Do you speak Sapuri?

I’ve moved!

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:26:13 +0000

This blog is no longer updated; all my ideas (past, present and future) have moved to http://www.studiosapuri.com

Lahore Bombings: Model Town, March 8 2010 8:20am

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:53:05 +0000

I was in the shower when I had my windows rattled and for a second, everything shook in reverberation. Since we’re told this was right next to the Quran Academy in Model Town, I figure this is where this happened:

I know for a fact that this section of the road was completely blocked off from the public for the last year or so, and this corner house had guards and gun turrets hidden on top and even along the peripheries.
Whoever the heck it was- that was this important- should have at least had the guts to move on out of a residential neighborhood in this day and age.

It’s another week- another day in Lahore. Everytime people calm down, and feel that life is returning to normal, someone comes along and decides to shake things up. Whoever the hell you are, I hope you end up reading this somewhere, somehow, and realize that you are the most cowardly of all people. And I must remind you, that you are the most foolish of all people, constantly trying to break the resolve of a nation that cannot lose any more.

Pakistan Zindabad.

Lahore Bombings: Witness Audio Interview

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:34:15 +0000

My cousin Usman was at ‘Moon Market’ in Iqbal Town last week when twin explosions went off. I asked him to narrate what he saw, heard and felt on that horrendous night. This interview is completely in Urdu, so I apologize if you can’t follow it. I’ll try doing an English transcript sometime. Excuse the slight sounds of kids playing in the back- my nieces are visiting.

Interview with Usman Ghauri on the Moon Market Blasts

Lahore Bombings – Moon Market in Iqbal Town

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:46:01 +0000

Today, two bombs struck Allama Iqbal Town’s ‘Moon Market’- a place that I remember from my childhood when our family used to visit Lahore- many members of which, at the time, lived close to. My cousin Usman was actually at a store in the market when the blast went off, and survived by some miracle. He came home shocked and changed from a full grown man- into a tepid young boy again; he said that he had just witnessed hell itself. I was taking a nap since I’ve been sick over the last few days- and woke to the sound of a cacophony of ambulance sirens; I now live almost across Jinnah Hospital. The bomb went off in Iqbal Town; I’ve tried to illustrate where all of this happened on the map here:
View Moon Market Blasts in a larger map

I walked across to Jinnah Hospital’s emergency ward- not that I condone people amassing together when they shouldn’t be there- but I wanted to capture some of the sounds of the aftermath of mass murder. What you’ll hear in the audio linked below is police officers trying to get people to clear out (I was standing clear of the entrance)- and make way for an ambulance that was about to pull in. Audio Link

I watched like a voyeur- observing death first hand. The Edhi ambulance that pulled in had a child’s body wrapped in blood stained sheets. You can actually hear the stretcher being wheeled out towards the ambulance. The emergency staff judged this victim to be a casualty, and wheeled it to the side for the morgue, as they waited for the next ambulance to come in.

What we witness now in our developed, urban centers, is what I assume with high probability, the parts of the country on the forefront of the war on terror, have been witnessing for ages now: death. While we hang our heads and wonder what kind of barbaric enemy would do such a thing to such innocent people, I am sure all people who have become collateral damage in the biggest shame on military actions we’ve ever seen- the World’s War on Terror (everyone included- everyone guilty)- thought the same as they picked relatives’ charred limbs from Pakistan army shells gone astray but unwritten about, or Predator missiles gone ‘on target’ as we’re told.

I hate the Taliban as much as you do, but what you can’t hate- is the desire for justice. What’s happening now, is a rude awakening- I call it The Great Equalization, in which city dwellers; the haves of Pakistan, will slowly but surely come to taste, in some form or another, what life means for the have-nots. It’s an internal, self generated shock-and-awe campaign with really no one at the controls- it’s become a free-for-all playground for what not to do in the precarious field of nation-building.

I really don’t have many answers- the truth is: no one does. At least Pakistanis now have more questions than ever, more than we’ve ever, ever had in the past. And all that tells me, is that we are still alive, and growing even more alive with each seemingly pointless death– as the quest for accountability and equality gathers steam, regardless of race, religion and creed.

Pakistan Zindabad.

The Miracle of Driving

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:29:38 +0000

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1978: An exercise in hand-made graphic design.

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:00:01 +0000

In 1978, my parents drove back from England to Lahore, Pakistan because they didn’t have enough money to ship all their stuff back and fly. They took great pictures along the way, and now that I’m back in Lahore, I’m trying to share this wonderful trip of theirs with the rest of the world.

I took 450 of the slides they had, got them scanned from Bhatti Photographers at the highest dpi they offer. I sifted through them and picked two just for experimentation- I wanted to test out designs for a postcard. I then designed the front and back- rushed over to Instaprint in Gulberg, had them proofed out on a single sheet, and came home to cut them individually for this first pass.

I think they’ve come out great- I’ve never been so excited about something that was produced before I was born.

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:28:37 +0000

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hello, world.

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:57:14 +0000

tread lightly. choose your lifestyle not for the sake of the gratification your insecurities require, but to give back to life all that it politely serves you every day. turn the light off when you don’t need it. speak out against the breaking of tenants that hold nations together. it’s ok to not win every time. let others have a chance. mankind always stands on the shoulders of giants, many of whom remain unrecognized in the complex lineage that gives birth to life over and over again as you know it today. aspire for achievement first, then success, and your brothers and sisters move with you. aspire for success alone and mankind’s traffic remains in the rush hour clog on a clock with no face, no beginning and no end. there is no blue, no red when it comes to politics. there is just white, the amalgamation of all the colors possible. vote white. vote for change that sticks. make sure the change comes without an expiry date or trial period that catches you disappointed later as you realize it is too late to go back to the store for an exchange, and you are stuck in the same loop you fought and waited so hard to get out. torture is torture and no man will ever be classifiable in new words to break rules we established great nations with. equality is not served at a parlor- there is no variety of flavor. you must serve with the same scoop you eat from. there is happiness to be found in letting go. some things must be left up to what you cannot control nor comprehend. is that god? is that fate? i don’t know.

all i know that it is the spark within called life.

Rock The Bike @ the Bay Area Maker Faire 2008

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:32:24 +0000

Rock the bike– pedal for music. Here’s a sample I recorded (mic wasn’t plugged in fully, so only one channel plays) of this troupe known as Yacouba and the Spirit Gatherers. Just beautiful stuff. They’ll be playing in SF next week (Sept. 7th).

Maker Faire, 2008: Rock the Bike

Krishna: The Mix

sapuri@studiosapuri.com (Sapuri B. Dallah) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:59:23 +0000

No, nothing pseudo-spiritual to say here. Just named this mix Krishna becuase I got it started at Krishna Printers in downtown SF last week.

Tracklisting:

1. KT and Sapuri D: Is it Reocorrrrding beta?

2. 113: Tonton du Bled

3. Infusion: The Careless Kind

4. Max Graham and Jessica: Gone

5. Junkie XL: Today (UNKLE remix)

6. BT: Force of Gravity (Sapuri D. remix)

7. Joni Mitchell (yes): If (Original- not to be messed with).

8. Lemon Jelly: ’90 Aka A Man Like Me

9. Midwest Product: A Genuine Display (Telefon Tel Aviv Remix)

10. The Presets: The Girl and The Sea (Cut Copy Remix)

11. Simian Mobile Disco: Wooden (Sapuri*D adds a little Mulholland to the mix)

12. Innercourse feat. Hensley: Human

13. Gus Gus: David (Original- check out the Medicine 8 remix on Jacques Lu Cont’s Fabric09 CD)

14. Eric Prydz: F12 (heavily sprayed with Obama’s voice speaking when he won the democratic nomination).

CLICK TO LISTEN TO/ DOWNLOAD THE MIX

(this is a modified podcast; you can also find it in the iTunes store)

PS: I’m not on that Obama-mania pill at all; I’m just excited to see that really; America seems to be willing to take chances with change and acceptance. But, we’ll see where this goes.