Things That Pee Me Off #28: Posh Plugs

I'm not quite sure how to explain this one in any way other than pictures so:


They're usually found in posher bathrooms and toilets. They seem innocent enough, right? I mean, how can anyone become upset over a plug and its hole? Well, it's all about how you close them y'see:


If you still haven't figured it out, these plugs are manually swivelled by hand. As in you have to touch them. And if that isn't disgusting enough, remember that, by function, a closed plug would be under a few inches of already used water. And it's even worse when you find a sink (in, say, a shared toilet) with the plug already in since you'll have to wade through someone else's scum to get to it. They obviously decided to do a runner instead of braving the drainage, and you know what? A part of me doesn't blame them.

Euuurgh. What's wrong with a remote lever or button? Even a good ol' chain would be better than this. Ban these things. Now.

"Oh No Chachu Please Don't" Part 2

Remember this? Well today was the sequel, but with the younger brother, Haroon.

Haroon isn't as much of a cry baby as his older brother is, but boy did he bawl today. It all turned out to be a bit crocodile though, since he was able to hold some pretty good conversation while screaming (a very surreal experience, that) and hold still for the clippers.

We're still friends. What a trooper.

City Circle: People of the Qibla: Creating a Sunni-Shia Platform

This week's City Circle aimed to discuss some of the issues surrounding the apparent Sunni-Shia divide, including the current sectarian violence occurring in Iraq. To do this, two prominent members of each were invited to talk about the differences, causes and possible steps to a more united way of living.

Dr Musharraf Hussein al-Azhari presented the Sunni viewpoint. He spoke about the human tendency to treat "the other" as bad, and how instead, in his opinion, pluralism was actually divinely ordained. His theological proof was based on how The Quran speaks about the acceptable differences people might have ("if God had willed otherwise, then he would have made us all the same"), and how even in the time of The Prophet Muslims were of a range of differing natures, and so had a range of laws.

Dr Musharraf ended with some recommendations. We all needed to increase our levels of mutual understandings, equality, cooperation and friendship, and realise that diversity was the essence of human existence and so shouldn't be fought. Practically, he also suggested the formation of a Sunni-Shia forum.

Hujjat-ul-Islam Dr Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour was the resident Shia on the panel. He mainly reiterated the sentiment of Dr Musharraf on how unity was both possible and required. Having said that, I did think that his stance was slightly defensive: he explained that, theologically, the Shia followed the Sunnah as much as the Sunni; that they also considered themselves a part of the ummah alongside the the majority Sunni; that they accepted the opinion of Sunni as valid (and so would, for example, pray behind them in jamaat) and so forth. Disputes were not over basis of rulings, but over their respective authenticities.

He also made some other various points about how differences were mainly over methodology rather than theology and how history should be left in the past. Regarding Iraq, he used the fact that Sunni and Shia have been living together for centuries as proof that the current violence wasn't fuelled by theological difference but mismanagement (possibly intentionally) by the USA. He was especially critical of current propaganda aimed at highlighting non-existent sectarian differences.

The question and answer session afterwards was fairly unexciting, although we did hear how unity was more about accepting each the differences we each have rather than making anyone align themselves with a local or global majority. Recent steps to doing this was to include the Jafari and other Shia schools of jurisprudence alongside the traditional four Sunni ones. There was no suggestion of deprecating them all altogether though.

It was a pretty educational and eye-opening session, although a lot of was either very rhetorical ("we are all taught to accept the other!"), very obvious ("we need to stop fighting!") or very vacuous ("we need to stop disagreeing to agree!"). This was probably due to only having those with a pluralist vibe on the panel, but on the other hand sometimes the obvious needs to be stated for people to take initiatives.

Personally I find it pretty ironic that the intra-faith divisions we face seem to be causing Muslims more problems than our inter-faith ones... Although perhaps that just tells us how important it is to move forward in this respect.

Link of the Day

I'm guessing a total of one person will find this link interesting. For those who have no idea what Phoenix Wright is, see here and here.

OBJECTION!

Thrown

I like to think that I'm a well adjusted individual. And by this I mean that I am aware and can usually make sense of myself and what goes on around me. Correctly or not, I can rationalise events, interpret my thoughts and experiences and accept the actions of others as just that. Hence, most things end up making sense in my head. And once I do that, I can put them in the out-tray part of my brain to be filed away as a lesson learned.

However, on some especially rare occasions, I fail to achieve this level of understanding. Perhaps I've just been lucky to have avoided the many complex and unpredictable situations any other person would have normally faced by my age. Perhaps I'm just not used to what others simply describe as life. Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining here: I don't actually mind when I can't process something and as egotistical as I can be I can also accept that, yes, even I can't explain everything that happens around me.

Nevertheless, for someone not accustomed to curve balls they can be very disorientating when they hit. Still, at least these "episodes" make life more interesting than it would be otherwise. I guess being thrown slightly off track from time to time is what makes each of us human.

Outlandish At Scala

Awesome, awesome, awesome. But wait, I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

I got there late of course. That was pretty inevitable considering I went home to pick up my car first. Still, I guess that there was no need to rush; although the doors opened at 7:30pm, no one was expecting the main act to come on stage till at least an hour later. As for getting in, thankfully I had my girls in the queue waiting beforehand (and that's the only reference you guys are gonna get, sorry. Oh, but thanks for inviting me to come).

Scala was a smaller venue than I had expected. Although we got in relatively early the main floor was already rammed, and the gallery was filling up fast. Some bright spark amongst us had the idea of grabbing a place up on a balcony and we eventually ended up on the super-secret highest one; although it was the furthest spot from which to see the stage, for the 25 or so of us up there it was quiet, intimate and offered a fantastic unobstructed view of all the acts playing. I've posted some pics here.

Support was in the form of Friction and Nihal doing their "thing", with DJ Kayper doing hers. I still think Nihal is much better on the radio than he is in person, but thankfully he wasn't too annoying this time. DJ Kayper was just as lovely as she usually is. Sigh.

We also got to sample Gypsies, who really weren't that bad for a support band. Loud and raw, they kinda reminded me of a European Linkin' Park. As good as these extras were, however, none of us had come for Friction, Nihal, Kayper or Gypsies. Our reason for being there walked on stage just after 9:30pm.

Outlandish played the predictable: Peelo, Walou, Guantanamo, Just Me, Sakeena and Look Into My Eyes amongst other popular tracks. Thankfully they played (albeit an abridged) Kom Igen, although judging by the reaction of the crowd I might have been the only one to appreciate that live. There was no Fatima's Hand - I found that surprising considering the audience. All in all they played 12-13 tracks from both albums cumulating (of course) with Aicha, but that only after a well rehearsed and teasing fake leaving of the stage. Like we cared.

Whatever I felt about Outlandish before tonight pales in comparison to my opinion of them now. They took their music to another level; these guys really know how to perform live. Perhaps listening to their two albums constantly for the past couple of days is what did it for me, but there was a level of involvement by the whole audience that really blew me away. We all became pretty wired.

Speaking of the audience, I have never seen so many swinging hijabis before, all perfectly comfortable in a cramped and mixed crowd. Although I had heard about this kind of thing (at GPUs and the like) it was definitely something I hadn't experienced first hand. The cynical side of me rates Outlandish for putting a smiling hijabi in their first popular music video - I suspect a whole bunch of these people wouldn't be here if they hadn't (and I wonder how many realise that it's actually a cover). Still, it was an enjoyable crowd if not a bit too young and groupie.

Outlandish were awesome live and it took me ages to come down from the gig; I expect to be humming more than a few of their tracks over the next few days. They more than surpassed my expectations and I was totally and utterly surprised that they weren't just good but absolutely brilliant instead. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Video of the Day

Learn to Phone Phony:



Funny 'cos it's true!

Reminiscing Flattery

My cousin currently goes to the same Sixth Form that I (and everyone in my family with a London education) went to. He just rang to tell me that his Mechanics teacher, Dr K, was boasting about a student he had ten years ago called Shakil. Apparently (as Dr K told my cousin), Shakil was the cleverest student in the place in those days.

It's all a lie of course. Dr K only taught Maths and I know at least two people who were smarter than I was in those classes. Still, it's nice to be remembered after such a long period of time, especially by a teacher who gets more than a few new students each year. I knew there was a reason why Dr K was my favourite teacher back then.

On a non-bragging note, I gotta admit that I miss the times when people knew who I was, based on the things I did. I can't remember the last time I made a mark or was actually known - and I don't think there's any potential for doing so in the near future either.

Still, I guess we all leave impressions on people all the time. Sometimes it just takes someone from ten years ago reminiscing to make you realise that.

New Music

A bit of an Outlandish special today. For those three people (at least) about to scream at me for not being a real fan, yes, I'm obviously brushing up for Wednesday's gig. But seeing as these are genuinely good albums that deserve to be listened to I'm sure you can all forgive me.

Bread & Barrels Of Water - Outlandish

Released in 2003, BnBW contains the still-rocking Aicha and Walou, and with them other notable songs like Peelo and Fatima's Hand, all of which both sound good and speak well. And that's coming from someone who doesn't usually listen to lyrics.

Closer Than Veins - Outlandish

Home to my favourite Outlandish track ever, Kom Igen, their latest album continues with the class of the last, although of the two BnBW is definitely more special. Nothing Left To Do is currently doing the rounds on any radio playlist worth its salt.

Between the two albums I've found that Outlandish music isn't about pop or being derivative and it's this realness and honesty that makes it all so fresh. Add to that the Islam/Asian angle and you get music that I relate and click with quite well. Good stuff.

One to Watch: Celebrity Big Brother

Tonight, 8pm Channel 4

The CBB final. 'Nuff said.

Film: Salaam-e-Ishq

At a whopping 234 minutes, this star studded heavyweight took out most of my Saturday to watch. I even had to lift my never-before-broken Salman Khan ban to watch it, but it was worth every minute.

Salaam-E-Ishq is another typical popcorn movie, and one that isn't particularly deep either. Nonetheless, it manages to smash a barrage of romance, tragedy and comedy in your face, mainly due to the breadth of the six (although it's really closer to five and a half) disparate stories it offers us. I really really enjoyed this flick.

The film was well shot and directed, and focussed on the simple things like costume and setting instead of being too ambitious and risking messing it up. Music-wise, the context made me appreciate the soundtrack even more (although I was disappointed with the omission of my favourite track, Mera Dil). The script was funny, clever and even powerful in places, and supported the various plot arcs superbly. My only minor complaint is that Sohail Khan and Isha Koppikar's story should have been explored much more than it had been.

Acting was generally standard Bollywood fare, although I noticed strong performances from Abraham and Govinda (which was probably why his story was my favourite). All the women looked fantastic and I'm struggling to pick my tip, but at a push Vidya Balan probably takes it; although Anjana Sukhani (from that video), Isha and Ayesha were close behind.

Even with the three and a half hours it took to watch (possibly the longest film I've ever seen - I definitely needed the interval) the film didn't drag at all. Sure, it cashed in on as many of the Bollywood tips and tricks that it could, but it did it with with good effect. Adorably trashy Salaam-E-Ishq doesn't claim to be anything more than good ol' soppy fun.

WharfMA: Eid In The Wharf

The Wharf Muslim Association held their annual Eid gathering-event thingy this evening. I didn't even know that there was a WharfMA, but on arriving at Clifford Chance LLP (the venue for tonight's going ons) I was quite taken aback by the spread they had laid out for us. Sure, Canary Wharf is bursting with money, but given this was a free event I was pleasantly surprised by the quality on offer.

But enough sucking up (these corporate occasions always make me wonder what would have been if I had made different choices in my life). After a late start (it's good to see that even big-ass law firms are defenceless against Asian timing), we made ourselves comfortable in the swanky auditorium. Apart from the usual boilerplate the three main events were Dawud Wharnsby Ali, Lord Nazir and Khaleel Mohammed (Dr. Abdul Bari of the MCB was also present, but I went to pray at that point).

I've read a lot about Dawud Wharnsby but have never actually listened to his music, whether live or recorded, mainly due to my feelings toward nasheeds in general. I gotta say though, tonight I was impressed and so, once again, proved wrong. Dawud himself was funny, talented and a pleasure to listen to, but even aside from all that his music is actually very good too. Whatever I feel about nasheeds and Islamic music in general (and to be clear my opinion there still hasn't changed) Dawud rocks despite (or possibly because) I didn't actually hear anything spiritual in his set.

Lord Nazir took the microphone for twenty minutes or so. It was the first time I was hearing him live too, and again I was taken by how different he was to what I've seen on the television or radio. His canned jokes weren't very good, but he was funny(ish) anyway and had more presence than other politicians I've heard. What he had to say was pretty insightful too, as he gave us a brief history of Asians in the UK.

Finally Khaleel Mohammed did a set. Unlike Dawud, Khaleel was a more regular nasheed singer - so drums and humming, with some Arabic thrown in at times. Not really my thing, but it did make me appreciate Dawud even more.

Since the event was running late, a lot had been chopped off the programme. There was some damn good finger food after though, where most of the audience mingled the next couple of hours away. Although it was generally the same faces, it's funny who else you bump into at these things. I also got to spend a bit of time with Dawud to talk about his music and things and I found that he's as friendly and agreeable off stage as he is on.

Anyway it was a good evening out. As you can probably tell, for me, the evening was all about Dawud Wharnsby Ali. Top marks to the WharfMA, I think.

One Canada Square

Since we were in the area anyway for tonight's WharfMA event, a friend of mine invited me up to her workplace in Canary Wharf. Now, this wouldn't usually be something worth blogging about, except for the fact my friend works on the 36th floor of One Canada Square, or as it's known by some, Canary Wharf Tower.

Yes, I went at night, but it was still a awe-inspiring view. Seeing the A12 from that far up was just plain weird. And seeing two other towers right next door was also a surreal experience. You can see right into both the HSBC and Citigroup buildings, each paradoxically looking larger than life. It was almost like it was all movie-set fake. Oh, and yes: your ears do pop while riding the lifts up and down.

Anyway there's not really much point in telling you about it, so just see here for the piccies I took. I can't wait till I get to go back there during the day!

IHRC: The British Media and Muslim Representation: The Ideology of Demonisation

The Islamic Human Rights Commission today launched the sixth of a series of reports outlining the British Muslims' expectations of the Government. This one focussed on the media: what image it's giving of Muslims, what perception it has by Muslims and how it can change to serve Muslims and non-Muslims better.

The launch took the form of a panel discussion. Three authors of the report each covered a different aspect of what was found by the research. First up, Dr. Saied R. Ameli talked about the re-presentation and representation of Muslims in the media.

He spoke about how the media (and art and even live witnessing) by nature will never completely portray the subject it is trying to, and so care must be taken to be as accurate as possible and, if desired, as positive. It was a kind of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle for media and art, and that this re-presentation results in conflict in the represented world.

He also spoke about how race is more of a social construction borne out of a class struggle than essential scientific classification. He finally outlined the Standpoint Theory; that only someone from within can get the subject matter - so, women talking about women, black talking about black and Muslims talking about Muslims.

Seyfeddin Kara then took the microphone to talk about some of the contextual analysis that the report made. This was basically talking about the results of the various questionnaires and surveys made. It was all pretty straightforward stuff about how they covered a variety of different genders and ethnicities. The biggest point I took from Kara was how Muslims who had each experienced varying levels of discrimination in real life all thought that there was also quite a bit in the media too. I feel that this indicates that the Muslims' complaints against the media are due to more than just over-sensitivity or a victim mentality.

Finally, Arzu Merali talked about some of the recommendations made in the report. This consisted of some pretty obvious things like:

• the objective monitoring of media output
  
• the quality checking of Muslims characters (and not just in drama)
  
• the formation of formal subjective media watchdogs
• the increasing of opportunity for Muslims to create media
• the accountability of politicians who decide to use the media

There was a question and answer session afterwards but I was unable to hang around for much that. It seemed to be heading towards a debate of much wider scope anyway so I'm not sure what relevance it had on the day.

As before, this IHRC report made the papers, appearing to be nothing more than the over-sensitive rantings of yet another Islamic organisation: complaints toward Disney's Aladdin and the like were brushed off as busybody overreaction even by some Muslims. However attending today and reading some of the report itself convinced me that the work that the IHRC has done here is more than that and does have some merit - at least more than had been given to it by the media it was reporting on.

Movies, Games and Videos (and Restaurants)

Yes, I know: this place has been a bit review heavy recently. For this I can only apologise, if only to the two people who actually took the time to complain.

A mix of work being busy, a lack of free time otherwise and, ironically, lots to write about have kind of stalled my opinion. What little time I get to write, I use to drafts the things buzzing in my head before I manage to forget them. Reviews and the like are more urgent and also easier to churn out.

Anyway, lame circular excuses aside, the good news is that there is quite a bit waiting to be published - I just need to find the time to polish them off. Perhaps that sucks, but then at least you're not doing the writing, eh?

Concentric Circles Of Friends

Yesterday I shared tapas with a friend I've not seen for around a year. We first met in college, a whopping twelve years ago, so it's not untrue to say that they are one of my oldest friends.

During the course of lunch, this friend said that they wished that we could meet up more often since every time we do we manage to have a good time. They're right, and I agree - this is one of the few people of whom I can honestly say that I've never had a boring time or nothing to talk about with. Not bad for two people who, as is expected, would have changed so much though college, uni and life after that.

My friend seemed a bit disappointed by the silence I had offered in response to this suggestion. I just wasn't as sure about that as they were; I just don't see people growing apart as a bad thing. That might sound a bit harsh and uncaring, but I like to think it's pragmatic. And as usual, there are a few reasons why I think this way.

Firstly, people could run out of things to say. Perhaps we only find each other interesting now because we don't see each other that often? A lot happens in a year so there's always plenty to talk about after that much time apart. And even if there wasn't, there is a strange effect people have of being someone slightly different depending on how often you see them; however much they like once-a-year-Shak, perhaps my friend would totally hate everyday-Shak.

Secondly, meeting someone infrequently doesn't mean you don't like them as much as you think you do - "infrequent" is a relative term anyway, and there are plenty of people I wouldn't want to see at all let alone just once a year. I'm actually the only person my friend knows from those college days so far back and so I find it pretty flattering that they would want to meet with me at all.

Mostly though, I think that friendships are naturally evolving beasts. There's a reason why some only meet once a year or once a month or once a week: namely, themselves. The pace becomes naturally set by the people involved and, lip talk aside, if anyone wanted to improve the quality of the friendship they have with another they would do so automatically - the fact that they actually don't speaks loads.

Keeping a friendship going shouldn't be difficult or a pain in the bum. I'm not saying that it doesn't take effort, because it does. But it should be the kind of effort that you would want to exert; the kind that you enjoy and do for no obvious return or reward.

So no, don't be too hard on yourself if you find yourself drifting apart from someone over time. It's not a failure of you, them or even the relationship itself (unless of course there was a definitive reason why the friendship broke down - you sleeping with their other half is definitely not a natural progression). What you have may just be the optimal way for you guys to be at that point in time. It may get better or it may get worse, but I don't see anything wrong with people naturally falling apart, since that's a much better thing than forcing the issue otherwise.

Reading back, some of this stuff makes me sound pretty harsh. That's not my intention though. I guess the fundamental point here is that we should all enjoy friendships for what they are and while we can instead of wondering or complaining about how they could be something else. I reckon that's just a distraction that you don't really need.

Vindicated!

Yet again, the rest of the world catches up with Shak's Choice. Okay, it is The Sun, but I'm sure they're better with this kind of thing than current affairs. Remember guys (and girls): if you want to know who's going to be hot in the next few months (or 18 in this case), stick to these pages.

In other news, it appears that Alesha Dixon is single again. She shares the exact same date of birth as me, you know.

Game: Wario Ware: Smooth Moves

All of a sudden it hits me how long I've been blogging for. You see, I've actually reviewed the GameCube version of this game already. Bizarre.

Anyway, WWSM is more of the same. However, it looks better and plays much better on the Wii - the addition of "forms" (mini instructions on how to hold the remote in order to play the following minigame) doesn't take anything away from the magic; in fact it very much adds to it since two games that would be similar otherwise are now suddenly very different. Add to that the ability of the Wii to attract non-gamers and all of a sudden it's a much more fun and enjoyable experience.

I'm actually more excited about this than I have been about any other Wii game so far; WWSM seems to provide exactly what I wanted to get from Nintendo's new machine - possibly even more than Zelda or Wii Sports do.

Food: El Parador

What is tapas? I'm still not sure, since I seem to order just as I would in any other restaurant. But putting my own ignorance aside for a moment, whatever El Parador is supposed to serve, it was all blummin' good stuff.

We went for lunch, and it was surprisingly quiet. This meant that service was top notch - we were given our food within ten minutes of ordering, although I can imagine it becoming slow during peak times. Going back to the food, we ordered six items (there was a three for two offer on), of which the swordfish and sweet potato rocked.

Pricewise, it wasn't that good - we slipped over a tenner per head. Having said that, it wasn't bad for what we ordered, but it would definitely have been overpriced if we only had four instead. Only worth it if you're really gagging for really good tapas.

Film: Rocky Balboa

I'm hoping it's not a spoiler by telling you that Rocky Balboa is just another Rocky film. This is no bad thing, of course; they made five of them before and no one seemed to get tired of them then.

It has the same underdog theme, the same build-up-to-the-fight-at-the-end and - oh yes - the same super inspiring training session. Some might call this cheap; I don't care as long as it does the job. Oh yeh, and the acting and all that isn't bad either.

If this review is short, it's only because there's not much to say. Very entertaining and I reckon it's worth a recommendation. Now excuse me while I go do some one handed press ups.

Film: Babel

There must be a name for this kind of film. You know, the type that consists of many simultaneous and intertwined story arcs? Whatever it is, Babel is one of those.

I usually like this type of film, but Babel seems to think that just providing multiple story streams makes a good film. It doesn't. The individual stories are uninteresting and overly long. They are also tenuously linked, and I couldn't help but feel that the connection was thrown in as an afterthought.

But still, Babel has some merit. It's well acted, and you have to rate the film makers for traversing the globe to make the respective stories. Most of all, however, is how it makes its point: that many problems we face as people living on this Earth are caused by us just not taking the time to listen to each other. More than just misunderstandings, this film is about being misunderstood, sometimes intentionally. It's a powerful theme, so it's even more disappointing how Babel presents it.

At well over two hours, you should only really watch this if you know what to expect. Personally, I think there are other films out at the moment more worth your time.

One To Watch: Celebrity Big Brother

Tonight, 8:30pm, Channel 4

Possibly the most anticipated eviction night ever, I'm not sure anyone will want to miss this. Pack your moral obligations away for a few hours and be a part of what the rest of the UK is talking about.

Giles! From Buffy!

Just bumped into Anthony Stewart Head at Victoria on the way home. "I know you!", I exclaimed. He just gave me the thumbs up and went back to struggling with his luggage. He obviously didn't realise how much of a Buffy fan I am.

Man, that series rocked. It still ranks among the best things I've ever seen.

Food: Boisdale

Scottish food? Didn't realise it existed, well apart from haggis. But this place, where we went for a team dinner, managed to educate me. And it was a pretty good lesson too.

Due to the numbers, we had to stick to the set menu. Some may find this to a be a curse, but I kinda like limited choices, especially when going to a new restaurant. I had the Salmon for starters, the Fish Pie for main and topped it off with Apple Crumble with Custard. They were all very nice - far better than any British food I might have had elsewhere. The restaurant itself was a bit cramped, but clean - it was nothing particularly special. But then, I only go for the food and company (which is free. Well, usually anyway) so I didn't mind too much.

But the price was pretty steep for what it was - the set menu was £36 on its own and didn't include drink. It's a prohibitive price and as nice as Boisdale was, I can think of other places to spend that much money per head.

Stepping Up And Pitching

I spent half an hour this morning pitching a new business idea to the Social Enterprise Coalition for a competition they're currently running. We, and six other budding entrepreneurs had been short-listed (after our written application) to appear at a conference they're hosting next week, during which the ultimate winner would have been decided. There were four places for the conference itself, so we had a good chance of progressing just by the numbers.

The idea itself spun out of the recent work we've done on the Eid Shows. I don't think it's appropriate to give too many details here, but at its basic level it would have been a production company of sorts; one that generates programming that, firstly, general audiences could relate to and, secondly, aimed to represent the large and varied opinions of Muslims living in the UK.

Only one of us was allowed to make the pitch, and I seem to have picked (or rather, handed) the short straw. Moaning aside, it was really an opportunity to step up - it wasn't anything I had done before so I was kinda stepping up, and to be the one who might even just possibly start off something relatively big makes you feel pretty vindicated. It also went back to the whole public speaking thing as well as adding to my attempts to boost the amount of extracurricular activity I'm involved in.

And it wasn't that bad. Any nerves I had disappeared pretty quickly and the panel were nice enough and listened and asked tough, yet relevant, questions. I did make mistakes: I said too little at some points and too much at others and I had to blag a bit at times too, but I think we all knew exactly how much thought had gone into our idea (and to be honest, I was punting really) and the other candidates had been doing their respective things for much longer; some even having left their jobs to do so. But even when the holes were highlighted I was enjoying it. I was being taken seriously and treated with respect for even getting that far.

I didn't want to write until I had heard the result, but if anyone was interested we didn't get through. Which on some levels is actually a win - the last thing I wanted was to bite off more than I could chew. Nevertheless, apart from the lessons specific to this particular occasion,the one thing I have learned is how easy it is to get involved with some pretty exciting and ambitious things if you wanted to.

RBRHWAGA

Current events have got me wondering: Are there enough candidates to form the Racist But Really Hot Wives And Girlfriends Association yet?

'Why does everyone hate me?'

Germaine Greer and Hari Kunzru hit the nail right on the head in this article in today's Guardian. For all the abuse Shilpa is getting in the BB house, she isn't half having fun fanning those flames. She knows exactly how to rub people (who, admittedly, may have disliked her anyway) the wrong way, and almost seems to enjoy doing so - she's an expert at placing a naive giggle or forlorn tear in exactly the right place. This doesn't make her bad or manipulative, oh no, just very very clever.

Out of all the housemates, she's the one who will come out the best (indeed, she could be the only one that comes out better at all). She won't be scarred for life; I'm sure she's had worse done to her in Mumbai. The curse of BB seems to be squarely aimed at the others here, especially as the targets of media scorn.

To be honest, I'm impressed. She's doing Asians proud, if only for showing the world just how aware of our surroundings we can be. Well done to her.

Grats to Fuad for the pointer.

Film: The Pursuit of Happyness

Nice enough story about one man's struggle to improve his life. Not as emotionally hard-hitting as I expected it to be, but moving all the same, this is an enjoyable enough film with which to pass the time.

Alas, there's not much more to say than that. Good acting, good script and well shot, there's nothing much to complain about but also nothing much to make it stand out either.

Snippet

Shak says (16:04):
    but i was planning on at least saying hi. uness you wouldnt want that of course
xxxx says (16:06):
    like I said before, you and I have no reason to talk to each other
Shak says (16:06):
    do we need one?
    i cant quite figure out if that's a fob off or not... care to be explicit?
xxxx says (16:07):
    We were never friends. I had a lot of time, now I don't.
Shak says (16:08):
    lol, ok but still. if you can be a little more direct i'd aprpecuiate it
    ok ill make it simpler... fancy meeting up for max 5 mins during yyyy?
Shak says (16:09):
    yes or no will do :)
xxxx says (16:10):
    No thanks

Link of the Day

Far be it for me to belittle what Shilpa is going though in the BB house, but petitions like these don't really help. Still, the text itself is worth a cheap laugh, so thanks to Fuad for the link.