Feels like a war zone..

This is getting ridiculous. Tonight is concert night, Haifa Wahbi and Fadel Shaker are to perform on stage. There's been a HUGE opposition to this party, firstly by our SuperIslamic parliament, and secondly by some of our sheep-citizens, who have been influenced to believe that having Haifa in our country is nothing less than the work of the devil himself.

If you don't already know her, Haifa Wahbi is an Arab musician, and a pretty sensual one at that. We had a huge fuss last time Nancy Ajram was about to perform, both by riots in our parliament halls, as well violent demonstrations on the streets by our people.

I'm driving around Adliya right now, close to where the concert is meant to start a few hours from now. The scene is like a war zone, in preparation for any sort of riots or demonstrations; riot police everywhere, ready with their batons and guns in hand. The sound of helicopters flying overhead resonates, as a mysterious smog appears up ahead.. The sky is grey and cloudy, and it feels like something pretty bad is about to go down..

Hope tonight goes by with no major disturbance; i'll post a few photos later on

Well, thank you 'anon' (in the comments), but I think it turns out most of this war-zone stuff is because the ruler of Dubai is here. Blah.

I still think the whole war-zone over Haifa Wahbi would have made a cooler story though.

He drove on...

He drove on as the afternoon sun shined with a beautiful orange hue, and he put down his car windows as he went. Sure, everyone else sat in their air conditioned cocoons in the vehicles around, but he wanted to immerse himself the warm, slightly dusty atmosphere of the desert around him.

He drove on as the hot breeze snuck into the car, blowing in faster as he sped up. The radio played an old track he used to listen to during his school days, and all of a sudden he was there; back outside the gates at the end of a school day, all his friends around, happy to have gotten through the day. The sun above them scorched the sky, as a breeze of hot air swept through. This didn't matter though; they were overjoyed with getting through this school week, and it was now time to enjoy a well deserved weekend.

He drove on as he reached the highway, the hot breeze and the rays of the sun gently burning his skin. He remembered the days that passed, how carefree they all were, how little responsibility they held, and how little stress they felt. Those days were so far away now, but somehow the air around him, the burning sun, the music playing all brought it all back.

Where was he now? A place full of stress, full of responsibility, full of worries. The friends had all somehow separated, each going their separate way, and even when they managed to catch up with each other, the smiles that used to adorn their faces back then were few and far between.

Still, for these few minutes behind the wheel, he felt peace, he felt joy. He felt young, and he lost himself in the moment as he drove on...

I'm Back

Sleeping. Relaxing. Finishing off all those small tasks that I haven't had time to do over the past 6 months. Relaxing some more. Etc..

Yup, i've finally got a chance to get some much needed R&R, hence my disappearance from the site for a while. Rumors have surfaced that I died in a plane crash. Other rumors surfaced that I had decided to take the fundamentalist path and fly to Afghanistan to join the mujahideen. Other rumors included everything from me being recruited by the CIA to find those mujahedeen, to me winning the lottery. Nope, nothing of the sort. I'm still here living a pretty mundane existence.

Or maybe this post is a cover up for my new secret identity? Who know? Hmmmm.....

Jokes we played on Bin Laden

People Are Stupid

I have this bad habit of believing most people are generally stupid.

It's quite a shame when you try to let go of such habits, giving people the trust and faith to do a simple job right, to which they end up proving they were even more stupid than originally thought.

Sigh..

MP's; Our job too demanding.

(The following conversation ensued between Member of Parliament 1 and Member of Parliament 2 two nights ago)

MP1's phone: RING RING!

MP2: Hello?

MP1: Hey man, how you doin'?

MP2: I'm okay, how's everything? Are you going to the session today?

MP1: Nah, I don't think so. I'm flying out to Dubai for a long weekend, need to release some steam from all this stressful work we've been doing. Lie down on the beach and sunbathe maybe.

MP2: True, these arguments are getting to my head and really wearing me out. I really need to take a break too; we never get enough time off this job.

MP1: It's demanding being a PM! Having to go to a session once every week and talk about things? It just drains me out. And we never get enough time off! I mean, a few months off in the summer? Is that it?

MP2: You're right, I think i'm going to take a long weekend too. I'm checking Gulfair.com for good deals on the free laptop we got for being MP's. Oh wait, I forgot I don't know how to use a kombeyootar. Maybe i'll just call my travel agent.

MP1: Aha, so you won't go to the session either? There's a very long list of issues that need to be discussed dude! The people need us! Why don't you fill in for me?

MP2: No, no. We don't need to go. We'll discuss them in the next session. We're not paid enough to go for extra sessions; did you know they're not paying us any overtime?

MP1: No way~! Then screw it, you shouldn't bother going then. No respect either, they totally overlooked your suggestion for banning women from working last time.

MP2: Yeah! And they totally overlooked your making computers illegal suggestion! All that porn is out there, astaghfurullah.

MP1: Never mind, anyway, I have to go! Gotta be at the airport in about an hour, see you next week at the session if you feel like going!

MP2: You too, enjoy those hot beach babes in Dubai!!




Ahem......

Parliament session hit by no-shows
17 April 2008

MANAMA: An extraordinary parliamentary session called to help clear a huge backlog was cancelled yesterday because too few MPs turned up. Twenty-one out of 40 MPs were absent, including chairman Khalifa Al Dhahrani, who called in saying he was busy with other works.

First vice-chairman Ghanim Al Buainain, who took over for Mr Al Dhahrani, waited an hour, in the hope of two more MPs appearing, to make up the required quorum.

But they did not show up in time so he had to cancel the session and send away the 19 MPs who did turn up.

Two more MPs arrived shortly after Mr Al Buainain cancelled the session.

The session was scheduled by Mr Al Dhahrani to try to clear a backlog of more than 100 items caused by repeated disruptions by MPs.

Parliament resumed its normal weekly sessions last week, after six sessions were halted and one cancelled in seven weeks, as a result of the escalating row between MPs on the questioning of Cabinet Affairs Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Ateyatala Al Khalifa.

Parliament public utilities and environment affairs committee chairman Jawad Fairooz said the absence of so many MPs was inexcusable.

"It is true that some are sick, but the others are either on personal trips or are attending to private business, while their job is to show up in parliament," he said.

"Mr Al Dhahrani should set an example, by showing up, even if he was busy. He could have attended for a while and then left.

Bye bye, social life

Yup, I got an Xbox 360; which probably means my social life is going to be handicapped for a while (as has happened to all the other people who got Xboxes before me).

So yeah, the console is sitting here infront of me, and it took me quite a bit of self-restraint to stop playing and write a post about it instead. Anyhow; last time I owned a video game was back around 1993/1994, when I had a Sega Mega Drive. Things have evolved quite a bit since then. For starters, this joystick has 19 buttons, and two directional sticks. Err...

Anyway, i'm getting the hang of it, slowly, and sooner or later i'll be playing online with every other soul whose lost their social life to this disease. It is fun though. If you notice me not writing as much these days (or at all), you know the reason!

(Games list so far; Gears of War, Halo 3, Forza Racing, Virtua Fighter and Army of Two)

Xbox? Ps3? Wii?

Back in the early 1990's (wow, I feel so old), ammaro used to be a hardcore video-gamer. Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis), Game Gear, Nintendo Super NES and so on. He sort of got over them a while later though, and stopped playing video games for good.

Now, back in 2008, ammaro decides he has a bit of extra spare time, and figures some gaming would be good for him. Now he's stuck between buying an Xbox, a PS3, or maybe even a Nintendo Wii. Or maybe something else, he's not sure really. Just something to pass a bit of time. What do you think? Vote on the poll on the right please!

I'm totally lost in terms of what these new generation consoles offer, and any tips would be helpful, thanks :)

Poll is closed guys, thanks for the feedback. Votes came back as:
45% Xbox (20 votes)
36% PS3 (16 votes)
16% Wii (7 votes)
2% Something Else (1 vote)

Bahrain's Political Future?

THEN
1973: Shaikh Isa Al Khalifa instituted reforms based on a new constitution, which established a National Assembly. The National Assembly held forums to hear petitions, and present and discuss policies, although not having any legistlative powers.

1974: Security law issued, giving the state authority to detain and arrest anyone considered to be a threat to national security. This sparked a crisis between the government and members of the National Assembly who were opposed to the new law, and an opposition bloc was formed.

1975: National Assembly was dissolved and the country was plunged into political crisis ever since.


NOW
2001: Shaikh Hamad Al Khalifa instituted reforms based on a National Action Charter, which established a Parliament the following year. Although supposedly having legistlative powers, the appointed upper chamber (Shura Council) have the power to veto any legistlation.

2008: GULF-DAILY-NEWS: Tough new policing measures were urged by Cabinet yesterday following the killing of an officer in Karzakan. These include [1] banning Molotov cocktails, [2] closely monitoring sectarian websites, and drawing up a [3] police masterplan to combat violence. Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa has been instructed to draw up a plan aimed at further empowering Public Security forces. Chaired by Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Cabinet reiterated its full trust in the forces to assume responsibilities, stressing the need to further enhance levels of readiness.

Future: Not Looking Good.

I love Seminars

Don't you love when work sends you on a seminar? Well, here's what happens when ammaro goes to a work seminar on Money Laundering (which he's been to so many times he basically knows by heart, but it's a mandatory thing to go to every year):

Doodles of the hall and everyone in it:


Random doodles of words, logos, etc...


Getting so bored I start drawing my computer screen...


And it goes on... Bluh, when is this going to end...

Photograph with and without flash

See the difference when taking a photo without flash, and with flash:




lolz.

Bahrain Cools Down as WTC Fans Switch On

Wednesday, 9 April 2008
MANAMA (ammaro-daily-news)

BAHRAIN made history yesterday when the three giant cooling fans on the Bahrain World Trade Centre (BWTC) became fully operational for the first time.


The 29 metre-diameter blades are the new solution to the country's hot weather. For Bahrain, the period from May till around October is usually very hot and humid, and most people living in the country complain about the weather. This in turn brings people to use more air conditioning, using up more power, and putting stress on both resources and the environment. The fans on the world trade center are set to automatically swtich on every time the temperature rises above 30 degrees Celcius, creating a huge cool breeze and cooling the country down.

"Incorporating the fans as an alternative source of cooling will save people money on electricity bills, as they cut down on air conditioning. It will also save them money on dry cleaning as their clothes will be less drenched in sweat, and will even save them money on deodrant, which they won't need to use as much, creating substantial annual savings for families around the country" said WTC Bahrain associate director. "This will also help the current inflation problem, as people will have more money to spend on other items such as basic foodstuffs and housing", he said.

The Bahrain parliament has also done a research into the sort of savings that Bahraini people will get from this project, and came to the conclusion that every family will save exactly BD50 through decreased electricity, dry cleaning and deodrant usage. Therefore they have also agreed to stop the BD50 benefit given to each family, and use the 40 million dinar grant to build another World Trade Center with fans in Riffa.

Dubai, on the other hand has looked down on the project; not to be outdone by Bahrain, Dubai Holdings have decided to build four new towers on the corners of their city, and equip each one with a football-pitch sized air conditioner, all facing the center of the city. "The weather in Dubai will become substiantially cooler, possibly reaching -15 on a good cold winter night". Dubai Zoo has also collaborated with Dubai Holdings, and is planning on importing a number of Polar Bears and Penguins as soon as the project is ready.



Article has been discredited as to being total crap. Link to original article here. Also, do not copy without linking back here.

Bahrain F1 Race Day (and more on Finding George Lucas!)

Wow, what a weekend that was! Race day saw the biggest gathering of people yet at the Bahrain International Circuit, with a crowd of almost 43,000. I'll let the photos do most of the talking (click each one for large size):




A bunch of interesting characters around:










Some cool dance, music and art performances:










Flag displays with the national anthem a little before the race:






And the seats start filling up a few minutes before the race, as the cars start lining up as a plane flies above the circuit, then they're off!














And the crowds after the race is over; this is what 43,000 people look like all at once :p




Overall, a good race as Massa took the lead, a great day with everybody having lots of fun, and I managed to top it off with an after party hosted by Akon, then an after-after party hanging out with Akon, his crew and a bunch of DJ's. Got back home at 6:00am. Beautiful; feels like i'm 17 again! :D

If you read my previous post on George Lucas, you probably know I got a little disappointed not managing to see him :( But guess what, going through my photos today, I realize I did!

Take a look at the crowd taking a stroll through the pit-lane in the top right?


And zooming in, guess who??


Dammit! I was THIS close to him and didn't even realize! Oh well, maybe i'll catch him next year! :)

Formula 1 Grand Prix 2008, Day 1

Testing day today, so not really much to do besides crowd watching. Just a few photos to let you know how it's going down at the Bahrain International Circuit:



If you're interested, you can get lifted and suspended via a big crane. This got me a cool shot though; the dude looks like he's been hanged:


Formula One driving simulations:




There was also a little Ferrari car show:



And if you get too hot, there's always the refreshing water sprinkler path thingy (not suitable for women who have just had their hair done)


Nice to see a section showcasing Bahrain's traditional craft:


Some unknown music band playing hits from the 80's :S



Guys who jump into tiny pools from extreme heights:


And guys who jump into tiny pools after being set on fire:



Freaky stuff; a walking and talking Traffic Sign and Traffic Light:


Some dude who can amazingly balance a ball on his neck (wow, just what i've always wanted to see)


I sort of went a little late so I didn't manage to catch the F1 cars testing, so hopefully i'll go a little earlier tommorow (for the qualifying session). As for those who are into speed, here's a photo of a Porsche zooming down the track to whet your appetite till tommorow: