Adeen and Zaeem

Hey friends,

here are my two favorite people in the world: Adeen and Zaeem (my niece and nephew!)



Mansur

To Realize...

Hey friends,

I am sure some of you may have received this in a forward email, but I just thought, with so little time on my own hands (thanks to a 8-8 job) I am realizing how precious time really is, and that we should make full use of it. I have a screen saver on my work computer that says Carpe Diem--- Seize the Day! (from The Dead Poets' Society)

To Realize....

To realize
The value of a sister
Ask someone
Who doesn't have one.

To realize
The value of ten years:
Ask a newly
Divorced couple.

To realize
The value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize
The value of one year:
Ask a student who
Has failed a final exam.

To realize
The value of one month:
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize
The value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize
The value of one hour:
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize
The value of one minute:
Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
The value of one-second:
Ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realize
The value of one millisecond:
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

To realize the value of a friend:
Lose one.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have.
You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

---

Mansur

American Idol 2006 :: Finale

Hello friends,

American Idol season 5 is finally over. I just finished watching the repeat of the show, and I am covered with goosebumps as I saw all the top 12 finalists come on stage and sing amazing songs.

I followed American Idol for the first time last year in 2005 and it was a lot of fun, especially as I following the show with my very good friend in Riyadh! The finale last year literally gave me goosebumps as I heard Carrie Underwood sing Angels Brought Me Here. So, I was equally as excited as her when American Idol was showing this year!

Katherine McPhee and Taylor Hicks were two favorites right from the beginning. There were couple of shocks elimination too, namely Chris Daughtry, that too on my birthday!

American Idol is one of the best reality show out there, but the nicest thing about is that its a clean, fun show to watch. There is no backstabbing, gossiping, romance like you see in all the other shows. You don't see the singers on Idol behind the scenes, except when they are practicing their music. Each week, we would see the people sing, and the following day see who America voted out. Each passing week saw an increase of voters. For the finale, 63.3 million people voted, and that's more than any American president ever received, which goes to show how popular the show is.

I had such an amazing time watching the two hour finale, and I think my friend who shared the journey with me over the last so many weeks, will testify to the fact how emotional the show is, with moments making you laugh out loud and moments that gets right to your heartstrings (Elliott and his mom being one!)

I am sad American Idol has ended, now I will have to wait for another year. To those who think this show is just another talent show, think again, because every single winner, including the runner up, have sold more than 3 million copies, with Kelly Clarkson (winner season 1) racking up two Grammys this year.

So friends, this year, the winner is Taylor Hicks, who has performed consistently over the season, and I will be the first one out there to buy his album. Having said that, I am also a huge fan of the runner up, Katherine McPhee, and I will buy her album too!

(L-R: Katherine, Carrie (season 4 winner), Taylor-winner 2006)

Mansur

The Da Vinci Code: Blockbuster!

Hey friends,

The verdict is finally out. The Da Vinci Code made $224m in its opening weekend. Although the figures were lower than expected in the US, the worldwide release of this movie made The Da Vinci Code only the second movie in the world with the highest figures upon release (Stars Wars Episode 3 is in first place!) One thing the director has been stressing over and over is that this movie is a piece of fiction, and is not based on theology. Even in the book, the author mentions that this book is a piece of fiction. Keeping that in mind, I think this movie will be a fun and exciting movie to watch, despite bad reviews, because this kind of movie is supposed to be a fun, summer blockbuster kind of movie and not a lesson in theology!

Mansur

The Da Vinci Code excitement

Hey friends,

The one thing I am most excited about is the release of the movie The Da Vinci Code. The movie was screened at the Cannes film festival where it received from lukewarm to not too good reviews. Critics claim it's more of a summer blockbuster than theology-based movie it really should be. I for one, have read the book and absolutely loved it. Here's my book review of it.



Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors, and I am so excited to see his new movie. I am prepared for this movie to not live up to my expectations, but it's been directed by Ron Howard, who has chosen to treat this movie as a summer blockbuster, a captivating intense, mystery detective thriller movie. I always loved the Indiana Jones series because of the adventure/ mystery element of it.

I am just really waiting in anticipation for the movie to be released.

Right now, there is a huge debate going on whether the movie should be released here in the UAE or not. The censor board has agreed to release the movie, with one scene chopped off. I still don't understand what the deal is with the censor board. If the book, both the regular and illustrated ones, are available here, why are you delaying the release of the movie. It's like what they did with Syriana. They allowed the filmmakers to shoot parts of the movie in Dubai, and then when it came for the movie to be released, they delayed it by so much that people eventually ended up watching it on pirated DVD, thereby hurting the movie sales when it was eventually released a little too late.

Anyways, it's coming out here on May 31st, and I am going to make sure to catch the first day show. Will let you all know how it is.

Mansur

Jeddah: Our Last Trip Ever

Hello friends,

My sister and I will be making our final trip ever, to a city we have come to call our ‘home’--- Jeddah. I may have mentioned it before to you all that my parents are leaving Jeddah in June this year, which means I wont be going to back Jeddah every six months like I have been for the last 12 years. My dad was supposed to leave two years ago, but we all managed to convince him to stay for another year, and then another year. This year, however, he has made his final decision to leave Saudi Arabia.

I don’t know what emotions we all may go through as we realize that we are all there for one last time. It’s like a final family/ friends reunion in Jeddah. Over the so many years of living there, Jeddah has become home to me. I don’t even know where to begin to describe how much affection and love I have for the city of Jeddah.

I remember when Big Mac opened up, which was so popular. There was no McDonalds or any other American fast food, and yet we still loved our way of life. I remember when we would get only Pepsi and no Coke. Oh, what about Americano burger? You cannot get more awesome burgers anywhere else in the world! Atallah, Al-Dewan, Pizza Sheikh, I mean how can I ever forget all these places? Oh, what about the all time favorite food of mine from Jeddah: Al Baik! The best chicken ever..and oh, their garlic sauce is heavenly!

I remember watching movies, sitcoms (remember how heavily censored Full House would be!?) and cartoons (Captain Majid, Grendizer, Simba the White Lion etc etc) on channel 2 (which has now disappeared amid the invasion of satellite channels!) I mean, who can forget the awesome beaches we would go hang out at? All of us would go to Areej beach and we would always have so much fun! The corniche in itself is so amazing, just sitting there amidst the water crashing on the rocks will be one thing I will miss so much. I have seen Jeddah grow over the years, and it has come a long way!

However, having said all that, what I will really miss will be the simplicity and innocence Jeddah had when I was growing up there. I guess that can be true for any city, but growing up in Jeddah has given me so many precious memories.

Sure, the one thing that hits me the hardest is losing the awesome opportunity to go to Makkah whenever I wanted to. I have been going to Makkah for as long as I can remember, and going to Makkah has become such an integral part of my life, it’s like second nature to me. I don’t know how I will feel once I am out of Saudi Arabia. Will I feel hollow and empty? Will I feel the longing to get to Makkah?

More than anything, I will miss my home in Jeddah. Every time I would be traveling back to Jeddah, I would tell my friends I am going home, and they would think either I am going to Pakistan or that I am a Saudi. So I have to clarify that I am a Pakistani at heart who has made Jeddah his home!

I am going through a phase right now where I want to collect all my memories of Jeddah and put them together. I want to do everything related to Saudi Arabia. I want t-shirts with Jeddah written on it. I want maps and books on Jeddah. Recently I was in Starbucks and while browsing through the mugs, I saw one which had Kingdom of Saudi Arabia written on it. I bought that mug purely for emotional reasons. I also have a book on Jeddah called Jeddah: A City of Art. I plan on picking up lots and lots of stuff from Jeddah to bring back with me to Dubai. I also plan on taking pictures of all the familiar places I have been going to for so many years. I want to document and record all my memories. I want to make a huge book filled with all things related to Saudi Arabia. I tell you, I will be one huge ambassador for Jeddah. People scoff at me when I tell them I love Jeddah, and my promise to the Saudis is that I will do my best to portray a positive image of Jeddah, and encourage every person who crosses my path to visit Jeddah!

Mansur

My 29th Birthday!

Hello friends,

I don’t know what it was about this year but I was so excited about celebrating my birthday. I knew I would be turning 30 minus 1 but I was still excited. A week prior to my birthday, my friend NR asked me to keep my birthday day open and free as she wanted to “surprise” me! So my week passed by rather anxiously as I wondered what NR had up her sleeve. So come Wednesday, the day before my birthday, I sent a message to NR and she said she will call me back. I did not hear back from her the whole evening. I suspected that NR may be ignoring me deliberately and then surprise me at midnight!

MAY 10th
11pm
Watching The Apprentice.

MAY 11th
12am- midnight
My friend AB from Riyadh calls me up with a Happy Birthday greeting.

1am
My mom and dad call me to wish me happy birthday.

10am
Got up, watched tv, American Idol (Chris Daughtry is out) results and then to the mall. I have decided to get myself contact lenses (despite my cornea ulcer episode) and also to get highlights in my hair. Last time I did that I got a lighter shade of brown, but this time I was more daring and went straight for blond! I was shocked at the result, but saw that the shade was perfect to go with my brown hair. Funnily enough, the cab driver asked me on the way back home if I was a Lebanese! I asked him if he ever met a Lebanese who could talk Urdu (because I haven’t!)

630pm
MK calls me up. Am I coming over to her place or not? Yes, I am!

7pm
I get to MK’s house. Her husband is also coming with us. Where are we going, I asked MK. It’s a drive through shawerma place in Jumeira. I knew both MK (and NR) were bluffing, but MK said that it’s a surprise.

730pm
On our way to Dubai from Sharjah there is a flat tire. We go to garage service to get the tire replaced, and then back home to Sharjah to get the other car. NR called several times to find out where we were. Anytime NR called, she would talk to MK and give her directions. They went out of their way to keep the whole thing as secretive as they could.

830pm
We finally get to Madinat Jumeirah. Thank God it’s not the drive through shawerma place. That would have made for a very boring birthday! NR calls me and tells me to get the car parked at the Chicago parking. Chicago? The Broadway play from New York is playing here in Dubai! For a second, I thought maybe we were going to watch the show, since NR was calling over and over to ask what time we would get to the hotel.

9pm
We finally meet up with NR and the rest of the gang. We are not watching the show after all. According to NR it was crap! Instead we walked inside the souk, down to the waterfront avenue. Are we going where I think we are going? We pass through several restaurants, and I finally get it. We were going to have dinner at The Meat Co.--- one of my favorite places in Dubai to have steaks!



1015pm
Dinner finally arrives. Awesome food. Great conversations. A toast from MK. Clinking of glasses. And who can forget our South African waiter Lucky, with whom NR had a jolly conversation about Pakola, the national drink of Pakistan!

1115pm.
We head off to Dubai Marina.

1130pm
Finally get settled in on our table. We play Pictionary. I take sheesha. Then, all of a sudden, the waiter brings a cake and everyone at the table sings out loud! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I blow out the candle, cut the cake and God, the cake was absolutely divine!



1145pm
My brother calls me, but I miss the phone call. My niece leaves the sweetest message, saying Happy Birthday in her British accent!

May12th
12am-midnight
MK and her husband leave us. They were tired. The rest of us stay on and play cards. A lot of laughing went on. I was becoming high on sheesha. I become dizzy and feel like I am in another world. I had so much sheesha I was not able to resist not puffing in. We all move over to the sofas, where some of us put our feet up and relaxed.

130am
Time to go home. It’s getting late. Two people are sleeping. I am still high on sheesha.

215am.
Finally get home. Thought about the whole day, and thanked God for an amazing birthday and even more amazing friends.

3am.
Finally out from all that sheesha!

New Blog

Hey friends,

Another blog added to my reading list. It's called Nahsfa's Blog. Check it out.

Mansur

Movie :: The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

Hello friends,

A great movie to check out this week: The Hills Have Eyes (THHE). Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream) directed the original version, which was extremely freaky and scary in its own right. The 1970s version seems outdated now, especially with the effects. However, the new version takes the scary parts from the 70s version, amplifies it, notches up the fear factor, and brings it to the year 2006!

The premise of THHE has been copied and re-copied by countless horror movies, and THHE is the benchmark for the classic case of “people stranded in the middle of nowhere being preyed upon by evil forces” (see Deliverance, Wrong Turn, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wolf Creek, The Blair Witch Project). However, what makes THHE ultra-creepy is the blurring of fact and fiction.



The credits in the beginning inform us about the countless nuclear explosions that the United States government conducted in the barren New Mexico desert. The inhabitants of the small mining town refused to leave their town thereby exposing themselves to nuclear radiation. Because of this, their children were born deformed (and deformed they were complete with missing fingers, enlarged skulls, webbed feet!) Black and white photographs and newspaper clippings all bear witness to the events that occurred in the 70s. Think about Chernobyl and you get the idea.

Enter the Carter family: dad, mom, son, daughters, son in law and the baby. On a routine stop at a lonesome gas pump, they encounter a typical gas attendant, complete with rotten teeth and cigar smoking. He informs the family of a short cut through the desert to California. Of course, we all know the family will take the short cut. However, a trap punctures their car and trailer and they are left stranded. One of them sees a light flashing across the hill. The sons sees one of his dogs ripped apart. They know someone is out there; the hills have eyes- they are not alone!

Tensions flares between the family members. Brother and sister are fighting. Dad and son in law don’t get along. The other daughter is stuck between her family and her husband. The wife is disapproving of her husband. However, all it takes for them to set aside their differences are a bunch of deformed human beings who terrorize the helpless family.

Out in the middle of nowhere, where no scream can be heard, the family is terrorized. One is crucified and burnt, another is shot in the head, a third is shot in the stomach, and the baby is...well, I won’t spoil the surprise.

THHE is a solid horror movie, very realistically made, and very believable, so much so, you want to know if the government did indeed mess up the inhabitants of this small mining town rendering them deformed. Once the terrifying attack takes place on the family we know there is no turning back, and are immediately pulled into this world of terror, fear, shock and ultimate gore. We also instantly realize that in the hands of these attackers, it is better to die instantly than to endure prolonged suffering and torture.

Once again, I saw the late show, where I was one of the few in the massive theatre, and walking back home alone at midnight was no fun. Once again, I could get to sleep, thinking about whether it is better to die quickly and get over it with your life or to fight back for your life enduring pain and torture.

Mansur

Movie :: A History of Violence

Hey people,

When I first heard about A History of Violence (HoV), I thought it would be a documentary movie about violence and how it originated. I hesitated to watch the movie on dvd, but then, one lazy night, I popped the dvd in, and now I want to highly recommend the movie.



Tom Stall (Viggo Mortenson- Lord of the Rings) lives in small town Indiana with his wife (Maria Bello- The Cooler) and two kids. He runs a small diner and lives a very simple life (pretty much the way I want to live!) Two mobsters enter the diner, and from what we see at the beginning of the movie, these mobsters just go around killing people whomever they feel like. The waitress is threatened, and before the mobsters could do anything, Tom Stall, in a very precise and timely manner attacks the mobsters and saves the lives of the waitress and the customers. Overnight, Tom Stall becomes the all American hero.

A few days later, one-eyed Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) comes in to the diner and talks to Tom Stall. Fogarty assumes he is talking to Joey Cusack. He tells Joey to go to Philadelphia to meet the boss there (John Hurt). Tom Stall denies he is Joey. His wife thinks Fogarty has mistaken her husband for someone else. However, Forgarty is so sure he is talking to Joey and even asks Tom to remember hard his past. Tom has no clue what Fogarty is talking about and asks him to leave.

Tom realizes that he has attracted the attention of a large circle of mobsters, since he killed two. Do the others want revenge and kill Tom Stall? We don’t know. Fogarty tells Tom’s wife to ask him of how he was able to single handedly kill two trained mobsters despite being a small-town family man. His wife starts to doubt her husband. How did a simple man like my husband manage to kill two men? Tom’s son, who is always picked on at school, at first resorts to non-violence to avoid confrontation, but after seeing his father attack two men, is led to believe that violence may be the answer to his problems.

It may sound off putting to some people, but this movie is so well made, stylishly shot, smooth and slick. The action scenes are as realistic as possible, thereby enhancing the realness of the movie. It’s not a documentary, nor is it filled with violence. At the core of this movie is a story about a man and his family and how their lives are changed when an outside claims that this man is not who he claims to be.

There is a huge mystery element to this story. Is Tom really Joey, or is it a case of mistake identity? What does Tom Stall eventually do? Does Fogarty drive a wedge between Tom and his wife? Does his wife still love him even though he is being called Joey by someone else now? What is the truth and who is Tom Stall really?

Mansur