Category Archives: miscellaneous

2012 is Coming, Enjoy every Second

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

The title of this post was an advertisement I saw in a magazine whilst waiting in my local Spanish peluqueria the other day. The ad, 2012 is Coming, Enjoy every Second, was for a wrist-watch! Quite clever you might think. The … Continue reading →

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LOL

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

Since starting this blog I know how jounalists feel who have to keep a weekly column going week after week, inspiration or no inspiration. So that they end up filling their columns with anything they can muster and often revert … Continue reading →

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Goose pimples in Sarajevo

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

Today’s post is a special treat which I hope you can share with your friends. You will find here an (edited) chapter from my very own as yet unpublished bio (Average Whiteman) about a concert in Sarajevo fourteen years ago in … Continue reading →

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Maqamats, Sacred Geometry and the Celestial Worlds

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

For years I have tried to understand what the maqams are (or maqamats, known as nawbas in Morocco) and I hope these few words here don’t confuse things further. In these posts I have always sought out subjects where the global homogenisation … Continue reading →

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Write it! Sing it!

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

Where I live there are so many alternative therapies on offer up and down our valley. They include such things as underwater ti-chi to sacral osteopathy, magnet therapy, raw food cults etc., and many you have never heard of before. … Continue reading →

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The Art of Art

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

In the aftermath of Steve Jobs’ passing various snippets about his life became public or better known to the public. Whilst being beatified as a genius by some and demonised as a monster by others there were certain sentiments which … Continue reading →

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The curse of the PA

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

The theme of this post is one that has really bothered me for some time and just how to get into has meant delaying its publication for some weeks. On the surface it appears a rather trivial subject but the … Continue reading →

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In defence of the polymath

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

When Dr Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, berated the English recently for having a too unbalanced educational system I could see his point. But my own very English education looking back was actually very broad and probably accounted for … Continue reading →

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Acequias

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

Acequia is the Spanish and Arabic word that describes the ancient system of irrigation that, in Andalusia and other parts of Spain, is still the lifeline of small scale agriculture. Much is written of the great old muslim cities of … Continue reading →

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Learn Diwan tunes

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

This post is for people who are familiar with or interested in the Diwan of Muhammad Ibn al Habib, the great scholar and sufi master of Meknes in Morocco, who died in 1971. He left this collection of sublime poems, … Continue reading →

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