I Thought all Muslims are Extremist
“Rev. Bob: I used to be afraid of Muslims, I thought all Muslims are extremist”
A candid interview with Prince Turki (Turqi) Al-Faisal, which turned into Prince Turki turning the tables and interviewing the interviewer Reverend Bob, holding the camera and all 
I thought it was nice as an easy going interview which is about Christianity and Islam and a person’s relationship with God.
Now if we can all just have this type of dialogue with each other without being too one sided in our opinions, the world would be a whole lot nicer.
Arab-American Comedy
With Arab phobia and Islamopohbia seeming to be at a high point these days, I, being an optimist always looking at the bright side of things, like to see things like this come out. Nothing like comedy to diffuse things, and make us look at culture as what it is, a different way of viewing and living in this world, where we have no power in choosing the families we were born into, the religion we were raised as, the traditions and customs we live by, the color of our skin, or the genetics we were born with.
Comedy is the breaker of all barriers, and with the Axis of Evil Comedy tour, which did well, here come the Ed and Moe Show.
Here is a MTV Cribs style spoof, gotta love the scene where Moe’s mom throws her sandel at him
and here is one about Ramadan.
I think these guys will do well. (saw this at Kabobfest)
Be sure to like their facebook page, The Ed and Moe Show on Facebook
Anti-muslim Rally at Ground Zero
I do not want to get into the ground zero mosque arguments, but this video… is scary.
It reminded me of a concert I went to when I was about 18 or 19 studying in the US. I went with a friend who likes heavy metal, I am not into that music, but I went along. I think I was the only non-white person there, and somehow I could feel a few unfriendly stares.
I tried to stand as close as I could to the security guards, and a big white guy kept following me with his eyes, with a lot of anger in them, this was in the early nineties.
The following week, there was a “peaceful” KKK march downtown, which I watched on the news, and that big guy was right there marching with them… yes, after staring at me for what looked like an eternity, I would not mistake him in a police lineup.
I was lucky, as was this guy, those people could’ve made him look like Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky in less then a minute.
Video: Think About It
The ground zero Islamic community center has stirred quite a commotion, I think the issue has been made into something bigger than what it’s worth, for whatever reasons that might be.
I did find an interesting video though, it is called Think About it, and it is a wonderful effort to say the least by those who made the video.
This is what the person who made it had to say:
About nine years ago I had the privilege of going to a Muslim nation for the first time. Before I went, I didn’t know what to expect. I remember being very fearful because of my lack of knowledge and experience with Muslims and their culture. I grew up in a town that didn’t have any Muslims and the only exposure that I had received was from television.
In my mind, Muslims were people who hated Americans and wanted to kill us because we weren’t Muslim. Looking back on it I laugh because of my naivety, but at that time these thoughts really scared me.
I’m so glad that I was able to overcome my fears because once I was there my thinking drastically changed. I found that the Muslim people that I got to know were some of the most hospitable and kind people that I had ever met. I have been to many Muslims countries now and have developed friendships with many there. They have opened my eyes to the stereotypes that I had once bought into.
This video is my effort to try and help people think about this issue. I think we as Americans can get worked up about a group of people that often we know little about.
Here are some questions for you:
How many of you are afraid of Muslims?
How many of you have ever met a Muslim?
How many of you have had a Muslim friend?
I think we fear because we’re scared of the unknown. Have we made an effort to understand?
I would love to see Americans start dialoging with Muslims both here and abroad.
My Muslim friends in the Middle East and North Africa made me promise that I would tell my American friends that they aren’t terrorists. I hope you enjoy this video that I made.
I think this is nothing less than a wonderful effort to bridge a very widening gap between people, because even though some of us might live in a multicultural city, very few interact with anyone outside of their own circle.
Laurence Fishburne’s Daughter
I have to say that Laurence Fishburne is one of my favorite actors, and when I heard that his daughter Montana Fishburne (or her screen name Chippy D) got into porn I was shocked, and when I heard she got into porn to get famous like Kim Kardashian, or in her own words “I’ve watched how successful Kim Kardashian became and I think a lot of it was due to the release of her sex tape”
Her father of course is very upset, no normal father would like this, and where I am from, people kill their offspring for that, but that is not what I want to write about, what I want to write about is the effect of the media machine.
Now the Kim Kardashian sex tape which was about her and her boyfriend was supposedly leaked, i.e, it was a private tape and not made for public viewing (or so they say), Montana’s endeavors are the opposite all together.
The Media Machine
“Fame is the worst drug known to man, It’s stronger than, heroin, When you could look in the mirror like, ‘There I am’ And still not see, what you’ve become” Jay-Z
That is the effect of the media machine, I do not know the intricacies or complications or what she as a young woman had to go through, but from her statement it is obvious she is doing it for fame, and while she could’ve taken the way others have taken to become legitimate and respectable actors, she chose the shortcut.
The New Generation
As a father I follow child psychology a bit, and I was surprised when they said how media has influenced kids lately. It used to be, at least in my generation, that kids wanted to be something in particular, a doctor, an engineer, a policeman, a race car driver, etc. Those were careers, dreams and aspirations. Now, these days they say, when they asked kids what they wanted to be, a big percentage said they wanted to be rich. Rich and Famous. That is it. Montana is an example of that, no one want to work hard anymore.
I do not have Montana’s sex tape, but to keep you all happy, I have embedded the new sex tape by Eva Mendes
Mike Tyson in Mecca (Makkah)
Mike Tyson performing Umrah
This is a picture of Mike Tyson in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, after he performed Umrah. I am sure more pictures will surface or will be shared by him or his publicist.
I hope he does not go all Maureen Dowd on us, cause then I’m gonna have to… cause you know me, I mean… yeah 
Iftah Ya Simsim is Coming Back
I think they read my blog, and if they do (which I doubt) then I am happy they took action
Remember my post about children’s songs, and the fact that I wished the Arabic Sesame Street would come back? Well, it is, Iftah Ya Simsim (Open Sesame) will be back on air after 30 years.
I am happy
I learned the Arabic alphabet and many other good things from that show.
However, I wonder if the big names of the Arab world would be featured in some of the episodes, like most of the big name artists and figures have been featured in different Sesame Street Shows, I hope they do, and I hope they come up with good children songs.
Most of the characters on the show are the same, except that Big Bird is a little green parrot called Malsoon, and the always tired Mr Snuffleupagus is an always happy Camel called Nu’man.
And yes, we still watch Sesame Street in our home, just this weekend, my son asked me what sounded like this
Him: What does gay mean?
Me: What?
Him: “gay be”
Me: where did you hear that?
Him: “Ernie Song on Sesame Stweet”
Me: Show me
So he presses the back button on the DVD and I hear Ernie sing and saying something like “to a reggae beat”
Me: He is saying reggae beat
Him: What’s that
Me: Reggae is a kind of music that sounds like the song that Ernie is singing now
Him: Why?
I think to myself, should I try to explain this now? or should I prepare for the harder questions that he might ask me in the future, and during that time, he just forgot that he asked me the question and returned to watching his DVD This is the video in case you wanted to hear the song.
The Truth About the iPhone4 Antenna Problems
Ever since the iPhone4 came out and the antenna problems were initially experienced and reported, it seems like there is a never ending stream of reports and videos of the problems existence or lack of existence (at least to those who are following the iPhone4)
I consider myself an Apple appreciator, i.e. I like the products, wish I had more of them, but I have not really bought many of their products. I do not understand the people camping infront of stores before a product is launched, but if they love it that much, so be it.
Apple is a master marketer, no two sound minded individuals would argue that their marketing machine is nothing short of the best out there, and there lies the biggest target available. Only a few countries have officially had the iPhone 4 released, the rest of the world is still waiting for it, and while people camp infront of Apple stores in countries that have Apple stores, some people wait for hours for Nokia C3 in other countries, but none of us have heard of that, and while Apple continues to expand its market share, other companies are experiencing a decline.
I wish I knew the number of people who were thinking of buying the iPhone 4 and just went out and bought something else because of this problem. Nokia exlicitly has an illustration in each and every user’s manual that comes with a new phone that advises the user not to hold the phone in a certain way.
The truth is, everyone wants a piece of the action, sites, the news agencies, magazines, blogs 
etc. As for Apple, well, if you ask them they would tell you that any publicity helps them float their boat, I mean iBoat
MTV Arabia
I watched MTV back in the day, and a few years ago MTV Arabia started airing on satellite channels in the Middle East, and as usual they always try to push the envelope. I forgot was I was searching for when I stumbled across these videos/commercials/space fillers, which I’ve seen a few times on MTV Arabia, they are very funny and entertaining, and I wanted to share them here.
This is actually a dance off between two guys, one traditional, the other all about hip hop and bling they each win a few.
This happens all the time, except if you have a nice car some girls might smile at you… wait, doesn’t that happen everywhere? As Jay-Z said in one of his lines "Every baller that can afford it would cop the best ride"
This video was my favorite of them all, it reminded me of the days of Street fighter on the old Nintendo, except with a twist, there is a lady beggar in the background, and he also throws his slipper while the other guy hits him with his igal.
Saving the best for last, this last video is my favorite.
All of these were aired at least two or three years ago.
Back to the Future
Today is the day that Marty McFly arrived in the future after hitting 88mph in a pimped out Delorean in 1985, where are all those cool gadgets they talked about? cars still have wheels, they don’t run on household waste, no hovering skateboards? none of that stuff.
The good old days I remember watching that movie on VHS, now my son does not know what a VHS is, let alone a beta-max it is all DVDs and Blu-Ray now, oh and downlading digital movies… on iTunes of course.
However, keep your eyes open, you might see a car disapearing after going 88mph but that only happens in the movies… or does it?
