1936 Travelogue to Damascus and Jerusalem

Sometimes youtube spits up pure brilliance:

Damascus and Jerusalem in a 1936 travelogue. Syria was under French mandate, and Jerusalem was part of the British Mandate of Palestine. 1936 is in fact the beginning of the Arab revolt in Palestine, which lasted until 1939. But the haughty superiorior expressed by the narrator, the mangling of foreign words, calling Islam "Mohammadan" - this is truly a gem. The narrator is particularly keen on emphasizing the dirtiness and lack of progress of Damascus:

"Cheap soap, but from the appearance of the people there is little demand for it." Men are described as wearing "headdressed which remind us of Biblical characters." At a bakery, we are reminded "no, the baker's not wearing gloves."

How Orientalist can you get?

Know Your Poptarts: Dana

Oh, Dana. This song "Bos Alaya Bos" first came out in 2006 when I was in Egypt. At the time I thought it was quite incongruous to have a lady dancing around in hot pink hotpants on the TV as muhagabas (veiled women) bought kushari and shwarma. This video introduces Dana, quite literally. The text at the beginning introduces the first girl without... plastic surgery. Then the lyrics...

Ana Dana (I'm Dana)
Ana Dan Dan (I'm Dan Dan - a nickname)

What do you expect from a song called "Look at me"? Naturally this isn't Dana's only song based on her name (She's not the only one, Haifa Wehbe has "Ana Haifa") Doudou being another cute nickname for Dana.

How cute. From the little girl voice to the silly costumes and poses, if Nancy Ajram is the zenith of Arab poptarts, Dana is pretty close to the nadir. But yet, what chutzpa! The lyrics include "You have to know who I am, everybody knows me, everybody is after me". The best part? How about "At your service, sir" [ay khadma ya basha] right before she writhes around in the black catsuit.

Her other videos are similar: in "Inta Min" her voice is even more childish and she mugs for a mirror and shows off her manicure, (naturally) gets caught in an indoor rain storm, and dances around a plastic surgery operating table. Dana is very proud of her lack of plastic surgery, which must explain the lack of clothes. In "Miya Miya" (100) she dresses as a sexy waitress, a sexy gas station attendant, and a sexy children's entertainer in a bee costume (no shit), gets engaged to three men with big shiny engagement rings, and leaves all three at the altar. Small children also dress up in her outfits from previous videos.

My harsh assessment of Dana might seem hypocritical, especially since I love Ruby. I'm fucking obsessed with "Mosh Hate'dar" right now [see below]. There are several differences: Ruby's voice does not make me want to shoot myself in the head. Ruby's songs are fun, danceable, and aren't all about her name. There's a chasm between doing fun, disposable pop well and horribly: these ladies illustrate that difference.

Ruby's all Classy and Shit

روبي - مشيت ورا إحساسي
Look at her - no belly showing, no shameless gyrations. Ruby - what happened? This is the latest single off her new album, and shares the same name, Misheet Wara Ihsasi (I Followed My Feelings). Ruby is reportedly trying to project a classier, covered up image. In the past, her racy videos have caused the Muslim Brotherhood to call for their ban in the Egyptian Parliament and been the subject of NPR reports and New York Times articles. The song is eh, not her best.

I actually really like the first single, Mosh Hate'dar (You Won't Be Able to). This one really emphasizes the classy: She's sitting! Not dancing! Covered up! Stringed instruments! Um... sitar!

But the song itself is great, very classic vibe like Fairouz or even (though naturally it does not approach) Um Kulsoum. Nice going Ruby!

But, for a minute, can we remember the glorious sexiness that was a Ruby video? Whether pantomining sex acts with a stationary bike, walking around Prague in a pink belly dancing ensemble, or, as here, invoking Ancient Egypt to display the sexy, she was truly fucking awesome:

Shams... with English Subtitles

This was a massive hit in the winter but here it is now... with synchronized transliterated and translated subtitles! This video's full awesomeness is no longer partially obscured from the American people by language issues. And its dancey!