Morocco Time

Some of you may have seen my posts on Yassin Ahjam here or here. The posts weren’t all that special, but the flurry of comments left by Yassin fans were another story.

Now, however, I may have something bien mieux, mes amis…a comment from Yassin himself! First, another photo of him, so you can properly imagine the face behind the words.

yassine ahajjam Says: (April 10th, 2007 at 4:03 pm)
BONJOUR. JE SUIS TRES CONTENT DE TOUTES CES IMPRESSIONTS SUR MON TRAVAIL ARTISTIQUE COMME ACTEUR MAROCAIN. J’ESPERE RESTER DANS L’IMAGE QUE VOUS GARDER POUR MOI. merci infiniment.
je vous invite le 24 AVRIL AU THEATRE SIDI BELIOUTE, A CASABLANCE POUR ASSISTER AU SPECTACLE THEATRALE, QUE J’AI MIS EN SCENE, “GITAN DE MINUIT”. je serai la a vous recevoire….. voila…. é merci encore une fois
YASSINE AHAJJAM…….. QUI VOUS AIME BIEN……..
(NB/ CET EMEIL N’EST PAS LE MIEN, PAR CONTRE JE LIS PERIODIQUEMENT CE
FUROM. MERCI.)

OK, I know this was probably written by someone doing publicity for him, or something even less thrilling…but I choose to believe this is a personal invite for me.

Here’s my invite in English…

HELLO. I am very happy with all these impressions of my work as a Moroccan actor. I hope to maintain the image that you have of me. Thank you very much.
I invite you on April 24 to SIDI BELIOUTE, in CASABLANCA,to attend the theatrical production that I directed, “GIPSY OF
MIDNIGHT.”
I will be receiving you ….. here…. and thank you once again
YASSIN AHAJJAM …….. WHO LIKES YOU ……..
(NB This email is not mine, on the other hand I read this forum
periodically. Thank you.)

Well now, who’s going to attend this spectacle in my stead? I can hardly tell Hamou that I have to jet off to ????? ??????? to see a movie.

Does anyone watch a show on American TV called “The Class?” Here’s a description from tonight’s show:

“The Class Eats Moroccan Chicken
Season 1, Episode 17
Originally Aired: February 05, 2007
Lina and Richie host a dinner party, but her exotic dish leaves her friends forcing down inedible chicken to avoid hurting her feelings.”

Hmph. Moroccan cuisine isn’t for amateurs.

Of all the movies supposedly set in Morocco, this is the worst - I’m watching it right now on TCM, and I can’t look away, it’s that bad!

Boyer, playing a Trappist monk on the lam (Boris Androvski), wants to live and love, after feeling, well, trapped in the order. Yet he is the only one who knows the secret recipe of the monastery’s famous liqueur, not to mention that his marriage to the church is a vow unto death. Meanwhile, Dietrich, as heiress Domini Enfilden, is newy freed from her own prison of caring for her just deceased father and also seeks the frisson of the North African desert to nuture her soul (actually, Yuma, Arizona), travelling on a comically rendered model steamship.

They inevitably meet, and strike up sparks that, while not exactly visible to the viewer, are attested to in speeches with a wooden fervor. Perhaps marriage will cure their separate sadnesses? This is duly, if reluctantly, arranged by the local priest (odd, in this Muslim land), after which the newlyweds are whisked off in a preposterous camel-mounted billow of fabric into the scorching desert- a trip that the local sand-diviner has inconveniently forecast will come to a bad end.

Perhaps I should have consulted a “sand-diviner” before my own Moroccan marriage - must suggest this to Hamou tomorrow. Also must tell him that I was only seeking the “frisson” of the desert. He’ll think it’s a bad word.

If you do a search for this Moroccan actor on Google, my blog is near the top of the list - seems there’s not a lot of info out there on him. Consequently, fans keep finding the post and leaving comments, and it’s starting to get quite interesting. Here are the last five comments: (I’m guessing everyone can understand the pidgin French/Arabic they use for commenting…)

# zahra Says: (December 30th, 2006 at 8:00 am)

vraiment jai bp soufert pour trouver ce pti site pour toi jai beaucoup chercher ate correspondre tu me plais bp jai envie te voire chaq jour je suis lemission romana slm te voir tes beau et calm stp si c possible de me repondre j serai la plus heureuse bisou

# lila Says: (January 1st, 2007 at 2:58 pm)

Salam wa alaikoum à tous. Je ne sais pas si j’ai bien compris à qui s’adressait ce site; si c’est une forme de forum ou si ces messages sont adressés directement à Yassine. Ce qui est sûr c’est que l’on parle bien de lui. Je l’ai découvert récemment dans des téléfilms et franchement il assure. Il joue très bien, et est super charmant!

# salma ahjam Says: (January 3rd, 2007 at 7:32 pm)

slt yassine c salma ki t aime bzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaf.

# warda Says: (January 4th, 2007 at 11:57 am)

désolée mais je suis marié avec Yassin pour 6 ans! mais je trouve que c’est très gentille de vous!! je sais , que j’ai un homme trés beau!!!

bisoux a tous

# nassrine Says: (January 4th, 2007 at 3:37 pm)

cest pour warda. tu est un mentuese parce que moi je suis marie avec yassine ahjam pour 2 ans. daccord peut-être il triche sur vous parce que vous n’êtes pas une bonne épouse.

Meoooow! Hiss! This is a prime time to mention how many Moroccan men I know that have mistresses (lots)…and the women are just as bad, in my mind - they seem to make a concerted effort to go after men that have money/power, attached or not.

As for who’s really married to Yassin, it’s impossible to know. I’ll have to see a marriage contract before I believe Warda or Nassrine!

Has anyone watched the made-for-TV movie “Saida” (?????) on 2M? General plot - woman takes a taxi, and the mul al taxi - also a karkoubi addict - has his supplier in the back, and they kidnap her at knife point. Bad things happen - Bad Things that she doesn’t want to tell(pdf) anyone about, but she finally confesses to an ONG who deals with violence against women. The woman who works there is strangely cold and brusque, and pushes poor Saida to tell her everything that happened.

After her confession, Saida starts to feel better - and one day, she spots the evil mul al taxi! She tails him, and to cut to the end of a very drawn out movie, catches him and the drug dealer kidnapping another woman. The police arrive, the mul al taxi dies in a fall, and the second victim is saved. The husband still doesn’t know anything, but he finds a card from the ONG in her purse, and starts to figure it out - but the closing scene shows them leaving their home for a picnic, while the drug dealer watches. EEEEEEEEE.

Date de diffusion : dimanche 10 décembre 2006 à 21:20 GMT
Rediffusions :
lundi 11 décembre 2006 à 16:54 GMT / international
Public : TOUS PUBLICS (INTERDIT AUX MOINS DE 10 ANS)

ACTEURS
FATEMA KHAIR
SAÂD TSOULI