Earth to Omar

This place hasn't been abandoned..

2011-12-26T20:25:00.003-05:00

When I start writing lines and boundaries disappear, and while I never viewed this as a bad thing, I don't want my writing to cause harm for anyone. For now, I'll let a much more eloquent man do the talking.

From a city divided to a city united

2011-01-31T02:01:00.003-05:00

Soon after taking the U-ban into East Berlin, we found ourselves walking on Weichsel Strasse heading towards our hostel. We went through the usual motions of checking in, finding a bed, unpacking and of course grabbing a map of the city. On the back of the map was an ad for daily tours of Berlin offered in all languages. The tours promised a trip through the rich history of Berlin with a focus

The Jurse

2011-01-24T01:32:00.000-05:00

There is a lot that I hate about winter. The freezing temperatures, driving issues, lack of sunshine.. I can go on forever. But in the midst of darkness of winter a hidden positive comes to light. You see, unless you are in a man Europe, carrying a man’s purse (murse) is not fashionable. While Seinfeld took a stab at popularizing the European carryall, his effort led into nothing but a

In Honour of Mohamed Bouazizi

2011-01-15T18:59:00.003-05:00

Last night I slept a happy man. The news of the day left me and millions of other Arabs reflecting on events we thought we would never see. The brave Tunisians’ protests finally cracked the dictatorship that had ruled them for well over two decades. The president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was forced out of the country flying from place to place until he finally found refuge in Saudi Arabia.

On Hummus and Aliens

2010-11-24T01:22:00.003-05:00

The hummus revolution is taking Canada by storm. For one, Microsoft Word recognized the word, and did not draw that ugly, red, squiggly line underneath the word. Marketed as “healthy alternative” and “vegetarian certified” it’s not hard to see why it would be so popular. Plus, it tastes great. But that’s besides the point. As far as I’m concerned, hummus is the latest victim of Capitalist

How many letters do you have after your name?

2010-05-01T20:18:00.001-05:00

Somewhere between the realm of meaningful education and “money grab land” lies the mass hysteria that seems to be engulfing every professional field. Everyone is in a race to add more letters after their name, no matter at what cost or with how much effort. Email signatures are laden with meaningless acronyms that are supposed to means something to somebody. People add these acronyms with pride

Shuffle: All Songs

2010-03-28T22:54:00.001-05:00

The emergence of the internet has definitely influenced the type and variety of music people listen to. The interaction of people on Twitter and Facebook, and the readily available music videos on YouTube, have all made the exposure and accessibility of music literally a click away. And now that we can carry over a few thousand songs in the palm of our hands, we have become walking music

Thoughts from a Saturday trip to the store

2010-03-13T23:10:00.000-05:00

As winter takes its last few breaths, and as the snow melts revealing the yellow grass underneath it, Canadians are taking to the streets and to the hardware stores, anxious to start the summer season complete with camping, road trips, and endless BBQ’s. Motor cycles are back on the streets, their riders who have be waiting patiently for the day the temperatures turn above 5 Celsius seem to have

Palestinians are bound to be bound

2009-12-25T03:20:00.001-05:00

There seems to be an international competition on which country can cause Palestinians the most suffering. Israel has always been a front runner, and a favourite to win the competition in all its categories: land theft, starvation, discrimination, human rights denials, among many others. Lately, another country has emerged as a strong contender to take away Israel’s spots in some of the

Your Two-Step Guide to Small Talk

2009-11-15T23:06:00.003-05:00

We’re all faced with those awkward moments in social settings where we are forced to make “small talk” with someone. These situations are abundant when one starts a new job, or at a party, or even while waiting in line at the supermarket. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to run into someone talkative and creating small talk is a breeze. At other times creating small talk is like pulling teeth.

The Wars of Today

2009-11-11T23:27:00.003-05:00

As I listened to the radio this morning to a 90 year old veteran of WWII, I had nothing but respect for the bravery he must have had as a 25 year old fighting on the front lines in Normandy. A thought crossed my mind as he went on describing the gory details he had to witness, are we going to reflect back on the soldiers of today the same way we reflect on the ones who died in the two world

Asking for a Settlement Freeze is Hard in the Midst of Global Warming

2009-11-03T01:31:00.003-05:00

If Hillary Clinton’s current visit to the region proved anything, it’s that Obama’s message of change was nothing but a load of crap. “Yes we can” continue our ways of standing on the side of the oppressor against the oppressed is the message I have been hearing lately. In his attempt at justifying his premature Noble Peace prize win, Obama is settling for the easy way out, putting pressure on

Giving Equality to Women - The Muslim Canadian Way

2009-10-09T20:59:00.001-05:00

Let’s recap. The Supreme Council of Al Azhar in Egypt approved a ban on wearing the niqab in their schools. A few days later, the Muslim Canadian Congress made a call to the federal government to prohibit women from wearing niqabs and burkas in public. Ironically the reasoning for their call is “covering one’s face has no place in a society that supports gender equality.” Because as we all

It's not as easy as some make it look

2009-09-27T22:44:00.001-05:00

I have been eager to get back into blogging again after the trip, but I just didn’t know where to start or what to say. Maybe because I don’t think my writing can do justice to some of the places I came across, and maybe it’s because writing about it makes me reminisce on a really good time, leading to nostalgia, and then reflectance, and then a whole bunch of day dreaming. I’m sure as winter

Bringing Summer to an End

2009-08-31T00:09:00.001-05:00

I’m counting down the seconds. The plan was conceived as an idea thrown around while sitting around at a cafe. “What if we visited Europe at the end of summer?” I asked her, her reply was “I’m not sure if I can afford it.” A few weeks after the conversation, and in the way all good ideas materialize into reality, the seed grew in her head thoughts of the trip invaded her thoughts. She would

Reminiscing Ramadan

2009-08-24T22:09:00.002-05:00

So here I am jumping on the Ramadan post bandwagon, like any good blogger would do. In the few years I have been blogging I don’t think I ever posted something longer than a Happy Ramadan post. I think it’s because I’m never really that excited about the month, except for the odd Syrian drama that I look forward to. My memories of Ramadan are from the time I lived back in Syria. Ramadan then

Summer finally started!

2009-08-09T21:52:00.008-05:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of thunder in the sky. I am not the type who is scared by thunder, but today was a little different. I was certain the lightning bolts were arcing within a kilometre radius from my house. The sound was louder than I have ever heard. I got up, went through my morning routine and went back to video tape mother nature’s fine work. By then it had calmed down a

An Ingenious Idea

2009-08-06T23:41:00.000-05:00

The scene: a busy classroom, students scattered everywhere, some busy putting the final touches on their projects, others nervously waiting their turn for testing. A carton of eggs is placed on the teacher’s desk, right next to a big plank of wood propped up from one side creating a slope. It’s noisy. There are some students checking out their peer’s work, others flirting with each other, and

Gaining Weight is a Problem?

2009-07-31T00:34:00.004-05:00

Is it just me are we all surrounded by the diet hysteria? A quick search on Google shows that “6.8 million Canadian adults ages 20 to 64 were overweight, and an additional 4.5 million were obese” which happens to be more than a third of Canada’s population. So maybe it’s not me after all, it’s an epidemic and you don’t have to look far to see it. Of course marketing gurus are all over this and

In Memory of Frank McCourt

2009-07-20T22:43:00.002-05:00

I came across his book while searching for a work on poverty for my grade 12 class. At the time I didn't know that I was to embark on reading a book that would have such an impact on me for years to come. Angela's Ashes is the autobiography of Frank McCourt, an Irish boy, born in America to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother. McCourt's book wasn't simply a description of his poor

Increasing Israeli Arrogance

2009-07-15T23:01:00.002-05:00

Her arrogance is growing day by day, perhaps it's in reaction to the slow but noticeable change of opinion towards her, or maybe it's just stemming from growing levels of ignorance. One doesn't have to dig deep to see the signs. In one instance we have Israeli President, Peres, warning that Syria should not expect the Golan heights to be given back to her on a silver platter. In another she's

Queen of Andalusia - Part 2

2009-06-28T19:48:00.009-05:00

Queen of Andalusia - Part 1As we were talking to the cop, a shopkeeper came up to us and pointed up to the woman on the balcony. About a minute a later middle-aged, blond woman came down and started talking to us in Spanish. We showed her the address we were looking for, and as she led us to the location (which was about a 3 minute walk from her house) we realized that she was the owner of the

Queen of Andalusia - Part 1

2009-06-02T21:27:00.008-05:00

The story of Granada is a long one, one that will engraved in my memory forever. Never had a city cast its spell on me as quickly as Granada did. Out of all the stops on my Eurotrip last summer, Granada was the city I was looking forward to seeing the most. The anticipation stemmed from a mix of its historical importance, and the special romance that I knew Granada would have... on to the

Bin Ladin's Biggest Blunder

2009-05-06T17:46:00.002-05:00

What was Bin Ladin’s biggest blunder? Are you ready for this? He didn’t say the magic word. That’s right, had Bin Ladin said “sorry” after the attacks on the twin towers everything would have been fine and dandy. After all we all make mistakes, and if parents teach you anything it’s that a real man (or woman) takes responsibility for his/her mistakes. Look at Hillary Clinton for example. Last

If I meet one more Mfalsaf...

2009-05-04T23:44:00.003-05:00

One of the things I love about Arabic is that it has certain idioms that just hit the spot. The idioms speak volumes about a situation or a personality often with one word. One of these idioms is “mfalsaf” (مفلسف ) a colloquial term derived from “falsafeh” which translates to philosophy. A person who is mfalsaf is one who dives too deeply into every argument made in their presence, squeezing

The Diplomat's Pledge of Allegiance

2009-04-20T23:20:00.003-05:00

They stumbled over each other, elbowing one another each trying to be the first person to escape from the crowded room. Blasphemy was in the air and nobody could bear to hear it. The words being uttered on the podium just didn’t make sense. Once outside they put their hands together and pledged their allegiance by issuing ‘official’ statements condemning the ‘hate speech’ they had to endure.

Missing: Victoria Stafford

2009-04-12T23:57:00.004-05:00

The first thing that popped into my mind was getting into a relationship. It’s never too early to experience what it is like to care about somebody else, and develop feelings for someone

Call animal control.. there's a bear in the neighbourhood

2008-02-20T00:58:00.004-05:00

This week is my reading week. Not much reading has been happening, as usual. I have been dinking around watching movies, reading the odd non-school related book, and replying to a million emails. This morning as I made my way to the kitchen from my bedroom, my mom informed that my dad with his detective skills had discovered that a bear was lurking in the neighborhood. He apparently saw

Finally some good rap music

2008-01-30T17:24:00.000-05:00

It is not often these days to come across really good music. I’m talking here for both the lyrical sense, and the melody. Every now and then I stumble across a really great artist, and it’s usually through an online search, a reference from a friend or even searching through you tube, and never from watching MTV. A few months ago while sitting with a bunch friends, one guy got up and played

With this ring I thee wed

2008-01-23T00:34:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I posted about the Iron Ring. The Iron Ring is a ring worn on the pinkie of the working hand by all engineers in Canada since 1922. The reason for wearing it on the pinkie, is that as the engineer is doing his/her calculations, the ring will touch table making a sound, which reminds the engineer to check and re-check their work.The tradition started as a result of the collapse

The Power of Myth

2008-01-13T05:11:00.000-05:00

After watching Zeitgeist, I was compelled to do some research into Part One of the documentary, which argues that Jesus is in fact the same god as Horus (the Sun God for Egyptians) and numerous other gods from other religions and myths such as Krishna, Dionysus, Mithra, Orus and Cadmus. While I was researching online I developed an interest in comparative mythology which lead me to a great

Maw3id 3arabi

2007-12-29T04:01:00.000-05:00

The concept of showing up on time seems to be very hard to get for more people than I had originally thought. I’m generally a punctual person. I’m rarely late for an appointment no matter what the nature of meeting is. At work I was always on time, in fact most of my stress came from trying to get to work on time on a snowy day, or when the highway is jammed, rather than from getting it from

No Comment

2007-11-27T14:47:00.000-05:00

Translation for non-Arabic speakers:The image shows the current RSS feed from Aljazeera.netthe first item translates:Work is underway in Annapolis, Bush considers Annapolis as the ideal time for negotiationsThe second item:Six martyrs in an Israeli raid on GazaI guess Palestinians living in Gaza are excluded from the negotiations underway.

Sir Mix-A-Lot had a point after all

2007-11-11T01:22:00.000-05:00

"I like big butts and I cannot lie" are the lyrics of a classic song, but according to latest research, if your dad was like Sir Mix-A-Lot then chances are you're smarter than average. Read on...CURVIER women may have smart children because hip fat contains polyunsaturated fatty acids critical for the development of the fetus's brain.

Fourth year business

2007-10-21T23:57:00.000-05:00

Ahhh. Things have been really busy lately. Fourth year seemed like it was going to be less work than the previous years. I thought that we paid our dues and they (the profs) would just let us coast a bit for the final year. Class hours are considerably less. There are no tutorials, no major labs, just HUGE assignments and projects. A 15 page essay here, a design report there, and looking for

Condolences to Yazan

2007-10-04T16:10:00.001-05:00

I was shocked when I heard the news. Thoughts of Yazan keep going through my head, and I wish I was closer so I can support him like a friend is supposed to. But for now this is all I can do.Condolences my friend, be patient, we're all here with you.

One Country

2007-09-24T23:12:00.000-05:00

Last Friday the co-founder of Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah, paid a visit to Waterloo for a lecture, and a book signing. The event had been organized among several Palestinian student-based clubs across Quebec and Ontario. I had seen Ali Abunimah speak before, and I was anxious to hear him speak again. Ali discussed the current (and rapidly deteriorating) situation in the Gaza strip and

Corporate Bullshit

2007-09-17T02:41:00.000-05:00

Nothing pisses me off more than Corporate Bullshit. I’m not sure why Corporate Bullshit (CBS from here on in) works me up, but then again, people have the weirdest pet peeves. If you worked for a big company then you know what I’m talking about. It’s those stupid acronyms, play on words, and ‘clever wording’ that makes a bunch of executives feel good about themselves. I can just imagine a

Nuclear Syria

2007-09-13T01:09:00.000-05:00

Rough Sequence of Events: Syria’s airspace is invaded by Israeli jets Syria claims (later confirmed by the Pentagon) that munitions were dropped World stays silent Journalists begin to speculate on what the target was, and why it was targeted Speculations that Israel was testing Syrian radar begin to emerge American sources using Israeli intelligence apparently talk to

Jesus Camp and North American Religious Fundamentalism

2007-09-10T13:19:00.000-05:00

Every now and then I go on a YouTube rampage, watching one video after another, until I lose count of videos I’ve seen. Yesterday I was searching for Richard Dawkins’ videos (worthy of a post themselves), and one thing lead to another and I ended up watching the trailer, of Jesus Camp. According to Wikipedia, Jesus Camp is “about a charismatic Christian summer camp for children who spend

So long Toronto...

2007-08-29T23:05:00.000-05:00

Summer passed by quickly. Sunday, April 30 the day I moved to Toronto seems like yesterday. When I knew I was going to spend the summer in Toronto, I anticipated going out to see the city every now and then, but I didn’t anticipate seeing and meeting as many cool people as I did. Overall it was a ton of fun, and tonight is my last night in this great city. So what’s next? Tomorrow will be

Facebook Wars

2007-08-25T10:38:00.000-05:00

Every year people across the globe buy in to the myth that Mars will appear as large as the moon in the night sky. And every year I have arguments with people that such an event will never occur. I once gave somebody solid proof of the impossibility of the event (a link from NASA’s website), and she refused to believe what I told her. She shrugged it off saying something along the line of “

Three degrees apart

2007-08-20T20:38:00.000-05:00

When it came to choosing an award winning book for my grade 12 English class independent study project, my teacher suggested that I read Frank McCourt’s memoir, Angela’s Ashes. She said that the book was about poverty in Ireland, and that was all the motivation that I needed to choose the book as the main piece in my anthology on poverty. It was either the same day, or soon afterwards when I

I repeat, It was NOT an act of Terrorism

2007-08-02T17:39:00.000-05:00

I try to get my dose news every morning by reading the widely distributed Metro while on the subway. The picture of the collapsed bridge over the Mississippi river caught my attention, and I was curious to know as to what had caused the disastrous collapse. I read the short article eagerly waiting the conclusion. I anticipated something along the lines of “lack of maintenance and poor design

Unforgettable time

2007-07-17T21:28:00.000-05:00

The camping trip was amazing.. non-stop laughs and memories bil shwal as they say..this picture sums it all up..

Let it snow, let it snow... in Argentina?!

2007-07-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

The symptoms of global warming have started showing.. I found this piece of news especially disturbingThe temperatures plunged to -22C (-8F) in parts of Argentina's province of Rio Negro, while the capital, Buenos Aires, saw snow for the first time since 1918.[source]

Summer time adventure

2007-07-09T20:44:00.001-05:00

Much like rare celestial events this week’s events will take centuries to repeat themselves. People get excited, prepare cameras, and travel from far and wide to observe, and in this case participate in the phenomenon. The event is a cambing trib, including Syrians from across Canada. Ihsan is coming from the beautiful, but horrendously boring PEI, Sean is coming from the neat and tidy

Ya 3eeb.. What a shame

2007-06-17T23:15:00.000-05:00

This morning while eating breakfast with my dad, watching CNN and talking all at the same time, on TV comes a picture of Hamas militants with their guns in the air, their heads high in pride, and a bunch of half naked men with their arms behind their heads walking through the streets. The conversation abruptly stops, and we hand our heads in shame. Is there any hope left? We can blame

Incoherent Thoughts on Nahr al Barid

2007-05-29T20:51:00.000-05:00

Although I’m a bit late to comment on the situation in Nahr il Barid, but I think it’s better late than never. I’m not sure what frustrates me more, the fact that Palestinian civilians are pay for what a few idiots did, or how quickly Lebanese people forgot about what happened last summer. Roughly a year ago, while innocent civilians were being killed left and right by the Israelis, the

The summer so far

2007-05-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

When I realized that I was going to be living away from home last term, I thought that all the free time would mean more blogging, but as you have been noticing lately, I haven’t written much lately. One of the reasons behind the lack of activity, is that I’m on a computer all day at work, and by the time I get home the last thing I want to do is sit behind another computer. The other reason is

The Summer Months

2007-05-03T20:48:00.000-05:00

Things have changed quite a bit for me since the last post. After finishing my last exam I had a few days off, which I used to set up a meeting with fellow blogger Omar Faleh, spend some time with friends, and find a place for the summer in North York. As I write this, I’m spending my fifth night away from home. My living accommodations this time are much better than last time, but then

Finishing exams

2007-04-20T17:57:00.000-05:00

Well, after many late nights, a lot of long sighs, and about 200 blank sheets of paper, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Tomorrow at 3:00 pm I will finish writing my final exam, and by doing so hopefully complete third year. Looking back on this term, I think it’s fair to say that it was one of the most challenging semesters in terms of concepts, and work load. But

Is this procedure 7aram?

2007-04-07T19:24:00.000-05:00

Is this 7aram? I honestly would like to know whether a Muslim, or Jewish person is allowed to do this… please read on Michael Helyer is a diabetic with a difference. Ten years ago he was implanted with pancreatic cells from pigs in the hope that they would restore his insulin production, so helping to control his blood glucose levels. Now, to the surprise of researchers who carried out the

Gearing up for war on Iran.. Blitzer is in, Are you?

2007-04-02T00:06:00.000-05:00

Blitzer's vivid imagination makes for awesome doses of truthIt’s not hard for anyone who follows the news to notice the similarities between the pre-Iraq war period and now. UN sanctions based on hypothetical predictions are being cranked out left and right. Before it was about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and Baghdad’s apparent unwillingness to cooperate with UN inspectors, and now it’s

Let me introduce you to some modern Canadian culture

2007-03-25T23:30:00.000-05:00

First of all some background: Tim Hortons is without doubt the largest coffee shop chain in Canada. The chain is named after, who else, but a famous hockey player. Tim opened the first Tim Hortons back in 1964, in Hamilton, Ontario. Fast forward 43 years and you have a 3000 store chain stretching across the US and Canada. To put it in perspective, within a 5 km radius from where I’m sitting

Yet another controversial move

2007-03-23T23:43:00.000-05:00

Flyers are everywhere you go on campus. Little posters here, clever attention grabbers, and little yellow slips on every car in the university parking lot, all informing the students of a tuition increase of $50 per term. It turns out, the GRT (public transit body) has struck a deal with the student government by providing every student with a $50 non-refundable bus pass, per term. While it

Picture of the day - hillarious

2007-03-08T19:22:00.001-05:00

20070218 Originally uploaded by toychan_net. No comment!

Dialogue between Muslim and Jewish Youth

2007-03-08T15:40:00.000-05:00

I received the following email today. It basically talks about a new initiative to link Muslim and Jewish teens between the ages 16-19 to create an interfaith dialogue. The dialogue is all online, combining teens from Tehran, Montreal, Damascus, New York, Dubai, Moscow, Jakarta, Paris, Riyadh, London and Marrakesh. Have a read, and let someone know who you think should join..Dear Blogger,I am

Nizar Qabbani - السيرة الذاتية لسياف عربي

2007-03-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

This poem was posted earlier by a fellow Syrian blogger, Gardenia. I decided to share with the readers an audio file of this poem, said by the man himself, Nizar Qabbani. The poem could not be more appropriate, especially with the recent jailing of Egyptian blogger Kareem. Enjoy the file, and sorry to non-arabic speakers, I would try to translate part of this poem, but I don't think I can do

Syrian Bloggers: Free Kareem

2007-02-27T01:21:00.000-05:00

We, as a community of Syrian bloggers, condemn the arrest and sentencing of Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman for the peaceful expression of his dissenting views. We ask the Egyptian government to reconsider its decision to arrest and prosecute Abdel Kareem. The stated reasons for their action include the preservation of the public peace and state security, and the prevention of

First night in Damascus

2007-02-19T03:45:00.000-05:00

My grandparent's mini garden on the rooftop of the house, featuring herbs, peppers and pomegranatesI raced through the hallways of the Airport, eager to retrieve my bags, and see my family. I had finally returned after a 5 year absence. The customs officer was welcoming, and unlike I expected I entered the country with ease. My preparation prior to the trip had paid off. I then had to wait

You know you're an engineer if...

2007-02-13T02:03:00.000-05:00

I have 6 midterms this week. I have been doing so much math, that I’m literally dreaming of x’s and y’s. Lists like the ones below always put a smile on my face, especially because they’re so true… read on. You know you’re an engineer if: 1. You have no life - and you can PROVE it mathematically.3. You know vector calculus but you can't remember how to do long division.5. You've actually

If you're looking for good cheap books, I can help

2007-02-08T00:03:00.000-05:00

I recently learned about a very useful website that I thought I would share with you. This site is of specific importance to students in need of textbook, or professionals in need or a good reference. It turns out McGraw Hill, Wiley, and all the major textbook publishers put out books in paperback format for about 10% of the price of the hardcover edition. The textbooks are the exact same as

My Experience at "Arabic" School

2007-02-04T03:00:00.000-05:00

One of the major concerns for many newcomers to Canada is how to maintain their cultural identity, and language not in themselves but in their children. When we first moved here my mom and dad worked very hard at establishing a Saturday class that teaches Arabic to all levels. They called everybody they knew, they worked very hard at convincing the principal that we have the numbers to create

The Politicization of Global Warming

2007-02-01T02:24:00.000-05:00

I often get into intense discussions with a friend of mine over global warming. Him being a typical misinformed capitalist, claims that science studies contradict each other when it comes to global warming, and my defense to his argument has been that some scientists are actually being manipulated by oil lobbyists. Today, I read an article on Newscientist.com that gave further proof of how the

Street Lingo 104 - Mastering Your Son and Daughter's Language

2007-01-26T01:27:00.000-05:00

It’s been a while since I’ve discussed street lingo on the blog. I used to discuss common words, and phrases that I hear on daily to monthly basis, put them in useful sentences, and so on. So here is the latest installment of Street Lingo: The word “shit” seems to have a tremendous amount of usage, for example, consider the phrase… “you must be shitting me” This usually said in a casual

Screwed...

2007-01-23T01:28:00.000-05:00

What do you get when you have a group of three students, working on a design project that’s originally designed for four? Yes, an increased work load. What happens if a person on your team is forced to drop the term for personal reason? You get screwed. This is what happened today to me and the remaining group member. We now have the daunting task of designing a heat sink, building it,

Snooooow Day!

2007-01-15T15:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess nature was listening to my call for a snow day. This morning right after I hit the snooze button, my phone rang. It was my friend calling from the university parking lot saying “Could you check if today is a snow day, there are only 9 cars in the parking lot.” With a smirk on my face I turned on the radio, and the computer to get some news. I went to the university website to

January Spring - Unusual Canadian Winter

2007-01-08T02:09:00.000-05:00

While there is no scientific merit to what I have been observing lately, I think it’s worth while describing the weather trends Canada has been seeing the past few years. I remember back in grade nine or ten when the snow on the sidewalk was literally over 5 feet high. We had to break the snow banks with our feet so we can get on the bus. By January, wearing a scarf, gloves, and a few

South Beach The Place to Be

2007-01-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

I came back from Florida just a few days ago, and like last term, I dove into classes the day after. The trip was amazing! I’m always up for seeing new places, and South Beach lived up to the expectations. I was initially shocked by how rich the residents of South Beach were. Seeing Lamborghinis, Porsches and Ferraris became an hourly, quite casual occurrence. The party life was evident

Final words of 06

2006-12-25T17:28:00.000-05:00

The photo above was taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 as it sailed away from Earth, more than 4 billion miles in the distance. Having completed it primary mission, Voyager at that time was on its way out of the Solar System, on a trajectory of approximately 32 degrees above the plane of the Solar System. Ground Control issued a command for the distant space craft to turn around and, looking back, take

Lost the competition

2006-12-18T22:20:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I received an email from the Dept of Mechanical Eng at school, announcing a logo design competition for the "The Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering." Being a person who's amused by logos, I decided to give the competition my best try.I designed the logo in AutoCAD, and took it into Photoshop, and with my limited skills, and with a bit luck I got what you can

In need of a better OS

2006-12-15T10:28:00.000-05:00

So I got another email from Microsoft, telling me to try the new Windows Vista. My first reaction was to delete the message without even opening it. Microsoft hasn’t even perfected XP yet, why are they in such a rush to release another operating system, which will more than likely, have a ton of security issues, and a thousand updates…a day. When I first got my computer XP took up just over

On the internet and vacation planning

2006-12-10T13:23:00.000-05:00

Keeping with the Canadian “tradition” of going to a warm place in the middle of the winter, my friends and I decided to hit the Caribbean for the Christmas holidays. Also, keeping with the tradition of poor students, we waited until the last minute to look for good vacation deals. The process of looking into a Caribbean vacation showed me just how great the internet is as a source of

While we're on the topic...

2006-12-09T00:57:00.000-05:00

All my post ideas recently have been the quite serious, time consuming type. As much as I like to think I can organize my time well, it seems like I'm always sleeping late, getting up early (for work), and chugging through the day with the aid of the magic liquid that is Coffee..That being said, here's a picture I took from the plane when we made a pit stop in Aleppo.... well...to re-mahrook....

Direct Idiom Translation

2006-11-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

I think some of the funniest things for any bilingual person to do is to directly translate idioms from one language into another. So here’s my crude attempt at doing so.. Arabic Idiom: Ra2bti saddadeh (you can rely on me or I got your back)Direct Translation: My neck is a cork Arabic Idiom: 3ala rasi (It’s my pleasure)Direct Translation: On my head Arabic Idiom: Sa7a (bless

The Media's Biased Coverage of Gemayel's Assiassination

2006-11-23T23:52:00.000-05:00

I can’t help but notice the sheer bias in CNN’s, as well as other news agencies’ reporting, on the recent assassination in Lebanon. First of all let me clarify that I’m not here to lay blame, or defend a certain party, country, or coalition for that matter. What I have noticed though, is the quick condemnation of the assassination, and the even quicker accusation of Syria’s involvement. I