no offense your majesty

but this is beyond lame ... is there even such a thing as a hummus sandwich?

can you guess who this is

i saw this picture in one of the newspapers i like to read online everyday ... and if it wasn't for the caption which mentioned her name ... i would have never guessed who this photo belonged to ... two cheers for plastic surgery ... and photoshop ...

if you give up click here ...

four billion dollars

Qatar insists the country’s blistering heat will not be a factor if it wins the right to host the 2022 World Cup. To make its case, the country’s organizers unveiled a $4 billion plan Wednesday to build nine stadiums and renovate three others—all with a high-tech cooling system which they said will keep temperatures on the pitch at 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius.) The solar powered system will pump cool air into the stadium through grills in the stands and be combined with roofs designed to protect fans and players from the sun.
Even with temperatures outside reaching 122 F (50 C) during the World Cup, officials said all the stadiums will be comfortable.
story

hope they win

Watching her blind aunt and uncle struggle to navigate the steep slopes and scant sidewalks of this hilly city, one Palestinian girl decided to reinvent the stick.
Armed with spare parts that are hard to find in the West Bank, Asil Abu Lil and two classmates patched together an obstacle-detecting cane that has won them a trip to San Jose, California, for Intel Corp.'s international youth science fair.
The three girls are the first Palestinians to participate in the prestigious event.
"Of course, I want to go to America, but this project is important for the blind and we want it to help them," Asil said.
Students from more than 50 countries will compete in next month's International Science and Engineering Fair, vying for the grand prize of $75,000.

The 14-year-old girls built the beeping walking stick for a class project at their United Nations-funded girls' school. The cane uses two infrared sensors, one front-facing and one in the tip of the cane, to detect obstacles and drop-offs. They did so despite difficulties in getting parts because of travel restrictions in the West Bank.
The students produced two prototypes after making multiple trips to Ramallah, about 45 minutes away and past two Israeli checkpoints, to scour electronics stores for proper circuits and sensors.
Although various types of "laser canes" have existed since the early 1970s, the girls' design resolves a fundamental flaw in previous models by detecting holes in the ground, said Mark Uslan, director of the American Federation of the Blind's technology division.
The cane beeps when it passes over a hole or steps going downward.

The girls beat dozens of contestants in the West Bank to win the prize. But even after that, they ran into one last obstacle: There was only enough prize money to allow two girls to make the trip. After drawing lots, Asil was to be left behind as her classmates headed to San Jose.
U.N. workers heard this and pooled money last week to purchase an additional ticket. When Asil heard the news on Monday, she broke into tears, leaping up from the table to embrace her classmates.
"Even when I'll be old, I will remember this time forever," Asil said.
story

the spaghetti slide

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the leader of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was shown a PowerPoint slide in Kabul last summer that was meant to portray the complexity of American military strategy, but looked more like a bowl of spaghetti.
“When we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war,” General McChrystal dryly remarked, one of his advisers recalled, as the room erupted in laughter.
story

click here to see the slide he was talking about ...

spotted at the traffic light

khurais road, riyadh

leaves of grass

this movie was actually recommended by a friend ... can't say i was impressed by it ... edward norton plays two characters in this movie ... they are twins ... he is a fine actor so he pulls it off ... one is an acclaimed philosophy professor and the other is a drug-dealing redneck ... and that's all you need to know ... can't tell you much else without spoiling the movie ... also keri russell is in this movie ... she's so pretty ... if you ever catch this movie on tv then yeah watch it why not ... otherwise don't bother ... to boil it down ... the acting is great ... the story not so much ... 5/10 ...

quote of the day

I thought about where's there a lot of money with no shame attached. Then I thought about the Middle East because of Dubai and Abu Dhabi and their extravagance.

Writer and director Michael Patrick King, on why he chose the Arab world as a setting for "Sex and the City 2"
story

losing a legend

Guru, the influential rapper known for his intellectual themes, his monotone delivery and his combination of jazz sounds with hip-hop beats, has died after battling cancer, collaborators said. He was 43.
The world has lost "one of the best MCs and hip-hop icons of all time," according to a statement from Solar, Guru's producer. It was posted on the Web site of DJ Premier, who with Guru made up the rap duo Gang Starr. The site said Guru died Monday.

jon gets a blog

grape lady

apparently this was a big youtube hit but i had never seen it ... so big they made fun of it on family guy ... it's pretty old like four years ago ... my older brother told me about it today ... hilarious ...

traveling woes

i'm not a frequent flyer but i've done a fair share of flying in my lifetime ... i've never missed a flight in my life ... that is until today ... it was the first time ... and hopefully the last time ... i guess there are worse things that can happen to a human being ... but still it's a pretty shitty thing to have happen to you ...
thank god it was a domestic flight because there's no refund no nothing ... so it only set me back 175 riyals ... oh well ...
anyway after being denied boarding ... i was very upset of course ... i was going home but after telling the taxi driver my story he persuaded me to take the train instead ... so i was like fine go to the train station ... so we did ... and lo and behold they were sold out ... at the same time there are taxis outside ... so me and two other guys who also wanted to go to dammam but were unable to secure train tickets shared one ...
if i had gotten on my flight i would've been home around 2:30 ... as it were i got home around 5:30 ... three hours is not so bad ... but still ...
anyway it's good to be home ...

mile high

An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people all exhale marijuana smoke as the clock hit 4:20pm during the 4/20 event on Norlin Quad at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado April 20, 2010.
REUTERS/Mark Leffingwell

قولوا ما شاء الله

remember dina ... she is my brother's daughter ... she is almost five months old now ... i've only been able to see her once since she was born ... but my family sends me emails with photos of her on a regular basis ... i thought i would share one with you guys ...

God help us

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stands in front of a large plate of musakhan, a traditional Palestinian dish, that was prepared in the West Bank village of Aroura near Ramallah April 19, 2010.
REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

a little payback

there is this guy ... maher is his name ... we worked together once upon a time ... back at my first job ... he was a fucker ... plain and simple ... i hated him he hated me and it wasn't really a big secret ... we had a shouting match once and things were never the same after that ... anyway ... i recently added a guy on facebook ... he also worked with me at the same job ... apparently maher noticed because he decided to add me the very next day ... my first reaction was to wonder why the hell is he adding me given our history ... then i hurled some obscenities at his profile picture which i cannot repeat here ... after doing that i got to work ... not only did i ignore his request ... i blocked him ... and i reported him as a spammer ... today evening i logged in and his profile is gone from facebook so looks like it worked ... or maybe when you block someone you can no longer see them ... either way ... i'm happy with the way i handled his request ...

how do you figure

Non sequitur (Latin for "it does not follow"), in formal logic, is an argument in which its conclusion does not follow from its premises. In a non sequitur, the conclusion can be either true or false, but the argument is fallacious because there is a disconnection between the premise and the conclusion.

for example:

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
source

what a goal

this goal was the #1 play in sportscenter's top ten the other day ... and today it was featured on yahoo's homepage ... pretty spectacular ...

slice of life

usually when i go to the fridge it's to fetch a drink ... or leftovers ... in any case it always involves food or drink or both ... but not today ... no ... today i went to the fridge to fetch ........ my ipod ... yeah my ipod was in the fridge ... how did it end up there ... well i went out to buy some stuff ... and i always listen to my ipod when i drive ... so i noticed the battery was almost done ... you know when there's one last sliver of red remaining ... so i figured i should take it inside and charge it ... but there were bags to carry ... and i had to open the car door to get out ... and i only have two hands ... so i threw it in one of the bags ... i've done it before ... once i get inside i'll take it out ... but i never did ... i forgot about it and put the bags in the fridge ... three hours later i was like oh shit ... it was pretty cold but seems to be working fine so thank God for that ...

quote of the day

الكتاب المقدس يدعونا إلى تأييد مبارك

رئيس المجمع المقدس في مصر، الأنبا بيشوي

المصدر

kitty discovers ipad

word of the day

Ash from an erupting volcano blanketed the ground in Iceland on Friday and left a widening trail of grounded aircraft across Europe, as thousands of planes stayed on the tarmac to avoid the hazardous cloud.
Ice chunks the size of houses tumbled down from a volcano beneath the Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH'-plah-yer-kuh-duhl) glacier Thursday, as hot gases melted the ice. The volcano began erupting Wednesday for the second time in less than a month.

shutter island

this movie can be summed up in one word ... mindfuck ... because that's what it is basically ... a mindfuck ... i do agree with prudence that evoking the holocaust was unnecessary ... could've done without that ... the movie is like "the usual suspects" ... in the sense that the movie constructs a reality for you then completely shatters it at the end ... i do plan on watching the movie again sometime so i can catch all the subtle clues now that i know what happens ... also ben kingsley is great ... 8.5/10 ...

doesn't fool me

this would've actually been pretty cute if it wasn't such a farce ...

april 17

death by kfc

This undated product image provided by KFC shows their new Double Down sandwich. The Double Down is essentially a sandwich with two chicken filets taking the place of bread slices. In between are two pieces of bacon, melted slices of Monterey Jack and Pepper Jack cheese and a zesty sauce.
(AP Photo/KFC, Dan Kremer)

slice of life

i was at the gas station earlier today ... sitting in my car listening to the music while the car filled up ... when a man pulled up in his car and popped his trunk ... he started calling the workers over and handing them plastic bags ... as i watched i could see that there was meat inside those bags ... apparently he'd just had a ذبيحة and was distributing parts of it to the less fortunate ... it was a very moving scene ... as more workers realized what was going on they approached him to get their own bag ... but by then the man had already gotten back in the car and was getting ready to leave ... but upon seeing them he got back out and opened the trunk again and handed them their bags ...

mumblings

try .. fail .. try again .. fail again .. try yet again ... fail yet again ... will he succeed ... maybe ... maybe not ... is it frustrating ... of course ... will he give up ... never ...

perfect form

A Palestinian demonstrator uses a slingshot to throw stones at Israeli soldiers, not pictured, during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah Friday, April 9, 2010.
(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

brooklyn's finest

it wasn't great ... but it wasn't terrible either ... ethan hawke, don cheadle, and richard gere all play cops ... one of those movies where each character has a separate storyline but they all converge in the end ... hawke is a crooked cop ... gere is a cop on the verge of retirement ... just days away ... and cheadle is an undercover cop ... they all have their own personal drama that they are dealing with ... hawke needs money to buy a new house for his family ... gere is suicidal ... and cheadle is starting to grow fond of the gang he has infiltrated ... it tries to be emotional but i didn't feel it ... i wasn't moved at all ... cheadle is great though ... also the ending is far from a happy one ... 6.5/10 ...

سعودي يقلد هندي

photo of the day

Palestinian men drink coffee at a gas station overlooking a section of Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, April 8, 2010.
(AP Photo/Maya Hitij)

i hate you so much right now

i had a job interview today ... i'd like to think it went well ... i met the general manager and the manager i would be reporting to directly ... loved the general manager ... hated the guy i would be reporting to ... i'm honestly considering not accepting the offer - should they make one - just because of him ... seriously hated him ...

on again off again

not sure how long it's been since the last time we chatted ... i know it's been forever since the last time we've seen each other ... like a year ... but we used to chat often ... then that stopped ... she just disappeared ... she was just never online anymore ... i guess if i really cared i would've called and asked why ... but i didn't ... so i guess i don't care then ... then a couple of days ago ... she showed up again ... out of nowhere ... the little notifier in the bottom right corner of my screen came up telling me she is now online ... and there was that profile photo of her ... how i love that photo ... i'd forgotten all about it but seeing it brought all those feelings rushing back ... i said hello but i didn't get an answer ... so i said to myself ... fuck it ... but i didn't block her ... same scenario the next day ... was it the next day ... i'm not sure ... anyway the same scenario happened again ... i said hi but she said nothing back ... once again ... fuck it ... i didn't block her ... today she signed in but this time i didn't say anything ... a few minutes later she said hello ...

quote of the day

from south park's latest episode ...

Kid: Is that something you'd want to do?
Cartman: Is that something I’d want to do? Is the Pope Catholic? And making the world safe for pedophiles?

don't you hate it when

you finally get home after an exhausting day of work ... you picked up some takeout on the way home ... you have some newly downloaded episodes you plan on watching while you devour said takeout ... but as you walk through the door you realize you don't have any cigarettes ... and you need to go out again ...

makes you go hmmm

just because i'm yours doesn't make you mine ...

A Taxonomy of Rhetorical Shit

hilarious article from gawker.com

quote of the day

Thank you Jesus for dying and rising and giving us a 4 day weekend.... Oh, and thanks for redeeming our sins and saving our souls and what not....

my friend rami's status on facebook

fool me once

in honor of today being april first and the whole april fool's thing ... wired.com's gaming blog published a post about the top ten tricks played on us by videogames ... you don't have to be a gamer to appreciate it ... check it out ...