-yai-yai-yai-yaii-yeah-whoaaaa!! M-m-m-myyy Sharona". You know you LOVE IT. Doug, RIP. * Billboard ad of "FIN...

Earth Hour comes to Jeddah! On March 27, Saturday, from 8:30 to 9:30, if you live in Jeddah, show support by turning off lights and other non-essential electronics. For more information, you can head on to the Earth Hour Jeddah blog by clicking this link . In the meantime, you can check our latest podcast episode (on the same topic) right here. P.S. For other episodes, subscribe to the podcast, which may be found in this link .