انت عمري - ام كلثوم

This was my first Um Kalthoum song. I first heard about 3 seconds of the melody on an ad for Zen TV on Zen TV before it turned into a crappy channel maybe 3 years ago. I was dying to know what song that was from and it was driving me crazy. So I hummed to my mom to see if she had any idea. She did! She also said that Abdul Wahab composed that song. At that time I didn’t know it meant something. So I eagerly downloaded the song and was surprised it was almost an hour long! But it was amazing. The first time I heard it.. wow. The music was fantastic. So I went back to my mom and asked her if this Abdul Wahab guy composed all of her songs and who else did he compose for. And after a few times of sitting down and really listening to it, I now appreciate the words as much as I do the music. So I basically fell into the Um Kalthoum pool and the rest is history. Another Um Kalthoum song I adore because of the music is Alf Leila Wa Leila.

And then when I first started university, a guy introduced me to Abdul Wahab as a singer and formally introduced me to Fairouz as well. Before him, the only Fairouz song I had in my collection was Nasam ‘aleina Al Hawa.

Inta 3omry by Um Kalthoum. [67.3 MB]

P.S. This is my 111th post.

Encarta® Instant Answers

I’m sure some of you have heard of this before. Encarta has developed an instant answers robot for MSN Messenger. You can ask it any question you like and it will answer it. How many people live in Kuwait? What is the flag of Kenya? How old would Princess Diana be today? What is 2 + 2?

Ofcourse with something cool like this, who can possibly resist asking it other questions? Are you a boy? Do you have boobs? Do you love me?

Other fun stuff you can do is teach it your name. You can also say a statement and it will respond and you can even make a conversation out of it if you answer cleverly. It’s really fun and hilarious at times. I recomend trying all the emoticons as well.

All you have to do is add encarta@conversagent.com to your contact list.

A Coy Decoy

In this Merrie Melodies - Bob Clampett cartoon from 1941, Daffy Duck gets into his usual trouble while fooling around in a bookstore. The part that got this cartoon to be banned is when Daffy enters Black Beauty and comes out riding “Black Beauty” or, as you can see from the image above, an African American woman complete with the stereotypical fat lips, polka-dot head rag, and the chubby body. Very shocking.

Contact me for a download request.

Get Well Soon

Dear Real Madrid,

It has come to my attention that you haven’t been feeling so hot these past few months. I’m really sorry to hear that. Is it a seasonal thing? Because I noticed it’s been like this for almost three years right? Wow, you must really be sick and tired of it. I also noticed you’ve been constantly changing you’re doctors as well. How do you expect to get well when you’re always getting different opinions all the time?! Stick to one doctor for goodness sakes. And people have also told me you’ve been using new medications every few months. Again, stick to a group of meds that work together. And give them time to settle and get use to you and your body. Then and only then will you finally get on the right track. Tell your drug dealer to give you break! Tell him you don’t need any more new pills!

Your loved ones really miss you and are anxiously waiting for your full self to be back. Please remember that many people love you and care about you so try to take care of yourself a bit better than normal.

I got to know you a long time ago but I didn’t really pay attention to you or anything. But I became your bestfriend three years ago. I was there every single day you needed me, but now I’m starting to think maybe you are allergic to me! Am I the reason of your sickness?! I swear, if I am, I promise you won’t hear of me again. I’ll love you from a distance if I have to. But on one condition: GET WELL SOON.

Your buddy,
Snookie

R.I.P

Color Your iPod

A company called Colorware has heard the many cries of iPod owners all around the world and has produced a fantastic [sounding] product. They will coat your iPod Video or Nano with some kind of scratch resistant substance called X2. Sounds pretty tough. But that’s not all! You can also have your iPod colored as well! And even THAT’S not all! You can even put a corporate logo on it! Like if you are a huge fan of BMW, you can have the logo of BMW as the clickwheel. It all sounds pretty cool.

Correction: You can’t have company logos done. That option is only for company executives and such. Thanks to Puss.In.Puss for that information.

You can buy the iPod straight from them with your options or you can send in your own iPod. There are 23 colors for each the clickwheel and the body. So you have A LOT of possible combos. But the important thing is that your iPod will be protected by the X2 liquid substance.

Click here to learn about the X2 coating. And here to go to the main page.

They also customize your notebooks.

I’m definately getting an iPod through them. I just wish they had the lasering customization on the backside like online Apple store does. Below are the possible options I will choose inshalla.

“I love magic..”

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire :

I just came back from watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and as you can tell, I kinda liked it. An exquisit movie in all areas. Acting, faithfulness to the book, and creative directing.

As many of you know, there has been three different directors for the four movies. This was done so that the movies would have a variety of interpretations throughout the series; giving fans another reason to go insane waiting for the next installment. For Goblet of Fire, an English director was used. Mike Newell had previously directed Mona Lisa Smile and Four Weddings and A Funeral. I really liked the directing in this one. The camera angles were weird at times, making me feel like I wasn’t watching a movie but that I was sitting across the table. I’m no expert in cinematography and direction but I can tell that I personally liked Mike Newell’s than of the previous Harry Potter movies. It’s more exciting.

Goblet of Fire is the longest book in the series so far. It was packed with so many details, events, etc. that there was thought of splitting it into two movies! I won’t complain about the many things that were left out because it would be ridiculous. The movie already is 157 minutes long and I think it’s just asking too much if one was to complain about being completely faithful to the book. As always, the screenwriter, Steven Kloves, is supremely faithful content-wise. He won’t write a word without getting the “OK” from J.K. Rowling.

One thing that definately stood out this time is the quality of acting in all the characters. Especially in Emma Watson who plays Hermione Granger. Reading reviews from some of my favorite critics, I can now agree that the three teenage actors have truely matured and grown. And you can actually see it! And I don’t mean physically. However, the only reason I gave this movie a 4.5 instead of a 5 is because of Michael Gambon. I believe the producers could have found a better Dumbledore. To me, Dumbledore was an extremley wise man with a gentle voice, touch, and personality. Michael Gambon was everything but gentle. The late Richard Harris was a fantastic Dumbledore and I really do miss him in these movies. I’m always thinking of him whenever Michael Gambon appears on the screen.

This is the darkest of all four installments yet the ocassional bits of humor are delivered with fantastic timing that you actually do chuckle for a few moments. And yes, most of those little moments had some participation from Ron or the Weasley twins.

My final thoughts are that this is a great movie and I won’t be hesitant if asked to go see it again right now. Maybe it’s because I’m a fan of the books and maybe not. The scenes were almost exactly if not better than I have imagined, which is why I can’t say I have a favorite scene. I feel sad that the anticipation is over. But the excitement is still here and I’m basking in every last drop of it!

Bottom line: go see it.