Aziza Al-Tawil's World

When my Mom was a little girl, another little girl told her she had "monkeys" at her house. She told my mother to come over to see them. My mother said, "You're kidding me! You couldn't have real monkeys at your house." The little girl told her emphatically, "Yes! I do! They are real monkeys-not fake. Come to my house!" So my mother went to her house and the monkeys were "coconut monkeys." My mother and I were in an antique store one time, just a few years before she passed away, and I spotted some of these souvenir "Coconut Monkeys." I pointed them out to my mother and she told me her kooky story. I now regularly use coconut oil for cooking, (my kitchen cabinet contains coconut oil, peanut oil, and olive oil), and raw apple cider vinegar. So it kind of comes as no shock to me that an "e book" called "The Coconut Oil Secret"  is a top seller. For a very low price you receive that and two other ...

Well, just when I think "Lounge" and "Cocktail Nation" is never going to make a comeback, this snazzy band called "Panic! At the Disco" kicks me between right between the eyes with "The Death of a Bachelor." This album is so sensational I don't even know how to describe it. Brendon Urie is out "Buble-ing" Buble and out "Connicking" Connick with this one. A modern Sinatra with an unbelievable "edge," his vocal range is no less than thrilling and I'm equally enthused with "Hallelujah." "L.A. Devotee" is another catchy and ironic tune and all in all it makes for a great listen either at a party or just singing along in your car. They earned a new fan with this one. Keep it up fellas!

Never forget the time I was playing the flute and my mother was drumming at an outdoor festival in Charleston, WV and a bunch of people started doing Dabke together. Or, I should say, were "trying" to do Dabke line dance together. The fact of the matter is, just like the teacher here mentions, they were from different countries and therefore had different ways of doing it. At one point all these young people stopped and laughed and asked each other what their respective countries of origin are. The answers varied from Iraq to Syria to Jordan to Saudi Arabia. It was quite interesting. They laughed about their differences but never really got the dance together. (My father and mother actually used to do a very old style Syrian Dabke you don't see much any more). The teacher here seems very experienced and you can probably learn a lot from Dabke 101:Learn How to Dance Dabke . If you want to give his method a whirl Click Here!

Wow! How do I say this? Just a great collection of songs, many of which I'm already familiar with through my background in belly dance as a child performer in the "heyday"and from a massive collection of authentic old world record albums accumulated by my mother, NYC belly dancer Johanna. Had the pleasure of seeing quite a few of these artists in person, "live," either from the "audience" perspective or even as the main attraction myself (Anestos Athanasiou was not only a dear friend of the family, but was almost my "Stepfather" and was even my accompanist on several occasions). Yes, "Gyftos" Athanasiou is here as well as many others that made that wonderful era so indeed "wonderful." You'll hear Jimmy Linardos and Gus Vali. Her name is spelled different here but the cd includes two tracks from my favorite Greek singer Rena Dalia. My mother Johanna worked the "Britannia" club with her. A truly beautiful and...