STL: Day 3, Part 4

How hot is that pic?!

Hello

I nearly forgot to mention something from Friday night (that would be Day 2, Part III). Taha had challenged me to a one-on-one game using his net at home. Being a guest, I was happy to oblige. As always, I beat him pretty easily. It's not even worth getting into the details of my 11-3 bloody massacre. In fact, I had this one S I C K dunk on him where I came down with so much force that I inadvertently broke his rim and in all likelihood his ego. Mind you, it wasn't on purpose, but here's proof of my skills:


I know, I know. I'm phenomenal. I feel bad about the rim, but that's a price you gotta pay when you "challenge" me in some hoops, Taha.

(I love having a blog where I can twist stories to my advantage without having Taha interfere...)

Onwards...

And so on Saturday morning I woke up around 10:30am thinking to myself, Crap! I've already wasted so much of the day! These guys are going to kill me! Little did I realize that 10:30am was considered the same thing as waking up at fajr time in the Lou (on a Saturday). You see, I grew up under my mom and she thinks that if you wake up at 10am or later (azubillah), your entire day has been shot. I guess some house rules don't apply in others...

Moving on: Taha was nice to me in the morning, but you could clearly tell he was annoyed when I went to go wake him up. Same thing with Hassan, too. (Neither of them responded to my 10am text of "do me," which is why I walked into T's bedroom because normally I get some sort of response to a msg like that. Hassan, on the other hand, wouldn't reply to a txt msg if it was his mother!) So T-Man got his mom to make us some phenom breakfast and we then waited to hear from Prince Hassan.

While waiting for Hassan (a process that can take a few days), Taha and I wandered about in the backyard around the fallen trees. Relegated to this form of social activity in the Lou, I resorted to the following as a means of entertaining myself:



Here I'm obviously point to the sky. Perhaps for Superman to save me. Perhaps at the fact that I was still amazed at all the stars you can see in STL from the night before. Or perhaps preparing to do a little nach-ing (that's dancing, people; Punjabi style).

And finally while on the tree, I got in touch with my inner beast in this pic. This is how I get the females, young playaz. It also undoubtedly explains why I'm still single (clue in sad violin music):



Regardless, you cannot deny the pure hotness that are these pictures. Just don't stare too long, k?

When Hassan finally graced his presence, we drove downtown to hit up the arch. I have to say that the arch is kinda cool. It's a nice piece of architectural work in an otherwise lackluster skyline. The views from the top of the arch are also nice, too. While on the way up these stairs to the arch, Hassan and I decided to run. Considering that Hassan hoops at least once a week, I thought I'd easily get beaten. Plus, he had homefield advantage, if you think about it. But, as this video proves, I won. And not by a stomach as jerk-off Taha likes to contend...!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2036212692720159649



Throughout the day, the "Does Chicago have this...," "Does Chicago have that..." banter never ended. But my boys were oh-so-cute in their love of their hood that I tried my best not to retaliate. Kids, man. No matter how fast they grow or where they end up, home will always be home sweet home.

Part 5 coming soon. Trust me, you'll want to see the upcoming video clips...

Cheers, mate

STL: Day 2, Part III

Cheerio!

Our travels to the Show Me State consisted of comparisons between Chicago and Saint Louis; such comparisons typically make me laugh but out of respect for my STL boys, I will often superficially engage myself in these arguments. As I was the one entering their territory this time, I decided to remain largely quiet out of fear of not being able to eat their mother's home cooking.

We also tried to solve riddles that Hassan posed on the way there while jammin to various hits from DMB to Dre, U2 to 2Pac, and Bryan Adams to Will Smith. The best part, though, was when Hassan wowed us with his ability to sing along to Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It and not miss a single word. I had heard the rumors as I'm sure you have. Now, to put those rumors at bay, I'm proud to give you another Imran Shakur Google Video moment: Hassan Gettin Jiggy With It:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3605219335537585349



And I'm also pleased to give you a more sentimental Prince Hassan as he serenades my camera and the hearts of many women:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6439303715577023548



Wearing his hot Gucci shades, driving his nice car, there's no doubt in my book that this is a man who is truly confident and secure with himself (mashaAllah). By the way, is anyone else here concerned that he's driving during his encore-worthy performances? I guess when you're lost in the moment like Taha and I were, it didn't matter...

Anyway, when we finally reached the suburbs of The Lou, Hassan dropped Taha and I to T's house. I got the tour of the Ghani household and reconnected with the Ghani's after a long time; especially Mr. Ghani himself who nearly pushed Taha out of the way to greet me (I love that man). So we ate AMAZING food, I had some techy moments with Hamza, and then we concluded the night by watching Rocky Balboa with Hassan and his parents. The movie started off slow, but was actually not too bad considering that this is the sixth Rocky movie. There was a lot more dialogue than action with a few really good scenes like when Rocky and his son had a heart-to-heart outside of Rocko's restaurant. The training scene was great and inspirational. I was this close (see my fingers?) from wanting to go work out...

By the time I crashed (note: I was abruptly woken up at 3am when Taha and Hamza raided my room and Taha jumped on me, then held me, then...), I already felt like I was at home and waited for what was to come on Day 3, Part IV...

Stay tuned...

Truly Madly Deeply Dooooo!!!

STL: Day 2, Part II

Hi

Since we decided that we didn't want to put up with the fog, we all agreed that in order to achieve time maximization in STL, we would have to leave really early on Friday morning in hopes of getting to STL in time for Jummah. Accordingly, the plan was to leave straight after fajr. Taha was going to ensure that was done by setting his phone alarm for 6-something...

And so, naturally, at 8:10am I woke up. I looked down to where Taha was (he slept on the floor in my room) and he gave me the West Side sign. Frick! We already lost two hours. Taha and I discussed that if we left right then and there, we would be able to make Jummah in time in Saint Louis. So I went down to Umar's bedroom where Prince Hassan slept and told him the time and that we had to go. Hassan's responses sounded more like grunts instead of the reassuring "Yeah, Pac Daddy, let's go..." He then shifted his body to the left, his back turned to me as if he was saying in subtle defiance, Great, Pac Daddy! Now get the hell outta here so I can get some sleep! I came back to my room and told Taha that I told Hassan to get ready but that it didn't look like he will anytime soon. Taha suggested that we wake up at 8:45 and I was cool with getting more sleep myself...

And so, naturally, at 11:30am I wake up in utter disbelief that it's that late. Taha, who has the ability to wake up and run a marathon right away without stretching because he's so alert when he wakes up, suggested that we leave after Jummah. So I went down to Hassan. We looked at each other and started laughing. "What happened?!" Hassan inquired. I gave him the rundown on the new agenda and so we all finally woke up and took our showers. Yes, separately, too.

Anyway, my mom did it REAL big, mashaAllah, by packing some PHENOM snacks for our road trip. We each had a parata roll with omlette inside in addition to some Doritos bags. Taha and Hassan caved in and had their rolls for breakfast just before Jummah. We then talked about how amazing our mothers are and how depressing our future wives will be when it comes to kitchen duties. Yes, DUTIES, women; as in a WIFE'S responsibility to cook great food for her man. Hassan said that he would have to send his girl to my mom for at least a 6-month internship to learn how to cook and then another 6-month internship to Taha's mom. The three of us then cried a silent cry upon discussing the fact that Taha's girl and most likely Hassan's and mine in the future will not be able to cook as well. It was utterly depressing and tragic. We men give so much and ask for so little in return; just some good home cooked food. I'll have to think about marrying a girl in Pak, now, basically so I can save the lives of three people: Taha, Hassan, and me. My mail-ordered wife from Pak will cook for the three of us as it appears as though women in Oakbrook or other random places like Plano, Texas cannot cook worth anything. Or we'll have to find some cousins of AJ's wife because ol girl can cook.

But I digress...

After getting ready, saying my salaams, praying Jummah, we left for our voyage to the Show Me State...

Cheers.

STL: Day 1, Part 1

AA

Well it's 11am here in the Lou and as I write this blog entry here in the beautiful Ghani home, you can just imagine that everyone here is still sleeping. But that's fine because I get to enjoy Taha's basement which houses a 60-something inch TV. The TV makes writing this entry rather difficult as I find myself gazing at it with loving affection much like a mother would gaze in the eyes of her newborn.

So, you should know that this STL trip has been nearly a fricken decade in the making. I've known my boy Taha for that long and during the course of that time we've often fantasized of this moment actually materializing. It's almost surreal. I'm just trying to take it all in. Seeing both Taha and the Prince (and more importantly, their families) in their element is phenom.

But the STL trip actually started in the Pac household on Thursday night...

We intended to take off Thursday night after T was done with his birthday dinner with his in-laws. But because of the immensely thick fog in Chicago and Saint Louis, we decided that we would take off Friday morning right after fajr. So that night we did what most bachelors would do on a Thursday night. We watched Dil Chata Hai; a Bollywold movie. The movie mirrored our lives as it dealt with three desi guys who discovered themselves and the meaning of love. And as we learned from the movie, love just happens. You can't control it, it just fricken happens. Much like the expression sh!t happens, well so does love according to Bollywood. So, if we draw some parallels here, we will inevitably conclude the following: Sh!t happens. Love happens. Therefore love = sh!t and sh!t = love. What a great message, huh? Okay, so maybe that's not the message the movie tried to convey, but my insight is nonetheless spot on, right?

Just kidding. So, anyway, what we did actually conclude was that Taha = Akash; the young, full-of-life, cool, jokester whose longest relationship lasts two weeks. Hassan = Sameer; the young, I-got-your-back-even-if-the-camera-fades-my-character-out, hopeless romantic with the best body and dance moves. As for me I was Sid; the young philosopher, painter, and master of words when it came to pimptastic lines like, "I haven't painted my best one as yet" when talking to a woman about which painting was my favorite and looking at her with a deliberately intense, passionate look. Well, based on that I'm sure you can make your own conclusions as to whether or not that's accurate, but you get the idea: I'm pimptastic.

The highlight of the night, however, came with The Aerial Launch Attack of Imran: In the middle of the movie, we took a small break while Hassan talked to one of his many lovers. To kill time, Taha proposed to me that we play this launching game while waiting for Hassan. The game is simple; Taha lies on the floor and bends his knees as if he's going to give someone a joola ride or do the bicycle exercise. Enter me who uses the base of Taha's feet as the launch seat. Taha then cocks his feet back to see just how far he can fling me. I doubted him and it evidently stupid for me to do so. On the first go, Taha makes me fly a good five feet, but like a graceful cat, I landed on my feet. The second go-around went a little differently, though...

Taha was convinced that he could do a better job. I didn't get enough air time, apparently, on the first launch. So on the second one, Taha bends his knees closer to his chest than ever before. He also held onto my feet. At the time before the launch, I thought to myself, Why is he grabbing my feet? How am I going to balance myself? What if I fall flat of my face? Okay, shut up and go with it, Imran... Then the launch sequence began. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...TAKE OFF!

As I was in the air, I noticed that my head was but a few inches from touching the ceiling fan. Wow, I thought, I'm pretty high. Then I thought, Hmm, if I'm this high, my feet are probably not touching the ground. That's going to be a problem because how am I going to balance my...

THUD!!!

For you history buffs, you've naturally heard of the Shot That Was Heard Around the World, right? Well, this sound was similar in that it was the Butt Hitting My Living Room Floor at 2am That Was Heard in All of Plainfield. At the sound of the thud, I feared that my massive body's impact upon the floor was going to send shockwaves throughout the land and most importantly to my mother's and Nani's bedrooms, whereupon my imminent death would soon follow upon their awakening. But, after that fear dissipated then the throbbing booty ache permeated my mind and body and I could swear I lost consciousness for 5 seconds.

It turns out that not having my feet at my disposal was in fact critical to the launch. According to Hassan, I was completely horizontal in the air. And I apparently was looking over at him with a childish, badmash smile while in the air. That smile vanished at the time of impact and I guess my eyes rolled up in pain. Despite this trauma, we started cracking up and went into pure hysteria as to what happened. If you're not following me or picturing what happened, then I've failed in describing what happened, because that launch had to be the funniest thing that happened to me in a long time.

Well, perhaps not as funny as when, about an hour later, I was in my boxers only and tackled to the ground by Taha while Hassan took pictures with his camera phone. That was equally as traumatic to me as the fall was.

That pretty much concluded the night. The next day, began the official trek to the Lou...

Alright, that's it for now. I can't sit in one position too long because my butt still hurts. Part 2 coming soon.

Cheers.

Knicks - Nuggets Brawl

The infamous New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets Brawl. Carmelo Anthony straight up punches Mardy Collins in the face. Craziness and stupidity at the same time.

Carmelo, who just recently made a fricken awesome commercial under Jordan's label, deserves his 15 day suspension. And the other players deserve their suspension, too. Carmelo deserves the most because of 1) his punch and 2) he's supposed to be a role model and leader; heck, he should get more than 15 days.

Fortunately for the Denver team, they literally have The Answer to solve the problem of Melo sitting out: The 76ers-Nuggets trade involving Allen Iverson was HUGE! This team, so long as Anthony and Iverson get along, will be sick. Philly does well, too, because they get TWO number one picks and a couple good players like Andre Miller. It'll be fun to see watch the Nuggets...

But perhaps what's even more fun to watch is my Chicago Bulls! Watching them recently beat Kobe and the LA Lakers was phenom, man. Man, it's great being a Chicago sports fan, mashaAllah. Bears, Bulls, Fire, and next season the rise of the Cubbies. Done and done.

Good times!

Audi R8 - My New Dream Car

Hi

The expression "vroom" can be defined by the following link:

http://microsites.audi.com/audir8/html/index.php


One day...

I Ain't Mad At Cha...

AA All

SubhanAllah. Imagine one of 2pac Shakur's co-thugs and co-rappers fitting the bill of Pac's lyrics "Oh, you a Muslim now?" from his well-known and poetical I Ain't Mad at Cha song.

Well, meet Napoleon from Pac's group Outlawz. This is a MUST watch...

MashaAllah, the sincerity of this brother is enticing to watch, if not inspiring. His love of Allah and respect for the Prophet (sw) and the Companions (r) permeates the room you're in while he tells the audience his background. His honesty with himself and to the people in the room is refreshing and allows you to easily identify with him. May Allah protect and increase him in success. Ameen.

Keep in mind that this is a man who rolled with 2pac. A guy who really was a gangsta. A guy who lead a life that would embody everything against Islam. Drugs. Alcohol. Guns. Killers. All that. A guy so immersed in it, that you would wonder how someone would ever come out of such a lifestyle?

I guess it would bring this to mind: La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. There is no strengh or power, save in Allah. It is He Alone that has the power to bring someone from the depths of fitna and the haraam to the noor of the path that leads to Him.

I try to remind myself something that the brother says in the video: that you should not despair of Allah's Rahma. That you shouldn't think to yourself, Man, I've done this and this, how can I ask Allah to forgive me? Doing that is to limit Allah's Power and Mercy.

It is but my wish that such Light enters my own heart and guides me a path that is swift and easy to Allah.

Allah huma salay Allah Muhammad.

Ummah Films. Hot.

Salaam

This is a pretty cool video. It's a commercial shown in Saudia Arabia/Middle East that gives a message about the evils of backbiting. Strong message.

And an equally strong message that it conveys is that Arab women are HOT! I mean, these girls add fuel to the desire of finding a hot hijabi one day...

The one thing that confuses me is this: Are they saying that all attractive women are backbiters? Or that they're nice on the outside and evil, twisted on the inside? I welcome all hot women's perspective on this, but strongly advise that you submit a picture as proof of your hotness. And your biodata. And your parent's phone number. Oh, and your annual income.

Anyway, I won't take away what the director is trying to show. The group name is Ummah Films and I suggest that you check out their website and blog. It seems like a really cool and perhaps needed initiative. InshaAllah, I hope their endeavors go well and are accepted.

Fi Aman Allah

Practical Joke at Work Gone Wrong

Hi

So, a couple nights ago I'm getting ready to leave work, right? It was about 7:30 and I was already running 30 minutes late to meet up with my boy Tariq before he heads off to India to get himself hitched. We would've probably hit up ColdStone afterwards, so you can imagine just how badly I was trying to get out of the office.

I gather all my things and do my standard do-I-have-everything check. Cell phone? Check. BlackBerry? Got it. iPod? Yes. Wallet? No doubt. Car keys? ... I said, car keys? ...

Nothing.

No big deal, I thought. It's probably lost underneath my messy stack of randomly placed confidential and critical documents scattered across my desk. I shovel through the piles and find nothing. This is odd. Then I thought, Idiot! Look in your coat pocket! But there was nothing in there.

Then I start to recall my steps to see whether or not I actually remember bringing the keys into the office. I was pretty sure that I did, so I had no choice but to walk to my car in the freezing weather and see if I possibly left it in there. I was ready to shoot myself if I did that. Knowing my own limitations, I didn't rule the possibility out. So I walk out to my car which is of course all the way at the end of the parking lot where lighting is extremely poor. Great, I'm finna get jacked up in this! Of course, I recalled that I work in posh Northbrook where the worst thing that could happen to you is that some rich guy would forcibly give you keys to his "outdated" 2006 E 500 AMG Mercedes.

So I get to my car and I can't see my keys. They weren't in the ignition. Or any of the car seats. I couldn't see it anywhere. Now I was getting a bit worried. I run back into the office. After thawing myself out, I re-trace all the steps I made that day in the office. I went to the third floor where my office is at...nothing. I went to the first floor where I met with some colleagues earlier in the day...nothing. Conferences rooms...nothing. I saw the Polish cleaning lady and talked to her (mainly by hand gestures as her English was not quite there)...nothing. Desperate, I went to the washroom...nothing (thank God!).

Fortunately, I knew I had a spare key in the car (not sure why it was in there, but Alhamdullilah!). So I called a locksmith and he came out about 30 minutes later. It was now 8:30pm and I regrettably had to cancel on Tariq. The locksmith comes out and in less than 30 seconds - no exaggeration here - he pops my car door open and takes a wire and unlocks my ride. $65 for a 30 second job. That's pretty nice...for him. I ask if he can give me a break and he tells me that this sorta job typically costs $95 at least. (I then realized that I'm in the wrong fricken industry.)

Well, I was well on my way home and at that point not too concerned about the missing keys because I was pretty tired and confused as to how my keys could've been misplaced (they were no where to be found in the car).

So, the next morning on the way in to work, I check my BlackBerry as I normally do. I get an email from one of my project assistants and it reads:

"OMG you didn't get it. [After reading that I was like, Oh hell no...] I left you a "ransom" note yesterday before I left. Your keys are under your computer. I am soooooo sorry. Please don't hate me; you were supposed to get the note. I'll make it up to you, I feel terrible.

On another note,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. SHAKER, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. [It was my bday that morning]

I deserve pay back, I'm so sorry."

I called her up when I got in and she's like, "I love you??" I joked telling her that she had better say that. She insisted on paying the bill and I tried to refuse, but she said that she'd feel like the worst person on earth if I didn't, so I took the money after she threw it on my desk (along with a snickers bar) and literally ran down to the first floor when I tried to give her the money back. She even tried locking me in by standing outside of the office door on the third floor and putting all her weight into it. I just laughed and she ran downstairs. (I think others at work were wondering what the hell was going on between us!)

Anyway, that's my story. Good times. My office mate was surprised that I was laid back about it. I figured it was all in good fun, but that the joke just never made it to me like it was supposed to (I never saw the "ransom note").

Any ideas for payback, folks?! ;)

Cheers

NFC CHAMPS & Devin Hester: Bears Win!

AA

Well, he did it again. Devin Hester ran for his third punt return TD for the season against the Vikings earlier today. The insane thing about Hester is that any other person returning that ball (yes, myself included) would have been tackled at least a couple times. He turned nothing into something and razzled and dazzled everyone...

To recall Devin's greatness, click here.

And it was much needed, too. At that point, I'm disheartened to write, Rex was not cutting it. He had thrown a couple interceptions after the Bears DEF recovered the ball. It was like every new opportunity created, Rex would end up coming short. It was painful to watch. I'm not even gonna post his numbers because it hurts too much. But, again, I'm being optimistic and hopeful that this is all a learning experience and he'll turn it around...and ASAP, too! In fact, Lovie makes the following point: "“Rex is our quarterback,” Smith said. “There’s a difference between perception and reality. Reality is we’re 10-2 right now and we just won the division with Rex at quarterback. So that’s what I go on. We’re not changing. We’re 10-2 with Rex as our quarterback.”"

Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones (the new Dynamic Duo), however, once again tore it up. Benson's TD run was phenom, mA!

Let's also not forget about Ricky Manning Jr's TD interception return for 54 yards. I mean, this Bears defense is unreal. We forced the Vikings to go through THREE quarterbacks. Brad Johnson threw four INTs. And the safety that we got actually seemed to be more like a fumble TD recovery, but it was really irrelevant at that point.

Oh, here's what Urlacher said about Devin: " “Hester’s great,” said middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. “We’ve all seen how good he is. The guy is unbelievable. I wouldn’t kick to him if I was a special teams coach. He’s amazing.” " And Urlacher says that with good reason. Courtesy of the Chicagobears.com, just check out some more stats on what Hester has done so far this year: "

Hester set a Bears record with three punt return touchdowns and tied a league mark that’s shared by nine other players—including former Bears Gale Sayers

and Cecil Turner—with four combined returns for scores. Hester’s touchdown against the Vikings Sunday was his first at Soldier Field. He has returned punts of 84 yards at Arizona and 83 yards at Green Bay for TDs and also scored on a 108-yard return of a missed field goal at the New York Giants." Alhamdullilah! :)

BTW: The Bears have officially captured the NFC North with today's win, mashaAllah. I respect Ron Turner for saying this about winning it: "“We didn’t do anything on offense today to make us feel like celebrating,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. “We won 10 games and the division championship and we’ll celebrate that. But we know we have to get a lot better on offense.”" We'll see Rex inshaAllah rise to the occassion...

Bear Down!

It's The Time to Disco!

Hi I've realized that the woman of my life likes to disco. And you know what? So do I! Oh hooooo! Balle balle! Preity Zinta Zindabad! Disclaimer: I do not condone the imagery of beautiful, half-naked woman. I do, however, get turned on by it. Cheers

Me On A Airplane

Hi





Okay, so I get bored on my flights to Cali. What else am I to do? Read a book?!



:) Cheers

Week 12: Bears Loss. :(

Hi

What a depressing day. We lost one of the biggest games of the season against Tom Brady and the Patriots. The game was very awesome defensively. Both teams had key take aways throughout the game with the Bears recovering the ball multiple times in the red zone. I mean, what can you say about our defense? The best in the league, indeed, mashaAllah.

Now, our offense, on the other hand is a different story. Grossman tried a few times to hit the deep threat of all deep threats (Bernard Berrian) a few times, but the throws were short. On the mid-range passes, however, Rex did pretty well. He'd hit up either Bernard or Moose for some key gains. Why they didn't stick to that AND our spot-on running is beyond me. I mean, with Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson both running, our run game is pretty amazing. This is Chicago. We're the Chicago Bears. Like many a kalu, we run. In a game like this, after the first couple deep throws didn't work, you stick with what does: running and every once in a while the short/mid passes.

I hate to say it, but the main reason we got our TD was because of two HUGE penalties. Whether they were justified or not is another story. Being a die hard fan, I will say that they were justified, even if a little weak. (A penalty is a penalty, right?)

Regardless, it's not like that was our only scoring opportunity. We had an amazing opp to win the game with 1:48 remaining, but on the FIRST play we throw deep! WTF?! How are we possibly going to do that when the deep ball was NOT working?! HOW COULD THEY MAKE THAT CALL!! AND WITH ALL THAT TIME REMAINING!! It was so frustrating. I remember Jones walking off the field with a look of disappointment and disgust as if he were saying, I told them that we shouldn't go with that play. I hear ya, Jones.

I dunno. Maybe the Bears were thinking like this: Alright, we have a lot of time on our hands. The Pats are gonna assume that we're gonna do running plays and short passes. Our deep ones haven't been working, but if Rex feels it, maybe we can throw them off and go with a deep pass on the first play? That logic could perhaps work with me. I mean, your risk level at that point is out the fricken stadium, but so be it.

Here's a great article on ESPN to read that analyzes the Bears and specifically Grossman.

Anyway, Go Bears!!

Bears vs Pats: 17-10
Record: 9-2.

Drama on The Blog

WTF?!

Well, I always appreciate comments on my blog. Comments that make fun of me or even others. I especially appreciate comments that praise me. Those always make for fun reading. Of course, it's enjoyable to me and others when done in the proper manner, of course.

In the recent blog entry about Farooq's Bears Party, however, this has not been the case. What's worse is that it hasn't been about me either, but one of my closest friends and his fiance. And kinda out of the blue, too.

This is absolutely childish. I feel like I'm babysitting a deviant 15 year old high school desi kid that was heart broken and is now releasing his/her anger on the world over.

I'm not sure what your problem is or why you feel like pissing a buncha people off. My recommendation to you is to 1) stop reading my blog and 2) mend your broken and pathetic life.

I'm not one that likes to get into these things, so I kindly ask you to inshaAllah stop. Let's not create drama on this blog or to a lesser extent in other people's lives. Jazak.

Let's leave this blog for what it is: A blog that is inherently all about the glory that is me.

Cheers

Punjabi Spiderman

This is hysterical. Spiderman in Punjabi. One of the best lines is when Spiderman comes to save the day and someone yells "Look, it's Spiderman" which apparently translates into "Oh agay Shazada!" [around 3min 25sec]. Anyway, funny stuff... Punjab Zindabad!

Farooq's Bears Party

Me and Sayeed...together...finally.

Hi

On Sunday, Farooq threw a Bears party at his crib that was phenom, mashaAllah. 20+ guys showed up as we all enjoyed watching the Bears 10-0 victory on his 42 inch Ambilight plasma.

The food set-up was inspiring. Burgers, sausages, and hot dogs. Oh wait, I should let you know that those were the starters! Then the main course came with Sayeed brining six large IE pizzas. We're talking spicy gyros and spicy chicken pizza from Italian Express. It doesn't get much better. Oh wait, but then you should also know about the cheesecake, too.


Well, anyway, the highlight of the game included the Bears DEF (notably, Urlacher's INT in the end zone!) and the new Bernard Berrian on our offense -- rookie Mark Bradley. Other than that, it was a low key game, but nonetheless improving our record to 9-1, Alhamdullilah.


And, now, more pictures...

The best pic ever. Sami.

The hottest pic ever. Fahad aka "Do Me".

Pic 1: Tariq being disciplined. Pic 2: Ali, Tariq, and Zubair. Pic 3: All I can see is Fahad in this pic. All the others are Hydros lost in the darkness. ;)


Cheers

Kramer: Fricken Racist

Hi

This is a great way of destroying your career. What an idiot! It's scary that he must really feel this way about African Americans if he let his anger control him and yell this stuff out...



Azubillah!

Urlacher's Crib

Hi

Courtesy of Fahad, here's a link to AT&T's Home Turf with Prime Time showing Urlacher's phenom home.

http://seehowtheylive.com/bUrlacher.php

If only my mom let me played high school football. This would've been me...

Urlacher For Life

Arab drift accident

AA This is what you could do if you were in the M.E. and were looking for an activity to do. Crazy. Fun, if successful. Dangerous. And stupid because of the self-inflicted pain, damage, or worse death that could happen. But with the music that's playing in the background it almost makes you forget what's happening...

Week 10: Da Bears - Unstoppable

Hi

Granted, many of you haters out there will try to comment, "Oh, so the Bears are unstoppable, are they? Well, what happened last week? Where was your blog posting?!"

To the haters out there, I have this to say to you: .....

Nothing. I don't have to say anything to you after Da Bears destroyed and dismantled an entire city just before the 2nd half of the game. Where Tom Jones became Brian Urlacher-like from a few weeks ago (think Arizona game) and motivated the team to play like it normally does. His PHENOM 26-yd run sparked life in my team again, mashaAllah.

Moose continued to show why I pay him the big bucks by making big plays. Rex caught on fire. He connected with Mark Bradley just before the half ended. I knew Bradley had to do something; in the pre-season he's shown us a lot of potential, so I'm glad he was the back-up to our deep threat Bernard Berrian. Sexy Rexy remembered our new weapon this year, Desmond Clark and also connected with him for a TD. And let's not forget Devin Hester. WHOA! SubhanAllah, man! He tied our very own Nathan Vasher for a 108 yard field goal return for the best in NFL history! Unbelievable! Two seasons in a row we did it by two very talented ball players. This Hester guy is sick!! (See his awesome pic below.) And the fact the he tricked the Giants into thinking he was gonna down the ball was a stroke of genius. When I heard that, I was like, WTF?! Are you serious?! Amazing!! Alhamdullilah!

The important thing here is that the receivers started to catch and HOLD ON to the ball. After last week, many people started hatin HARD CORE on Rex. Granted, he was still making his rookie-like mistakes (i.e. throwing off the back foot, trying to get rid of the ball instead of taking the sack), but let's not forget that this is his first full season as a QB!! I like how people forget that. Or that many of his passes are being dropped. Hey, I'm not gonna be ignorant here and just conveniently disregard his overthrown passes; he still needs to work on that, obviously. But I'm not going to throw the guy to the bus like the media loves to do.

You know, I really liked one thing Al Michaels said tonight. He said that people in all their babbling and blogging will one second say that, for example, The Bears are the best team! Then, after a loss like the one we had last week against Miami will say, The Bears are not that good! They have an easy schedule, etc., etc., etc. But now, with a HUGE win like this one, people will say, The Bears ARE the real deal. It's like can't people just stick to what they believe in? Well, apparently not. People will instead go with what's hot at the moment. These are band wagoners. People without backbones. Haters. The naming conventions on these type of parasites goes on and on. In the end, they don't matter.

I believe in the Bears and always have and always will. Even in years past when it didn't seem like anything was working for us, you'd see me support them week-after-week. So when a couple people from, oh I don't know, Saint Louis try to taunt me and question me about why I haven't blogged about the Bears after a loss, I think to myself, Well, they just don't matter.

Even if the Bears lost today, which, Alhamdullilah, they didn't, I'd still be the first one to cheer for them next week and the week after that and so on.

It's moments like this victory that gives me reason to do so. Anyway...

Chicago 38, NYC 20.
The Chicago Bears: 8-1.

Spidey

Hi

We all know very well that the epic saga of Peter Parker will continue next year. Here's the latest and greatest preview. (Don't forget to breathe)



Daaaang!!

An Ode to Taha

Salaam

Disclaimer: Please note that this is not an actual ode to Taha as you all are used to seeing. Such an ode must come at a really significant moment like his wedding and will undoubtedly be a few thousand paragraphs long which would make Moby Dick look like a bedtime story. I will have to say, however, that this ode is the next best thing in terms of significant moments in the 9 year relationship Taha and I enjoy and will inshaAllah always enjoy...

For the first time ever in the history of the man.myth.legend.sufi.lover.fighter.punjabi blog (online since ~1.5yrs)............drum roll, please....................................Taha Ghani himself has commented on my blog. See the posting right before the U2 / Green Day video below.

[okay, now slowly exhale]

I'm still not over it, to be honest. In fact, the nice little email notification I get when someone posts a comment still sits in my inbox. I'm a little dumbfounded. Typically, I'll get IMs from Taha saying, "LOL. I loved the blog entry" or "Imran, you are my hero" or "Jeez, you are phenom, Imran" or "Imran, how do you do what you do?" or "Imran, you're pretty cute" or...oh wait...those are my inner thoughts, sorry...

So anyway I'm used to getting Taha blog "postings" via IMs or just a comment in person like, "Imran, your hotel pictures you take of yourself inspire me to call Sana." I'm not sure what that means, so take it with a grain of salt like I do...

I mean, some of the IM messages he left me regarding my blog postings in the past were great and I'd tell him to post that comment. But, as usual, Taha would ignore my pleas.

I'm not sure what's so special about that Eid pictures blog. Was it because I called him out for not being my homie by not coming to my crib in past Eids, so, to make-up for it, he thought posting a comment would get him back on my good side?? But then his comment, "Got any leftovers?!?!" would make no sense unless he's asking if I have any leftover room for him in my heart (the answer to that, btw, is a resounding NO! You flippin sellout!).

I later found out what he meant by it. As it turns out, the only thing Taha noticed in those pictures was the food. What a friggen Punjabi. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Mad respect to Taha for his first of many postings and much respect that his first post had to deal with food.

Now that you have posted a comment, you must continue this time-honored tradition. A tradition that is shared by such blog comment posters like Ali, Umar, AJ, Jessica (well, once upon a time for her), the Texas crew, etc.

Much love.

Cheers

U2 and Greenday

Hi,

A phenom video / song from MNF in New Orleans for the Saints (The Saints Are Coming).



Props to my brotha Umar for finding this video. He had this on his blog waaay before me...

Wake me up when Sept ends...

Eid al Fitr in Pictures

AA

Okay, a tad bit late on the Eid pics. But with the usual hotness factor (mashaAllah), I'm sure it was well worth the wait for you Imran-dependant people...

Ali. The light-skinned one amongst the three of us is always ready for the camera with that no-teeth smile. Yes, just like me, he's very hot, too, mashaAllah. So that's a "yes" to your question of "So, Imran, hotness is a genetic trait throughout your family, huh?"

Dr. Shakur (aka "Umar") is straight up chillaxin in this pic like he's just come back from a 72-hour rotation when in reality he's only relaxing after a long day of, well, relaxation (i.e. eating, eating, and more eating...oh, and some snacking, too, here and there [there is a difference]).

AJ. Not only does he represent the West Side, but he also represents the new look and face of SHUKR (the Banana Republic of Islamic traditional wear).

Me and the Prince. It took a little convincing, but he mashaAllah came and had dinner with our family on Eid. It was a good time for sure. And I gotta give him props, too. For many years when Taha has spent lonely Eids here in Chicago, I'd nearly beg him (on hands and knees) to come and celebrate Eid with my family, but Taha never has/did. So props to AH for doing so the first Eid I asked him to come! Taha, take heed. Hassan, iA, many more to come...

Me and two of the Chaudhary Sisters after Eid Namaz (The Chaudhary Fam were our parosis [neighbors] from Bolingbrook and good family friends).

Rayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!! [Umair Bhai's son] You little cutie! He was sooooo happy to open his Eid gifts! :) Cutest kid, mashaAllah.

Fi Aman Allah

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Eid Mubarak Texting

AA

Belated 'Id (Eid) Mubarak to all...

As always, mashaAllah, Eid was a beautiful day. I enjoyed it with family and friends. We had a number of family friends and family come and go in the house. Visited my main homie AJ (see pic above) and his brother Aamer. And, of course, I had my phone go crazy with "Eid Mubarak" texts every 10 minutes as I'm sure you did as well.

This relatively new phenomena - Eid texting - has done wonders for the Muslim world. With one sweeping text blast, you can wish everyone you know a joyous Eid. Technology has never been better, I tell ya.

With Eid texting, the individual brother or sister no longer has to waste deplorable time talking to people to wish them happiness, baraqa, peace, blah, blah, blah. We can now streamline our previously normal and, let's face it, burdensome task of talking to Brother Fulan (Arabic for so-and-so) or Sister Fulan by simply taking one minute of our obviously invaluable time and oh-so-important lives to say Eid Mubarak. We can cover the different levels of friends we have (i.e. acquaintances, people we are fake with in person and really don't care about, people that we are content to only talk to once a year), extended family, and of course in-laws with a single "Eid Mubarak!!" text.

In fact, Eid texting has replaced the equally cumbersome and cheesey process of sending eid cards via EidMubarak.com, which was revolutionary at its time because it replaced paying money for postage - astaghferAllah - to send paper-based Eid cards. MashaAllah, our inboxes are not filled (not as much, at least) with that annoying Naseeb caricture and President Bush e-card where Bush greets us by saying "As salami..." I still have nightmares about that one (While innocently grocery shopping, Bush jumps out from behind the dairy products section throwing salami slices at my head while trying to get me to endorse muslimsforbush.com. The scary thing was that he had the Naseeb guy's fobbish voice.)

There are only two forseeable issues with Eid texting: 1) Accidentally including a non-Muslim on the text or 2) Getting a response from someone.

Regarding point 1: Not a huge ordeal as I really hope that most of your non-Muslim friends will realize that you are, mashaAllah, a Muslim. So you can easily explain their text message reply of "WTF are you saying?" by saying, "Oh, don't worry. It's a Muslim holiday today."

Hmm, on second thought, that could freak the hell out of them. I don't think non-Muslims know we have holidays and have "fun" and things of that obscene nature. So instead be "honest" and say, "Dude! Someone totally stole my cell phone for like two minutes, but then returned it back to me, so ignore any Arabic-sounding text messages" to which your friend Billy Bob will surely reply, "LOL. Crazy times, huh, buddy? Don't worry about it, Moe. Say hi to Mary for me."

Regarding point 2: Okay, this is when it gets complicated. Say you, Brother Muhammad (or "Moe" as you like to call yourself, you fricken sellout), included Brother X (no, he's not black, you presumptious desi) on a text and he replies back to you. What do you do? You had no intention of having any further interaction with him, and now, in a blatant act of brotherhood (and on Eid, no less), he has the heart to either return your text msg and say, "Eid Mubarak to you, too! How are you, man?" or worse yet actually call you back! I know, I know, folks! It's a little tough to swallow, but it is possible. My simple solution to this is that you don't reply back at all. While you're returning his message or answering his phone call, someone at your house is taking another bowl of kheer without any humanly regard for you! This is Eid! Eat, drink, and focus on collecting your Eidy, my dear brother! Brother X was only trying to be nice to you because he likes your sister, man...

Anyway, getting back to the bright side of this matter: Eid texting allows you to connect to all the people you really care about without actually having to have a live conversation with them.

Great times are head of us, Muslim Ummah. First we let the world know we are beautiful and now we use technology to stay and not stay in contact at the same time. Figure that paradox out...

Fi Aman Allah

Istanbul's Tradition Coming to Light

AA

The mashaAllah brilliant shaykh and professor TJ Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad) on Ramadhan in Istanbul (with his amazing writing, you'll feel like you were there):

Istanbul's Illuminated Ramadan Nights
http://www.q-news.com/EidSpecial.pdf


Allah'hafiz

Australian Muslim Cleric on Rape

AA,

This is really sad to see such a mindset amongst religious "leaders." May Allah guide and protect us all. Allah huma salay Allah Muhammad. Ameen.

Links below taken from Sh Gibril Haddad:

"Down under, you said?

Australia is agog over its most-senior Muslim cleric's Ramadan sermon, in which he blamed women for inviting rapes and suggested they'd be better off staying home or wearing the hijab.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20646437-601,00.html

He has since apologized:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6086374.stm

(Non-Muslim) Commentary:
http://www.pierretristam.com/Bobst/Archives/CN102706.htm

Allahumma Sallim."

Obviously, there is an emphasized idea in our deen for men and women to dress modestly (and for good reason, may I add). But to essentially say that a woman wearing revealing clothing invites men to become rapists is unbelievable. It allows for twisted men out there to think that rape is somehow "okay" because it's the woman's fault for dressing seductively. Such a mindset can only come from the shaytan. Azubillah! I would agree that in western areas of the world, Muslim men and women (please note inclusion of men in this) are not dressing approriately. And by doing so, it does bring attention to their bodies whether they realize it or not; or want it or not. Needless to say, on a societal level this is inherently problematic and can encourage promiscousness creating loads of issues. If that's what the imam wanted to say, he totally messed it up...

The link from the Non-Muslim commentary is definitely an interesting read. Well, more so depressing than interesting. When you have imams say something so distasteful, it nearly begs for Non-Muslims to use it as a foundation for, if you will, raping our true and compassionate Islamic beliefs.

Salaam

A Techy Moment :: Top 10 Open Source Apps

Hi,

Some pretty cool applications on there to use...

http://www.lifehacker.com/software/open-source/geek-to-live-top-10-open-source-windows-apps-208909.php

Later

Do You Google?

Hi

From the Official Google Blog:

The introduction of the word "Google" to the dictionary...
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/do-you-google.html


Cheers

My Iftar - 2006

Iftar 2006

AA,

Last Saturday marked the continuation of a three-year Ramadhan tradition: an iftar shindig at my crib.

As always, Alhamdullilah, my momz did it real big by cooking a great feast. I still think that the iftari she makes is sufficient enough as the meal itself. The food also seemed to be a big hit with the guests of honor.

So...This year a lot of my time was spent on my cell. It seemed as though most people were nervous about venturing deep into Plainfield and so they kept calling to confirm directions. Badie called me up at one point when getting directions and said, "Sorry we're running late, but there was a hold-up with 'them' asking for my passport..." As you could imagine, that wasn't the first time I heard the "Passport to Plainfield" joke. When my man Sami settled in, he had the a picturesque deer in the headlights look: "It really feels as though I'm in another country" he said with all deliberate seriousness. Faisal Raja, who came from the city just so he could get in one of my Google Videos and NOT because he likes me, was the first of the guests. For Faisal, he was quite the tame Punjabi, which is quite odd. Often times he'd huddle up underneath his coat (seemingly in the fetal position, too). He, too, must've felt like he was in another world...

I think I lost track of the Plainfield jokes after joke # 331. But I can't blame my niggaz. The average travel time seemed to be around an hour. As Ali said to me later, "Man, you can say that these people really are friends, Imran, if they came all the way out here." Yes, that's true, but what I was more concerned about here was the fact that Ali also acknowledged that we live in Bufu, Illinois. Punk!

Anyway, despite everyone's supposed long trek, we had a great time, mashaAllah. The yearly Aladdin-Imran Depantsed and Baseball Bat story was of course told. Arabs vs Desis jokes were made. And, most importantly, boo-ing Fahad Siddiqui after every joke (or was it every thing he said). But the best way to tell what the 2pac Iftar 2006 is via pictures, so enjoy:

Eveyone was too busy eating to care about the pics. Except Fahad. Go figure, eh?

Meraj looking like a white dude drinking a nice cold one. Badie thinking that Fahad is his desi slave (throw this away, desi). Fahad never happier. Aladdin...WTF? What kind of pose is that to have during this month?! Hot, nonetheless.

Omar "Riyality" being himself. Mike, Hani, and Sami looking on passively (realizing that Omar was the star of this pic).

Faisal, A-Moose, Nomair. Why when all us DePaul brothers are together must we always be touching each other [see Nomair's hand]?

Omar, Me, Tariq. Okay, so I'm not an exception to the previous statement. It's brotherly love. [Thanks to Ali for ruining the pic -- one day, you'll learn the art of pressing the button on a camera, my brother.]

Sami Haque. Looks good, drinks chai like it's a 40, and XBOXs. Sami "Renaissance Man" Haque. Oh, and Harris Lakhani in the background giving his ceremonial peace sign. Love the socks, man.

Tariq: In a state of mast. Me: Trying to get Tariq to wake up and representin my team. Asghar: Looking hot. Baseer: What the hell are you smiling at?

Nomair, Me, and Farooq. Much love.

Well, there you have it, folks. Good times. Good food. Good people. Alhamdullilah. I hope that the baraqa from the night goes to my mom and my brothers inshaAllah.

Attendees included: Aladdin (3 years running), Badie Ali (2nd year), Meraj (1st), Eyad Alwawi (1), Omar Riyal(-ity) (1), Harris (3), Fahad (3), Tariq (3), Nomair (1), Faisal (1), Asghar (1), Sami (2), Hani (1), Mike (3), Omar (1), A-Moose (1), Farooq (2), and Baseer (1).

Notable Non-attendees included: AJ, Taha, and AH. For AJ, the reason he didn't come was because of something called itikhaf. For Taha and AH, it was something called family. Shady bunch, huh?

Until next year, inshaAllah...!

Muslim Homecoming Queen

AA

Let's not kid ourselves, shall we? Every Muslim girl out there has had fantasies of being a homecoming queen. To no exception would be women like Jessica (remember her, ye faithful blog readers?), Zareen, and many of my cousins. In fact, we can expand this axiom to apply to some men. Examples include Farooq, Taha, Ali, and Umar.

Well, I am pleased to let the world know that right here in my stomping grounds of southwest suburbia a Muslim desi girl at Nequa Valley High School in Naperville has defied tradition and was named homecoming queen. The "special" thing about this chick is that she is a hijabi. Can I get a "Takbir!" up in here?

Needless to say, crowning a Muslim teen as somehow beautiful is a tremendous break through - albeit shocking - for Muslims throughout the world. Think about it, will you? With this crowning achievement and undoubtful hallmark in Muslim civil liberties, we are letting the world know that we are beautiful and - admitedly a more liberal interpretation - hip. The need to communicate to the West that we are moderate, peaceful, and contributing members of our society has now become, at least to me and I hope you as well, secondary. The fact that this epic story that will of course resonate in our hearts and minds for years to come was broadcasted on CBS News (Ch. 2) is a true sign of imminent victory...

Somehow and in some way the Muslim community has come together to assertively let the world know something that has been questioned for so long: "We are attractive. Inside and out." Establishing this message is paramount to our success in fostering a positive Muslim-American identity. Make every effort you can to spread this news, my brothers and sisters. Let's show them how American we are by addressing what is absolutely mundane and essential to our lives: Beauty. No longer is beauty skin deep. No longer is beauty in the eye of the beholder, but in the lens of a news camera. Or the color of a girl's hijab and and a guy's kufi.

http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=26810@wbbm.dayport.com

J Z K

Justin Timberlake - My Love

Hi

My nigga JT (aka Neo-Michael Jackson) is, as we all know, sick. This song is no exception. Yes, I do dance like that, too. In my dreams. I'm really good.



holla back

The Great Bears Iftar Video

Hi

In a recent post [Da Bears Iftar] I talked about the amazing Bears Iftar on MNF (that's Monday Night Football for you ladies out there). I mean, my words did a decent job of the hysteria and happiness that broke out, but what will undoubtedly also do the trick is the video clip Aladdin took:



BEARS IN MIAMI inshaAllah!

Longing for the Divine...

AA WR WB

I just witnessed the conclusion of taraweeh in Makkah courtesy of Geo TV. At the end of the last surah (An Nas) the imam made a long, beautiful dua. The intensity of the dua was inspiring and sublime.

The people praying seemed to be no longer in this duniya. Their hands were lifted to the skies longing for our Creator. Their hands shooks with fear and veneration of Allah'ta'ala. Their need of Him and His Guidance, Forgiveness, and Mercy was never made more clear. In a sense, they were lost. The imam himself seemed to be in another state. At times, he couldn't complete a dua; he was lost in tears and all you would hear were Ameen's or other supplicators crying.

I cannot possibly imagine the actual atmosphere and feelings one would have there, but I do know that it has invoked a deep need in me to be closer to Allah inshaAllah and to also visit the home of our ruh's -- Makkah.

May Allah Guide us all. Ameen.

An Ode to Devin Hester [video ode]

Hi

Like...wow. He's phenom!

Last week:


College:


One more time for college:


Unbelievable!! The guy is nearly as quick as I am...

Holla!

Da Bears Iftar

SubhanAllah. SubhanAllah. SubhanAllah. Seriously, that's the only way I can possibly try to put how I feel right now.

It's been a while since I posted about the Bears winning. The wins became habit forming and unquestionable, so therefore assumed...

But the unquestionable became suspect when we faced a hot-headed rookie QB and the now 1-5 Arizona Cardinals who played MNF against the Team of Destiny -- the Chicago Bears -- like it was the last Super Bowl ever.

Let's set this up:

We were all at Aladdin's for a great iftar party. As usual, Alaa killed it with his great hosting mashaAllah. Tons of good Arab food and amazing desert (the tiramisu was definitely the favorite). Oh, and let's not forget about the huge projection TV (in HD). Amazing, mashaAllah.

All the guys were there. The Arab crew. The Desi crew (who ironically enough segregated themselves from everyone by staying within 2 feet of the computer -- i.e. 2 feet away from facebook.com). And even the less noticeable Saint Louis crew.

So finally, the game started and the next thing we know we were down. 20 - 0 at the half. We gave up two touchdowns in what seemed like a matter of seconds. It was mind-blowing and very surreal to witness. Bears haters like Taha Ghani, Ahmed Hassan (the STL T&A), and even Faisal Raja were basking in our misery.

And then there was my man Rex. Oh man...let's not get into that, shall we? Needless to say, it seemed like we were heading into oblivion and inevitable ridicule. To the point where I told Hassan and Taha that if they made dua for the Bears, I would return the favor and make dua for the Stl Cards. But Hassan kept a big ol smirk on his face and said, "I told you...at least one team with the name Cardinals will win tonight."

Of course, the fricken ESPN announcers didn't hesitate to make light of the compairsons between the '85 Monsters of the Midway and Today's Monsters of the Midway. And they definitely didn't hesitate to practically bow down to Matt Leinart. It seemed as though at one point all we were watching was a show dedicated to Leinart's USC days. To add to things, they had Leinart under the wire, so they would play his reactions. "They're giving it to us." "Yeaaaaahh!!" Etc., etc., etc. It was down right sickening...

But then Da Bears got angry. Or should I more accurately say that Brian Urlacher got angry? Urlacher most noticeably during the second half of the game decided to take things into his own hands, thereby encouraging his fellow Midway Monsters (Mike Brown, Tillman, Lance Briggs) to make plays, too. The first came when we knocked Leinart into Week 7 resulting in a fumble and Mike Brown TD recovery late in the 3rd qtr. After being down 20 -3, we were back in it now at 23 - 10.

But then the game seemed to fade quickly once again. Hope was leaving the die hard Bears room. In fact, some people couldn't take it and went home. Like Sami Haque mentioned in so many words...Yeah, sure, we may be bound to lose a game, but NOT to the Cards. The gloom and despair cut through the room like a dagger. No, actually like a flippin missle launched from a military base in Arizona and right through to our hearts. Something like that, anyway.

Yet, hope remained. Duas were shot out. And time was on our side. In the last few minutes of the game, we did the unimaginable. Urlacher ripped the ball out of Edgerin James as he was going down and Tillman picked it up to run in for a TD (~40 yds). Yes, that made two unreal plays in a row...all courtesy of the Bears Defense. Even more amazing and unreal was our new man -- Devin Hester. With under 3 minutes left in the 4th Qtr and things looking really, really bad, Hester runs 83 yards for a TD return! Pandemonium broke out in the quiet town of Burr Ridge. The room went crazy. The roof was on fire. We were now approaching the last two minutes of the game and then we slowly saw the Cardinals positioning themsevles into field goal position. By the time this happened, there was only ~50 seconds left. As if we controlled the game with all our mental energy and focus, Neil Rackers -- a Pro Bowler kicker -- CHOKED by missing an easy 40-yarder. Wide left. Again...more pandemonium, hysteria, shock erupted...

And so the rest, as they say, is history. It was really amazing. A true act of some MAJOR hook-up from The Rabil Alameen to allow for that to happen. Guys like Badie yelled out at the end, "We all need to go to the masjid and pray 100 rakats for taraweeh." It was difficult to hear him, though, because of the hugging, crying (no joke -- we had a brother tear up because he was so happy), yelling, and chants of "Allahu Akbar!" We piled up on one another. I bear hugged guys I didn't know. I mean, they probably heard us out in Arizona.

To conclude, this was the best iftar party I have EVER attended. A-Moose said it best...Imran, your iftar party was good, but this was the best. What will add to all this phenom-ness is that Aladdin caught a lot of the celebration on his camera. Stay tuned for the YouTube video...

And Allah Alone Gives Success. May Allah bless the Bears. Ameen.

Lyrical Gangstaz

Holla!

Alright, so Taha and I frequently talk via Gmail chat, right? We'll send random messages to each other and stuff. It's all very cute and hot at the same time. Well, today was an exceptional day. Taha randomly started to freestyle and soon enough, it ignited a lyrical battle of the ages...

Taha:
ha
love the word
from the turd who eats curd
and belongs to the tribe of the Kurds
only one word can curb
the rave that women crave which is known as the mean w the tight fade

Me:
lol ... go Taha, go Taha...

Taha:
he uses no blade
to get paid
he is the man w a plan

Me:
b/c he's dwayne wade?

Taha:
and he has all the fans eating out of his hands.
too bad can cant bang like vera wang
bc he is too busy

Me:
but we listen to the wu-tang

Taha:
listening to wu tang clan
while sippin on orange flavored TANG ready to sip on chai while he is so high (take it over imran...i just killed it...)

Me: lol...aite... he is high but the nigga aint ready to die
why?
because.....umm... uh...yeah...check it...

Taha:
fyi this has got to on the blog b4 we dIE!
looks like im a tru nig and all u are is a confedeate whig

Me:
Man you know I'll do that, or is that just a big fat lie?
LOL...confederate whig?? Nigga, I'll break you like twig
what?!

Taha:
one sec phn call but dont worry i be readt ball to haul ur arse and make u look like a farce
man u so whack like crack
u so phat
let me clear my throat

Me:
like a big ol kitty cat

Taha:
im a g.o.a.t

Me:
as long as you don't gloat or choke
baaaaaaaaa!

Taha:
(greatest of all time)

Me:
you done killed it keep it coming...

Taha:
i just filled it
like a jelly donut from (help me out)

Me:
Dunkin Donuts. Yo, brotha, you making these females go nuts!
Man, I know how you like 'em big ol butts

Taha:
lol go immy go immy
do that dooky booty shuffle
and keep that hustle
and never tussle

Me:
you my dog like a mut

Taha:
u smell like smut

Me:
oh hell no...dang

Taha:
from king tuts butt

Me:
man, you still drinking that spiked orange tang?

Taha:
yo yo dont bust ur nut
naw dawg im sippin on pakola like lee iokoka

Me:
Man, you one big ol pizza hut.
You got extra pepperoni, but you still my homie

Taha:
yo i gotta bust on u ....u stuck on me like glue and smell like poo
ooooo oooo oooo!

Me:
daaaanng!
alright...now check this because this is when i begin to wreck this nigga,
why you tryin to test this?

Taha:
check yo self b4 u wreck yo self

Me:
why you stealin lines now?
Go eat some curry with plow (sp)
my lyrics are like "oh wow"

Taha:
how u gonna bring food
u one fat ass dude
we be fastin

Me:
LOL...true

Taha:
u be thugin
and always looking for some lovin

Me:
and you be clubbin
from your cousin

Taha:
i be beat boxin
while u be breakin lookin like a fake
old rake
haha

Me:
who me a rake? and fake?
please, why don't you jump in the friggen lake?
for goodness sake
and never forget to eat your Frosted Flakes

Taha:
why bc theyre greeeeaaaaattttttt
show em ur a tiger show em what u can do OH i forgot who i was talking to
yea im talking about u

Me:
ooohh!

Taha:
19 yrs going and we still aint knowin when u gonna be blowin
19 = 10

Me:
oh hell no.
this broke fool messed up on our 10 year anniversary.
Man, why you tryin to make me your adversary?

Taha:
aint no sweat u like a locked in bet....im ready to rock on on the block ....the mouse ran up the clock
his name was imran from clinphone and now im gonna send him home
what ya got

Me:
[no response was given at this point]

Taha:
what u tryin to hate by takin a break
man u i knew u was fake
yo u bulbus
like hassan said
ur name aint fred
ur rhymes are weak like that geek
fred rogers

Me:
man, you made me nearly speechless. But then I remembered that you're that fool from My Next Trade but you ain't never quite make my grade...at least not with your whacked out fade.....yeah...and I'm talkin about your hair and your game...man, everything about you is so lame.

Taha:
oooooooh snap
u talking about my fade
lol...yo i aint tryin to hate but i need a break ....my rhymes are worth more than ur time which is valued at a dime....do the math...u talk crap...and eat flapjacks
all by urself ...go to jenny and get some help

Me:
oh damn
well, now check this...

Taha:
what u waiting for mic check 1...2 , 3, and 4...
what u on ur knees like a #$%!

Me:
[whoa there, buddy...let's not get graphic...it's Ramadan]

Taha:
i wil be graphic if u cant handle it
then u need to quit it
b4 u get punked out like your fade

Me:
wait...meeting...time can be so fleeting...but I'll be back...to teach you why I have this rhyming knack

Taha:
tizight

And that was the end of that one hour going back-n-forth rap tirade. If you didn't get any of this, then you're obviously not gangsta-inclined or from the streets like T-Money and Pac Daddy are.

Watch out Jin, MC Juice, Biggie, Eminem, etc...

Holla back, ya'all!

LA

Hey

I was recently in LA for two days for work. First time ever. I was busy with work most of the time, but what I saw I really liked. LA and Santa Monica continue to add to my current perception of California being a fictional place of surreal happiness and perfect weather with gorgeous sunsets...

No, I didn't see David Hasselhoff running on the beach. Or Pamela Anderson or Yasmine Bleeth or...

But, LA does have gorgeous people...

Peace and Love, my brothers

Prince Hassan

Happy Birthday, dude.

Food for Thought (RE: Thank Allah It's Jummah)

AA

Though I have a good idea who it may be, an anonymous reader posted a very insightful comment on the recent blog entry Thank Allah It's Jumma. Please do read it.

I guess when I first watched the video, I didn't look at it in that way. Rather, I thought it was more so a commentary on how some people perceive certain aspects of Islam in perhaps an exaggerated way. I don't think the intent of the director and writer was to beguile viewers on the importance of our worship. Instead, he showed the perspective of how growing up in America may lead some people to actually view things with skepticism. After getting some sense knocked into them (almost literally in this video), however, they come to realize the importance and beauty of the deen.

I guess what I enjoyed aside from some of the comedic aspects of it was again its social commentary of the interesting Muslim dynamics we live with here in America. The Muslim rapper (how many of those do we know -- and don't include me in that!!). The khatib that really does try to fit in everything about Islam he knows during the khutbah, but every point he makes is typically incongruous.

I'll have to watch the part about the use of hadith for the wudu guy because I think that while the intention of the director was not to make light of acts of ibadah, we must also exercise some degree of caution because it may allow for the possibility to take things lightly and to a point of disregard for critical components of the deen. Washing as much of your arm, feet, etc. as possible because you want it to shine on the DOJ is not something that is in anyway untrue or comical. Perhaps that was an example of what the anonymous reader meant? That just ain't right. I know I'll need all the noor possible on that day inshaAllah!

In no way do I ever support anyone making light of our sacred forms of ibadat. Azubillah.

Anyway, some thoughts that I had on the comment, which I do appreciate and definitely think that people should take stock in.

May Allah guide us all and overlook our shortcomings. Ameen.

Cool Webiste -- Pandora

Hi

Courtesy of Ali, I have found a possible new favorite website for music: Pandora.

These guys created a "Music Genome Project" which allows you to search for music then it will play it if it has it in the database. But the point of this website is that it analyzes the music of the artist you enter and plays similar styles. Here, the founder can explain it better than me:

http://www.pandora.com/mgp.shtml

Anyway, if you like music and all, you'll probably like the website, too. Once you start playing around with it, you'll get hooked. They did a phenom job of designing it.

Scroll down my blog under the "Archive" and "Links" section on the right-hand side of the page to see what songs I'm listening to from there.

holla

"Thank Allah It's Jumma" -- Imran J. Khan

AA

Props go to Fahad's cousin out in Cali for putting this together. This other Imran is talented and pretty funny (something about the name no doubt, eh?):

The crazy wudu guy is hysterical!!

Cheers

Paris Video

Hello

Well, I had to give you guys at least one video from my recent trips. Here's one from Paris late night, so it's a little dark:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=imran+shakur+paris


Bonjour!

The Louvre

Hi

Holla

London Update

Fish and chips, anyone?

Cheers from the good old UK, mates. I got in from Paris yesterday evening and have been enjoying some good times with all my family out here in the lovely London area. I've got my two khalas out here, a bunch of my cousins, and of course a handful of nephews (for you gora-fied people, those nephews would be my 'second cousins').

It's funny that I'm here again; twice in just a matter of a few months. Prior to April of this year, it was nearly 22 years since I had been to London. Hopefully my luck continues and I can go back to Pakistan soon.

A tip for those travelling here: Make sure you have the phone number and address of the place or family you're staying with. It will make the London-Heathrow Airport security experience less cumbersome. The first security guy was nice enough to let me go after I told him that I was going to Surrey, which is a county in the UK (so it'd be like telling someone at O'Hare that you're going to DuPage or Cook County). After he reminded me of that fact, I told him the only other name I know is Sutton, the town where my family lives in. Fortunately I had my phone and told him I could call home and get that info, but he let me go after writing my home address down. But as I continued walking, a security agent immediately approached me and asked me the same questions the other guy did, but went into more detail. This lasted five minutes and then he took my passport (probably to run a background check on me) and came back five minutes later. I had to explain why I went to Paris, what I do for a living, and why am I here in the UK. I told him that my company was based in the UK, so they probably did a quick check on that just to confirm it. I guess I can't blame them. A Pakistani guy with an Arabic name travelling by himself and not knowing his exact destiation does sound a bit odd. Stupid Imran. But, I was very cooperative and nice to the guy, of course, so he let me go and thanked me for my time.

Anyway, the first thing I did was go to a really good Portuguese restaruant called Nandos with Rani Aunty, Ridah, and Raafae. The food, as Farooq would say, was phenom. Nandos is a chain restaurant out here and some of the restaurants will have halal meat because of the omnipresent Asian (i.e. desi) population. Can't go wrong with that.

And so today I pretty much chillaxed with all my family. Made fun of Sami (i.e. Samia) out being older, though she tries her best to deny it. Played with the little ones a bit (they totally killed me in a pillow fight). Ate some great iftari food cooked by Shuda Khala. Joked with Sami that the only reason she wanted me to go to the mall with her was so that she could showcase me as some sort of young man trophy to everyone (to which she of course replied jokingly -- I think -- 'Wouldn't be the first time...'). We all made fun of Talha for looking soooooooo nervous and excited that his wife Mahem was finally coming from Pakistan tomorrow. They are a newly wed couple (back in February) and he hasn't seen her in person since. Now that's a killer for any guy. Married, but the wife is not with you. So, Alhamdullilah, I'm happy for the guy. But I'm not really expecting to see him after tomorrow...

Okay, sahoor is coming up soon. I should leave. Tomorrow should be fun as I get to see Musharraf give some sort of talk where they'll also have iftari. On Saturday I have to go check out some larkee for one of my bros (who I just may end up stealing for myself as he is well aware of...haha) and possibly later on tomorrow is another girl to check out, too. Oh and Sunday, too. :) I love having two khalas in the same area.

Until then, blokes!

Salaam

Paris Update 2

Bonjour!

Still living it up here in Paris, folks. Even though it's nearly 2:30am and I'm working, but that's just the way it goes. Paris has its price.

So my meetings earlier today were quite brutal. Not the presenation itself, though they did make me present as the last speaker, but my tiredness factor. Since I didn't fall asleep until 3:30am the night before, I ended up with only 1.5 hours of sleep. I woke up for sahoor around 5am and thought I'd go back to bed after Fajr, but I had to take care of business again. By the time I was done, I had to get ready for the meeting. So by the second presentation this morning, I had engaged myself in a long, tough battle of keeping my eyes open. It wasn't pretty. Thankfully during lunch, though, I got in a power nap for about 40 minutes, so that later energized me.

After the meeting, I came back to my room and emailed some people (work and personal), then finally went out for further adventures. This time I hit up the Grand Palais; a former palace now museum that boasts an eye-capturing raised window roof. It looked like it could be giant greenhouse or a stadium of sorts. Across the street from it you had another nice palace. Further down, you had the musuem (Les Invalides) that holds the tomb and body of Napoleon. No, not Napoleon Dynamite, though some of you may actually like that sort of thing. Unfortunately, Les Invalides was closed by the time I got there. In between Les Invalides and Grand Palais you have Paris' famous river -- the Siene and its classic-looking bridges that connect both sides. I took plenty of pics and video highlights, so hopefully I'll have something up soon. Oh, I did also see the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame from a distance. Both looked really cool.

I must say, the more I see of Paris, the more I fall in love with the city. It's quite hypnotic and very romantic. I know I've said that before, but that really is the best way to describe it. No wonder Zareen told me to tell girls that I'm in Paris. "Every girl likes Paris." And why wouldn't they? If I'm acting this gay about it, imagine a chick. (Haha...so un-sexist of me to say that, huh?)

After all that, I went back to the Grand Mosque to try and catch iftari there. I had just missed the jammat by the time I got there and all the brothers were rushing out. I was wondering what was going on until I realized that they were all lining up for iftari. Gratis (=free) food. Can't beat it. After praying maghrib and taking some pics of the courtyard, I stood at the end of the line. The way they work the food serving was like the military! You had brothers that monitored who came into the kitchen area, but it was because they had set-up all the plates. Each table had it's plate for the individual brother, accompanied with an orange and, go figure, bread. In the middle, you had a few bowls of the same dish -- salaan with shorba and chick peas. But it had a twist to it. There were also spaghetti noodles in there. Never saw that before. The food was fine, but felt good because we were all breaking our fast together and eating from the same dish, so inshaAllah we had the mad baraqa points coming our way.

I did meet someone there, too. A very, very awesome brother named Younes (i.e. Younus). Younes is young and Algerian; he's in France to complete his PhD in archaeology, which I totally give him props for. His English was pretty good and he was mashaAllah the nicest guy. We talked about "typical" things (i.e. life in the USA, what we do, etc.), but we also talked about how Islam is a religion of compassion and brotherhood. Younes was no exception to this and was in fact an excellent exemplar for these Islamic principles. He made sure that I was the first for everything between us. First one to enter the kitchen area. First one to get the food. When I tried reciprocating the brotherhood by offering him from a plate of sweets, he purposely took the smallest one. And before someone says it, it wasn't because he saw me and was like, "Dang, I better let this guy eat before me otherwise he'll eat me alive." Haha. I saw it coming, Ali & Umar!!

Before leaving, he gave me his email address as well as phone number and told me that whenever I come back to Paris to reach him and that he'd be more than happy to help me out with anything. SubhanAllah. Such brotherhood; it was like we were actual blood brothers or cousins. The feeling is quite special, I have to say. I know that sounds stupid, but that's the best way I can put it. Alhamdullilah for this deen.

Oh, before I sign off here, the one thing that really saddened me to see were a handful of sisters outside of the masjid (some quite young) who were asking for money. That hurt to see that. May Allah make things easy for them. Allah huma salay Allah Muhammad. Ameen!

Okay, room service is at the door...

Laterz!