Meet the real, real world

Icaro Doria decided to put a new meaning to a flag by using the colors of each flag to represent relevant, global, and current date taken from the websites of Amnesty International and the UNO. The result is quite fascinating, and very, very creative. I love.

Check out the rest of the flags here.

Chocolate cravings

I'm having a particularly chocolatey appetite, and this did me no good! The world's first ever sneaker chocolate, made out of the finest Swiss chocolate!
Oh, my...

+Frank151

O Nezel 3al Dabkeh Il Lawee7 Il Shater...

For three years, I shook my brains to death, literally jumping around tennis courts, squash courts, and the various stages of Riyadh doing the Dabkeh(a Levantine dance marked by synchronized jumping, stamping, and movement, a teeny-tiny bit similar to tap dancing).

A good shaking does a lot to ones brains- it either knocks sense back into them, or knocks sense out. I will leave which it did to me for you to decide, but those three years of bouncing away for at least an hour a day are the best memories of my life so far.

It all started around the time of the 2nd Palestinian Intifada as a way to collect money through shows and bazaars to send to orphans, and it was so successful that after a year, we were doing shows for the WHO, UNICEF, and various other worldwide charity organizations.

So basically, it was a group of around 40 kids who belonged more to "She's All That" than dabkeh- "Ohhh myyyy Gawd! Like, what the hell, today, I like went to buy this really, really cute top from Mamlakeh and like, they only had yellow! Yellow! Like, seriously, whatever, who would wear that?" Yes, we were airheads.

But whether we were airheads or not, it was the best time of my life, and some of the friends I made through dabkeh are going to be my friends for life. Yesterday, I saw some of the dabkeh people that I haven’t seen in ages, as a lot of us then-airheads are now scattered all over the world for college, and it was just great! It brought back so many memories, and a trip into bites to dig out old files, pictures, and videos that I decided to share with the internet. Why the internet? Mostly because there is a huge shortage of dabkeh (dabka, dabkah, dabki) related material online, and because these pictures and videos represent a very special part of my life.

Internet, behold, I present ye with the dance that has blessed the marriage of most of the population of Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria(and any Levantine couple that got married without a zafeh didn't really get married!)

I actually put up some low-quality videos of Arabian Sunshine(yes, yes, very pleasnt name isn't it?) doing the dabkeh- forgive me for the quality, we had to do with home videos as dabkeh, video-photography, music, lack of segregation, and unlicensed charity organizations are all illegal in Saudi Arabia and that posed a problem in regards to professional video-taking.

Dabkeh Video 1 (refresh if it doesn't work the first time)
Dabkeh Video 2
Dabkeh Video 3 (confusing layout, keep scrolling downwards)
Dabkeh Video 4

Click on each thumbnail to look at it:

Harry Potter Mania!

I read the first Harry Potter book back in 1998, before it was "all the rage". One of the boys had "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" assigned for his English class, and I, by nature, can't let any available book escape my hands.

Naturally, I absolutely loved it, and as the years went by, you would find us discussing the long-awaited release date of the following book!

Next week marks the release of the 6th book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince", and at 12:00 AM of the 16th of July at Prime Megastore, we will participate in the world's biggest-ever brand events- in thousands of retail outlets all over the world, millions of people will gather with the same purpose: to buy the new Harry Potter book. The cool thing is that we will get the book several hours before the stateside counterparts! (and if that's not cool, I don't know what is :P)

Anyhow, while on the subject of Potter, I found a really fascinating article about the brand power of "Harry Potter". The article poses the question "What defines a brand?", and can "Harry Potter" be considered a brand? You can read the whole article here, here are some highlights though:

"In less than 10 years, Harry Potter has become one of the world's most widely recognised names. A brand name indeed. In terms of books sold, Harry Potter stands third in the all-time literary charts behind the Bible and the thoughts of Chairman Mao. And, I suspect, read rather more avidly over the past 10 years than either of those other literary heavyweights.

Rowling has created Harry Potter using branding techniques and the books themselves are full of brilliantly invented brands, corporate strategies, advertising campaigns and every element of the marketing mix. In effect, they make a textbook case for marketing.

Harry Potter's lightning flash is becoming as recognisable as Nike's swoosh or the golden arches of McDonald's, and he has many other distinctive brand elements such as ownable words. 'Quidditch', for example, was recently voted one of the nation's favourite words, even though it has yet to find its way into most dictionaries."

Road trip!

Did you ever hear of the Land of the Kites? I'm sure you've seen it if you've ever been to Amman during the summer, for some where seemingly far away from West Amman lies many white mountains with skylines stippled with colorful kites.

It is indeed a very enjoyable view from afar, so today, Nada and I decided to hit the road into the "land of the kites", especially since Nada loves kites. Ok, so "Road trip" isn't an appropriate title, especially since that in East Amman's narrow two-way roads "alley lurching" is so much more suitable...

It was a very pleasant trip, starting with "trying" to reach the targeted area but instead ending up at Abdoun where we started. Finally, after several tries, we found ourselves in an area we don't recognize and we kept going deeper and deeper until Amman stopped looking like the Amman we know and became a mosaic of brick buildings, very narrow streets, and little kids flying kites.

I'm not very sure where we were, the lady we asked said we were in "Bab Sahera", and I've never heard of that area.

I'm deliberating between redirecting you to a slideshow or posting enlargable minis of all the pictures here... I'm gonna go with minis now, but let me know if you think that a slideshow will be a better option for the future.

Everything grows when clicked!

Good news

UAE Flickr ban lifted!

+Related

Double Tag the Bookworms!!!

Arafat tagged me with a book meme. I know I already did a tag thing today, but they're quite different, so here you go:

Number of books I own: LOL, who counts books! Yet I've had a love affair with books since forever, so I'm guessing they're well over 200(not counting the books I have from before I was 12, man, I have at least 150 Baby Sitters Club books!)

Last book I bought: "The Arab Contribution to Islamic Art by Wijdan Ali". This was one of the references I had for a class last semester, and the book was so interesting that I decided that it's certainly worth being in my permanent collection.

Last book I read: "Leo the African" by Amin Malouf, and I'm currently reading "Quran and Woman" by Amina Widad.

Five books that mean a lot to me: the fantasy/science-fiction buff shining through...

1. "Blood and Gold" by Anne Rice. A lot of rich historical fiction, a lot about art, a lot of action, and a lot about the philosophy of comparative religion- this book is certainly a rich, colorful feat.

2. "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien. This could, possibly, be my all-time favorite book. Tolkien is a genius...

3. "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden. This book was my first venture into the East of Asia.

4. "Wicked: The Life and Tales of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Mcguire. Amazing look at the notion of evil and good, beautiful fantasy, magical imagination, and an cunning ability to twist facts and make you doubt your world.

5." Experimental Formats and Packaging." Great book- very creative, very resourceful, and quite unique!

The book I am reading since long but could not finish: "Lasher" by Anne Rice. LOL, this is the first book in a trilogy, and I read the last 2 books a while back so it's being quite annoying...

Tagging: MMM, Farooha, Madas, Lina, and Natasha!

Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the sky is pretty...

Eman passed this baton on to me, so here goes!

Total volume of music files on my computer:
There are 1475 music files on the computer, LOL, and their volume is 5.99 GB.

The last CD I bought was:
I will redirect you to this blog post... but if you're interested anyway, it was an MP3 for Fairooz.

Song playing right now:
Simon and Garfunkl's "If I"

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me: (the rocker shining through!)

1. "Dazed and Confused" - Led Zeppelin
2. "Comfortably Numb" - Pink Floyd
3. "Under the Bridge" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. "Shook Me All Night Long" - AC/DC
5. "Zombie" - The Cranberries

Five people to whom I’m passing the baton:
Arafat, Ammar, Nader(enough with the drafts!), Sarah, and Omar.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Only a little while after Saudi Arabia decided to unblock Flickr, the UAE decided to block it! Not a good day for freedom of speech, especially since it is the Emirate users of Flickr who asked UAE ISP to block Flickr, claiming that some people post nudity that is not appropriate for the eyes of the citizens of the UAE!

I say, bullshit.

I've been keeping up with this "syndrome" since I saw that a UAE-national residing in England who started campaigning against Flickr was actually getting a lot of support. I was indeed shocked at some of the reactions and support that he received, especially since Flickr has a mindblowing number of users from the UAE.

Many lengthy threads have been formed on Flickr pertaining to this topic, a lot of which have already been deleted(ha, especially now since the expat campaigners who got it blocked are happily posting pictures away in England, Canada, and the US!) There are now several ways around the UAE ISP censorship, and they're even collecting money to create a UAE Flickr.

Personally, I believe the difference between nudity and pornography is huge. Some of the world's greatest artwork consists of depictions and sculptures of nude figures created before the dawn of time- way before the Arabs, Christianity, the West, Islam, or the UAE ever came to be. Tasteful nudity is a part of the history of the world, the culture of the world, and even the Muslim culture if I may say so- we have many examples of nude Muslim art going back to the time of the Ummayyads! I think it is not an issue of nudity as much as it is an issue of inability to distinguish been tastefulness and pornography, it it an issue of lack of appreciation, horrible schooling, and priorities gone wrong!

Anyhow, regardless of the culture issue, is blocking Flickr really the right way to combat pornography? Flickr, by its terms of use, clearly states that pornography or anything indecent is not allowed, and users can easily flag nudity as "Over 18" and enable the "Over 18 toggle" option. There are many ways to access porn through other less discrete sources, and if someone is looking for it, there are many ways to find it. Having the ISP block a nonpornographic websites like Flickr makes it seem like the consenting adults in the UAE are like children that can't make up their own minds and can't filter their own content! Opressing is a stupid way to deal with problems.

Lastly, I find it ironic that the people campaigning against nudity are practicing something that in my opinion is one of the most morally disgusting practices- hypocracy. The England resident, for example, was the person who started the campaign against Flickr by using such images such as the one below and by various threads, all of which have now been deleted.



After the onset of the blockage, this person has decided that to change his opinion!



I am really, really pissed off.

Jordan Planet, reality?

I came upon an article about blogging in the Arab world via Saudi Jeans, and I found this really interesting:

As quoted from an article by Jihad al-Khazin on Dar Al-Hayat:

وكان الأردن بين أول الدول العربية التي نشطت في مجال البلوغز، خصوصاً ان الحكومة تشجع استعمال الانترنت، وهناك بلوغ باسم «جوردان بلانت» يجمع عدداً من البلوغز الأردنية. وثمة أسماء كثيرة تنشر مع البلوغز، ولكن لا نعرف على وجه التحديد إن كانت أسماء حقيقية. وفهمت أن بلوغز كثيرة مجموعة تحت سقف «جوردان بلانت» هي لناس يعيشون خارج الأردن.

Translated(me bad translator, 3amo Iyas unavailable)

"Jordan was the first amongst the Arab world to become active in the blogging scene, especially as the government encourages the use of the internet. There is the blog called "Jordan Planet", which joins a number of Jordanian bloggers. There are many names published with the bloggers, but we do not know if the names are real. I also understood that a lot of the bloggers of Jordan Planet are people who live outside of Jordan."

I found it really interesting that they stressed on the fact that the Jordanian bloggers don't blog anonymously, and that they even doubt the names we publish. I understand that a lot of other Arab bloggers blog using nicknames or only first names, so what do you think this means? The democracy in Jordan? The more open-minded culture of Jordan?
And why is it that Al-Khazin actually doubts the published names?

Summer in the Garden

One cannot underestimate the importance of a garden in the Jordanian society. For a good amount of the population, night life in Jordan is not about flashing signs, music, or drinks, it's about sitting on the porch or garden in the evening's shade and enjoying a cup of Turkish coffee(one cannot underestimate the importance of coffee in the Jordanian society either!)

Personally, I'm more about flashing signs, but even I can't escape the garden, especially in the summer when I find the most interesting people drinking coffee and smoking argeeleh(hubbly-bubbly, hooka, sheeshah, whatever you call it) in my grandmother's garden.

For me, there's also the compulsory picture taking feat(and my teta getting excited about my sudden interest in flowers), and the inavoidable shoe topshots.

Politically Correct

Abu Samer also says that there is only one political party that can mobilize the masses...

Three rules for protection from radioactivity:

According to Abu Samer:

1. Trying to change the material to a nonradioactive one.

2. Shielding.

3. Distance.


You can never go wrong with Abu Samer...

Fete De la Musique a Amman!!!

Today in Amman, we celebrated the Fête de la Musique, or "Eid Il-Musiqa" as it was dubbed. This festival was held at the Gardens of Al-Hussein amongst crowds enjoying the wonderful music of Nawazen, Sign of Thyme(Al-Tareeq ila Al-Za3tar), and Cheb Balowski.

The Fête de la Musique takes place in France, Switzerland, and Belgium on June 21, but as you can see, it is spreading out to different countries in Europe and around it. It was thought up by French culture minister Jack Lang in 1981 and first took place in 1982, it is the occasion of a mass celebration which has grown more and more successful over the last two decades.

Its purpose is to promote music in two ways:

1) Amateur musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets. The slogan Faites de la musique (Make music), a homophone of Fête de la Musique, is used to promote this goal.
2) Many free concerts are organized, making all genres of music accessible to the public.

An interesting fact that this is one of the only nights in the year where, under French law, there is no sound restriction at nighttime. One can party on without being bothered by neighbors calling the police. LOL, certainly not in Amman though!

Anyhow, the festival was absolutely amazing, and the bands played wonderfully! Each band that played has its own distinct flavor, and that made the whole festival very diverse and interesting. There was a good amount of people present, from all classes of society and from different places in Amman, and maybe even Jordan. I saw two of my blogging buddies, Ammar and Lina, both of whom I always get the pleasure of seeing in cultural events(cheers you two! you guys rock! viva la being cultured!)

Here's a little more about the bands that played(in order of appearance):


Elia Khoury's Nawazen:



Playing traditional Middle Eastern compositions with a 21st century twist, played on oud, string bass, and percussion.


Sign of Thyme:



Sign of Thyme is an attempt to represent the sound created by the intense diversity of influences floating in this place and time; this is the sound of Amman as they hear it, and their work is jazzing up the scales of Arabia, and adding the element of spiritual rapture to the grooves of a walking bass. I really enjoy their music, listen to a sample of it here.


Cheb Balowski:



Spanish band characterised by the "groove" in the songs and their rhythmic density, among melodies that go from Flamenco to Balkanic, Arabian, or Mediterranean, the band's intersection.

Whitey

Introducing the latest addition to the 3assis...



Whitey getting cosy with Gus:




Isn't she a cutie?
(Tim, I don't know anything about cats! Iyas, Allah yiqrifak la7alak. Sami, she looks like you!!!)

Jordan Planet's 4th Blogger Meet-up

(from now on, we're using a tripod, but MMM's picture is whole check it out here)
Left to right, standing row: Nader , Jad , Lina , Hind , Eman, MMM
LEft to right, sitting row: Deeb , Isam , Roba, Naseem , Mira


I just got back from the 4th Jordan Planet blogger meet-up, which we had tonight at our now usual venue, Wild Jordan(though I doubt it will remain so). The amount of attending bloggers was impressive, and we got to see plenty of new faces (we as in JP's always-there-committee of Isam, Ammar, Nader, and myself). It was great meeting the new faces and great seeing the old ones again.

Like Eman said, it's really nice putting a face to each blog, especially those individuals like Eman and MMM who I've personally liked for so long and never got the chance to meet.

We discussed everything from politics (Nader really loves the government), to the conception of marriage in the Arab world, to movies, to why we started blogging. We even discussed the difference between the French horn and the trumpet and heard some technical jokes from Ammar.

For the first time, I feel like there are enough names of attendee bloggers to actually have a list! And so, just for the heck of listing(although I hate listing), here you go:

• Ammar Ibrahim
• Deeb Dweik
• Eman (AquaCool)
• Hind Sabanekh
• Isam Bayazidi
• Hind Sabanehk
  
• Jad Madi
• Lina Ejeilat
• Mira (Mirachka)
• Nader Shnoudi
• Naseem Tarawnah
• Roba (AndFarAway)
• Samir Rawashdeh
• MMM of Subzeroblue
  

(Nader, woops, we forgot to carry out our plan!)

Picture time:


Samir , Lina , Deeb

Eman, MMM, Ammar

Lina , Deeb , Jad

Naseem , Mira , Hind

Nader , Samir , Lina

Eman, MMM, Ammar

@6:15 AM

Abu 3eesa bib3at salam...

Fact #2

I HATE SELF CENTERED PEOPLE

Scream baby, scream!

- So what's the best way to get a year's worth of stress out of your system?

- Go to a concert and scream it all out!

- A concert? In Amman?

- Indeed. The guys and girls from LBC's Star Academy 2 threw an awesome concert at the Arena(in a university that doesn't show, we reached Salt looking for it!) tonight.

- Um... why would anyone go to a Star Academy concert? Especially someone like you? You're all anti popular music.

- A concert is a concert. I do not take an excuse to scream my ass off for granted!

- You're too weird...

- Does it look like I care what people think? The security was excellent, the lighting was beautiful, the song line-up was perfect (they even had that cool song from the Chicago soundtrack), they actually started on time, the audience's energy radiated into me and cheered the boo-boos away, and I even got to see two friends I haven't seen in ages(hey Tala, hey Heba)! Me? Lame? Whatever.


Show opener was Sophia from Star Academy Season 1


Big crowd...



The group


Grand finale

Death to the ugly yellow smileys!

Death to the ugly yellow smileys!

The internet has more visual pollution than JU during Student Council elections, but as far as I'm concerned, the worst pollutant is the ugly yellow smiley face sprinkled all over the web!

*Desperate scream*

Hell, whoever brought them hence forth out of the 70's and into the new millennium needs to be tossed into a yellow cell for the rest of his life. THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

Why internet smileys should be boycotted:

1. They are too yellow. Yellow. YELLOW!
2. They're too overenthusiastic.
3. They're all cross eyed.
4. They are drawn by jerks who CAN'T DRAW!
5. They are over animated in a sense that I feel like whacking them on the face with my 800-paged Lord of the Rings hardcover book.
6. They negate a phrase's meaning, turn it upside down, inside out, and leave the reader in semantic anarchy.
7. People use them instead of words, which are so much more interesting.
8. They are drawn by people with NO IMAGINATION!
9. Sometimes, they BLINK!!! Argh!
10. Their colors don’t match. At all.

Blood boiling first example, my brother's contact list:



Teeth crunching second example:




Fist breaking third example:

SMILE!!!!!!

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leave the smiley faces where they belong, in the 70's!!!!!


And I won't even start with the emoticons...

DEATH TO THE SMILEY FACES! DEATH TO THE SMILEY FACES! DEATH!

Tag Mania

Me, I was always really good at playing tag. I never got tagged. I always hid until the game was over.
Farooha, you got me.

What is the one word you would use to describe your appearance?
3ajga

Favorite body part?
Hands and feet

Least favorite body part?
They call them... love handles... I call them... "not my fat"

Most often complimented on?
My complete and utter nonchalance as to what people think, ultimate detachment(ex. lostness), and heartbreaking honesty.

Most often criticized for?
My complete and utter nonchalance as to what people think, ultimate detachment(ex. lostness), and heartbreaking honesty.

Your romantic relationship?
Me? Romantic? Ha.
I'm as romantic as an old pair o'brown boots.

Your relationship with your parents?
Beyond excellent. My mother is my best friend and my father is my highest example.

Your feelings about parenting?
1. I hate kids.
2. I'm a perfectionist and I can't stand mistakes (isn't that all that kids do?).
3. I'm too open-minded for my own good (masmoo7, masmoo7, masmoo7).
4. I'm too hyperactive(how am I supposed to seat people when I can't sit myself?).
5. Enough said.

Your hobbies?
Getting artsy(that includes drawing, crafting, designing, etc), cruising around for hours, hanging out at cafés, taking pictures, and discovering odd, new, and eccentric places.

Your favorite personality type for a friend?
Exceedingly easy going, tremendously open minded, extremely smart, and capable of being awfully hyperactive.

Favorite personality type for a spouse or lover?
Exceedingly easy going, tremendously open minded, extremely smart, and capable of being awfully hyperactive.

Favorite type of movie?
Science fiction and fantasy.

Favorite cuisine?
Levantine and Chinese.

Favorite treat?
A day at the Dead Sea... and a dish of kubeh nayeh.

Favorite gift?
A print by Gustave Klimt.

Most sensitive "unusual" erogenous zone?
Um...

Favorite pet?
My gluegun.

Subject of blogging post that got the most hits?
My brain cells are dead tonight.

I tag Iyas il Sheerer, MMM, and Ameen il La3een.

Color me happy(My restaurant design)

(All images, em, grow...)

Hehe, we're done, and it feels DAMN good! I spent the whole afternoon doing absolutely nothing productive, from cruising around with Soos and Hind to hanging out with the other Sara at the mall to going cat-stuff shopping(Tim!). I'm so glad the tests are over and DONE WITH(so who knows when the results are out?)

Anyhow, although its been a while since I submitted(and got the ass-kicking only A), here are some shots of the restaurant project I had to submit for my final.

Although the travel agency got better feedback in general, I certainly like this project so much more, as it actually represents who I am and my philosophies in life. It is also my tribute to one of my very favorite artists- Pop artistAndy Warhol. The restaurant is called Serigraph, meaning a print made by the silk-screen process that Warhol is famous for.

Allow me to blabber a bit about the concept behind pop art as it is essential in understanding the design.

Pop art is:

• Popular(design for mass audience)
• Transient(short-term solution)
• Low cost
• Mass produced
• Young(aimed at youth)
• Witty
• Sexy
• Gimmicky
• Glamorous
• Big Business

After contemplating these 10 characteristics of pop art, I came up with the following design that basically uses the contrast between dark brown wood and white spaces, my favorite Andy Warhol print, bright colors, and contrasting shapes. I also made sure that it appears youthful, vigorous, witty, sexy, and mass produced.



The restaurant's menu represents the backbone of pop art- the silkscreen method. The menu is basically of three designs all contributing to the same concept- the first one is a painted draft, the second one is the actual silkscreen frame, and the third one(laying) is the produced print. Like the restaurant, the menu gives the air of being transitory, mass produced, youthful, and bright.

And me, I'm a pro-capitalism, pro-globalization, anti-visual pollution feminist misandrist. I also love bright colors, openness, and pop art.











The plan of the restaurant is 4.5m by 15m, which is why it seems so oblonged and "squished".

The horror

Throwing up history

No, not my throwing up history, but the actual act of throwing up history.

It's as if finals week is not bad enough, so team that up with 5 history courses- History of Islamic Art, History of the World, Art History, Art Aesthetics(mostly modern art history), and Art Terminology(like, every word has a history!)

Me can't take it anymore...

We are about to be LIBERATED!

I'm supposed to be studying, but I can't help but post this:
As of Thursday, the current spread of Creative Commons. The green are countries where the project has launched. The yellow are close. The red is yet to be liberated,

Look close.
Jordan is the only yellow kingdom in all the region! Wow.
Internet 2nd World, here we come!

+ Lessig

There she goes again...

I have this really hard ass test on Saturday morning(yes, on a weekend!) It's like, too many books of mumbo jumbo pertaining to history, art aesthetics, too many pictures, and too many names.
Naturally, I'm supposed to be studying, but instead, I'm doing something so unbelievably fulfilling- incomparatively more fulfilling than learning the difference between the art of the Seljuks and the art of the Mamluks- I'm designing my own Chuck Taylor's.

*Sigh*

Behold, oh, People of the Internet, my second favorite shoes I ever created(my first being these).

Vandalism! Shame!

My mother and I were horrified when we saw the vandalism that had devastated Samya Al-Zaru's "The Family" sculpture in Shmesani- someone painted the lower part of the iron installation with white paint! Ah, the horror! I can't believe the complete lack of respect and the complete lack of cultivation!

"The Family" is more important to the artistic culture of Jordan than most people are aware. This sculpture, created during the early 70's by Al-Zaru and dedicated to Haya's Cultural Center, is actually the first sculpture to be placed in a public space in the whole of Jordan.


This sculpture has been a huge part of my life since I was a kid. We've always lived the Shmesani area, and so I've stared at this sculpture for countless hours while waiting at the Shmesani traffic light crossing. I read that Al-Zaru is now demanding that the sculpture be removed from the public and moved to her home. I honestly don’t blame her as this is an extremely offensive incident, but the sculpture's removal will be a huge loss, as it has become a part of the identity of Shmesani.

Shame on you whoever ruined it... Shame on you...

Once again, cheers to Al-Ghad Newspaper for dedicating the first page of their "Hayatuna" section to this horrible incident that needs to see media attention.

Urban Fairytales

(Entrance to a philanthropist doctor's clinic, Downtown)

Downtown Amman(Il Balad) is one of the most exciting places in the world. Every time I go, I find myself experiencing story-like bouts of over-imagination. Most of the time, I can't take pictures of these bouts as they're all in my head, but here's a bout I was able to picture. This view reminded me of all the urban legends I've heard in my life.
But this legend has a twist. Once again, and like a lot of the urban legends, this is not as it appears to be. This clinic is actually run by a philanthropist doctor who provides his services to many of the poor of Amman. Kudos to Dr. Moneer for his efforts, may God help him in achieving his goal and bless him. Thank you Nader for clarifying this.

Does it remind anyone of anything?

The Guide to Operating Systems

So which operating systems suck and which rule? There are many ways of measuring that out by I found that the Sucks-Rules-O-Meter is the most interesting... It does periodic Altavista searches with the name of an operating system and the word "sucks" and "rocks" appended to it, and charts the results.
I'm not too shocked at the results, although I personally have nothing against Windows except their ultimate lack of creativity.

Link (via Making Light, Boing Boing)

You throw like a girl!

I was very delighted when I heard, thanks to Kinzi, about little Jordanian girls making it in the male-dominated sport. Kinzi has been kind enough to share an article she has written about this phenomena. Thanks Kinzi!

GIRLS RULE!

Sama, calm and collected, knows it's her ball. Effortlessly she reaches up, catches it ball and tags the runner before he even gets to first base. The runner on second base knows if she has the ball, it's not time to steal.

Majd neatly catches the ball, whips off her catcher's mask and dares the runner on third base to just try and steal home plate. As he retreats, she turns and smiles as she throws the ball back to the pitcher.

Kefah adjusts her baseball cap over her scarf, walks up to the plate and concentrates on the encouragement her coach is sending her way. She hits it! Not too far, but far enough to get to first base.

Wait a minute, did we just read the names Susie, Mary and Kathy? Nope. This isn't rural America, this is Ghamadan Park in Amman Jordan every Friday in the spring. Nearly 150 kids are playing baseball on fifteen teams, and over half of them are Jordanians.

What makes this Amman Little League season different is the fact that Jordanian girls are playing in the upper leagues. There have always been a few Jordanian girls playing T-Ball and even Coach Pitch, and a few American girls playing in every division. With three 14 year old Urduniyaats playing in the Kid Pitch Division, the term "You throw like a girl" has ceased to be an insult.

Kefah Amireh, an eighth grader at Ittihad, had never played before this year. It was her older sister's idea, whose boys enjoy playing baseball. Even though quiet and a bit shy, she held her own as she learned. Kefah said she felt very encouraged and supported by her coach, the other players (for the most part, she added) and the fans who cheered her on. She played right field, but likes batting the best, and even got on base a couple times. She plans on playing again next season and wants to tell other girls to join her.

Majd Abdullah had likewise never played before, and heard about the baseball from her cousin. A very athletic young lady, she amazed everyone with the speed with which she picked up the sport, and in her words "it's easy, the best sport!". She plays the position of catcher, NOT an easy place for a beginner and did such a great job she almost received a position on the All Star team. Her coach said she has an excellent attitude and always works hard. Majd attends a public school, and has really enjoyed the support of her family who come to watch every week, and the encouragement of the other moms who cheer her on even when she is playing against their sons. She plans to play in the Seniors division next year.

Sama Darwish has been playing baseball since she was six years old, when her mother Rasha was her coach!. With two older brothers playing, she was always around the ball field and enjoyed the help and practice she got when her brothers played with her. Sama describes herself as very competitive and finds baseball the perfect outlet and basketball as well. She attends the Baccalaureate School. She was awarded the distinction of "Best Glove" on her team, meaning she can play all the positions well, and not only did she earn a position on the All Star team, one of the coaches said if there had been an award for Most Valuable Player at the All Star game, Sama would've won it today. Her word of advice to other girls "Don't let anyone treat you different because you are a girl...play well!".

Rasha Darwish, Sama's mother, who has been involved in Amman Little League since 1990, thinks baseball is a great sport for girls. "Not only do they learn true teamwork, and how to pull together, but they can also show their individual skills. Girls have a better chance to excel as it is not a contact sport, and they don't have to be as strong as a boy in the upper divisions. More cheering and talking goes on between team mates, and there is much less fighting than in basketball and football".

Kefah, Majd, Sama and the younger girls pictured here are in it to have fun, but they are also setting a standard of empowerment for girls in the future. Each one of them mentioned that the other boys on the team (for the most part) treated them as equals and with respect, which shows that attitudes and culture are changing even at that level. It's a good thing for Jordan, so let's play ball!

(By Kinzi)

A la Culture

Why, oh, why do we Arabs define our civilization by our sad political history rather than by our beautifully rich culture? Why do we confine ourselves to groups bound by traditions, religions, and ethnic origins?

Layali Amman

And how can anyone not love Flickr?
I just found this absolutely stunning photograph of Amman at night taken by O'Kalis... Absolutely beautiful! I love the angle(great organization of objects, they're practically serving as framing), I love the colors(sunset), and I love the contrast between the peaceful still ness of dusk and the energy radiated from the cars.

And how can I not add that it is snapped from my favorite place on earth, Jabal Amman...

I'm really anxious to finish the semester so that I can start lazing around in my car, taking pictures, and enjoying the eccentricities of this beautiful city.

TV, R.I.P.

The idea of sitting in a little room staring at a little box doing all the talking simply FREAKS ME OUT. I mean, how am I supposed to feel good about giving in to a none-interactive talking apparatus programmed by god-knows-who?
I actually consider that brainwashing, one way or another.
I also consider this little box a waste of perfectly functioning brain cells and an even bigger waste of evaporating creative juices. Sure TV can teach you stuff, but hell, get online, you learn more that way and you actually interact with the apparatus (ok, I'm biased).

Anyhow, I found an interesting article on Newsweek pondering whether TV is becoming obsolete to a bigger part of society, and I feel like sharing a bit of it. I really wish there were more such studies, articles, and researches pertaining to pop culture trends in the Arab world because as a designer(or a to-be-designer anyhow), I feel that it is important to know the economy you're designing for. At any rate, although this article is probably inapplicable in the Arab world, it is still worth sharing:

"The death of television has been predicted almost since its birth. Back in 1946, Hollywood producer Darryl F. Zanuck famously announced that TV wouldn't last more than six months because "people will get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."

A decade later, when the remote control was invented, industry types worried that this miracle device would destroy their businesses by turning viewers into ad-avoiding serial clickers. It did, but the advertisers kept paying—where else could they hope to capture tens of millions of eyeballs at once? Later, the rise of cable and satellite fragmented that audience, and the big broadcasters were forced to share viewers and ad dollars in a growing multichannel universe. But in America they fought back, starting their own cable channels and becoming part of media giants like Viacom (a CBS spinoff that later bought its own parent), Disney and General Electric.
Through it all, broadcast television remained king. Even today, with 600-plus channels on tap, most people spend most of their TV time as they always did—viewing the major networks, on a box, in their living rooms.

All that is about to change. The growth of digital communication is shifting the TV paradigm in a fundamental way for the first time in its history.

Television has been the dominant form of mass consumer media for so long that many executives simply didn't see the revolution coming. They should have—after all, the damage done to the music industry by the likes of Napster is a case study in what can happen when you don't rise to the challenge of a new technology.

Meanwhile, television is losing its audience to the Web, especially when it comes to things like breaking news. A number of recent studies have shown that consumers under the age of 34 are using the Internet as their first port of call for news, eschewing both newspapers and television. During recent big news events like the Olympics, and the U.S. and U.K. national elections, Web-site visits often matched or outpaced television viewing. Not surprisingly, advertisers are following the eyeballs. Morgan Stanley estimates that television advertising in the United States will rise less than 4 percent this year, compared with a 21 percent leap in online advertising.

"Think of the movie business. Only about 25 percent of its revenues come from the box office. The rest comes from DVDs, international rights, theme parks, whatever." Of course, this underscores a very important idea. In the new digital world, the people who actually make television programs have a chance to make a mint—that is, if they can figure out a way to protect their creations. "It's all about content right now," says Brandon Burgess. Analysts believe that content makers have a "once in a generation" opportunity right now to start distributing their products directly to consumers via the Internet. By cutting out the middleman, companies could increase their revenues by as much as 50 percent. "

Read all article here.

Jordanian Fingerprints- Part II

As I have said in Jordanian Fingerprints Part I, this month's issue of "Layalina" has an excellent and very interesting article(or picture-story to be more precise) titled "Basamat Ordoneyah"(Jordanian Fingerprints), which places under the limelight, as chosen by her Royal Highness Queen Rania, 24 Jordanian individuals who have managed in helping shape Jordan.

Today, I will share another eight of the pioneers:


Artist Muhanna Al-Dura

One of my very favorite artists, Muhanna Al-Dura is the pioneer in Jordanian visual arts as he was the first to introduce cubist and abstract art into the Jordanian art field.

He established the College of Arts and Music in 1970 and was appointed as the manager of the Jordanian Department of Cultue and Arts. Al-Dura is the first Jordanian to receive formal art education, and the first Jordanian to establish an art studio which he also used to teach students. He also served as an ambassador of the Arab League.

He has received many shields, awards, and honors, and he is the first Muslim and the first Arab to be knighted by the Pope John Paul of the Vatican.

Muhanna Al-Dura now teaches at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design in Jordan University(yes, that's us).

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Dr. Zeid Il Keilany



He introduced the IVF technology into the Jordanian medical field, and he managed to place Jordan on the medical map of fertility. Dr. Keilany also established Farah Hospital, one of the globally leading hospitals dealing with fertility and that helps 5000 cases of infertility yearly.
Dr. Keilany furtherly added inventive methods in gynecology, helped write several books on the topic, and instituted the Jordanian Committee of Fertility and Genealogy.
I will also add that he delivered a good portion of the babies of Amman, including myself.

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Lorees Halas

Halas is the first woman ambassador of Jordan, first woman to receive the Shield of Independence, the Shield of Al-Kawakab Al-Ordony, the Shield of the Moroccan Crown, and is the first Jordanian woman to serve as a consultant to the Jordanian Prime Minister. She is also the first female Jordanian journalist. She served as a deputy for the representative of Jordan in the UN and also served as a consultant to the Jordanian minister of tourism.

Halas also was the president of the Board of Trustees of the International Committee Solidarity of Women in Jordan.

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Adnan Awamleh


Awamleh established one of the most important production companies in Jordan and the Arab world. He established the Arab Center for Phonetics and Visual Services and served as its manager.

He is now the President of the Union of Producers in Jordan and is a member of the Royal Committee of Films.

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Architect Rasem Badran

One of the most important architects specialized in the art of Islamic architecture.

He scooped several international and local awards and projects, including the Royal Academic Award of Islamic Research, the development of the sea façade of Saida, the design of the Gallery of Archeology in Amman, the design of the Gallery of Arts in Qatar, and the restoration of some parts of Al-Aqsa mosque after the fire of 1968.

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Sulaiman Al Musa

Important literary figure in Jordan, he started writing at the age of 16 and wrote several important books indluding "Lawrence of Arabia: an Arab Perspective". He served as a consultant to Lion TV in 2002.

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Widad QiwarKawar

No one has cared as much about collecting and displaying Jordanian and Palestinian ethnic/cultural garments in order to preserve and maintain the local culture. She is also one of the few Arabs who have managed to spread our culture globally by displaying her collections in different countries.

Qiwar also wrote several books on Jordanian and Palestinian embroidery.

Qiwar is now in the process of establishing a Gallery of Cultural Embroidery.

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Omar Al-Abdillat

He is credited with popularizing Jordanian ethnic music and produced/sang some of the most famous patriotic Jordanian songs including "Hashimi, Hashimi" and "Jeishana". He also represented Jordan in several cultural festivities in the world.

Pearls

Today was an interesting day- I got to take pictures of the boysies(brothers and cousins) all dressed up and looking pretty, of Hisham flipping the tassel, and of, em, the guys of the Class of 2005 posing in their boxers.

Anyhow, I want to warmly congratulate those who graduated today in Montessori School's Class of 2005 of the International Baccalaureate program, especially my brother, Hisham.




Congratulations Class of 2005 for successfully completing the first phase of your life. May your life be blessed, successful, and full of love. I also hope that you all do well in your IBs.

Abu Mahjoob says it best...

"Man, I have no idea! Should I tell you I know anything about art? Hell no, I don't know nothing, but I have no idea why this sculpture reminds of the National Armythe Steering Committee for the National Agenda!"

Emad Il Hajjaj adding art in his own way...

(3amo Iyas, what's the literal translation of lajneh?)

Follow up

P.S. Quality and variety are two very different things.

Quality to the Planet

I was a bit concerned when I saw some of the discussions occurring in Jordan Planet when I checked it this evening, and although this post started out as a comment, I decided to turn it into a post to share with everyone.

Jordan Planet is a community of 27 Jordanian bloggers residing all over the world. A community, by definition, is "an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) with a common interest or in a certain location". The Jordan Planet community is diverse enough to have females, males, Muslims, Christians, scientists, artists, and several different age groups. We all agreed, by agreeing to belong to Jordan Planet, to celebrate our differences and unite under the flag of Jordan.

As far as I am concerned, "interacting" includes awareness of what goes on in Jordan Planet by staying updated with the posts, the news, and the changes, and by attending the scant Blogger meet-ups for those we reside in Jordan, and for those visiting Jordan when the meet-ups are held. We have had two official meet-ups since December, and I was disappointed at how it is always the same people attending the meet-ups, that's saying Nader, Ammar, Isam, myself and Natasha. The meet-ups are always preannounced and planned. "Busy" is an excuse that has been attributed, and that is fine of course, but it is unfair to go against a decision made by the people who bothered to clear up their time for a community meeting, because as this is a community, we cannot tailor plan the meet-ups for everyone(Natasha was migrating the next day and Lina had a test, and they both still came although they stayed for a little while).

The last meet-up was held for a particular reason- complaints have been received about the quality of some of the bloggers in the Planet, and Isam, being the democratic man he is, decided to hold a Jordan Planet meet-up so as to run this issue with the Planeteers and come to a decision together as a group. And so it was, for 3 hours, we sat and pondered the meaning of "Jordan Planet blogger", the definition of a "good blog", and the purpose of "Jordan Planet".

We had several problems with these discussions, as it was literally impossible to define a "Jordan Planet Blogger", to define "quality", and to decide how to filter the bad blogs out of Jordan Planet without causing problems(a democratic vote by the public, we worried, would turn out to be a failure like the Jordan part of the BABAs(cheating), and a democratic vote by the private would turn out into allies of those who are friends and those who are not). In the end, we decided that the purpose of Jordan Planet is to simply provide an uncensored, personal window into our country, the meaning of a "good Jordan Planet blogger" is someone who provides a Jordan-centric, interesting, well-documented view into the life, times, and brains of being a Jordanian residing in any area of the world, and we agreed that Iyas, Lina, and >Natasha were good examples of good bloggers. As for the filtering, although that was the hardest decision to come up with, we decided to be democratic and allow all the Planeteers to vote hoping that they will do it honestly without bias and personal issues, but rather, by thinking about what's the best for the Planet.

I personally believe in first impressions. If the posts appearing on the Jordan Planet homepage are forwards and impersonal news clippings, then the visitor will expect the rest of Jordan Planet to host the same quality, and that it quite unfair to the Planet, to Jordan, and to the bloggers. I also think its unfair if personal issues were included in the voting process, and I hope they will not.

I already know how I will vote, and I assure you that although there are some people I do not necessarily like, I will vote for their blogs to stay because I know that other people could be interested in what they have to say. There are also other people that I like, but who I won't vote for because I don’t believe that their blogs are of quality.

This is the first Jordan Planet voting process, and it is precisely what will define that status of Jordan Planet in the coming years. I hope from all my heart that it will be successful, because if it is, Jordan Planet will always be a democracy, and there will be many more votes to come, and maybe even eventually, the vote will be open to the public. If this voting is a failure, Jordan Planet will become a one-man show, and I will personally support that if that is the case.

I ask you, my fellow Planeteers, to think out your votes before you press "Submit", and to vote with your brain, and not with your heart, in order to ensure the success of Jordan Planet.


One last note unrelated, the "second Jordan Planet" meet-up was neither a Jordan Planet meet-up nor a secret party. I was personally contacted by Eddie Taylor to gather a "couple" of bloggers for a chat, and I asked Isam, Nader, and Ammar as they are the only bloggers in Jordan that I know personally to be the other "couple" of bloggers. And then, being the feminist that I am, I felt that a ratio of 3:1 is unfair to the mighty female population of Jordan Planet, so I asked Mira and Hind to come as well, and that was that.

Jordanian Fingerprints (Part I)

This month's issue of "Layalina" has an excellent and very interesting article(or picture-story to be more precise) titled "Basamat Ordoneyah"(Jordanian Fingerprints), which places under the limelight, as chosen by HRH Queen Rania, 24 Jordanian individuals who have managed in helping shape Jordan.

I remember a few months back, a friend and I were having a conversation about how in the Arab world, you give without expecting a return. Although my effort is but a grain of sand in a desert, I find myself obliged to try to "return" by at least recognizing and appreciating these Jordanian pioneers.

I will share with you eight of the pioneers mentioned today (I'm a bad translator, so a very special thanks to 3ammo Iyas):




Architect Ja'afar Touqan

One of the pioneering Jordanian architects and one of the most famous as well. He designed the Municipality of Amman in Ras Il Ayn, and he belongs to several important committees including that of the National Gallery.

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Professor Naser Il Deen Al-Asad




Minister of Higher Education in Jordan, academic, writer, researcher, President of Amman University, President of Literature Department at Jordan University, diplomat, Jordanian ambassador in Saudi Arabia, poet, politician, critic and head of Royal Mujama' for studies of Islamic Civilization (al-Bayt Institution/Amman). Dr. Al-Asad is also an essential part of Arab literary committees and has been honored in both the inside of Jordan and outside.

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Mamdooh Bsharat


Environmentalist who started conserving and restoring the old houses of Jordan in order to preserve our culture.

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Senate Ina'am Al-Mufti

First Jordanian female to hold a governmental position. She also established the Ministry of Social Development, Noor Al-Hussein Foundation, Women Issues Organization, Jubilee School of Amman, Children's Trust, Union of Jordanian Women, and National Union for Jordanian Business Women. She was also a part of UNESCO, had several radio shows spreading awareness, and was a part of writing a book used in all schools in the kingdom. Al-Mufti is now a senate in the Jordanian Upper House of Parliament.

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Tawfiq Il-Nimri
The first Jordanian to write, sing, and compose Jordanian folkloric music. It is estimated that 750 of his songs were sung by him and others.

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Zuha Mango

Mango is known for her care for the social standards in Jordan for all classes of society. She funds science, teaching, and scientists, and she and her late husband established the Hamdi Mango Center for Academic Research at Jordan University. Mango also established the Zuha Mango Cultural Foundation in 1998. She also established the Center for the Union of Women, Friends of Handicapped Society, Queen Alia Center for the Deaf, and Center of the Jordanian Orphan. She also was involved in the establishing of Al-Amal Cancer Center.

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Mahmood Taha

Taha is credit for improving the writing and calligraphy skills of many students in Jordanian schools. He is also a leading artist, he studied in the Department of Fine Arts of Baghdad then went on to learn calligraphy at the hands of the great calligrapher Mohammad Al-Hafez. He is also one of the most famous potters and ceramists in Jordan.

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Nabil Sawalha:


One of the pioneers in the Jordanian theatre as he basically established political comedy in Jordan.

I am Not short

I have no idea why my blog is turning so personal, but oh, well, I guess I'm in a cozy mood. This is a "family portrait" we took a few weeks ago, with brothers, first cousins, and second cousins. It's quite cool as this is the first time I meet 4 of the people in the picture.

This year has been really interesting because my cousin Paul, who lives in the US, had decided to come study Arabic at Jordan University for the semester. It's Paul's(in yellow) first time here so his mother and two sisters decided to come visit him last week(also their first time!). To make everything even better, my other cousin Chuck surprised us a few days later by coming as well(it's also his first time here).

It was great introducing everyone to the extended family, showing them around Jordan, and of course, making fun of them because they can't pronounce the Arabic sounds of "7a", "'7a", "3a", and "'3a".

And seriously, I know I look short in this picture, but really, I'm not. It's just that the Dallal's are giants!

Creative Juices...

Yet another school year is almost done dropping down the drain, and it feels really good, especially since this term was extremely stressful with gazillion things to do. I say "almost" because teaching isn't over until next week and because the tests didn't even start, but when you're doing what I'm doing, the real stress comes from the projects, the research papers, and the presentations. There is a lot of stress from the tests of course, and they're actually not easy as most people imagine them to be(try learning all the history of art and all the weird foreign art terminology), but a test is a test- simple night-before cramming(I'm the crammer par excellence), and most importantly, no creative-juices squeezing required(Yay, now my creative juices can be left in peace for a little while to develop and grow... *mediate that thought*)

Today was a great-first-day-of-my-break-after-the-finishing-of-my-projects-day,I spent it all lazing around and lounging with my friend Sarah in her bachelorette pad, which if you ask me, is the perfect way to chill. We sat on her balcony for hours staring at Amman in all her glory and drinking lemonade. After it got too chilly to stay outdoors, we watched "Cast Away" which was playing on MBC 2, and made good use of Meals on Wheels.

Ah, I love the end of semesters... Hopefully the real end is soon to follow(and hey, un-lost students, what's up with the rumors about no more seifi?).