The 2001 A.L.I. Fire (9:20)

The 2001 A.L.I. Fire by Tarek El Deeb

As the title suggests, my topic is about the 2001 Thanksgiving fire that happened on November 21^st 2001 that destroyed parts of the Arabic Language Institute of The American University in Cairo. It was a traumatic experience for those involved and this is their story.

Eid Audio Feature

Eid Audio Feature by Tarek El Deeb

*Intro - (Laylat Al Eid – Umm Kalthum SONG PLAYS THEN VOLUME DECREASES AT 0:17)*

For those attending the Hajj pilgrimage, it will be the most valued, spiritual experience in the Islamic community.

The rest of the Muslims will be celebrating the holy feast of Eid…

*(Laylat Al Eid – Umm Kalthum SONG FADES OUT 0:30)*

As tradition teaches, families will rise early in the morning and people will put on their new and best clothes to visit other family members. Children may also receive gifts and new bills of Egyptian pounds as their “Eideya” or Eid gift just like a child at Christmas would.

Masses will fill the streets to perform the Eid prayer which are preceded and followed by mellow chanting of the name and superior qualities of god.

Local Maadi resident Ahmed gives us his meaning of Eid and what it means to him:

AHMED: “Eid is a great occasion for enjoyment and celebration. Most of us are waiting for it just to celebrate and get together and socialize with the family…socialize with friends since it is an enjoyable occasion.” (0:24)

When the prayers have been performed, Muslims and butchers will gather in their spiritual vibe and prepare to slaughter thousands of cows and sheep.

The livestock are killed to honor the story of the prophet Abraham and his son Ismail.

Once slaughtered, the meat is then distributed to the poor, and to many families this is their only annual meal to include meat. With that in mind, Eid is also a time for many Muslims to be involved with charitable work such as giving clothes, meat and money to the poor.

MAHA: “Eid to us is “family gathering” and you know…everyone should be happy because in this occasion we remember the prophet Abraham, when God protected his son from slaughtering. So we are celebrating this occasion. We are giving food for the people, for the poor people, money. Making sure that everyone around us is happy and enjoying this occasion.” (0:30)

Says Maha, a mother of three on her way to visit family members.

Back home while men deal with the slaughtering, women prepare ‘Fata’, the traditional dish of Eid consisting of cooked rice with pieces of bread garnished with special garlic and vinegar dressing. The dish is eaten with either beef or lamb and is considered a delicacy.

This Eid or “Eid Al Adha” is sometimes referred to as the “Big Eid” since it’s longer than the Eid el Fitr that follows the month of Ramadan. It is the longest Islamic holiday enjoyed by Muslims all around the world.

*Outro - (Laylat Al Eid – Umm Kalthum SONG PLAYS THEN FADES OUT

0:40 – 0:52)*

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

A book on tape narrated by Tarek El Deeb

______________________________________

Chapter One

The Boy Who Lived

Harry Potter - Chapter One by Tarek El Deeb

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs.

Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.

Promo

Promo by Tarek El Deeb

Interview With Jessica Hullon

Interview With Jessica Hullon by Tarek El Deeb

Hi my name is Tarek El Deeb and you’re listening to my interview with Jessica Hullon.

“Please introduce yourself…name, age and your relation to AUC”

“My name is Jessica Hullon, I’m 30 years old and I’m an AUC alumni, graduated in 2000 with a degree in ‘art and vision’ and a minor in psychology”

“Assuming that you’ve spent most (if not all) of your years in AUC at the old campus…tell me where you used to hang? What you liked most about the campus”

“(laughs) Well, like most foreign students, I established a hang out around the fountain court behind the cafeteria in the Main Campus. It was my favorite spot around campus, it was peaceful too. I also loved that it was so green there, it was a nice spot to get away from the craziness of downtown”

“Now, from what I've heard, you witnessed a cooking-related fire in 1997. Tell me what happened and how you felt at the time?”

“Oh yeah…that was crazy! I think it was the semester I just became a sophomore. My classmate Sylvia and I just came out of an Arabic class and we decided to pick up some sandwiches from that small cafeteria on our way to the fountain spot. We were standing in line and I saw a cafeteria chef frying some sort of chicken or beef in a skillet with oil. That’s when the towel around his shoulders caught fire and immediately went up in flames. Honestly we were scared…like really REALLY scared. Then, we were instructed by campus security to exit the cafeteria as quick as possible.”

“Glad to see you’re doing alright! Now how about the damage from the fire…how bad was it?”

“By the time the fire fighters came to douse the flame, the counters, cooking equipment and a fridge were completely black from the smoke and some parts of the wall were also damaged. The fire which probably only lasted for 5-6 minutes felt like 5-6 hours!”

"Wow that’s quite a fire! Were you or anyone you know hurt or affected by the fire?"

“Well thankfully I was fine, but Silvia had asthma so she had some problems breathing because of all the smoke. But don’t worry she’s fine now.”

"Glad she’s alright as well. What about classes? Were any of them cancelled? Did people leave campus?"

“Well, some of the classrooms were evacuated until the fire was under control. Things were back to normal pretty quickly. In fact I actually had a class about half an hour later”

"So after the fire, did you ever go back to the cafeteria? And did anything change?"

“Yes of course! I think they got a new fridge and other kitchen accessories. Oh and they also repainted.”

"Did the campus install any safety equipment to deal with any future fires?"

“Umm…yes from what I can remember they had things like a fire extinguisher. Actually they had all of this before, so not much changed.”

"Tell me, did you find out what happened to the chef? Was anyone else in the kitchen injuired?"

“No nobody was seriously injuired. But I think the chef had burnt his hand. I do remember seeing him working behind the counter a few months later. So he must have been alright.”

"So… I guess that’s it. Thank you for being here Jessica and participating. Let’s hope you don’t run into any more fires!”

“(laughs) Yeah…I hope so”

PSA - WWF "Animals In Need" by Tarek El Deeb

Alia - What’s up with you today Roofus? Why are you limping?

Tarek - I had a bad day. I was crossing the street as fast as I could to go try my luck in the trash can next to the Koshary place and I stepped on a nail and now I can’t get it out.

Alia - Beats me. I was just about to relax when the gardener came on to with a stick to shoo me. So I went to relax under the tree next to the doorstep but the fat lady chased me away.

Alia/Tarek - Life’s hard being a dog.

Alia - Join the World Wildlife Fund and help animals in need. For more information visit wwf.org.

Podcast # 2 - Technology

Technology by Tarek El Deeb

Technology...it's all around us.

We drive it. We pilot it. We play it. We Communicate through it.

Most of us take technology for granted, especially since we've become so dependent on it.
For example, imagine a person during a power shortage, only then would he or she realize how much they rely on technology for cooking, cleaning, keeping cool and other things.

Did you know that an ink pen can also be refereed to as technology?

The word 'technology' doesn't necessarily mean electronics, however in our modern day, electrical technology tends to be the most known.

Technology in a nutshell, is the product of developmental science that is eventually integrated into human life to help improve our daily lives.

With the introduction of robotics, technology has also helped scientists and doctors make breakthroughs in modern day medicine.

Robotics has evolved from the clumsy remote controlled robots to sophisticated medical machines capable of carrying out precise surgical tactics avoiding human error.

At the astonishing rate technology is advancing...who knows what the future holds for humankind?

Journal #2: International News:

"Jailed Chinese dissident Liu wins Nobel Peace Prize"

The story is very interesting especially to hear about the angry Chinese leaders and people who protested the award given to Xiabo. Both BBC and NPR reported the story in the same manner however i'll be comparing the overall production quality between both.

BBC

Anchor: Suey Diamond

Length: 0:54 min

Analysis

Pros:

• The anchor's voice was articulate
• the anchor presented the story then used a recording from a source (Martin Patient)

Cons:

• experienced problems when opening the player from BBC's website and it wasn't very user friendly
• quality of the actual recording was poor with some static in the background
• no use of nat sounds
• segment was too short
  

(online radio broadcast can be heard here)

NPR

Anchor: Craig Windum

Length: 0:53 min

Analysis

Pros:

• The anchor's voice was articulate
• the anchor presented the story then used a recording from a source (Martin Patient)
• The media player that popped up from the NPR website was very fast, no buggy and was user friendly
• the quality of the recording was excellent
  

Cons:

• no use of nat sounds
• segment was too short

(online radio broadcast can be heard here)

Nat. Sounds

Nat. Sounds by Tarek El Deeb

Welcome to my mini sound bank of Nat. Sounds!
The description below matches the sequences in which the sounds will be played:

1) Printer-paper being crunched

2) Creaky old door slowly being shut

3) Crunchy and squeaky Almonds chewed

4) Teeth being brushed and scrubbed

5) 2 people scraping last bits of food off plate with forks and spoons

Hip-Hop Is What I Believe in...

Hip-Hop Is What I Believe in... by Tarek El Deeb

"I believe in Music…

I’ve felt this way since I was ‘knee-high’. My mother would tell me I was a quiet kid when I was around guests, but as soon as they were gone, you’d soon find me in the living room playing my dad’s old Jimi-Hendrix and Earth, Wind & Fire Vinyl records. Then along came Hip-Hop and from then onwards…everything changed.

Music as a concept, to quote my dad “is the gateway to the soul, all you have to do is push in that tape and press play” – I never quite understood that till much later on in life but those words echo into my mind whenever I scroll up and down to look for songs on my iPod.

The Hip-Hop instrumental is so rich especially when sampled from old classic Motown records. Mixed with deep bass and punchy Hip-Hop drums the beat ends up giving this smooth rhythm that forces you to tap your feet and bob your head.

I love to ask a lot of questions. Questions that sometimes lead to more questions and for that I eventually found philosophy to be the cornerstone of my daily actions. Although I love to read philosophy, I’m talking about the philosophy found in Hip-Hop lyrics, the meanings behind the rap and the rapper himself. When Indian monks reach a level of meditation they are said to be ‘enlightened’, I feel the very same way when I connect with a song’s meaning.

I believe that Music is the most powerful of all art forms. It’s an abstract entity that can drastically change your mood. It helps me create a bond with my friends when we sing along or dance to it. Sometimes, I like to think that Music can also act as a time machine. Whenever I hear certain songs that have significant meanings attached to them I begin to feel a little nostalgic and immediately go back to where I first heard it. Some songs connect me to places, others to people I hold dear to me.

To simply put it, my day cannot be complete without listening to some of my favorite tracks. For me, music becomes a daily requirement like brushing my teeth, better yet, it’s like breathing! As Hip-Hop legend KRS-One once said, “Rap is something you do…Hip-Hop is something you live” and with that in mind, I’ll go through the rest of my life living Hip-Hop."

Web Sickness (NPR)

Producer/Reporter: Bob Garfield

Length: 3:38

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2009/11/13/03

Description

Radio host Bob Garfield interviews Carolyn Butler, columnist for The Washington Post, about how Cyberchondria came to be and she discusses her own bout with the dread disease. Cyberchondria refers to the practice of using Internet search engines to wrongly diagnose oneself with serious illnesses.

This feature is different from the WVR (World Vision Report) in the sense that this is a podcast from a talk show and the other is a narrative audio clip. Bearing this in mind, there was no reason of having nat sounds since it’s known to be recorded at a station.

Again, the host was very clear including his guest however there was a small buzzing/fuzzing sound that affected the audio clip’s quality making it very irritating, thus less effective than it could’ve been.

Despite this, I chose this audio clip for a simple reason, it was very interesting. Other than the fact that I was oblivious to the fact that such a term and condition existed, I inevitably find myself among those who practice Cyberchondria.

Breaking The Fast (World Vision Report)

Producer/Reporter: Kira Neel

Length: 3:30

http://www.worldvisionreport.org/Stories/Week-of-September-11-2010/Breaking-the-Fast

Description

It’s a short segment describing the hours before and after Iftar during one of the days of Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt. However it mostly focuses on values, traditions and reasons for Muslims fasting during that month. The segment ends with Neel explaining the transformations the streets of Cairo undergo when they are lit with Ramadan lanterns, decorations and of course Cairo’s “bustling crowds”.

This segment would be ideal and quite interesting for an outsider who is curious to learn about Ramadan, which makes this segment very successful through my eyes.

Other than the fact that Neel is very well spoken in a calming and articulate voice she also uses other techniques to further strengthen her story by using strong Natural (nat) Sound throughout the whole audio clip. For example the segment starts with a prayer calling which she then begins to narrate about Iftar timing.

Although the segment passed the requirements for my assignment, as a person who knows a lot about Ramadan, the audio clip was shorter than expected and could’ve expanded in some areas.

Personally, I feel that Neel should’ve interviewed and added someone who she was talking about (i.e. a random person off the street she was describing) that could’ve added 1st person insight about the true nature of fasting and Ramadan.