.flipping out

I watched an interesting show last night which discussed the phenomena of earths magentic poles flipping! Apparently this has happened many times before, every 200,000 years or so. Nevertheless, the last time this event occured was 750,000 years ago. Thus, most agree that we are more than likely to experience it very soon. The questions is when and for how long . Scientist and geologists study pottery and rocks in order to extrapolate information about the Earths maganetic history. Rock formations from volcanic pours contain within them a record of the earths maganetic field during the time they cooled and formed. same thing goes for pottery and the cooling clay. This helps formulate a clear understanding of the timings of these maganetic occurances as well as their longevity. The ramifications of these flips are not to be underestimated. A flip in the earths polarity would mean a complete loss of the Earths maganetic field, which is currently our form of defense against space and the suns harmful radiation. Without it we basically fry in the long run. Its like standing in space naked

.The Sun and the Wind

There are many people out there, in fact the majority, who condone the actions of the muslim world against Denmark- most noticebly the embargo on Danish products. Before we addres this issue we need to acknowledge some factors; going along with the main-stream does not mean one is right, and blameing a government for the actions or lack thereof of its people is futile. We all agree that as arabs, muslims, middle easterners etc we are a people charactarized in general as overtly emotional, whether we are acting on the level of the state or the indiviual. However, if we so strongly believe in what is happening then we are certainly going about it in the wrong manner. Emotional, intuitive and completly without a sense of logic or foresight.

This is not the first time this has happened. We all recall the oil embargo of the 70's. Yes, it worked in the short run, but the long term effects are amongst others, the Wests realization of the need to cut dependancy on middle eastern oil. the hastening of the development of other sources of energy, and if you look into recently released british papers, some of the Western powers were counting invasion of some of the gulf states as an option.today, the arabs dominate only 40 percent of the world oil market as compared with the 70 percent held in 1973.

I am not saying that the west is the best, or that they are angels and we are devils, I am not makeing and argument for anybody. This is politics ,and policitics to me is the logical and impersonal representative strategy for a large body of people and their interests. We as muslims need to consider the ramifications of our own actions as a people and a race. We need to stop the tit for tat mentality and the 'if they can do it so can we ' apprach and rather begin to adopt a more mature and aware response to our dilemmas.

We cannot deny that we are no longer world leaders in anything. We can no longer deny that we are backward and third world. We can no longer deny that there are stronger powers in the world and there is an order whether we like it or nor. The fact remains, we need to find a way to deal with these matters that are far from emotional and forceful. Just as the Sun beats the Wind in Aesop's Fables - "The North Wind and the Sun" shouldnt we adopt a less forceful approach.

If we continue as we do we may we will get an apology or two. but in the long run, markets, companies, and indivuals will think twice. thrice. before setting foot in our region. I know i wouldnt risk it. We can head-butt and continue to say we are right and they are wrong. and that may be true. but the fact remains that there needs to be another way of approaching this and other future conflicts if we hope to remian and integrated part of the world, and its cultures and not be rejected.

So, are we in need of more hate and distance, or is time for a change from our side?

Muslims outraged at images of Mohammed.
wadda we think?


A small comment on the events of the day. I think we have all forgotten the real reasons behind our religion disallowing the image of the prophet. In our own quest to make the prophet more human and less of an idol, we have done just the opposite. This is a picture of a friend of mine whos name happens to be mohammed. for all we know the prophet could have looked like him. the point is, it doesnt matter. it isn't about images or drawings, its about the belief behind it. which im sorry to say has been lost by most all muslims as demonstrated. This is a social statement agaisnt what is happening. my hopes is that i can have this image spread as a statement of what it represents rather than what it is.

feel free to save your copy today.pass it on.


instructions:

1. Right click on image and select 'save image as'
2. Save image to your desired folder or device
3. Email it to friends. print it and post it somewhere. print it as a sticker.



more to come..

More to come

images from Houston.7.1.2006/25.1.2006

1.3 mp sonyericsson 550i camera

500 ml Nyquil

.The deaf come out at night

We had just got back home after a long night out. My friend turned on the TV and began flipping through the channels, eventually settling on some rap video. Rims, bitches, and many many fish eye closups. It was nearly 4.00 am. I glanced at the video and saw what could only have been a midget dancing in the corner of the screen. A hip hop move bustin, white midget. In the corner of the screen. Shit. its not a midget, my friend explained, it someone doing sign language.

Fair enough i thought, no harm in giving equal opportunity for all to indulge in these demonstrations of fine poetic prose. Hearing enabled or otherwise!

So what if these stations only broadcast 'assisted viewing' elements after 1.00 am ?? Im not deaf. who am i to comment on the sleeping patterns of the hearing impaired? The stations knew better. They had research. stats. thousands of scientist relentlessly brooding over countless charts and pies.

hungry.pies.

I tried hard to interpret the nonsensical gestures the itty bitty lady in the corner was makeing. Gibberish, it was like a drunk trying to sign. Was this how deaf slurred thier 'speech'?

Only when i realized that the singer/rapper were syncing in motion every now and then did i understand.

She was sign rapping!! SIGN RAPPING

Not only was a white lady signing a black hip hop video to a supossed fully awakened, eaglry anticipaing deaf population awaiting the privilage of understanding what this rapper was saying..but they wanted to also see how he does it?!?

There once was a bike that strolled

into the wrong part of town

Vulgar Brits

De La Soul concert

This is what happens when you wait for the

bus too long

Hamads got a glowstick

came back from Fabric (the nightclub) London at about 8.00 am. Went with a couple of friends to see Richie Hawtin spin (if you want to call it that anymore). For those of you not familiar with the Gentleman; He is considered a pioneer producer in electronic music with labels such as M-nus. I danced for most of the night but also spent the better half of it observing this guy and the way he works.

if taken out of context, the scene may just as well have been of a man sitting at his desk during any regular work day in any company- eyes fixed, peering from a face lit only by the glare of the laptops screen, and notwithstanding the occasional click and scroll of the mouse his body remained more or less static.

Gone are the turntables, the mixer, the mic, and the energy. A click here, a scroll and knob turn there and the sounds came exploding out. He uses a special program which allows users to improvise tracks on the go, and rather than remixing and producing a track traditionally, one can now do these things on the fly and in realtime. Essentially he was basically creating and rediting complete tracks right there instead of just playing a set of songs back to back.

I have to admit ive always been interested in this concept, and this was what sparked my interest in the electronic music genre. How can beeps and bleeps processed and synthesizd on machines and electronics make sense to us? how can it be music? how is it able to trigger emotions? Im not talkin about sampling traditional instruments and re-playing them but coming up with new sounds, squelches and moans that could just as well be sounds and voices of the machines which gave birth to them.

The sounds were great, the music invegorating. It challenged me, kept me guessing, then surprised me. Where did i learn about this? i dont recall anyone sitting and telling me what sounds good and what doesnt, never recall having anyone tuning my ear or educating me on the art of sound. Our appreciation for music and rythme seems to stem from our collective unconscious as humans. I often ponder when on our timeline of existance did humans first begin to relate and identify with the experiences of sounds and music on an emotional level.

We live in a very interesting time, and are now close, i believe, to coming full circle musically from where we were. One could debate the assumption, and question the linear nature or lack thereof of music development but thats besides the point. From the days of the first frantic log banging by our primordial ancestor, our sounds have always been categorized by emotion and energy and instruments. Everything from tribal drums to swing music, had always involoved energy and instrumentation of some sort.

Interestingly enough though, now at the pinnacle of our existance and innovation, where one like Hawtin is able to create in realtime ideas and sounds rushing through his head without nessecarily having to write music or play an instrument in the traditional sense, we see a clear absence of the elements we traditionaly came to accepet as inevitable to the process of music creation. The physical act of blowing through a wind instrument or striking a string have been replaced by the almost sensual touching of the mouse. The extroverted energy of a concert is now the subtle, inconspicuous, and sometimes ethereal process of creation unfolding infront of us. reactive. responsive. writtin then and there for the now and present. Customized and targeted.

Many remain doubtful of new technologies. Digital photograpy, digital music, etc. An overwhelming desire to hold on to the old and maintain the elitist view of specialist areas. the same people who prefer traditional cameras feel digital photography discards what they consider an essential part of the the image-the process (developing, etc) They might be interested to know that the same stance was taken up by advocates of painting in the early days when photography and the camera were invented. it must have been much worse then. How dare anyone think that with a click of a button one could call a piece of art an image which would have have otherwise taken a master painter months to paint through years of experience and learning. Same is true here. New technologies in my mind are not an obstacle or a threat, they are instruments. And if they happen to facilitate or eleminate some process or technicality then so be it, the bar will eventually raise itself in another area previously unkown.

I predict a day when every person will be able to do anything. Any person will be able to expressive themselves musically, artisticlly, vocally, and other ways we probably cant imagine. Let us not get held up and caught in minute details and forget the underlying messege at hand. A Messege of expresion and self thought. Of being able to free what is inside us without having to look for the way to do so. I predict a day where thought will manifeste itself instantly in any form and through any medium. A day when we will finally be able to escape the gravitational hold of our own mind, culture, and lives and at last set our thoughts adrift in the cosmos that is our existance.