Happy New Year!

93600 Minutes of praise and blame, hope and despair, bliss and grief...

1560 Hours of freedom and captivity, comfort and agony, triumph and failure...

365 Days of pride and modesty, hilarity and seriousness, patience and agitation...

52 Weeks of divinity and evil, fortune and hardship, abundance and inadequacy...

12 Months of honor and shame, joys and sorrows, faith and doubt...
&
1 Year... closer to dying of old age.

Happy New Year everyone, may the coming year be a more frutiful and productive year for us all and may we live our lives in bliss and prosperity inshaAllah.

قصيدة أبكت الرجال

قصيدة أبكت الرجال

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

ثائر في المهد يبكي *** طرفه نحو السّماء
يرسل الأنبار شجرا *** وجهه فيه شقاء
من رأى حملا وديعا *** يملؤ الأرض ثغاء
من رأى طفلا رضيعا *** يستحفّ الأوفياء
ليس يدري فيما يبكي *** ليس يدري ما البكاء
حوله شيماء تحكي *** كيف هذا الطّفل جاء
كيف حلّ الظّلم يوما *** فاستبدّ الأشقياء
وإستباحوا كل عرض *** بعد إغراق الدّماء
لم يراعوا الله فينا *** لم يطيعوا الأنبياء
ثمّ يأتيني سؤالا *** فيه شيء من غباء
كنت يا شيماء بكرا *** فكيف هذا الطّفل جاء
لم يقيموا حفل عرس *** أو زفافا بل بغاء
أثخنوا فينا جراحا *** إستحلّوا أبرياء
رمّلوا فينا نساءا *** فاكتفينا بالدّعاء
يتّموا الأطفال فينا *** دونما أدنى حياء
علم الإرسال نحوي *** نظرة فيها إزدراء
لم يكن يعرف حقّا *** كيف هذا الطّفل جاء
لعنة الله عليهم *** كلّما لاح الضّياء
هل سيأتي بعد هذا *** قائلا كيف جاء
أمّتي لله أشكو *** لم يعد فيكم رجاء
إنّما أشكو أناسا *** بعدهم بعد السّماء
إن يكن فالنّصر آت *** فالذي أشكو خواء
ربّما الآن عرفتم *** كيف هذا الطّفل جاء

Omani Currency

I recieved a forwarded email from a friend a couple of days ago with the following pic attached to it:

Nothing was mentioned about it except the title which read "the new 1 omani rial published today 24/12/2005". I found the title informative enough, because I then spent the rest of the time staring at the new note. I haven't confirmed the authenticity of this yet. Since I have heard nothing about it so far it could be a hoax (ok maybe that's just me). So don't jump out of your seats yet boys and girls, and if it just happens to be right then I guess you have me to thank :p I think it looks better than it has ever looked for 35 years, and the most colorful in that timeframe if I might add. It was obviously released on the occasion of the 35th national day as it can clearly be noticed.

Some historic information on Oman's currency:

• Maria Theresa Thalers (XMTT) circulated in the interior of Muscat and Oman, and the Indian Rupee (INR) circulated in the coastal regions of Muscat and Oman and was the official currency until the 1959. (The Baiza was the lowest denomination coin, with 1 Maria Theresa Thaler equal to 230 Baiza and 1 Indian Rupee equal to 64 Baiza.)

• The Persian Gulf Rupee (XPGR) replaced the Indian Rupee at par on April 1, 1959.

• When the Sultanate of Oman was established in 1970, Oman replaced the Persian Gulf Rupee with the Oman Riyal Saidi (OMS), which was introduced at par with the British Pound Sterling and equal to about 21 Persian Gulf Rupees.
  
  

• The Riyal Omani (OMR) replaced the Riyal Saidi on November 11, 1972 at par. Banknotes were issued by the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman from 1970 until 1973, by the Oman Currency Board from 1973 until 1977, and by the Central Bank of Oman from 1977 on.

(Source: AME Info)

For some reason I like how the Sultanate was once named the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, despite the fact that it might've referred to some sort of interior instability (my guess).

Some of the older notes:



(I think the year of publication of the latter is 1973, bear in mind that back then the notes were issued by the Omani Currency Board -majlis an'naqd al-omani- which is quite obvious from the pic)

Tagged by Ti3gib (Duality)

I've never heard of these before.. Desktop screenshot tags, but they seem like fun so I'll give them a shot. I had trouble uploading them on to blogger but I finally got there..

Current desktop:


Previous desktop:


I randomly switched to my current background (from Nike.com) after having my previous one for quite a while. Well yeah.. so what, Jessica's showing some skin, sue me! She was a major reason for me to remain a loyal customer to my laptop :p
The last thing I want to see on my desktop is unnecessary icons! I hate it when it gets crowded, so that's why I group them into folders. Sometimes I even group folders into another folder! Ahh.. long gone are the days of suave themes, thanks to the pain in the butt trial period of StyleXP (a windows theme application software).

Tagging:
Empress
Najah
Phoenix
Toxic Honey

Delight!

Since this is my first time here during christmas (last christmas I was back home), I experienced so many new things. Some things were probably the norm around here but I found some to be quite astonishing. Who would've suspected that shopping centres would stay open for anywhere from 32 to 48 hours non-stop. Last night I was at this shopping centre until 1 am and by the time we left it was still packed! People weren't showing any signs of stress or fatigue whatsoever, they were determined to shop till they drop! They were shopping like it was christmas (ka2ano il-3eed.. it is isn't it?) I personally haven't experienced that anywhere else. Allow me to elaborate. For those that are unaware, shopping/trading hours here don't go past 5-6pm all week, with the exception of Fridays where shops remain open up until 9pm. So basically if it's not a Friday then everythings dead by 6pm. I mean obviously there's a vibrant nightlife of endless opportunities out there and what not, but don't expect to see any shops open. Honestly speaking christmas is no merry time of the year for me. It's just like any other day. But the fact that I'm amidst this holiday spirit tends to make something out of nothing. Am I still not making sense? Oh well Merry Christmas to all my fellow christians and to all non-christians that wouldn't be offended by the greeting. (Reason I'm saying that is because I've been in a rather interesting discussion... haha)

For the past 2 weeks or so I've been going on about how I've been wanting to buy a new PSP game. I've only had one since I bought it, and I've finished the game ages ago which led to some dust piling up on my beloved PSP. Ok I admit that I might've been somewhat of a pain by going on and on about the 2 or 3 games that I'm hesitant in getting, but not once was I doing it for anything except the sake of getting some feedback. But something crazy happened last night, something I would've never expected!
This crazy friend of mine "M" was one of the poor victims that had to keep up with this temporary craze. He's a games freak. So if I ever had to talk to anyone about this hesitation it would be him. So everytime we would pass by any games shop, I'd pretend like I was complaining about him and that he was a good for nothing friend and that he should atleast buy me a PSP game. As absurd it might sound, I was doing it merely as a joke and would've never expected to be taken seriously whatsoever. (sad? I know) Anyway for the past couple of days he'd been asking me which of the three games I thought I would enjoy the most. That got the little paranoid part of me worked up, and I really thought I could've been the centre of attention for a fragment of time. A second later I came to my senses and replied indecisively. Anyway we were out at this shopping centre last night, none of us with the intention of doing any shopping but we ended up with a couple of bags. One of the things I bought was a pair of pants. Once we were back home, M was going on about my clothes and how I should go check them out. He was overdoing it which got me thinking that I might've forgotten them somewhere. So I asked why, and he asked me to go try them out for some reason. That cracked me up and I was certain he was trying to make a fool out of me so I replied with a couple of not so appropriate replies. He insisted so much that I thought I'd atleast just go check them out and see what was wrong with them. So I reach into the bag to pull them out and there I find one of the PSP games that I've been wanting to buy!! For the next 10-15 minutes I had this dorky smile on my face, and I think I prefectly represented a kid opening a christmas present. I couldn't believe my eyes. I don't think I've still thanked him properly yet, but I'm sure my appreciation was very obvious haha. So after 10 minutes he asks me to go grab one of the bags in his room and I have this look on my face that says "err yeah.. sure". I sarcastically ask if its the other game I've wanted to buy and he assures me it isn't and that one was enough. So as I reached for the bag, I doubted my very eyes. There was the other game I've been wanting to buy! I come out of the room shouting some rather inappropriate and unorthodox compliments. From that moment onwards I've been convinced that my dear friend is under the influence of some strong hallucinogen. I'm still waiting for him to prove me wrong lol.

A great night indeed!! =D


(P.S. I told you I'd write about it all "M"! :P )

Supremacy...

It's been a while. Come to think of it's been more than two weeks since I last posted anything here, and its not like I was planning on being away for so long nor did I suspect it. Oh well sorry for such an absence, and it won't happen again, I promise (fingers crossed :p).

The first two and a half of weeks of this trimester, and things have been going fine. I've already had two tests so far believe it or not! Almost two weeks off for christmas and new years, but they shouldn't call it a break or a holiday. They should call it something along the lines of study leave. Tests, assigments and projects are all due right after the so called "christamas break". I suppose it's the same with everyone else too. Studies have kept me occupied with so much more than I can handle, and I've never actually felt free enough to come online to post in my blog or on the english sabla. I haven't even been on msn messenger for ages. Oh well I guess that all comes with the package that I wish I'd never taken.

The biggest thing that has happened (in my lil stagnant life) since I last posted was with no doubt the kickboxing training camp I went on. It was a good opportunity to do some hard intensive training in a focun environment. It was held over a weekend (2 nights, 3 days) at a recreational camp in a terrific location. Some of the topics that were covered throughout the 9 intensive training sessions included:

* Self-Defense / Street-Fighting
* Filipino Single and Double Stick Fighting
* Advanced Muay Thai
* Filipino Knife Defense
* Trapping & Grappling
* Multiple Attacker Drills
* Filipino Kickboxing
* Advanced Kicking

Obviously there were other activities packed in as well. The place was great, and by the beach. The weather was wonderful. The sessions were packed with so much knowledge and information that they somehow manage to keep you yearning for more. It was a fantastic, extremely beneficial and unforgettable experience and I'm already looking forward to the next camp.

Enough about that. Christmas is just around the corner, and people have been in the holiday spirit for quite a while now. There couldn't be a better time for shopping than this time of year, with irresistible sales and offers all over the place. It's pretty much their version of eid and boy do they make the most out of it! I must admit it's quite entertaining to even lay back and watch all the festivities as they take place.

No, I don't have any plans for New Years eve yet. I don't know when I'll have any plans, if I do make any that is. And yes, it's not rocket science.. it's quite obvious its a leeetle sad in my life right now. But since I'm on holidays now, I'll be posting much more often.

The Unattainable

Today was the first day of a new semester. Technically speaking, its a trimester. All around me are familiar faces, worn out places, worn out faces. I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take, when people run in circles, it's a very, very mad world. (Gary Jules)

Back to sanity. It's going to be a relatively short trimester (summer course/semester), and for that reason it'll be intensive. It's only 8 weeks long (including 2 weeks off for christmas). I'm only doing two units, and I'm just hoping for the best out of this quick and short trimester. It felt strange being back, mostly because I didn't know what to make of it. I was glad that I'd have something to keep me occupied all day, but I was also starting to feel the upcoming pressure. I'll be unorthodoxly crammed with so much to learn and do.

Having said that, I'll most probably be cutting down on my net usage. I've always considered the blog(s) and the english sabla the only two things worthwhile if I ever do come online. However I might not be posting as often as I'd like to. Who knows? I might end up spending so much time studying at home that I'll be left with no other choice but to whine online a bit.

Oh by the way, while I was typing this up, I was told that Amr Diab has released his latest album Kammal Kalamak. I thought I'd download all the songs and listen to them altogether. Listened to 3 so far and they are really good! I'm looking forward to the rest :)

Oh I might just have something to talk about in my next post =D Don't change the channel!

Then what?

Quote of the day: "The thing about forgetfulness is that you never remember what you forget."

- Maestro Robert M. Halaijian

No, I don't think you got that either. Basically we try to remember everything we would like to remember, but in case we do forget then its quite hard to remember what we forgot. If we are constantly reminded of our forgetfulness then its much easier to not forget. Still doesn't make sense? Try reading it when you sober up.

Robert is the founder of the A.I.M. academy - parent association of my kickboxing club. The above quote is the first thing he mentioned after our grading today. It got me thinking a bit, and was somehow embedded in the back of my head. He was trying to show us the importance of finding a way to note down and constrain our knowledge, in order to be well aware of our learning outcomes.


Crash - When we travel at the speed of life, we are bound to crash.

First of all let me say that this movie is on my "best movies ever" list. "...a movie of intense fascination..." (Chicago Sun-Times) best describes it I think. I gaurantee it'll stir your emotions, as it exposes painful reality. When it comes to drama's I could be your average Joe, meaning I'm seldom ever moved or touched by anything. This movie defied that! It's by all means a must-see! :)
(In case you like(d) it, then I also recommend City of God)