I came home last night, and found my father not watching the football...bas looking at Aljazeera live in silence...there was no noise coming from the TV...and I asked him why it is on mute? He looked at me, and said its not...then we sat for two hours in silence, watching as Israel bombed Gaza! It was the strangest thing...for it to be in silence...yet to know that the sound must be shaking children out of their sleep...and I was sitting with my dad...peacefully in our little house in Amman...watching as the forces of Mordor enter Gaza!
I went to Raising Yousuf today...and reading how people are living just saddens me so much...its so depressing...and I don't know what to feel or what to think.
My father-being the liberal radical that he is-states ever so quietly that they should just have killed the soldier. He is a soldier...not a civilian...that the Palestinians can not possibly use the same tactics as Hizbullah did...that al-Qaida must have finally arrived in Palestine-this new Army of Islam-I just sat and watched as the electricity company went up in flames. I wanted to cry...bas what is the point...aw use of that...who will it benefit...other then to make me feel better...bas as I sit here I don't know what to do?
Why is the Arab street not out demonstrating...my father was saying inno in his time-when he was my age-he was out there...they all would have been out there-where are the student of Jordan University? Why are they not demonstrating...why am I not demonstrating...why is the conversation I am having online with my friends about where we will go this weekend...Aqaba willa stay in Amman...why are we not talking about what do we do? Where do we go to show our disgust...our disapproval...oh why oh why?
28 June 2006
22 June 2006
EarWorms
In the Guardian today they had an article about earworms-those sticky tunes that people can't get out of their heads. There was a study conducted that states that 99% of people at one point or another had an earworm.
What triggers the retrieval of a particular song - making it come to mind and get stuck in the head - is not exactly known. It might be anything: a title, a thought or a reminder of past experience that somehow is connected to a melody. Or it could just be a few notes that prompt the brain to refresh the memory and find the missing parts of the song. "Earworms seem to be an interaction between properties of music (catchy songs are simple and repetitive), characteristics of individuals (levels of neuroticism) and properties of the context or situation (first thing in the morning, last thing at night or when people are under stress)," says the scientist conducting the experiment.
They also found that women are more susceptible to earworms than men. And musicians more than non-musicians. The reason for women being more susceptible is unknown, bas they say that is could have to do with the fact that earworms are more problematic for those inclined to worry, and women had higher neuroticism scores than men.
The way of get rid of a earworm, is to sing, 'eraser songs'-those that have a mystical ability to eat any other earworms. Singing the eraser tune rids one of an earworm but risks replacing it with the eraser song.
Top 10 earworms
1. Kylie Minogue, Can't Get You Out of My Head
2. James Blunt, You're Beautiful
3. Baha Men, Who Let the Dogs Out
4. Mission Impossible theme
5. Village People, YMCA
6. Happy Days theme
7. Corinne Bailey Rae, Put Your Records On
8. Suzanne Vega, Tom's Diner
9. Tight Fit, The Lion Sleeps Tonight
10. Tiffany, I Think We're Alone Now
I think we need to add Haifa's song, Boos il Wawa...any other suggestions for Arabic songs that become earworms?
What triggers the retrieval of a particular song - making it come to mind and get stuck in the head - is not exactly known. It might be anything: a title, a thought or a reminder of past experience that somehow is connected to a melody. Or it could just be a few notes that prompt the brain to refresh the memory and find the missing parts of the song. "Earworms seem to be an interaction between properties of music (catchy songs are simple and repetitive), characteristics of individuals (levels of neuroticism) and properties of the context or situation (first thing in the morning, last thing at night or when people are under stress)," says the scientist conducting the experiment.
They also found that women are more susceptible to earworms than men. And musicians more than non-musicians. The reason for women being more susceptible is unknown, bas they say that is could have to do with the fact that earworms are more problematic for those inclined to worry, and women had higher neuroticism scores than men.
The way of get rid of a earworm, is to sing, 'eraser songs'-those that have a mystical ability to eat any other earworms. Singing the eraser tune rids one of an earworm but risks replacing it with the eraser song.
Top 10 earworms
1. Kylie Minogue, Can't Get You Out of My Head
2. James Blunt, You're Beautiful
3. Baha Men, Who Let the Dogs Out
4. Mission Impossible theme
5. Village People, YMCA
6. Happy Days theme
7. Corinne Bailey Rae, Put Your Records On
8. Suzanne Vega, Tom's Diner
9. Tight Fit, The Lion Sleeps Tonight
10. Tiffany, I Think We're Alone Now
I think we need to add Haifa's song, Boos il Wawa...any other suggestions for Arabic songs that become earworms?
Who shall we cheer for?
I have found this webpage that ranks the countries in the world cup mish according to how well they play or anything connected to them actually playing...bas they are rated according to the following:
* Life expectancy
* Poverty
* Military
* Aid
* Climate
* Inequality
* Health
* Debt
* Corruption
* Companies
* Human rights
So according to it, the number ONE country to cheer for is Ghana...ha!!!! And the worst team to support is the United States (30th)...my team Saudi is the 28th team to support...and my second team-the one I really want to win the World Cup-Argentina is: 8th!
Check it out and see how well your team does or does not do: Who should I cheer for?
* Life expectancy
* Poverty
* Military
* Aid
* Climate
* Inequality
* Health
* Debt
* Corruption
* Companies
* Human rights
So according to it, the number ONE country to cheer for is Ghana...ha!!!! And the worst team to support is the United States (30th)...my team Saudi is the 28th team to support...and my second team-the one I really want to win the World Cup-Argentina is: 8th!
Check it out and see how well your team does or does not do: Who should I cheer for?
14 June 2006
Obvious Thought
I have been looking at the Palestinian blogs...and seeing what people are writing about what is happening in Gaza...and I know this is obvious...bas I am so sad...so upset...truly to see my people going through this while I sit in the comfort of my house here in Amman...worrying and thinking about the Saudi match.
Disgraceful!
That I have become so detached from Palestine...from what is happening in the world...living in the comfort that my parents have provided...I seem to have forgotten that there are bigger more important issues...troubles in the world...how disgusting is that?
Disgusting!
Tunisia vs Saudi Arabia
There are days that I hate the Guardian!!!! This was in it today, under the title:
Who to cheer for when the result doesn't matter
It's tough finding opposition truly worthy of the Saudis. Not only is it the nation that brought us most of the 9/11 hijackers and Bin Laden, it's also the Bush administration's most trusted ally. That's before we get to the lack of democracy and women's rights, oil pumps and capital punishment. With that and the two most obnoxious wings of the war on terror covered, the Saudis leave a lot of space in the centre and midfield for human rights activists, environmentalists, humanists, democrats and feminists to roam freely. By comparison, Tunisia's record of torture, political imprisonment and suppression of dissent barely features as a handicap. Get on those red jerseys and watch the Carthage Eagles soar.
But I say...GO SAUDI...good luck today!
Who to cheer for when the result doesn't matter
It's tough finding opposition truly worthy of the Saudis. Not only is it the nation that brought us most of the 9/11 hijackers and Bin Laden, it's also the Bush administration's most trusted ally. That's before we get to the lack of democracy and women's rights, oil pumps and capital punishment. With that and the two most obnoxious wings of the war on terror covered, the Saudis leave a lot of space in the centre and midfield for human rights activists, environmentalists, humanists, democrats and feminists to roam freely. By comparison, Tunisia's record of torture, political imprisonment and suppression of dissent barely features as a handicap. Get on those red jerseys and watch the Carthage Eagles soar.
But I say...GO SAUDI...good luck today!
12 June 2006
My father and Palestine
I am sure we are all upset about what has been happening in Palestine...the killings on Gaza beach. The image that sticks with me is that of the girl crying over her father's body. It touched me the most, and I almost cried just looking at the anguish in her face. I am very close to my father, and when I saw that picture I knew that my father would be going through a really bad time right now. He is Palestinian, and as I have grown-and by default he has grown-he has become more and more prone to depressions when the news comes on about Palestine. I guess that it is normal, I know that other parents-or people of that generation-feel the same...and go through those feelings also. Bas to see it on my dad effects me the most...obviously...to think that if my dad has stayed in Palestine, that girl could have been me...what must she be feeling today? How does she go on knowing how her father was killed...seeing his dead body? I don't know how I would feel about the whole thing, would I want revenge, would I just mourn like other people do when they lose a parent? Or is the fact that he was killed, that she was next to him when it happened...saw the blood...saw his last violent minutes...make it harder for her to get over it. Wallah I have no idea, but I do know that images like that make me sick to my stomach. I have heard people say that Palestinians vicimize themselves, that we are making the situation harder for ourselves, bas I have no idea how anyone can say that, when we see what happened in Gaza.
HAAAAAAH!
A story is told of a Jewish man who was riding on the subway reading an Arab newspaper. A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the same subway car, noticed this strange phenomenon. Very upset, he approached the newspaper reader.
"Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading an Arab newspaper?"
Moshe replied, "I used to read the Jewish newspaper, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty. So I switched to the Arab newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better!"
"Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading an Arab newspaper?"
Moshe replied, "I used to read the Jewish newspaper, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty. So I switched to the Arab newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better!"
10 June 2006
Friends: when to get rid of them
If new survey-based evidence is to be believed, friendships among the under-30s last an average of five years or less. We all know that sometimes it is best to lose touch, but who should you ditch first, and when? We present a handy guide to friendship shelf-life...
10 years-lifetime: neighbours who are doctors; people who possess compromising photos of you; family members; hangers-on; co-dependants; imaginary friends; low-maintenance friends; fellow monks; friends who might conceivably one day be in a position to dedicate a book to you; people with access to libellous gossip.
5-10 years: cell mates; those changed by fame; those who can't adjust to your fame; best friends who subsequently marry your ex; schoolfriends who grow up to be stupid.
2-5 years: work colleagues; drinking buddies; fellow book club members; user-friendly school-gates acquaintances; the amusingly rude; the indiscrete; flatmates who remain unemployed for this duration; friends who side with your ex; friends whose spouses you can't stand; anyone who fails to notice that you have been carrying a torch for them all this time.
1-2 years: vicar, prior to child gaining place at C of E school; friends who know famous people but fail to introduce you within the allotted time frame; teens who congregate on the corner near your regular parking space; friends whose shortcomings, it transpires, closely match your own; restaurant owners; dinner party deadwood.
6-8 months: Tories; sister of former boyfriend; anyone pregnant with triplets; friends-of-friends who are planning a lavish party; people who can't drive; web-based friends; anyone whose surname you can't remember after all this time.
1-3 months: ex-boyfriends/girlfriends who clearly don't want to give things another try; acquaintances who strike you as capable of burglary; fellow reality show contestants; upstairs neighbours.
2 weeks or less: acquaintances made during a management team-building exercise; anyone you meet on holiday; anyone who appears to be able to see right through you.
24 hours or less: fellow passengers in stuck lift; fellow passengers on stalled train; first colleague you speak to on first day of new job; person sitting next to you at wedding; strangers in a position to do you a favour but subsequently decline to help; famous people you have met when drunk; anyone, 24 hours before the Earth explodes.
10 years-lifetime: neighbours who are doctors; people who possess compromising photos of you; family members; hangers-on; co-dependants; imaginary friends; low-maintenance friends; fellow monks; friends who might conceivably one day be in a position to dedicate a book to you; people with access to libellous gossip.
5-10 years: cell mates; those changed by fame; those who can't adjust to your fame; best friends who subsequently marry your ex; schoolfriends who grow up to be stupid.
2-5 years: work colleagues; drinking buddies; fellow book club members; user-friendly school-gates acquaintances; the amusingly rude; the indiscrete; flatmates who remain unemployed for this duration; friends who side with your ex; friends whose spouses you can't stand; anyone who fails to notice that you have been carrying a torch for them all this time.
1-2 years: vicar, prior to child gaining place at C of E school; friends who know famous people but fail to introduce you within the allotted time frame; teens who congregate on the corner near your regular parking space; friends whose shortcomings, it transpires, closely match your own; restaurant owners; dinner party deadwood.
6-8 months: Tories; sister of former boyfriend; anyone pregnant with triplets; friends-of-friends who are planning a lavish party; people who can't drive; web-based friends; anyone whose surname you can't remember after all this time.
1-3 months: ex-boyfriends/girlfriends who clearly don't want to give things another try; acquaintances who strike you as capable of burglary; fellow reality show contestants; upstairs neighbours.
2 weeks or less: acquaintances made during a management team-building exercise; anyone you meet on holiday; anyone who appears to be able to see right through you.
24 hours or less: fellow passengers in stuck lift; fellow passengers on stalled train; first colleague you speak to on first day of new job; person sitting next to you at wedding; strangers in a position to do you a favour but subsequently decline to help; famous people you have met when drunk; anyone, 24 hours before the Earth explodes.
06 June 2006
60%
The Militant Feminist Quiz:
You Are Almost a Militant Feminst! Not too bad, but you can do better. Keep working on it- maybe try kicking a few guys wherever you want to, then start lighting them on fire. Slow and steady wins the race, okay? You've got a long way to go, but I think you'll survive.
http://www.spacefem.com/quizzes/militantfeminist/
You Are Almost a Militant Feminst! Not too bad, but you can do better. Keep working on it- maybe try kicking a few guys wherever you want to, then start lighting them on fire. Slow and steady wins the race, okay? You've got a long way to go, but I think you'll survive.
http://www.spacefem.com/quizzes/militantfeminist/
My Mom!
I have come to realise that I am extremely mean to my parents. Bas I am especially harsh on my mom, I don't know why. I know that I am a daddy's girl...always got my way with my dad, he was my companion while my mom was working (he is a stay at home dad), used to come home and watch Mary Poppins with him while we have lunch...he makes the best Homous with meat I have ever tasted...and it was always me and him against my mom.
But my relationship with my mom has always been a bit on the rocky side, I love her, and enjoy her company-for a certain amount of time-but then we start to fight, we start to see how far we can push the other. I know that I have very high expectation of my mom, I expect her to understand me from only two words, sometimes without me having to say anything, I expect her to feel the same about things as I do, I expect her to act in certain ways, to behave in other ways...as many expectations as she has of me, I have of her. I guess that is why our relationship is so volatile sometimes, it's because we are just so similar, our weaknesses our strengths, just the way we view life, I have come to realise as I grow up and get to know my mom not only as Mama bas as Fatoum, that I am a carbon copy of her. She has in a way molded me to become her, and even though Khalil Gubrain states that: You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. Seems like my mother didn't listen to this Prophet!
Don't misunderstand me, I am very attached to my mom, her opinion of me is the most important one, that in all I do and everything I strive for is for her to be proud of me, for me to hear her says, "Wallah I am so proud of you." I know that she has worked so hard all her life, to make sure that I am provided with all that I could ever think of-am an only child and kind of spoilt-but I also know that with all this have come a list of expectations that I think would go around the Earth three times if my mom had a chance to write them out. Guess this shows how weird and complicated the relationship between mothers and daughters, I can't seem to make a good comment about my mom with adding something negative next to it. Just as when she sees me going out somewhere will say "nice shoes, bas do you have to wear that colour? "
Bas I am very mean to a great woman, and have decided that I need to become softer with my mom, to allow her to need me, to allow her to disappoint me I guess, just to allow my mom to feel comfortable with her daughter.
Guess that we no longer are mama and beintha, bas Fatima and Lulwa!
But my relationship with my mom has always been a bit on the rocky side, I love her, and enjoy her company-for a certain amount of time-but then we start to fight, we start to see how far we can push the other. I know that I have very high expectation of my mom, I expect her to understand me from only two words, sometimes without me having to say anything, I expect her to feel the same about things as I do, I expect her to act in certain ways, to behave in other ways...as many expectations as she has of me, I have of her. I guess that is why our relationship is so volatile sometimes, it's because we are just so similar, our weaknesses our strengths, just the way we view life, I have come to realise as I grow up and get to know my mom not only as Mama bas as Fatoum, that I am a carbon copy of her. She has in a way molded me to become her, and even though Khalil Gubrain states that: You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. Seems like my mother didn't listen to this Prophet!
Don't misunderstand me, I am very attached to my mom, her opinion of me is the most important one, that in all I do and everything I strive for is for her to be proud of me, for me to hear her says, "Wallah I am so proud of you." I know that she has worked so hard all her life, to make sure that I am provided with all that I could ever think of-am an only child and kind of spoilt-but I also know that with all this have come a list of expectations that I think would go around the Earth three times if my mom had a chance to write them out. Guess this shows how weird and complicated the relationship between mothers and daughters, I can't seem to make a good comment about my mom with adding something negative next to it. Just as when she sees me going out somewhere will say "nice shoes, bas do you have to wear that colour? "
Bas I am very mean to a great woman, and have decided that I need to become softer with my mom, to allow her to need me, to allow her to disappoint me I guess, just to allow my mom to feel comfortable with her daughter.
Guess that we no longer are mama and beintha, bas Fatima and Lulwa!
FUNNY!
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian priest is resorting to some innovative theology to rid his church of young women's bare midriffs.
"God knew what your navel looked like even before you were born, so there is no need to expose it in church," commands a sign at the entrance to the church in Cinisello Balsamo.
Guards at major churches in Italy routinely keep out people wearing skimpy attire. But Father Felice says he resorted to the signs because his parish cannot afford guards to keep out the low-cut jeans and high-cut tops, newspapers reported Monday.
"God knew what your navel looked like even before you were born, so there is no need to expose it in church," commands a sign at the entrance to the church in Cinisello Balsamo.
Guards at major churches in Italy routinely keep out people wearing skimpy attire. But Father Felice says he resorted to the signs because his parish cannot afford guards to keep out the low-cut jeans and high-cut tops, newspapers reported Monday.
04 June 2006
Saudi
The world cup is upon us, and as a proud Saudi woman I have decided to place my faith and attention on my national team. Inshallah they will do wonders for us!!! Their first match is against our fellow Arab nation, Tunisia on the 14th, and eventhough I hate the fact that the two Arab nations have to play against each other, bas GO SAUDI!!!!! I know that in the last world cup they kind of fucked up-yes we all remember the 8-0 game against Germany-bas the time before we did end up in the second round...fa fingers crossed. Thanks to The Religious Policeman-who is no longer to blog...truely sad by this...I found that there was a Miss Saudi in the Miss World Cup competition and she really is a Saudi...lol!
Drinking makes women smarter?
Well, it’s not that cut-and-dry, but still interesting nonetheless.
A study of 7,000 older women found that those who consume a moderate amount of alcohol have higher levels of mental function than non-drinkers.
Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center found that compared to non-drinkers, women who reported drinking up to two or three drinks per day performed better on measures of global cognitive function, which includes concentration, language, memory and abstract reasoning.
Crazy, right? Additionally, when did a few drinks every day become moderate? Lead author of the study, Mark Espeland also makes it a point to say at the end of the report:
"Until we better understand the reasons why alcohol consumption is associated with better cognitive functioning, these results on their own are not a reason for people who don't drink to start or for those who drink to increase their intake.”
Damn!!!
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