Ima arukidasou nanika ga hajimaru!

What is it with anime and underage teenage schoolgirls? Why this incessantly perplexing trend of having the protagonist either being an underage teenage schoolgirl or being involved in a relationship with an underage teenage schoolgirl? Hmmm.

In case you're wondering the pic is a promotional ad for "Full Metal Panic?", an anime series that I recently snagged off a friend. The story is basically the life of a 16 year old special ops soldier (the logical choice) who masquerades as a high school student in order to protect a high value asset (aka a 16 year old girl) in a school where all the other 16 year old girls apparently wear C-cup bras, mini-skirts, and sport bright lustrous hair in about every color you can find in a box of Froot Loops. The stoic and somewhat frigid demeanor of the hero creates awkward situations between the bad-tempered heroine and other girls to comedic effect. That along with the funny yet vulgar off-color sexual jokes and the somewhat crude occasional shots of cartoon breasts, legs, buttocks, and groins make this yet another amusing run of the mill anime cartoon. 

What makes this all the more disturbing and creepy is that the animators of these cartoons are all middle-age 30 or 40 year old men. I wonder whats going through their minds when they're drawing semi-naked teenage schoolgirls being stalked at night by a strange man wearing a horse mask whose only desire, is not to molest them, or rape them, but to use a hairbrush and some glue and wire in order to tie their beautiful hair into long pretty ponytails? Who are these people? 

Theres only one answer. Hentaaaaaaaiiiiiii.

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Back in the day (aka a couple of months ago) I would make the regular rounds to the gym and the running track to keep fit and trim. I would sweat it out like Stallone preparing himself for another lame sleep-inducing installment of the Rocky series. So what went wrong, you ask? Where did this lumpy belly come from, you ask? How did I get chubby all of a sudden, you ask?

How? I'll tell you how. By snacking on cakes, muffins, pasta, lasagne, and a whole plethora of other rich tasty yet artery clogging treats and goodies baked and cooked by none other than my little sister. You see when family becomes involved, it becomes almost near impossible to refuse. Especially when they look like this.

   

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies hot out of the oven. May the Lord have mercy on my greedy gluttonous soul.

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Now on a serious note I wanted to commemorate the passing away of Howard Zinn last month on the 27th. Zinn was an american historian, writer, and political activist who was involved in the anti-war movements and the fight for civil rights in america during the 60s. He along with Noam Chomsky were both against the invasion of Iraq and the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine. His death along with the death of Edward Said in 2003 is slowly bringing to close the chapter of the prominent voices speaking out amidst the increasingly loud war chants emanating from the american right wing. The only person left from the old-school is Noam Chomsky who himself is over 80 years old. Does it mean the future is dark and bleak? Not necessarily. I have yet to make my appearance in the academic and political arena of my home country. So I guess only time will tell.

"We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts appeared before us, startled us, and then caused us to question beliefs that were strongly fixed in our consciousness-embedded there by years of family prejudices, orthodox schooling, imbibing of newspapers, radio, and television. This would seem to lead to a simple conclusion: that we all have an enormous responsibility to bring to the attention of others information they do not have, which has the potential of causing them to rethink long-held ideas."— Howard Zinn, 2005 

Happy (late) new year

"I believe I can see the future
Cause I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
But then again
That might have been a dream
I think I used to have a voice
Now I never make a sound
I just do what I've been told
I really don't want them to come around"
NIN - "Everyday is exactly the same"


Time: 3:00 am
Its funny the odd and unexpected places where one stumbles across bits of packaged wisdom, even if its from a song. At the turn of this year I rose from bed in my relatively undersized apartment in Riyadh and realized that perhaps everything IS exactly the same. My routine was basically to work, eat, and sleep. However looking back at my past life it becomes abundantly clear that a constant uniform routine or stream of experiences has been against my nature (and my namesake for that matter) from the very beginning of my existence. I always need my immediate reality to be dynamic and changing. Simply put, I thrive in the Verve. 


Either that, or I have Attention Deficit Disorder. Hmm. 


Anyways I quit my job, packed up my things, moved out of my apartment, drove back to Dhahran, and spent the new year and much of January visiting relatives in pakistan. Aaahh the land of the disenfranchized.


Time: 3:12 am
"To buy a bullet-proof vest, or not to buy a bullet-proof vest?" is the first question which popped into mind before my flight to pakiland. Alright I'm kidding. (It was the second question).

Time: 3:15 am
After quitting my job I have intentions to continue my higher studies this year back in Texas, mainly in animation. Though I do also intend to study various other related and unrelated fields like philosophy, poli sci, linguistics, art and of course, architecture.  

Time: 3:20 am

A muffin in the hand is worth two in the oven. True story.

Time: 3:21 am

If I have to endure hearing Lady Gaga's name one more time I will hang myself with a shoelace.

Time: 3:22 am
While my appreciation for good art tends to go into the far flung nether-regions of graphic novel-dom and comic bookry, I am able to discern good art when I see it. Take this piece for example, by iranian painter Iman Maleki titled "Omens of Hafez" or in farsi فال حافظ.

A prime example of an impressive style of art known as Realism.

Looks real doesn't it? In a way its almost like a reflection of life itself. Some things that are real seem less real to us, and things which aren't seem more real than they should be.

Time: 3:30 am

All right thats all from me now. Adios!

(And for the record I have no idea why theres so many huge gaps in my paragraphs/lines. Must be a new year's glitch in the blog matrix.)

Driving in saudi arabia Part 3

If any of you can remember (which you probably won't) back in 2006 and 2008 I posted up my thoughts about the traffic situation in KSA, and classified the fascinating variety of drivers present in the kingdom. Well apparently since then I've come across some even more different & dangerous breeds of drivers.

If you haven't read them I suggest you take a look at them before proceeding.

Driving in saudi arabia Part I

Driving in saudi arabia Part II

The Drifter: Forget the speed freak and the linerider, this guy may quite possibly be the most dangerous driver on the road at the moment. Initially this individual seems to be the epitome of a normal driver. However as soon you approach him from the next lane, he will for some inexplicable reason, slowly begin to drift in your direction, onto your lane. These guys even seem to time their movements too so that when they drift onto your lane, they do so exactly at the same point where your car is intended to be. Kind of like a predatory animal stalking prey in the Serengeti. Was there a lion documentary marathon on the National Geographic channel that I wasn't aware of?

The problem is almost everybody on the road is doing it. Somebody needs to inform these idiots that the rear view mirror is there for a reason, not for trimming your nose hair or fixing your gutra in any one of your preferred 3 million combinations.

The Cellular-Man: This guy likes to keep himself connected all the time. Even when he's not taking a call. And especially when he's driving and supposed to be paying attention to the road. I suppose having the latest iphone taped to the ear gives these men a false sense of sophistication. But in the end not even your awesome bluetooth earpiece will save you from the embarrassment of having to stand in front of your wrecked beamer waiting for the police to arrive because you thought you could be Waleed bin Talal for a day.

The Car-horn Master: Not as dangerous as the above two, but sure as hell is the most annoying. Ever notice that one driver that honks his car-horn for no apparent reason? Like at a red light. Or on a road with few cars. Or when you're waiting in line at the McDonald's drive-thru. Yea thats the Car-horn Master. Legend has it that the these particular individuals are trained in the mystical art of Noise. So adept are they that no street, road, highway, or quiet neighborhood can defy their almighty power. Except for the police. And any person with a stick handy.

The Woman Driver: Oh thats right, I forgot....

The good news is that KSA now no longer holds the record of the highest traffic accident rates in the gulf. The UAE as of this year has a higher traffic accident rate according to the WHO, approximately 37.1 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to KSA's 29.0 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants. Which is pretty crazy when compared to Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait who have rates of 12.1, 23.7, 16.9 respectively.

I know people are trying to improve the situation in KSA, but frankly speaking, TV adverts on the dangers of car accidents, while being informative, is not going to do anything. Neither is having big bearded sheikhs on TV ruling bad driving as "haram" going to help much. If saudis want to decrease traffic accidents, then all they have to do is just improve the training in the driving schools. Yes its really that simple.

Riyadh = Major Trouble

Is it me or is it lately that whenever I update my blog I end having to start with "I'm not dead, just haven't had time to update."?

Phew been a while hasn't it? I managed to get a job at an exhibition design company working as a designer in Riyadh. Salary is pretty average but hey you gotta start somewhere right?

Why is the driving in Riyadh so atrocious? I've been here since July and its like something out of a Super Mario Kart video game. Driving in this city is literally a life and death situation. Are people really that retarded that they can't stop at a red light for 2 minutes? Which reminds me to update my list of types of drivers in KSA....

Back in april me and two friends took part in a graffiti competition in dhahran organized by Fainak. This was our entry called "D-Hazard" short for Design Hazard.

Despite all our efforts and hard work we didn't win. Because apparently we used the help of cartons, tape, and cardboard stencils we had cut and made ourselves in order to spray our work. I guess nobody told the 4 knucklehead judges (university girls) that there are no rules in graffiti. Its street art. Anything goes!

I also took the opportunity to revamp my blog a little, adding much needed graphics. The person in the noir Sin City image in the header in question, is yes indeed, yours truly. I used a picture of myself and messed around with it in Adobe photoshop & illustrator.

Guerilla Radio!

As you may have noticed I have indeed changed my blog name from the emo-ish "Insight into the mind of an Obsessive Depressive" to the more erstwhile "Guerilla Radio!". I felt it was a good time to turn a new leaf considering the fact that Ive been using the name IITMOAOD since I was 15 years old (before on the now defunct bolt.com then finally here on blogger). I needed a title that would suit my more contemporary outlook and my political interests and thus Guerilla Radio, which happens to be the name of a song by RATM, managed to fit the bill.



So my humble readers you're probably asking what exactly has Mr. Crow been up to lately. Well simply put, nothing.

Ok fine almost nothing, I finally graduated last month. I am now officially an architecture grad. Yay for me.....



Unfortunately this was probably the most fucked up time ever to graduate. Due to the economic recession jobs have virtually become an extinct species in the US, dubai, and elsewhere.

And no I dont want to work in KSA anymore. Seriously. Frankly speaking, for an architect, KSA is a good place to work only when you already have experience from somewhere else. But to start in KSA from square one? Disasterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.



So there you have it. I really don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do. Theres a career day coming up next week so we'll see how that goes.

Lately I've started writing my fantasy novel. I'll make sure to post that up soon. I'm also researching information for my graphic novel stories. I need to brush up on my artwork however.
Btw has anybody seen that ridley scott movie Body of Lies? The movie itself was ok, nothing amazing. The acting by Dicaprio and Crowe was pretty good. However the movie was stolen by the insanely intense and smooth acting of Mark Strong as the jordanian head of intelligence Hani Salaam. This guy makes me want to wear suits all the time.

Hello 2009

Well here we are finally. 2009 hath cometh. How many people actually celebrated the new year? This is the first time I havent even bothered. The present crisis in Gaza pretty much overshadowed it. How am I supposed to be in a celebratory mood when people are being slaughtered over there? And the funny thing is that apparently it seems that nobody really cares. When I saw nobody I mean the arab leaders. Raising money and setting up blood drives is one thing but actually confronting the problem is another. The bottom line is....the arab leaders are cowards. Bought and tamed by their masters.

I came across a video on youtube about the philosopical arguments of whats going on in the context of Batman and The Joker. I thought it would be pretty interesting to share. And yes I do agree that the joker was right.

http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tFnxeW25O8

Getting the shoe treatment.

I almost spit my out my low fat milk I was drinking this morning when I happened to glance at the frontpage of today's newspaper: "Bush 'shoed' during Iraq visit" along with the hilarious picture of Bush ducking to avoid the shoe thrown at him. Now THAT is what I call entertainment. The late-night talk show hosts are gonna have a ball with this one. Not to mention the footwear companies (Cmon seriously who else thinks this would make a great advertisement for Reebok?)

Anyways.....its been a while since I last updated. I admit I was being lazy. I was finally compelled to after seeing todays newspaper. Lets see now...what have I missed.

Happy Thanksgiving!
All I could find was the pumpkin pies that the bakery at Safeway usually has. I couldnt find a turkey anywhere unfortunately. The funny thing is when I asked one of the employees they straight away led me to and introduced me to, "Ahmet" a guy from Istanbul (with a last name I couldnt pronounce) who was working in the fish section. I wonder why they did that. Weird...

Eid Mubarak!
Went out to eat dinner with friends and then had a BBQ at aramco beach the next day. I was half expecting someone to be wearing a "burkini" but alas to no avail. The mass slaughter of sheep, goats, chickens, cows and camels was pretty interesting. What can I say, I'm a carnivore.

Classes started again!
Wait a minute why the hell am I even celebrating that.

Welcome to the village

Since the semester began at the start of october it was nice to see my old classmates again. Everybody talking about the crap and not so crap jobs we took over the summer. Despite the fact its good meeting them again, there are times when I wish didnt have to see them. Like for example an incident of questionable nature that went down last monday afternoon with two of my friends when I was driving them back from lunch at Dhahran mall (I'll call them A and L for our sake).

Me(driving): So L, did u get those viagra pills u needed from the pharmacy? *laughs*

L(passenger seat): Yea very funny*rolls eyes* I told you they're subscription allergy drugs.

A(back seat): I bet condoms are real cheap at that store.

*Me and L both laugh*

L: Yea knowing you, thats the only thing that interests you about a pharmacy.

Me: *grumbles* This traffic is really shitty.

*I notice that A has opened one of the car windows*

Me: Hey why are you opening the window? I already put on the AC.

L: *sniffs air* Hey do you smell that?

Me: *sniffs* Ugh yea what the hell is that?

L: Smells like...

A: *chuckles* whoops

L: You farted??! Idiot! *opens his window*

A: Yea man I couldnt control it any longer.

Me: I can't believe you just did that in the backseat of my car you jackass!

L: Yekh. You seriously need to get your bowels checked.

Me: The smells not going away. Quick! Open the glove compartment. There's an air-freshner spray.

L: *Opens glove compartment and fumbles with spray bottle*

Me: Do it already man! For the love of God, DO IT!!

*L sprays everywhere especially on A sitting in the backseat*

A: Wtf man you sprayed some in my eye!

Me: Great, it smells better now. I think you might have overdid it though.

L: Yea maybe. Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

A: Drive faster man. I need to go crap really badly.

Me: If you crap in my car I'm gonna personally enslave you to Ustad Hafiz(our university Arabic & Islamiyaa teacher)

A: Then you better hurry up!

---------------- 0 --------------------

I'm still considering whether I should burn the backseat of my car just to sterilize it.

Gobama!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU

Unbelieveable. Thats all I gotta say. Folks we have just witnessed history in the making.

Barack Obama has been elected the 44th president of the united states of america! Despite all the shit that the Bushy administration created at least I'm secure with the knowledge that the will of people comes always through in the end (ha yea right whatever).
Still....it makes me feel all proud and patriotic like. So does that mean I'm still pledging my alliegance to the red, white and blue? Not exactly. I'm still pledging alliegance with the will of my fellow americans though, I can say that much.

Of course we'll really see just how much of a statesman President Obama really is with regards to dealing with all the screw ups that this country has created in the middle east. Will there be a difference? Most likely not. But then again we'll just have to wait and see.

Happy halloween you mortal fools.

Getting married.

As I sink my teeth into the helpless BK Big King XXL burger, a multitude of thoughts race through my head. Even though this double patty burger with lettuce, cheese, and some odd named sauce in a sesame sead bun may look scrumptious to the naked eye, it is in fact greasy, loaded with calories, and might probably clog my arteries (along with contributing to my ever expanding waist-line which I gained over the summer).
So why exactly am I eating this? It is after all the prime example of junk food, which in my opinion is the lowest form of foodstuff available. I could have just went and eaten a much healthier and less expensive shawerma meal. The reason being, to put it simply as in the words of a certain good-guy turned traitor in the movie The Matrix: "Ignorance is bliss".

Sooo..........what does all this have to do with getting married?

Absolutely nothing. I just felt like talking about burgers for some reason. Anyways....


Marraige has always been a somewhat humorous topic for me. Its not the apparent mishaps between a married couple that strikes me as funny as does the attitude most young people I know have about getting married. How many times have I seen or heard about young men and women (including your average high schooler) getting all misty-eyed over finding their true love and living the romantic life that they've always dreamed of just like in those amazing arabic music videos. Of course things don't always turn out the way they're expected to.

I've personally always taken the concept of love and marraige with a grain of salt. In fact I don't even believe in the concept of true love. This eventually leads to me laughing at the people who do. I suppose thats my nihilistic side speaking out.
You see what I think is that people tend to fall in love with the idea of falling in love rather than actually falling in love. And when they do fall in love with someone, all they're doing is just being satisfied with the "compatibility" that this particular person has with their own life. The only other reason I can think of is Lust.

This attitude of mine doesnt mix too well with my mother who for the past year has been nagging me nonstop, much to my chagrin, about getting me married off. Yea mothers bug guys about this stuff too. I guess I havent made it clear enough that I have no interest in doing anything of that sort. Not for a long time anyways.

BLOG RENOVATION UPDATE
I haven't started yet. So....like....uhh yea. lol hmm

new phat fresh

I think its time for this blog to undergo a serious make-over....and i know exactly what needs to be done *cracks fingers*

Bahrain, uni and future plans....

Well I drove to Bahrain last thursday with a couple of my friends to see The Dark Knight. The movie was pretty good though not as spectacular as all the hype made it out to be. Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker was top-notch. I was kinda frustrated that Two-face didnt have as much film time though. There's no batman villain that has a darker story than Two-face (at least in the comic books anyways). All in all it was defintely worth seeing in the movie theater.
Going to bahrain is always loads of fun. Only a mere 40 minutes away and yet its like a totally different world. Actually maybe the word should be a totally NORMAL world. I mean seriously its kinda a relief that you can stand behind a woman in a checkout queue in a store, and not have her think that you're about to rape her or something. On the flip side, my friends made a big deal out of seeing chicks drive cars. Its like they've never seen a woman driving before. Oh wait thats right, they havent. Either way its pretty embaressing.

Anyways this is the first week back to classes. This is my last semester (thank God) and inshallah I'll graduate in Februrary once and for all. I've taken waaaaaaaay too long. Though it comes as no surprise considering the architecture program is a whopping 148 credit hours, which is at least up to 15 or 20 credit hours more than any other major, making it the highest credit hour major at uni.
My interests have shifted somewhat as have my plans for the future. I'm probably not to going to continue in architecture after I graduate. Instead I have my eyes set on getting an internship at Pixar in california. You know...the 3D film animation company that made Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Ratatouille, and this year's WALL-E. My background in using a 3D modelling software (3D Studio Max) for architectural renderings is definitely a plus. Having experience with a 3D modelling software (3DsMax, Maya, RenderMan, etc), university degree, and a strong portfolio are amongst the things they'll be looking for. The other major thing is broad artistic and technical skills. I have until March to submit my portfolio. Wish me luck!

Of course I'm also going to try for DreamWorks, LucasArts, and Blue Sky Studios. I'm also interested in the gaming industry, and might try to see if I can get a job later in one of the numerous game development companies dotting the states. And if things don't work out....well I still have architecture. And if that doesnt work out....then i'm just going be an unemployed bum.......lounging at home obtaining sustainance off deep dish pizza and twinkies.

Eid mubarack obama

Well I know I'm a little bit late with my eid greetings but whatever. So I was dragged by my somewhat dysfuntional family to Makkah and Medinah for umrah during the last week of ramadan. I know I shouldnt say it like that but I seriously wasnt in the mood to go this time. All I wanted to do was watch Seinfeld and go with my friends to eat at a hotel buffet on Eid morning as we usually do. But you know what, who cares what Mr. R thinks....

Anyways so Makkah and Medinah were hotter than usual. Medinah was still nice. If I ever wanted to live in saudia the two places would be either here in dhahran or in medinah. Praying in the harem was great too.
Though this will be, without a doubt the last time I share my sijjadat salat (janamaz/prayer rug) with anyone else. You know how people will be all nice and generous and lay their sajada sideways lengthwise so that at least two other people dont have to touch the ground with their heads when they go into sujood?

Well no more!

I've had enough with people repaying the generosity by coughing and snivelling all over my sajada. No wonder I caught sore throat on the last day there...which happened to be Eid. And one guy had the nerve to start pulling out long gray hairs from his beard and flick some of them right on the sajada. On MY prayer rug!

Well anyways hope everybody had a good time. Ahem.

Aggh.

Aggh. Just aggh.

Thats all I got to say. Why, you may ask is all that I have to say is aggh? Why, you may ask is there is nothing other than aggh for me to say? And why, you may ask am I unwittingly saying other things than aggh when I specifically said that aggh was all I had to say thus contradicting my first statement about aggh?

I suppose I could say its because just this saturday (20 september) after iftar, a dumptruck filled with RDX and TNT just happened to drive up to the Marriot hotel in Islamabad in pakistan and blow it to kingdom come leaving 60 people dead and a massive crater in the ground about the size of mexico. All this during Islam's holiest month.

Or I suppose I could say that its because Asif Ali Zardari, the worst, most corrupt, and most useless politician in paki history (second to his deceased wife of course) won 281 out of 426 valid votes during the recent presidential elections. (Actually scratch that, he's not really much of a politician either). I'm sad to say this but it looks like its the end of pakiland. Wait, what am I saying. It IS the end of pakiland. RIP.

Or I suppose I could say that after the pakistani electorial dissapointment, that I thought I could count on looking forward to the upcoming US presidential elections.......



...........But alas. To no avail my friends.



Everybody seems to be rooting for Obama. But to be honest in the end there isnt gonna be any substantial difference between him and McCain in regards to foreign policy. Same old useless tactics. Same old AIPAC and zionist lobby ass kissing. Its pretty much down to which of the two lesser evils gets the highest number of votes.

I'm not even sure if I should bother voting this time. The last time I was able to vote, Bush and Kerry were in the hotseats and it was pretty much a no-brainer then. So much that I didnt even bother voting for Ralph Nader (the preferred candidate amongst most of my friends anyways). Eh what the hell. If we as a religious faith are gonna suffer and be marginalized anyways then I might as well put in my two cents and root for the democrats and feel happy that I made the right choice (hardy har har). And besides, anything from getting that self-righteous hypocritical biatch Sarah Palin getting to be vice president.

At least Obama is making an effort to emphasize the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and decreasing the influence the lobbyists. Yessssssss finally! At least somebody has finally said something about those snivelling little bastards. This is definitely a step forward. I guess I might vote after all.



So yea maybe this is why I have nothing to say other than aggh. Aggh aggh aggh aggh. Aggh all the live long day.

hapyp bierthday

Well it was my bday on thursday making me a whopping quarter of a century old. I wasn't really in a celebratory mood but my family took me out to eat anyways. I don't like having birthday parties for myself because I hate being the center of attention. 

Anyways heres a couple of interesting things that have happened in the past on my birthday September 18.

In 1573 - Spain attacked Alkmaar which was a city in the netherlands.  (Huh jeez thats nice)

In 1873 - The Panic of 1873 begins. (How about that)

In 1885 - Riots break out in Montreal to protest against compulsory smallpox vaccination. (oh boy)

In 1939 - William Joyce's first Nazi propaganda broadcast. (this just keeps getting better and better)

In 1970 - Jimi Hendrix dies in London (nooo not jimi !)

In 1982 - Christian militia begin killing six-hundred Palestinians in Lebanon. (you gotta be kidding me)

In 2001 - First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks. (nothing like some anthrax on a birthday to spice things up)

Well that was just wonderful. I feel so much more better now. 

Go fish!

Ramadan always seems brings out a deep seated animalistic hunger in people. Near around iftar time you can't help but notice how people sit around and wait, eyeing the meal before them like potential prey which has been caught unaware. Stalking from afar, the hungry predators watch for the right time to pounce. The right time........ to go in for the kill.

Anyways here's a quick and deliciously scrumptious recipe for baked fish fillet that I had to beg (literally) to get from my mother. Now before you all start whining like a bunch of poverty stricken poster children for testosterone poisoning, allow me to say that I have personally taste tested it, and despite being fish, it is actually really really good.

And I'm sure you will enjoy it too. Unless you screw it up. Then thats your fault.

Baked fish fillet

You can get boneless fish fillets from your nearest grocer or super, hyper, ultra, mega (etc) market. Take them home and wash the fish fillets with water (and if you're really adventurous, with detergent too). Leave them aside and prepare the marination.

Before you start, make sure you pre-heat your oven. Turn it on to 350 degrees C.

Next thing is to prepare the marination. Take a big bowl and mix the following ingredients:

• 3 - 4 tablespoons of white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of any powdered fish or seafood seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon powdered cocaine ( just kidding)

Note: This is enough for ONE fish fillet only. If you have more fish then make more marination. You can adjust the ingredients accordingly to your taste.

Marinate the fish fillets and leave them in the bowl for about 10 minutes (or for 1 day if you're really hardcore).

During this time fetch a baking tray/pan/whatever and grease the inside with 1 tablespoon of olive oil or any cooking oil you prefer. Take the fish fillets and place them length-wise in the tray. Depending on the size of your baking tray, fit as many fish fillets as you can as long as theres a little space in between them.

Pop them into the oven and bake for around 30 minutes or until they look somewhat dry. And presto! You have some deliciously mouth-watering baked fish which not only tastes good but is healthy as well. Now you can eat it by itself, in a sandwich, or hell you can bring out the bedouin in you and have it with some ruz bokhary. Serve with a glass of chilled ice lemon tea.

Next week I'll tell you how to make delicous octupus & liver eggplant pie.

Sa7tain

Ramadan Kareem

Ho ho ho! Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la laaa............oh wait. Whoops wrong holiday. Anyways I wish everyone has a peaceful and prosperous month.

Just try not to get too fat ok.

Driving in saudi arabia Part 2

If any of you were around long enough to remember my post about driving and drivers in saudi arabia you will undoubtedly understand that traffic in this country is a huge problem. Well since my last post Ive come across a host of new types of drivers of whom I'd like to discuss.

The Line-rider: This guy learned nothing about driving on a road from the little that is taught in driving school. Is under the impression that the white lines dividing the road are in fact the lanes themselves. So he drives over the line making sure to keep it within the tires of his car. These guys are completely oblivious to the great amount of honking generated by other drivers.

The Player: Ever watched a game of american football? Where players run and dodge opponents in order to reach the other side? Well considering most young shabab are crazy about soccer, these type of drivers have been watching the wrong sports channel. Think of this guy as the younger unmarried version of The Camel Jockey. Not only do these guys not look when they turn in from an intersecting street, but act like that any ensuing mishaps resulting thereof is invariably the other teams fault. In the event of an accident will either phone his daddy or every friend on his mobile phone's contact list.

The Bus: These big and gentle giants are unfortunately very annoying. Not only are they slow but they take up a whole lane forcing its giant metal ass to take up your whole front view. If you end up being in the unfortunate situation of heavy traffic with a bus in front of you then you will also have to endure breathing heavy exhaust smoke filtering through your car's air-conditioning system.

The Truck: Very similar to a bus however unlike the bus these come in a variety of wonderful forms such as:

The dumptruck. The waste disposal truck. The garbage truck. The people's truck. The water transportation truck. The toxic or potentially dangerous chemical/substance truck.

Either way if you're behind a truck on a road it would be advisable to move immediately. Or you might end up getting some strange substance on the front hood of your car...

And last but not least...

The Pedestrian: Somehow its ingrained in our DNA to be idiots. Why oh WHY don't people use the overhead walkway bridges instead of just stumbling across the roads like they've got a bad case of diarrhea? Some of these people have a death wish. Standing in the middle of the road it makes one think if they actually want cars to turn them into squishy little smears on the asphalt..

Exit musharraf

Well it was going to happen sooner or later. I really don't know if I should feel glad or dissapointed. You see despite the fact that Pervez Musharraf made it a point to ally himself with the US and other pro-western forces, and despite the fact that this was basically the reason why most pakis were unhappy with him, and despite the fact he wasn't democratically elected after staging a coup ousting the then prime minister Nawaz sharif in 1999, he is in my opinion much much MUCH better than the ass-hats now vying to take his place.

Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif (again?)?? Are you frikken kidding me?? Two of the most corrupt and useless politicians in paki history? The very fact that Musharraf ousted Nawaz sharif was exactly BECAUSE of clowns like Zardari and Sharif. Not only do these two not care about anyone else except their greedy selves, but have proven in the past to be totally incompetent when it comes to running a country. I would have been ok with musharraf's resignation if the current presidential candidates were actually sane people looking to finally set the record straight with pakistan's messed up past.

Ok yes I know Musharraf kicked out a bunch of high level judges last year and he tried to censure the country's media following that fiasco, and he imposed a nationwide state of emergency, and he toyed around with the constitiution a bit, but to be honest he is probably the most honest and uncorrupt high-level government leader that pakistan has seen since maybe Muhammad Ali Jinnah himself.
At least he managed to open up the paki economy to foreign investment which in '99 was almost negligible and encourage industrialization, which I should add is far far more than Zardari or Sharif have ever accomplished in the past.

Its left to be seen what the future of pakistan holds, but if you ask me they've taken a major step backward.