Surveillance Graffiti
Categories: Photo Essays, Public Art, Surveillance • Tags: graffiti, Morocco
Knockoff Films and Software in Morocco
While walking in old medina of Essaouria, Morocco, I passed a street stall filled with rows of knockoff films and software for sale. I couldn’t tell where they were made, but they appeared to be packaged exactly the same as knockoff software sold in China.
Categories: Fakes and Forgeries, Made in China • Tags: Essaouria, fakes, Morocco, movies, software
Checking Out Products in Marrakech Marjane Hypermarket
Between tourist stops in Marrakech we passed a Marjane Hypermarket. Since I have done some work in Walmart stores in China, I was curious what a supermarket in Morocco might look like—especially because most of the products we saw for sale were in local markets. With only about 30 minutes to stop I made a quick walkthrough of the store and, since I wasn’t sure about photography, I just took a few photos with my iPhone. The layout of the […]
Categories: Consumption, Food, Toys • Tags: Barbie, flour, Gender, Made in China, Marjane, Marrakech, Marvel Superheroes, Morocco, ramen, superheroes, supermarket
Banjos of Marrakech
While walking in the central market of the medina of Marrakech I was surprised to find two different groups of Berber musicans playing their music with a banjo! One was even hooked up to an amplifier. I have never seen a banjo outside of the US and when I bought mine to China many years ago I got lots of curious inquiries. It would be interesting to learn the history of these instruments in Morocco and how and why they […]
Categories: Music, Video clips • Tags: banjo, Berber, Marrakech
Mystery Object #16: Moroccan Christmas Trees
This is a quick snap from my iPhone of some Christmas Trees I found for sale in the square at Meknes, Morocco. If I had had more time I would have taken a few more, but this does capture the range of styles–green ones with fruit and mysterious black ones with trunks. The one in the foreground on the right even has a light dusting of snow. I have no idea who might be buying these or where they were […]
Categories: Objects of Power, Uncategorized • Tags: Christmas Tree, Morocco
Mystery Object #15: The Spider-Man Fes in Fes
Today, while walking in the old city of Fes, I happened upon a person selling fine festival clothing–including some fezzes. I don’t know why I have been so interested in finding a fes in Fes, but I imagine it has something to do with going to the Shriner’s Circus as a kid. The fes and the Shriners, are well-known symbols of 19th century American Orientalism–the Orientalism of male secret societies with exotic clothing, rituals, cloaks and hats. It is an […]
Categories: Mystery Objects • Tags: Fes, festival, Fez, Marvel Comics, Morocco, Orientalism, Spiderman
Mystery Object #14: Seahorses for Tooth Health
This Christmas will be memorable for an unusual gift I found in my stocking—seahorse shaped tooth cleaning brushes. Made in Taiwan and sold in a set of three, the the brushes have a bristly action-end and a tail for picking. Creamy brown color, complete with painted-on eyes, the seahorses are truly unique. I’m not really sure how Santa delivered these to me, but they are certainly a mystery object. I’m not sure how to even begin interpreting this. Is there […]
Categories: Mystery Objects • Tags: dental health, seahorses, Taiwan, teeth cleaner
Moon Nostalgia
This past week there have been quite a few articles focusing on the breakthroughs, accomplishments and historical firsts of the manned Apollo missions. Among my favorites are a recent article in Slate telling the interesting, untold story of the first sculpture on the moon and coverage of the influential 1968 Earthrise photo and how it almost didn’t happen. Popular Science ran an article about alternate Apollo mission plans. The Verge reminded us all of the Apollo Image Atlas with its 17,000 photos and […]
Categories: Memory, Mythologies, Nostalgia • Tags: 1968, Apollo 11, Apollo 8, Apollo missions, China, 玉兔, Earthrise, Mao Zedong, moon landing, Neil Armstrong, space missions, yutu
“Keep Your Anthropologist Hat On and Don’t Be a Weirdo”: Comments from my Intro to Anthropology Finals
Since doing field exercises was an important part of this semester’s newly redone Introduction to Anthropology class, on the final I decided to ask a short essay question about fieldwork. The question asked students to comment on the experience of doing the class field exercises, the contradictions of participant-observation and the challenges of the fieldworker-as-data-collector. I had some trepidation asking complex questions of fieldwork to a class of mostly first-years. After a semester of weekly assignments, however, I assumed they […]
Categories: Anthropology, Introduction to Anthropology • Tags: anthropologist, Anthropology, Anthropology class, context, essay question, field assignment, fieldwork, final exam, participant-observation, sociocultural anthropology, student comments, teaching, undergraduate teaching
An OFF Pocket™ for Sensitive Fieldwork?
I like the idea of privacy. When you carry a mobile phone, regularly check in to Twitter, often update your Facebook, or use Google products, however, privacy really can’t be much more than that—an idea, a dream, a conceptual ideal. So, earlier this year when I read about Adam Harvey’s Kickstarter project, the OFF Pocket™, I immediately loved the idea—a black pocket that you drop your phone into to disconnect it, shield it from the network, quiet its connectivity. It was […]
Categories: Fieldwork, Gear, Privacy, Review • Tags: Adam Harvey, anthropologist, bag of holding, China, eavesdropping, iPhone, Kickstarter, mobile phone, OFF Pocket™, reporter
MUSEUM FATIGUE 