Flash Forward Flahes Lost & Other Season Premieres

Hi

I thought it appropriate with today's weather to write about last week's Fall TV season premieres. Overall, I have to say that I'm quite pleased.

Flash Forward
Great start. I think most people I've talked to have taken an instant liking to this show, but one of the aspects that's really roping in people to the show are the Lost references. Consider the billboard in the background of this shot (link courtesy of Farooq). Not only this reference to Oceanic Airlines (and a comedic one if you squint your eyes to read it), but some sites out there (http://the-odi.blogspot.com/) are drawing comparisons to the numbers mentioned in Lost. Now, this obviously cannot be chalked to mere coincidence. It has to be one of the following reasons: (1) Great marketing to get Lost fans into a new show considering that this will be Lost's last season. I can imagine producers of the show sitting at their brainstorm sessions saying, "Ok, now that we've mind F'd these people into drawing parallels between the show [that may or may not exist], what can we do to keep them coming?" "I know!" chimes another producer, "Let's slowly sneak the entire cast of Lost into the show." And so enters Dominic Monaghan, the actor that plays Charlie in Lost, into the promo for the next show. And then there's Penny from Lost (actress Sonya Walger) who plays Olivia Benford. But, who knows, with the expiration of Lost, these actors may simply be well-liked to the network and are trying to capitalize on it. Alternatively, we might get into the second reason: (2) The Lost World and FF World are in fact the same "universe" and there are intentional crossover, overlapping stories. How ridiculous would that be?! Ridiculous in a possibly phenom sense, that is. That, for example, the worldwide blackout is related to the time traveling from the island or when Ben initially made the island disappear or... Well, for FF-Lost conspiracy theories, I'm sure you can find tons on the WWW. Regardless, even as a standalone product, Flash Forward is extremely interesting. The baseball footage where they showed some random person awake was eerily cool and intriguing. It makes you think of the many possibilities of what happened: a new natural phenomena? Aliens? Something that will always remain unknown? An act of God (azubillah; but I'm sure that will be a small theme)? A government conspiracy? Guess I'll have to stay tuned..

Heroes
Two-hour premieres are always good. This show started off Season 1 unbelievable. It was on its way to becoming one of my favorites shows of all time. I could probably watch Season 1's season finale 100x. Subsequent seasons, however, were lacking. I'm not sure what creator/producer Tim Kring was thinking. It was like he was taking a football team to the promised land, but inexplicably decides to bench his starters in favor of the third stringers. The last two seasons strayed away from the great ideas and themes of the first season; namely, the battle between good and evil (Peter: the embodiment of good, the reluctant hero; Hiro the eternal optimist; Sylar: the embodiment of evil). Actually, I think I still kept watching because of Sylar. He was always entertaining. Anyway, this season seems like its trying to return to what captivated us fans in the first place. Peter is back to his original job helping people out. He had a radio (reminiscent of Peter Parker in one of the Spider-Man movies) to listen to crimes and stop them -- using his Superman-esque (not quite, but you know what I mean) powers for good. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the duality of Nathan's character with him battling his inner Sylar and with Sylar getting in Parkman's head. I also like the mysterious new presumably evil character who is apparently on some mission of redemption, though you can tell he has some sort of grand plan. (What's his power btw?!) Also, for those that didn't know, the guy with the knives who moves really fast is the same guy who played Darth Maul in the fourth installment of Star Wars. Let's hope Heroes can keep the momentum. I'm not sure if I can take anymore disappointment...

Smallville
Phenom! Clark is finally trying to embrace his Kryptonian side and become who he is destined to be (that would be Superman -- i.e. a lesser version of myself). I like the costume. It's nothing fancy, but the S symbol is what's good to finally see. I also like the introduction of Zod (currently only a Major and not a General) and I'm intrigued as to why they don't have any of their powers. Seeing Zod interact with Tess will -- hopefully -- also prove to be an interesting development. Admittedly, though, I am really disappointed with how they simply killed off Doomsday from the prior season. He's the guy that kills Superman in the comics. There should have been an EPIC fight scene either last season or the start of this season. Anyway, the producers and writers can make it up to me by making Clark embrace his inner "It's a bird, It's a plane, It's Superman" by FLYING! C'mon! Ok, they did at least elude to it the premiere and successfully teased us by showing him jumping off the Statue of Liberty but then cut to another scene. Next episode with Metallo should be a good one...I hope.

Community
Hysterical pilot episode. This show had me at the trailer I saw when the character Abed (played by Chicago native Danny Pudi) replay a scene from classic Breakfast Club. I was dying. I really like the dialogue; it's witty, funny, and even charming. So while it may remind you of me, instead of solely checking me out, you should check this out, too.

Anyway, that's it for now. A few of my other regular shows haven't premiered as yet (i.e. Legend of the Seeker [a guilty pleasure], Lost, and my beloved Chuck), but I'll critique at that point.


Cheers

An Ode to Michael Jordan

Hi

Yesterday, the greatest basketball player to date and of all time was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

It was arguably one of the greatest HOF class inductions. You had David Robinson (The Admiral), John Stockton, Coach Vivian Stringer, Jerry Sloan, and His Airness, Michael Jordan.

The speeches for the most part were interesting and like Jordan mentioned (he was of course the last to speak) in his speech, you learned a little bit about the others that you probably didn't know before. Jordan's speech, though, was clearly the best. Of course I am biased as all heck, but the night definitely belonged to him. Even Stockton joked around how his family and friends came so far more so to see Jordan than him.

Now, if you don't understand who MJ was, then you probably would think his speech wasn't as memorable or significant as it should have been. This is clearly the opinion of Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports. In fact, the title of his article is "Jordan's night to remember turns petty." The article had some points to it. Yes, Jordan was definitely getting back at people -- Jeff Van Gundy, Bryon Russell, etc. And, yes, he did in almost narcissistic fashion tell his kids that he wouldn't want to be them (note: if you didn't watch it, first, shame on you, but second, know that he said it laughingly). But if you think somehow that this made his speech -- his moment to shine -- somehow less than expected, or uneventful, or "petty," then you probably have no clue who MJ really is. At least to his countless fans.

You cannot blame the guy for his comments if you really want to think about it. Let's consider ALL the attention he's received to date and will likely continue to receive for years to come: For starters, and to make my job here easier, why don't you YouTube Jordan and see all the various homages he has out there? There are videos that people have on him where you can tell they took a lot of time to put together (example 1 out of thousands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtU0ifvVPV8&channel=hoopsencyclopedia). ESPN created a phenom link on their website capturing his top 23 moments leading up to yesterday's commencement. And what about his marketing genius that came as a result of his play? I've blogged this before, but here's another one. I also noticed yesterday on Facebook that my die hard Kobe Bryant and LA Lakers fan of a cousin posted an interview with Mike Wilbon and Jordan with a caption underneath stating, "simply the greatest ever." He put the Chicago Bulls on the map...and internationally, too. I have personally experienced this during my travels to Europe. I recall one cab driver in Madrid, who didn't speak much English, say "Chicago Bulls!" with a big a smile when I told him I was from Chicago. This guy mattered that much to the NBA. To basketball.

So, tell me, how can you fault him for telling us what's on his mind? For getting back at others not simply because he can (and should in my opinion!), but also to show just how competitive he is. Even now. And it's not like Jordan was completely self-absorbed. Adrian Wojnarowski forgets to mention that Jordan mentioned his ex-wife to his kids to recognize her contributions. He talked at length about his competitive drive stemming from his brothers and sisters. About how his mom still keeps him at check despite being 46 years old.

Jordan is the greatest ever. He created a dynasty and one of the most dominant teams in sports history. He was right last night. It's the players who go out there and play. And it was Jordan who would find ways to win.

Last night was Jordan being himself...cocky & competitive to the end. I loved it!

Congratulations, Michael Jordan. We miss you!


But here's looking to seeing you in uniform at 50. Like you said, "...limits, like fears, are often just an illusion."

Bears Season '09-'10

Hi

The season fast approaches and I am so excited. A rejuvenated
Urlacher? Jay Cutler? Forte repeating (hopefully exceeding) last
year? Devin Hester proving he's a legit #1?

So many questions.

My life can finally resume with football and Da Bears back in the
picture!!!

Bear Down!

FYI: pic here is from the first ever game I attended last season.
Bears won in OT against fudge packers. One of the coldest games ever,
too! Jzk, Meraj/Taha for the hookup!

iPhone: The Hummer of Phones

Hi

This is a good article on how exactly the iPhone is the "Hummer" of phones (i.e. data guzzler). (Link courtesy of Ali.) But it also points out how it's not just an iPhone or AT&T issue, but as smartphones are used more and more, all wireless providers will have to step up their network coverage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/technology/companies/03att.html

I wonder what'll happen when 4G comes out here?!

What will be annoying (but good money-making for Apple or other cell phone makers/providers) is that Apple will then introduce an iPhone 4G. Then a year or so later, an iPhone 4Gs. And I'm sure they'll add on extra features like an HD camera (which I'm sure they already have). Heck, I'm sure these corporations are already thinking in some lab somewhere about 5G speed and phones that will handle them. I wish we could exploit them for all the technology they have!

I know there are pros and cons of increasingly relying on technology, but I'm strictly talking about the "Wow!" factor here. I liked to be Wow-ed, folks. I think it's a constitutional right and should be mandated in a Declaration of Technology, if you will:

We hold these truths to be self-evident that not all technological platforms were created equal, that they are endowed by Apple/Google/Microsoft/Nokia/[insert technology company] with certain phenom features, that among these are Life (App Store), Liberty (Free Apps), and the pursuit of Happiness (paying a lot for awesome technology on your credit card and worrying about the costs later).

Can I get a John Hancock at the end of this, please?! Or I guess a "Steve Jobs" instead?


Cheers

Dude from Wisconsin Speaks Urdu

Hi

This is pretty awesome:



It's good to see in this global age someone taking such an active interest in learning about another culture and absorbing it into one's life. Of course, I say this so easily when it's someone taking interest in Pakistani culture & language!

But, man, I feel like a punk for not learning Urdu as good as he has learned it. Really impressive. He should now just revert! He's obviously smart, too, since he went to UofC. Come to think of it, I remember Umar mentioned that they had classes in Urdu when he was still a student there. Clearly, he should've taken them!

Watching videos like this makes me feel proud but also a bit embarassed. For a culture and country I love so much, should I not also take the initiative to speak better Urdu? I know my Urdu is vastly superior than my brothers (don't let Umar's love of poetry fool you and if Ali says otherwise, just ask him about the flying fish story...), but regardless I still mess up on conjugating words. And it's so clear when I speak that I speak it in an Americanized way. In fact, yo creo que me espanol es mejor! Ideally, the languages I'd like to inshaAllah learn to speak, read, and write fluently are Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, and then brush up on Spanish, too. Make dua for a brother.

Side note: At the end of the day, though, I go to sleep fine knowing that at least my Urdu isn't Hydro Urdu. We might as well call Hyderabadi Urdu Chinese for practical purposes...


Allah hafiz

2009 Iftar Party Report

As salaamu Alaikoom

Well, it's certainly been a minute since my last posting. Then again, these days my entries have started off with this statement. My scapegoat is the married life, which I enjoy, of course, but I'm just sayin that I'm able to blog this entry while my wife is out of the house.

Onwards...

This years party was perhaps the largest in size, mashaAllah, with a total of 34 people. Add a few more to that number when you factor in my family. Most were surprised -- as was I -- on the number and I particularly got a kick out of Aladdin's comment of, "Dude, when this thing started it was just me, you, and your brothers." By the way, props to my boys Sami, Aladdin, Harris (HP), Omar, and Fahad for attending every year, Alhamdullilah. I think Farooq and potentially Baseer might be in that category, too. (Apologies if I left you out.)

Oh, and I want to especially hate on the following: Mofeez, Kamran Ch, Tariq, and Imran ("The Mizz"), and Princess Hassan for confirming their attendance but never showing up! Even if you texted or called me or had a valid excuse like a new born (Tariq's case) or your father is in town (Hassan), I still reserve the right to put you guys on blast, dang it!

Next, let's talk food:
This year's menu was also done on a bigger scale as I had a team of cooks. MBN to be me! Seriously, I'm a lucky guy to have somehow been able to convince my mother, wife, sister-in-law, father-in-law, and mother-in-law to cook stuff for the event. SubhanAllah! May Allah protect all of them and give them endless joy and success always. Ameen! Because of this team that I assembled, the dessert menu in particular and the "iftari table" as well were more stacked than usual with things like pakoras, 150 samosas (aloo, keema, and cheese varieties), homemade dip (well, everything was homemade), juices, dahi baray, cholay, grasshoppers (the square mint green stuff), Oreo chocolate ice cream cake, graham cracker pudding thing, peanut butter brownies, orange creamsicle, and even a Hydro dish. All that, mashaAllah, plus the main meals of meatball/egg salan, chicken pulao (rice), rita, another salan dish, bindi (okra), daal, and spaghetti (namely for the Arabs!).

Just take a look at this picture of a bunch of the guys swooping around the table like vultures when it came to dessert. While I didn't capture it on film, this crowd later morphed from a flock of swooning vultures into a ferocious horde of lions waiting to pounce on its prey as my wife and sisters kept taking out more desserts (with the assault led by Sarosh)...


Animals, I tell you!

Okay, so we all know the food is the only reason people take time to fill out applications for the Passport to Plainfield. Now let's get into some of the highlight reels, shall we?

1) First and foremost is Thabraize's and Mumu's financial hour. T&A Accounting was apparently a major sponsor in hosting last night's Iftar party as he was given the floor in explaining how to work the system (legally, too, supposedly). I'm looking into getting a transcript to post later on because summarizing what Thabraize and Mustafa said would require at least a 10 page blog entry. This was the only point of the evening where someone unconditionally had the floor as we all sat in silence. Except for Riyality, of course, and his always hysterical quips (i.e. calling Thabraize cheap because Thabraize gets 1 mile per dollar spent on his credit card whereas The Riyality Show gets like a million miles per dollar spent or something like that...).

2) While this year's party had the most attendees, the usual number of people that stayed past midnight was notably less than in the past. MAD props to Sami and Samir for coming back from taraweeh after the taraweeh they attended ended at 1am. And also to Farooq and Quad for coming back from the city! Now that's love and dedication, man. I am still in disbelief, however, that Irfan and SIM left so early last night. Usually, they're always down to bang until the wee hours of the night. I guess they're officially on lock-down. As SIM left with his head down slowly walking back to his car, Quad was just coming back into the house and told him that "Pac is the new SIM!" (SIM didn't take that lightly and told us jokingly to "Go to hell." Fortunately, hell/shaytan is locked up this month!)

3) The last guests (Sami, Samir, and Awais) left at 3am. And in yearly time-honored fashion, I did in fact remove my shirt for the viewing pleasure of all. However, this year, I waited until the end to do so as what I'm sure Samir and Sami will regard as a royal treat. As an aside, the past two years the Iftar party went up to Fajr, but to my wife's appreciation, it didn't this year. Next year, I will chain some of the guys to the basement to make up for it...

4) I beat both Quad and Awais in Madden. Effortlessly.

5) As all of you know when you read my Evite, I always mention an option of praying taraweeh at home. Let's face it, this is more of a joke and never manifests. But this year, my BIL, HP, lead a handful of the guys in taraweeh in the basement, mashaAllah. Alhamdullilah, a phenom blessing.

So there's probably many other quotes or events of the night that took place that deserve mention on the blog, but the best part time-after-time is the brotherhood factor. As Muslims, we're blessed to have such a high regard and love for brotherhood and to me this is what I love seeing. I love sitting back at times to watch everyone have a good time. Allah has blessed me with some of the best of company, so much love to all you. May Allah protect you all, give you good health, happiness, and a long and successful life in the footsteps of the Beloved Rasool (sw). May Allah bring you all -- all of us -- closer to Him and His Prophet (sw). Allah huma sali Allah Muhammad. Ameen!

Alright, feel free to comment your own highlight reels or anything else you want to add in. MAD JZK to everyone for coming through with special shot out to my brother Umar and his wife Nida for flying in from Providence, RI mainly in honor of this tradition, mashaAllah! It wouldn't have been the same without you.

Please keep me & the family in your duas, fellas.


Until next Ramadhaan!

Fighting Corporate Supermacy: Wendell Potter Takes on CIGNA

Greetings

This is a really, really interesting video (link is at the end) that I hope receives increasingly more attention. It's a link to an interview Bill Moyers had with a former executive at CIGNA, Wendell Potter.

Potter was moved by a health care fair in his home state of Tennessee, which proved to be more than what he envisioned. He saw the poor condition of people receiving health care treatment and was in disbelief that this could happen in these United States. After mulling over what to do and facing a difficult choice, Potter was inspired to do the right thing (i.e. rat out the insurance industry) especially after reading this quote: "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, maintain a neutrality."

That's an awesome line and personally reminds me about the battle between what's appealing in this duniya (in this case, money and power) and what's right (caring for those that are less fortunate and in some respects even oppressed when it comes to health care insurance!). It's also reminiscent of, O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you may avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well Acquainted with what you do [Quran; 4:135]. After all, what's right may not always be popular and what's popular may not always be what's right, right?

Consider that Potter comes from a background where for 15 years he's breathed and lived what I can only refer to as "corporate supremacy" or perhaps even "corporate survival"; basically the idea that the objectives of a corporation reign supreme to any other objective be it moral objectives or otherwise. And not only has he (and CIGNA) survived, but thrived! What else can you call a corporate man who takes private jets and is served lunch on a gold plate (again, check out the interview)? In this light, I have to get Mr. Potter his due credit for coming out and admitting just how manipulative and daunting the power the insurance industry is, which is to really say the power of money. I suppose you can say that you always "knew" that this goes on behind-the-scenes, but for a former exec to come out and confirm it and further offer additional insight into that world is another thing. Here's something else to consider; a quote from Potter from the interview:

WENDELL POTTER: The industry has always tried to make Americans think that government-run systems are the worst thing that could possibly happen to them, that if you even consider that, you're heading down on the slippery slope towards socialism. So they have used scare tactics for years and years and years, to keep that from happening. If there were a broader program like our Medicare program, it could potentially reduce the profits of these big companies. So that is their biggest concern.

What's amazing to listen to is how these corporate supremacists leverage their resources to further leverage their position in politics and life. I particularly found it interesting on how some mastermind working for an insurance company would send a memo for what buzz words or phrases to use and how that would trickle down to speeches given by senators. Opponents of public, accessible, free health care administered by the government argue that such a system places bureaucrats in between patients and doctors/physicians. Well, I'd rather have a publicly elected bureaucrat be the middle man than a corporate juggernaut who might be willing to cut my life line when it doesn't meet their bottom dollar. At least a public figure, while not necessarily any more perfect, is a lot more accountable to the people. So at least I would like to believe...

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html



Cheers

Running

Hi

Well, I'm trying to return to my former glory days of running a lot. InshaAllah. Make dua that I'm able to. I'm the king of inconsistency when it comes to exercising [insert sarcastic commentary here like, "You? Inconsistent about exercising? Perish the thought!"], but I'm hoping that this reserve of time I have these days will help change that (again, InshaAllah!).

So today and yesterday I've averaged just over 2 miles/day. Nothing too impressive considering that it's been only two days. What's cool to point out, though, is the RunKeeper app I'm using on my iPhone. This app is phenom! Using the iPhone's GPS functionality, it keeps track of the distance you run, time, speed, and other things. You have to love technology, man. (Side note: I wonder if Umar's Nokia -- which, per Umar, does everything my iPhone can and then some using a custom app on the Nokia called "Umar's Imagination Gone Wild" -- can do this, too? Most likely, the old, outdated Nokia can probably do all that RunKeeper can on the iPhone plus run the actual course you set out to do, right, Umar?!)

Anyway, another nice feature RunKeeper has is a map view of whatever you ran (see map below). Both days the map trail it shows has been spot on. Being Pakistani, I of course didn't buy the Pro version (can I get a "Perish the thought!" on that one, please!), but I know that it has additional features like a voice prompt that will tell you something along the lines of, "At this interval, run fast for 2 minutes. And then run slow." Basically it keeps you in check by motivating you with goals. Something like that is good for training, too. Hopefully next year I'll be able to run the Soldier Field 10 again (10 mile marathon on Lake Shore Drive) and in between then and now participate in other marathons. Then one day I'll do the Chicago Marathon. That's one of my main running goals in life...

Man, back in the day (walk down memory lane for me for a sec) when I lived on campus in Lincoln Park, I used to average anywhere from 5 - 10 miles per day. Sigh. I just realized that being the true Pakistani I am, I'm now talking like an uncle reliving his youthful, active days. This is what I hope to avoid and my motivation to see this through. (But maybe it's also the result of approaching the big 30 later this year!)

Before signing off, I will say that running is a great form of exercise. There are some people who just don't get running. Honestly, I've had conversations with people who are like, "I don't get it. You just keep running. What's the point?" The problem is that these people are too focused on the idea of needing to score a point by, most common example I can think of, shooting a ball into a basket. While basketball is fun, competitive to play (and yet another sport I mashaAllah dominate in), there is nothing like getting a "runner's high." The runner's high is something I've experienced in my heyday (yes, another "uncle moment"). You simply reach a point in your running where you just can't stop. Well, you of course can, but you don't want to. At that point, you feel like you can conquer the world; that it doesn't get much better than this. Before you realize it, you suddenly have more energy to run and sometimes run faster. It usually occurs when you're well into the run, so don't expect it right away (if you're tempted to try). And, most importantly, don't try to smoke a doobie while running. Sure, technically you can argue that smoking a doobie while running would qualify as a runner's high, but c'mon...

Humor me and my attempt to sound like I'm a professional runner who's just started a blog about the joys of running...




Regards

How to Search in Google

Hi

I'm a huge Google fan. I'm one of those that believe that Google can seldom do any wrong (just the way I feel about Apple). Having established that, don't hate on me just because this blog posting is a link from Google on how to effectively use Google's search website to look up information and what you would need to type into Google to pull it up. Some of this stuff you may already know in your Google searching experiences, but others perhaps not.

So enjoy as I have. Seriously, it made my day this morning:
http://www.google.com/landing/searchtips/


Cheers!

Engage Cloak!

Hi

Well, it looks like cloaking technology is only years away...

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/10/metamateria

Can someone please tell Farooq to hurry this technology up! I want to cloak my Toyota Corolla ASAP! But think of the practical uses of cloaking technology:

1. Hide from my wife when she wants to go watch a chick flick
2. Hide from my wife when she wants me to do something around the house
   
3. Hide from my wife when she wants to go shopping
   

So, umm, yeah, I'd basically use it to hide from my wife, but I'm sure there are other practical uses of cloaking technology, I just can't think of what they would be other than hiding from one's wife...


Engage!