Top 10 Movies 2009

It’s been a long time coming but I thought I’d wait a little bit this year so that I’ve seen the movies I want to see for 2009. This year more so than a lot of years, was great for Science Fiction, there were a few really good ones and me being the Sci Fi fan, have included them in the list below. Of course this is just my opinion and other people would have different views. Some of the movies that didn’t make it to the list but were good enough to catch my attention are below as honourable mentions, in no particular order.

Honourable mentions:

Sherlock Holmes, Angels and Demons, Coraline, The Soloist, Terminator Salvation, Drag me to Hell, In the Loop, Paranormal Activity, A Serious Man, A Single Man, The Blind Side, Invictus and The Lovely Bones.

10. Watchmen

This proved to be an alternative to the ‘normal’ comic books inspired movies. Although the comic book itself is also quite abstract, the movie was done very well and pulled it off in the end. The visuals are good, the story is good, all in all this is a solid movie and is number 10 in 2009

9. Avatar

No movie list is complete without this movie for 2009. The visuals are exceptional and the entire feel of the movie is fantastic. I wasn’t quite impressed with the story as it followed a very similar story line as compared to a lot of movies. It does make up for the lack of a good story by blowing you away in the visuals.

8. Moon

Sam Rockwell is one of my favourite actors and he’s done amazingly in this movie. It’s an amazing movie about life in the future and how corporate interests can exploit people. It’s also a treat to see how loneliness can envelope a person isolated from everyone else in the world.

7. The Informant

Hilarious! I didn’t know the story of Mark Whitaker but found this movie to be really funny, more so that this is based on a true story. This is definitely one of the best comedies of the year.

6. District 9

Aliens living in a slum in Johannesburg, South Africa? Man! This movie was so different from all Sci fi movies out there. Don’t know much about the actors but they’ve done amazingly. I loved the way they showed the movie like a documentary but not quite a full documentary. The visual effects blend in with reality seamlessly and you never even think once about them. Complete contrast to Avatar where everything looks beautiful but you know in the back of your mind that this is not real…you don’t think like this in District 9.

5. Inglorious Basterds

This is probably one of the only World War 2 movies where you don’t know what is going to happen at the end. It’s quite violent but also really funny at the same time. The actors have done amazingly in the movie, especially Christopher Waltz and Brad Pitt. Simple yet brutal and one of the best of 2009.

4. Up

Pixar never fails to impress me. They come up with the best animated movies year after year. The most impressive part is that there are so many studios trying to make animated movies these days but Pixar movies still hold their own and will do so in the future. This movie is simple but also complex at the same time. Fantastic movie and definitely an outside chance for the big prize at the Oscars

3. Up in the Air

George Clooney shows us that in addition to being a heart throb, he can also act. Again, a very simple story line but has hidden implications and lessons for everyone. Loved the story, loved the acting, and loved everything about the movie.

2. The Hurt Locker

This was definitely out of the blue. I had no idea I was going to watch a movie this good. The life of a bomb disposal unit in present day Iraq can be a little hazardous. I loved the way this started with the words ‘War is a drug’. All known actors die very soon in the movie and it’s the unknown stars that carry it forward and how well they do so. Definitely a big favourite in my book for the big prize this year!

1. Star Trek

Being a true and hopeless Trekkie, I could not get past Star Trek. This movie, in my opinion has just kick started the Trek franchise. The actors are all young and story line is just fantastic. Whatever J.J Abrams touches turns into gold these days and this is no exception. The movie never lets go of the momentum and is just a no holds barred rollercoaster ride. I cannot wait for the sequel!!

The Noughties

Here we are at the end of the 2000s or as they’re called, the Noughties. The decade has been full of ups and downs and has been full of defining moments. I decided to note down the 20 most defining moments, people or things that define this decade. Of course, this is personal opinion and people may have other ideas. I thought the things in the list below speak for themselves so here it is in no particular order:

Technology:

1. iPod

2. High Definition TVs

3. Wii

4. Smartphones: Blackberry & iPhone

Information and Networking:

5. Social Networking: Facebook, Twitter and Myspace

6. Youtube

7. Wikipedia

8. Napster

9. Google

Culture:

10. Harry Potter

11. Reality TV

12. Lord of the Rings trilogy

People:

13. Barack Obama

14. Michael Jackson

15. George W. Bush

16. Roger Federer

17. Tiger Woods

Current Events:

18. 9/11 and the war on terror

19. Global Financial Crisis

20. Climate Change

Michael Jackson - the ultimate superstar!

This morning when driving to work I was listening to the greatest hits of Michael Jackson. I wanted to listen to MJ after hearing about his untimely death a couple of days back. Listening to his songs brought back a lot of memories. One of the first memories of listening to his music was back when I was only around 6 years old. I remember putting on the Thriller album which I had on a casette, in the ‘mini compo’ (as they called it) and playing it out loud so that I could drown the sound of music coming from our house mates downstairs. I remember playing the game we used to call ‘Thriller Thriller’ where we used to play out the music video of the song Thriller in a darkened room and pretended to be zombies. From the memories of playing the smooth criminal video game to the playing of Earth Song out loud in the mountains, not to mention the amazing music videos that impressed me as a kid, such as Jam, Black or white and much more…

Michael was a true super star, the likes of which we will probably never ever see again. In this day of digital music, people have shorter attention spans than before. We don’t have to make a special effort to go out to a music store and buy the music. We have so many choices and ease that we just don’t pay attention to artists as we did before.

Usually bands or artists stay around for approximately 5 years at their peak and then fade away only for the die hard fans to stay following them. There are only a handful of artists/bands in the world that have surpassed generations and time such as him. Think about this fact – he was in the public eye performing since he was 6 years old and at 50, he was preparing for his comeback concert tour, that’s more than 44 years in the limelight! I don’t think there are (or were) many that can claim they have done the same.

His fame was phenomenal, everyone I know has heard of Michael Jackson. Even on Facebook when I logged in the day of his death, my entire page was full of condolences and words about their superstar in their status updates.

Not since the likes of Elvis Presley had the world seen such a super star. I read an article after his death that talked about the ‘soft power’ of America. In it, the writer said that it was amazing to see that the icon of Michael Jackson transcended cultures, countries and religions. All across the world no matter where you came from, for once the world was united in grief and shock over the death. One example was the condolences being offered from all over the world. World leaders that hate each other and hate America were offering their condolences to an American singer.

It was a rare sight to see but it was good to see the entire world, for once united if not just for one moment.

The article goes on to mention that soft power is the power of one person to be the person someone else wanted to be. I remember people wearing tight red leather jackets and cutting their gloves to imitate the silver glove of Michael. We even used to have a singer/imitator back in Pakistan who used to pretend to be him and performed on stages all over the country.

In the end, it was a sad day for music and art as a whole. Whether you liked his music or not, whether you liked him for the things he did outside music or not, whether you liked him as a person or not…everyone can agree on one thing.

He was an extremely talented man and a mega star, and he will be remembered for generations to come.

Travel Diary - Middle East 2009

I recently made my way to the sandy shores of the Middle East on our first major trip as a family together. The flight there was going to be 15 hours long so I was quite anxious to see how the little one fared as he had never travelled for this long a journey in a plane before with me. Thankfully, it went relatively alright based on the fact that the customer service was good and he managed to get in some sleep, although we couldn’t get much sleep.

The journey into the Middle East began when we landed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE. I was quite shell shocked when we exited the plane and entered the main lounge. It was full of Indians, I mean literally. It looked like a place where people had been crammed somehow, felt more like a fish market than the tourist destination it had been promised to be. I had experienced Dubai airport before and was expecting something similar, but this was not even close to it. Anyway, we made our way to the immigration and saw that in every single counter there sat an Arab male wearing their traditional dress. It felt kind of weird to see that as coming from Australia it was a little alien to me, seeing people like that.

After collecting our luggage, we made our way out to be greeted by our family member who took us for the ride to Dubai, which is just over an hour’s drive. It was interesting to see the 4-5 lane highways fully lit from end to end. Immediately one could see that there was construction in and around the highway, and this was a sign of things to come as about 25% of all construction cranes of the world are in the UAE.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi used to be fishing

 villages in the past. There was absolutely nothing in these areas but deserts. It is primarily because of oil that these two places have exploded to the thriving cities they are now.  

The Sheikhs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are very progressive and want the emirates to modernize. Sheikh Mohammad is the ruler of Dubai and Sheikh Zayed is the ruler of Abu Dhabi. One can see the different roads both cities have taken in advancing forward. One example is the greenery, where Abu Dhabi has lots of trees and grass besides the roads, Dubai doesn’t have any. Where Dubai has

 loads of sky scrapers, Abu Dhabi has only a few. Dubai in general is more com

mercial than Abu Dhabi; it has more people and is more business oriented.

We more or less visited all the main attractions in Dubai. Malls are a main attraction there and we visited the newly constructed Dubai Mall, the Mall of the Emirates, Ibn e Batuta Mall to name a few. The Dubai Mall is the largest mall in the world and is built right next to the Burj Dubai and I think holds about 1200 shops, any shop you can think of is basically in there and more to open in the future. It has malls within the malls as well with entire areas dedicated to different things, such as designer wear, jewellery etc.

It also features an indoor aquarium, which has the largest viewing screen in the world and has a massive ice skating rink.

What makes the Mall of the Emirates different from other malls is that it has an indoor ski slope! Ski Dubai is a massive skiing slope for people to enjoy skiing in the middle of the desert.

We also visited some amazing Indian/Pakistani food places. Not hundred percent sure about the names but we had places with amazing chaats, kebab rolls, chicken karahi, faluda etc. it was just a taste of Pakistan/India without being in those places.

The global village was on display during the time we visited. This started with a 3 month display of stalls from all over the world and is like a huge carnival. Based on its popularity, it is now permanently on display for 6 months of the year and plans to move it to a bigger and more permanent location to be displayed for

 the whole year.

The Palm and Atlantis is another site to see as one of the newest attractions there. All built on man made islands, it is just amazing how they’ve pulled this off. You basically have to cross a bridge and go through a tunnel to get there. Its got its own water theme park and of course an aquarium inside. This includes the main attraction the whale shark, which is an endangered species. The way they’ve built the inside is just a fantastic sight to see.

Abu Dhabi has been developing a bit differently to Dubai. Since Dubai has the first mover advantage in terms of inviting people from all over the world to come visit the place, Abu Dhabi had to position itself a bit differently. The Sheikh there is very much into art and culture, as a result a lot of new development is taking

 place in this direction, and examples include the Louvre and the Guggenheim to be opening in Abu Dhabi in the near future. There is more greenery in Abu Dhabi as well although I can’t say much about the traffic – people drive like nuts!

We paid a visit to the Sheikh Zayed mosque, which is being built and is almost finished. It is going to be the 3^rd largest mosque in the world smaller only to the two main mosques in Saudi Arabia. Its quite a unique and grand mosque and is pure white. The domes were very different to what I’ve seen and were an amazing sight to see.

Lots of good ideas, along with good management and implementation of these ideas have made these two cities the way they are now. From the looks of it, they still have the plans to progress even further ahead.

After visiting UAE, Qatar seemed quite small and felt a little less modern. Although in comparison, Qatar is developing like crazy as well. It was just because of the overwhelming pace at which Dubai and Abu Dhabi are developing that made it look the way it did. Qatar has been the fastest growing country in the whole of Middle East in the last year or so.

Main attraction here is the Pearl, which are man made islands like the Palm in Dubai. It is built in a crescent shape and will contain a whole city within; no one would have to leave the Pearl to do anything. Housing, shopping malls, restaurants etc. you name it, everything is going to be in there. Its probably about 20-30% complete, so still a way to go.

The wife of the ruler of Qatar is known for her ideas to develop this place into an educational and cultural hub of the Middle East. Emphasis on education has been so that a lot of internationally renowned universities have opened shop in Doha. Some examples are like, the Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown and Texas A&M. A huge Education city has been built purposely to contain all of these massive universities, along with schools, kindergartens etc.

Museum of Islamic Art has just opened its doors in Qatar which houses some of the best preserved pieces of Art in the Islamic world. It looks like there has been a lot of money spent on the actual architecture of the building.

One interesting thing we noticed in Qatar was that in every main attraction like the Pearl or the museum, there are small golf cart sized buggies that take people from the car park to the main parts of the attraction…is it because of the heat in the summers or people there are just too lazy, I really don’t know. The fact that the ride is only about 20 seconds is quite interesting.

Massive new developments are taking place where an entire mini city is being built on the coast called Lusail City. It will contain everything from resorts, accommodation and commercial stuff and will eventually be the main attractions in Doha. The Pearl is just one small part of this massive development.

It is sure to say that Doha will be a sight to see in a few year’s time when all of these new attractions and developments start seeing the light of day.

It was very interesting and eye opening to see Qatar and the UAE for the first time. Both of these places felt really young and on the go. Construction and development was the key word in everywhere we went. It was a better flight back considering the little one slept most of the time, which helped us in getting some sleep.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip and a memory never to be forgotten.

Australia Day 2009

I got on the plane in Karachi on the night of the 25th of January 1999 to come to Australia. The plan was to study for a few years and then return to my homeland. Never had I imagined that there would be even a thought of settling here.

The 26th of January 2009 marks exactly ten years to the day of my arriving in Australia.

A lot of things have happened during this time as one can imagine. I feel now that I’ve lived here for this long, I have been spoilt by everything that makes Australia so unique in the entire world. There are too many things to mention in this blog that make Australia so amazing, so I am leaving it to the experts.

The following gem is by Douglas Adams of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" fame. It is an amazing insight into Australia - prepare yourself!

Australia is a very confusing place, taking up a large amount of the bottom half of the planet. It is recognizable from orbit because of many unusual features, including what at first looks like an enormous bite taken out of its southern edge; a wall of sheer cliffs which plunge deep into the girting sea. Geologists assure us that this is simply an accident of geomorphology and plate tectonics, but they still call it the "Great Australian Bight" proving that not only are they covering up a more frightening theory but they can't spell either!

The first of the confusing things about Australia is the status of the place. Where other land masses and sovereign lands are classified as either continent, island, or country, Australia is considered all three. Typically, it is unique in this.

The second confusing thing about Australia are the animals. They can be divided into three categories: Poisonous, Odd, and Sheep. It is true that of the 10 most poisonous arachnids on the planet, Australia has 9 of them. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that of the 9 most poisonous arachnids, Australia has all of them. However there are curiously few snakes, possible because the spiders have killed them all.

But even the spiders won't go near the sea. Any visitors should be careful to check inside boots (before putting them on), under toilet seats (before sitting down) and generally everywhere else. A stick is very useful for this task.

At this point, we would like to mention the Platypus - estranged relative of the mammal, which has a duck-bill, otter's tail, webbed feet, lays eggs, detects its aquatic prey in the same way as the electric eel and has venomous barbs attached to its hind legs, thus combining all 'typical' Australian attributes into a single improbable creature.

The last confusing thing about Australia is the inhabitants.
First, a short history:
Sometime around 40,000 years ago, some people arrived in boats from the north. They ate all the available food, and a lot of them died. The ones who survived learned respect for the balance of nature, man's proper place in the scheme of things and spiders. They settled in and spent a lot of the intervening time making up strange stories.

Then, around 200 years ago, Europeans arrived in boats from the north. More accurately, European convicts were sent, with a few deranged and stupid people in charge. They tried to plant their crops in Autumn (failing to take account of the reversal of the seasons when moving from the top half of the planet to the bottom), ate all their food, and a lot of them died.

About then the sheep arrived, and have been treasured ever since. It is interesting to note here that the Europeans always consider themselves vastly superior to any other race they encounter, since they can lie, cheat, steal, and litigate (marks of a civilised culture they say) - whereas all the Aboriginals can do is happily survive being left in the middle of a vast red-hot desert, equipped with a stick.

Eventually, the new lot of people stopped being Europeans on Extended Holiday and became Australians. The changes are subtle, but deep, caused by the mind-stretching expanses of nothingness and eerie quiet, where a person can sit perfectly still and look deep inside themselves to the core of their essence, their reasons for being, and the necessity of checking inside your boots every morning for fatal surprises. They also picked up the most finely tuned sense of irony in the world, and the Aboriginal gift for making up stories. Be warned.

There is also the matter of the beaches. Australian beaches are simply the nicest and best in the entire world. Although anyone actually venturing into the sea will have to contend with sharks, stinging jellyfish, stonefish (a fish which sits on the bottom of the sea, pretends to be a rock and has venomous barbs sticking out of its back that will kill just from the pain) and surfboarders.

However, watching a beach sunset is worth the risk. As a result of all this hardship, dirt, thirst and wombats, you would expect Australians to be a dour lot. Instead, they are genial, jolly, cheerful and always willing to share a kind word with a stranger, unless they are American!

Faced with insurmountable odds and impossible problems, they smile disarmingly and look for a stick. Major engineering feats have been performed with sheets of corrugated iron, string, and mud. Alone of all the races on earth, they seem to be free from the 'Grass is Greener on the other side of the fence' syndrome, and roundly proclaim that Australia is, in fact, the other side of that fence. They call the land "Oz", "Godzone" (a verbal contraction of "God's Own Country") and "Best bloody place on earth, bar none, strewth." The irritating thing about this is they may be right.

There are some traps for the unsuspecting traveler, though. Do not, under any circumstances, suggest that the beer is imperfect, unless you are comparing it to another kind of Australian beer. Do not wear a Hawaiian shirt. Religion and Politics are fairly safe topics of conversation, (Australians don't care too much about either) but Sport is a minefield.

The only correct answer to "So, howdya' like our country, eh?" is "Best (insert your own regional swear word here) country in the world!". It is very likely that, on arriving, some cheerful Australians will 'adopt' you on your first night, and take you to a pub where Australian Beer is served. Despite the obvious danger, do not refuse. It is a form of initiation rite. You will wake up late the next day with an astonishing hangover, a foul taste in your mouth, and wearing strange clothes.

Your hosts will usually make sure you get home, and waive off any legal difficulties with "It's his first time in Australia, so we took him to the pub", to which the policeman will sagely nod and close his notebook. Be sure to tell the story of these events to every other Australian you encounter, adding new embellishments at every stage and noting how strong the beer was. Thus you will be accepted into this unique culture.

Most Australians are now urban dwellers, having discovered the primary use of electricity, which is air-conditioning and refrigerators.
Typical Australian sayings:-
* "G'day!"
* "It's better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick!"
* "She'll be right mate."
Tips to Surviving Australia:
* Don't ever put your hand down a hole for any reason WHATSOEVER.
* The beer is stronger than you think, regardless of how strong you think it is.
* Always carry a stick.
* Air-conditioning is imperative.
* Do not attempt to use Australian slang, unless you are a trained linguist and extremely good in a fist fight.
* Wear thick socks.
* Take good maps. Stopping to ask directions only works when there are people nearby.
* If you leave the urban areas, carry several litres of water with you at all times, or you will die.
* Even in the most embellished stories told by Australians, there is always a core of truth that it is unwise to ignore.

Top ten movies 2008

I started this blog while thinking that I won’t write about anything which relates to politics. I can’t help it though, politics in my passion and I can’t really ignore it. But nonetheless, I write this blog to list my top ten movies of 2008.

It has been a good year for movies for me personally. Due to my train travel I get time to watch more movies this year than for a long time. Having a bouncing baby boy has stopped us from heading to the cinemas, but this hasn’t stopped me from watching movies on my trusted iPod.

Of course the list below is only a small list which covers only the movies I have seen and in no way is a representation of all movies and is not a best of 2008 list. It is just best of 2008 based on the movies I saw ….makes sense? Ok! Here we go:

10. Hellboy 2
Yet another comic book adapted movie. I hated Hellboy part 1 and was hesitant in watching this movie. But after reading all the positive reviews I went ahead and saw the movie and was thoroughly entertained.

9. Horton Hears a Who
Previous Dr. Seuss adapted movies had disappointed badly with the ‘Cat in the Hat’ and The Grinch. Finally they realised that puppets don’t work! In this day and age of animation, this is the time to go all out. The movie is interesting and nicely made. Jim Carrey has done well to play Horton and not go too overboard (like he normally does).

8. Iron Man
Robert Downey Jnr. comes back in this smart and edgy movie. I was a fan of Iron Man back in the day and the movie doesn’t disappoint.

7. Kung Fu Panda
This animation should have been up there if only Wall-E wasn’t there. This is a great animated movie with all the characters playing their parts really well. It is interesting to note that even with all the violence there is no killing. A very funny and entertaining movie overall.

6. The Happening
Shyamalan’s latest movie is a little different to his earlier movies as it doesn’t particularly have a twist. Even so, it is a chilling and creepy movie. He has once again proved that he is one of the best in the genre of horror and suspense.

5. Body of Lies
Leo Di Caprio and Russell Crowe – how can you go wrong. It tackles the sensitive issues of torture and terrorism in a refreshingly unbiased way.

4. Burn After Reading
The Cohen brothers’ latest masterpiece! This movie is really funny and also very dark at the same time. It has a huge cast and an interesting story with great results. The lives of different characters get connected in a strange way and it’s all in all a very funny and smart movie.

3. Taxi to the Dark Side
This documentary chilled me to the bone. Shows how some people’s lives can change so suddenly for the worse. This movie is a very powerful and disturbing tale of a common man in Afghanistan.

2. Wall-E
Pixar has done it yet again. They keep coming out with gems every time. The last time it was Ratatouille and this definitely is at par with that. For an animated movie to be entertaining without any dialogue for the first half an hour or so is certainly an achievement worth noting in this day and age. It is very a entertaining and a fun movie.

1. The Dark Knight
You can’t go past this movie in 2008. This has to be the best super hero I have ever seen. The story is smart, the performances are fantastic, the action sequences are out of this world and the direction and screenplay are just amazing. This takes the cake in 2008 by a long shot. I had a lot of expectations going into the movie and still came out overwhelmed by the sheer ‘amazingness’ of this movie. Of course Heath Ledger’s performance and his death had a lot to add on the phenomenon of this movie but that doesn’t take away how good this movie was overall.

As it is the award season soon, there are a few good movies coming out in the next few weeks as well as some movies I have failed to see this year which will definitely affect this list. Some of the movies I am looking forward to watching are:

- Synecdoche, New York
- My Winnipeg
- 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
- Milk
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Slumdog Millionaire
- Speed Racer
- Encounters at the End of the World
- The Reader
- Doubt
- Revolutionary Road
- In Bruges
- Frost/Nixon
- Valkyrie
- Changeling
- Man on Wire

Happy New Year!

The Pursuit of Happiness

Today I write about something which is quite different to what I have been posting recently predominantly (politics). I am writing about us human beings and how we perceive happiness. I saw this movie called 'Into the Wild' a couple of months back and had thought long about this quote which ended the movie, which was "Happiness is only real, when shared". 

It is simple yet powerful, which is why I love it. It made me think about what happiness means for different people. One of the things which I always am fascinated about is how us humans, no matter how different we are in terms of the country we come from, religion, age etc all react more or less the same way when we are truly happy. 

I remember the ending of the movie called "Love, Actually" (yes I actually saw that movie :P) where they have shown the arrival gate of an airport (presumably Heathrow) and it is funny as well as fascinating to see people who are so different to each other react the same way to see their loved ones arrive. It is a moment of sheer joy - smiles, hugs, tears of joy etc.....that moment is a true reflection of how similar we all are. 

All of us cherish the same things - being with loved ones, having good times with friends, living a peaceful life etc. Even people who are murderers do have a part of them leading them towards happiness.

I know I'm dabbing into politics again - but this reminds me of the video of Osama bin Laden in his son's wedding video where you see him all smiling and happy to see his son getting married. I also remember a picture taken of Saddam Hussein with his entire family and see him all happy and smiling. I point out these two recent figures because they have been portrayed to be or are responsible for murdering thousands of people. Even then one can see that these guys are at their happiest when around their loved ones. 

Returning to the movie I mentioned earlier i.e. "Into the Wild", the guy really wanted to live by himself in the wilderness of Alaska without anyone for hundreds of kilometres. Even though he loved the experience, in the end when he was close to his death he realised the fact that being with his loved ones was the one time he felt true happiness. He then wrote the quote I noted earlier and passed away. 

All of us want to be happy, fine there are different things that make different people happy and people have even killed in the pursuit of happiness. But I truly believe that all of us are trying to get to the same thing in different ways. 

We are too busy these days to think about these things, but we should all cherish the times with our loved ones.... I know I do!

US Presidential Election 2008

I have used the electoral vote calculator from the CNN website and have come up with the following prediction for the election in November.

According to my analysis - its going to be a tight race, even though I wouldn't like it to be that way.

Have a look!

The Downward Spiral to Anarchy

I write this blog today thinking about how my son will perceive this world. The world we live in today is a far more dangerous place than what it was when I was growing up. Granted, it was still quite dangerous living and growing up in Pakistan, but it was never ever this dangerous. We used to get occasional problems in the country, but never was it a place where your personal safety is at risk no matter what you do and where you go. I write this after watching the images and reading about what occurred in the last couple of days in Islamabad. I am referring to the cowardly suicide attack on one of the icons of Islamabad and Pakistan as a whole, the Marriott hotel. Some people may think that this is just another terrorism attack that has been going on since Pakistan stood side by side with the United States in the so called war on terror. But believe me; this is entirely different and very significant.

The Marriott hotel in Islamabad has been an icon of prestige and life at the high end. Its location makes it a special attraction for foreigners and of course a target for attacks like this. It was as guarded as a hotel can be, for a place where normal public can also have access. I make this point to note that this was not only a place for people to stay – it was a special meeting point, it was a place where people had coffee, enjoyed dinners, had weddings etc. Its location is merely a few kms from the Presidential and Prime Minister’s house, making it even more secure.

This is really worrying to me as this gives everyone the message that no place is safe anymore for normal people. People to eat out and not worry about safety, is not the case anymore.
The people who are in government and in positions of power have been stuck in power wrangling have done nothing to address the urgent need of fixing this major problem threatening to destroy Pakistan. People like Nawaz Sharif keeps giving deadlines for bullshit problems when there is so much killing and suffering in the country. How can these leaders get on with their lives when they are not even trying to address this urgent need? Why don’t these people at least try and put some of the effort they have put in to try and topple the previous leader into addressing this? This decease as Asif Ali Zardari called it in his address to the country has the capability of destroying the entire fabric of society in Pakistan.

I was speaking with a fellow Pakistani the other day who was talking about having some faith in Zardari who hoped that he puts some of his ‘business-man like’ effort into solving some problems in the country. As much as I hate the leaders of Pakistan – what can a normal person do? One has to hope in order to go on. The life of the people on the street is not getting any better – in fact with all these maniacs trying to blow things up, it has made Pakistan even more vulnerable and unstable, economically and generally.

One DOES need to hope that these people in power can try and solve the major threat faced by this country in its 61 year history. I pray that the leaders in Pakistan can take a lead in solving this, rather than worrying about their seats of power. I pray that the religious leaders of Pakistan can take the lead in eradicating this ‘cancer’ and tell people that Islam is a religion of peace and loving. It is a religion that teaches one to be a better person, by being forgiving and having love for his fellow human being. This is a religion that tells one to treat life with respect and shed no innocent blood. I pray for the people who lost their lives protecting other people. They are the real martyrs here not the people who carried out the attack.

Living in a western country you think how people of other faiths must think about people of the Islamic faith. They must think Islam teaches something which these fanatics are willing to die for and cause havoc and destruction. Why would western people even think about investing or even sending their cricket team for example to visit this dangerous place?

All I can say is that God help Pakistan – it is on a dangerous downward spiral towards anarchy

Change is coming

The US presidential election is in full swing. I follow this race to be the leader of the ‘free’ world quite closely and am quite interested in the ups and downs of this campaign.

First of all it is quite refreshing to see after a while (8 years) an American leader who looks the part. I mean the last 8 years have been quite bad for America – in almost all ways one can think of. Be it foreign image/policy and economy among other things. The last leader looked like a dumb spoilt brat who has been given something he couldn’t handle.

This new leader is talking about change, he is talking about real reform, and he is talking about engaging all leaders of the world in a more diplomatic stance to enhance the credibility of the United States of America.

The leader I am referring to is of course Barrack Obama.

It is interesting to note that he has been talking about change from day 1. Since the time he came from nowhere to beat Hillary Clinton, which no one could have ever imagined a couple of years back. Even in that contest, the mantle of change was tried by Clinton, but was forcefully taken back by Obama’s campaign. Even though their views were more or less the same on almost everything, the mantle of change was always trumpeted by the Obama campaign – and still is.

Now we see the Republican candidates, John McCain who is a patriot and a war hero. But the Republican convention did not spring anything new that they haven’t said before. It was all about the American hero blah blah – of course they steered clear from any of the current administration people Dick Cheney has been off the radar for some time now, George W Bush made a brief appearence. I won’t even talk about Sarah Palin as I think it’s just useless. And finally, the bombshell by McCain, ‘Change is coming’ he mentioned in his acceptance speech.

Now that is just ridiculous! I mean how can they be so blatant to actually say that they are for change. I mean first of all, look at McCain’s policies – his policies are exactly the same as the current administration. I was watching the daily show with John Stewart the other day where he made a comparison of McCain’s acceptance speech and George W. Bush’s speech at their conventions. It was funny to see that there were quite a few instances where they have simply repeated even the same words in their relative speeches. Even Sarah Palin’s speech was written by Bush’s speech writer – this is not change.

This is just the same old people with different leaders in front of them. It is the same policies and the same attitudes towards the people of the world.

I don’t proclaim myself to be an expert in foreign policy or even day to day American problems. But I do know from a person who is observing this race from an objective point of view, that these are the same Republicans who brought the world the most hated leader in the world. They can try to talk change, but they are absolutely not for change and for more of the same.

American people are one of the friendliest in the world as personal experience tells. It would be good to see an American leader also like these people and who is a leader that will lead the world to a better tomorrow.

I personally hope that the Democrats seize power and Obama is elected president. I guess I will have to wait and see what happens on November 4th when the American people are going to decide the fate of a lot of countries in this world.

From Prisoner to President!

Warning: Anger filled rant below

I cannot hold my silence much longer. I know that my words and my rant will make no difference to the world. However, it’ll at least help me with my frustration, anger and a sense of desperation that is going through me these days. I am in this state because of something that is about to occur in my homeland of Pakistan.

Asif Ali Zardari: The name synonymous with corruption is about to become the President of Pakistan. It is beyond this blog how completely flabbergasted I am by this event about to occur. There are umpteen articles and news pieces that show him as being a man who takes pleasures in accumulating huge amounts of wealth for him. A man who likes to appoint ‘his’ people in all the right places in the country of course after a minimal fee.
Living in Pakistan when the Bhutto government was in power, I myself saw and heard all this craziness occur in the city of Karachi. Travelling in private jets, building huge mansions were just some of the things you could see occurring regularly. Building a prime minister house which is probably as large as the presidential house and accommodating a polo field at the back, for Zardari’s love of horses and the game of polo.

The point is, this man was all the wrongs that people could see when Benazir was in power. Getting people killed, burning places where he didn’t get his way was just a few things that happened.

Now this man is going to become the most powerful man in the country of Pakistan. He will have total immunity from prosecution – no matter what happens. I don’t foresee him changing at all unfortunately. Now he will have access to do anything and everything he wants to the people of Pakistan. He will build palaces and empty the country’s wealth and fulfil his own ambition.

I really don’t know what to say – I really don’t know what is going to happen to my beloved Pakistan.

They say leaders of a country are like the most of the people of a country – which I don’t really know what to say about now.

I refer you to this article for further reading - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/world/asia/05zardari.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Species above all species

The phrase 'species above all species' is one which I have taken from the Quran. Having taken care of our little one for the last 8 weeks made me think the other day, how this statement is very interesting.

Humans as a species are the ones with the largest brains. This of course has evolved over time and the brain has become an integral part of the human intelligence. If you believe the theory of evolution, the human brain has changed shape over time and has slowly evolved to its current shape over many years. First four legs then two….scientists believe that one day humans just started walking and became bipeds.

The human brain has been central to our evolution, if you think about it….the human body has not really kept up. The human body is and has always been fragile. It needs a certain temperature. It needs a certain amount of food and water. It needs constant maintenance; otherwise it gets ‘deformed’. Humans have used their brains to protect and survive.

The point is, the human body needs and has always needed constant attention for protection. If you look into the animal world, things have evolved a little differently; brains haven’t evolved much but the physical characteristics of the body have. Animals have changed how they walk/fly/hunt etc to survive the changing world. They always have done to their bodies what humans have done to their brains.

Interestingly, when animals are born, certain characteristics are fully developed. Take the example of a horse that’s off spring starts walking only a few hours after birth. Lizards that start hunting as soon as they are born, fish who swim right from birth. As compared to humans, the child can’t walk, can’t talk and is totally dependent on the parents for survival. Maybe birds are a bit close as they need the parent to feed and take a while to fly. I am not sure if birds have a problem communicating with their parents, but I know (and have experienced) that children can all but cry to communicate anything and everything at birth.

It seems these days that the flavour of the year is climate change. This threatens the very existence of humans on this planet. Humans have used their brains to get out of problems like this in the past, for the changes due to the normal evolution of this planet (re-location, warmer clothing etc). But now this change is due to our own development and progress. Humans like always will probably find out a way out of this crisis using their brains. Animals however will adapt and evolve again.

I heard something very interesting the other day, and I quote:

“Humans as a species use only a tenth of their brains, imagine if they started using another tenth and we would probably be worthy of God’s attention. Cockroaches for instance can survive for weeks without food or water, can survive radiation and even without oxygen in space. If God wanted to create an image of Him in a species highly evolved, then I submit to you that God, is a cockroach.”

Something to think about….

Dedication to my little miracle

On February the 8th, 2008 I was blessed with a little miracle of life. I still can't comprehend fully what exactly has happened, but I think it has slowly sunk in. Life will never ever be the same again. The little one has arrived with much anticipation and has already started to brighten it with his antics. When one sees a little life being born in front of your eyes, one can't help but be thankful to his Almighty and bask in the miracle of life. I cannot explain the way I felt when I saw the little one and gazed into his eyes (his eyes were wide open as soon as he was born), couldn't help but swell up with tears. A little version of me lying right infront of me looking up with a confused look. What could be better than this? I cannot wait to see him grow.... I wanted to dedicate the following song to this wonderful little bundle of joy.

My gift is my song
And this one's for you
And you can tell everybody
That this is your song
It maybe quite simple But now that it's done

Hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is now you're in the
So excuse me for forgetting
But these things I do
You see I've forgotten
If they're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is well I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

And you can tell everybody
This is your song
It may be quite simple
But now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is now you're in the world
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is now you're in the world

Your song by Ewan McGregor, Mouline Rouge 2001

Australia day 2008

Australia day occurred on the 26th of January 2008.

This day is very significant to a lot of Australians and has a lot of meaning in the history of Australia. It's even more significant for me personally as this is the day when I arrived in Australia for the first time. It was on this day back in 1999 that I came to Australia with hopes and dreams and great uncertainty. I had no idea what the future might hold for me and my time in Australia. Initially, I had planned on staying here for only 6-8 months as I wanted to head on to the US to pursue my educational goals. Taking a step back to give you some background, I had initially planned on going to the US for studies; however I was late in the application submission and hence missed the deadline. I was faced with the consequence of wasting about 9-10 months. I took the opportunity to come to Australia when my father was informed of a good degree program in Melbourne. How he got to know about this program is yet another story. Things just came to shape pretty quickly and I ended up in Australia in January to study till about July and then heading to the US. This was not to be as once I was here, I was settled in and enjoying my time in the culture and life here.

Since then it has been a long journey of 9 years. Quite a few huge milestones have been accomplished while living here.

• Finishing my studies and graduating from my Bachelor’s degree and then subsequently my Master’s degree
• Getting married and starting my married life
• Moving to Sydney from Melbourne
• Starting my professional career
• Becoming an Australian citizen

There are quite a few milestones in between all of the above, but I think the list above is of a huge significance to my life and the way it has moved forward. I am moving towards another huge milestone in my life, and Australia is in the thick of it.

In my previous post I mentioned that change is inevitable. Looking at the list above and what is going to occur in the future, change IS inevitable and it is our ability to deal with the change and make things happen is how we make our life filled with fond memories. I certainly have experienced many good memories in my time here in Australia and look forward to many great experiences in the future.

Change is inevitable

The word change is such an important part of all our lives. No matter how much we avoid it, it is bound to happen and is inevitable. I was particularly fascinated with this word as it has been brought up again and again during this year’s American election campaign. I saw a hilarious clip on the ‘Colbert Report’ where they showed a live debate between all of the major Democrats. The mediator of the debate asked a question and mentioned the word ‘change’. As soon as he finished his sentence (and I kid you not this is real!) all of the candidates like little children raised their hands up and started talking so that they could comment first and fore most on this topic.
Why is the word change very important in the American elections these days? Well I shouldn’t even go into that I think as that’s another topic.

Current events in Pakistan have also told the story of change. People of Pakistan in particular have a habit of asking for change sooner than many people. They get fed up with the same leaders who they elected with a huge majority and then support the same leaders if they are out of power to get them back IN power, weird.

These two examples are political in nature. There are many other examples where people want to have change. Change in scenery for a person going on a holiday, change routine, change of personal belongings etc.

Some people have to deal with change as just a part of life and come to people whether they like it or not. Some people deal with it well some people don’t.
I heard an inspirational speaker once and he said that change is something humans have evolved to deal with. Humans are probably the least evolved species on this planet to deal with the changing climate/temperature etc. If you compare humans with other species such as insects or others, you can easily see how well other species have adapted. Animals have developed extra layers of skin or have shrunk significantly in size etc. to survive. But in humans there is no change, humans have alternatively moved on to different places where they are suited better or have used their brains to build things that help in survival. This inevitably will be the cause of our demise as well, as we keep on consuming this planet’s resources, there will not be enough places to go to survive based on the rate of human growth.

Science fiction movies sometimes show the eventual evolution of our species. I think it’s a very valid thing and may happen in the future…I am not certain.

The same inspirational speaker said, it is the ability of the people to want change and adapt quickly to different situations is what makes them a cut above the rest.

My rant for the day is complete.

New year and new beginnings

Happy new year to you all! Hope this new year is better than last year. See I AM an optimist.

As for me, this year will be a new beginning to a different part of my life and I look forward to it and await it with open arms. Can't wait to start a new chapter of this life. I just hope that both of us cope with the transition well. Wish us luck!

God bless all of you :0)

Nine Inch Nails in Sydney (Part 2)

Two shows

15th September and 16th September 2007

It was an unbelievable weekend where we got to see Trent in action. These concerts were far better than what I have seen before. They were even better than the concerts back in 2005. Unbelievable shows with so much energy and passion. I don't know how they pull it off again and again with the same intensity.
The most amazing part of these concerts was that they almost played a totally different set list in both concerts. I took the decision of standing in the mosh pit for the first and sitting in the stands in the second. Unusually, Trent had a lot to say in the concerts. One, which has been reported all over the world, was when told us to steal his music until the record companies lower the prices of the albums. He also mentioned the fact that they are going back to the US now and will start working on the new album and will be back in Australia by mid next year, which I really find hard to believe...but here's hoping for the best.
I managed to take some pictures of the concerts, those will follow soon. Overall, an amazing experience which I'm sure I'll cherish for years to come....

First show set list:
1. hyperpower!
2. the beginning of the end
3. last
4. sin
5. march of the pigs
6. something i can never have
7. closer
8. survivalism
9. burn
10. gave up
11. me, im not
12. the great destroyer
13. eraser
14. only
15. wish
16. the good soldier
17. no, you dont
18. suck
19. the day the whole world went away
20. dead souls
21. down in it
22. the hand that feeds
23. head like a hole
24. hurt

Second show set list:

1. hyperpower!
2. the beginning of the end
3. heresy
4. terrible lie
5. march of the pigs
6. the frail/ the wretched
7. closer
8. ruiner
9. survivalism
10. piggy
11. gave up
12. me, im not
13. the great destroyer
14. eraser
15. only
16. wish
17. the good soldier
18. no, you dont
19. reptile
20. the day the whole world went away
21. hurt
22. the hand that feeds
23. starfuckers inc.
24. head like a hole