Yo!

I mean Yao! Yao Ming is just a great guy, and probably one of the best things to ever happen to the NBA since the thugs and gangster wannabes started making the NBA really lame. This clip featuring him on the Jimmy Kimmel show is just great.



http://www.youtube.com/v/o5Z3qhthNP8

BTW: Jimmy's an Ass!

Racial Profiling?

Brought to you by the good people of Day by Day Cartoon.

Keeping it real

It amazes me how the Muslim intellect went from brilliancy to what we have now. I was reading the book "From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East" when I ran into this quote from Andalusian-Arab philosopher, Ibn Hazm. He really describes how anyone should "keep it real" while managing foreign politics.

The measure of prudence and resolution is to know a friend from an enemy; the height of stupidity and weakness is not to know an enemy form a friend.

Do not surrender your enemy to oppression, nor oppress him yourself. In this respect treat enemy and friend alike. But be on your guard against him, and beware lest you befriend and advance him, for this is the act of a fool. He who befriends and advances friend and foe alike will only arouse distaste for his friendship and contempt for his enmity. He will earn the scorn of his enemy, and facilitate his hostile designs;he will lose his friend, who will join the ranks of his enemies.

The height of goodness is that you should neither oppress your enemy nor abandon him to oppression. To treat him as a friend is the mark of a fool whose end is near.

The height of evil is that you should oppress your friend. Even to estrange him is the act of a man who has no sense, for whom misfortune is predestined.

Magnanimity is not to befriend the enemy, but to spare them, and to remain on your guard against them.

From The Book of Morals and Conduct, Ibn Hazm of Cordova (994-1064)

The benefits of living by the sea

It has been about three weeks since I've blogged about me, or what I have been doing. So I think yesterday was fun enough for me to blog about it.

The last time I swam was three days before leaving the States in September. It was in
the small hotel pool in the little town called Delta in the middle of no where, Utah. Yesterday was supposed to be my long run of the week day, but I decided to forfeit that after getting in touch with some of my high school friends and deciding to go to this beach club to spend the afternoon.

When we got there, the receptionist didn't want to let us in at beginning, as he said that the weekends are for families entry only and no singles were allowed. After ten minutes of persuasion, he decided that we were respectable human beings and decided to lets us in. Of course, each one of us had to pay about 50Qrs to get in...

Once we got in, the fun started. I checked out the gym over there and it was nice. It costs about 350Qrs a month for a membership which I think is ex termly over priced. Then we swam some laps in the pool, and then after some walking around. We got to the jacuzzi.

The most memorable part of the day was once we got into the open waters, my friend Fady just wanted chill and play around, but I saw something different. As I wasn't wearing my glasses my depth perception was quite messed up. I saw two boats that didn't seem that far away and I suggested we swim to them. Fady was a little bit skeptical and wasn't sure if we were going to make it. We decided to throw all the doubts aside went like "Fuck it, lets do it man".

Being the crappy swimmer I am - sorry Jon - this swim was the best thrill I had in a while. Midway I was getting tired, I was having doubts, I was cussing the idea, and I was about to freak out. As I continued with my crawl, I collected my thoughts, calmed down, got a hold of my breathing and before I knew it, my hands were touching the port. Getting there was great.


After the high fives, and a bunch of "Dude! That was nuts!", we swam back to the beach. Surprisingly, the swim back felt a lot shorter. I swam in the pool after that for another 40 minutes, grabbed a bite, and then took off home.

I woke up very tired today, and I am doing nothing. I've earned my weekend and I am ready for next week.

-Cheers!

The Montage

On Thursday's night I went out to City Center -I gigantic mall in the west bay of Doha, no where near the actual city center - to watch 300. Unfortunately, due to the lack of other name worthy movies playing, all shows were already sold out. So movie night had to be delayed to Friday.

So last night, instead of heading to the mall again, I got the DVD of Rocky Balboa. It was quite the usual good guy does well in the end, but I felt that it had some encoded messages with some value to them. I felt it was a conservatives' movie.

I personally don't think that is quote is directed only to Rocky's son. It is directed to all of those "I need to find someone to blame for my misfortunes out there", and if you read carefully, you might see where it is headed.

Let me tell you something you already know, the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or anybody. It is going to hit us as hard as life, but it isn't about as hard you hit, it is about how much you can get hit and keep moving forward. It is about how much you can take and keep moving forward, thats how winning is done. Now if you know what you are worth, go out and get what you're worth, but you've got to be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers and say you aren't what you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that isn't you. You're better than that!

Of course, the movie had its montage. It wasn't as colorful as the one in Rocky III, or as dramatic as the one in Rocky IV. I think it made up for the whole horrible piece crap called Rocky V. If Rambo 4 is as entertaining as this was, I might just forgive 60 year old Sly for trying to import GH.

Let me leave you to the greatest Rocky inspired montage of all time. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zixAjmrmn6g

Fighting evil

All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.

Whether you disagree with the war or you don't. You need to know that the Americans and the Iraqis over there are fighting some of the most evil and blood thirsty people on this Earth. They need to be taken down, and defeated. Liberty and freedom never come cheap.



Is this a freedom fighter?



And are these the traitors?



Hippies and Ass-hats need a reality check.

Those who are on facebook can check the videos at:
http://www.youtube.com/v/q4ghwZjyxMI
http://www.youtube.com/v/GjgiGFkTjFY
http://www.youtube.com/v/Ezyb1BfzG_4

Beautiful.

As featured on Popular Science magazine. Simply beautiful.

America! Here to save the Mother F@#$ing day!

I had a conversation with my friend Wyatt, it went like this:

Zoal says:
Dude check this out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6435391.stm
Zoal says:
I think I should blog about those f*** in the southern hemisphere
Wyatt Shmiatt says:
dude, we need to drop a couple bombs on that country
Wyatt Shmiatt says:
You know the people there couldnt care less about bush or the US
Wyatt Shmiatt says:
Chavez is a f**.
Zoal says:
yeah
Zoal says:
Ass-hat to be accurate...
Zoal says:
Why aren't they blaming Europe for their poverty?
Zoal says:
or Russia?
Zoal says:
or themselves?
Zoal says:
or even China?
Wyatt Shmiatt says:
some liberals in the US must have got to them
Zoal says:
in Free trade there are benefits for both parties
Zoal says:
but both parties have to offer something
Zoal says:
whats so unfair about that?
Wyatt Shmiatt says:
nothing. freedom is never unfair
Zoal says:
Plus, they aren't citizens of the United States of America
Zoal says:
then why should the good old US of A give a rat's ass about their welfare in the first place
Wyatt Shmiatt says:
I know I don't
Zoal says:
the US is not getting enough credit in this world
Wyatt Shmiatt says:
they should quit worrying about it.
Zoal says:
they should.
Wyatt says:
The world is great because of the US. If people don't realize that, H them.
Zoal says:
Word.

Moral of the story: Like it or not, USAID provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries to provide a better future for all.

America, F*** Yeah!

JSF F-35

Northrop Grumman really hit the jackpot with the F-35. I envy all the engineers who were part of designing such a beautiful machine, and those who will fly it for the Marines, USAF, and US Navy... Damn it!

My new favorite word: "Ass-hat"

Ass-hat

One whose head is so far up their rear end it could pass for a hat; used to describe a person who is stubborn, cruel, or otherwise unpleasant to be around.
Leave 'em alone, asshat!

Going through the news everyday, I read a lot about ass-hats. They are everywhere and quite unavoidable, so I decided to present to you my dear readers, this week's ass-hats.

1. All of those who stood with Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama on Sunday, because honestly, how long are you going to ride this "civil rights" wagon?!! It is about time you Malcolm X'ed your asses and started doing instead of complaining. Al Sharpton hasn't taken you anywhere, neither did Jessie Jackson, who are both major ass-hats by the way. Drop the joints and start making something happen damn it!

2. Drug dealers in India and everywhere around the world. These ass-hats deserve not only death the penalty, but should all be executed by overdosing them on the shit they kill the youth with. I feel sorry for the ones who become ass-hats as the result of addiction, but I still think no government should spend a penny on them. They made retarded choices, let natural selection take its course.

3. Anyone who thinks that Hizbolla's major ass-hat has won the July's war in Lebanon. As if they did, this kid must have missed out the victory "speech".

4. This CNN ass-hat:




Thats all for now, watch out for ass-hats!

Not for the weak at heart

The following video contains significant amount of violence and use of "offensive" language. You've been warned.




Thats right. Fuck MTV.

March Madness!

Oh yeah! March is here, and comes with it this blog. Cheers to that!

In four days I would have completed six long months in Qatar. Not much has changed, I started a new job, started hanging out with some new friends, and lost some muscle weight. I can't complain that much, it could have been worse.

One of the norms in life over here is the huge exposure to movies. As there isn't much to be done over here I am averaging about two movies a week, plus my usual TV shows, The Unit, NCIS, and CSI: NY.

I just finished watching the DVD of the Departed, and it was really good. I didn't expect that a movie with Alec Baldwin would involve any real acting, but was I surprised. Everything about that movie rocked, and I think I am getting the special edition DVD if it comes out. Mark Wahlberg was really entertaining, just watch this clip.



Next week I start training for next year's marathons. My main goal is to qualify for the 2009 Boston Marathon. My plan is to train in two sixteen week cycles, the first cycle is to get comfortable with the idea of running 26 miles. The second cycle is to get my speed and endurance up. Hopefully, if I stay injury free, I will be able to run three marathons in 2008, or qualify for Boston, I'll take what ever comes first.

-CZ