Sweep

Kuwaiti Freestyle Soccer on Yahoo!

So I was doing my nightly browse to Yahoo!'s main page, and I see a little link on the bottom left of the main "Featured" box saying "soccer guys show off some fancy footwork."



I clicked it, and it became the main item in the box.



I clicked on the video link and watched. Then I see the name M. Alansari, and I say "Oh cool. Possibly Arabs." Then while I'm watching, I start suspecting if this was shot in Kuwait. I look up at the title, and find it saying "Kuwaiti Freestyler."



Isn't that cool! Kuwaiti street soccer guys on Yahoo!'s main page. Enjoy. :D

P.S.: That 3-point "heel shot" is ridiculous!

سوالف في اللتغات

أحياناً يستبدل البعض حروفاً بأخرى غريبة في النطق إما بسبب اللتغة أو لسبب لا يعلم فيه إلا ربنا ، ويبهرني الإبداع والابتكار عند أصحاب اللتغة في تعويض حرف الراء ، فهناك من يستخدم الـ "و" ، وهناك من يستخدم الـ "غ" ، وهناك من يبدو وكأنه يبلع ريقه وهو يقول الحرف.


أحد الأصدقاء أيام الثانوية نال ما ناله من "الضغاط" على لتغة "حغف الغاء" عنده ، ومن طرق رد الاعتبار لنفسه كان يقول لنا عن صديقته وهو منعم صوته:

"أصلاً آنا صاحبتي من أقول لها منيـــــغــة .. تذوب"

ـــــــــ

بنت خالتي كانت تقول عن مسابقات العيد في المدينة الترفيهية وحديقة الشعب:

ـ" إمــغـــــح واغـــبــــــح "ـ

ـــــــــ

أحد الأقرباء من الأطفال كان عنده بديل مثير للعجب لحرف الكاف. كان يسبتدله بـ "چـ" أو "تشـ" مع إني أعتقد أن الكاف أسهل نطقاً. ومن أقواله المشهورة:

ـ" أبي چــيــچـــة "

" أبي چـــچــّـاو فـلـيـــــچ "

" يمــّــا فيني چـَــچــّـــــا "

ــــــــــــــــ

ولكن أغرب لتغة مرت علي كانت لتغة مدرس الإسلامية الكويتي في الثانوية عندما يدخل الفصل ويصبح علينا بكل حنية:

"صباح الــوڤـــــد"

أو عندما "ينقد" علينا نحن الجيل الجديد ويقولـــ٠:ـ

ـ"انتو عيال هالوقت .. ما تاكلون الا بطاط وهــمــبـــڤـــــــغـــڤ"ـ

Bee for Bositivity

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I have a cousin that I'll name Bee for anonymoty. He’s one of the closest people to me as we grew up together spending long periods of the time in each others' homes. I’m older than him by 1.5 years. We went to school together. We grew further apart recently after I moved to the US. We weren’t used to keeping in touch by phone or e-mail, so I only get to talk to him occasionally when I call his family or when I bump into him on MSN. However, every time I’m home, our relationship resumes naturally as if there were no interruption.
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In an e-mail exchange with a friend recently about some random subject, I mentioned his name and I paused for a few seconds thinking “Oh ... it’s been a while since we talked,” and that led to “it’s been a while since we spent quality time together,” which ultimately led to “it’s been a while since we were as we used to be together before I came to the US.” All of that brought quick flashbacks that drew a smile on my face before I continued writing the e-mail.

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Thinking more deeply, I couldn't recall ever seeing him sad, grumpy, or in a fight or arguement. He's loved by all of my family's demographics, and they all enjoy his company. On top of all of that, he's a very simple person. He doesn't demand any attention to have a positive effect on others around him; just his presence and his natural self would do.

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I asked myself "does he ever get sad or mad about anything at all?"

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I hope he doesn't, but it would be hard to believe that it's true all the time. Thus, apparently he's one of those who hide it very well; be it natural or deliberate.

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I once witnessed a family weeping the passing of their loved-one. There was a woman in her 20's who was reacting rather differently. She was comforting others with a smile on her face and talking positively. I thought she's probably the saddest since everybody else was venting out through screams and tears, while she was weeping from inside. I thought maybe that's the way she's comfortable with being sad, and any other way would add more sadness.

.

Anyway, back to Bee. It struck me that I never looked closely into him. Whether he's really happy and positive 24/7, or he's good at hiding, it's strange that for all these years I've taken his positivity for granted. In the end, I'm glad I finally thought of it and now I have a new definition for Positivity. It's Bee.

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Looking forward to winter break.

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I Told You So!

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Though it is self-gratifying, sometimes you wish you can say it; only you can't because you care about them and you shouldn't be looking to score a point.

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Hopefully a lesson is learned, and next time somebody listens!

---

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Last night, I found myself in a situation where I was comforting a lonely, terrified, crying young lady. Ironically, I was the victim of that situation, yet I still felt guilty at some times for her being involved in the first place.

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So ladies, sometimes I can be as rock-hard-headed as you can imagine. Just drop a tear, and I'll give in momentarily.

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---

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On a separate note ...

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Through scientific research and historical data,...

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Marriage was found to be the leading cause for divorce.

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So yeah.

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Peace.

.

فــايــق يـســـأل

ٌإنـتـــي ويـــن؟

Steve Irwin Farewell

Last November I wrote about being passionate at work, and I gave my best 2 examples as Steve Irwin and Jack Hanna. Well, as you might have already heard the sad news today, Steve Irwin died after getting stung by a stingray barb that went through his chest. He was filming an underwater documentry off of one of Australia's shores.

With him gone, the world has lost an environmental icon, a friend to nature, and a good example to people all around the world. He ended his life doing what he loved to do, and I'm sure he didn't hope for a better closure.

You see; that's the thing about passion. You don't only settle for what's required of you at the minimum, but you have the energy to push things to their limits. Unfortunately, sometimes you miscalculate where those limits are and pay a price as a result.

I'll miss watching his TV appearances, especially those with Conan O'Brien.

خــذوك

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مـنــي خــذوك

.

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Ideology vs. Evidence

A great speech by former President Bill Clinton at a democratic fundraiser in Seattle, Washington on July 31st, 2006.

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Click here to listen

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(He kind of snuck in a little bit too much of Hillary, but I guess that's a given).

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On a separate note, a federal court struck down President Bush's domestic phone spying (a.k.a. domestic surveyllance, wiretapping, eavesdropping, etc.) program as being an unconstitutional infringement on the rights of free speech and privacy.

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Good news, but still can't take a bottle of water on an airplane.

Observations From a Restroom

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1. Caution!

When you're reading this post, please allow at least an hour before or after having a meal.

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2. Minimum rules and standards.

Just because it's public or at work doesn't free it from having minimum standards.

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3. Not a place for socializing.

The only thing I'd like to have a word with in a restroom is the toilet seat. And when I have it, I don't want to hear others' conversation either. I can tolerate a simple smile with a head nod; maybe accompanied by a hey, hi, or hello, but ..

"Hey Bobby"

"Hey Johnny"

"How's it going?"

"Pretty good. How are ya?"

"I'm alright. D'you get that e-mail Bruce sent?"

etc. etc.

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I don't want to hear that. And for heaven's sake, don't do it while you're urinating.

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4. Try to shake my hand, and I'll kill you.

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5. Brushing Teeth.

Brushing your teeth should only be done in a place where no body can see your teeth nor smell your toothpaste. Don't make it even worse by chit-chatting while you're brushing.

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6. On the issue of urinating.

Though I understand the pleasure that comes with it, when you're urinating, keep your Oooh's and Aaah's to yourself.

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Don't moan, please. I don't want to hear it.

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7. On the issue of farting.

Though I appreciate your courtesy by not stinking up your cubicle, but when you come to the restroom, still keep it silent, will ya?

.

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8. Take every other cubicle.

When you enter the restroom that has 6 toilet cubicles, and you see me occupying one and the rest are empty, don't use the one right next to mine. The sight of your shoes and lowered pants from underneath the partition is disgusting by itself.

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9. Wash your hands.

Why do Americans only wash their hands after #1, but not after #2?

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10. The bottle.

When you see me taking a bottle of water with me to the toilet, don't stare at me in surprise because if you give it a thought, you'll realize I'm being cleaner than you are.

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That's it.

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Avagoodone.

يــــا ولـــــد

قاعد أمر في أوقات صعبة دراسياً وعملياً وشخصياً ..

ولعدة أيام كنت أعمل على كود كمبيوتر مطلع لي قرون ..

إلى أن اشتغل اليوم ، وبنفس اللحظة اشتغلت هالاغنية في الآي بود ..

ولله الحمد بعد سماعها ..

تولدت لدي رغبة عند الكسرة بالرتم في الأخير بأن ..


ألبس وزار ..

وأعنفص بالصفاة.ـ

May I have a good weekend

Jandeef's Shorelines V

Attempts to sort out my eating habits have been anything but success. Even though I've made great strides by adding lettuce and onion to my ever plain Subway subs, and having an apple more than once a year, it seems like my body is demanding more junk food to counter-act that bit of healthiness.

Actually, I think my eating habits deserve a stand-alone post; more on that later, but I can safely say that I'm probably the junkiest person you'll ever get to meet.

-----

Besides putting on 5 kilos in the past few months, the reason why I've become health-concious all of a sudden is that there is a nice momentum building up in my stay-fit attitude, and I'm trying to capitalize on it. I've been exercising, swimming, and playing soccer almost daily in the past one and a half months. Prior to that, the last time I moved a muscle was May 2005 playing tennis and squash. Then I hurt my shoulder and that was about it. Add to it the fact that my Asthma doesn't help much. Also, I hadn't played soccer for probably 2 years, so you can imagine the soreness in my muscles and how banged up my knees and ankles are. The best part is that I finally could play continuously for 2 hours without playing goal keeper; in other words, taking a rest.

------

Finally; Disturbing news.

One day before his return to Kuwait after his yearly holiday in India, our driver's wife got struck by a car while walking on foot with him. She died from her injuries, leaving him and their 10-year old son behind.

He's been living with us for 15 years now. Hearing the news from mom sent chills through my spine. She described how broken down he sounded on the phone, and that kept him in my mind all day. My deepest condolonces to him and his family. I can't even imagine what's the future going to be like for their son. The poor man still asked my family not to bring someone else, and asked to be given a couple more weeks before returning to Kuwait. Clearly he's more desparate now to provide a living for his son.

Sad. Very, very sad indeed.

Does That Mean Dad Can Sue Me?

A few weeks ago, a man by the name of Allen Heckard has sued Michael Jordan and Nike, and take a wild guess why he sued..

because he looks like Mike!

Only he, Heckard, is 8 years older and 6 inches shorter.

In the suit, he claimed a great deal of physical and emotional damage has been inflicted upon him in the past 15 years for looking like Mike. His friends and family always make fun of him for that; thus, challenging the popular notion that looking like someone like Michael Jordan is a compliment.

Anyway. He's suing Nike because it made MJ the icon he is, and suing MJ because he became .. well .. MJ. For that, he's seeking $800 million (yes, 6 zeros next to the 800) worth of damages.

He dropped the suit yesterday without stating any reasons. Could MJ have paid him hush-hush money? I mean .. he had a good case, did he not?


Please. Do not misjudge the guy. Take a look for yourself.

Poor Allen. Broke my heart :(

Actually, I think MJ has a good case if he counter-sues and says "you have no right to have my copyrighted face."

ترى ما للوليف الا وليفه .. وانت سيد العارفين

تنغز قلبي البحة عند

كتمت من همك

Could It Be Her 1st Oscar?

Word has it that Dakota Fanning will appear naked in a rape scene in her upcoming film Hounddog.

And I thought Linda Blair's performance in The Exorcist was disturbing enough.


P.S.: In her roles in Man on Fire and War of the Worlds, doesn't Dakota remind you of سحر حسين in إلى أبي وأمي مع التحية with all the overly whining?

أبـعــــدونـا الـلـئـــــام

فـرقــوا بـيـنـنــــا

Why Did Nobody Tell Me? :(

Only I forgive her 'cause she rocked!

And BuJwais deserves a monument!

US Against The World

I couldn't be more glad that the U.S. team got ousted from the World Cup. Yes, they were robbed in Italy's game, but that's soccer. Calls on the field are always upheld and never overturned; no in-game video reviews for the referees to use. Its beauty is in its sloppiness.

But my being glad goes beyond their whining over officiating mistakes. I hate the "us against the world" mentality that the US has to bring into any world sports tournament. It actually originates from back home before the tournament. Everything has to be "americanized" and made into a norm, and because the vast majority of americans don't even know what's going on beyond the Atlantic and Pacific, that "us against the world" mentality develops naturally. Here it's "The NBA World Championship" and "The Baseball World Series." The american "world" that is.

The US customizes (americanizes) each sport in order to make it a money-driven industry. The basketball game was broken into four quarters with a gizillion timeouts to try to fit in enough in-arena and TV commercials. The rules of basketball were manipulated in order to make it a more fast-paced game that relies on individual talent rather than team work. In other words, to make it more of an entertainment show than a sport. With that, of course, come all the endorsements and the celebrity craze. The soccer penalty kick was changed to a hockey-like one for god only knows why. Also, it's "soccer" rather than "football."

That all results in american players, coaches, and fans of all sports getting hit with reality and looking like idiots whenever they engage in a world tournament. The US basketball team finished 5th or 6th in the world cup tournament in the US a couple of years ago, and got their butts kicked in the Olympics. It's funny that coaches had to hold orientation sessions for players to learn and adjust to the internationally recognized rules of the game, because as usual the US has to have its own rules. What they missed was that not only are the rules different, but also the style of play. Basketball around the world is more of a shooting game; whereas in the US it's all about driving to the hoop and getting as many free throws as possible and creating as many game stops as enough to make it boring. The no longer "Dream Team" got stuck with not knowing how to defend players on the perimeter. In dealing with that, the US is bringing more international players into the NBA instead of going back to the international rules and changing their style of play.

So until the US makes an effort to blend into the rest of the world rather than look down to it, and until the US changes the ignorant, arrogant way local championships are named, then every US team in every sport will keep sucking in every major world event.

In addition to all of that, I'm glad they're out for the overly patriotic crap I had to put up with by commentators, analysts, and ESPN as a whole.

Duhhhh!

I wanted to clean my laptop from all the dust, hairs, corn flakes and cookie bits, and other unidentifed objects.

I wanted to grab ...



Instead, I grabbed ..

:/

Help :~(~

A 666 Thursday

Happy birthday to all of them demons born today;

including our local version of it.

Got Tagged! My Interesting Phone Display

By Q80 Demon!

Lol!

I'll tag Mobi, NY, JB, and Maverick.

Too Lazy To Take a Picture

June 1st.

Celebrating Pizza Day

Courtesy of that Chick in NY

عل وعسى

مـــا نـسـيـتـــــــــهم

Even DayQuil Is Orange

God bless DayQuil/NyQuil makers, but can't they think of a way of making the capsules smaller?

Why do I have to choke on them at every dose?

Tales From Within

My hat is off to her.

I celebrate my posts by reading them over and over again.

I can't even imagine the feeling of publishing a book, let alone having it available on Amazon.com! Speechless.

I've ordered my copy and still waiting for it. What are you waiting for? Nothing better than seeing her psychotic realism in hard copy.

Proud of you, and very happy for you. :)

تحرك .. أسمعهم صوتك

The Da Vinci Code

In the beginning, I didn't like the fact that Tom Hanks is in it. Now, don't get me wrong; Tom is a favorite, but I wished to see a great script carry itself without the need for a superstar. However, now that I'm 34 chapters into it, I'm kinda' looking forward to seeing Tom Hanks as Dr. Langdon.

A good way to come at peace with myself would be saying: I still wish to see the script carry itself alone, and I wish Tom's name wasn't mentioned :D

I don't know whether I should finish the book, or stop a few chapters short, and wait for the movie to finish it off on May 19th.

Being already hooked, I guess the question is can I get that far and resist the temptation to finish it?

قـبـســــة

عطفاً على موضوع الطيران والطيور ...ـ

ما هو شعورك؟

لو ذهبت للمطار وتكتشف أنك أتيت متأخراً وطارت الطائرة بدونك.ـ

ثم تركب على الرحلة التالية بعد عدة ساعات ، وتتأخر أكثر لعطل فني في أحد المحركات.ـ

ثم تطير ويخضك الكابتن خض اليهد في الطريق إلى الأعلى.ـ

فتفتح غطاء الشباك لتنظر للسماء علك تجد بعضاً من البهجة .. فترى الأخت تبحلق فيك:ـ

Who Doesn't Envy Birds?

All of a sudden, I feel like flying!

Don't you sometimes just wish you had wings? To be able to spread them out and fly away. Or let me say fly up. I don't have a particular place to go to. I just want to fly up over many places.

A couple of years ago I went sky diving from 12,000 feet. It was one of the greatest feelings/moments I've ever had in my entire life. Even though I was "falling," not literally "flying," but the feeling was absolutely indescribable! Nothing is carrying you. Nothing is holding you. You feel independent. Free! Free of anything.. Everything!

(By the way, if you haven't done sky diving, DO SO at least once in your life time. It's so worth it.)

Many people associate the expression "I want to fly" with happiness. Well.. that's not necessarily the case with me. I'm not happy nor sad. In fact I'm a little stressed out these days over several things. But I just feel like flying right now!

For everything else other than the flu, I envy birds.

Mr. Zbaidi Has A Chinese Cousin

Ladies and Gentleman. I'm happy to reveal my newest cooking milestone :D

And here it is all stuffed and stitched up for an unforgettable
مـطـبـــــق

Calling On Survivor Fans

Did you see the new season premier of Survivor last Thursday night?

It kicked off a bit/lot differently this time around. The 16 participants were divided into 4 groups based on age and gender: Old Men, Old Women, Young Men, and Young Women. Interesting, huh? Wait. It gets better.

The 4 tribes compete in the reward challenge. One member of the losing tribe gets abandoned in a remote Exile Island till the immunity challenge. All alone. The disadvantage for that member is that whatever strategizing or alliance making going on camp, he/she is completely out of it. The advantage is that there's a super immunity idol hidden somewhere on that Exile Island, with hints to its whereabouts given by Jeff Probst. More interesting? It gets even better. The idol is "super" because it can be used at any point up through the final four. Not only that; it can be used even after the votes are read, and the person with the 2nd most votes goes home!

In the 1st episode, poor Misty from the Young Women was left behind. Jeff explained to her what she was up against in that island. In the process, he said "you should think about why fate chose you to be the 1st one left here, and why the idol is already so important. And as for the clue to its whereabouts, I've already given it to ya" !!!@@

He said that and it creeped me out! I kept rewinding it back trying to figure something out. Not a clue yet.

-----

Going along with my Survivor rituals, I already picked my crush for this season. Killer-smile Sally. She's cute, quiet, tall, and did I say killer smile already?

Misty was cool too. She has dark hair and a clear, nice way of talking. Too bad I think she's not going to last very long. She seems very fragile.

I also like Danielle; the fierce, Stephanie-type sporty gal. She might not be the best looking, but I just have this special thing for sporties. She's my ultimate pick!

Okey so I have 3 crushes this time. Kaaifi!

The rest of the cast is interesting too. One of them is a retired NASA astronaut.

-----

Here is the dilemma. When I started watching Survivor (season 2), I had a few friends who were fans as well. We'd enjoy watching it together. Now (season 12) it's lonely. I'm the only one watching it that it gradually became a guilty pleasure. So I'm calling on Survivor fans out there. Anybody?

Call me a reality TV freak. Kaaaaaifi again! I even have a survivor t-shirt :D

مايكل جاكسون تحجب في البحرين

Read This!

Only 2nd To Wilt Chamberlain!

WHAT THE %#$^!


81

Yes..

E-I-G-H-T-Y O-N-E POINTS!!

In regular time. Not a single overtime. Just 4 quarters!
I love this guy!

أين تذهب هذا المساء؟

Munich was good.

I thought Spielberg gave a relatively fair account of both sides.

Damn it; is he bad in any genre` at all?

-----------

Could this be interesting?

Starring Albert Brooks (clown fish in Nemo), it premiered in Dubai last week. It is premierring in LA and NY this Friday. I don't know when it will be nation-wide if at all.

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Last but not least, March 24th...

Willem,

Clive,

Jodie, and Denzel

Are you kidding me?

Or too much star power?

Officially, The Worst 3eed In Terms Of 3ayadi =(

--------------------

*** Update January 14 ***

And ..

منعونا أن نراهم يقظةً .. ما علينا إن رأيناهم مناما؟

رأيتُــني في دارهم
جالسٌ معهم
في مهمة مستحيلة

فأقبلتِ خجلة
بقميصك البرتقالي نفسه
تذكرينه؟
يكحله من الجانبين
شعرك الأسود بطوله الأولي

جلستِ خجلة في وسط الغرفة
وتصفحتِ الجريدة .. خجلاً
وأرسلتِ ابتسامةً خجلة
أخجلتني أمامهم

هممم ..
لا أذكر ما كان قبل النهاية
ولكني أذكر ما انتهينا عليه
عادت مياهنا .. بمعجزة
وجبر زجاجنا .. بمعجزة

تستحيل علينا المعجزات حقاً
أفيبخل الأنبياء والرسل عليّ
بمعجزة في المنام أيضاً؟
لا .. ليس من حقهم

***

صحوتُ على صياح ديكنا
ما لك يا ديك .. تصيح
وكأنه يومك الأخير؟
ألا تستطيع صلاة الفجر ..
الانتظار حتى أنتهي؟

صحت فقطعت سعادتي
ليتني قطعت رأسك
أدعو الله لهلاكك يا ديك ..
كدعاء شاة عليك ..
حسداً منك ليلة العيدِ

في الحقيقة ..
لا أعجب من صياحك
فيقال عنك أنك لا تصيح
إلا بمرور ملاك

فكيف لك ألا تصيح ..
وهي لم تمر فقط .. بل أقبلَت
وجلسَت وتصفحَت
وتبسمَت فأخجلَت؟

***

أترككم مع جمال ونادر يشدوان بلسان عبدالغفار الأخرس:

منعـونـا أن نـراهـم يقظــةً ... مـا علينـا إن رأينـاهـم منـامــا؟
قسمــاً بالحب واللــوم وإن ... كنـت لا أسمع في الحب ملاما
والعيـون البـابليـات التـــي ... ما أحلت مـن دمـي إلا حـرامـا
إننـي فيكـم ومنكـم لــوعــة ... أنحلت بل أوهنت مني العظاما
وفـؤادٌ كلمـا قلـت استفــق ... يــا فـــؤادي مــرة زاد هيــامــا
أحسب العام لديهم ساعةً ... وأرى بعــدهــم السـاعـة عـامـا