Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You

Ok, Skate and Feel Free

Shamefully, I will admit that then when I saw a New York Times article earlier this week on skateboarding in Afghanistan I was a little skeptical. My expectation was that the piece would be overly sentimental and would examine false parallels between the U.S. and Afghani cultures in an attempt to create a kind of free-floating, improvised nostalgia. I was wrong. This simply written and insightful piece is embedded with honest and brutal observations about class and gender issues in Afghanistan. The Times hosts a short, related video for those who would like to see a bit of what skateboarding in Kabul looks like.

At the risk of playing into the same feeling of false nostalgia that I mentioned above, let me say that reading about Skatistan reminded me of local author Blake Nelson's Paranoid Park (a film based on this title and directed by Gus Van Sant was released in 2007). While I wouldn't directly compare the protagonist's psychological turmoil to the daily experience of skaters in Afghanistan, there is something familiar and dark in Nelson's depiction of a young skateboarder's attempt to make sense of their role in an act of extreme violence. Set in Portland (the park referenced is based on the world-renowned Burnside Skatepark) Paranoid Park is a powerful coming of age story that will ring true for both those who grew up in the Pacific Northwest and those who are growing up here now.

And if those PacNW readers happen to be young women who enjoy skateboarding, let me recommend Patty Segovia and Rebecca Heller's Skater Girl - A Girl's Guide to Skateboarding. Segovia and Heller's book is no academic treatise on gender studies, instead it is a straight forward introduction to the history and culture of skateboarding which just happens to be written by, and exclusively illustrated with photos of, women. Really, any youngster interested in skating could get a lot out of this book but its matter-of-fact presentation will appeal most to young women. Another useful resource in this regard is Skate Like A Girl which started in Seattle but is creeping down I-5 to Portland (imagine them as a Rock 'n' Roll Camp For Girls but with decks and trucks instead of strats and snares).

Published by Thrasher Magazine, Insane Terrain goes light on the text and heavy on the photo illustrations in documenting skateboarding's boundless search for new spots in the urban (and sometimes rural) topography. The ingenuity and dedication presented in these images is inspiring and speaks to a core essence of creativity and courage that sets skateboarding apart from more traditional past-times like organized sports. An updated edition of Insane Terrain might well include photos of the Uganda Skateboard Union. For those unfamiliar with this project here's a link to a short video introduction, as hosted by the park's resident superhero Board Master. His ability to turn workaday tools into skateboards is something that would come in handy here or in Skatistan and his proclamation, "Ok, Skate and Feel Free" makes for a motto any skater could agree with.

What About Afghanistan?

Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Taliban leader Mohammad Omar have both been in the news lately, as the they engage in that odd pre-negotiation that seems to be a necessary precursor to international peace talks. On Sunday, Karzai announced that despite international pressure not to, he would guarantee Omar's security if he came to Afghanistan to participate in talks; and the next day, Taliban leaders rejected Karzai's offer, saying they won't engage in talks until foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

When I stop to think about current events in Afghanistan, I'm often frustrated by the complexity of the political and cultural history there. Reading the news about Karzai and Omar and the question of whether they'll be able to negotiate a peace, I began to wonder if there might be a few well-written, engaging books that can help me understand Afghanistan, its people, and their history.

Since I'm a librarian, I know lots of other librarians who can suggest the perfect book, and I started my search by asking my colleague Markrid if she had any suggestions. She came up with a great book to help me start my reading! Here's how she describes it: "It's too bad that books like Peter Marsden's The Taliban come along so seldom: short, clear, impartial, and elegantly written, it manages to identify the historical and social forces motivating the players in a famously complicated part of the world. Marsden skillfully integrates anthropology, economics, and religion as he describes the five main tribal groups in Afghanistan, the legacy of the long war with the Soviet Union, and, most importantly, the views and values of the Pushtun culture, whose members dominate the Taliban. Look for an updated edition soon."

Often when I am interested in a place I've never been, I like to read about other people's travels there. The Road to Oxiana is the story of Englishman Robert Byron's 1933 journey from Cyprus through Syria to Afghanistan and all points between. Unlike most travel books, The Road to Oxiana isn't arranged chronologically – Byron instead sorted the pieces of his narrative into categories of his own design. Observations on current events, descriptions of small delays and travel disasters, letters, transcriptions of signs and public notices, and comic dialogues between members of Byron's party and the people they encountered along the way are juxtaposed like a crazy quilt. The book is funny, irreverent, and often politically incorrect (by modern standards), and it paints a startlingly vivid picture of the lands Byron traveled through.

Afghanistan has been wracked with active guerilla and military conflict for nearly thirty years, and the consequent violence and turmoil has often endangered Afghans' cultural heritage as well as their safety and way of life. But the staff of the Afghan National Museum removed thousands of precious antique artifacts and hid them away to keep them safe from looters and cultural revisionists. Many of these precious objects are now part of a traveling exhibit, which is currently touring the United States. Unfortunately, the exhibit isn't coming to Portland (it is at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco right now!), but we can read about the artifacts and their place in history in the exhibition catalog Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. More importantly, we can feast our eyes on hundreds of gorgeous photographs of the jewelry, sculpture, burial objects, glassware, pottery, and other ancient objects in the exhibit.