Dilshad D. Ali: November 2006 Archives

Twenty-eight years was a long time to wait for a new album from Yusuf Islam. Back in the 1970s, the artist (then known to the world as Cat Stevens) won over audiences with pop hits like "Wild, Wild, World," "Peace Train," and other folk-inspired songs. His recently released album, "An Other Cup," vaguely remembers that music while developing a sweet sound of its own infused with Sufi stylings and spiritual overtones.

It takes some getting used to, this new music of Islam. The infectious, rollicking pop beats have given way to mellow, dreamy rhythms and lazy guitar strumming. The lyrics are easy on the ears as well, with lines like "One day at a time, we can look the future in the eye" (from "One Day at a Time") and "Greenfields and golden sands, that’s all I need; that’s all I want …" (from "Greenfields, Golden Sands").

One song, "The Beloved," invokes the artist's Islamic devotion, as it praises the Prophet Muhammed with lines like: "He was born to be the beloved, a will of the Divine." Even though this is a pop album, it is permeated with Islam’s love for spirituality and his faith. Yet religious love doesn’t overwhelm the album, as Islam allows his old folk roots to shine through on numerous tracks.

Listening to this album with Cat Stevens on the brain would be a mistake. He left that life behind when he converted to Islam. But the musical persona of Cat Stevens can be faintly heard in this album. It’s a decent (though not incredibly awesome) first step after nearly 30 years way from making commercial pop music.

I'm not saying it was our call to boycott O.J. Simpson's gruesome upcoming book and his accompanying Fox interviews that did the trick. (I'm sure you know that O.J. planned to reveal that if he had killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, this is how he would have done it.)

But perhaps it was the power of Idol Chatter (and, well, more likely the huge outpouring of outrage and horror from the American television-watching public) that led to the glorious news I heard today: News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch announced that the media company is canceling the television special, "If I Did It," which was set to air during crucial November sweeps.

Hallelujah! For once, the public has spoken, and the entertainment and media industry has listened! After a dozen Fox affiliates announced that they wouldn't be airing the interview, the word came down from the top that the whole creepy project would be canceled. In the words of Murdoch, "I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project."

Ill-considered? I'll say.

He went on to apologize to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman for causing them any pain. An apology doesn't seem enough, but at least we have that.

The kicker to this story is that late on Monday, HarperCollins also decided to cancel publication of the book as well. CNN.com reported that though early sales of the book was strong (it broke the top twenty last week), it had fallen to Number 51 by the time the cancellation was announced. The publishing company also said that though some copies had been shipped to stores, they would be recalled and destroyed.

And that's it. I would say that this was a boycott that did its job. The sooner we forget about this and get on with daily life, the better.

What can be said about the news revealed this week that football star turned B-list actor turned murder suspect in the "Trial of the Century" O.J. Simpson will be soon releasing a book called "If I Did It"? The book is a hypothetical telling of how he would have murdered his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman back in 1995, if only he'd actually done it.

Umm, extremely bad taste? Revolting? Shameless? Puke-inducing? Sick , sick, sick? Yes, all that and more. Now, he's not saying that he did it, but if he had gruesomely murdered his ex-wife (and the mother of his children, who must be thinking, "What the h*ll?"), this book will explain how he would have done it.

You may be wondering why this sensationalistic news (there will, of course, be an O.J. interview on the Fox network during sweeps weeks) should even make into this Idol Chatter blog.

Think of it this way: This blog is about the intersection of pop culture, religion, faith, and spirituality. This book of O.J.'s is so removed from faith and spirituality, so indicative that this man has not a moral, faith-ful bone in his body, that it's like a horrific 10-car pileup of pop culture, faith, and spirituality. If we had one, O.J. would definitely make into the Idol Chatter Hall of Shame.

Please, I urge you to join the O.J. boycott. Don't read this book, don't watch his interview. Though there are immoral people in this world like O.J., I must believe that there many more good souls.

We can be waxing sarcastic on the Britney-K-Fed break-up one day, and the next day a totally different story turns the Idol Chatter mood serious and reflective: "60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley succumbed to leukemia yesterday at the age of 65.

He was one of the big ones, a 26-year award-winning veteran of the journalism world and one of "60 Minutes"'s most vital journalists. The media outlets are touting his memorable stories, and how he broke racial barriers by becoming the first African-American White House correspondent.

This journalist covered everything, from reporting on brain cancer to interviewing Michael Jackson to the Roman Catholic sex scandal to covering all the major news stories to landing the only televised interview with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

But for me what stands out about Ed Bradley was his interviewing technique. We could all learn from his mastery of the interview. Veteran journalist Walter Cronkite said in an MSNBC.com article that Bradley “was tough in an interview, he was insistent on getting an interview, and at the same time when the interview was over, when the subject had taken a pretty heavy lashing by him--they left as friends. He was that kind of guy.”

Each big-name journalist is known for something. Barbara Walters becomes a celebrity’s friend and then asks those embarrassing questions we all want to know the answers to. Mike Wallace (also of "60 Minutes") was hard-hitting, almost combative. You wouldn’t see him interviewing Michael Jackson. Katie Couric is the queen of perkiness with the experience to back her up (though her transition to nightly news anchor continues to be rocky).

But Ed Bradley--if a big-name were ever to interview me, I would want it to be Bradley. I would’ve wanted him to cover the Ted Haggard scandal, to tackle the story of homegrown terrorism in the America, to give faith stories and issues the Bradley touch. If God allowed it, I'd sure love to witness the Almighty and Ed Bradley sitting across from each other, with Bradley rooting for the answers to those questions we all have buried in our hearts.

His story today is unfortunately buried at the bottom of most online news sites. But his death is one of the biggest losses for the journalism world and for all the stories that won’t be covered by him.

Pigs are flying, hell is freezing over, the night has turn to day and the day to night. The impossible has happened: Britney Spears is divorcing Kevin Federline after two long years of marriage.

You can't tell me that you were surprised. Well, maybe surprised that it took this long.

Citing the usual "irreconcilable differences," the 24-year-old pop star filed divorce papers on Monday and asked for custody of the couple's two children, Sean Preston, 1, and Jayden James, who is just two months old. The country girl and her husband were tabloid darlings, with stories of reckless spending and partying (by K-Fed), forays into Kabbalah and Hinduism (by Britney), and public fighting (by both of them) plaguing them since they tied the knot.

The timing of the announcement was priceless as well, pitting the Britster against the nail-biting election returns that graced everyone's newspapers and internet news sites on Tuesday. So what's more important? Whether the Democrats gain control of the Congress (it comes down to two hotly contested states in the Senate race), or the Britney Breakup (and hopefully her first steps to reclaiming her reign as the Queen of Pop)?

I'll go out on a limb and say that election news comes out on top. But the Britney-K-Fed demise is always a good chaser to wash away the sour taste of election stories. And you've got to check out EW.com for a hilarious "divorce version" of Britney's first big hit, "Oops, I did it again!" Priceless.