26
January
2007
Lyrics: George Harrison
Album: Abbey Road
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right
Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
It's all right
fiahmad 
Music 
1 Comment »
4
January
2007
Belated Eid greetings to all my Muslim
s and
s. May Allah
forgive us for our sins and increase our imaan. May he grant you and your families all that is good in this world, and all that is good in the Akhirah. Ameen.
fiahmad Uncategorized 1 Comment »
29
November
2006
My room smells like Curve.
fiahmad Uncategorized 4 Comments »
24
October
2006
03.09.2007. Can't wait.
fiahmad Uncategorized 4 Comments »
30
August
2006
One of the greatest scenes in movie history.
fiahmad TV/Movies 1 Comment »
15
July
2006
Great day. Started it off with a haircut. Then went up to 34th to finally get my phone replaced at the Verizon store. Afterwards I went uptown to Museum Mile to check out the Guggenheim and the Met.
I’ve been to the Met several times before, but this was my first visit to the Guggenheim. As soon as I walked up to 89th I was totally disappointed. Instead of seeing the beautiful, world reknowned Frank Lloyd Wright facade, I saw a bunch of scaffolding and wood panels 
. Apparently, the Guggenheim is restoring the exterior, and it won’t be finished until Spring of 2007. The main reason I made the trip was to see the facade…I mean, who goes to the Guggenheim to see the art? 
Fortunately though, the museum had a very interesting artist on exhibit. Born in Baghdad, Zaha Hadid is a world reknowned architect, and the first female to ever win the the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. Early on in her career she was referred to as a “paper architect” because her fantastic designs seemed impossible to be constructed into real life buildings. In fact, even though she started her career in the 70’s, her first major design that was actually built was in 1994.
My ambition is always to realize theoretical projects that seem difficult at the time.
- Zaha Hadid
Unlike most architects, she’s appreciated not just for her buildings, but also for her initial conceptual artwork…which covered pretty much every wall of the museum. In one of her pieces she drew out every possible viewable angle of a building, sort’ve like a 360 degree panoramic view from the left to right side of the canvas. She plans her designs so that the buildings never look the same as a person is walking around them…which is one of the reasons why you’ll hardly ever find a right angle in one of her designs.
Zaha Hadid’s portfolio:
- Hotel Puerta America (2006), Madrid, Spain
- BMW Central Building (2005), Leipzig, Germany
- Nordkettenbahn (aerial tramway)(2007), Innsbruck, Austria
- Ordrupgaard annexe (2005), Copenhagen, Denmark
- Phaeno Science Center (2005), Wolfsburg, Germany
- Bergisel Ski Jump (2002), Innsbruck, Austria
- Hoenheim-North Terminus & Car Park (2001), Strasbourg, France
- Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (1998), Cincinnati, Ohio
- Vitra Fire Station (1994), Weil am Rhein, Germany
Zaha Hadid on winning the much-coveted Pritzker Prize for Architecture (BBC)
Zaha Hadid: Building the Future (BBC)
fiahmad Uncategorized, Art 1 Comment »
2
July
2006
Haven’t updated in a while. Alhamdulillah, 2nd year was officially over as of Friday. Finished it off with a Pharmacology final. Oh yeah, and I hit a quarter-century last Thursday. I spent it studying for Pharm. What a cr/happy birthday. Just wanted to say jazaks to all those who dropped duas for me…I really appreciate it.
They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you…my only son.
- Jor-El, Superman Returns
Saw it tonight. Great film. The best summer movie I’ve seen thus far.
fiahmad School, TV/Movies 2 Comments »
28
May
2006
| Trailer
| Website
This is a docudrama about United Airlines Flight 93, one of the four planes that were hijacked during the September 11th attacks, and the only one that didn’t reach its target. The plane crashed somewhere in Pennsylvania, and according to the 9/11 Commission Report, it was intended to hit either the White House or the United States Capitol.
I haven’t seen it yet, but apparently the film tries to be as true to the events as possible. The director, Paul Greengrass, used actual recordings and passenger cell phone calls to help construct the plot. The actual flight controllers and ground personnel were also used.
The movie has gotten rave reviews since it’s screening at the Tribeca film festival a month ago. From what I’ve read online, there are no cheap Hollywood thrills, no exploitation of the events whatsoever…just a realistic drama about real people and their brave reactions. Almost all of the passengers are nameless. “Identities remain anonymous, emphasizing the group effort over any individual heroics…” Wikipedia. Ebert & Roeper gave it 2 “big” thumbs up, Roeper saying it’s “the best movie so far this year.”
The director, and the four Muslim men portraying the hijackers, apparently did their best to avoid demonizing Islam. To quote Greengrass:
We talked about it a lot. They [the actors] were four very thoughtful Muslims, these young men. And what became clear to me from what they were saying, and I agree with it - and it’s there in this film, I hope - is that there were two hijacks that occurred that day. The first one we know and understand pretty well, which is the story of the hijacking of the aeroplanes, all the innocent people on the aeroplanes, the planes crashing into buildings, and all that death and destruction.
But the second hijack is the one that we understand very imperfectly, which is the hijacking of a religion. And that’s the one that the four actors wanted to portray, because for them, as thoughtful, compassionate, aware young Muslims, it’s the taking of selected passages from the Koran…the ignoring of a thousand or more years of history of tolerance and learning in the Islamic world, and the assertion by jihadists that these few fragments woven into a perverted, closed system of belief, is the ‘one true way.’…
Michele Norris interviewed Omar Berdouni (who played hijacker Ahmed Al Haznaw) on NPR’s All Things Considered. Berdouni was pretty hesitant to take the role because he was worried about Hollywood’s tedency to stereotype Arabs. He said, “My first reaction was absolutely not…but when i first had the meeting with him [Greengrass] he made me believe that what he wants to portray is the truth. Not only the passengers were hijacked that day. Also my religion was hijacked in a way that they were killing innocent people on the name of Islam, which couldn’t be farther from the truth…” listen to the entire interview
But no matter how you tried to avoid it, there’s always going to be backlash with a film like this. On April 29th, three young hijabis were allegedly approached by a middle-aged couple in Scottsdale Arizona. “According to the young women, the couple approached them calmly and asked if they were Muslim. After answering yes, the women said the couple became enraged and verbally abused them, indicating they had just watched the film United 93.” The couple allegedly said:
Take off your f**king burqas and get the f**k out of this country. We don’t want you in this country. Go home. CAIR
One of the women, Bushra Khan, is the office manager for CAIR’s Arizona chapter. She said, “The couple’s verbal abuse had obviously been prompted by their associating all Muslims with those who took part in the 9/11 terror attacks…The best way to prevent this type of stereotyping and intolerance is to educate ordinary Americans of all faiths about Islam and Muslims.” CAIR Arizona
Hopefully I’ll try to check out the film this summer. Maybe it’s just my personal bias, but I’m pretty skeptical of most films that claim they avoid disparaging Islam. I personally think it’s too soon to come out with a film such as this. We’ll see inshallah. If any of you guys have seen it, I would greatly appreciate some feedback.
Sidenote: Initial screenings ended with a closing credits line, “America’s war on terror had begun”. This was replaced in the release version with, “Dedicated to the memory of all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001″.
fiahmad Islam, TV/Movies, Religion 8 Comments »
27
May
2006
I’d like to dedicate this post to several friends who really come through when you need help. Yesterday Adnan, Nissim, and I started moving our things to the new apartment. I hate moving. Boxing and moving your odds and ends is irritating enough, but the real test lies in moving the big stuff. Carrying sofas/desks/beds/etc. is no joke, especially when you’re trying to maneuver them in and out of elevators and doorframes. Plus, we had our third systemic pathology exam that morning…meaning everyone was running on like zero sleep. So yeah, I’d just like to give a shout out to some friends who really came through in the clutch: 
- Ravi
- Ranbir
- Abbas
- Huma
- Katie
and of course,
Thanks guys. You help make the world a better place.
fiahmad Uncategorized No Comments »
“ I’m like Michael Moore except I’m skinny, my jeans are washed, and God loves me.
Adilah
Amir Sahib
Beth Loves Bollywood
