I went to a dinner for Syria yesterday, well the full title was 'Middlesbrough Action for Syria'. A group of Syrian professionals had set up a charity, and this was the perfect way to fundraise, via the entrance fee and also an auction. There are not many Syrians in Middlesbrough, but it was great to see them organise such a great day. Although it was great, I do a have a few issues with how things were presented to us. We were told all money raised only goes towards food, water and medication. It was mentioned that they do not support the Free Syrian Army, and will NOT send money to them. One speaker also said no politics would be discussed, almost as if they were trying to sweep certain subjects under the rug. Why though? If you are against Assad's regime, then that means you are on the same side as the Free Syrian Army. In Libya when all the fighting was going on, anyone against Gaddafi was always on the side of the revolutionary fighters! I don't think you can be neutral in issues such as these. The mere action of sending food and medication parcels means you know the regime (POLITICS!) is withholding such items from members of the public, so you have taken it upon yourself to make sure these people are fed, clothed and have medication should they need it, which of course many do.
The core of the conflict in Syria comes down to politics, so if we ignore politics, we are ignoring the problem as a whole. Bashar al-Assad and his regime are at fault here. Wouldn't it be better not to have to send parcels of essentials to the people of Syria? Why not give money to the Free Syrian Army? I don't see anyone else stepping up to fight, so they need funding in order to get better weapons, or they need someone to arm them. If Libya did not get any help in that way, we would have failed at the very beginning of the revolution, we would be just as Syria are now, more and more killings everyday. I didn't see anyone saying 'no politics, no funding the revolutionaries' in the Libya conflict, that's because we all knew if we didn't help our fighters, how would we succeed? If we didn't discuss politics, how would we succeed? You see when the Gaddafi regime was toppled, things started to get better almost immediately! NATO also had a big part to play, but I don't see them intervening in Syria anytime soon, so the only hope right now is the Free Syrian Army.
I've been wracking my brains on what I should talk about on here, so today it will be a mixed bag! Let's start with TV. There's quite a few shows I like, and one pretty good one that's just started a few weeks ago in the UK is 'Body of Proof', starring Dana Delany, who of course played Katherine Mayfair in Desperate Housewives. It's another forensic crime drama series, but it has a different feel to it than say, CSI, which I don't really watch anymore. Megan Hunt is a former neurosurgeon who was in a car accident and somehow killed one of her parents on the operating table. She then turned to a career in forensics. She sometimes has trouble with one of her hands, which shakes sometimes, as a result of the accident. She is also trying to forge a relationship with her daughter, which it seems she lost custody of her after Megan got divorced. Anyway, many interesting story lines, and many more to come. It's on Channel 5, Tuesdays at 9pm.
There is also the eighth and final series of Desperate Housewives, which continues after the shock ending of series seven, when Carlos hit Gabby's stepfather on the head to stop him attacking her, but the stepfather (accidently) died, so the housewives have had to rally together to hide his body and conceal the crime. A few episodes in, it's already looking good, and it's probably about time DH ended, it's been a long run and I've enjoyed every minute of it! Only thing is, I don't really like the Lynette and Tom divorce storyline, why split them up? They have been through so much, may as well kept them together to be honest!
Well that's enough TV for the moment. Feeling pretty happy at the moment as I just got over yet another ear infection. I couldn't hear out of the infected ear for a week, as it had swollen shut! I caught the infection much earlier this time, as I immediately recognised the pain, so got myself to an out of hours clinic. I still had severe pain for a few days though. My weird pain dream came back again, last time I was battling through plastic, this time I was trying to push away huge pieces of foam! These are the types of dreams I seem to get when in pain. It's like I'm trying to push something out of the way, but it won't move, much like my pain. I'm trying to ease it, but because lying down makes it worse, even with painkillers, there's nothing much I could do. I was exhausted for about two days with that, I barely slept. So grateful it's over now. But it does make me wonder if I'm going to end up getting an infection every year? I hope not!
Oh and news on the Libya front, unfortunately we are not going, not anytime soon anyway. Relatives have informed us of the dangers, what with many people now owning guns and using them for any quarrels or fights they get into. Tripoli used to be pretty safe at night. I have even been out walking and returned back close to midnight or later, there are many people out and about and it was strange being able to do that, since the UK is just full of drunks at night time. Inshallah they get rid of the guns, something needs to be done.
I hope everyone likes the addition of the Feedjit widget, over to the left << It shows people visiting the site and from where. I could always see that through my stats, but I thought it might be interesting for readers to see. I started out with barely anyone reading, now I see people from all over the world reading my rants! It feels pretty good, I never thought I was an interesting person, I started this blog to have somewhere to vent online, and it's been perfect for that, apart from the odd blip here and there. Thank you to my readers!
My big thing for the moment is nostalgia! I downloaded 'Crash Team Racing' on the PS3 ages ago, but barely played it. Now I'm on it every weekend, racing with one of my younger brothers. I remember playing it on the PS1, and it's still a great game, even if the graphics are not quite what we expect in this age of gaming. I've also been watching some odd clips of 'Digimon World' on YouTube, it was a game I played endlessly on the PS1, and it still looks fun, despite the graphics again not looking so good. I absolutely loved Digimon in those days, amongst other anime.
A screenshot from 'Digimon World' on PS1, ahh memories! Yes they grew meat on a farm!
Gotta squeeze in a recommendation before I end. Fouseytube! It's a channel on YouTube, created by Yousef Erakat, a Palestinian living in America. His insights on Middle Eastern people are hilarious, he has many videos, so check them out! My favorite is Middle Eastern Parents. http://www.youtube.com/user/fouseyTUBE?blend=1&ob=0
From the Fouseytube video, Salam is the new Wasup!
So I'm really getting addicted to this show, I don't know why I never bothered watching it before. I flicked over to Sky one the other day and I was like OK, let's see what a bounty hunter does. But then the show ends up being so much more than that. You find out that Duane 'Dog' Chapman was once a criminal and turned his life around. Two of his children were born when he was quite young and he wasn't around in their lives for a while, they are now both bounty hunters like him. They operate mainly from Hawaii, in their business called Da Kine Bail Bonds. They basically go and capture people who skip court or jump bail. I don't know if I understood this properly, but I think if they don't get the fugitive, they are forced to pay the bail amount to court, so it's pretty important that they catch the hoodlums!
I've decided I want to read his book, You Can Run But You Can't Hide, so I reserved it at the library. I love real life stories like this. There was another interesting book in the same vein that I read a few years ago, I very much recommend it! It's called Tough Guy and it's by an ex-mobster called Louis Ferrante. He tells of his life of crime, stealing lorries full of merchandise and selling them, to ending up in prison and changing his life for good.
Tough Guy by Louis Ferrante
That's the cover of Ferrante's book if anyone fancies a read.
You Can Run But You Can't Hide by Duane 'Dog' Chapman
So it's now 1st January 2012, last year kind of felt like it flew by, a lot was happening around the world, but nothing much happening for me. I always think back and reflect, and all the good things that happened were for other people. I can't help feeling down about it. Probably the best thing was Libya being liberated and the oppressor/dictator Gaddafi being rightfully killed. Say what you want about him, but he never hid his evil, so I am free to celebrate his death if I want to. Actually, the Libyan community here had a party exactly for that. It was pretty cool and the food was nice. (Thank you to the Libyan Embassy in London for funding our party!)
Alton Towers was a good highlight of the year actually, thinking back. I went with my family on 29th October 2011, almost at the end of Scarefest. What an amazing time to visit, what with Terror of the Towers and the Zombie Scare Zone. Don't ask me why, but I really liked the Mutiny Bay area, it just seemed really fun and the guy operating Marauder's Mayhem was really cheerful. A lot of the staff there looked happy, but in Flamingo Land they all look like they'd rather be elsewhere and sometimes act pretty cocky and unhelpful.
Recently I've been having tons of thoughts about being stuck in limbo. That's how I explain how I don't feel settled and how incomplete my life feels. I feel like I shouldn't be living with my parents, that I should be married and having children. I'm really not the type of person who will cope well with being single for a long time. The only way I would feel better would be to get my own place, but I just can't afford it right now, and my parents would take it as an insult to move out, even though that is not my intention.
I guess one other good thing is that I am able to drive again. I am insured with my dad on his car. So I now drive a Vauxhall Zafira. Don't laugh! I'll take what I can right now, and I'm so grateful for that. Here's to 2012 being the year I can reflect on and actually be genuinely happy about, inshallah. We'll see how I feel in about a year!
It feels like I don't have much to talk about on here much anymore. I had a few complaints that kind of put me off, but today I had the urge to write, so there may be a lot to talk about!
Also if you have anything to say, leave a comment on here or click on the Contact Me page at the top.
Anyway, getting that out of the way, anyone seen Pan Am? It's not the most excellent TV show, but I just love what they wear. It's set in the 1960's, the heyday of Pan American Airlines. They ceased operations in 1991. Most people will probably associate them with the Lockerbie crash, in which one of their planes was hijacked and crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland.
I've also been watching season 6 of Dexter. After a mediocre season 5, Dexter is really picking up again. I still think my favorite season was season 4, with the Trinity killer. This season it's the Doomsday Killers, two Christians, Travis and Professor Gellar, working together to make the Doomsday prophecy come true. I am up to episode 9 so I won't spoil it for those who haven't watched yet.
An image of Dexter and his son, Harrison, from Season 6
I have been getting into watching the Twilight saga. I saw the first one on TV in the summer, then last week I decided to rent New Moon from the library. All I can say is, Bella Swan is one idiotic person. She's also a user. She likes Edward and when he leaves town in New Moon, she has these nightmares where she screams the house down. Then she starts hanging out with Jacob, a Native American werewolf because she has nothing better to do since her beloved bloodsucker left town. I hate how she uses him just because Edward has gone, she even makes him fix two motorbikes she found in a scrapheap. After he finishes the job, she then proceeds to get on one of them and crashes. Such an idiot! Also Jacob is kind of stupid for just doing everything she says, if Bella was real she would be an emo and nobody would even care, especially with a selfish personality like that. I don't think I have hated the main character in anything until I saw Twilight. This girl has gotta stop hanging around with supernatural creatures! She has human friends, but only hangs with them if no freaks are available. I cannot even believe they accept her when she ignores them for weeks on end. She's no friend!
Me and my family are thinking of going to Libya sometime. I won't say when though, as nothing is official. I have not visited since 2005/06, when I vowed I would not return with a Libyan passport, as Gaddafi's authorities made things so difficult for me. I think now I am confident to go on my Libyan passport, so better get renewing! I may get a digital camera, might be a good idea to take plenty of pics. Post-Gaddafi era will be a good one inshallah!
I am going to a recommendation, which I don't normally, but I have been enjoying all these things recently!
The first is a Cartoon Network cartoon called 'Regular Show'. It's about two slacker friends, a blue jay named Mordecai and a raccoon named Rigby who work as groundskeepers in a park. Their boss is a gumball machine called Benson, and their friends include a green man called Muscle Man, a ghost called High-Five Ghost (he has his hand permanently in a high five position above his head), a strange man with a big head called Pops and a yeti called Skips (he always skips, never walks!) Here is a clip!
I also recommend downloading two pretty funny podcasts from Radio 1. The first is the Scott Mills Daily. It's available to download every weekday from the BBC podcasts website. Scott Mills Daily podcast
There is also the best bits of the Chris Moyles show. It's available to download every Friday, and contains all the funniest bits and interviews from the weekday morning shows. Chris Moyles show podcast
I always put them onto my phone and use them to help me fall asleep, as well as have a laugh! I have many saved on my phone simply because I like to listen back to the funny bits now and again!
Yes, the NTC have announced Gaddafi the rat is now dead. They found him in a hole in Sirte, and they transported him to Misrata. Many celebrations going on. I hear Egdware Road in London is going to have celebrations at approximately 6pm today. I'm sure other cities will do their own celebrations too, and it's already started in Libya!
He doesn't look so powerful now, does he? He can longer spout rubbish from that disgusting mouth of his anymore. He was a blot in Libya, he ruined it. It's going to take time to change and become something different. Inshallah one day Gaddafi will be a distant memory.
It's been almost two weeks since three (now four) Libyan freedom fighters were admitted to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough to treat their injuries. They were sent here by the new Libyan government, all expenses paid so as not to disadvantage patients in the hospital (our healthcare is free, but only if you are British or in the EU, as far as I know). My dad has visited them a few times, helping with translation as none of them speak English. You can see photos of them on this: Facebook page for freedom fighters in Middlesbrough hospital. It's in Arabic, but pretty easy to see the pictures.
One man was telling my dad how he got his injuries. He was hit by a car, then it went over his body, breaking his pelvis. He had to get metal rods put in, which was done in Tunisia, but unfortunately it was a rather botched job and it had to be redone once he got to the hospital here. The freedom fighters will be here a few weeks as they get operations and begin to recover. What they have suffered may be horrific, but I am just glad they are alive, as so many did not survive.
Last week I also did a card for them, a suggestion from someone on Facebook. I gave my thanks to them, for their part in helping make Libya a free country. My dad is going to write in Arabic on it too, so they can read what I wrote. It feels like a privilege to have them here and I hope they all recover well, and are able to go back and see a free Libya inshallah.
Must add a little note, I've started reading Khadija Teri's blog again, it's fantastic having updates from someone right there in Libya! Keep safe inshallah.
