Lebanon Memories!

About 5 years ago, i was in NYC... it was a few weeks after new years eve...
i used to go to dance classes at NY sports club, with Sheryl Murakami... great coreographer!Through her i met Hass (for Hassan), he is from Lebanon... i couldnt say we bonded right away, but there was something in the air, lets say... couple of weeks later... we decided to go have a coffee together... a bird had shit on my head (literaly), i thought: "today is not my lucky day or maybe, i'll get lucky".. who knows... some people says that when that happens is cuz you are about to make or get money... and so i believe! We met up, Hass gave me a "golden chocolate godiva box"... and then surprised... i heard: "happy valentines day"... oh wow... i had no ideia, all i could think was... "how am i gonna get him a gift now, and what..."
skip the drama... it was late to do anything, anyways, my fault, i never know which day of the month i am in the year...
we spent a whole afternoon together, walking on time square, and then it was time for him to go... and so we took the train... the 9 going downtown to franklin street... where his home was... or not! on the way we talked about music, mainly about Madonna... Hass is big fan of Madonna.. and so i learned from him... its true... he intruced me to Madonna in a way i could never expect!
Days, Weeks, Months passed by, our friendship was above all... there are so many things i could say i learned with Hass, its amazing, but mostly: Music. His Pasion for his music was one of the things i was amazed about, his drive, his dedication to it... Hass was 25yo, i was 18yo, even tho i used to lie about my age at the time, i wanted to be older! My music is his music, his music is my music, with a lot of middle eastern influence, sounds of rhythm and blues, soul vocals... thats what SoulEasternPop is... Soul: Vocals; Middle Eastern: Influence; Pop(ular): Music.
I dont know if there is ever gonna be another person that had so much influence in me, and in my life like he did, a person that made his taste my taste, his dreams my dreams... Yes! that was Hass, from Lebanon.
Even tho, now, we grew apart, after i left NYC i went to Lebanon, cuz i wanted to know, and visit the place he was so affraid of going back to... i visited Beirut, Sidon, Tripoli, mostly the cities on the coast of the Mediterranean sea... i fell in love with the culture, with the food, mostly with the music... i brought back lots of Gold, in material and spiritual wealth.
Today, there is what they call: "Never Ending War"... absurd even to write about it... But i think of the people i've met, of the faces and places i've seen... it causes me pain... fear... of this malific reality!

Hass is the one that most influence had in my Life, and so i suffer for him and for his people, i suffer for me... lets all if it would only make us feel a lil better... go to the streets and manifest our Will, and hope we can be heard by the ones that are causing this War! Everything in Life has an End... Life Ends... how could a War not End?!.

This picture i took in Toronto, where Thousands of US, joined for the Great Cause! Aug.12th.

Soundtrack: 50=50, by: Hass and Paulo Pascoal!