EVENT: Come & Watch the Amazing Annabel Crabb

Come along on Sunday 18 July to watch and witness the delightful fabulous amazing charming and nice Annabel Crabb.

"AAAAAH!!" I can hear my step daughter scream, "Annabel's my idol!!!!!!!!"

So where can you see Ms Crabb?

Gleebooks - Dulwich Hill
536 Marrickville Road
Dulwich Hill, 2203
Tel: 02 8080 0098

Some other bloke is also on straight after her. He certainly isn't my step daughter's idol. Still, he does have at least one friend.

BOOK: Only 5 days 'till "Once Were Radicals" is published!!!

My first (and, God-willing, not last) book Once Were Radicals will be published on Monday 4 May 2009. For a short time only, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

There are a number of events happening this month to coincide with the book's publication. On Monday night, the book is being launched by the Hon Laurie Ferguson at Granville in the heart of his electorate.



Details of that launch can be found here.

There will aoso be a launch held in Canberra with ABC TV newsreader and award-winning journalist Virginia Haussegger.



That event will take place on Sunday afternoon, 31 May 2009. Details of that event can be found here.



There will also be an event at Gleebooks in Glebe on Wednesday 13 May 2009, at which I'll be in conversation with author, journalist and blogger Antony Loewenstein.



There are also two events for next month's Sydney Writers' Festival.

The first event will be at the Riverside Theatres, Cnr Church and Market Streets Parramatta when I will be in conversation with Brendan Phelan, Associate of NewMatilda.com.



For more details click here.

The second event will be in Sydney on Saturday afternoon, 23 May 2009 at the Sydney Philharmonia Choir Studio, Pier 4/5, Walsh Bay. Click here for more details.

I'll be somewhat busy during the next month or so, and it's unlikely I'll be blogging much here.

EVENT: Freebie!!!!!

Many years ago, the legendary Chrissie Amphlet sang about touching herself. It wasn't exactly the most religious song on the planet.

And Once Were Radicals isn't exactly the most religious book on the planet. Still, I won't be touching myself at the upcoming Sydney Writers Festival. If this photo is anything to go by ...



... I prefer punching myself.

Anyway, click here for some details about a lunchtime freebie. Or if you're too friggin lazy, here ae the details, along with some editorial adjustments.

Irfan Yusuf in Conversation
Event 238

What do you get when you mix Indian ancestry, Pakistani birth, Urdu language and culture, Muslim religion and a fair dinkum strayn accent? [Ed: certainly not Andrew Bolt!!] How does a middle-class kid from John Howard’s electorate became convinced he should die for the Muslim cause? [Ed: probably by reading Piers Akerman columns which are enough to make anyone slightly suicidal.] Who knew being a teenage Islamo-fascist could be so funny?

Irfan Yusuf shares his hilarious journey into and then out of political Islam.

When
Saturday, May 23 2009
13:00 - 14:00

Where
Sydney Philharmonia Choir Studio
Pier 4/5, Hickson Road
Walsh Bay

Cost
FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So shuddup and turn up!!

PS: Enjoy ...

EVENT: Dr Jeff Halper at Paddington ...

For some reason, this quietly-spoken Israeli anthropologist stirs up bucketloads of nasty sentiment from some quarters. Professor Halper is a member of the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions (ICAHD).

I saw Professor Halper speak last night at Macquarie University. It was so wonderful to see young men and women committed to defending what they saw as Israel's interests, and only being able to do so by attacking an Israeli academic! One audience member even declared that Professor Halper was speaking "half-truths" and would soon be "exposed" as a "fraud".

Anyway, Professor Halper has a nunber of other gigs, one of which is ...

Monday 23 March 6-7.15pm
Professor Jeff Halper, Israeli Committee against Housing Demolitions
will speak on:

Defending Palestinian Homes: Challenging the Gaza Blockade

6pm Monday 23 March
Uniting Church
2 Newcombe Street Paddington
(by the Paddington Market site on Oxford Street)

Professor Halper provides an account of the Middle East that you will rarely find in mainstream Australian media but which is openly published in mainstream Israeli media.

If you're quick, you can hear Professor Halper being interviewed on ABC Brisbane radio by clicking here. And here's Jeff Halper talking on the subject of From Apartheid to Warehousing.



(Thanks to AA)

Words © 2009 Irfan Yusuf


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EVENT: Book Launch - Norman Abjorensen on John Howard ...

One of Australia's most prominent political commentators, Norman Abjorensen, has just published a book entitled John Howard & the Conservative Tradition. Anyone living in Canberra can attend the launch of this book by Humphrey McQueen on Wednesday November 12 2008 at 5:45pm at the Paperchain Bookstore located at 34 Franklin Street Manuka.

Abjorensen was one of Crikey's resident (if it's possible to have a physical residence online) commentators on the 2007 Federal Election. Abjorensen has also authored a biography of former Liberal Party leader Dr John Hewson, and was former national editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.


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EVENT: Stop what you're doing, siddown, shut up and read this ...

If you are in Melbourne, you must go to the Melbourne Fringe Festival and watch the new comedy show Who Is Abdul Smith? Because if you don't go, you ... um ... er ... well you simply won't know the answer to the question!

Here is what the bludgers promoting this show have to say ...

IMAGINE THE UNITED NATIONS CROSSED WITH AUSTRALIAN IDOL AND DEAL OR NO DEAL.

10 comedians battle it out to prove who is the most "multi-culti" on Australia's favourite TV show: Who is Abdul Smith?

It's an action-packed 90 minutes of stand-up, storytelling, spontaneity and song, featuring Melbourne's most diverse comedy talent:

- Mohammed El-leissy was part of Fringe 2007's Fear of a Brown Planet, nominated for Best Newcomer.

- Sema Kuyruk is Australia's first hijab-wearing stand-up comic, on a one-woman mission to bring hijab back!

- Trent McCarthy had a sell-out season with his 2008 Comedy Festival show Turning Sudanese, described by The Age as "a delightful experience, both broadening and funny".

- Ajak Kwai, a former Sudanese refugee, is a singer and storyteller who promises not to eat you!

- Simon Pampena, the Angry Mathematician, has just toured Australia with his Maths Olympics comedy show as part of National Science Week.

- Farah Faiq is a feisty Iraqi-born gal with a passion for fashion and a razorsharp wit.

- Scott Fraser is a frustrated stand-up with a rod in his leg and a chip on his shoulder.

- Simon Tengende recently premiered his play Discrit Zimbabwe, using humour to explore the troubled history of his homeland.

- Alev Girgin has never been so single in her life, looking for Mr Right among so many Mr Wrongs.

- Cameron Farshid McDonald is a half-Iranian, half-Scottish Aussie who doesn't know which part of him dislikes the English more.

- plus a different special guest each night!

Who will win? Who will lose? And who is Abdul Smith?

Momo El-leissy tells me that this show will so damned good, I should be travelling to Melbourne just to see it. He'd better be right or I'll demand a refund.



Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf

EVENT: Fear Of A Brown Planet goes to Brisbane ...

I've just received word that the sell-out (no, not that kind of sell-out) show Fear of a Brown Planet is going to Brisbane for one night only. Here is what Aamer Rahman from FOABP has to say ...

On October the 3rd we will be performing a special show the weekend before Lex Wotton's trial begins. All proceeds will go towards Lex's defense efforts:

Friday Oct. 3rd, Ahimsa House,
26 Horan St, West End
>>TIME TBA

If you have friends or family in Brisbane who might be interested please let them know about this event.

Brisbanites, don't miss this wonderful opportunity to see one of the most awesome comedic duos Melbourne has to offer.

Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf

EVENT: Remembering Mahmoud Darwish ...

On 9 August 2008, the Arab world lost one of its greatest contemporary writers: Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish.

Described as the laureate of all Arabs, Mahmoud Darwish published over 30 volumes of poetry and eight books of prose. His work, translated in 35 languages, won numerous awards including the prestigious Prince Claus Award in 2004.

To celebrate the life and work of this great literary figure, Cultural Media in association with the NSW Writers’ Centre is hosting a special memorial event. The event will take place on Friday 3 October 2008 (6:00pm for 6:30pm start) at the NSW Writers’ Centre, Callan Park, Balmain Road, Rozelle. The evening will include keynote speakers and live cultural performances. To RSVP, please contact Cultural Media on email: events@culturalmedia.com.au by 30 September 2008.

Cultural Media is a not for profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of Arab arts and culture in an Australian context. Cultural Media’s mission is to ultimately strengthen intercultural understanding and relations between diverse Australian communities. For more information about Cultural Media, please visit here.

The NSW Writers' Centre, established in 1991, promotes writing-based culture and the rights and interests of writers. For more information about the Writers’ Centre, please click here.

You can read an obituary of Mahmoud darwish here.

EVENT: Launch of Randa Abdel-Fattah's new book ...

Sydney-based lawyer and award-winning Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah is launching her new book entitled Where The Streets Have A Name on Tuesday October 7 2008 at gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe.

This is Randa's third novel. Her first novel, Does My Head Look Big In This, has been a huge hit both in Australia and Europe. You can read a review of this book published by a UK newspaper here. Randa followed this up with Ten things i hate about me, which in 2008 was awarded the prestigious Kathleen Mitchell Award for Young Writers. Notwithstanding Randa's novels are written largely for a young female audience, I must admit I know at least one male Sydney-based lawyer who has read and thoroughly enjoyed Randa's novels.

You can read interviews with Randa here, here and here.

Apart from lawyering and writing, Randa is also a human rights activist. You can read a speech she delivered on behalf of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign here.

Here's how Randa describes her third book ...

It’s about a girl and her journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. It’s an illegal journey because Palestinians aren’t allowed to travel freely. She goes to get some soil from her grandmother’s home, put in it a jar and bring it back to her grandmother who is sick. It tells of the massive upheaval and devastating impact this has in her life. I always knew I wanted to write a book about Palestine so it’s been a real challenge and an amazing journey for me ...

I used a lot of my own experiences but it was far more a work of fiction than my first two books. A lot of the instances of encounters between soldiers and Palestinians were based on documented cases. I spoke to so many people that lived there, escaped from there or had been kicked out ...

I’m at the crossroads now where I have to make a decision. One of the problems that I have encountered is that people typecast you as a Muslim writer. Unfortunately, to become more mainstream you have to write using Anglo characters because as soon as you don’t it becomes a niche market, a token multiculturalism. To say that this is a specialist book totally overlooks the message. These are Australian girls and their experiences are just as Aussie as others.

For more information about the launch and to book your seat, click here. But be quick!





Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf

EVENT: CIS Acton Lecture - Fr Robert Sirico

Readers of this blog (all 3 of you) will by now have realised that I take some interest in issues of religion and its relationship with politics. So you can bet your backsided dollar that I'll be investing $22 plus transport costs in going to this event hosted by the Centre for Independent Studies. It's to be held on Monday 21 July 2008 in Sydney.






The topic is "Must Religion be a Threat to Liberty?". It should be an interesting event.


Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf

EVENT: Screening of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour ...

The nice folk at Cultural Media are putting on a filming of the popular Axis of Evil Comedy Show on Sunday 29 June 2008 at the family-friendly time of 4pm. The tour features a host of popular American comedians including Maz Jobrani. Entry is by donation of a gold coin. I'm not sure if e-tags will work. Book now because places are filling fast.

You can find out more about the tour and watch the comix in action here.

EVENT: Pub Politics - Abbott -v- Robertson

This sounds like good fun. My bet is it'll be better than watching a boxing match between Abbott and Manne.




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EVENTS: Imran Ahmad at the Sydney Writers' Festival

Karachi's answer to James Bond?

Imran Ahmad is author of the rather hilarious Muslim memoir Unimagined (which I've reviewed here). He is in Sydney for the Sydney Writers' Festival and has a number of events in Sydney and Canberra. He will also be appearing on the SBS TV chatshow Salam Cafe.

This Thursday morning, check out Imran with the exceptionally funny Judith Lucy, SBS Tv newsreader Anton Enus and Canada's Ryan Knighton discussing the topic of Not Another Misery Memoir.

Thursday evening, Imran Ahmad talks with Australian novellist Randa Abdel Fattah at the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta. This is a free event.

Stay tuned for more events.



Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf


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EVENT: Bethlehem - Dreams of Home ...

For those interested in all things Jesus-related, there's an excellent exhibition being put on by the Friends of Bethlehem and supported by Marrickville Council (Bethlehem's sister-city) commencing tomorrow at the Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Pidcock Street Camperdown (inner-western Sydney).

Check out the poster below and discover the art of the kids of Jesus' village. And remember these immortal words ...

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf


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EVENT: Indonesian Festival @ Queanbeyan ...

You and family are cordially invited to an Indonesian Cultural Festival to celebrate the first anniversary of the Indonesian Community of Queanbeyan Association. This special event has also aimed to provide an opportunity to showcase Indonesian culture to the whole communities in surrounding Queanbeyan and the ACT. The Indonesian Cultural Festival will be held:

Venue : Queanbeyan Conference Centre
Crawford Street, Queanbeyan
Date: Sunday, 18th May 2008
Time: 11.00am to 02.00pm
RSVP by Friday 9th May 2008
To Mrs Titha Febritasari (email: tant_01@yahoo.com)

The festival will present diversity of traditional foods, handicrafts, and dances from all parts of Indonesia. A special short talk on the topic of ‘The journey of Islam in Java’ will be delivered by Dr George Quinn, an Indonesia’s specialist and senior lecturer from the Australian National University (ANU). In addition, there will be an auction of Indonesian handicrafts from our sponsors in the festival, and it is also anticipated that about 500 people will attend this performance. The admission is a gold coin donation.

This event would be an important opportunity for wider communities in Queanbeyan and the ACT to learn more about Indonesian culture.

On behalf of the Indonesian Community of Queanbeyan Association, we look forward to seeing you at the festival.

Queanbeyan, 22nd April 2008

Yours sincerely,
Mrs Ida Palaloi Suhadj
Chairperson


(Thanks to SJH for sending me this info.)

EVENTS: NewMatilda.com presents In Conversations II

This is a free event. Come along and contribute your ideas and thoughts on this interesting topic:

Who Can You Trust?
Who is a credible source online?
With the proliferation of blogging, amateur experts and user generated content- has the investigative journalist become redundant?

Speakers:

Jackie Dent: ABC Opinion Online & UN Afghanistan spokesperson

Antony Lowenstein: Author of My Israel Question, journalist, blogger

Edmund Tadros: SMH.com & investigative journalist

Tom McLoughin: Sydney Alternative Media- blog

Chaired by Wendy Bacon, investigative journalist & UTS academic

Venue: Building 4, Level 2. Lecture Theatre 34 (4.2.34) University Of Technology Sydney, 15 Broadway, Ultimo.


Time: 6pm for a 6.30pm start

Date: Wednesday, April 2 2008

RSVP: by email info@newmatilda.com or phone: 02 9211 1635 by Monday March 31.

EVENT: These guys are scary ...

For more details, click here.

EVENT: Learning liberty ...

OK, I admit I bag the Centre for Independent Studies from time to time. But one excellent initiative they put on is the Liberty & Society conference, a weekend program in which they invite young students and professionals to learn about classical and neo-classical liberalism.

I attended one of these conferences some years back, and I still have the notes. You may not agree with the CIS's take on everything, but this course really gives you something to think about.

More importantly, you get to meet some awesome intellects. I remember meeting these 2 rather funky individuals named Suri Ratnapala and the distinguished political scientist Chandran Kukathas (whose paper on multiculturalism should be required reading for anyone with an interest on the subject). One of these guys apparently got away with being the only dude to teach women's studies at an Australian university. Quite an achievement!

I strongly recommend this course to anyone who wishes to learn more about liberty.

© Irfan Yusuf 2007


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EVENT: Maz hits Mexico …

Attention All Melbournians!! You seriously cannot afford to miss Maz Jobrani. This dude is one of the funniest Americans to perform this side of the equator. Not bad for an Iranian!

You can read more about Maz here. His Sydney show on Saturday night 2 February 2008 was an absolute hoot. Yes, there was a large Iranian/Persian element in the audience, but they certainly were not the majority. Maz attracted people from across the ethnic and religious spectrum with his simple message of culturally “mixing it up”. If only John and Janette Howard could have been there. They might have actually learned something!

So stop what you’re doing, siddown, shuddup, grab your laptop and purchase a ticket online for tonight, Sunday 3 February 2008 before they all sell out. It’s his only performance in Melbourne and the last gig of his current Australian tour. Don’t miss out!!

Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf


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