Realistically idealistic daydreamer, seasoned procrastinator, atheist and monarchist with a secret agenda and a slight inclination towards voodoo practices.
Marjorie has a funny meme on her blog, and I decided to tag myself with it.
Identify the Movie - Oficially Closed! :D
- Pick umpteen of your favorite movies - Select favorite lines from these movies - Post them and see how long it takes friends to guess them
Have a look, and see how many you can actually guess :^) Update 1: Come on people, only four left, and they are not the hardest ones to figure out!! Update 2: Bingo! And the prize goes to... well, me of course! What were you thinking?? :P
1. That woman is a woman! - Shakespeare In Love
2. “There's a brighter side of death?” “Of course. It's just harder to see.” - Van Helsing
3. That's what I want to come home to, that's what I want to have to think about and dream about. I wanna know that the best part of my life is still ahead of me. - Pearl Harbour
4. Well, then we have something in common. We are both not to be trusted. - Original Sin
5. I never met a dame yet that didn't know if she was good-looking or not without being told, and there's some of them that give themselves credit for more than they've got. - A Streetcar Named Desire
6. He's all right, I suppose, if you like dark, handsome, rich-looking men with passionate natures and too many teeth. - Breakfast At Tiffany's
7. Components. American components, Russian Components, ALL MADE IN TAIWAN! - Armageddon
8. Can you keep a secret? I'm trying to organize a prison break. We have to first get out of this bar, then the hotel, then the city, and then the country. Are you in or you out? - Lost in Translation
9. I don't like warriors. Too narrow-minded, no subtlety. And worse, they fight for hopeless causes. Honour? Huh! Honour's killed millions of people, it hasn't saved a single one. - Fifth Element
10. We have blue soup to start, orange pudding to end, and, well, for a main course you have, uh, congealed green gunge. - Bridget Jones Diary
11. Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash. - Con Air
12. Normally, I have a very sweet disposition as a dog. In fact, more than once, James suggested that I make the change permanent. The tail I could live with. But the fleas? They're murder. - Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban
13. Let's get something straight, ok? There's no "we". There never was a "we". In fact, without "me", there wouldn't even be a "you"! - Ice Age
14. Your body's dying. Pay no attention, It happens to us all. - Interview with the Vampire
15. I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone. - Lord of the Rings
16. Grande, er... grande familio, grande tradizione de Christmas presents. Stupido. - Love Actually
17. “How do you write women so well?” “I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.” - As Good as It Gets
18. The kingdom of God is within you and all around you. It is not within buildings of wood or stone. Split a piece of wood and you will find me. Look beneath a stone and I am there. - Stigmata (Midget, you little cheat!)
19. “Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don't have men killed.” “Oh. Who's being naive, Kay? “ - Godfather
I love this contest. I really do. I just like looking at beautiful women. I must be corrupt, perverted and indecent and I should be deeply ashamed of myself... oh wait I am not a Muslim, so maybe I shouldn't.
Apparently authorities in Indonesia weren't amused that their country was represented in the contest. Latifah Iskandar, a parliamentarian from the PAN party was one who let it be known that Indonesian girls should not engage in such activity:
I’m sad that there are still Indonesians like that, at this time wer’e concerned about the issue of pornography. It’s very inappropriate. The Majelis Ulama Indonesia, MUI, also complained, and went even further, saying that Indonesia should not participate in the contest at all.
The MUI rejects (Miss Universe) primarily because it emphasises beauty and the body. This can be seen in the appearance of the contestants. Secondly, the MUI rejects the clothes they wear.
The womens’ wing of the Islamic Defenders Front, the Mujahidah FPI, have reported Nadine Chandrawinata to the police for indecency. FPI lawyer Adnan Assegaf, who accompanied Mujahidah Secretary Noni Supriyanti Budiani, gave the following explanation:
We have reported Nadine Chandrawinata as she has harassed Indonesian women by appearing in vulgar poses at the Miss Universe 2006 contest on behalf of Indonesia.
Amidhan of the MUI in Jakarta advised that a new contest should be set up:
Why not have a contest that doesn’t emphasise beauty but instead ability, intelligence, and spirit as human beings who are moral and religiously observant?
Yes Amidhan, there already are such contests. They are called Quran recital competitions.
As for me, I prefer to look at beautiful bodies, thank you very much.
ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo? WITNESS: We both do. ATTORNEY: Voodoo? WITNESS: We do. ATTORNEY: You do? WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning? WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he? WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty...
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken? WITNESS: Would you repeat the question?
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time? WITNESS: Uh....
ATTORNEY: She had three children, right? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: How many were boys? WITNESS: None. ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated? WITNESS: By death. ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual? WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard. ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people? WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to? WITNESS: Oral.
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m. ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time? WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him! ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor? WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless? WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
It only takes a few weeks away from Qatar to recharge the batteries, refresh the complexion, slim down a little from all the walking and realise that there are plenty others who are happy to share your moral values. Then of course you come back and the specifics of local life get on your nerves for the first few weeks, until you get used to them once again and eventually stop paying attention.
What makes me cringe every time I come across it is Middle Eastern fascination with all things "family". Family Food Centre. Family Pharmacy. Family Chicken Restaurant. Family section. Family day only. Family family family family family. What is going on here?? If you are a single person, an orphan, or even simply on your own, you would probably feel discriminated against. And these are just little things. The issue goes much deeper: here in the Middle East your family pretty much predetermines the way society looks at you. The moment you are born people have assumptions as to what kind of person you are and will be. I can imagine a husband having a following conversation with his wife as they are looking out of the window onto the street where their offspring is playing with the other neighbourhood kids: "See this boy there? He's from X family. Very good family. Let's invite him over one day to play with our son in our pool." "See that other boy? He is from Y family. Not a good family, we don't want to have anything to do with them. We don't want others to see this boy playing with our son, least they suspect his father is a friend of mine". Chances are the boy X is no better than the boy Y, but what do you know. Family is in the blood stream, in the brain, it is bound to come out and show one day.
When it's time for the kid to go to school, one of the major factors in choosing a suitable establishment is WHICH FAMILIES send their kids there. Want a good job? No hay problema. Family connections will have it sorted out in no time. And finding a suitable spouse is rarely an issue - just look around for a cousin of the same age. After all, what other family could be better than your own??
Families stick together, protect their image, keep their internal issues and scandals well hidden from public view. Domestic violence, divorces, child abuse, alcoholism, syphillis - all very hush hush. Think about your family... You will disgrace your family if you dare complain. Family honour will suffer. Remember that family comes first.
I've just about had it with all this "family" business. I am lucky I am not from around here and as such I am not judged by my family. Back home it doesn't matter. What matters is who you are, what you do, your character, education and such like. If your brother is gay, if your parents are divorced or you have no parents - none of these will stop you from achieving your potential. Nobody needs to know anything about your family to appreciate the individual you are.
Here in Qatar "family" stuff goes beyond hilarious. What exactly do they mean by Family Pharmacy? That it doesn't cater for singletons? That all the products in there can only be used in tight family circle? What does "Family day" mean in the malls? If I go there with a friend (i.e. we are NOT a family) - we will be allowed to enter. If a guy goes there with his brothers (aren't they a family?) - they will not. Opera Cafe in Landmark has three sitting areas: common, ladies only (which I somehow understand), and FAMILY. And what about Family Chicken Restaurant? Yeah, thought so.
Until a person gets married and creates a family, he/she is not taken seriously, no matter how old. Our newspapers feature matrimonial ads that read: "37 year old boy is seeking alliance from families of suitable girls". Now what in the world is THAT supposed to mean? That he is still a "boy" at 37? That a "suitable girl" who I assume would be suitable in age, too, is incapable of deciding for herself and needs a family to represent her? Actually, both assumptions are very probable.
If a person decides to take life in his/her own hands, and do something extraordinary (or a little out of the ordinary), the family would immediately "come to the resque". Marry a foreigner/from unsuitable family? No way. Practice "unladylike" sport - no way. Study something that is not approved by the family - no way. Get a job that would harm the family image - no way, better stay unemployed. Family here has the ultimate right to tell the person what to do. And more importantly - what NOT to do.
Family is a magic word, a strange symbiosis of people who are merged together into one single unit. Family is KING.
It seems that people forget that families are made of individuals, and it's these individuals who make up the family and create its image, and not the other way around.
Can’t believe I am in back in Doha after a holiday. In a way it feels like I’ve never even left Qatar. Little has changed over the last couple of weeks other than the weather and traffic. It’s much hotter now than it was when I left, but driving is way better with fewer motorists on the roads. I missed Doha... As a person who’s never had a long term residence address I feel at home here already, and I missed this home. I missed places and people, food, work, malls, driving, the routine. This is strange as I am not the one to stick to the routine generally, and I welcome change.
This time my holiday provided plenty of “change”. It was a reverse culture shock, I guess. After a few years in the Middle East the Mediterranean culture seemed almost foreign to me. Everything was different. Noisy and leggy Europeans, wine or beer with lunch, mixed crowds, nightlife, topless sunbathers, and hordes of elderly tourists complete with latest digicams and guide books in every single European language. Plenty of sun and sea and entertainment and exposed flesh. It was fun, really, Malta.
Staying in the Intercontinental was an experience in itself, mostly enjoyable. It is right in the centre of nightlife zone and that meant I was never short of entertainment. Though I have to add that wandering around the hotel resulted in me feeling old, after looking at teenage show stoppers in sparkly tops and tiny skirts or hotpants parading around with equally gorgeous teenage boys that looked like they just jumped off the surf board… But it was also quite refreshing not to have to endure stares and whispers of people disapproving of my choice of clothes as happens only too often in Qatar (I don’t cover, obviously). In fact I felt terribly overdressed in my loose linen trousers and short sleeved tops.
It was a great holiday, and just long enough. I won’t go into details; I posted enough photos of Malta already. All I can say is that I love the country and I would definitely go there again sometime.
I am glad to be home. For those who don’t know yet, I got a new car. Woo hoo! I got it the day after I came back from holidays. Many thanks to those who helped me with all the car fixing and trading-in business as well as new car registration and final quotes. Much appreciated... I owe you ;-) I love my new car and I am still being overly careful with it. Well, you know how it is. For example, it took me forever to reverse out of my parking the other day although my previous car was the same size. I was just sitting there laughing at myself.
Many other little things happened since I got back home, but I can’t think of anything else to share. I know I have totally ignored all of you lately so I will be reading and catching up on all your news so don’t give up on me just yet!
