Up and Down and Away

Hey guys,

At the Dubai airport, this is what I saw at the top of the inside of the elevator. I don't understand the logic of this. Can anyone enlighten me where this idea comes from? And check out the spelling: instead of Always, it says Aways. Come on Dubai airport, you are such a world class airport, catering to visitors from all over the world, and yet fail to put something with proper spelling (don't mind me, I have a very sharp eye for spellings!) and bad grammar, I mean, "while go up"...puh-leeeze!

Movie :: Say Anything (80s)

Hey friends,

Last night I saw a movie Say Anything, which is one the classics from the 80s. I couldn't believe I missed this movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Say Anything is an extremely simple movie with a massive impact. It's about Lloyd Dobler, who is an easy going, laid back high school guy who just graduated. He falls in love with Diane Court, who is a rich, intelligent girl living with her dad, often in her world as she is often alone. Lloyd is surprised, as is everyone around him, when Diane agrees to hang out with him and be his girlfriend. Of course, her father isn't too happy as he sees big dreams for his daughter who has just won the Reed Fellowship in England. How they pursue their relationship overcoming obstacles forms the crux of the movie, with a couple of twist.

The great about this movie is its simplicity. There are only three principal characters, and as simple it is, it's also very complex as the two main leads fall in love for the first time. The best thing in the movie was the song In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel.

Mansur

Movie :: Turistas

Hey guys,

We saw Turistas last week, and for those not in the know, Turistas is the Brazilian word for Tourists. Turistas is a movie best billed as a mixture of Wolf Creek/ The Descent/ Hostel.

A bunch of backpackers riding a bus suddenly find themselves stranded on the roadside as the bus encounters an accident. They soon discover a beach down by the roadside and make their way towards it. Like the scene from the movie The Beach, these backpackers think they have found paradise, and meet up with other foreigners too. They ensue in drinking, partying and dancing all night, with a couple of backpackers getting a little too friendly with the local Brazilian women.

However, the next morning, our backpackers find themselves all alone, with all their belongings, passports, cash, cell phones stolen. They make their way towards the local town, where they some of their stolen items being worn by the kids. A chase ensues when Kiko, a local Brazilian guy tells these backpackers that he will take them to his uncle's house for rest and help.

In the meantime, we get to see the locals get to work, with one doctor telling his comrades that he wants these backpackers alive. We all know the what the doctor wants. Their organs!

While the movie starts off well, building up the tension, it fails to hold any attention from the viewers as the movie descends into a typical Hollywood flick, where the good guys beat out the bad guys and have a happy ending after all! Unlike Hostel, Wolf Creek and The Descent, Turistas plays it safe. I think the other major dissapointment was how the movie's main scene, which is a major shock element, was censored and that totally ruined it for everyone. I wanted to like this movie, because I like such kind of movies, but Turistas failed to cut it for me.

A good build up, good cinematography, especially the underwater caves scene, which was effective enough to make you gasp for air yourself, but let down by a typical ending which fails to leave any impression on the viewers.

Mansur

Ski Dubai

Hey friends,

After I had slipped on the thick pants and jacket over my clothes, I knew I was in for an experience. Wearing the somewhat heavy boots, my friend and I made our way over to the counter, where the man behind the counter took one of our boot and adjusted the skis for us. My friend and I made our way over to Snow School, where there were three young guys with us. They were originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, who now lived in London. My friend and I got talking with them, when Mr. Mounir, a Moroccan man, came and introduced himself to us as the instructor. He made sure we all had our ski boots on properly and got our skis.

We made our way through the gate and went up the escalator to the first level, where the door was opened out to the skiing area. The first thing that hits you is the intense cold. I didn't think it would be this cold, but it was cold with a capital C! My friend is used to the cold, since he is from Holland, so he was perfectly all right, but I was beginning to shake already. Two more people joined us, an inter-racial couple from the UK. So with now 7 people in the group, Mr. Mounir started us off by giving us warming up exercise. We all waved our arms, and jumped several times, and it was only now that I was beginning to feel better and shake less from the cold.

The first thing we learned to do was to slip our feet onto the ski itself. The mechanism is such that the boots are made to be locked onto the skis. Once we all stepped into the skis and locked our boots, we had skis for feet now. The next thing we did was to learn to make a pizza pie, which is where you join the front of the skis and extend the back of the skis, so you get a pizza pie shape. This move is used when you want to stop on the slope. The trick was to use both our feet to move both the skis, as some in the group were doing it one by one.

"When do we get on the slope?" was the burning question everyone was asking. Before we realized it, we were on the beginner's slope. We had to climb up a third of the way, and then come skiing down the slope, using the pizza pie movement to slow down and stop. Soon, we used the travellator taking us half way up the slope. We were getting the hang of skiing down the slope half way through. Soon, my friend and I made it all the way to the top of the beginner's hill. From there, the speed was so fast that several times, I was not able to stop myself on time and come crashing into the snow wall at the end of the slope.

The adrenaline rush you get from skiing is immense. It's the rush of a roller-coaster, except the only thing is you get to fall everywhere on the snow. The speed at which you come downhill is so fast you instinctly start waving arms around- which is a bad idea!

Anyone seeking adventure and adrenaline rush, make sure Ski Dubai is the place!

Mansur

Celebrating Singlehood

Hey friends,

So today is Valentine's Day and Dubai is in full swing. Flowers, cards, chocolates and teddy bears are being brought en masse, at least on this side of town it is. Yes, today is the day when every declares their love to their loved ones. It's not about romantic love anymore, but friends share the love, children to parents and vice versa. However, where does that leave single people like me? I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. Sure, I may have sent and received cards to my female friends in school/ high school, but they were just more trying-to-get-noticed kind of cards.

Skeptics say why is there Valentine's Day in the first place? Why should there be one day to declare your love to others, when you can do it every day of the year? They apply the same logic to Mother's Day and Father's Day. Why keep one day aside to appreciate your mother or father, when really it should be happening on a daily basis?

Anyways, back to being single on a day when everyone else around seems to have a girlfriend/ boyfriend/ fiance/ fiancee/ wife/ husband with them to celebrate today. I want to celebrate singlehood, and why sometimes being single is better than being with someone. Here are my top ten reasons, among many others.

10. The ability to watch whatever on television without having to fight over the remote control
9. I don't have to shave everyday and can grow a stubble without anyone telling me to shave.
8. Being in control of my budget, expenditures, shopping for myself without any nagging from the other half.
7. I can get out in my car at 1am and drive down to get something to eat, like Burger King or ice cream!
6. I can make a mess in my home without having to worry to cleaning it up.
5. I have the entire double bed to myself!
4. I can surf the internet for as long as I want to!
3. I can blast music to the max volume and listen to James Blunt 24/7!
2. I can be moody without anyone trying to find out if something's wrong! If I don't want to talk - I just won't!
1. The complete FREEDOM to do whatever I want, whenever I want to, wherever I want to!

I am sure there are tonnes of other amazing reasons for being single. So all you single people out there, celebrate singlehood. If you guy have any more reasons for being single, let me know!

Mansur

Grammys 2007

Hey friends,

Saw the Grammys last night, not live but the recorded version. I haven't been this excited in a long time to watch the Grammys. The last Grammy nominees CD I got was back in 1997, and never bothered to get one after that. Now, I am getting the Grammy Nominees 2007 CD because there are a lot of good talent.

Here are the highlights for me:

1. James Blunt singing You're Beautiful- he is still my favorite singer- still passionate singing, I got goosebumps listening to the song. Pity he didn't win any awards despite being nominated in five categories.

2. Carried Underwood- she was the American Idol 2005 winner, and it was great to see her winning Best New Artist.

3. Corrine Bailey Rae, John Mayer and John Legend performing on stage all together. Awesome experience.

4. The Dixie Chicks winning major awards. Very surprising since they were not taken seriously after one of the singer claimed she was embarrased President Bush was from her home State of Texas.

5. Mary j. Blige, with 8 nominations, it was a delight to see her perform.

It was a short and fun show, and I am genuinely excited by some of the new singers arriving in the music world.

Mansur

Good News

Hey,

Two good news.

One is that I have finally decided to get the apartments on the first floor at the Italy cluster at International City. I am excited now, and hopefully the deal should be done by the end of this week. I am looking forward to move in my new place before the end of the month..and rent out the other apartments.

Two, my friend here for a job promotion at her place, and she's really excited by that, so much so, she treated me out to one of the best burger places in Dubai at the Dubai Marina. How cool is that!!?? Thanks friend! Next time, it will be my treat to celebrate your much needed promotion!

And oh, I was thinking about one other thing. My dad called me up to ask me about the house he has bought at Meadows, and what the price would be if he sold it. Someone told my dad that the selling price for the houses in Meadows have gone up to 4 million dirhams. I mean, I was just amazed at the thought that my dad, should he sell this house, is a millionaire already whether you think of it as millionaire in dirhams or in US Dollars. Is Dubai the one city that has allowed the investors to become millionaires the quickest?

Mansur

Quick News

Hey friends,

Some quick and not so exciting news.

1. I checked out the place at International City and saw which apartment I would be most likely to move in. Right now, it's between the ground floor or the first floor. Let's see which one it is as the decision should be made this week.

2. Attended a wedding on Thursday. It was the mehndi (henna) day, which was all right. I didn't know anyone, except for my cousin with whom I went with. A couple of family relatives were there, but I didn't really enjoy it. The food wasn't so amazing either.

3. Went to a Pet Show here in Dubai today afternoon. Again, such a hyped event, with little to see and do. I guess maybe it's because I don't have a pet, nor a family and kids to go with.

Nothing else is happening.

Mansur

Jerry Maguire

Hey friends,

I know this sounds crazy but I just saw Jerry Maguire for the first time in my life a couple of days ago. I saw the 2 disc collector's edition on sale, and I picked it up because I had heard a lot about this movie on its release back in 1996. I slipped in the DVD, grabbed my caramel popcorn and soda, and watched this movie.

I tell you, I had tears at the end of this movie. I wasn't expected to be drawn in emotionally, but to see Jerry Maguire go from such an amazing job, right down to the pits, and climb back up to success made for such a feel-good movie. It was Jerry's vulnerability and passion and zest for life that made me want to be him. I saw a lot of myself in him, in regards to him being down in the dumps, and with no luck on my side; but just as Jerry had a good friend Dorothy next to him in his life, I know I have a certain friend to who is there for me in my life during my down in the dumps moments.

It was that one song at the end, Secret Garden by Bruce Springsteen, that made me shed a few tears. A song about that special woman in your life, who will let you inside her secret garden, and thats when you know you have found your soul-mate. I am turning 30 this year, and with each passing day, my hopes of finding the right girl for marriage seem to be diminishing. Will I ever find the right girl? Where is she? I have made many mistakes in life, and have learnt from them, but the one mistake I don't want to make is my marriage.

She'll let you in her house
If you come knockin' late at night
She'll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
If you pay the price
She'll let you deep inside

But there's a secret garden she hides

She'll let you in her car
To go drivin' round
She'll let you into the parts of herself
That'll bring you down
She'll let you in her heart
If you got a hammer and a vise

But into her secret garden, don't think twice

You've gone a million miles
How far'd you get
To that place where you can't remember
And you can't forget
She'll lead you down a path
There'll be tenderness in the air
She'll let you come just far enough
So you know she's really there
She'll look at you and smile
And her eyes will say

She's got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay
A million miles away

-- Bruce Springsteen

Mansur

Cinema Goers

Hey guys,

There is something that is provoking me to write this post. At the recent screening of Blood Diamond, I was appalled at teh behavior of some of the movie goers. They were continuously talking, texting on their cell phones, getting up and going more than several times during the movie, standing in the aisles talking on their phones and basically talking out loud with each other as if they were watching the movie at home. It wasn't only in Blood Diamond, but almost every movie I have seen. It's understandable in a movie like Superman Returns where the audience scream out in delight, and clap at the end, but with a movie like Blood Diamond, I was a little angry at the way the audience were treating this movie.

These are some of the things that really annoy me:

1. People coming in late at the movies, especially after they have missed the sometimes prelude to the main story in the movie, as in the case of horror movies, where the opening act sets the story. I can't believe people come in this late to miss the entire beginning and are willing to watch the rest of the movie. I could never do that.

2. People talking to each other out the I can hear them two rows down. Why oh why do you have to talk out so loud to disturb the other people?

3. Crying kids! Why do parents bring them in when they know the kids will only make crying noises, and the parent is forced to carry the kid through the entire row?

4. People talking on their phones so loudly I can hear their voice and not the movie! Why oh why? I remember telling one local guy to stop talking so loudly because I could not hear the movie, but he continued to talk, and I turned around and stared at him so sternly till he closed the phone. If it's important, take it outside!

5. People leaving the movie before the movie ends, and when they realized walking down the steps the movie hasn't ended, they end up standing in front of you watching the end of the movie. I was little bit concerned when almost everyone were leaving the cinema when the afterword was coming on at the end of Blood Diamond. What? They don't care about it?

I don't know when the cinema goers will change their attitudes of watching movies in a public place. A cinema is a public place, not a private home. Please respect other people when you are there.

Mansur

Movie:: Blood Diamond

Hey friends,

Having just seen Blood Diamond last night, my conscience has been shaken and stirred. I knew it would be about the diamond trade, but I had little idea of how much brutality, savagery and deaths happen in order to get the diamonds we get today at the market.

Djimon Honsou plays Solomon, a family man earning his livelihood as a fisherman, living peacefully in his village in Sierra Leone, till the day the anti-government forces come and kill the people, rape the women, kidnap strong men to work for them in the rivers panning for diamonds, and abducting young boys to brainwash them, hand them a gun and develop them into killing forces themselves. Solomon is separated from his family. His son is taken by the anti-government forces and brainwashed. Solomon ends up in the jungle, where Danny Archer (Leo DiCaprio) hears about the rare diamond Solomon has found in the river and dug it deep in the jungle. Danny, a Zimbabwean diamond mercenary, seeks to befriend Solomon so he can get to the Diamond. Danny encounters Maddy, who is a tough nut American journalist wanting to get her report on an expose on the illegal diamond trade, wanting to reveal the diamond company back home with a name that resembles De Beers.

It's a very gritty movie, especially when you see how families are killed, children abducted and turned into child soldiers and the number of people dying only to get the diamonds to the first world countries. All three principal characters are so well played out, it was a treat to watch them, especially Leo DiCaprio with his South African accent, playing a selfish and amoral character, pondering over whether God has left the country because of so many senseless killings, and that too of his own parents. However, the real star of this movie is the nation of Africa itself. Despite being so much killing, Africa still one of the most beautiful landscapes, and people, in this world. I know that because I have a huge fondness for the nation of Kenya.

Blood Diamond will open up your eyes to the reality of the situation, and makes you wonder about the diamond you may be wearing, or the diamond you are thinking of purchasing, or the diamond you may have been given as a gift. The movie simply wants to ask the audience not to stop buying diamonds all together, but to question whether the diamond is from a conflict zone or not. I was a little bit concerned with the audience at the near ful house theatre as to why they were getting up and leaving before the movie ended. Did they not want to read the epilogue statements? Did this movie not affect them? Will they question the idea that the diamonds that are being sold here conflict diamonds or not?

Since I am an environmentalist at heart, Blood Diamond is now one of my highly recommended movies now. Following An Inconvenient Truth that made Global Warming a household name, Blood Diamond has certainly ruffled the feathers of the diamond industry, where the high up officials have quickly made press statements assuring its buyers that their diamonds are conflict free. Leo DiCaprio himself is an environmentalist and has created a website as well.

I for one am glad this movie was made, and more movies like this should be made to create awareness for the public of the damage we all are creating in destroying the environment.

Mansur

Movies :: The Prestige, Guru and Salaam-e-Ishq

Some new movies I have seen worth checking out.

The Prestige

With Michael Caine, Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, with Scarelett Johansson in a small role, The Prestige is a movie that grips you from the beginning and doesn't let go till its over. The attraction of magicians performing magic, and the delight in knowing how the magic is performed was surely the high point for me in this movie. Bale and Jackman are two friends who start out in life as budding magicians, under the guidance of Caine. A freak accident while performing a magic trick leaves one of our magician's wife to die at the hands of the other magician. Thus, the two magician friends turn rival and try to upstage one another by performing more daring and complex tricks for the audiences, to the point where it soon becomes deadly. Since I love period movies set in London, I absolutely loved the 19th century Victorian London depicted in this movie. The acting is first rate, the sets, costumes all delicious but its the magic tricks that are the real stars of the movie. The twists at the end went one twist too far, but they certainly were twists! 4.5 out of 5.

Guru

Any movie by Mani Ratnam is guaranteed to be a different one (check out Roja, Bombay, Dil Se) and Guru is certainly a very highly enjoyable movie to watch. Guru is supposedly loosely based on an Indian man whose story was literally from rags to riches. Guru played here by Abhishek Bachchan is a young man who sets off to Turkey to make al iving, till he comes to a point in his life where he longs to return home and start a business there. His attitude being: I shouldnt have to work for the white man; I should be self sufficient. So he comes back home, starts up his own clothing manufacturing business, marries and settles in, till the media starts to pull him down on his unprecendented success. How Guru deals with the media, the negative influences on his work and comes out unhurt forms the basis of the rest of movie, with several deeply emotional scenes. It's a delight to watch a movie where it's all about the story and not about the stars. Acting was superb, the songs were amazing, and the story was awesome, straying away from the typical Bollywood movies. 4 out of 5.

Salaam-e-Ishq

Six love stories, all connected with one issue: Love. Although at first this movie may seem like a rehash of Love Actually, the only connection that Salaam-e-Ishq and Love Actually has is the premise of several love stories connecting at one point. All other comparisons should be left aside, because surprisingly Salaam-e-Ishq had great story lines of its own.

Couple 1: A struggling actress flies to Indian bumping into a man she made up to gain press attention
Couple 2: A married man, working in a senior executive position, with two kids and a lifeless marriage being attracted to a younger woman who is a dancer (shades of Shall We Dance? and American Beauty)
Couple 3: A couple in relationship, where the guy is afraid of committing to a marriage, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend
Couple 4: A journalist whose reporter wife is caught in an accident and loses her memory.
Couple 5: An Indian taxi driver who dreams of meeting his white girlfriend coming at the airport.
Couple 6: A Punjabi couple, where the guy is desperate to spend some time with his wife alone, but due to circumstances cannot.

The last couple are not connected, but the other five couple all interact with one another at one time or other in the movie. Different couples, different situations, different dilemmas and problems, and different outcomes. I loved two songs from this movie, the title song and the sad one. It's a long movie, about 3hours 40mins, but once it was over, it felt like such a short movie because it was highly enjoyable and watchable. 4 out 5.

Mansur

Book Reviews: A Brother's Journey and The Privilege of Youth

Hello friends,

Since I have a pile of books waiting to be read, I managed to finish two of them over three days. One of them is Richard B. Pelzer's A Brother's Journey, and the other is Dave Pelzer's The Privilege of Youth.

A Brother's Journey is written by Richard Pelzer, who is the brother of Dave Pelzer, whose book A Child Called It is one of the most widely read book. Dave's story of childhood abuse from his mother is a very harrowing experience for a reader to read about, and there came a time when Dave was eventually rescued and taken away to a foster home. When Dave was taken away, it was his younger brother, Richard, who became the next target for his mother's physical, verbal, emotional and phsychological abuse. Initially, it seems like as if the writer is trying to cash in on the success of his brother's book and make a buck for himself, but as I progressed into the book, I realized how this book is more of an apology/ asking for forgiveness from his brother Dave. It is definitely an interesting read, and certainly gave an insight into why Richard acted the way he did, contributing with his mother in torturing his brother in the basement. If you have read A Child Called It, then A Brother's Journey, will take you inside the mind of the brother who witnessed the abuse, and how he dealt with his guilt and overcoming it.

Dave Pelzer's book The Privilege of Youth is one book that I think all disgruntled teenagers should read. All teens go through a phase of being wanting to be adults. All teens seek acceptance from others. It is a difficult phase, all the more so for Dave himself who had to endure years of abuse, and then being shifted from different foster homes to different sets of foster parents. However, it is how he uses this time of being shifted around to seek opportunities to move on with his life. The Privilege of Youth primarily concerns with his relationship with Dan, a father figure role he developed with, and two of his friends, David and Paul.

Dave Pelzer's other books include The Lost Boy, A Man Named Dave, and Help Yourself. I love his work as its personal, and very helpful to me in my own life, especially Help Yourself.

I am almost finishing up Himalaya by Michael Palin. I have other books yet to be read:

1. Cell by Stephen King
2. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
3. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
4. Lisey's Story by Stephen King
5. For One More Day by Mitch Albom

Mansur