Annals of a Really Tall Dude in Jordan

"Why I Will Never Have a Girlfriend"

2011-08-11T14:45:00.000+03:00

A few years back I read a brilliant article with the same title as this post. A friend of mine said the exact same phrase a couple of weeks ago and this instantly popped in my head. Did some digging and finally found it. Finally your questions are answered!

You could read the whole article with statistical analysis here.

A summary of the article:

(Statistical figures based on 1998)

A question that practically every male has asked himself at one point or another in his life.

Why don't I have a girlfriend?

The standards: First, the potential girlfriend must be approximately my age—let's say 21 plus or minus three or four years. Second, the girl must be beautiful (and I use that term all-encompassingly to refer to both inner and outer beauty). Third, she must also be reasonably intelligent.

Number of people on Earth (in 1998): 5 592 830 000

…who are female: 2 941 118 000

…in "developed" countries: 605 601 000

…currently (in 2000) aged 18 to 25: 65 399 083

…who are beautiful: 1 487 838
(I will say that for a girl to be considered really beautiful to me, she should fall at least two standard deviations above the norm.)

…and intelligent: 236 053
(Let's assume that I will settle for someone a mere one standard deviation above the normal)

…and not already committed: 118 027

…and also might like me: 18 726
(a girl would go out with someone if and only if they were at least one standard deviation above her idea of average)

At first glance, a datable population of 18 726 may not seem like such a low number, but consider this: assuming I were to go on a blind date with a new girl about my age every week, I would have to date for 3493 weeks before I found one of the 18 726. That's very nearly 67 years!

Java U's Game

2011-05-27T17:17:00.004+03:00

Since tomorrow is the big game, the Champions League final that is, between FC Barcelona and Manchester United, I thought it's about time I share my experience with Java U during the semi-final match between FC Barcelona and their rival Real Madrid.

Like most of the people in Amman, or the world, I went out to watch this match with a couple of friends. Every place we went to kept sending us off as the number of people there was insane and they had no places left. We kept going from place to place till we landed at Java U Abdoun. Now even from first glance you can tell that this place was running at full capacity but we decided that we might as well check it out since we're already there. One of the employees was standing at the door and greeted us in, well it wasn't so much of a greeting as much as it was a "come on inside we got space". So we inquire at the door that if there really is space in the cafe since it looked packed. He confirms that there are seats and tells us that there is a minimum charge of 10 Jds as he directed us towards the cashier.

Now apparently what these guys are doing is that they let people go inside, order from an already crowded cashier with a minimum of 10 Jds and then to there surprise, find out that there in fact are no seats for them to sit in and end up standing up or leaving.

Now we kinda figured that there aren't any seats for us and got out of there, but the number of people standing at the cashier, hoping to order and find a seat, was astonishing. There was no way for the shop to accommodate that many people and find them seats to sit in. So my advice for fans who feel like watching the game tomorrow with a crowd is to skip the option of Java U and find some other place to cheer away.

Top Spin 4 Review

2011-04-04T13:48:00.007+03:00

For as far as I can remember, I've always enjoyed playing tennis. Ever since I was a child, my parents would register me in tennis lessons. It started off as a summer time filler, but then evolved to a year round thing. As time passed by, so did my passion for playing tennis, but whenever I saw 2 people play, be it on TV or real life, I would stop and watch. I just find it very amusing, plus plenty of grand slams are held at times when we have exams, so they're a good excuse from studying.

I have recently got my hands on Top Spin 4; the latest tennis game by 2KSPORTS. I tried Top Spin 3 in the past and didn't like it that much, nor did I enjoy playing Virtua Tennis, its main competitor. Nonetheless, I decided to give this edition of Top Spin a chance and let me tell you this, it far from disappointed.

The game is a total hit! You start of at the academy floor where they allow you to practice shots thrown at you by a tennis machine. You go ahead to the main menu where you find a wide variety of game options for users to play, be it the classical 3 game-3 set match or a King of the Court, they are all very amusing. The Career Mode, though I felt it to be short-lived (around 20 hrs of gameplay), also adds to the game's experience, where you start off with a novice tennis player and make your way to stardom.

Gameplay is terrific, the players' physics are dead-on, the sound effects are magnificent and the graphics look as if you were actually watching a real tennis match. The learning curve is very shallow as you only need to know how to move the player and press any of the 4 buttons to be able to hit the ball back. This allows newbies not quite familiar with the controller to manage to play smoothly in a matter of minutes.

The characters are very responsive as well, they cheer or feel frustrated according to the situation they are placed in, somehow also dragging you into feeling the same way. The sounds that the players make while hitting or missing shots also help in making the game seem much more realistic. And to add to that, there are plenty of on-court assists that help improve your gameplay and greatly enhance your gaming experience.

All in all, this is a fantastic game that is recommended to all tennis enthusiasts and casual fans alike.

Why I Love Twitter

2011-03-31T14:38:00.003+03:00

It starts off with an indirect humorously placed tweet

Then that tweet actually gets noticed and replied to

Finally what was meant to be a small nab at things that are thought annoying, actually ends up benefiting the person who made the tweet, all from the comfort of his computer

And the best part is that that small tweet caused the whole Assi family to have a say in it

followed by

and finally

Now tell me how you could dislike such a wonderful and beneficial tool as Twitter?!

3 Player Chess, a Hit or a Miss?

2011-03-15T17:29:00.000+02:00

Just found this website that has apparently developed a chess board that allows 3 players to play against each other.

You can notice green lines ("Moats") on the bordering squares between players, apparently these prevent players from killing each other from the back row onwards, though that complicates things a bit. You can find a list of the rules here.

As if chess wasn't a challenging game already; now not only do you have to out think 1 opponent, but you also have to keep up with the second. And obviously your typical chess strategies don't work with this round board either.

What do you think, worth a try? I personally would give it a shot.

Bloggers Block

2011-03-10T14:36:00.000+02:00

I haven't wrote a single article in my blog for over a month now, and it's not because I had nothing to blog about, it's just that I didn't feel like blogging anything. I guess this is the time in every new bloggers 'blog-cycle' where you face this crossroad; you either get back on the horse and return to blogging or stop writing and move from blogger to blog reader, though I find that the latter is more likely due to the fact that what little traffic you had prior, would have largely diminished due to this lack of posting.

I've been through this once before, I blogged for a small time interval a couple of years back, faced the same issue, and stopped blogging. However this time round, I don't want to. I will be trying my best to at least have a post on a weekly basis, and not to keep the traffic flowing, but to keep this blog alive. They might not be the most interesting blog posts around, I'm even thinking of starting to review games and whatever gadgets I can get my hands on, just to have something to write about.

Blogging is a medium that allows everyone to be heard and if you are facing the same issue, do tell me and I will make my best to visit your blog on a regular basis and comment, just to keep you in the loop.

Hahah and don't be surprised if this is my post of the week.

The Coolest Guy I've Ever Seen

2011-02-01T16:49:00.003+02:00

This gamer might be one of the coolest sports fan I have ever seen. I do the exact same thing while watching a game on TV. I shout out at the screen: "LT + Y" (L1 + Triangle for Playstation users), usually followed by "Aaaah, idiot!", when I see someone rushing past defenders.

Safe Lead to Sorry

2011-01-27T17:08:00.001+02:00

Last night I was driving down Share3 il 2ordon (Jordan street) and to tell you the truth, I honestly hate that road. It's filled with radar traps, curves and hills going up and down, killing your momentum. Going down Share3 il 2ordon was sadly the optimal route of me getting to my destination, so I ended up driving down there anyway. I was doing 75km/h on a 90km/h road so that if someone tries to bullshit me, I'm way below the speed limit.

So I was getting far into the street and close to my destination of Shmesani when a police jumps into the middle of the street to stop me while I'm driving on the far left speed lane. Now forget his complete negligence towards his safety or the safety of the cars on the other 2 lanes to my right, I instantly began my deceleration and shifted to the right. So, to his annoyance, I was only able to stop a good 50m away to avoid a complete wreck behind me and then had to reverse back to him. I thought he just wanted to see my license and registration and then let me off. Gave them to him when he asked and then he goes ahead and tells me "Do you know you where driving at 76 km/h?", I was speechless. I conjured up the will to ask him how much the speed limit was and found out it was 60! So apparently, even though I still am on the same road, the speed limit was able to decrease a good 30 km/h at a single instant and these cops were standing right after that point. Now if that was a pedestrian filled area, I'd totally understand, but the sidewalk is actually barred down and there's no way across except through a pedestrian bridge.

There goes my first speeding ticket after 7 years of driving at modest speed of 76km/h on a highway just because of, from what I think is, an extremely stupid method of traping people into paying tickets. So, moral of the story, by the end of the day, even if you try to avoid shit, shit is going to come looking for you.

Graffiti at its Best

2011-01-23T16:16:00.003+02:00

Never really been one for street graffiti, I kinda saw it as a type of vandalism but there is no denying Banksy is as good as they get. During the past couple of years, I've grown more inclined to appreciate his art bit by bit. Not only are his pieces humorous and a joy for they eye, but they also creatively tackle an array of social and political issues happening in the world today.

However, I do find it difficult to credit all the painting found for a single unknown person, as anyone could have gone up and drawn these without credit to remain under anonymity, especially with them appearing all over the place. Regardless, they all fall under the same brilliant umbrella of "Banksy". Here are some of my favorite pieces:

You can find more pictures at the Bansky website here.

Also don't forget to watch the Banksy Simpsons intro:

WiFi Dilemma

2011-01-20T15:15:00.001+02:00

For a long time now, I've been having trouble with the wireless internet reaching my room. The thing is distance is not the issue but I guess it's the amount of walls from the router to my room. My brother can connect from his room adjacent to mine without any effort and you can also connect from the tiny corridor between his room and mine but as soon as you enter my room the signal is lost just like that. I've tried various things to fix it, got a new router with a stronger signal, kept moving the router upwards till the cables just snapped out of their sockets and anything that came to mind but to no avail. The farthest along I ever got was a signal at my room door.

Last night I was surfing through Life Hacker when I came across this, a DIY homemade WiFi extender. I instantly printed the template got some glue and scissors and started working on it.

And after 10-15 minutes of work, I just point that little antenna at my room and to my surprise it actually worked! I now have a fluctuating signal throughout my entire room. I will go ahead and attempt to make one double that size to see if I could get a more stable signal but still, how cool is the fact that instead of heading to Smart Buy to purchase a 70 JD WiFi booster, I was able to do it with some cardboard and a piece of aluminum paper.

But I Really Want To.

2011-01-12T13:32:00.004+02:00

The first thing I feel like doing when I see one of the "in case of fire" devices is just do what it tells me to do:

I mean the amount of will to restrain myself from just breaking that glass or pulling the handle is just outstanding. Maybe similar to the post I wrote a couple of years ago, it's the urge to merely break stuff and cause havoc, maybe it's to see if that glass is easy to break and the sequence of events when it does or it might be, simply me wondering if that thing actually works (cause I've seen a number of these devices on university campus that don't work). I've never been one to causing trouble, so I know I wouldn't do it, and come think of it I would also rather not be in a situation where I would have to. But...

I just really feel like breaking that glass!

A Shout-out

2011-01-12T13:30:00.001+02:00

For some reason, 2 of my friends who just traveled, wanted me to mention them on my oh-not-so-famous blog. In their words "Say how much you'll miss us and that's why you're writing this post". So I guess that's the exact reason I'm writing this.

Hope you're having a great time Sally and Lama. :)

A Familiar Face.

2011-01-08T18:37:00.000+02:00

Imagine how nostalgic I felt when I turned on a PC in one of our university labs and saw this:

How cool (yet sad) is it that the University of Jordan still operates some equipment on Windows 98, I mean I haven't seen a 98 in ages!

Anyone with a Windows 95?

Way of Thinking

2010-12-27T12:24:00.000+02:00

I used to think that I should make up my mind and decide on certain beliefs. That these beliefs are cherished and that I should stand by them no matter what. I have recently realized that even if you have these so called "cherished beliefs", you should be willing to hearing what other have to say. We should be open to different ways of thinking and to seek out and be guided by evidence and knowledge that fits withing reality. Even if it opposes these cherished beliefs of ours.

You see the thing is that beliefs should not be cherished but held onto until they can be proven to be incorrect or unfounded. That's when a change of position would be the appropriate response rather than trying your best to contend that change. I have seen plenty of people who refuse to acknowledge changes that happen around them and strictly hold to what they believe to be correct. This kind of reaction only leads these people to arrogance and to become oppressive. Leaping to flawed conclusions because you can not tolerate the ambiguity of not knowing might lead to comfort but it also prompts ignorance and false conclusions.

People should thrive to keep themselves properly informed about certain subjects rather than accept information given to them as is. They must be skeptic and suspend their judgment about certain claims until they think they've tackled the issue from multiple angles and that they are able to make an educated decision. People should be able to fully listen to, understand and, appropriately, accept others philosophies and ideologies. Curiosity helps people widen their perspective and widen their knowledge. I'm not saying that people should not argue with others because as you maybe be inclined to accept their ways of thought they should also be open to changing their perspective towards things.

We should be eager to acquire and apply the best knowledge and reason in all field and to be able and willing to acknowledge and correct flaws in our own thinking to become better equipped to create more profoundly effective solutions to the challenges we face each and everyday.

There is my corny post of the year.

Happy New Year :)

Toilet Humor

2010-12-07T20:35:00.002+02:00

I am really amused with what happens in the couple of minutes when someone enters and exits a public bathroom. It starts off with the person ahead of you exiting the bathroom, a quick exchange of looks occurs and you study the guy. Yes, in these split seconds you turn into this Freudian philosopher and memorize everything about this person, how he looks like, what he was wearing, whether he broke the eye contact by looking at the floor or ahead of him, I mean everything. And then you somehow make a small judgment about this person. Now that whole studying occurs for one reason, and one reason only; to blame him if you go in after him and you find that the place looks like someone died there.

Now if you go in to the toilet and find that the place was clean and as good as new, you instantly erase everything you just saved about this person as if it never happened, because let's get real, you expect a clean toilet and he just kept it up to par. But if you go in and find a mess, you spend every agonizing second just swearing at the guy, blast out at how he left it in that state. As you maneuver around the toilet trying your best not to touch anything, he instantly becomes the villain, your archenemy, everything you hate. You finally leave the bathroom to find that someone else is waiting for you to finish. You exit quietly still cursing the stars and as you finally make your way out it hits you; you're the villain for this guy who just entered in after you! You feel like turning around and explaining to the guy that it wasn't you and want to detail the real culprit, but to no avail. You are this persons culprit. Some people do actually go ahead and try to let the person behind them know it wasn't them by saying something like "Woah, I wouldn't go there if I were you, someone made a complete mess". But lets get real, it never does work now does it.

How I See It

2010-11-19T18:25:00.000+02:00

I'm amused by how different religious rituals are. For example, say during Easter celebrations, you get small eggs, maybe chocolate filled, hide them across a field and then have your children search the area for them. Maybe they want to paint on the eggs and pass them around to their friends. You also have that cute Easter Bunny, he's usually credited for the eggs being there, and is strongly associated with Easter to children.Children grow up loving that Easter Bunny and from there onwards they make sure it's a part of their child's mindset.

But what I love the most, is that during Eid il Adha, the fabulous sheep is its main image, and what a good job at establishing and maintaining that image (even though I don't find sheep to be even remotely 'cute'). But see I have a small problem with the sheep. It starts off with the father taking his child to the nearest farm, he talks to the friendly shepherd and is then taken to see the sheep. Plenty of sheep are available and the father happily asks his child to pick and choose his favorite sheep. The child browse through the sheep and picks his oh so favorite one. Tell his dad about that lovely sheep and then is taken inside and witnesses that sheep beheaded right before his eyes. The child is scarred for life and is no longer longing for that sheep pet.

So to recap, Easter Bunny made cut because he's loved by all children. Eid Sheep not advisable to make symbol of Eid.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Happy Eid everyone!

Is Your Brain Eastern or Western?

2010-11-03T13:21:00.000+02:00

Check out this really cool article from Adbusters.

They get to asking you to interpret the emotion of the person in the center and then go on explaining on how differently western and eastern societies interpret the central figure’s emotion.

It's a bit of a psychological article, which isn't everyone's cup of tea, but still I find it worth the read.

Here's an extract from the article:

"We congratulate ourselves on our individualism in our movies, our art, our personal relationships and, of course, our politics. But as we do so, we perpetuate this trait – perception informs culture, culture informs perception – until we mistake the way we see the world for the only way to see the world. "

Read the rest of the article here What Do You See?

Amman Marathon 2010

2010-10-30T17:44:00.001+02:00

A bit late but felt like sharing

Sky High Hugs

2010-10-17T15:39:00.001+03:00

[Via: The Oat Meal]

Well, this whole post is just to emphasis on the second image; the mismatched heights one. It's so accurate it's scary, cause it's a very awkward position to be in. I'm more of a hugging person and I constantly feel like a parent giving their child a hug whenever I hug anyone, and I'm pretty sure they feel the same way. So here is my second entry in "The mind of the tall".

The Mind of the Tall:
On a High Note

The Types of Men You Find at a Wedding.

2010-10-06T11:58:00.003+03:00

The recent outburst of weddings and anniversaries during the past month has inspired to be write a post about one of the phenomenons present in each and every wedding. This post tackles the type of male attendees that are usually present at such events (these also apply to females but with small variations). I always try and be on the look out when I'm at weddings trying to categorize people and this here is what I have concluded.

1. The Glancer. This is the most common type of men. This guy basically just sits at the table he was appointed to and is in no way involved in the dancing. The closest thing he has to participating is the fact that he glances over his shoulder ever so minutes and looks at the dance floor for a short time. In now way should you expect this person to get up and join the dancing.
Where to find this person: Usually this person is found on his aforementioned table but don't get fooled, he might easily have moved to a table with more glancers for socializing purposes.

2. The One with the Munchies. This guy is the one here not for the wedding but the dinner buffet at the break. He will sit around at the table, scanning the dance floor or maybe even socializing with others until the moment that the buffet is announced. He is usually the first at the buffet as he makes sure to check up on it at time intervals or even ask one of the waiters to let him be the first to know when food time is announced. After dinner this person will greet the lovely couple and head else where.
Where to find this person: At various spots before dinner, first at the buffet at dinner and no where to be found after dinner.

3. The Socializer. This person is in no way here at the wedding to dance. He dislikes dancing and loud music and would stay as far away from the dance floor as possible. This guy is here purely to socialize and hangout. He will advance from one table to the next talking and gossiping with the folks at the table, usually the Glancers and other Socializers.
Where to find this person: This person is probably the hardest to locate as he is in constant motion and a search party is required to find him.

4. The Dancer. This person spends the whole night at the dance floor. He doesn't necessarily need to be a good dancer, good stamina is the mere requirement. He doesn't care whether he's dancing with male or female friends as long as he is hoping around the place. The only time this guy sits down is at dinner time and he's usually the first to finish and re-join the dance floor.
Where to find this person: Where else, the small wooden dance floor at the center of the hall.

5. The Clapper. This guy right here actually tries to participate in the whole ceremony but doesn't really know or want to dance. He will basically stand at the edge of the dance floor and just clap with the rhythm and acts as support to the "Dancers". Usually, a group of Clappers will encircle the dance floor acting as both a crowd for the dancers and as a barrier between the dancers and other guests not involved with the dancing.
Where to find this person: At and around the dance floor and at their tables for a small time to recover some stamina.

6. The Judge. This guy is basically all over the place, and his one target is to judge every single thing at the event. From the DJ, to the dresses and even the food, nothing escapes his judgment. He usually delivers an instant verdict to the ones around him without care or courtesy.
Where to find this person: This person can not be found at a single place per say. They might be at the table, the dance floor or even the toilets. Keep and eye out for them.

Honorable mentions:
The I need a wife/gf. This one can be a mixture of any of the previously mentioned categories but with an addition of scouting for someone to be with.
The Brother. This is usually the brother of the groom or bride and is usually very busy and handles everything behind the scenes.
The Old people / Children These are just around out of general courtesy for the bride and groom.

Sorry about the quality and noise in the images, just didn't know half the people in these images and it didn't feel right to put these pictures. These pictures don't indicate anything about the people in them, they are just there to help visualize the categories described

The Look

2010-10-01T13:19:00.002+03:00

Probably my favorite clip of all time. Can never get sick of watching it.

"The most potent weapon in a woman's arsenal."

Ladies and gentlemen, the oh so famous "look":

My Problem With Drafts.

2010-09-29T11:03:00.000+03:00

I have these huge problem with drafts. What happens is that I think all week long about a post that I should write. One day I finally get the time and will to actually write that post, spend a whole lot of time doing just that and just before I put the final touches, I save it as a draft. I think to myself that it's alright, I've already written a lot today, I'll just finish it tomorrow.

Through out the couple of days to come, I keep reminding myself that I need to complete the post and publish it, but the same reasons that kept me from finishing it in the first place, hinder me once again. That also stops me from writing another post because well, I have to publish this one.

Bottom line is... Drafts are evil.

Finally into Unix

2010-09-19T01:59:00.000+03:00

Well not Unix per say, but I have finally accomplished a long lived goal of mine of actually installing and using a Linux system. I am proud to say that this is my first post with my newly installed Ubuntu system, oh and what a system it is. To be honest, I just downloaded the system and I don't really have the whole thing figured out just yet. Heck, not even 10% of Ubuntu figured out, I just manage to work around the User-Interface (UI) and have barely touched the Terminal, so I know I got a long way to go.

So that was just me being enthusiastic about the Ubuntu I just installed and if anyone has any tips and advices, I'm all ears.

Who? Who is but the form following the function of what, and what I am is a man in a mask.

2010-09-15T18:10:00.000+03:00

I know I haven't posted anything in this blog for very long because of Eid and such, but here is a quote from one of my favorite characters of all the movie I have ever seen, V for Vendetta.

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsaving the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition! The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me 'V'." - V

Pretty sure you'll need the dictionary for some of them.

Thoughts about Toy Story 3

2010-09-04T16:53:00.000+03:00

As a child I loved Toy Story. The whole idea behind it is just brilliant, toys coming to life is a child's dream come true. I had woody and buzz toys that I couldn't put down, watched the film numerous times and was even able to tell you the voices behind some of the characters. But you see, sooner or later you grow up, give the toys away, move on and Toy Story becomes just another thing from your childhood.

Yesterday, after several attempts, I finally get to watch Toy Story 3 and let me say this, it was definitely not what I expected. The directing was great, the story itself was awesome, voice acting was superb and the graphics were the same terrific ones they used 10 years ago. They inserted some pretty fine jokes that adults can relate to and they were flat out hilarious. I actually found it to be directed towards adults and not children, because lets get real, how many kids do you know now actually own toys and have some imagination and creativity, rather than just own a game console and follow what other people do?

Don't really feel like going on a detailed review about the movie, just wanted to let you know that it's definitely a movie worth watching if you're even the slightest Toy Story 1 or 2 fan!

A Sign?

2010-09-01T14:57:00.000+03:00

Is reading a book, getting bored halfway through and starting a second one, getting bored of that and starting a third one till I get bored of that one and starting a fourth, going back to the third one and finishing that, then starting a fifth book and already have the sixth and seventh books lined up, a sign of ADD?

On a High Note

2010-08-30T16:27:00.000+03:00

A note that is actually in relation to the title of my blog.

Something that happens to us tall people on a constant basis; is that our heads get tangled up in spiderweb when we walk between two poles, trees, doors or basically anything of height. What happens is that average sized people usually occupy a certain, lets call it 'airspace', and if a spider were to make a web, it would be destroyed quite fast, so it's not a common phenomena for average people. Whereas when it comes to us tall people, that 'airspace', is usually untouched for a while, giving spiders ample time to build at least a string or two of their webs, so it's very common for us to actually be walking innocently and just slam straight into one.

Just felt like sharing something tall.

Pulling my Leg

2010-08-23T14:38:00.001+03:00

One thing I really hate is getting ripped off. Be it a dollar or a $100, getting ripped off is getting ripped off, no matter by how much. Prices in Amman just keeping getting higher and higher every year and to top that off, people just want to abuse others, this whole idea of taking advantage of people just really gets to me. I get that some people want to make profit, and that’s fine, but to actually sky rocket prices or even just plain old exploiting people is something I don’t understand. I even hate more the places that take advantage of the little things that seem insignificant, but take their toll after some time, more than the obvious big rip offs, because everyone is fine with these. So I decided to sort of boycott those places that try and take advantage of people, or well at least not allow them to.

To me one of the biggest rip offs you find are valet parking. They just put poles on the public street in front of the restaurant and make you pay to park there. So not only are you visiting the restaurant and spending money, but you’re also having to pay to visit the restaurant. I can understand valet if all the spots in front of the restaurant are taken and the person would take your car find somewhere to park it and then get it back to you, but to just take your keys and park it at the exact spot you’re standing is just too much for me to handle. Some places that I find annoying with valet parking are: Java U - Abdoun (they have a huge parking lot and they make you pay to park there), almost all places on Mecca street (they usually have an underground parking space but take your car at the front door and they go park it themselves), La Calle – Jabal Amman (they just put the poles all over the main street and not allow you to park there) and most hotels in Amman. These are just a few, I’m pretty sure the list is never ending but these are the ones I could think of.

Another thing that I dislike is elevated prices of things when you have no other option. I guess they are that high because after all, you don’t have any other option. For example, when you go to a restaurant and you order a Pespi, they charge you 2 or 3 JDs for it. Now I know it’s a restaurant and they want to make profit, but that’s more than a 600% profit for every can. So basically you are taking advantage of me because I have no other option. Same goes for movie theater drinks and pop corn. And the worst part of it is that people are fine with it and go like “oh well what can we do” when they really can do something.

Places that offer electronics and other items for 5 times the price just because it’s not available in Amman. Just because that certain item has no retailer in Amman or still is not available here, they charge you 4 or 5 times the price. I realize taxes exist and places want to make a little extra cash but sometimes it’s just silly. A $170 Xbox Arcade would be sold in Amman for a little less than $400. Books that can be found for $10 are sold for $30, such things I just can’t get over.

Finally, almost all Cafés in Jordan during Ramadan. What these cafés do is just splat a couple of what they call “Ramadan items” on the menu; basically Argeeleh, some Ramadany drinks (such as Kharoob and Tamer Hindi), Toromos and whatever else they have on there. Then they call it a “Sahra Ramadanieh” (Ramadan Evening) and make you pay ridiculous amounts of money as cover charge to just enter and pay even more if you want to order. Such places have butchered the idea of Ramadan and have taken the fun out of most evenings. Places I recommend going to during Ramadan that don’t have cover charge and absurd prices are: Coffee shops in downtown Il-Balad (Such as Liwana and Jafra), Books@Café, Wild Jordan and Turtle Green – Jabal Amman, whereas Old View – Jabal Amman has a minimum of 3 JDs, which is decent or even better, staying home, inviting your friends over and make some Argeeleh and a nice cup of tea.

These are all the things that I can think of for now, let me know if you have anything else to add to the list.

Eden's Apple

2010-08-13T13:38:00.001+03:00

I recently realized that I actually hate Apple. I'm one of those people who of late just can't stand Apple or any of its products. To be honest, I myself actually own an iPod, I bought it 5 years ago and it's actually still running smoothly and works like a charm. However, that was back when I liked Apple, the "pre-iPhone Era". The iPhone has changed my whole perspective of Apple and its products.

When I took a look at Apple's iPhone, I realized then that in my opinion, Apple are turning into Microsoft. Not the current Microsoft, but the Microsoft everyone loved to hate 10-15 years ago, the one that dominated and made it clear that it was either their way or no way at all. That was back when Mac were having a crisis and everyone owned a Windows PCs and moved own despite the hatred.

Come 10 years and what are Apple doing, the same exact thing Microsoft did back in the 90's; dominate the market and put restraints on their products. At a time when consumer freedom is at its biggest, the iPhone restricts the user to about everything. Yes, the casual user might not think so, but by the end of the day, they have created a product where you are not free to customize anything with, and yet still people purchase it. You cannot edit a single thing in the UI of the iPhone, hell you can’t even change the theme. And what does everyone do, they just blindly follow because everyone else is.

The worst part is that when users try and actually innovate and edit their phone (via jail-breaking), Apple dubs it illegal and it instantly voids your warranty. Not until a few weeks ago did the U.S Copyright Office rule that jailbreaking an iPhone no longer violates federal copyright law, however jail-breaking still voids your warranty. See now that's exactly that kind of limitation that made me hate Apple. I look at Google’s Android and they allow you to edit almost everything in the phone. You don’t like the User-Interface, download another, don’t appreciate the dialer they put in, go ahead and change it. They give you enough freedom to actually make you the owner of your phone and not just blindly follow and have the same phone everyone else has. They allow you to customize it to your needs, since you know after all, it is your phone!

Props to Apple's marketing team, as they are the best at what they do, reaching out to millions through creative and new initiatives. They have actually taken marketing to a whole new level. Who else can hide a product all year long from the public, announce it a month before its release and upon release, it instantly becomes one of the best selling products of that year. I guess their marketing team also gets credit for the success of all apple products after all.

To me, the iPhone, iPod and the iPad are just products that are one way or another limiting my options to tailor my purchases to my needs. Even though each and everyone was a brilliant ground breaking invention that changed the way technology was headed, but by the end of the day, I feel that a brand that I once loved has turned into one that I might despise in the near future. I'm not saying that the Android is better than the iPhone, I'm just saying that I'd rather see the Apple that was Linux based and allowed you to do whatever you want with the products you bought rather than the monster we have now.

Google's brain tickle

2010-08-08T22:58:00.001+03:00

I was once asked by Google: "Something you still can't find on Google?" my answer was Waldo... just felt like knowing what you're answer would have been?

Habit of matching look-alikes

2010-08-05T18:22:00.002+03:00

Usually when people meet or see someone who resembles a person they know, they instantly create a link and label them, privately or in public, as someone who looks like such and such. This, personally I think, is the reason people tend to feel comfortable towards certain people and not others, because they somehow remind them of someone who they know and like or vice versa.

Well for me, it's a whole different story. I usually compare people to animals and not in a degrading way. It's just that when I see a person I'd be like "oh he looks like a Polar Bear, or she looks like a fish". You see I don't try to make fun of them, I just feel that people might and do somehow resemble certain types of animals, be it the eyes, the nose, the hair or even the mustache.

I don't know how people would feel if I walked up to them and told them they look like a kangaroo, but it's actually a really cool way of seeing how different people are. Try it and let me know what you think.

My kind of obsession

2010-08-02T00:09:00.000+03:00

Alright, it's obvious from my previous post that I'm more or less a game-oholic of some sort, but for the past 2 days, I've been doing nothing but watching the extended edition of Lord of the Rings, all 3 of them. Now the normal versions I have literally seen them over 30 times, at some point I had them memorized line by line.

So my brother and I spent yesterday and today doing nothing but watch Lord of the Rings and because we had a friend with us who has never seen them, we had to pause every 20 minutes and explain what was going on. That kind of made each movie of the 3 movies take a little over 4 hours of watching. You might call it a bit extreme but it was definitely worth it.

I expected to just watch normal scenes that if it were up to me I would also delete them. But no, I viewed each scene thinking why the hell did they exclude that! To my surprise watching the extended and deleted scenes actually added new facts about the movie that I never knew before. For example, who knew Aragorn was 84 years old!

So an advise from me to every Lord of the Rings enthusiast is that if you can get your hands on the extended edition, it's a must see.

My 2 cents on Inception

2010-07-30T00:39:00.012+03:00

--No Spoilers--

Let's face the facts; this movie is one of the most hyped movies in the past year or two. Hoards of people came rushing at me recommending the movie, insisting that I should watch it, so naturally I would enter the theater and expect to watch a movie that would blow me away. We'll Inception didn't quite live up to its high expectations, but still it's a great movie none the less, if only I watched it before so many people went crazy about it.

The first thought that came to mind when the movie ended was; Perfect! Inception didn’t have a single flawed, not one moment where I was like “oooh you know what, they should’ve done that”. It started great and ended it with a knock out. The directing was out of this world, the acting was sick, visuals were astounding and the story line itself was not just something new, but also worthwhile.

Being a young child and having to sit through an eternity to finish titanic was a nuisance. So as a kid a grew a small hatred towards Leonardo Dicaprio, but as the years went by and I saw such movies as Catch me if you can, Gangs of New York and The Departed. I kind of grew fond of him and became a fan of his acting; as he is one hell of an actor. In Inception, Leonardo Dicaprio nailed the part, he acted each and every scene extremely well, and at some point I was so drawn to the movie I felt part of it. The rest of the cast also did a great job doing what they had to do, making this an enjoyable movie to sit and watch.

I just hope this review didn’t raise the bar even higher than it already was. All in all, Inception is definitely a movie to be seen and recommended. However keep in mind before watching, that it’s one of those movies that you enjoy watching a couple of times but it just doesn’t click that switch deep within, well at least not for me it didn’t. Let me know what you thought of the movie.

How AmmanTT and Video Games made me write my longest post ever!

2010-07-28T18:18:00.017+03:00

I myself am a passionate gamer, always been and know I always will be. The news that next week’s Amman Tech Tuesday is going to be centered around gaming, released the gamer within me. At first glance I instantly compared it to the globally renowned E3 Expo held yearly in the states but then reality kicked in and I came to my senses. This week’s AmmanTT is surely going to be a blast, nothing to the caliber of the E3 itself of course, but none the less; it’s still a huge step forward for the gaming industry in Jordan and even the Arab region itself. This has brought much memorabilia rushing back and much nostalgia towards the game consoles we once owned.

My first game console was the age old Atari 2600. The Atari itself was a brick to say the least, graphics were non-existing, the so called joystick was literally a stick with a button and game play... well; let’s just say that the kids of today won’t last a good 10 seconds, to say the least. I loved the Atari; Space invaders, Tetris, Pac-man, Donkey Kong, even Pong, they were all remarkably fun to play (I even want to stencil Space Invaders on my bedroom wall).

A couple of years later, we upgraded to the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom). This was a huge upgrade cause not only did the Nintendo have exceedingly better graphics, but it also had a joystick with more than one button! This alone gave the player the ability to actually excel in the game itself rather than just have good timing; as in the Atari. The ultimate game on Nintendo for our family was Super Mario Bros. Countless hours were spent in front of the TV with my sister and brothers just playing Mario, none of us wanted to stop but were forced to when it was lunch, dinner, or bedtime. I would wake up 30 minutes earlier to school than everyone else just so I can play all by myself without having to pass the hand around when I died or completed the level. My mom would however prevent me from doing that during the day and always say “il door, door… Omar 5alas doorak 2a3ti 7ada tani” (We are playing by turn, Omar yours has ended and now it’s someone else’s). The only other game I remember being addicted to when owning the Nintendo was Captain Majed(Captain Tsubasa) which was in Japanese but after playing it for several hours you get to know which button is ‘kick’ and which is ‘pass’.

Our Obsession with the Nintendo ended once our dad bought us a Windows pc in ’94, and the reason for that is because it hand Fifa 94 on it and that game beat the now obsolete Nintendo in every aspect comparable. I think that was the last time I saw our Nintendo as it was stashed away somewhere, just like the Atari once was. Not only did the computer have games we enjoyed more, but it also had other programs, things that although we still didn’t understand but were still fascinated by.

Our fixation with gaming on the pc was short lived, less than 2 years later; we were introduced to the ground breaking PlayStation. The PlayStation raised gaming to a whole new level with its superior graphics, outstanding game-play and a just better all around design. The first game to catch our eye on the PS was Crash Bandicoot, which we happen to see as a demo in a game store. That game instantly became the substitute for our once dead Mario obsession. My sister, who wasn’t very involved with Fifa ’94, came back to the gaming scene and, to my annoyance, turns were once again shared. The summer would come and we would take Crash along with us to Amman and introduce him to our cousins. The infinite hours once wasted on Mario, are now spent on Crash. Believe it or not, my frustration with sharing doubled because instead of sharing the handle between 4 people, now it has increased to 7, which means that it would take almost double the time for me to catch a bit of the action. My sister made things worse when she started her own save with our cousin and no one was allowed to play with them two (I really don’t know how that slipped past my mother). So hours would pass by, with me just waiting for my sister and cousin to stop playing and pass the joystick to some other hungry soul. Other games enjoyed on the PlayStation were Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 2 and Fifa (don’t remember which year it was).

This time, the PlayStation held its ground the longest, not until 2001 I think did we upgrade to the PlayStation 2, which obviously is the successor to our beloved PS. By this point we have already had internet access for a couple of years, and my sister left the gaming scene once and for all and became part of the then small online society. The PS2 provided superior game-play, enhanced graphics and a better multiplayer. Not much can be said about the PS2 as it was very similar to the original PlayStation except for the mentioned differences. The PS2 was a huge part of my life growing up, basketball and American football were made familiar through playing them on the PS2, though rules were still vague, I was still able to grasp the main idea behind them. That burning fire of being gripped by a game wasn’t present in the PS2 games as they once were, and as the years went by, my older brother Hisham also left the gaming scene. As mean as that sounds, I was fine with that, if not pleased. That meant I could spend more time playing which ever game I wanted to play. My younger brother Ghassan was the only one, besides me, who was still playing and enjoying video games, and he I did not mind as he provided someone to play with/against when I felt most like it.

My latest video game console is the Xbox 360. It took a lot from me to make that leap from Sony’s PlayStation, which I now supported for over 12 years, to Microsoft’s Xbox line. It is a change that I grew to like and whenever anyone asks me which console I advise, I don’t hesitate when I recommend the Xbox. Truth be told, they’re not very different from one another and either choice you go with, most of the games you end up playing are available on both consoles. The new Kinect by Microsoft is almost out, that should give the Xbox a slight edge over the other consoles, more on that in another post once it’s released.

My sister has recently lit up that video game fire she once possessed by getting, what else, a Nintendo Wii. Once again, Super Mario has come back to life and not just in her, but also within all of us, including my mother and many of our friends who never were that into Mario. After some of that fire was extinguished, I bought Super Mario Galaxy 2 and handed it to her as a birthday present. Now whenever I come back home, I find loads of people sitting in the living room, sharing turns (:S), playing Mario.

I left out much, like the Counter Strike and the Strategy games Era, but enough about games for one day. That is more or less how video games have always been a part of my life, I grew up with them and whenever anyone asks me I always tell them that I'd rather be living 50 years from now just because video games would be a great deal better then. This is just me saying that when Amman TT announced that the next meeting is about gaming, all that rushed back to mind.

Sports you grow into.

2010-07-21T22:41:00.013+03:00

I've always loved the game of tennis, it's such a fabulous sport. You can call it the game of the elites or it might as well be the game where you give a bunch of kids a couple of rackets and let them smash away at spongy yellow balls. No matter what, I really find it difficult that anyone can hate this game.

My whole family has somewhat been involved in tennis. As young kids, my parents enrolled us into summer tennis camps, well not camps per say but more like intense daily tennis lessons. I remember being so young when I first started that I owned one of those juniors' tennis rackets and it still felt enormous. Not until I grew up a bit and bought the normal sized one, did I realize that I was holding on to an undersized racket. The first summer passed by and we all fell in love, going back to Saudi, we planned on taking more tennis lessons. We kept at the habit of taking courses for around the next 5 years, that's until it kinda phased out and died. My mom and sister continued taking lessons for the next year or two, but sooner or later they were bound to give it up as well.

10 years later I find myself and avid tennis fan. Whenever I find a tennis match that's worth watching on TV, I just sit down and get consumed by it for countless hours. My favorite habit was watching the Wimbledon's tennis championship as not only is it the thing to watch, but it also ran through an exam plagued period, so back then I'd rather slack of and watch the games instead of hitting the books, can't say I've changed much.

Recently, a friend of mine asked me if I would like to play tennis one day. 30 minutes later I find myself in shorts in the middle of the tennis court holding my 13 year old racket. Needless to say, I sucked more than anyone on the court that day. 5 years of training have apparently worn out and the correct postures and moves have been replaced by 'noobish' hits and slams that have nothing to do with the game itself.

Today was my third attempt at playing tennis again and I'm glad that it feels like I'm remembering some of the basics bit by bit. The thing is even though I truly love my age old companion of a racket, but time has taken its toll on it. The strings are all lose, the grip is anything but and you can see the dints and scars of a little kid's attempt at hitting a ball of the ground. Dare I say I may need a new one.

Baby steps they say. But I ask you, how can someone so tall take steps so small, when it feels like as if yesterday he was running with all his might.

What sport/habit have you regret stopping and would like to go back to?

Back to the Beginning.

2010-07-20T16:10:00.010+03:00

After a long 3 year break, I have decide to go back to blogging. So much changes in 3 years and the web isn't slightly as friendly as it was back then. Blogs aren't what they once were, I don't really quite know what happened to the blogs I followed or was linked by, nor do I know of what happened to the friends I made while blogging, none the less I'm prepared to give it a second chance.

I first started blogging back in 2006 largely influenced by my older sister, Roba Assi, who I recently found out is huge online "celebrity" or at least in the Jordanian online community. She is the reason I started this blog in the first place and partially the reason I stopped blogging all together (even though she doesn't know that). You see back then she posted new posts on a daily bases, if not twice a day. I tried my best to match her performance but was out-done by the mere number of her posts and their quality. Being the competitor I am, I use to see everything as a competition, rather than an opportunity. Later on I realized I was no match for her, so I ended giving up and decided to shutdown.

3 years later I come back with a fresh view towards blogging, partially influenced by Lina's 1:9:90 comment when she went up to speak in Amman Tech Tuesday. I lot can change in a person in a single year, yet alone 3. A hope my new outlook towards life and blogging itself would provide a slight maturity in my posts when compared to my old ones, who were a bit immature and out of place.

As for matching the performance of my sister's website, I have realized that doing that should not have been my target all along. Instead of living in the shadow of her success, I would rather travel along side her. I don't plan on becoming a world renown blogger, nor do I plan on posting on a daily basis and feed my blog. Rather my posts will be, as they always should have been, whenever I feel I need to express my thoughts be it on a daily basis or less, on a serious issue or something so stupid and immature that only I think it's worth posting.

Let's hope I last at least a month more than I did last time.

The Ultimate Combination

2007-01-22T05:21:00.000+02:00

What a day... what a day... Adrenaline has been rushing through my body for the past 12 hours...

Orthodoxi won over Fastlink, who are by the way last years champions, and it was a great game, they got the lead in the final minute...

Colts won over the Patriots to make it to the Superbowl for the first time with Peyton Manning... who ever said that Manning wouldn't make it to the Superbowl and as the commentator put it 'you have witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history'...

And finally Phoenix won its 13 straight game!!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
I love sports.....

Raining upwards

2007-01-21T00:39:00.000+02:00

Out of now where, it started pouring rain... Now don't get me wrong, I love the rain… but that was too sudden. Now I go out of practice and it's still raining, even harder than before...

I just figured out that I love driving in the rain, it's amazing how you walk around and puddles of water shoots up in the air onto other cars and the streams of water that come rushing down towards you...

Ok I don't know if you noticed this or not but this is the first time I drive in such heavy rain, so I really enjoyed it...

Finally it started to rain in Jordan, it's been almost a years since it last rained heavily. It did rain before through out this year but it wasn't heavy... I think this country depends largely on rain, we don't have water to start with, and they rely on water rain to fill up their containers.

Let's hope it keeps on raining, for one I'll keep having fun driving and it better economically

Oh yeah, if any one feels like having fun while driving :P, here are some safety tips for driving in the rain:
http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/pa/newsbulletin/2003/07/30/Safety_tip_driving_rain.html
http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/safety/avoid_crash/adverse_conditions/rain.html

Hal 3eyoun

2007-01-18T00:59:00.000+02:00

You know what… I just realized that i like Kaliji (gulf) music... A song just played on TV and I was singing with it (Ok more like hum), I was like.... when did I start liking that song

So I'm adding kaliji music to my list of music genre that I like...
Ok to think about it, I have a weird list, Metal, Rap, R&B, Rock, Alternative, Heavy metal and Kaliji...

Nice mix huh

Once it is lost...

2007-01-17T02:03:00.000+02:00

It's funny how you don't realize the value of something until you have lost it...

Looking down

2007-01-16T00:30:00.000+02:00

I just came across this picture, and i love it... its amazing.. really simple and to the point

Us 'tall people' look down on you 'short people' and you short people should look up at us as role models... :P

See we are the ones who break our necks looking down at short people... so their is more effort on our side :D

And the best thing is what made me search this image was a group that is titled: "I ain't tall, you just think im tall cause you short"

Damn i love being tall....

Paint Prevails over Photoshop

2007-01-13T01:09:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Acid fog's photoshopped images
'http://acidfog.blogspot.com/2007/01/lebanese-flag.html', I have been 'inspired' to post my first and only photoshopped image, the only one I have ever done... This was done almost a year ago and took me ages... It's just joining two layers together... Not hard huh? guess again

I'm proud of it :p

Mankind's Crushing

2007-01-12T12:50:00.002+02:00

OK, there is no asteroid in collision coarse with earth or anything, that's another story. I recently noticed that mankind, particularly men, have this urge to simply crush things… It's like when you're driving in your car and you see a Pepsi can on the street; you deliberately ride over it, just because you want to feel the pleasure of crushing it, and you even look at the rear view mirror to see if your attempt was a success .Or when you are walking and see a smoke packet on the floor, you step on it.

When people build a LEGO set, in the end they crush it to the floor, not disassemble it piece by piece, but literally break it down. Kids always have a habit of following ants and stepping on them or crushing them with there fingers. Yeah how do you think they got the phrase 'wont hurt a fly' its because people pick on smaller things and those who don't, made a statement created for them. Exactly the same reason bullies bully on smaller targets... because they can.

This is why wrestling became so popular, because violence runs in our blood. Men love seeing people get their ass kicked, that's even why men stand around people fighting and start cheering.

It's not only men even women sometimes… but I can't think of ways when women do appreciate violence, other than when my sister goes crazy and ~~hitting~~ start running after me.

You tell me...

Higher Learning my ***

2007-01-09T22:12:00.000+02:00

I was just studying past papers for my physics exam and I came across a question that goes as follows:
"...calculate the circumference of the triangle shown in the picture below..."

I was like.... what!!!

Now I, as well as any 4th grader now that a circumference in specifically for circles and parameter is for other objects... Now why would a professor in university not know that and to add to that he laced that in a exam for students to answer, a student might just as well draw a circle and calculate the circumference of that circle (trust me that's not what the wanted to do because i have the answer sheet).

So a student who is not well informed in english could easy take this for granted and start applying it in his day to day career.

Warning

2007-01-08T13:38:00.000+02:00

"DO NOT put any person in this washer"
"Never use a lit match or open flame to check fuel level."
"Don’t try to dry your phone in a microwave oven."

These are the top 3 winning entries in a contest done by Wacky Warning Label Contest run by an anti-lawsuit group in the United States. Some of the labels are just hilarious.

>> For external use only - on a set of curling tongs.
(What kind of dumbass would use this internally?)

>> Caution: Do not spray in eyes - on a container of deodorant.
(I think people figured that out from perfume)

>> Do not use orally - on a toilet cleaning brush.
(Probably because you shove it down a toilet)

>> Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage - on a pushchair.
(They wouldn't like that, now would they)

>> Do not iron clothes on body - on an iron.
(Go buy an ironing table)

>> Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly - on a Superman costume.
(Try if you can of the fifth floor)

>> Product will be hot after heating - on a supermarket-bought dessert box.
(Next time don’t ask for it to be heated)

>> Do not attempt to stop the blade with your hand - in the manual for a chainsaw.
(Might loose a finger or two)

>> Warning: May contain nuts - on a packet of peanuts.
(Noooohhhh!!!!)

>> Do not use orally after using rectally - on a thermometer
(Wouldn’t do that if I where you)

I think, companies have thought of every possible way in order to avoid a lawsuit by some idiot.

Read the article by 7DAYS NEWS

Thanks Sami

I am a fan

2007-01-06T01:08:00.000+02:00

Picture from Arenas's Profile

I know a lot of people don't follow the NBA, but I just had to write about Gilbert Arenas playing in the Washington Wizards. This guy is great, and in my opinion, although people acknowledge him but he is still highly an under-rated player.

Arenas is the perfect example for the 'no pain no gain’ statement, this dude works really hard, and it sure has paid off. His father (who was his coach at high school) was tough on him and told him "You suck. You’re not good enough for this team! You can sit over there and be my assistant coach”, he was a second round draft pick and had no one support him. He plays with the number 0, which reminds him of the number of people that believed in him. He practiced and became one of the best players in the NBA, and almost made the US team for the world cup but was cut because he had some kind of injury because of excess practice. After getting cut, he went back into the gym and spent most of the summer there, developing his game.

What I like about this guy is that he is down to earth, when he made the All-Star team last year, he started jumping up and down, and last month when he won player of the month, he was so happy that he through a party. He said that he’s not going to hide it like other players do, he wanted it so bad and he expressed his joy after winning.

He actually looks up to other players in the NBA who are better than him. Not players like Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, but recent players like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James.
“I give him all the respect in the world. He is the No. 1 player in the league,

by far. It’s like that”….. “I’m a big fan, I’m one of his No. 1 fans, so there’s no

point in even throwing shots at him.”

That’s him talking about Kobe Bryant.

He is finally playing in a way to get noticed, he dropped 60 against the Lakers last month and shot a game winning buzzer beater the other day to win Milwaukee. Not to forget being one of the league leaders in scoring.

I think this is more than enough about him… he even has a blog if any one is interested http://www.nba.com/blog/gilbert_arenas.html

Weather drama

2007-01-01T19:05:00.000+02:00

Photo by Al ghad newspaper

I noticed recently that weather really affects the activity of people living in Jordan. For example, when it starts to rain slightly, everyone starts to rumor about it, oh it’s going to rain heavily soon, or why did the winter have to start this week. Its like they have no clue if this is going to stay as a few drops of rain or pour down they just assume. And that’s not wrong, ya3ni every one assumes that as long as it started to rain it’s going to keep raining. But what irritates me that most is when it does start to rain heavily, the whole country goes in slow motion, they start going 15 minutes earlier because they don’t want to speed and because they know there is going to be heavy traffic. And the problem is that you can’t speed in Jordan as the roads don’t allow to speed and traffic builds up because everyone thinks the same thing and starts to move slower than usual. Being cautious is one thing but freaking out from some raindrops is another, the car wont slide of except if you take one hell if a turn.

However when it starts to snow, that’s another story. The whole country is put on hold. The snow doesn’t even reach an inch and people stop going outside and stay in their houses, school and work are off, everything shuts down. Outside sometimes it snows all day and that doesn’t even delay classes, they get accustomed to it. Here they make a huge fuss, start playing videos of people playing with the snow and play ‘talj talj 3am bitshati il dina talj’ (snow snow the world is raining snow) for god knows who. I do get joyful when it snows but after an hour or two, its just gets annoying.

That’s just how I feel…. How about you

The sports lie that everyone believes

2006-12-24T22:50:00.000+02:00

Everyone keeps saying that you should get involved in some kind of sporting activity, might be good for the brain, it stimulates your nerves, increases your blood flow and decreases your fat... I've heard each and every one of those reasons and even some are true and some even a 9 year old can tell are not. But what irritates me most is when someone says its really healthy… I feel like standing up and shouting in there face; “its not all that healthy”. Maybe in short run, but when its a profession, I don't think so.

I play basketball so I could only comment on that, playing basketball in the long term is really bad for the body, I know a lot of people of my age and older, who had serious injuries due to playing basketball. By the time you end your carrier, your knees are screwed up, ankles barely move and probably have one hell of a backache. Some player who are my age already have messed up knees, ankle, or backs. In my opinion, excess play of basketball also degenerates the muscles, they’ve just been used for so long.

After every single game, whether friendly or official; you end up having your ankles or knees killing you, and your not even injured or haven’t done a whole load of work. Of coarse this after a whole lot of stretching.

Further more, when a player gets injured, its more likely a long term injury. Especially when your in Jordan, cause when you get injured they let you rest for a while and then push you back in, before your even fully heeled. I could say that 6 out of 12 of the players on my team are injured with long term injuries that haven’t healed yet.

I heard that soccer players like basketball, also suffer from bad knees and ankles. Golf player suffer from bad waists and shoulders, and so do tennis players. These are the only other sports that I know of.

This is my opinion, what do you think?

Neo pong

2006-12-21T21:34:00.000+02:00

I know almost every one has seen this video, but I cant resist but posting it... it's so creative and well done.... so MATRIXY

You always see these ping pong dudes play on tv and you think they are crazy becasue you can barely see the ball and they can consentrate so well as to hit it back... this might explain some of them :P

AI a nugget

2006-12-20T00:57:00.000+02:00

Allen Iverson of the 76ers has been traded to the denver nugget.

more on this later... i got to sleep

2006 tag

2006-12-18T15:56:00.000+02:00

Tagged by Roba to list the things "you did for the first time in 2006″

Long list but here are a few that would remain in my mind:

Graduate from school, and received a high school diploma
Joined the Orthodoxi club basketball team.
Go to Egypt, more specifically Sharm Il Sheik
Go to Lebanon
Get arrested; for driving without a license
Get a license
Enroll in University
Start my blog
Sang karaoke

Tagging anyone who comments on this post

Adventures at registration

2006-12-18T12:52:00.000+02:00

Today was my first registration in JU on computers. Luckily my brother came along, and he helped me with finding subjects and class numbers. Everything was going well, I found all the subjects that I wanted, except for one which was a long shot. As the clock ticked 9:00 my registration officially started, I started filling out the subject numbers, and then suddenly the computer freezes and a pop up starts flashing telling me that my account has been frozen and that I should check the admissions office.

We call the technician and tell him that I had no debts ion university because it's the first semester and they won't enroll me if I had any. So he tells me to check with registration. I go there and the immediately tell me to go to admissions at 'Insaniah'. Just so you know, Insaniah is at the other end of university and a trip there would take you a minimum of 20 minutes, and that’s when you walk fast. So we walk as fast as we can to the admissions office. We go in and they start shifting us from window to window until the last one tells us that we have to go to the head of admissions. We hurry there and then it takes him 5 freakin minutes to type in my number and then he just opens my profile, clicks on a button and lets me know that I can go register now.

I take a look at the time and its 9:20 and my registration, which is currently on the other side of campus, ends in 10 min. My brother realizes the dilemma and tells me to start running for it, because if I miss out on this time ill have to get rescheduled and the subjects might close by then. I take his advice and I start literally running as fast as I can towards the pc center. Running between people, jumping over stuff anything, just to get there in time, and the whole way I'm thinking that I have a game today I shouldn’t be running. I reach the center at 9:25, go upstairs push the door open, insert my number incorrectly 2 or 3 times because I am in a hurry, go to the registering screen, type everything in and save it just in time. I turn around and I see my brother slamming the door open, his breathing rate is off the charts and he was actually ran after me. He has not run in 2 years and tells me that never again will he run that much again.

What a day, they blocked me for no reason, just did it. And I almost missed out on my classes because of that. Thank god it worked…

Saudi Arabia on Jordan's tracks

2006-12-17T23:11:00.000+02:00

I don’t know if this is true or not, but I just heard that Saudi Arabia is going to follow Jordan's footsteps and change their weekends to Fridays and Saturdays instead of Thursdays and Fridays at the start of 2007… Now that wasn't a reliable source but it would be great. For one, the nice TV programs that are scheduled on Saudi Arabian weekends will switch to ones that are the same as ours. Another thing is when you travel between countries you wont have that complicated weekend feeling.

And oh yea, that bank thingy where they can make worldwide money transactions 4 days a week instead of the 3 they currently have.

Cant think of any thing else....

Meteor shower

2006-12-16T22:50:00.000+02:00

On Wednesday night, I read on Yahoo that their was a meteor shower later that night, you can spot up to I think 60 shooting stars per hour. So I read that and was disappointed, "ah here goes another phenomenon that I missed". Later on I read that their will also be another one on Thursday night, but still say that it would probably only be visible in the States.

However, you should see the look at my face when my young bother says that he just saw a falling star at about midnight. I instantly stare up at the sky, hoping to spot one and there it was another shooting star. I go home make most of my family standing outside and we all start staring up at the sky.

The funny thing was, that everyone who passed by thought that we are this crazy bunch of people and kept asking us what we were looking at and then they start watching the sky as well to spot one or two… After almost 30 min of looking upwards and breaking your neck; I've seen about 8, including one large one, and guess what it was worth it.

The story of a millionare

2006-12-11T16:20:00.000+02:00

They always keep telling us that you got to work hard to earn money. Well i guess there is another way, just accept money from a stranger who sent it by email and vwala... Your a millionare.

"Dearest in the Lord Baker,

My name is Mrs Roes Ebigbo nationality of Kuwait. I am married tolate. Mr James Ebigbo who worked with Kuwait embassy in IvoryCoast for nine years before he died in the year Octorber 2004. We were married for twenty years with a child. He died after a the illness
that lasted for long four days. Before his death we were both bornagain Christians. When my late husband was alive we deposited the sum of $10 Million(ten Million U.S. Dollars) with one of good banks here in Cote d'Ivoire,Presently, this money is still with the bank. Recently my Doctortold me that I would not last for the next three months due to my cancer problem. Though what disturbs me most is my stroke,

Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to church or better still a Christian individual that will utilize this moneythe way I am going to instruct here in, I want a person or church that will use this fund to churches, orphanages, research centres and widows propagating the word of Godand to ensure that the house of God is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I have a child that will inherit this money but my son can not carry out this work only because i and my late husband decide to use some of the money to work for God and live some for our son johnsen to have a better live,

our son is just 19 yearold now and been grow up in africa, he have low mentality and my husband´s relatives are not Christians and I don´t want my family hard earned money to be misused by unbelievers. I donÂ´t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner. Hence the reason for taking this bold decision,I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going to. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14says that the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I want your telephone communication in this regard because of my health because of the presence of my family relatives around me always , I don't want any of my husband family relatives to recieve this money. With God all things are possible.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Finance/bank. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will empower you as the new beneficiary of this fund. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the lord is my shepherd. My
happiness is that I live a life of a worthy Christian.Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life. Any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing for a church or Christian individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here.

Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.
Mrs Roes Ebigbo"

Dont you just love when good luck just falls in your lap, its even better than finding 10 JD in your pocket. So $10 million, how should i spend them. A new car, maybe a new house... what do you thinks, the best answer will get 10% of this money .

That Feeling...

2006-12-10T22:32:00.000+02:00

Did you ever have that feeling were you think that you believe you can fly or do what ever you want to... No I'm not talking about getting high, I'm talking about one that involves your senses. Perhaps the feeling you get when aroma of something you adore, or the touch of a fabric that you love, maybe the view of a seen that takes your breath away, or the taste of something that you enjoy, even the sound of calm relaxing music. The feeling that makes you relax and hyper at the same time, were you want to sleep and stay up. The one that as soon as you feel it you don’t want to let go, but still want to so that you can feel I again. Ever had that feeling?

Well no kidding, one of the things that gives me that feeling is the taste of Hot Chocolate when you’re cold…. Cant get enough, just makes me want to stand up and run around myself. Ah what a feeling…..

3amak ma7joob

2006-12-09T12:50:00.000+02:00

I don’t know what to say about Emad Hajjaj, he is just astounding. I mean the way he delivers his message is brilliant, he uses funny comic characters (the typical Jordanian man) to distribute that message to his audience, and the viewers don’t despise him for any lame or harsh drawing or video that he does. He always delivers his idea at the right time in the correct medium. The message could be informative, caricaturized or just some day to day events that occur.

In my opinion he is one of Jordan’s treasures that should be looked after and appreciated.

What do you think of his work?

Tag on...

2006-12-09T00:54:00.000+02:00

A tag is a tag, and when you get tagged, you just got to answer.

Tag rules: Grab the closest book to you, open page 123, scroll down to the 5th sentence, post the next 3 sentences on your blog, name the book and author, then tag 3 people.

"The look on Marjorie Tench's face was one of absolute shock. 'I'm stunned. did I hear correctly? As president, you would act to abolish this nation's space program?"

Deception Point, Dan Brown

By the way Roba, you just ruined part of the book... thanks :P

Still do not know others to tag.....

Top 10 Women Accidents

2006-12-07T18:47:00.000+02:00

I recently received an email with the following attachment, i thought it was hilarious. Ya3ni come on some of these are just undo able.

Here are a few "stunts" that only women can preform... (not all)
P.S. the Golden winner really need a standing ovation IMO

10th place goes to:

9th place goes to:

8th place goes to:

7th place goes to:

6th place goes to:

5th place goes to:

4th place goes to:

The Bronze medal goes to:

The Silver medal goes to:

The Gold medal goes to:

No offense to Women at all, even the email says "not all". I just thought this is hilarious, some are ridiculously funny. I would like to give some the benefit of the doubt, but lets get real, women in general suck in driving, ya3ni most of the time when you’re driving and someone suddenly cuts in front of you, it either a cab driver or a woman driving the car. Then when you beep your horn at her she starts shouting at you as if it was your mistake.

But to tell you the truth, if this was the Top 10 Men Accidents, it will be filled with destroyed cars and much worse cause of speeding. Therefore I'm not saying men are safer driver, on the contraire, but they are mores skilled ones.

Do not be discouraged... Calculus is harder

2006-12-05T15:24:00.000+02:00

As I was flipping through my Calculus book , I came across this following phrase:

".... Thus, if you find our ensuing discussion of 'E-&' proofs challenging, do not become discouraged: the concepts and techniques are intrinsically difficult. In fact, precise understanding of limits evaded the finest mathematical minds for more than 150 years after the basic concepts of calculus were discovered."

It like telling you: don’t be discouraged, calculus has baffled ‘the finest mathematical minds’ we don’t expect you to understand it. It’s not like you having a hard time understanding the previous paragraph is a coincidence, no we don’t expect you to identify with it any way, because lets get real, you aren’t the brightest person in this crowd. Just read through the rest of this book and convince yourself that you understand it.

Discouraged!! for Gods sake understanding the previous statement "encouraged" me that I might actually understand the damn subject. This little note of yours really benefits students, just mess the dude up will you. I mean I'm pretty good in math in general, but when it comes to calculus, I just blank out, especially when they teach it in Arabic. What’s even more "discouraging" is that the book is named Calculus, not math, which means that for the next couple of years I'll face the same obstacles.

I guess I'm just not one of ‘the finest mathematical minds.’

JP Sanfoor

2006-12-03T16:03:00.000+02:00

I just realized after reading 'So now I am officially a JP Citizen' by SimSim (how does it feel to be a sanfour once more?:P), that not only am I a Sanfoor at JU but also a Sanfoor in Jordan planet.... what else should I join while I'm at it?

Dabka 101

2006-12-03T14:53:00.000+02:00

Here are the basic rules of Dabka that everyone should know:

If by any chance a dabka starts, you MUST join the group
The first person is the lead dabeek, he is usually the most skilled or at least thinks he is
The last couple of people are usually the beginners who know nothing of dabka and just want to join the group. These types of dabeekeh should be kicked out or shot
The is no one official type of dabka, each person knows a different kind, and the type of dabka is decided by the lead.
Join hands with the person nearest to you and start imitating the moves of the person in the lead (usually identified as being the first person wiggling his hand and might be carrying a handkerchief)
There is no need to follow the beat as long as you go with the flow
If you cant keep up get lost, don't just start walking around in circles.
If in any way you can't keep up or feel to tiered and you want to stay within the group, you can stand in the middle of the circle and wave your hand at the leading person (as illustrated in the video above)
If you are watching the dabka and not part of it, you MUST start clapping vigorously, this identifies that you do not know how to 2udbok but you still would like to be part of it.
The rate of the dabka will start to increase with every stomp. You should accelerate along side them and so does your clapping rate
The dabka circle is some kind of sacred circle, under no circumstances can it be broken
The dabka does not end until another non-dabkable song is played, or the whole group has lost the rhythm and there is no chance it'll be revived

WARNING: Dabka is similar to a fast train, there is no stopping it. If by any chance someone comes in front of the dabeekeh or falls in between he will get run over. Keep all children in sight and at least 2 meters away from the dabka motion as it is hazardous to the safety of your child.

NOTE: Constant sweating, lack of breath, heart attacks, headaches, road marks and getting hit by mistake are normal symptoms of dabka. Just ignore and keep moving unless symptom develops into a chronic stage. Then stop udboking and sit your ass down.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me this many times... Im screwed

2006-12-02T21:54:00.000+02:00

This same scenario keeps happening to me over and over again. I wake up; take a look at the sky to find it sunny without a single cloud in the sky. I say to my self before I go to uni, ah a sunny day, so by the time its noon, it’ll be freakin hot. Thus I decide not to wear a jacket as I leave the house. I notice that the weather is extremely cold, but still I assume it’s going to be hot by noon. So I shake of the coolness and get in the car. Big mistake, to my surprise at noon the weather is still cold and I’m freezing my ass off. I start searching for a sunny spot to stand in, but I don’t find any cause JU is filled with tall ass trees and they keep blocking the sun away.

The next day, I notice it’s sunny again. Therefore I go like, haha I'm not getting fooled again so I take a jacket. And by noontime it’s so hot with the jacket on, but the jacket is too heavy or annoying to carry; so I keep it on. Seriously there is no good solution for such a weather, and most likely you’ll end up sick.

Now I am noticing the effects of global warming, ya3ni we’re in December and still you cant spot a single cloud in the sky, last year it was showering rain and people were all in their homes trying to warm their hands. Seriously it’s getting worse by the year.

December 10

2006-12-01T17:10:00.002+02:00

December 10th is Human Rights Day, there is a Human Rights Day Writing contest for children 8 - 18 years old on Human Rights and Poverty.

Here's the deal:
"As you know, the United Nations celebrates the International Day for Human Rights on 10 December. This year’s theme is Human Rights and Poverty. To mark this day, a writing contest for children and youth between 8 and 18 years old is being organized throughout the world with entries in any of the six official UN languages. The entry, one page only (maximum 800 words) should be e-mailed to cyberschoolbus@un.org before 10 December 2006.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could widely disseminate the following information to your counterparts, schools, NGOs working with children and youth, public libraries to motivate children and youth to participate to this context and to suggest ways to fight poverty as a matter of obligation,
as a human right.

Background:
More than one in six people in the world live in poverty – that is, less than $1 per day. But poverty is not only about having no money. It is also about not having the materials and resources to fulfill a person’s basic needs – it is about human rights.

Eligbility:
To enter the Human Rights and Poverty writing competition, participants should:
1) Be between the ages 8-18 years old
2) Send their entry by e-mail to cyberschoolbus@un.org with the subject header “Human Rights Day 2006”

Topics:
The participants can choose one of the following two topics to write about:

1) Pick one article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and use an example from real-life to illustrate how the violation of this rights is a consequence of living in poverty. Participants are encouraged to include any suggestions they may have on how poverty can be reduced so that this right is not violated;
2) .Pick one article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and use an example from real-life to illustrate how the violation of this right can cause poverty. They can include any suggestions they may have on what can be done to protect this right so that it does not lead to poverty.

Entries should be one page only (maximum 800 word) and can be written in one of the six UN official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish

Evaluation of entries:
Entries will be judged on: (1) writing style; (2) originality; (3) how well the participant answered the question listed above.

Three winning entries will be chosen from each of the following age group region:
1) Latin America and the Caribbean,
2) Arab States,
3) Asia and the Pacific,
4) North America,
5) Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States,
6) Africa

One winning entry will be chosen in each of the following age group region:
1) 8-12 years old
2) 13-15 years old
3) 16-18 years old

Prize:
Each winner will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, together with a prize pack. All winning entries will be published on the UN Cyberschoolbus website.

Deadline:
Entries for the Human Rights and Poverty Writing Contest 2005 must be sent by e-mail, to cybershcool@un.org with the header Human Rights Day 2006, not later than the International Human Rights Day, 10 December, with their full name, home address and date of birth.

For more information, please consult:
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/humanrightsday2006/guidelines1.asp

NB: Attached is the announcement for the writing contest in three languages (Arabic, English and French ) for easy dissemination.

Many thanks for your cooperation

Best regards"

So if any one is interested, try and apply. Maybe your young brother or sister can write it if you're older than the stated age.

Simply Brandish

2006-11-29T15:18:00.000+02:00

I stumbled across this article when I was surfing the net, which I found pretty interesting. Its states how the names of some of the most famous brands in the world.

"Adobe - came from name of the river Adobe Creek that ran behind the house of founder John Warnock.

Apache - It got its name because its founders got started by applying patches to code written for NCSA's httpd daemon. The result was 'A PAtCHy' server -- thus, the name Apache.

Apple Computers - favorite fruit of founder Steve Jobs. He was three months late in filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call his company Apple Computers if the other colleagues didn't suggest a better name by 5 o'clock.

CISCO - its not an acronym but the short for San Francisco.
Google - the name started as a jokey boast about the amount of information the search-engine would be able to search. It was originally named 'Googol', a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. After founders,Stanford grad students Sergey Brin and Larry Page presented their project to an angel investor, they received a cheque made out to 'Google'.

Hotmail - Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending in 'mail' and finally settled for hotmail as it included the letters "html" - the programming language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective upper casing.

HP - Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.

Intel - Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company 'Moore Noyce' but that was already trademarked by a hotel chain, so they had to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics.

Lotus (Notes) - Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from 'The Lotus Position' or 'Padmasana'. Kapor used to be a teacher of Transcendental Meditation (by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi).

Microsoft - coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the '-' was removed later on.

Motorola - Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started manufacturing radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time was called Victrola.

ORACLE - Larry Ellison and Bob Oats were working on a consulting project for the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The code name for the project was called Oracle (acronym for: One Real Asshole Called Larry Ellison)

Red Hat - Company founder Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacrosse team cap (with red and white stripes) while at college by his grandfather. He lost it and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return his Red Hat if found by anyone!

Xerox - The inventor, Chestor Carlson, named his product trying to say 'dry' (asit was dry copying, markedly different from the then prevailing wet copying). The Greek root 'xer' means dry.

Yahoo! - the word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book 'Gulliver's Travels'. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves yahoos."

The way apple was named is hilarious. I mean come on, you named your brand after a fruit, and it became one of the most successful brands worldwide. Alright, I'll name my brand 'Bic' after my most frequently used pen manufacturer.

test

2006-11-28T23:51:00.000+02:00

41% Geek

Chocoholic

2006-11-28T18:17:00.000+02:00

To tell you the truth, I am a big ass chocoholic. I go around eating 6-8 packs of chocolate per day, doesn’t mater what kind as long as it is chocolate. One of my favorite chocolate brands is galaxy. When you have a bite of galaxy you feel as if you taste the pure taste of chocolate, cause other brands have peanuts or butter or any kind of add on. Whereas galaxy, the only have chocolate, some times with those rise crispy or caramel but they emphasize more on the chocolate part.

Today while eating my daily dose of chocolate I read something off the bag that made the taste of the Minstrels better:

“Surrender to smooth and creamy GALAXY® milk chocolate captured in crispy shells”

In my opinion the new design of galaxy after re-branding is much better than the old boring design. It makes it more chocolaty...

Scary Shit

2006-11-10T10:52:00.000+02:00

I just had an MRI scan for my right knee the other day, to check for a basketball injury, and shit going into that machine is scary. I never thought i would be claustrophobic, well not totally I didn't freak out or anything, but it was all just mere thoughts of being confined in such a small space. And the worst part was not being able to move for a freakn 30 minutes. Your body goes numb after 10 min for not moving as much. And to add to that there was no room for my left leg so i had to place it on top of a sharp (well it felt sharp... or kinda pointy :p) object and 5 min through the scan the pain was unbelievable, and every time i try and move it the dude start speaking into the mic "don't move"...

Yalla I got the results today and thank God there was nothing wrong with my knee, just a minor injury, now i can continue the tournament that started. I don't know if you noticed by these two posts but basketball is a major factor of my life.

Sweet and Salty

2006-11-02T20:19:00.000+02:00

Just for being a tall person (2m)(yea that's considered incredibly tall in Jordan) its an advantage and a must that a person of my height play basketball, thus I've grown to like this game. The other day, there was a game between Jordan and Syria, so I go and watch the game with some of my teammates.

It starts of great a basket here and there. To avoid 'traffic' at the cafeteria I get up just before halftime to buy me a snack. I buy a can of Rani juice and a bag of popcorn, and naturally I start filling my popcorn with salt, just as soon as I'm about to head back to my seat the dude behind the counter shouts at me "Are you crazy, that's not salt it's sugar!!" standing there dumbfounded, I turn around to notice everyone in line has cracked up at me, I do my share of laughing, add a ton of salt and leave (really pissed of from inside). The salt had no effect at all, I was literally eating sweet popcorn with a touch of saltiness. And what makes it worse is that everyone I offer popcorn to eats it and stares at me thinking that I'm a crazy dude who favors sweet popcorn... I really should start paying attention to what I do. sweet popcorn!

About Me

2006-10-31T00:10:00.003+02:00

We'll... to be honest, this tab is still "under-construction". So how about you bare with me and come visit this page once more in a week or 2? :)

Links

2006-10-31T00:09:00.003+02:00

Facebook:Omar Assi
Twitter:@OmarAssi
Google:Omar Assi

You can also contact me at: omery15@gmail.com and I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as I'm able to

Pages I recommend and constantly follow:
Roba Assi
Jordan Blogs
Game Spot
Cyanide and Happiness