vendredi, décembre 15, 2006

4:30 for 42.8 km

I know that the report for the Marathon has come a little late. In this year's Beirut Marathon, I finished in 4:30, which is 1 hour 4o minutes less than last year's, adding to that, we ran extra 600 meters due to the demonstrations still going on in Downtown Beirut. However, I totally believe that there is still plenty of room for improvement. For this, I'm gonna set another target for next year's Marathon. I hope that I would be more prepared for it and injury-free unlike this year where I ran with an injured knee. Let's say that next year's target would be 3:30.

vendredi, décembre 01, 2006

The beginning of the end

I've never seen Hamra street so empty and so dead on a friday evening. I guess the situation is all the same all over Lebanon. Most of the shop are closed, however some are resilient and kept their shops open desperate to have at least one client, but helplessly.
Is this the beginning of the end that we are watching happening here? The end of Lebanon as an entity. Lebanon as a final state for all? The beginning of a new era. The Iranian or Najadian Republic of Lebanon? Maybe THIS is the new Middle East. You want to beat the USA? Not on my land Mr. Najad. Do they want us to leave this country for good? At least, I will continue to pay taxes in the receiving country. I will perseve re paying for Electricity, Water etc.
Today was a historical day. Yes. Sure it was. We witneesed, for the first time in Lebanon, a Shiite Leader from the Maronite community, because everybody knows that the leader is defined by their supporters, which today were 90% Shiite.

Don't screw up the marathon

Do whatever you want. Go to the streets. Seize the government, the parliament. Take the whole country. Import Iranian democracy. But I won't let you screw up my Marathon again!

jeudi, novembre 30, 2006

Leave this country alone to avoid the catastrophe!

Lebanon is not Switzerland or Luxembourg. The socio-economic indicators are catastrophic. After all the assassinations and the very unstable security in the country and after the last Israel-Hezbollah war against Lebanon, our country is on the edge of literal bankruptcy. Political leaders should agree or reach a compromise as quickly as possible because they could find themselves alone in this country. March 8th, March14th, February14th, July12th, I don’t want to be called by a date! I barely support my birth date, which was last week by the way. Speaking of birthday, I’m now celebrating the first year of my blog. It was a good year, for me at least but not for the country as a whole, and since we don’t exist isolated from the external environment, we are all affected. I just hope that things won’t escalate. It’s too much for a 10452m2-country.

mardi, novembre 21, 2006

Interaction is important

I said: Hi!
She Said: Hi.
I said: U know Sandra Bullock, right?
She said: Yes.
I said: Has anyone told you that you look exactly like like her?
She said: No.
I said: Ok.
And by the way, she was a copy of Sandra Bullock. There is no way nobody else told her that she didn't look like her. But some people jsut don't like to interact with others, with no rational reason.

vendredi, novembre 03, 2006

Running mates

I'm going to take part in the Beirut Marathon. I'm training for it, however, i'm not being able to find people to run with, especially that running with others will boost the performance and increase the pace. This is what we called the group effect. So if you are having the same problems and are willing to run with others, please let me know.

Running mates

dimanche, octobre 08, 2006

The Golden Trap : Vote for me

Hey everybody!
I have a small annouccement to make.
I’m participating in a televised show called the “Golden Trap“, on Future TV. In this show, you can find previous winners from the previous editions of the program the “Trap”. So, I won 2 years ago in this show and now, I need your support. It’s a show based on general knowledge, speed, voting and of course tactics.

So if you want to see me, (and vote for me :) ) It’s everyday from Monday till Friday at
5 pm.

lundi, août 21, 2006

my new job

Just a quick update of my life so far, especially that i'm getting real busy these days due to my new job with Oxfam, a NGO from UK, as Public Health Promotion project officer. I started working with them 2 weeks ago, and we've done a lot so far. Now we moved to the south since it became to work there, this is the reason why it's difficult for me to access the net especially that I'm spending the whole day in the field. But before going to the south, we worked in the Beirut area within the IDP's center, like distributing hygiene kits and supporting public health education and child to child activities. You can follow the link when I appear on the Oxfam Middle-East blog : http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/middleeast/2006/08/the_storm_before_the_calm.html

samedi, août 05, 2006

This is Lebanon

Hi again. I know it's been a long time. The fact is that I've been volunteering in Beirut, helping in the relief efforts for the displaced people and also working on independent projects, mainly a project pertaining to the mental health among the displaced people in Beirut during this war. I had many findings from visiting and meeting the displaced people. The war in general has changed my perspective to my country. Well, Lebanon is not only the Downtown Beirut. Lebanon is not only Hamra street with its coffeeshops, Monot with its nightclubs or Gemmayzeh with its pubs. Lebanon is also Qana with its 55 martyrs in 2006 and over 100 in 1996. Lebanon is Marwahine, Bint Jbeil, Maroun al Rass and even Bab Al Tabbaneh in Tripoli, maybe the poorest region in the Middle East. From the North to the South, we are all Lebanese, we are all humans and we should stick together to better face this unhuman war.

Pls change the legend

Hi
I allowed myself to copy and paste an interesting message from a colleague of mine:
"Dear friends,Like you, I receive from every part revolting photosof Israeli crimes on Lebanon. Like you I want to guessbehind every event a distinct direction from Iranian-American-Syrian-Israeli-European-Sinni-Shia-UNstrategies. Like you I wonder what position I should take. Like you I desperately look for a way to savethe economy, to cope with destruction, to escapehabitual corruption and …to find a school for my sonnext school year.Like you my mood is guided by my alternate hopes,mourns, wishes, dreams, disappointments, fears and …denying. Like you I call the miracle to end thisunthinkable nightmare.Like you, I feel devastated while waiting on TV thenews of more children dissected, more women hurt, moremen insulted and more villages emptied. Like you, I feel confused between the past I cannotremember, the future I cannot imagine and the presentI cannot bear.In result, I feel just helpless in front of thisabuse. Nothing helps; the illusion of helpingdisplaced, the admiration of efforts, the faith injustice. This is no more than a way to pretendexisting when dignity is so completely scattered. Then, why not to change the legend from reaction toaction? I cannot see the destination of thoselamentations, accusations, evaluations, argumentationsand justifications? Enough convincing each other of the rightness of thisor that! However we explain it, we ARE ALL RESPONSIBLEof what is happening to our homeland, and we are allresponsible of taking it out of this tunnel (before itgets bombed) and to give to it the essence and theshape of our love to the land we belong to, before andabove any other belonging. We owe it to ourselves.Someday it shall end, this day will be ours. Underthose hills of destroyed homes the land is ours; it issaturated with our people's sweat. Behind thosemountains of smoke, the sky is ours; it is inhabitedby hundreds of our martyrs' souls. Thus I ask you to accompany your FW with your visionsof future. We have to neutralize theIranian-American-Syrian-Israeli-European and even UNprojects, and replace it by our Lebanese project. Andto reach this, we need everybody to be mobilized.Without concrete, comprehensive and feasibleintentions this will stay theory… the same we hear onTV all the time then…brainstorm should be concretized in a willing.Like example or point of departure, we need analternative to the displaced populations. Like it goesnow, when the war ends, we will stay under the mercyof alien lusts. We will be passively waiting for Parties, Organizations, Countries, Deputies, andMinisters representing this or that "influence" torebuild our villages and organize our return and weagain will be accepting conditions at the advantage ofour unity, solidarity and … interests. Again, thiswill be paid in fact by us, and again we will have toapplaud the WELFARE for giving to us no more than apart of our basic rights.An idea has been thrown: organize camps in nativevillages, welcoming displaced families before thereconstruction of vital basic needs to permit theinitiation of life there as soon as possible and alsowelcoming volunteers from all Lebanese regions whowill help in rebuilding and organizing reconstruction.By supervising and participating people will feelresponsible of their homeland, then maybe they willfind a better strategy to protect and cherish it. Bysharing practically life between all Lebanesecommunities, maybe a real national project will takebirth. This idea for example still needs to betranslated in a concrete project. By yourcontribution, it shall happen.I volunteer to gather and organize all your ideasabout the cited subject or another. Please, stopblaming this or that, and let us coordinate efforts toavoid in future a similar situation. Thank you for your patience. "

samedi, juillet 22, 2006

What made this war unavoidable

What made this war unavoidable? Why the whole internaltional community has given the green light to Israel to destroy Lebanon, not even trying to stop this war, only trying to limit the damages, dealing with it as if it was a natural disaster like a tsunami. One thing is true, this war is way beyond Lebanon, it's a regional one, however, internally, we could have done something to avoid it. The problem was that the different Lebanese partis were unaible to reach a consensus pertaining to many issues in Lebanon, which is natural since we have a democratic regime. However, if we were united from the inside, we would have faced in a better way the external threats jeopardizing our recent indepence and stability. What we have to do now is to achieve what we failed to do before july 12, facing this critical period together.

mardi, juillet 18, 2006

God bless you Lebanon

Due to the situations, I'm not ale to access internet veryoften. I will just give a sign of life for all those who are wondering. I hope this situation will end as soon as possible.

mardi, juin 27, 2006

If you wanna kill yourself do it, but I wanna live!

Yeah I know It's been a very long time. Some of you was wondering what happened to the Batteur Noble. I can't hear his drums no more. Is he still alive? The answer is yes. I'm "not dead yet" (Quoting a friend of mine, Otter) This leads me to the topic of interest which is smoking. I used to be a moderate smoking (a pack a day) but I quitted (see my resolutions for 2006). However, I'm still exposed to heavy second hand smoking. And it's everywhere! It's hard to escape the fact of being second-hand smoker. In Europe, many countries has started a new policy, banning smoking in public places. I think we should start a similar campaign in Lebanon. Being a second-hand smoker against my will is, first, jeopardizing my health (I'm heavily allergic, almost asthmatic) and second, my personal freedom is in danger.
Maybe this post will be a seed for a national campaing against smoking or maybe it will a meaningless post like all previous ones.

mardi, juin 06, 2006

Her name was Lola

I found her in the street a week ago. She was frail, ill, dirty, very skinny seeking her mother that left her struggling by herself. I couldn't help seeing her without doing anything, so I adopted her. Maybe she wasn't the prettiest. She was so young. She didn't even know how to eat, she was barely walking. She was sneezing all the time. I thought that she was healing from her illness through the days. Playing all the time. However, yesterday, at around 9:30 pm, she died. She used her last reserve of energy to reach her litter and to choose dying there in peace. Back to the origins, to the roots. To where we all were and will return someday. Maybe it was my fault, maybe she would have been able to survive her illness without my intervention, in the streets, where she belongs, or maybe I prolonged her ephemeral life of less than a month. One thing is sure, I will always remember you Lola, my beloved kitten.

mardi, mai 02, 2006

To be with you

To be with you

Here I am facing my gloom
Sadness and grief are all that I feel
Weeping a love about to bloom
To get you back I’m ready to kneel

The D day was a rebirth for me
My life changed my days blossomed
Always smiling always content
Thinking it was the beginning of a story

I thought it was just a dream
It was real however ephemeral
I want to shout I want to scream
I’ll do anything to make it lasts

To be with you is all I wish
Hugging you makes me feel secure
Otherwise I will drown in anguish
Quitting this world as the only cure

I’m not too young you’re not too old
We’re both young we must not suffer
Although it’s a short story
Don’t end it let it unfold

samedi, avril 15, 2006

A blind "weekly bus trip" #4

From the series "weekly bus trip" here is the latest one. Last week, I had to go to do a check-up for my eyes. Since I'm a quasi-blind with -7 degrees in each eye, it's recommended. I was in Beirut and the appointment was in Tripoli. The other reason for the check-up is that all my glasses are broken and the contact lenses are tiring-up my eyes so I had to buy new glasses. Bad news. According to the ophthalmologist, I can't put on my contact lenses 12 hours before the check-up. So 2 choices: Do a blind trip or wear my single handed glasses. I opted for the second one. Then, in the bus, where by the way, I was lucky because the seat next to me had been empty during the entire trip, I met 2 girls, one of them was gorgeous. I think she was gorgeous, but since I wasn't wearing my half glasses. U can call them monocles too. And u know it's hard to impress someone while wearing monocles. But at least, one thing was sure, they were girls. Yeah, don't worry. I still can discern gender. Those of you who don't have myopia is hard for them to imagine how tough is our life without glasses, especially on the beach where I usually am the only one who misses all the "panorama".

vendredi, mars 31, 2006

Goodbye my friend!

I lost my friend 2 days ago. I realized this when I went back home from university to discover that he wasn't there. So I had a flashback of memories that I had with this close friend over the years. We used to eat together every night, wake up in the morning (I always used to wake up way before my friend) He's been a true friend, the kind of friends who stick with you in all sort of conditions from the gloomiest to the gladdest and from the dullest to the most euphoric moments in my life. And now all the memories are gone. He will maybe share these moments with someone else. Anyway, I hope they will be happy together but I’m going to miss him, my dearest Philips cd/mp3 player.

lundi, mars 27, 2006

Progeria : A tribute to John Tackett

Many of u may have heard of a disease called progeria which is briefly a premature aging. As a result, u can find a 10 year-old child looking physiologically like an 80 year-old person. Usually they die at the age of 15 maximum of cardiovascular diseases. The importance of this , is that the discovery of the etiology and characteristics of this disease, can be considered a big leap in the long researchers quest in figuring out the causes and the cure from cardiovascular disease and this will shed the light more on the processes of aging in general since it's becoming a big issue.
One of these guys is John Tackett who, despite all of his problems, was very happy and thankful for each second he was spending as if when something is rare, it becomes more valuable. He was also a very good drummer. He died exactly 2 years ago at the age of 15 but with a maturity of a 50 year-old guy. Anyway, this guy can be me, can be anyone, because life is short and we never have the time or the chance to do what we want to. We always run out of time.

Progeria Lyrics: Nobils Tobilis Music: Nobilis Tobilis

Life is too short, you don't notice
As years faded ephemerally
Try to escape you won't manage
Doomed to take part in this masquerade

We all fall like withered flowers
With fear and pain haunting our souls
There's nobody here to share your grief
Cherish your days Carry your burden



He spent his lifetime almost content
Although the odds were all against him
Spreading hope and happiness
A morbid fate, is this all he gets

It's so early to leave this world
And farewell this wonderful realm of mine
I've got so much more to show you all
What I am capable of

I'm ready for this bitter end
The moment where the drums will stop
To rhythm my o so perfect life
Mourn me this is what I demand

vendredi, mars 24, 2006

Tripoli-Mina Race


The 2nd of April will be held the Tripoli Mina race which is organized by the Beirut Marathon Association. It's a 10-K race so it's a "fun" race and nothing compared to the 42.185 Km of the Marathon. By the way, you can see my picture (See how messed up I was) at the finish line after the 2005 Beirut Marathon where I had some bad but unforgettable and fruitful experience. I'm so excited about this race, especially that I would be running a very familiar track where I will pass next to my house in El Mina, provided i recover from my lower back injury that I mentioned in a previous post. I recomment for those of you who in Lebanon to participate in this race. It's a nice way to spend your sunday. For more info about the race (time, place, registration) go to the Beirut Marathon Association website.

mercredi, mars 22, 2006

Bonne fête maman!

Chez nous au Liban, la fête des mères tombe le 21 mars. Ce qui est intriguant c'est que cette fête n'est pas célébrée le même jour partout dans le monde, de même pour d'autres fêtes. Par exemple, en Europe, on la célèbre en mai, je pense. Personnellement je trouve que le fait de la célébrer le 21 mars coincidant avec le début du Printemps est plus symbolique et a plus de significations. Le Printemps c'est le symbole du renouvellement cyclique continue de la vie et de la nature et symbole de la fécondité.

lundi, mars 20, 2006

Lower back pain

I once bought a pair of roller blades. I used to ride in my hometown where it's all flat. No descent, no climbs. So I decided that I want something more challenging. 2 weeks ago, I put on my roller blades, and drag myself into the unknown. Well not really the unknown. It's the road I usually take to go to my university each day, so pretty familiar, however, the slopes of the descents don't appear that familiar when you're stuck in a pair of roller blades. I'm the kind of guys who like to risk their life for the fun and for the adrenaline. So I found a climb and decided to attack it. But after a climb, there is always a descent. U can't avoid it. So I started the descent. The laws of physics say that the speed will increase in a descent because the potential energy that I had at the top of the climb will be transformed into kinetic one. And usually, under normal circumstances, Physics don't deceive. So, as I was descending, I reached relativistic speed, and for some reason, I didn't use my brakes. I saw a car heading toward me. I had 2 alternatives. An 8-wheel human vs a 4-wheel car collision or a self-induced fall. I opted for the second (for once, I was reasonable, and not kamikaze as usual) Bad news, I fell straight on my lower back.(It was my second lower back injury since a "friend" of mine once took of the chair from underneath me when I was trying to sit). It's the kind of injuries that lasts for long. You don't recover from it easily. But what can I do. I love to take risks, to put my life in jeopardy. What I like the most, is the moment of uncertainty, where u feel yourself at mid-distance between the two sides. It's a strange feeling of freedom mixed with fear, highness and orgasm.

vendredi, mars 10, 2006

thought

I prefer to leave bad impressions rather than no impression at all. I prefer to be remembered rather than forgotten and not even noticed.

lundi, février 27, 2006

Weekly bus trip #2 "a breach in the system"

You remember the post entitled "weekly bus trip"? For those who doesn't know the post, refer to the December 2005 archives. Well. I found a breach in the system. Pick the seat adjacent to a broken one. Nobody wants to sit on a broken seat, no? Unless he is a masochist and loves to torture himself. I tried it last Friday and it worked. It was one of the most successful bus trip to Tripoli. You may ask yourself why is this guy talking endlessly about meaningless daily details?
I do believe that these tiny details and experiences add a special flavor to our life. Every little detail has a deep meaning that needs to be deciphered.

vendredi, février 17, 2006

jeudi, février 16, 2006

A lazy day for a not so lazy guy

It's thursday. I have a day off, since my only class for today has been postponed to Friday evening (too bad because I have to go to the North, not the North pole, North of Lebanon) and since my GA work for this semester hasn't started yet. It's time for a non productive, lazy day at home. I did lots of effort to drag my ass to the faculty. However it's a well deserved rest day after my marathonian day on wednesday, since it begins at 8:00 till 5:30. However it was a good day because it was crowned with the ritual monthly Lebanese bloggers meeting that was held in Gemmayze, Ahwet l 2zez. There were nine of us. We discussed lots of topics, mainly political. I thought that the meeting was on 7 (actually it was on 7:30) C'est que j'avais la tête ailleurs. So It was a good opportunity for me to hang out in the amazing and very interesting Gemmayze street. After half an hour, I came back to Ahwet l2zez, to found that Eve, Otter, Zied and Ahmad were already there waiting. Then came Jamal, Zwixo, Mana and Bob . So it was a total of nine bloggers. Go to the lebanese bloggers forum to see the report of Zwixo and Bob.

"Can't buy me love" ... but on this special day, I can buy you a perfect weather

There are many things money can't buy. Among these things is Love. The 14th of February 2006 , the day where the march 14th coalition, (or the remainings of it, since we are still waiting for the FPM to rejoin the coalition) was quite an unusual day, maybe not by the number, which is pretty high, but not as high as the march 14th demonstration and not as spontaneous of course. Back to the intriguing thing that surprised everybody that day, was the fact that the God is on the side of the march 14th coalition. Not exactly! A friend of mine told me that, he knew, from close friends to Hariri, that he bought a technology (that function in the opposite way of the rain harvesting technology). It's a Russian, however very expensive technology, that cleared the sky of Lebanon for more than five hours, just the sufficient time to create the perfect, encouraging weather for the people to leave their homes and gather in the Martyr's Square baptized freedom Square.. Money can buy anything, and on this special day, Valentine's Day, Saad Hariri, offered, for the Lebanese people, in the memory of his father, a special, high tech gift that defied the laws of the Mother Nature.

vendredi, février 10, 2006

A day at a fancy gym

Final exams are over. It's time for a relaxation day in order to kick off the next semester in a refreshing way, with new spirit. My friend, Otter, invited me to a fancy gym in Beirut. We began with an endurance training on a stationery bike for about an hour. Afterwards, he dragged me to a spinning class. I was kinda humiliated there. I found out at this moment that the endurance training had eaten up all my resources left in my body. 60-year old women were able to keep up with Patricia and I was stuck on the first gear. Anyways, after the spinning class, it was time for the relaxation, specially for the sore muscles of mine. I went to the locker room to see my first shocking scene. An old man's naked butt. (Actually he was totally naked) In fact, that was the first butt for the day. And then, the butt show began. In that day, I saw more butts than I've ever seen in my whole life. In fact, I've never seen mine that much. I used to think that in Lebanon, people are more reserved than in Europe but it seems that they feel even more comfortable with their body, regardless how ugly their bodies were. Or maybe it's a social aspect specific for a privileged social class. In all cases, I don't want to see naked butts. It's a violation of one of my rights. The freedom of sight.

dimanche, février 05, 2006

God Bless You Denmark

It seems like in Lebanon, people are divided into two clans. Ones who want A prosperous Lebanon and others want it barbarian. Ones who want to construct Lebanon, others who want to destroy it. Ones who want the freedom of speech, and others who enjoy being shut up. Ones who want a Lebanon for all the Lebanese and other who want it a copy of Iran or Afghanistan. Ones who want a leader that represents all the Lebanese and others who want Ahmadi Najad or Oussama Ben Laden as a leader. Ones who seek the light, others who enjoy the Darkness.
Thank you, barbarians for what you did today. Thank you for showing to the world a bright image of our country. I can only be grateful.
Maybe what the Danish did was wrong. This does not explain all these acts. It seems that they were waiting for such thing to show to the world how civilized they are.
Well, I'm sorry. I'm not boycotting any of the Danish products. Especially LEGO. And by the way, Denmark has always shown a very open governance, especially by respecting the values, beliefs and culture of their citizen, regardless their religious or cultural background.

vendredi, janvier 27, 2006

Searching for a flatmate / Je cherche un(e) colocataire

My flatmate is leaving the apartment on the 15th of February. I have to found someone to share the apartment with. The apartment is located in Watwet, next to Sanayeh Garden in Beirut. Very strategic. 5min away from Hamra and 5 min away from Downtown (walking, of course) and u know with all the traffic we have in Beirut, it's better to walk and healthier of course. It's composed of 2 bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 kitchen and 1 bathroom. It's 370$
(185$/person). (without counting the electricity which is estimated at 20$/month, and the satellite fee = 10$). I hope you will reply soon.

mardi, janvier 24, 2006

Back Again

After over a week without posting, I'm coming back to the scene again, however for a short period of time. (No, I haven't given up blogging!) The reason is that I'm overwhelmed by my final exams, projects, papers, proposals, etc. (Well, not quite etc because that's all but I think it's enough). The second reason for not posting frequently, guess what? The university where I study and work has accidentally blacklisted blogspot.com and even sitemeter and statcounter, by rating them as porn. You know I'm not writing porn, right? Fortunately, the problem was set. So, see you on the first of February, the day when I finish my exams. Hasta Luego!

mardi, janvier 17, 2006

Rien ne se perd, Rien ne se crée, Tout se transforme

In a closed system, during a reaction, nothing is lost, nothing is created. All changes. This is what I've learned in chemistry in the old good times of school. These days will never come back again. We were discussing last time, in a restaurant, with my friends, the concept of plastic surgery. And how plastic surgeons do the liposuction to the thigh or hip and add the fat generated to other parts of the body like the cheek or lips. This process goes perfectly with the Law of conservation of mass of Lavoisier, in chemistry, which basically states that mass cannot be created or destroyed, but can change its form. What do you think? And let's make this topic broader. What do you think of plastic surgery in general?

vendredi, janvier 13, 2006

Join us this summer!



THE LEBANESE EXPATRIATE
UNITY, DEMOCRACY & PROSPERITY EVENT
July 29-31, 2006
BEIRUT, LEBANON
Program Includes
Prominent Guest Speakers,
Live Music, and Much More
Plan Your Vacation to Lebanon this SUMMER!
Join Lebanese Citizens, Nationals and International
S u p p o r t e r s f r o m a r o u n d t h e G l o b e
Also attending in Solidarity with the Lebanese People!!

Contributions Are Welcome

www.LebanonExpats.org http://www.moghtarebeen.com/

Make it Your New Year's Resolution...
TO BE A PART OF LEBANESE HISTORY

mardi, janvier 10, 2006

Aurora Borealis : The Northern Lights





It's a celestial phenomenon of bands, curtains or streamers of coloured light that appear in the sky in the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the earth. In the Antarctic, the lights are called the Aurora Australis, literally Southern Lights. They are visible also outside those zones however with less frequency. In Finnish they are called "revontulet", which means "fox fires" a name derived from an ancient fable of the arctic fox starting fires fire or spraying up snow with its brush-like tail.
What is the scientific explanation of this extraordinary phenomenon?
"The sun gives off high-energy charged particles (also called ions) that travel out into space at speeds of 300 to 1200 kilometres per second. A cloud of such particles is called a plasma. The stream of plasma coming from the sun is known as the solar wind. As the solar wind interacts with the edge of the earth's magnetic field, some of the particles are trapped by it and they follow the lines of magnetic force down into the ionosphere, the section of the earth's atmosphere that extends from about 60 to 600 kilometres above the earth's surface. When the particles collide with the gases in the ionosphere they start to glow, producing the spectacle that we know as the auroras, northern and southern. The array of colours consists of red, green, blue and violet."
Personnally, I hope someday to have the opportunity to visit a scandinavian country in order to see this phenomenon, but also to discover the scandinavian culture which really fascinates me.
You can check this small video Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights .
Many songs have been written to describe the magnificency of Aurora Borealis.
One of these songs, is this one : Aurora Borealis by Eternal Tears of Sorrow, which I've already posted a song for them earlier.
Aurora Borealis
Under a darkened sun they are born
When the moon is losing its shape
I'm here again to see
The nightly dance of the flames
Once my father bore his sword
To defend the clan till the end
Now he braves the battles
Between the red northern flames
In the silence of the night
I stare at those ancient lights
Which enlighten the way from the cradle
And lead warriors into the grave
They have always been
And they will never change
They light the fire of a soul
And keep it burning bright
And behind the scattered clouds
The star field of the sky
Brings back the dreams
I already lost
Shall I ever be like him
The brave warrior of the night,
Whose name will be written
In the northern lights

samedi, janvier 07, 2006

4 Schanzen : Vol Plané




Mes amis s'intriguent souvent sur le fait que je suive toujours des sports qui ne sont pas populaire au Liban et même pas au monde. Parmi ces sports, le saut à ski qui est d'ailleurs très populaire en Europe, et surtout en ce moment précis de l'année avec la prestigieuse compétition des quatre tremplins (4 schansen en Allemand) qui se déroule dans quatre sites différents entre L'Allemagne (Oberstdorf et Garmish Partenkirchen) et l'Autriche (Innsbruck et Bischoshofen) qui commence quelques jours avant la fin de l'an et s'est terminée hier, d'une façon très spéciale. Pour la première fois depuis sa création il y a 54 ans, deux athlètes se sont partagés la première marche du podium en finissant ex-aequo en terme de points accumulés après avoir dominé la compétition du début jusqu'à la fin en produisant des sauts impressionnants qui les mettent à califourchon entre les primates et les oiseaux.

mercredi, janvier 04, 2006

"Resolutions for 2006" bis

As I told you before, the list (cf. post : "Resolutions for 2006" on monday, january 3rd, 2006) is subject to changes. In fact, I forgot to add some important issues that have to be treated this year.
The first one, is that I'm trying to be vegetarian, which is one of the toughest decisions, and this for many reasons. I will surely discuss them later.
The second one, is meditation. I'm willing to meditate on a daily regular basis, which is, with the schedule I have, appears to be difficult. On the other hand, sticking to meditation will boost my creativity and help me coping better with my schedule since one of the objective of meditaion is "Do less and accomplish more".
Anyway, that's all for now concerning my resolutions for 2006. Some of my friends have noticed that, with these resolutions, I will be even more boring than I am. Well, what do you think?

mardi, janvier 03, 2006

Resolutions for 2006

This year, unlike the precedent years, I decided to take resolutions for the year and try to stick on them as much as possible. I really feel this year that I have the will to do it. These resolutions are mainly destined to improve the quality of my lifestyle, in a healthy way, and to achieve other goals on my personal (hidden) agenda for 2006.
First of all, I'm willing to quit smoking definitely. Last year, I used to be a moderate smoking, than I made a drastic change concerning tobacco consumption and I became an occasional smoker, till the end of 2005. From that date, (only 3 days ago) I didn't smoke any cigarette. I'm shifting to a non-smoker (not quite a non-smoker since we all are second-hand smokers. In order to shift to a genuine non-smoker, more efforts should be done by the governments (by elaborating policies and implement them effectively) and the smokers themselves.
Second, I will try this year to limit my alcohol consumption, (not completely, since alcohol, if moderately consumed, is considered as a protective factor against cardiovascular diseases).
I will also try to cut down my expenses, not that I'm being avaricious. It's only for a better management that will have repercussions on my lifestyle as well. This will also help me achieving one of my goal on my hidden agenda which is buying a bike plus all the accessories that go with it.
And the list go on... like maintaining a good average in my public health master degree in order to sustain my GA for the next semester. And passing all my courses in the next semester with also a good average so that, in the fall semester 2006, I would graduate.
So, plenty of stuff to achieve. I'm not telling you that i'm going to do 100% of the agenda (which is, by the way, subject to editing and changes (Additions of course, I'm not gonna remove something, of course) but I wish to complete at least, 90% of the agenda.