Subzero Blue

Terrorism

“Terrorists don’t just wake up one morning and decide to hate the United States”.
Micah Halpern (Author of “What You Need To Know About: Terror”)

I just read this line a couple of days ago in TIME magazine, and ever since then i’ve been wanting to post something about this, but without being too political, i just want to state a point of view, an idea, a thought, regardless of the country.

Just reading that line really makes you think, it’s true, nobody ever wakes up in the morning and decides to hate someone. Hate is a feeling that is born and then grows because of a reason, and it naturally grows even bigger when that reason persists and is ignored.

So maybe the solution to stop this hate is to actually try and find that reason, then try to find some way to erase it and solve the problem creating it instead of launching a full scale war that will only serve as a way to feed the roots of that hatred.

But what if the reason is already known and obvious ?
What if they don’t want to solve the problem that is the reason of the hatred ?
Then, this is why we see what we see today and live through what we live through today.

But then again, War never was a solution to any problem.

Doesn’t that make you think ?

Arabic Language in Tunisia

A few days ago i read a topic on my friend Houssein’s blog in which he talked about the Berbers in Morocco, and how they won a very important fight to affirm their identity and got their language to be taught in schools.

Houssein went on to talk about Tunisia, and how people should start using arabic more.

I totally agree with Houssein, and i think that Tunisians should hold on to their arabic language, start using it more and even get to know it better, because language is one of the most important parts of one’s identity and if they let that go, then they’re losing part of who they are.

I see this problem even more than others maybe because i lived in another arab country, an eastern arab country which was Jordan, where arabic is used more than here and even the local dialect is more faithful to the arabic language than ours.

I think it’s great that the government is pushing for arabic in all domains and for all purposes, and i wish companies and people would follow.

We are arabs and arabic is our language, arabic is our identity, arabic is our history and culture, arabic is our heritage.
We should work hard not to let all that go, coz if we do then all we’re actually doing is losing sense of who we are, and losing the respect of everyone starting by our own respect for ourselves.

And people who think that talking another language is cool, then it’s not, what’s so cool about imitating someone and trying to be something you’re not ?
What is cool is to be yourself, be original and stick to who you are and what you believe.

Our language is one of the most beautiful languages ever, if not the most, so lets not let it go.

SPIRIT – Stallion Of The Cimarron

Just finished watching “SPIRIT – Stallion Of The Cimarron”, an animated (normal not 3D) feature movie by DreamWorks (Creators of Shrek).

After hesitating to rent the DVD for a long time, mainly because i never heard of how well the movie did after it was released, i was really amazed by how great it is.
The animation is beautiful to say the least, the story is really nice, and the soundtrack by Bryan Adams is one of the best

soundtracks i’ve ever heard both from the music and lyrics point of view.

So, in short, it was a very enjoying movie, and a lot better than i expected.
To me, it’s up there with the best Disney animations in quality and story.

More from the south

Just thought i’d post a few more pics from our trip to the south.

The following is of the Palm beach in Tozeur, which actually looks like a green sea from a distance:

This next one is of Chott Jerid, that we passed through on our way to Douz from Tozeur:

And this last one is of the mountains and landscape between Tamezret and Matmata:

Oh well, here’s another last one from Djerba Explore’s crocodile park:

Back from the South

We just got back from a trip to the south of Tunisia. My vacation started Saturday, and so i suggested we (My wife, her sister and I) pick ourselves up, get in the car and go for a little trip to the south.

My wife and I already went there earlier in the year and we loved it, so we thought this was a great chance to go again. So we got in the car, and i started driving.

Our first stop was Kairouan which was on our way, we just drove around quickly, then stopped and had lunch there. Then we were back on our way, and we kept on going till we got to Tozeur at 9:30PM, a beautiful city in the South West of Tunisia, with a unique architectural style and amazing natural beauty.

We spent the night there, and in the following morning, went in a tour in the city, then visited a close city called Nefta, then we were back on our way, this time towards Douz and its vast breath-taking Sahara.
Once in Douz we headed straight to camel-riding, and we got 3 camels and went into the desert for an hour or so, which was totally awesome. The desert sand is so pure and smooth and the air is so clean and energizing.

Later, we moved on towards Djerba passing by the amazing Matmata, the Star Wars city, where they actually filmed the scenes for the planet Tatooine, and it’s Berber houses that are built into the mountains.

Finally we got to Djerba (The island of dreams), spent the night there, and woke up today to go to Djerba Explore (A theme park that has a Crocodile park, hotel, restaurants, cafes, museums and more).
After that, we drove around in the island then went to Houmt Souk and spent some time there.

At 2PM or so, we started on our way back to Tunis, a continuous 7:30 hour drive, after which i find myself totally exhausted and dying for sleep and rest.

So i’ll end this post here with a pic i took of the desert in Douz.

Great Coincidence

We just went out to return a movie we had rented yesterday and maybe get something else to see, and on the way we thought we’d pass by and check out some magazines.

We passed by the closest magazine store, and didn’t find the magazine my wife wanted, so we thought we’d move along down the street to Monoprix and see if we could find it there.
It was already near to 10PM and so Monoprix was shutting down, so we decided to just go home, but then i thought, lets go to this cool magazine stand in front of the Soula Shopping Center even though there were other ones before it on our way.

Anyway, we got there, and as we approached it i saw a friend of mine i haven’t seen for a long time, he’s a friend i met in Jordan, and who i haven’t heard from for ages, although i would always ask anyone coming or going to Jordan about him.

It was really great meeting him there, it turns out he finished his studies in Jordan and is back home in Tunisia now too 🙂

I love coincidences like this, and sometimes i can’t help but think that maybe these aren’t simple coincidences, maybe there’s this hidden power that meant for them to be, maybe, just maybe 🙂
Anyway, whatever it is, it was cool, and i hope we get to meet more often 🙂

Finding Nemo & Parts of the Process

Just finished watching “Finding Nemo”, and i must say it’s one of my favourite animated movies to this day, pixar have really outdone themselves with this one, in fact they always do with every new movie.

“Finding Nemo” is a piece of art animation-wise, and the story is great and the humor is amazing, i just love it 🙂
I think i’ll be buying the DVD for sure when it’s released and gets here.

As i write this post, i’m listening to Morcheeba’s album “Parts of the Process”, which has this really cool laid back sound that i love, just the stuff i need right now.

Btw, i just remebered, i also re-watched “The Two Towers”, finally in English, on a DVD i rented and i love it even more now.
The DVD has some cool extras on it, especially the teaser part about “Return of the King” which looks like it’ll top both the first and second movie, i can’t wait.

As if it never happened (But not really !)

Well today is a new day, and on my way to work, it looked like nothing ever happened, in fact today looks like a perfect day of spring…

Of course, i hear some places still have to be cleaned up and all, and some water has to be dealt with, but all in all, everything is back to normal…

Anyway, even though it didn’t last for too long, but people whose homes or shops are situated in low areas have suffered a lot of loss because of the water coming in and spoiling whatever is in its way.

I just hope that whatever precautions possible are taken so that this tragedy doesn’t happen again, we’re still at the doorstep of winter, and God only knows what other rains lie ahead.

The following is a picture taken yesterday at a residential area:

Black Hole SUN

Doesn’t anyone else think that Scott McNealy (CEO of SUN) & SUN have become so incredibly pathetic ?

It’s like they don’t know what to do anymore, they’re running all over the place like a mad man looking for anything that thay can shine at when it’s so obvious this SUN has burned itself into a black hole.

One day they’re the server people and they’re talking about the N1 initiative, and the other day they’re the software people and they’re pushing Java and branding it, the next day they’re the anti-microsoft people coming out with the ultimate solution for our lives to go on with their linux-based Java Desktop System and crappy StarOffice, the day after they think Microsoft’s strategy is good and they imitate them in a number of ways, and the sad story goes on and on and on.

Everyday i go to tech news websites and see more and more of this sad tragedy, and i can’t help but think: PATHETIC !!!

I just hope someone at SUN wakes up and gets them focused again, so that they can go back to what they once were, not necessarily the “dot in .com” days, but some of the good old days.

Update on the rain

It took me over half an hour to get to work today, and that’s bad considering that i live less than 5 minutes away.

The roads are blocked with water and cars, including the 7 November Rd. which is a main highway, and i only got to make it here by driving on the side of the road.

Anyway, now that i’m here at work, i’m afraid i’ll get stuck here, lol…