A Jolly Good Eclipse!

It was simply, a wonderful day! Although i had the fear, from morning, that we would be outclouded, because there were some clouds in the morning sky of Wed. 29 Mar. 2006 over Baghdad, but they grew less and less, right after the beginning of the solar eclipse.

I enjoyed watching the TV, Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera had the best coverage, Libyan TV and Egyptian state-run channels were very good as well. Egyptian President M. Hosni Mubarek went to the small border town of Sallum on the north-western corner of the country, which was the only place nation-wide to have totality.

In Baghdad, where i was, i filmed, and took photos of the best eclipse we will be getting for a long time. We will have a couple of eclipses, but only with a 30% magnitude, unlike this 70% one. It was fun. I haven't had such fun in months. I had fun being outside Baghdad, but to have fun with family in Baghdad is always something else. Something we don't get to do these days.

This was a day, when people of every religion, nationality and age; were united in looking up to the sky; as if it was a silent praise to God, some by prayer, and some by excitement. A reminder that we, as humans, could be easily united by the hands of God; and divided by our own hands.

God always makes the good, and it is WE and we alone who make the bad.

Dear God, thank you for letting me see this jolly good eclipse day.

Anyway,The funniest thing was with Al-Jazeera, who wrote the big word "Aajil" (= Breaking News) on a red background while covering the eclipse. It made me giggle, and it was so typical of them... As if it was Judgement Day! :)

This reminds me of a little story. We had a neighbor who was drunk most of the time, and he usually drinks after sunset so that he gets a good night sleep. Once, there was a lunar eclipse, on a nice summer night, so we took to the garden and watched it as the mosques were all praying the eclipse prayers (which Muslims pray at the beginning of solar or lunar eclipses), so this man's wife took out to the garden calling for us, or maybe for our help!

They didn't know that there was a lunar eclipse in progress, and they just heard the sounds from the mosques all of a sudden; so they were somewhat shocked. My father told her to look up at the moon, which was reddish brown by that time, and that wasn't enough so we gave a quick recap of what was going on. The lady took the info, and thanked us, and returned to her home.

When i was sure she was far enough, i said to my father: "We missed a good chance, dad!", he said: "and how is that?!", i replied: "if we would have only told her that they announced that Judgement Day is tomorrow, then maybe her husband would've left drinking for good!" :)

Silly me!

Nothing Happened

Well, after the helicopters flew around the area, and after we waited for the section-by-section house search to reach us... it didn't, and nothing happened!

It seems that they either got what(ever) they wanted, and went away... Or got lazy to finish the job... Or something that someone sitting at home cannot understand.

So, this gives me a lesson:

Unless you see the humvees and soldiers on your street, don't say "They're here"!

In The Early Morning Rise

Very early this morning, of Sun. 26 Mar. 2006, helicopters flew over our area, and there is a loud speaker saying unaudiable words from afar.

Is it the "crack down" on this "hot bed", rather lawless area?

I will keep you informed with the latest, inshallah.

A Long-Waited Day

A partial Solar Eclipse will be seen in Iraq

with an approx. 70 % ratio,

on Wed. 29 Mar. 2006

between 1:00 pm and 3:30 pm



*

for further details visit:

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmono/TSE2006/TSE2006.html



Happy Eclipsing :)

Albu-Texas!

Just before we begin:
Texas was one of the most-known US States, because of cowboy movies, and shoot-outs in the streets seen in those movies. When Iraqis used to see or hear a shoot-out, they'd say "Sayra Texas", meaning "it's like Texas". I wonder what would the original cowboys in the 1700's and 1800's would've said if they know about us: "Hey, Billy (the Kid), this looks like Baghdad"!

The recent days witnessed some events, the most important of which is the following:

A joint US-Iraqi patrol came by, and stayed around for about 1 hour. So i had the chance to takea photo through my mobile phone.

We are here, where you don't have to go to events, but they come to you!

It seems that they were investigating something in the area. We didn't ask anyone about the raid's outcome, and not asking may be a good thing to do. Sometimes, not knowing is much better than knowing things.

A passing by thought, brought giggles when discussed at home: Iraqis would usually ask someone "from which tribe you are?". Or "minn ya amaam?" literally meaning "from which uncles?". The answer would be "from Albu-......." dots representing the name of tribe. The partition of a tribe is called "fakhith" (=branch), or more literally "thigh"!!!

So, imagine if this dude on top of the near humvee was ever asked "minn ya amaam?", and he would respond "from Albu-Texas, fakhith Al-Bush" (= Bush's thigh).....

GWB: "And my thighs are the thighs of freedom, and freedom is good..."

Ewwwwwwww!!!!!

Smurfs, Snorkels, Whatever!

Oh, Hi!

So i didn't tell you what happened when i went to the city. It was my first major going out alone after the 2/22 tragic events and outcomes, so i was a little afraid, but thanks and praise be to God, it went very well.

The taxi driver i went with was a Sunni from Ramadi. The taxi driver that i came back with was a Shiite from the South. But their words were almost identical that we, Iraqis, have been living like brothers for hundreds of years, and that neighborhoods are mozaic, and even families are mozaic, where you find a Shiite father and a Sunni mother, or vice-versa. So according to the crazy people who are trying to blow this country up, many Iraqis would have to kill either their dad, or their mom, or probably their neighbors and uncles; which would be absolutely insane!

Unfortunately, nobody listens to reasonable voices like those of the taxi drivers' ; bodies and killing keep apearing all over the place.

This reminded me of something the Religion teacher told us when we were kids in 3rd grade, when she heard the first "What are you? A Sunni or a Shiite?" questions. She said: "Say to whoever asks you this question: 'you are an enemy of Islam!'".
And true are her words today.

So, what brings Smurfs and Snorkels? Those two animation series were ran by Iraqi TV in the late 1980's, and since "Sanafir" (= Smurfs) begins with an S, and "Shanakil" (Snorkels) begins with a "Sh", witty Iraqis used thse two animation cartoon names as symbols for Sunnis and Shiites.

Polite people won't ask you such question, because it always stood like asking a woman about her age right after the "pleased to meet you"! Although nowadays, and in dangerous times like these, if somebody asks you: "Are you a Smurf or a Snorkel?", it may be wise to answer: "I'm a chipmonk!!!"

Too Worried to Sleep!

[in tribute to Peppermint Patty, who always falls asleep in class!]

It's now 6:00 am, and i haven't slept!I am worried!

I am supposed to go downtown today to finish some business, and i am worried about that. The thing is that the route to and from the places i'm going to has been frequently hit by car bombs and explosive devices, etc...

Even the places i would be going to have been hit by bombs.

So, if i am supposed to wake up by 9:00, and i am not asleep by 6:00, then... How on earth am i gonna do it?!

Just so you know, if there's no "i don't know who"s walking around at about 3:00 am shooting bullets in the air around your area; then you'd worry and wonder "why there isn't any i don't know who's shooting bullets in the air around my area tonight; then, in both case, you don't get to sleep tight...

Sleep tight?! No way! Because everything around here tends to bite!! :)

More Bodies & Refugees

The news mentioned that about 80 bodies were found today in different parts of Baghdad. News also mentioned that 1800 people have arrived from Baghdad seeking refuge in Kut.

The Gov't mentioned that Thu. (the day in which the Parliament's 1st session is due) will be a "holiday", Fri. and Sat. are also weekend days, so you'd get 3 days of doing nothing. This is not something extraordinary since we are staying at home all the time, so all of our days are Fridays!

One cannot stop hoping for a miracle to stop all this crazy nonsense things are running into.

Google: The "Coolness" Continues!

For those who know me well enough... I am a big fan of Google, and i have this big hope of seeing all of their services in Arabic soon, since things are rolling in other close-enough languages.

Others search, but we Google! :)

I am also a bigger fan of Google Earth, but today, i found a new service from Google... Which is Google Mars!

So, now you could gaze at the red planet!

http://www.google.com/mars/

Happy GazinG! :)

PS: I really like these Google labels that change with the events, suuuuperb!

Of Wish & Command

Once, there was an Iraqi man, who suddenly found a magic lamp, so he started rubbing the lamp, and a jinni went out saying: "Your wish is my command!"

The Iraqi guy said:"I want you to build a bridge between Iraq and the USA!"

The jinni said: "You should ask me for something possible! How on earth can i build a bridge from here to America?! That's just impossible!!"

The Iraqi said: "Alright then! I want peace in Iraq!"

The jinni thought for a while, then asked the Iraqi:
"So about this bridge you want, should it be a two-lane or a four-lane bridge?!"

:)

The Explosive Device

Today, as we were passing through one part of Baghdad, on the far west of the city, namely Amiriya, we ran into a bullet riddled white Brazilian VW Passat car.

The site was a scene for an explosive device blast a couple of hours earlier, which i heard its news on Radio BBC Arabic. The radio said that 2 people -according to the military-, a father and son were killed in the blast, supposedly aimed to hit an army convoy; but the radio quoted shopkeepers and by-standers that more people were killed. By seeing the place and the two bullet riddled cars i thought that the by-standers had the more accurate story. Later in the day, the number of casualties was announced as 10.

The place hit is a vital interchange and a common place for daily workers waiting their daily deals which would bring bread home to their children. There was a big pool of water, caused -as i think- by a fire engine that might have come to wash away the blood and reopen the road. But the badly riddled white car, stood on the left hand side of the road, while another less riddled indigo car stood on the right side. Apparently, and by the scale of bullet hits, both of the drivers were killed. That's what the American army, Iraqi army, and police do whenever they are hit; they just shoot at random.

Lunar Eclipse Coming Soon

Hello All,



There will be a lunar eclipse taking place on the night of 14 Mar. It will be sort of pale, so to speak, but i kind of look forward to it.



It will be seen in Asia, Europe, and Africa... Viewers in North America, except the west coast, will have it on moonrise, which is around sunset.

I hope you enjoy it, and remember that this is only a preparation for the big one! A Solar Eclipse on 29 Mar. seen in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

"The moon was yellow, and the night was young..." (Frank Sinatra)

A Song by Fayrouz

Fayrouz, for those of you who are not familiar with her name or voice, is a Lebanese singer. Nothing is ever like the words of her song, and the music is divine, too. For decades, she sang folklore as well as Arabic poetry.

One of her songs, speaks about a young boy, named Shadi, whom she met with when she was young, and who was lost to the merciless war. As i often hear this song, i remember every Iraqi child, young men and women, and elderly; who were, are, and unfortunately will be lost in this long-running, leading-to-nowhere war.

This song is dedicated to their memory... They live among us, forever.

Long ago, when i was young,There was a boy,
who came out of the woods,We used to play, his name was "Shadi"...
Shadi & i, sang together,
Played on the snow, flew in the air,
We wrote tiny love stories on stones...
One day, the world caught fire,
People started fighting each other,
And fighting came closer and closer to the hills...
The war came to our valley's borders,
Shadi ran to look around,
I became afraid and called after him:
"Where are you going, Shadi?"
I called, and he didn't hear me,And ran further down the valley...
That was the last time i ever saw him,
Shadi was no more...
The snow came again,
The snow went away,
It came and went away 20 more times...
And as i grow older,
Shadi is still a kid,
Playing on the snow...

An Iraqi Joke

It was Bill Cosby who once said: "Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it."

So, here is an Iraqi joke for you, my friends:

There's this astrologer, who's prophecies were the talk of the land. World leaders would often come from near and far to seek his advice, and foresee the future.

So, one day nowadays, three Middle Eastern leaders paid this astrologer a visit.

They were:
Rejeb Tayyib Erdogan, of Turkey; Mahmood Abbas, of Palestine; and Ibrahim Al-Jaafari of Iraq.

First, Erdogan entered and said: Oh, famous astrologer who foresees the future, tell me: When would Turkey join the EU?

The astrologer opened his magic drawer, looked in his magic book and said: 20 years!

Then, came Abbas and said: Oh, famous astrologer who foresees the future, tell me: When would there be an independant Palestine?

The astrologer opened his magic drawer, looked in his magic book and said: 50 years!

And last but not least, came our Al-Jaafari, and said: Oh, famous astrologer who foresees the future, tell me: When would there be peace and stability in Iraq?

The astrologer opened his magic drawer, took a pistol and killed himself!!!

Eyewitness Iraq

Today was the first day since the events of 22 Feb., that my father took the car, and went to the gas line at the gas station on the borders of our district in Baghdad. While being there, he saw a couple of things, of which he told me later.

First, there was a car still smoking on the edge of the street, apparently it was a car bomb that hit, tried to hit, or detonated by, the armed forces.

Then there was this huge explosion, which turned out as bomb trying to hit a military convoy on the highway going to Abu Ghraib (the region, not the prison).

Then, two guys were in a car, and it seems that they had guns in the car, so they may have been, or one of them at least, have been with the police, army, or some party or militia; so as one of them went down to buy something from a nearby shop, while they are on the gas line, a car stopped by and shot the guy who was still in the car, hitting him really badly, he was later taken away, but he was probably dead on arrival. This was all like 20-30 meters (yards) away from where my father was.

The "better" story, if the word "better" is ever applicable, came from a friend, who was driving in a street surronded by vineyards and palmtrees in the northern tips of Baghdad, when two cars came by, one was a black BMW, the other was a black Daewoo Prince, cut the road trapping 5 cars, of which is the friend's, shooting in the air, then going to a minibus, out of which they took three men, tied their hands with ropes, stuffed them in the BMW back trunk, and drove away. He says that they were so organized, knew what to do, and even used military terms like "task".

When the friend and the other people witnessing the incident reached the borders of the city, they went to an Iraqi Army point, an told them the whole story. The Iraqi Army soldiers said that this is the 3rd case in as much hours; first, the BMW and Deawoo took two men, and killed them by the river; then a lady teacher was abducted; then this attack. Since the morning, as per the Iraqi Army soldiers, they have been asking for back up to storm the area, or at least to secure the street, and the answer from the fat cat sitting at the other end of the telecom device was, "we have no troops to send you". Both the people and the Army soldiers joined forces in calling the "higher officials" names... What kind of names? This is for us to know, and for you to figure out!

Boy! I think Jennifer Lopez says it all, and says it well: "I feel happy just to be alive!". That, itself, is a big blessing in Iraq!

Announcement

Starting from
15 March 2006
Coming Up...

My War Diaries

A Month That Changed The World
15 March 2003 - 15 April 2003

Stay tuned...

The Ancient Palace

It's Samarra, again...



As i mentioned before, Samarra is an open-air museum, with the Islamic sites dominating the scene since they are more recently build, and don't need that much excavation and all.



Samarra was the capital city of the Muslim Empire for 70 years, in the 9th Century AD. Baghdad was before that, and returned afterwards as the capital.



A city like this, would have many ancient palaces and buildings, of course, that are wonderfully built, and luckily safe kept until these days... But would they be safe kept to the future generations? There are doubts.



Yesterday, it was announced that one of these ancient palaces, was blown up.



Imagine... Built in the 9th century AD, and blown up today.



I rest my case.

Really?!

Hmmm, interesting, very interesting!

It seems, that Microsoft are going to hand away, free domain names!

More on this story at:

http://officelive.microsoft.com/OfficeLiveBasic.aspx

Check it out!

Don't you just love it when all the big companies compete to create the good stuff, and we get to benefit!

Cool! But i still cheer Google.

:)

Of Curfews and Ads

The Gov't have announced that today, Friday 3 March 2006, would again be a car curfew day. That is -again- a good idea, so that no freak would slam his car into a mosque on Friday cermon time.

Today i also saw an ad on Iraqi TV, that i really liked. It shows Iraqi Sunni and Shiite Muslims, standing together to pray in a mosque, while masked terrorists are preparing a bomb to be blown next to the mosque. When the prayer ended, one of the people in the mosque sees the gang, and throws his slipper at them, before you know it, everybody in the mosque is chasing the gang, and everybody is throwing slippers and shoes at them.

An ad that means a lot for sure, and to tell you the truth, one cannot stop wishing things were this easy... To revive Iraq by throwing shoes at its enemies, all of them!

"Hold Your Fire..."

The last night of February wasn't different from this turbulant month at all. The apple didn't fall far from the tree as they say.

Just around midnight, as we entered 1 March, heavy gunshots errupted all around the neighborhood. It wasn't clear whether they were an answer to a direct threat, or a show of force to cast away any possible threat.

The neighborhood guys, shot in the air, and were too nervous to the extent, they almost shot one of them, by friendly fire.

After some shooting, one of them, had a good military mind of sorts, and i heard him shout: "What the hell are you shooting for?! Hold you fire... Save your ammo... If there's somebody coming, let them come, and then we'll see!"

Of course, he had a very good point, since the shooters, accidentally hit a power line, thus cutting electricity from the neighborhood, but the local generators' operators were diligent enough to start their engines right away.