The View from the Mecca Clock Tower
I was thinking ever since I saw pictures of the Mecca clock tower, that the view from up there would make for a great pictrue, especially a great night photograph, and oh how I would like to do a time-lapse video from that view.
Then my friend the Fashionisto :) Adnan Manjal posted this picture on twitter. His friend took it, and I would like to thank them both.
The Mecca Clock
Finally, a picture that puts it all in perspective.
Photo from the Boston.com Big Picture (here)
Book: Roads of Arabia
I got something delivered to my door recently, I decided to share my initial experience with the world
It came in a big box
The box contained a book
The book was huge
It was also inviting, with smiles from the beginning
With very nice pictures
Camel Caravans that crossed the land hundreds of years ago
And ancient cities that are no longer inhabited
And cities (Mecca/Makkah) that are more inhabited now then any other time in history
And more nice and rare pictures, those that show recent and ancient history
Jewels
This looks a lot like Versace 
And this is proof that a Kim Kardashian body was the thing way back in the day
Many old blog posts in ancient languages
And history lessons, that is where the origin of the word Arab comes from
I will learn a lot from this book
The desert, in the right weather, is a very pleasant experience… though I prefer the sea
Did I say the book was huge? I’ll say it again for emphasis
And it did come from the Louvre.
CNN made a report on the exhibit, I saw it at susristube and because it was fitting this post, I also added it here, it is almost like walking in the exhibition it self.
A few weeks ago I wrote about the Saudi Arabian exhibit at the Louvre in France, and I mentioned the book that was only available at the Louver’s book shop. My friend Saudiaspire said he would get me one, lo and behold… here it is, and it is a gem. Thank you very much my dear and kind friend, I just hope I can one day give you a gift as precious as this.
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 
World Cup 2010 Hijaz to Shakira
They say that music originated in Africa, they also say all human beings originated from Africa, and I am not here to argue the latter, but someone thought it would be good to prove the former, in a somewhat Darwinian way 
Here is a clip of Shakira’s song from the World Cup 2010 opening ceremony, followed by a Mizmar song called Makkah Makkah (I am not an authority on mizmar, and this could’ve easily been made after Shakira’s song)
So this is the video with both songs (and a little clip from tash ma tash at the end)
If you liked the mizmar song you can download it from here
I assume no responsibility if you felt like you wanted to hold a stick and get up and dance, mizmar does that to you
Taqwacore
“Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam follows Michael and his kindred spirits as they travel across the U.S. in their green school bus, challenging Muslims and non-Muslims with punchy anthems like Sharia Law in the U.S.A. Their spiritual odyssey then leads them to Pakistan, where they bring punk to the streets of Lahore and reconnect with Islam in a bold new way.”
Looks interesting
Stuffed
I learned how to read and write in English before I knew how to read and write in Arabic, and due to that, I do not remember having any major problems either understanding or being misunderstood when communicating in English.
American slang was not much of a problem since American media with the music Read more
Something is Cooking
I can smell something cooking, something… how should I put it?… right now, we’ve got the media highlighting the Tiger Woods adultery, to cover up sending more American troops to Afghanistan… They’ve always done that with Michael Jackson, but now I guess they wanted another white-black man to take his place.
But the cooking I smell is closer to home. Just a few days ago the head of the hay’a in Makkah comes out saying gender segregation is not Islamic.. I think he has read my post about that
Seriously, this is something other non-Saudi Islamic clerics have been saying for ages… I’ve read the Arabic article, and it even says shaking hands and riding behind an unrelated male on a horse or a camel (I assume a motorcycle also), or with an unrelated male in a car is not forbidden… And unrelated women can cut men’s hair…
This issue, at least for me, should be filed under things that make you go hmmm! For years the establishment has done what it’s done, and I am not going to go through any well known lists and stories. The arguments are based on the same exact references that they once used to force segregation… And those were the same conclusions of other Islamic thinkers and clerics out of Saudi (of course they were ridiculed in various ways)… Hence, this is why the Islam practiced in Saudi is/was called a “strict wahabbi interpretation” of Islam. I am sure this is in one way or another a ploy to get people talking about this amongst themselves so whatever needs to be taken care of can be taken care of in a discrete way…
Nothing gets people talking more than X be it practicing, getting some, preventing other, increasing this… etc
One day, you will say, that I told you so
It could be about the BS projects in Jeddah, it could be more… This poor blogger has a keen sense of smell, but his vision… Is so-so
A good Arabic article was written by Susan AlMashadi, a Saudi writer, asking the question “What’s going to happen after this statement?” since the Hay’a has been arresting people based on what the current chief of the Hay’a is saying is all good! What about all the lives that were ruined, the reputations that have been tarnished, the defamations of character.. etc.
E5VQVDCNEYWG
A Saudi Born Woman Running for California State Assembly
I’ve came across an article about a lady, which I should call super lady here, named Mrs Ferial Masry, a woman born to BaitAlmal family in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and is now running for the California State Assembly, and I am sure has bigger dreams and grand plans in politics. Now if that is not part of the American Dream I do not know what is.
I do not know much about her more than what I’ve read online, she has written a book which my wife and I plan on getting our hands on soon called “Running for All the Right Reasons”
She is on twitter, facebook, Wikipedia and has her own site
http://www.ferialmasryforassembly.com/
She was even called ABC’s person of the week, check her out in the attached video.
I wish her the best, I cannot say more about her, she said it all in her book and sites, but I have to say that I feel happy and proud…. You go girl!
Contradictions
There are a few things that I never understood (and could not get an answer that would satisfy me) in my own country, so I cannot imagine how outsiders might feel. One of them is… how on earth rice became a national dish, when the stuff is not grown in the peninsula?
The second, which is the most debated issue, is the segregation between males and females. One, because anyone from outside of Saudi can look at a picture of the Ka’ba, and see males and females around the clock going around the Ka’ba in the counter clockwise motion of the ritual. No segregation, and at times when it is really crowded shoulders bump into each other… and life goes on.
Yet not even a few meters away from the Ka’ba, segregation is enforced. I can understand it happening during prayers, most religions do that… but then it seems the further away from the Ka’ba the more segregation occurs.
As any place with thousands of visitors every day, a parking space is hard to find in Makkah, and expensive, add to that the mountinous nature of the area. So people, at least those who know the ins and outs of Makkah usually park their cars a little further away, and take a taxi or a bus. A few years ago we developed a habit of parking at a hotel, and taking their shuttle to the Haram.
On the way there, my wife sat next to me with our son in my lap. After finishing and heading back to the hotel, we got on the shuttle. There are security guys who make sure you are eligible to ride the bus, usually the stub from the automated gate at the hotel’s parking lot, so after showing it, and sitting down in the same arraignment we came in, the guard snapped his fingers at my wife and told her to go to the back of the bus with all the women… and before I could say anything, my wife exploded in his face telling him that he has no right to tell her where to sit, and that she is sitting next to me with our child… she exploded with such furry that he started to stutter, I think a woman never spoke to him that way before, let alone scold him like that. All I had to do was give him the “look“. Once he got out of the bus, bewildered at what just happened, I looked at my wife and smiled (trying not to laugh)… I told her I was going to say something to the guy before she turned all Saudi Rosa Parks on him, but she had already burned him, that I almost felt sorry for the guy… however, deep inside we both knew he got what he deserved, I for one know that if she had her face covered he would’ve directed the comment towards me, and probably in a more polite manner. As for my wife, I always knew she could take care of herself, but actually seeing it… made me feel proud of her even more.
Not that busses are not mixed seating to and from the holy areas, here is a picture of a nice looking couple sitting next to each other, but usually because the bus is crowded, they like to segregate the males and the females in the bus to accommodate more people… but then again… we were all cramped next to each other around the Ka’ba… so…
Anyway, the moral of the story is… contradiction, my prediction…
