Subzero Blue

Ramadhan: Before & After

The holy month of Ramadhan is on the doorstep, just a few days till it starts, with all it’s beauty and it’s unique atmosphere, bringing along with it the prayers and fasting, as well as the traditional sweets (Zlabia, Mkhariq, Maqroudh), the long dinner tables, the new TV series, and lots more.

What’s so incredible though is how what once was a month of worship, prayer and fasting has now become (for a big number of people) the month of concerts, tv series and feasts with a secondary focus on the worship side of it.
When i think of it, i’m never able to draw a logical line of events that could have led to this huge change.
I mean, in the old days, people would be sitting around in a circle in a mosque learning about their religion, reading Quran and worshipping God, when nowadays they are sitting around a TV, watching TV series, listening to songs and eating.

What’s even more weird is how in the old days, people would use Ramadhan and their fasting as a way to control their tempers, be more friendly and clean their mouths of foul language, when nowadays it’s the total opposite, people use the fact that they’re fasting as an easy pretext to launch into hysterical anger and the use of violent language.

I’m not truly complaining though as i love the way of life in Ramadhan even as it is now, but it was just a thought that crossed my mind how such a big change in concept has occurred.

Plus, Thank God, it’s not that bad, the mosques still do fill up in Ramadhan with worshippers, and even those people at home do remember their God and pray between meals or series 😉

I know that people who know me will be thinking “Look who’s talking”, as i’m not known to be a religious person at all, lol…
Anyway, i do fast all of Ramadhan, and well i’ll try to start praying this Ramadhan, so help me God 🙂

Scary Movie 3

So Scary Movie 3 is coming out soon, that should be cool…

I love movies that spoof other movies, they’re so much fun, and you also feel how much of a movie addict you are when you know each and every movie they’re spoofing, lol…
Although i can imagine how dull they must be to people who didn’t see any of the movies.

I expect this one will be even better than the previous ones because it has a cool cast which also includes Charlie Sheen & Leslie Nielsen.
It’s a shame that the Wayan bros aren’t in this one though.

For more visit the official site or imdb.

The Passion

I really don’t get it why some Jews are so mad about Mel Gibson’s new movie “The Passion” (now called: The Passion Of Christ).

They say the movie suggests Jews were responsible for Christ’s death.
so ? where’s the wrong in that ? it’s totally true…
It’s even written in the bible, which was used as a reference while making the movie.

In fact, not only were Jews behind the death of Jesus, they were also behind the deaths of a number of their other prophets.

I think it’s totally hypocritical of them to criticize this movie.
Why is it that they can make movie after movie about Nazis stating that it’s freedom of speech and art, and then stand in front of this movie that’s just telling the story of Christ’s final hours as they are known to be, and say that it’s against Jews.

It’s not against Jews, it’s the true facts of what happened.
There’s a big difference…

Finally Washed

Well, after months of collecting dust, mud, dirt and whatever a car can collect, our car’s original colour became somehow unknown.
I remember choosing the colour “Red Lucifer” when ordering it last year, but the colour it has had recently is not even close, lol.

Anyway, i finally took it to a car wash today and got it all cleaned up and shiny, and now she looks as good as new 🙂

Thankfully, it’s rain curse was even broken. Before today, whenever i washed the car or even thought of washing it, the weather would change and it would rain like crazy making the car dirty again, but today just a few rain drops fell and then it stopped.

I’m posting a pic of clean Lilo (our car’s name) on my Photolog 😉

Hedi Slimane

Just came across this piece about a Tunisian fashion designer called Hedi Slimane who just moved to work at Dior, and who could do for menswear what Yves Saint Laurent did for women 40 years ago.

With a Tunisian father, Italian mother, and Brazilian grandmother, Hedi Slimane embodies the new global fashion.

To read the article/interview: click here.

My Photolog

Well as some of you must have noticed (from the pic on the left), i have started a photolog in which i will be posting pictures i take of places i go, things i see, stuff that’s going …etc.

I thought it would be a cool way to share what i’m seeing and where i’m going, and also an opportunity for foreigners to see different places and views in Tunisia, and last but not least, offer Tunisians abroad a constant window into Tunisia, their homeland, and somehow make them feel a bit closer 🙂

The photolog is at: http://subzeroblue.textamerica.com

Check it out, hope you like it 🙂

Iraq Under Occupation

I was just surfing the English Al Jazeera website when i came across this special report “Iraq Under Occupation”.
The following is the introduction of the report, which i really liked, and you can read the rest here.

US and British occupation of Iraq is regarded as the re-emergence of the old colonialist practices of the western empires in some quarters. The real ambitions underlying the brutal onslaught are still highly questionable – and then there are the blatant lies over weapons of mass destruction originally used to justify the war. There were no great victory marches by the occupiers, nor were they thrown garlands of flowers and greeted in triumph. More US soldiers have died in Iraq since George Bush declared an end to the war on 1 May 2003 prompting the question: Will Iraq turn into a new Vietnam eventually bringing the US to its senses … or perhaps to its knees?

Iraq’s history, and along with it that of the Arab Muslim world, speaks of several similar encounters. In the past, enemies attacked from East and West before they were swallowed by the moving sands of the region, or forced to retreat, leaving behind a phoenix-like people who adore life and still accept to die for their freedom.

The escalating Iraqi resistance seems to be setting the stage for another act which might usher in a new Arab World or set the clock ticking for the end of yet another empire.

Caring for the environment in Tunisia

I just read a post on AquaCool about the environment, and how we should try and take more care of it and all.

And well i totally agree with that, BUT there’s one little problem: the people themselves…

Tunisia is one of the countries that has really given so much importance to nature and the environment, and the government has been trying to get all sorts of programs going for ages, from recycling to creating more green areas to educating people to raising awareness of environment problems …etc, and initiative after initiative have passed with only minor success, and that’s because first of all the change has to come from within the people and their brains for anything to work.
You can’t do anything when some people are still throwing their garbage out of their windows or littering sidewalks with the remains of their snacks even though bins are only a meter away.
It’s a whole vision and we all have to be in it together, people and government.

I think the Tunisian government is doing a great job trying to educate people and coming up with great inititiatives, but until the Tunisians themselves rally behind these inititiatives and become more eco-aware, and until the new generations grow up with a strong eco-conscience we’re going nowhere.

China goes to space

Yep, China goes to space, not all of it of course, just one man.
There’s not enough space in the earth’s orbit to take the whole Chinese population along.

So, China joins the space nations, becoming only the 3rd country to put a man into space.
The Shenzhou V spacecraft was successfully launched today with China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei aboard. He will orbit the earth 14 times and then land somewhere in Inner Mongolia.

Before take-off the astronaut was quoted saying he would gain honor for the People’s Liberation Army and for the Chinese nation and that he would not dissapoint the motherland …etc., but i bet that deep inside of him he just wished the whole thing would pass quickly without his ass being blown up into a billion pieces.

Oh well, congratulations for China. I truly respect and admire the Chinese people.

New Inspector Clouseau: Steve Martin?

It appears that MGM favor Steve Martin for the role of Inspector Clouseau in a remake of the 1964 movie “Pink Panther”.

In the original, Peter Sellers was the star French detective, and man was he awesome !
I totally loved the movie and the sequels that followed.
Peter Sellers was a comedy genius, and just seeing his face makes you laugh your butt off.

I quite like Steve Martin too and i think he could do a good job in the role, if he takes it that is, but in my opinion i don’t think he’d be able to totally fill the big shoes Peter Sellers left behind.