Made another Switch!

Hello everyone,

When I made the switch from Blogger to WordPress, I didn’t realize with that switch, I needed to make another one. I am talking about the browser. I downloaded Firefox last night, and it turns out editing, viewing, playing around with my blog is so much easier. Firefox is also somehow faster loading than Internet Explorer. So there you go, I made yet another switch. I will also be making yet another switch in the summer when I ditch my HP laptop and get myself the Apple ProBook! Check out the MacBook Air! So amazing, so much so, I could marry it!

Mansur

Aliens in America

Hello friends,

I don’t know how many of you have seen Aliens in America, but I  purchased the entire season 1 last week and just finished watching it tonight. I wasn’t prepared for what was in store, and was rather surprised by this new comedy show.

Aliens in America is about this average American family in Medora, Wisconsin. The mother applies for an exchange student to come to help her son be more confident and develop social skills. There is a small change of plans, and the family ends up getting Raja, a Pakistani Muslim. Mom panics when she sees her son Justin praying alongside with Raja towards Mecca. What follows is a series of cultural (mis)understandings, between Raja and his adopted family, and as much as Raja is alien to the American soil, the family are equally as much alien to Raja and his Islamic way of life.

Of course, my interest lies in how the creators of the show portray both the Pakistani character, as well as Islam. I for one thoroughly enjoyed the entire season, and pleasantly surprised at how well they were able to handle the complicated issues, like Islam and Christianity. The show attempts to cover various areas where foreigners and American tend to have misunderstandings, and makes a good effort to rise above the misunderstandings and actually reveal we are all people at the end of the day. For once, I was glad the portrayal of a Pakistani Muslim was not demonized. Raja could very well be a Pakistani boy in my hometown. I tried to remember back on the time when I went to the States for the first time in university in 1996, pre-9/11 where most Americans on campus didn’t even know a country like Pakistan existed!

I say, bring on season 2 (though I think the show will be axed because it’s low budget and doesn’t have everything else that other comedy shows do: sexual innuendos!) Aliens in America is clean fun you can watch with the family.

Definitely a worthwhile show, and I shall end on this note:  ”what’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?” (This is the song played over the opening credits. Song is co-composed by Salman Ahmad, of Pakistani rockband sensation Junoon!)

Mansur

The Actual World (!) Project

Hello friends,  

Just happened to catch this eye-catching story from Secret Dubai Diary.

Check it out here in it’s entirety with reader’s comments.

 The Actual World

Forget Saudi Arabia’s mile-high architectural phallus, set to be twice the height of the Deathspire, Dubai has yet again trumped its neighbours:

Dubai to build The Actual World

Tues 1 Apr, 2008 1:23 AM GMT

DUBAI, 1 April (Reuters) – Faced with lukewarm celebrity interest in its The World artificial islands project, Dubai has decided to build The Actual World.

The multi-trillion dollar mega-project, believed to be largest in the known universe, will see a scale replica of the entire Earth rebuilt on the planet Mars.

The Red Planet was recently acquired by Dubai Holdings as part of its property portfolio diversification strategy.

Sheikh Jamal Abu Shagara, CEO of The Actual World, says a deal has already been signed with a Norwegian company to build a 250 million mile irrigation pipe to transfer water from the Arabian Gulf to Mars.

“We are also in talks with several companies to design the landmasses,” Sheikh Jamal said.

“We plan to make The Actual World as exact a replica as possible, but Illegal Zionist Occupying Nations will be removed since they are blocked due to being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, policital and moral values of the United Arab Emirates,” he said.

In an interesting twist The Actual World will be built with the climate of the Miocene era, when the United Arab Emirates was covered with rich jungle and mammoths, tigers and various dinosaurs roamed freely around.

The decision to backdate the climate is good news for the animals at Dubai Zoo.

After decades of overcrowding, the elderly lions and bears will be able to roam free in the hunting grounds and private menageries of luxury villas in The Actual World.

The announcement of the project has already excited interest in the subcontinent, where prospective labourers are putting up their wives and children as collateral against middlemen-loans for the $250,000 space flight and visa fees.

“This is considerable money compared to the $10,000 we pay to work in Sonapur,” Bangladeshi labourer Shamsil told reporters.

“But on The Actual World we will be able to earn Dh500 a month minus food, accommodation, visa fees, fines, medical treatment and travel expenses, compared to the Dh400 we earn now.”

© Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved.