The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

Day 1

I almost didn’t go on this little trip. Two weeks ago, Ricardo asked me if I wanted to go to New York with him for a few days. I said yes at first but then last night I felt so exhausted from the last several days I was gonna say no. But when I awoke today I felt better.

I met Ricardo and Mike down at the 30th Street train station. The SEPTA subway was running a little behind so we missed the first train. But after switching our tickets we were away in no time. Read more this entry »

Yo, Charles. I’m glad you got the Blog up and running. Now we can have some true interfaith Blogging! Anyway, I hope you’re doing well. I know you’ll be sad to return from globe trotting but I look forward to breaking bread with you on your return. And keep up the Blog. You’ll see, it’s not only fun but can be very rewarding. Okay. Anta saalimun fiy baytiy. You can visit Charle’s Blog here: www.manrilla.net/charles/.

It’s that same old Song and Dance. Muslims asking Muslims if they can establish an “Islamic” lifestyle here in the West. It’s like a bad commercial radio station. You only hear the same crappy three songs over and over again. I was reading a review on DeenPort, where they were asking this guy if, “Western Muslims can create spaces of ’spiritual blessing’ in their own lands?” Boy, do I get tired of that one. Why do they keep asking these kinds of questions? Read more this entry »

I found an audio interview with Dr. Sherman Jackson that was quite interesting. The interview discusses the origins of Islam, the Shari’ah (Islamic law) and the obligations it entails for Muslims, the belief that Islam and the West are on a collision course, the meaning of the word jihad, and the Muslim community in America, in addition to other topics and concepts important to an understanding of Islam and Islamic practices. This interview will provide you with a good understanding of some basic concepts. These are Quicktime movie files, so you’ll need the Quicktime Player to view them (if you have Quicktime installed your browser should be able to view them without the need to do anything further). There are 9 parts to this interview. All components of this interview are Copyright © 2005 NITLE. Yo, Sherm, if you see this don’t take it the wrong way! I ain’t tryin’ to start no fan club, man. Just you do good work. I’ll see you Aug. 6th. Read more this entry »

You know, one of the really nice things about having a Blog is that you can communicate and share ideas and thoughts with people you’d just never have the opportunity to meet. “Dezhen”, is one such person. We’ve been having a really nice dialog, talking about some different issues and such and we’ve come to find out we’ve got some issues in common. So, as a way to be nice and Blog-back, I’m gonna post a few links here about some topics I hope some of you will take a comment to read. Reading on the Web is tough. I know. It’s not like a nice cuddly book but there is a lot of info out there. So, here goes (like my bad English?): Read more this entry »

As you may have seen or heard in the news, British police shot and killed Jean Charles Menezes, a man of Brazilian origin living in London. Mr. Menezes happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. In the authorities’ attempt to regain control over their situation they are throwing caution to the wind. So now not are the people of London at risk to terrorist attack but now they’re at risk of police over-reaction. I have had my own personal experience of being that wrong person at the wrong time with the police, although my situation was not under such sinister conditions of that of the late Mr. Menezes. Read more this entry »

Our friend, Ricardo Villagran, is visiting from Argentina. He’s a great artist. He has worked in the comic book industry for more than 40 years. He is also a very accomplished painter. Ricardo’s a real gentleman and a funny guy. He was nice enough to let me photograph him yesterday while the light was very moody and soft. I used my 4×5, shooting Polaroid Type 54 Black & White proofs. I hope to shoot a few more of Ricardo before he takes off again. It’s been many years since I’ve seen him. Gracias Ricardo por su tiempo. Era muy divertido.

Want a serious adrenaline rush? Try biking through Philadelphia at 11 o’clock at night. I just biked from 69th Street (West Philly) down to 7th Street & Oregon (South Philly). That was over 8 miles of sure fun and excitement. There’s no rush in the world like booking down hill at say, 25 miles per hour with a half-inflated front tire with cars swooping in on either side, car doors opening out of no where and the occaisional inebriated passer-by dashing out into your path at just the right moment. I can’t say how much I really look forward to more of this.