Posts from — January 2009

Last Sunday’s 60 Minutes featured a story about the West Bank and Israel. In this segment, 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon ventures over to the West Bank and Israel and is a witness to the lives Palestinians live. He also speaks to several people about how viable the two state solution actually is. In addition, Simon probes the issue of settlements in the West Bank and what it means for the possibility for peace in that region.

Check it out on CBS’s site or below.

Watch CBS Videos Online

A long time ago, I thought it would be kind of cool to install Ubuntu on my laptop. I understand that one’s definition of ‘kind of cool’ may deviate from the path of installing an operating system but I figured it would be a good learning experience.

I bought the official Ubuntu book to get me started. The cover featured men and women of different races, smiling and obviously joyful with the happiness that was brought from using Ubuntu instead of Windows or Mac OS. I yearned to be that happy and yet even then I was not not able to find the time to install it.

I finally got around to it today (after about a year of talking about it) after I got a newer, more comprehensive book to help out. The plan was to install it on my old HP laptop, partitioning the main Windows drive so Ubuntu and Windows can pretty much live side by side. After I scanned the disk for errors and defragmented my hard drive, the installation should have been easy but instead, I got a ‘resize hard drive’ error both times I tried to install it. I couldn’t figure out why that was so I went on to the next best thing - installing Ubuntu within Windows with Wubi. Long story short, when I startup my laptop, I now have the option of booting up Windows or Ubuntu version 8.10.

The cool thing about installing Ubuntu is that it comes with a lot of open source applications to take care of one’s basic computer needs, such as an office suite, an email client, a movie player, a music player, an even an image editor. Of course, there are plenty more free open source applications that one can download and utilize.

I’m not saying I’m quite free of Windows and Mac OS (actually, while I rarely use Windows, I use the Mac OS on my Macbook) but that doesn’t mean Ubuntu doesn’t have a lot to offer. I look forward to messing around with it in the future. Maybe one day, I can be as happy as the people who grace the cover of the official Ubuntu book. One can dream.

I finally caught Frost/Nixon at the theater and was pretty entertained. The movie depicts the events leading up to and including the interviews of Former President Richard M. Nixon, the only president to ever resign, conducted by TV personality David Frost. I wasn’t aware of these interviews at all until this movie was advertised (I wasn’t aware of the stage play either) so I wanted to watch this bit of history in Hollywood format.

I really liked the movie. The acting was top notch and there was even a moment or two when I was at the edge of my seat. One aspect of the movie that I really liked was when the movie would cut to interviews with the cast in character, showing the character’s name at the bottom while they provided their thoughts on various events throughout the movie. It gave the movie an almost documentary-like feel at times.

However, the accuracy of this movie has been called into question and for that reason alone, I almost didn’t watch the movie. I understand when material needs to be tinkered with to make a better movie but I have read that some parts are completely far off. Check out writer Elizabeth Drew’s article in Huffington Post, Frost/Nixon: A Dishonerable Distortion of History for information about this topic.

From the article:

But it’s because of the enormously historical importance of that period that the film raises serious questions of its legitimacy. The film’s plot is a contrivance; its telling is so riddled with departures from what actually happened as to be fundamentally dishonest; and its climactic moment is purely and simply a lie. Literary license in the name of drama or entertainment is one thing; the issue comes down to what one is taking license with, and the degree of license being taken.

I do recommend the movie but with the caveat that you won’t walk out knowing more about that time in history. Instead, the movie may prompt the viewer to find out what really happened.

I was on the MUNI Metro last week (see previous entry) when a guy sitting close to me asked me a question I dread: “Where are you from?” No “hi”, “hello”, “salaam” or anything before. Just “Where are you from?”

I don’t like that question and it’s hard for me to explain exactly why. The question is never meant to be offensive and I don’t take it as such but I still have issues with it mainly because I have no idea how to answer it. Is the person inquiring about where I live? Where I was raised? My ethnicity? Everyone who has asked me that question always is asking for something different and I’m instantly on guard. Usually, I give my stock response of “My parents are originally from Pakistan and I was born and raised in California” and that covers most bases but I always feel like (and probably am) giving more information than the person wanted.

I also feel that the question lacks originality, especially if it’s the first thing you say to someone, but a friend of mine gave me another perspective. She asks random people where they are from when she is curious and said that it is a genuine question. She said that this particular person probably asked me because he was just excited or something about seeing a fellow Muslim (he was from Saudi Arabia) and that I shouldn’t berate him for asking me such a question. She has a point. Maybe I’m being too hard on this particular person and strangers in general. Like I said, my biggest issue is that I have no idea how to respond.

In the end, maybe I should cut everyone a break and accept the question for what it most likely is: just a simple question.

… officially kicked off today with my SF Underground post. I’m doing this for myself to write a bit more constantly but I would totally welcome an audience. Feel free to read along.

So last week, I had the pleasure of watching a movie at the historic Castro Theater in San Francisco. The theater is currently home to a Film Noir festival titled Noir City. I watched Deadline: USA, starring Humphrey Bogart. The film was really good and instilled in the viewer the importance of the media.

But that’s another post for another time.

This post is about how I got to the Castro Theater.

I’m not one to drive in and around San Francisco. I BART it if I can, which works for 90% of situations like getting to Arabic class. I’ve driven to the Castro Theater once and I was barely able to parallel park on an uphill street.

On Friday, I had to meet up my friend near the Montgomery BART station and we were going to get to the Castro from there. But BART doesn’t go there. However, the MUNI Metro does.

I didn’t know the Muni Metro existed. I mean, I knew about (and have been on) MUNI buses that go all around San Francisco, but I had no idea there was an actual underground MUNI train system that took its riders to parts of the city that BART may not reach. I was in awe as we took the steps down to the Metro underground platform and waited for the train to come. It doesn’t compare to London’s Tube system or even New York’s subway system, but it’s there nonetheless.

My friend said it wasn’t very clean and I noticed the puddle of something on a seat on our way back (which reminded me of a similar substance that my cousin almost sat in once on the NY subway) but really, does it matter? It’s there and it goes places and now I know about it.

And, yes, I know I’m a dork for not knowing about this before but in my defense I found other people that did not know about it.

I’ve been really late to post anything about Gaza and while I wanted to, I felt like everything I wanted to say has already been said on the internet more eloquently and better researched. Apparently, there is a cease fire now in effect that is to last about a week but I still wanted to post up a couple of links.

Tom Friedman offers a perfect definition of “terrorism” - Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com writes about Tom Friedman’s article in the New York Times about what he said about Israel’s attack.

Occupation 101 - It’s a great documentary that presents the history of the issue of Palestine and Israel. Trust me, it’s great. The full documentary is available at this link to Google Video. (I have the DVD if you personally know me and want to just borrow it )

Also, I have some pictures on my Flickr page if y’all want to check that out.

InshAllah, may there be peace in that region.

Two years ago today my dad passed away and I realized something: There are still a few things I need to come to terms with.

I still harbor some bitterness inside and I need to do my best to get rid of it. I still think of things that happened during that time, things that people said and did, things that people didn’t say and didn’t do, and realized I need to move on from that.

I’m still striving to be a good person, the kind of person my dad would be proud of. Here’s hoping for a new year in which I can be that kind of person, Insh’Allah (God Willing).