March 2 2004

OOOPS,Someone’s Watching!

There is this French series that is called “Camera Café”, it’s a comedy, and it’s about a camera hidden in the coffee machine in one of the companies showing what employees and even employers say, how they act, what gets their attention, and everything they think of and express while waiting for their hot cup of coffee to be ready.
I actually like the idea, and it’s truly funny. But what I enjoy even more is that I live this myself, something I’d call Camera Emané, lol, yes, that’s true. The thing is, there is a security cam outside the company, and the monitor of the security system is placed in MY office, which makes ME the one who watches EVERYTHING.
And although the cam outside is not hidden, in fact it’s so obvious, but still some people don’t notice it, specially the employees of the company next door 😉 There are also ones who see the cam and notice it, but they forget it exists the very next day. In short, whether they know it’s there or not, I get to watch so many reactions.
I see people fighting, I see people flirting, I see people cursing their boss and then smiling at him the minute he shows up, I see people staring at the cam and making funny faces, lol, I watch employees arguing, talking while they smoke, and I see people who come try to open our company’s door for no reason that I know of, but when they find the doors locked they turn around and try to open the doors of the company next door, where the doors are not locked, but a guard is at the entrance. I watch a new guy coming to make an interview or presentation, how they raise their hands up high asking God for good luck before they enter. I watch girls as they leave the office in the break, how they wear double the makeup they’re already wearing, how they look at themselves from head to toe, to make sure they rock, all of this through their reflection on the mirrors of the lift doors!!
God, it’s so funny, and I enjoy it, but still, sometimes and after watching how good people could act, I wonder how is it possible for us to guess who’s being a true friend, a loyal employee, a trustful coworker, and who’s faking just to win as much as they can.
So from a person who gets to watch so many hidden facts of people’s lives, I say, don’t be doubtful to the extreme, but just take care and trust only those who you spend really long time with, ones who give you a hand when you’re in trouble, ones who make you smile when you’re having a bad time, ones who are ready to offer you unconditional love, ones who will love you even when you’re gone out of their site, ones who will call you from one end of earth to the other just to wish you a great day, and ones who appreciate you and will do anything not to lose you. Those are the ones you should trust, not those who smile at you or say some nice words and compliments to you, not the ones who treat you according to their moods, and definitely not the ones who’ll act so nice when you’re around, and then say: “God I can’t stand this stupid guy/girl” … in front of my cam 😉
And most important of all, we should all know that while we’re living our lives, we should be always honest and trustful, we should never betray the ones who trust us, even if we don’t like them that much, because there is always someone watching, someone who knows what we mean with every move we make and every word we say, someone who will give us what we deserve according to our deeds.
So if you’re a lucky person, you should be happy that what God watches from your side is being appreciated, but if bad luck is after you all the time, then don’t blame the circumstances, and don’t lose hope in God, for God will only give us what we deserve, if you’re being a bad person you’ll get the least help from God. So instead of going on with your bad sad life, cheer up, have a peaceful smile on your face, and be prepared to make one big change in your life starting from this minute. Help who need you, be there for who love you, appreciate others’ support and presence, show your dear ones their place in your heart, let the good word win the race against the bad word, and last but not least don’t use others’ love for you, if they tolerate your worst conditions that doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings just like you, they too need someone to tolerate them, be that someone for a change.
Change, only then you’ll find your life being the happiest and the most successful, and only then you’ll be thankful that there’s always someone watching…

Category: Just Personal | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 1 2004

SIX!! Oh My God!

I’ve been in a state of shock ever since I read this!! A woman gave birth to 6 babies, yes, six, three boys and three girls! But this isn’t the only shocking news, but also the fact that she gave birth to the six within ONE MINUTE only!!!
It’s unbelievable!
The babies are in the intensive care unit, where they’ll be staying for around nine weeks, as they’re all in a critical condition now, but doctors are optimistic about their healthy survival.
We all hope the six will make it and lead happy healthy lives :).
For the details ClickHere

Category: General | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 1 2004

A Strong Start For Super Star 2004

Yesterday was the start of Super Star II. And I’m so happy that I didn’t miss the start this year, as I only got to watch few episodes of the finals last year.
I loved watching every bit yesterday. It was wonderful. What I really loved about Super Star is being able to watch all participants the ones who pass and fail through all levels, and I find this so fair and exciting in the same time. We get to see every action, reaction, question, answer, behavior, and everything, it’s really fun, and it assures that there was no cheating of any kind. The ones who deserve passing are the ones who will pass.
And besides the competition and performance of participants, there are those funny tricks that are perfectly planned by the program producers to trick some of the program introducers or judges or the crowd. Plus the chance to enjoy the participants’ singing and dancing, before actually being tested, in an attempt to have fun, decrease the stress and fear, as well as to add some flavor to the long waiting.
In the first level only 83 participants pass to the second level. The testing was done in several places like Bahrain, Jordan, France, Lebanon, and Egypt. As for the participants they were of different Arabic nationalities.
Some of the participants have the talent and lack the beautiful voice, some have the beautiful voice but not the right performance, some have neither, lol, and some have both. So imagine how fun and exciting it was to watch different kinds of beautiful and annoying voices!
Up till now we’ve watched the first 13 participants who passed, and of course the ones who didn’t, but those who didn’t pass aren’t always bad, it’s just that they weren’t the best. Or maybe they’re pretty good but were unfortunately sick on the day of the performance.
Anyway, up till now the 13 lucky ones include Lebanese, Palestinian, Tunisian, Moroccan, Kuwaiti, Saudi, Iraqi and Egyptian nationalities. Those are the ones I remember.
And there was a very nice surprise which is the presence of the 3 finalists of last year: the Jordanian Diana Karazon, Super Star 2003, in Jordan; The Syrian Rowayda, Second finalist, in Bahrain; and the Lebanese Melhem Zein, third finalist, in Lebanon.
Their presence gave a very big push to the participants who were mostly stressed and nervous. They supported everyone and cheered up the ones who didn’t make it.
The participants sang different styles: modern, classic, and folklore. Each tried to stress the best parts of their voices, except for the ones who made wrong choices and sang songs that don’t show the strength and beauty of their voice layers but show a bad voice. Maybe those people didn’t have ones to direct them, or maybe they weren’t aware of their own voice’s strength and weakness, so they failed in choosing the right musical layers to suit their voice!
Anyway, there are always participants who will pass and others who will not, and all participants should take things easy to enjoy the moment, and maybe prepare better for the next year.
As for now, we’ll be waiting for next week to come so we can see who else made it to the second level (which will be in Beirut). Until then let’s all wish the participants all the luck and hope that the best, regardless of the nationality, will win to offer us a beautiful voice to hear as often as possible.

Category: Entertainment | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 25 2004

Morocco’s Worst In 40 Years!!

Yesterday and at around 2:30 a.m. a very strong earthquake struck Al-Hasima, a city in Morocco. The quake measured 6.5 on Richter scale, causing the death of more than 300 people.
If any of you has relatives out there, I hope they’re all fine.
It is really terrible, and I hope the death toll will stop rising.
More details are provided Here

Category: Arab Societies, Nature & Environment | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 24 2004

Super Star on Future T.V.

A stunning Lebanese show that offers you all the excitement and suspense you would ever wish to have.
This show gives the chance to all talented individuals from all Arabic nationalities to participate in a worldwide singing competition, and the one who wins becomes the SUPER STAR.
Besides the title and the publicity, this program assures so many advantages to the participants, from showing their talents, until getting the best deals in the region.
Actually I wasn’t that much aware of it earlier as we still didn’t have access to satellite channels, but when I visited my family in Jordan, I saw the streets filled with pictures of Diana Karazoan, this promising young lady who actually won and became a Super Star. Newspapers had whole pages filled with her pictures and news, every store, no matter how small or big, they all had her pictures on their doors. The whole Jordanian society was supporting this beautiful voice and this amazing singing talent.
And more than that, I was shocked when my family including my parents, who aren’t that fond of music and singers, I was shocked when I found them tuning to Future T.V. every time the program was playing, being so focused, so tensed and so exited while enjoying the challenge between all participants, and while listening to the comments of the professionals and most of all, when awaiting the results of who passed and who didn’t.
Even I, in my short stay, I was addicted to watching it and was all excited when I came back to Tunisia. I was like: we have to have this receiver installed as soon as possible.

It is a beautiful program, and it was great to know that the Jordanian Diana won. Of course even the ones who don’t win are very very good, and they too get a great chance of becoming stars and getting deals in future, but well, a super star gets much more attention I guess.

The next Super Star competition will start on Sunday the 29th, and the advertising campaign has already started long time ago. Both participants and audience can’t wait for that day. So make sure you don’t miss it, turn on your T.V and watch Future with its very exciting Super Star show, and be prepared for one of a kind experience. Oh, and don’t forget to support the participants.

For more information go ahead and enjoy Future TV and
SuperStar

Category: Arab Societies, Entertainment | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 23 2004

Adel Imam

This great Egyptian actor is one of a kind. I saw his last movie “ Al Tagroba Addenmarkeyya”, the Danish Experience, and WOW, it was wonderful, just like the rest of his movies.
He movie experienced great success. In both Jordan and Tunisia cinemas were filled with people who loved the movie.
With every new movie Adel Imam proves that he is a very spontaneous and natural actor, you can’t feel he’s acting, you can’t but believe you’re watching a part of his own personal life.
He had amazing success in comedy, but even in the non-comedy works of his, he always shows a very unique ability to relate the audience to what they’re watching, a movie, a play or anything.
Before the above mentioned movie I’ve watched “Ameer Al Thalam” , which means the Prince of Darkness, representing a special blind man. It was one hell of a movie. And in the “Al Tagroba Addenmarkeyya” he played the role of a rich man who devoted himself to raising his four boys, doing everything to offer them a perfect life and helping them be the best in all means.
Actually all the ones who played in this movie were great, the old and young actors, but the movie presented a new acting talent: Nicole Saba. A former member of the Lebanese 4 Cats singing band. But this was her first acting experience, in which she took the major part. Her performance was impressive showing a good acting talent, and although I hate it when movies focus on women’s appearances and sexuality all the time, but still it was part of the idea this movie wanted to express.
This movie wasn’t just a comedy or a simple story for people to pass time, no it actually discussed many things: cultural backgrounds and differences between western and eastern countries; social levels in the society; people’s behavior and the factors that affect it such as greediness or egoism; the misuse of power; the effect of money and authority; the very thin line between civilized freedom and the out of control dangerous freedom; and last but not least the relationship between sacrificing loving parents and their loyal children that is stronger than any desire and need.

Besides his great movies that are filling homes with laughter and happiness ever since he started acting many many years ago, Adel Imam proves again and again, that the older generation of actors is not is not hindering it from reaching the success it deserves. He shows everyone that the old should help the young in any possible way instead of attacking them and trying to close all doors of work in their faces. And to prove this he includes so many times new faces in his movies, and he gives the young actors some parts in his work showing very respectful and friendly feelings towards the young actors, the young actors who are learning from the very professional older actors and benefiting from their wide experience in acting.
And there is no better example on this like his last movie where he gave a chance to so many new faces to play major parts in front of him, like Nicole Saba and the actors who played his four boys, not to forget including a scene where the young couple Mona Zaki and Ahmad Hilmi appears.
There is nothing better than good acting which is accompanied by high spirits and great morals.

For those of you who still didn’t watch the movie, make sure you don’t miss it.

Category: Entertainment | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 20 2004

2004 Canadian International Auto Show

This extremely amazing show started out on the 13th of this month, offering people a great chance to view a huge number of wonderful cars. So if you’re an admirer of cars’ beauty then it’s the best opportunity. If you’re lucky enough to be in Canada then you still have a chance to go enjoy a variety of amazing machines, as the show will go on till the 22nd. And if you’re not in Canada then don’t be upset, you can enjoy the show Here . Photo galleries, videos, tickets, show map and much more are available.

Category: Cool Stuff, General, Media, International | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 19 2004

Non-Democratic Blogs!

In the past couple of days I have –unfortunately- come across some Israeli blogs which seem to be posting some aggressive intentions not towards Palestine alone, but towards all Arabic and Muslim countries as well.
To be honest, I didn’t comment with one word in any of those posts for many reasons. First what I read was too wrong and too misleading and too unjust that commenting to it would give it a value it doesn’t deserve. Those blogs are not expressing Israelis’ hopes for peace or stability in political or social sectors, they’re just revealing some dangerous tendencies to “wronging” a lot of “rights” in real life, showing great ability of turning some facts into lies, and lies into real touching stories to win people’s support.
Another reason I didn’t post any comments was that I saw how some other pro-Palestinian who expressed their opinion friendly through comments, how they were “attacked” from all who blogged, who read the blogs and who want no other free mind to speak up. It’s either you agree and write supporting comments or you shut your mouth up.

I’m not here to judge those blogs, all people are free to say and write whatever they want, and I’m not here to defend my own opinion, no, I’m here for one reason, to give one piece of advice:
If you want to know the truth of what’s going around you in the world, it’s neither me nor any other blogs who will show you the real thing. If you really want to know right from wrong and discover what’s true and what’s not, then it’s not some news bulletin who will only get you confused and it’s not an Israeli or Arabic channel who will provide you with what you need to know, as they’ll do their best to provide you with what THEY want you to know. So my suggestion is, turn off your T.V. ignore any extremist blogs or websites, and buy a ticket to Israel and the West Bank.
See for yourself whose babies and whose innocent children are being killed inside their homes, see for yourself whose young men are being locked in prisons tortured to death, see for yourself whose party is giving no damn about UN regulations or human rights. Watch with your own eyes whose trees are being burnt for no reason and whose harmless animals are being shot on daily bases.
Go visit everywhere and see for yourself whose churches are burnt, whose mosques are being destroyed and whose holy ceremonies are not allowed. Go and watch who give no permission to rescue human souls, who stop ambulances from passing for help and who prevent bodies from being buried.
Go see whose generations spend more than half of their lives to get the education they need because of universities being attacked and burnt; go watch whose parents lose their heads in front of their babies in their own homes, go see everything.
Go and see if the people crying and screaming on TV channels and in pictures are the same people crying and screaming and suffering in real life.
Go discover on your own the secret behind journalists being shot for a picture they’ve captured or an honest word they’ve written. Go see why so many people who go to fight those “brutal terrorist Palestinians” come back to their homes with not a word they could find to express what they’ve experienced.
Go watch, go hear, go live all what you have no answers for.

You are the judge, no one else should do the thinking in your place. And to all those blogs who are obviously paying so much time and effort to make people hate Arabs, specially Palestinians, I say, take it easy guys, stop wasting your time and use it for something more constructive for humanity. And a very good tip: have you ever heard of free will? In case you didn’t, it means you can’t force people to hate or love and you cannot interfere with their choices no matter how much you try. So a useful thing to do is to fill the world with love, peace and democracy, words that you apparently don’t believe in, but once you taste their wonderful flavor you’ll never live without them, and you’ll spare the pointless arguments and save every minute of your time trying to make all mankind taste them just like you… only then you can be proud of what you do in your lives.

Category: General | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 17 2004

Hot, Beautiful & Sexy…

Are all words that show how shallow and pathetic people have become when expressing admiration to someone.
I find it terrible how so many people define beauty nowadays. If we pick a guy randomly and ask him to choose the most beautiful girl in the street, there is a 85% chance he’d pick the one with the most “sexy features”, or “sexy behavior”. And if we ask a girl to choose the best looking guy in a store, she’ll mostly pick the one with the sexy hair or sexy body, or even with the sexy smile.
When talking together and then a lady passes by, guys would go: “check it out, she’s hot man”, or “ here comes the hot chick”. And when a guy passes by a group of ladies, they’d go like: “do I look sexy enough to draw his attention?”, “isn’t he cute, look at this sexy body”.. and so on.

Most of the guys choose their dates according to looks. He wants her to be hot enough for his friends to envy him. He wants all people to look at him in admiration and say: He’s got the hottest girlfriend ever. He doesn’t choose her beautiful for himself. It doesn’t matter to him if his friends look at her body and at every detail in it as long as they’ll be hating their luck for not having a girlfriend as sexy as his.
And unfortunately a lot of girls don’t mind it when others look at their outside only, and have no problem with guys picking them for their looks.
And even worse, they too choose the sexiest guy to be their boyfriend. A girl would do anything to “tease” her friend who has just got engaged to a very good looking guy. She wants to have a perfect looking guy for other girls to get really jealous. The first thing a girl does when she has a very handsome boyfriend is to spread the news and ask her friends about their opinion in him, and she will never be happy with less than a 100% or even more admiration.

There are few who pick their partners taking into consideration both the outside and the inside. They forget that the outside is not a thing to be proud of, because it’s God’s creation and not theirs. Unless of course the girl or the guy is really a human-created beauty with silicon body and plastic-operated faces.
But talking of natural beauty, I see no reason for girls or guys to use it as a tool to make others jealous or make them feel less. A person should be proud of what he/ she has accomplished. What they’ve paid effort in creating from A-Z. The way they talk, their knowledge, the way they deal with others, the way they handle situations or solve problems. The inside beauty is what reflects on our faces and therefore affects our outside looks.
How many girls who are ugly –according to people’s outside judging standards- but make you smile when you see them, girls who you can’t but feel happy around. How many guys are thought of as so ugly, but still a girl just loves being around them because of how they treat her, how they respect her being, make her feel secure and because of their open-minded thinking and protective nature.
There are many things that should be admired in a person, and to me, the inside characteristics are more important than the outside looks. I know that beauty is a plus, and is important but not the most important though. If it’s not available when all other inside features are, then we shouldn’t drop the person because of lack of good looks.
Not that we should ignore our looks if we’re not that beautiful, in fact we can work hard to keep our bodies in shape, add some simple touches to our faces, hair, the way we dress. We should open the way for our inner positive characteristics to glow through our outside looks.
A smile makes the face thousand times more beautiful, a natural look is cuter than an artificial fake one. The confidence in the way we look is what gives us the beauty. It’s not how much you reveal from your body, it’s not how much you mess with your face; it’s not how sexy your walk is, it’s not how sexy your voice sounds on the phone, it’s how purely beautiful you are inside out that makes others like you, love you and believe you’re the best in everything.
And because tastes of people vary, sticking to yourself and being proud of who you are and how you look, is the key to win other’s admiration and respect. Because no matter how many hate the way you look, and no matter how many think you’re not their type, there will be at least one in this whole wide world who is waiting to find you and be with you for the rest of his/her life. Someone who will appreciate who you are, someone who will find you the hottest, and the best ever.
And if you’re blessed with an outstanding beauty, then be modest, be friendly and never treat friends with superiority, and never make people of the opposite gender feel you’re arrogant. Try to use your beauty in the right way, which is not seducing, or teasing or showing off, but is more like a pretty face that one could be relived just by looking at, a beautiful face that one will thank God for starting their day with.
We all have our own special beauty that will hypnotize more than we can imagine… only if we can succeed in making others look deep enough inside us to see it!

Category: General | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 16 2004

Up to 50% Sales!

For those of you who love shopping, it’s sales time now in Tunisia. It’s great to benefit from such occasions but what I really don’t understand is how many people who can hardly afford their apartment rents, and who need nothing new to buy, how they simply buy hundreds of things just because there are sales!!! I mean ok, they have the right to enjoy shopping, they could buy things they need or like, one or two pieces, but not go buy half of every shop even if they don’t need that stuff!!! I find it really weird.
And what makes me crazy is when they choose the most expensive store, which IN SALES will sell you the product double the price of other normal stores. And they tell you being so proud and happy that they bought things from that store.

We benefit from the sales seasons, and sometimes we buy things that we don’t need that much, things to decorate or to add some nice touches on our home, but we never pick expensive things that will burden our budget. If you wanna waste your money anyways, then waste them on good things, invest, or give the poor who need every penny to survive.

Category: Arab Societies, General, Tunisia | LEAVE A COMMENT