Musings of My Mind

The Blog Has Been Moved.

2011-05-20T09:24:00.001-07:00

You see this blog as it was years ago. The blog was moved to http://www.usamalali.wordpress.com

backward masking music

2009-10-04T01:35:00.000-07:00

Backw

2009-07-04T15:00:00.001-07:00

Funkies: the group.

2009-06-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

Okay so I don't admit that I'm a totall nerd as I appear to be ( look at the length of that post man. this guy oughta be a goggle-wearing geek). I have my other side, and that's not the dark one, mind it! Ha! I mean I also like chilling out and believe it or not, my pals admire my dance a lot ( Dunno if they really mean it or just want me moving my silly ass like a gone-mad weirdo...) A few months back, probably in April, the Coke company visited our school and had set up a stall. Boys were going in wearing a costume provided by them and dancing inside a closed area with their desired song, witha n artificial background. We also decided to show our talent and got a video ourselelf's. I decided to take only a (Ray-ban looking) sunglaseses while others (Wattoo, Muaaz and Ans dressed up as they willed). We are " Wattoo, ME, Ans and Muaaz" from left to right. Here is the video:

Exams Stress...

2009-06-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

My final examinations finally found me staggering with the weight of all the studies in mid May. The preparations had begun a month prior to the exams and my birthday unfortunately happened to be during this most-cursed-by-any-student period. Anyways, I took a day off on 5th May to enjoy the blissful feast and the chocolate cake with my family. I often muse that why do we celebrate a birthday? On each of our birthday one year is deducted from our lives and one year has been lived by us. We should be sorrowful that we are growing older and closer to our death day by day. Ask if growing older is fun from an agedly person and he’ll surely tell you no…

So as the month of April was drawing to an end and had proved to be a good one, they gave us the date-sheet and syllabus for our final exams. All the novels and the other magazine-reading was immediately abandoned. Although even during the exams I sneaked out some time from the nerve wrecking process for preparing for an exam to go to the bathroom accompanied by an issue of Dawn’s magazine “Images”. Kept reading it for about 15 minutes before returning to the painstaking task of studying. (Not for a class test, in which’s case we need not study at all, but for the exams.) The two weeks between 25th May to 3rd June were the weeks I was determined to study as my entire summer vacations depended upon the finals’ result.

Straight As: Scene on hai!
More than one B: Grounded!

It was on our third last exam that our co-ordinater Madam Subhani announced in our class that the remaining two papers (Geography and Arts) were being post poned due to some terrorist threats. A huge uproar of amusement went up as the students began to celebrate---in the middle of our mid year exams. And in the process the poor pupils to whom the “Booties” were not proving to be helpful found an opportunity to exchange “an answer for an answer”. Haha.

But upon thinking a bit further, later on, I perceive that this delay of exams is something we shouldn’t be happy about. We are not free although the summer vacations have started. Whenever I’m surfing the net or reading out Deception Point by Dan Brown, I feel kinda guilty that I am not studying for Geo. Although I’ve got plenty of time, I can’t even go out of the city in case the school announces the exams date which has a few days to go.

Anyways the summer vacations have begun and the Fun (not Batman!) has begun too. As I’ve already read Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, I’m currently reading, as I mentioned earlier , Deception point. This will leave me with only Digital Fortress after which I’ll be waiting for the much anticipated follow-up of Da Vinci Code—“The Lost Symbol”
On the other hand I tried to weaken the Great Wall Of China-esque determination of my Mom of not letting me go out to DHA for the movies like “Terminater: Salvation” “Transformer: Revenge of the Fallen” “ G I Joe” and other releases in Pakistan to follow in other months of the summer vacations. My cousin Musab will be coming soon to Lahore and I hope we have a great time as we always do whenever we are together, like traffic and weather.

A Trip To Puppets…

2009-03-28T09:09:00.001-07:00

(I wrote this post on 3/28/09. Because of some exams and other things which kept me busy, I couldn't post this at time.)

I shiver as I type this post as the weather today is really cold, with showers of constant rain. Lahore has been having a pretty good weather lately…

Last weekend I visited the “Museum of Puppetry” here in Lahore (I dunno the exact location) and there was also a free-entry puppet show arranged for all. I really enjoyed the Italian show “Poochilaila & Teresa”. When the next one started, me along with my elder bro. and cousin got out to feed our grumbling stomachs. We weren’t in a mood of going back to a bit dreary puppet scene ( I saw one uncle dozing off in a deep slumber!! Haha..) and headed towards the main door of the “Museum of Puppetry”. Inside, I sauntered through the museum looking and admiring the different types of puppets fetched from far away places like Holland, Iran, Uzbekistan, India and so on…

I think this was a very good puppet show which was a, as I told, free entry puppet show because many poor children who couldn’t afford to buy a ticket to a puppet show were also watching them along with the rich students who were on a trip there. This showed a type of equality among all human beings as they laughed and enjoyed together in a jovial mood…

My Aunt also gave me an idea of writing a novel on a boy trapped inside that museum, all night and the puppets coming to life… scary haan? (Unlike "Night at the Museum"! haha) Good idea, isn’t it? I just finished the novel “Angels & Demons” by Dan Brown and started “The Prince & The Pauper”, a classic novel by Mark Twain. He, Mark Twain, is proving to be a real master and I also got many other novels written by him like “ A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court” and “Tom Sawyer”. I will also buy Huckleberry Finn his master piece…

My cousin took many snaps of the puppets with his mobile camera. Here is the batch…

Bob Dylan(I assume) and the fair lady...

The classical dancer...

The freakin god...

The enlightened one with the plump goddess...

The ol' Sorcerer...

"Two's a company"

Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow…

2009-03-19T03:33:00.000-07:00

…and that fellow is none other than me. I know it’s the title of a novel written by one of my favorite humorists Jerome Kalpi Jerome but I can’t help it, can I? Because I am also an idle fellow with idle thoughts. Once again I find my 13 years old self in my small bedroom ( what else size can you expect from a room in a 5 Marla’s house?) The usual traffic on the road is rolls on as I type this post.

It’s a glorious night. The moon has sunk and left Mother Earth alone with the stars. It seems that as we, the children of the Mother Earth are in a deep slumber in the darkest hour of the night, Earth had been talking to the stars about the long forgotten legends in voices too deep and vast for us, the small creatures to listen, let alone understand…

It would be a sin to start talking about things like movies straight away after mentioning such sacred things as Earth, Stars and Moon. And what do you see in all these things? What is the force behind all this? Who is the creator of these things? The Divine Voice itself seems to speak in everything present on Earth. The rustling of the leaves, the howls of the wind, the murmur of the troubled lakes water…

Despite all the rush of the traffic on the roads my little house seems to sit, unaware of all the frays and conflicts of the city and snooze and nod away...

Watchmen ™, a movie by the visionary director of the film 300 is out and I’m the only one unlucky enough to watch it. Looks like a really good movie. My cousin Musab will be coming over to my place near 21st and I’ll be a bit busy kicking it with him. Maybe we can watch it together in cinema but the problem is that due to Lahore’s bad reputation cause of terrorism wouldn’t let our parents go to a cinema. I’m really interested in Dan Brown so that’s the reason why I’m also waiting impatiently for the release of a movie based on his novel “Angels & Demons” this summer. I’m also reading this novel currently. Read half of it in 3 holidays. I was saving some money to buy “Race to Witch Mountain” too. Other awaited movies are “Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen”.

“Marjaani” a song from the Bollywood movie “Billu Barber” is playing on my MP3. I’m really awed by the stupid lyrics of this song although the music is great. “Ro Ro kai Raaton ko, Aankhain bhii Kaali Kiin…” Now can anybody tell me can the eyes go black because of crying?! They can become white, which is also a bit too “over” to believe…

Manchester United were beat 4-1 by Liverpool which kept me alive, or else I would have been bored to death. Really enjoyed the match and it was very good seeing that red card go up! (poor Vidic) And it was also very satisfying watching Arsenal return to their brilliant form by beating Blackburn 4-0. And I am also waiting for Arsenal VS Chelsea semi final. And there’s another dilemma too. Champions League’s Final is going to be held on 27th of May and the negative point is I HAVE AN EXAM THAT DAY!!! Last year I managed to watch the final as my parents weren’t at home! (Plz don’t tell them this!)

Okay so now that it keeps getting darker and darker and the clock is still ticking the time away, I’ll better finish this post here and pick up my novel instead. Another post pending…

The Sri Lankan Team Attacks…

2009-03-04T03:17:00.000-08:00

(No No! Team doesn’t attack! It had been attacked I mean!)

My nerve wrecking formal assessments are over and I’m finally free. It was this stressing hell of exams that had kept me away from many things, especially my dear blog J. I am listening to my new favorite song “Lag Jaa Galaai” by Lata. It’s so melodious! Okay so I’ll be trying to be less poetic in this post as the mood or the surroundings of mine are not suitable. No fused lights and typing under a lamp light or rain etc. Infact a 100 watt bulb is shining into my bare eyes, dazzling me. So I’ll start off straight by cursing the Sri Lankan Cricket team’s attackers.

In my school today my last exams went very well and got 24 in Urdu and 25 in Science out of twenty five. In the break time some parents were taking the students to their homes. Some people said that there was a bomb blast in Liberty. Then I understood that that (Is two thats right? Appear to be peculiar though…) why we were given the papers in the third and fourth lesson instead of fifth and sixth as parents might had insisted to take their children away. Terrorism is in Liberty and the children are being imagined by the parents to be kidnapped or bombed to pieces in schools! Or do they think the terrorists are tracking down everyone who had bought tickets for the match (including the very-much-concerned-and-worried parents) and killing them?! God knows…

My elder brother came to pick me up from the school. He was talking to me about some kind of an attack on Sri Lankan team. When I reached home The news were telling the same tales but in a serious way unlike my brother ( “Murli Dhahran ki taang ko goalie lagii hai woh kehtaa hai mujhai tau naeen taang chahiiyeh” and “Sri Lanka ka aek player mar gayaa hai who kehtai hain hamaara player tau pentees ‘35’ Saau ka thaa”). Bwaa haa haa! My brother just read out a very funny message he just received: “Breaking News : Pakistan cricket stadiums are now available for marriage lawns. For booking please contact MLB (Marriage Lawn Board) former known as PCB”

I was amazed by watching the footage of the two terrorists roaming around freely on the roads. It seemed that they were trained terrorists and were under someone’s protection from among the government as they weren’t afraid at all! Some people I heard were saying that the Government had done this to divert the public’s attention from PML-N Nawaaz brothers’ issue and to impost fear into people. That can be true. And in somewhere deep in my heart I have the feeling that that (2 Thats for the second time!) Mr. Ten Percent, Mr. Smiling-Face Zardari is after all this. The terrorists kept on firing for about 15 minutes and yet no police arrived. Why? And when the so “your majesty” police did arrive they were unaible to attain the hand prints! WHY?! All of this is because Government wanted this to happen and is defending the culprits. Their faces can be clearly seen in the footage. They should must be captured and punished along with all the forces after this incident. Congrats India and Australia for refusing our invitation.

I was listening to the bus driver’s interview on Geo News. He was saying that at first a white car overtook their bus in which all the team was and started shooting from the front. The players got down in the walking narrow corridor to take cover from the bullets sailing over their heads. Someone launched a “Mini Rocket” or whatever it is called. It fortunately hit the road and missed the bus. The grenade was thrown towards the bus but it missed the bus too! Lucky were they as it seems impossible to escape such a planned killing attempt. The driver which I think was really brave finally got to the Gadaffi Stadium securely.

And then somebody kills 5 people through firing in Queta. They are all psychos I think. If a terrorist attack is happening upon a team then what is the cause of these killing people? Now-a-days killing people has become a way to protest, you know…

And so this is the condition of our country. Not even the sports are acceptable by these terrorists or Government’s trained people. LAMENTABLE. That’s what our country’s situation is. God, bless us with your mercy as we are surely the ones who need it desperately. Here is a picture of the two out of nine terrorists attacking and shooting at the buses.

Do Not Try This At Home!

2009-02-19T23:50:00.000-08:00

My brother is in A Levels, LACAS, Burki Road. The day before he came home and told me something I did not believe. He said that the boys in his school were doing a trick in which a person was fainted for a while. And it was very simple too. When I asked him how it was done he was reluctant to tell me. When I kept on insisting, he told it to me after making me promise that I wouldn’t try it on anybody. He told me that first a person sat down and breathed heavily for a while. Then he had to stand, hands spread out as though he was to fly. Then a person standing at his back would have his hands locked around his chest and would lift him. After a moment you feel like you are soaring and then you have fainted for some time. When you are fully conscious again you couldn’t remember anything that was going on after that arm spreading step. Many of the students were beaten up too by the other boys while he had fainted and when he would fully recover he hadn’t had any idea what was going on or what had happened to him. The trick done on my brother Ali Abbas Lali was fortunately a mild one. He told me that when he held our breath and the other boy lifted us. Our lungs were compressed and the heart was unable to pump blood to the brain. This caused the brain to become numb and a person was unconscious for some time. This can also harm a person permanently and can cause even death!!! If the blood isn’t pumped to the brain for a little longer it would stop functioning and a person can die!!! So I repeat that DO NOT TRY THIS ON ANYONE!

This is a small clip of what they did to my brother. Thank God he exhaled and the trick wasn't a complete one.

A Letter Bringing All the Troubles and Dilemmas on one Page.

2009-02-17T08:28:00.000-08:00

(This is a letter I recently wrote to our school principal)

Respected Class Teacher,

If you show this letter to Miss Reeba or Sir Khalid it is expected that you don’t consider this letter to be not from one particular person. It reflects the views of all the class VII sections, especially VII-C from whom this letter is from. It is expected that you take steps towards our requests and don’t just ignore…

There are number of issues we would be informing you about. They are as follow:

There is a soccer club for children on Wednesdays. Our sports sir seems to act too seriously about our training and speaks very sternly but one thing we don’t understand is that if our club is taking football so seriously why aren’t we having any matches with other schools’ young teams? Why aren’t we participating in any soccer tournaments let alone arrange them? We just go to the field and play half an hour just like other games periods. Then what is so special about soccer club? We don’t even have a kit!

The second issue on which I’ll be talking about is the library books. There are many books in our junior library but one thing that most irritates me is that not all, let alone half of the books from one book series is available. For example of

“A Series of Unfortunate Events”. Only three books of this series are available, all the first ones, in 1^st^nd^rd sequence. When I’d read the three of them I couldn’t locate the others in the library. Library teacher informed only these were available. Just as the series had become interesting I hadn’t got the other books. Same is the case with “Artemis Fowl” series which are available on Liberty Books near G One market. Darren Shan’s horror stories’ series are there to mention too. These are a the series to name a few…This term would soon be over and we’d be gone to the senior branch in class 8^th but this Improvement would be a great thing for the upcoming generations.

The third issue is of Mathematics’ teacher. Our previous sir, Sir Aftab Ahmed Saddiqui used to teach us until Miss Huma Ehsan had some problem in her throat (as I was told…) and sir were the replacement for her for Maths classes for seniors. Meanwhile Miss Munazza Ghafuur is teaching us Maths and is very good at it. I am not saying that Sir Aftab was not a good teacher but miss Munazza’s way and method of teaching is really comprehensive and she can handle the class a lot better than sir Aftab. We would like you to let miss Munazza stay here for the rest of the term even if miss Huma recovers (which we all pray she would soon, Insha-Allah) Please…

These are all the points typed by the Class Representative, Usama Mumtaz Lali and reflect the views of each and every 7 grader specially VII-C. We hope you consider them.

With all due respect,

Worried and troubled grade 7s voice,

Usama Mumtaz Lali.

And It Keeps Pouring while I brood over life…

2009-02-13T10:59:00.000-08:00

Here I sit in my bedroom thinking of far and wide things no one would think of in such an enjoyable weather. Rain we say it is. Rattling against my window the rain seems to be whispering of many ancient forgotten tales. Sometimes fury takes the better of it and there it is the blood chilling thunder. A couple of hours ago the light faded and the dark reigned power. The ghostly shadows of the trees chased away the last of the rear guards of the sun and evil covered the earth with its large dark wings spread over the dreaded world. The stars shine as I tap these buttons in the sky as the lights from the windows of the phantom palace…Mujh Say Pehlii Si Muhabbat is playing on my MP3 and I could think of nothing to write except feelings, which might seem senseless to you but not for me. My cousin said once “Nothing is sadder than a pile of unread books.” I myself want to read various books, infact hundreds by my favorite authors but don’t have ample time you see. “Three Men In a Boat” I’m reading nowadays. Witty, clever and hilarious it is. With exams starting on 25th of February this is the only thing that can cheer me up, as they say “A book is a man’s best friend” and surely it is in this case too….
“So much to read so little read!”

Young World, DAWN newspaper’s weekly magazine for children was the one thing out of dozens (Gunners, Facebook, Some authors…) which had got me hooked up for several months. And see they stopped publishing it about a fortnight ago. Just like that. Easy for them and what they say is this: “We knew that our young readers liked to read the magazine online so we have decided to update it online weekly and you can just read it there!” HELL! Now I was planning to hook up with US magazine of Jang. I’ve emailed a poem and let’s see if it’s published.
Lahore’s International Book Fair 2009 is going to be arranged at Gaddafi Stadium. It’s surely going to be a very good book fair. More than 10000 (maybe one more zero!) books they claim are in stock. Wanted to go and fetch some books even some grossly overpriced one but what I got from my parents? A straight refusal. Dad is building a new house and has a lot of business to attend. I wanted to get some Jerome K. Jerome books along with some other Wodehouse ones (have to gift them to someone who may be reading this article…) on his birthday. I’ll find a way out of this misery. They say “..light at the end of the tunnel” but who knows it may be the incoming train?

Heart of Punjab they call it, the city of Lahore. But as sit here in the dark gloomy room with only a lamp on my table (The Tube light is fused) I think of it as a heart of a dead person or a person who no longer cares for the world. They say it is really beautiful and many Plazas are their offering everything under the sun. No driver I have and as my brother has to drive, my parents avoid taking him for not-so-important things. So the only roads I seem to remember well are the one leading to my school…
I don’t have any interest in politics but thought I’d share this with you.

“I’m walkin’ down the line my feet’ll be a-flyin’ To tell you about my troubled mind.”

Bob Dylan, 1963 It was shoes, not feet, that went a-flying at a press conference in Baghdad’s Green Zone last week, courtesy of a journalist who had decided it would make more sense to hurl answers rather than questions at George W. Bush. Although the man standing beside him (I don’t really know who he was. I told you I’m “nonpolitical”) offered a hand as a shield It was of no use. Although the Goody Two shoes didn’t come in contact with Bush physically, it really was an insult. And see now the same happens to that Chinese president (or was he Japanese?). Everyday bomb blasts are becoming the cause of “boredom”. The man took one of his first deadliest attempts to use his scientific knowledge to destroy himself in the Hiroshima. He succeeded… Where is this all going to end?

The clock strikes 12 and I’m jerked back into the world out of the distant kingdom of dreams. I really like thinking to myself and this time just typed it down. I’ll just say here that “Nothing is good or bad in life. The only thing which makes the difference is our thinking point of view.” So just think positively and look on the brighter side of everything and so should I…

Brett Helquist - My Favourite Illustrator.

2009-02-10T07:43:00.000-08:00

I am now-a-days interested in A Series of Unfortunate Events and the illustrator is Brett Helquist. He is a young American professional illustrator and is really talented. According to the biographical information published with that series, Helquist was born in Ganado, Arizona, and lived in Orem, Utah with his six sisters. As kids, they didn't go to many art museums. He says his love of art came from all the comic books he read. Brett earned a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from Brigham Young University, and lives in New York City (as of 2004). He has been published in the children's magazine Cricket, and the New York Times. He is represented by Steven Malk of Writers House in New York City. He has also illustrated many renown magazines like CRICKET etc. Here are some of his illustrations...

A poster...

Count Olaf, the revolting villain...

A self portrait...

An illustration from his own novel, Roger The Jolly Pirate...

...and the third book in the second book of the series: The Reptile Room

Besides the thirteen A Series of Unfortunate Events books, Helquist has provided illustrations for several other children's books, including:

The Wright 3
Fly By Night
Chasing Vermeer
Milly and the Macy's Parade
The Revenge of Randal Reese-Rat
Books in the Tales from the House of Bunnicula series by James Howe:

It Came from Beneath the Bed!
Howie Monroe and the Doghouse of Doom
Screaming Mummies of the Pharaoh's Tomb II
Bud Barkin, Private Eye
The Odorous Adventures of Stinky Dog
Capt. Hook

Disobedience

2009-02-06T02:18:00.000-08:00

(The following short story is written by me. Hope you like it and do comment.)

Ali was a fifteen years old teenager and had a wild craze for bikes. When he passed his final exams the previous year, his parents had bought him a new bike of his choice. He had been very pleased at the time and instead of thanking his parents, got himself on the bike and revved up the engine. Then he rode off, never looking back at his parents. His parents had thought that he was just a teenager and it was alright that he didn’t thank them and instead went to his best friend Zain’s house instead.

His parents had often forbidden Ali from riding the bike at high speed or doing one-wheeling etc. but he had never listened to his parents and went out riding bikes with his friend’s, racing. His parents had often feared that Ali would have an accident which he did, but fortunately not a fatal one. He had scratched his knees and had some wounds on his head. He was immediately taken to the hospital where his parents were called too. At that time his parents had scolded Ali but he seldom took any effect. He had to learn the lesson the hard way……

It was a chilly and foggy winter night and Ali’s parents were away for a wedding. They were coming home late and had told Ali not to leave the house. As soon as his parents had left, Ali had called his schoolmates and told them that he was free and his parents were out attending a function. His friends soon arrived at Ali’s house and asked Ali to come with them. Ali willingly accompanied them with his bike. His friends used to roam around in the city and this time Ali had also decided to go with them. With a feeling of guilt in his heart, he reached the speed of about ninety and shifted his weight backwards, causing the front wheel to rise. The fog was making it difficult for Ali to see anything ahead on the road. It was at that time that Ali heard a screech of a car’s break being pulled on. The next moment Ali was flying in the air and then hit the concrete road with a loud THUDD. At first, he couldn’t feel his limbs. They were all numb. He laid their, unconscious for a moment and when he was fully conscious again, he felt it….the pain. He hadn’t known that pain existed to such intensity. He cried and he shouted until his voice was gone but the pain wasn’t. Some of his friends’ had called the hospital for help. Soon the ambulance arrived and Ali was taken to the hospital. Ali’s parents soon arrived at the hospital and were inquiring about Ali’s situation from the doctors. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Ali’s right leg was all swollen and the pain was unbearable for Ali. On the other hand, the doctors were telling Ali’s parents that Ali had broken his right leg in the car accident. It was after some hours that Ali’s parents were allowed to enter the room in which Ali lay, moaning in pain. Ali’s mother sat beside Ali on the bed, holding his hand in hers, while his father sat, holding his head in his hands, on a sofa. “I’m sorry. I didn’t listen to you and disobeyed you. Please forgive me,” Ali said, almost in a whisper. Tears were pouring down his mother’s cheeks and she bent down to kiss Ali on the forehead. Then Ali asked, “Will I be able play soccer again, mother?” “You will, my son, you will….,” replied his mother. And at this point a nurse entered the room and asked Ali’s parents to leave the room so that the doctors could check Ali for further treatment. The doctors had told Ali’s parents that Ali had a bone fracture and everything was fine.

Ali was free to go home about a week later and had still problem in walking. He had to take a bed rest of about three weeks before he could go to school again. Ali had realized that he had been very disobedient towards his parents and the outcome was very bad. From that day on he started to follow every instruction of his parents and respected them very much. He had learned a lesson of obeying his parents. We should also obey our parents as whatever they say it is for our own good.

I was sitting on a park bench and when I turned around I saw….

2008-12-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

“ZZZZZZ…..” I was fast asleep. Some saliva was drooling from the corner of my mouth. It was a sunny afternoon with a baking sun. The small park bench was occupied by me. With all those horns around me, I slept on, undisturbed. Somewhere on the road ahead was crying a boy and shrieking to his mother that he had lost his ticket to the film which was about to be shown in about five minutes. I had nothing to do at home so I decided to come here and do some “sun bathing”. Okay, so that’s a bit boring beginning but that’s how the story goes….
Suddenly a piece of paper flew off the grass and glued against my face because of the strong wind. I woke up with a start. I took the paper off my face and looked at it. An excited yelp escaped my throat. It was no ordinary paper. It was the ticket to the Christian Bale’s latest released film “Batman-The Dark Knight”!!!
Suddenly I realized that I could hear an excited crowd. I turned around and saw an excited and eager crowd of women. In the center of the crowd, I could see a gentleman, dressed in black three piece suite, with blonde hair. Standing just a few yards away, on the road, in front of the cinema, was my dream hero, Christian Bale himself!!!
Christian Bale had come to watch his movie’s first premier. I could see the poster of his film. Batman, in his new costume, was standing on the edge of a building under the dark sky. And there he was the legendary Joker, Heath Ledger with a gun in his hand on the poster. “Although he couldn’t live a life long enough to see his film released, even then he had made his place in everybody’s hearts….. I moved in with the crowed to the cinema. Once we were inside and our tickets had been checked, Bale had to choose a person from among us, who will get the opportunity to see the movie with Bale in the VIP compartment! His eyes wandered from one end of the cinema to the other. All the teenage girls were blushing, as though Bale has already chosen them. Suddenly his eyes rested on me….my heart skipped a beat….and the next moment I could see Bale pointing at me! My eyes were like that of a boy who enters a candy shop and finds the shopkeeper fast asleep.
The next moment I was walking towards the VIP compartment with many envy eyes following me. So finally I was the “chosen one”. In the compartment I not only took his autograph but also a picture with my eight mega pixel Samsung mobile’s camera. I watched the whole movie with him. Once, when I was so near to him, I could smell that he had put on the new “Mont Black Star Walker” deodorant. He looked really handsome and talked very politely. He told me about all the funny incidents and the making of “Batman”. (Although it got very emotional whenever the Joker’s scene was shown.) I couldn’t resist admiring the acting of all the actors in that film. Finally the three hour movie came to an end. “Nice to meet you sir,” I said. “I had pleasure watching the movie with you. I hope you liked it,” Bale replied, shaking my hand. “Liked it??? I LOVED it!!!” I exclaimed. I took his phone number which he rarely gave to anyone.
Once I was outside and Bale’s Limo. had left, I rushed to a water tap nearby and splattered some water on my face. This was done to make sure that all this wasn’t a dream. It was not! Two miracles in one day! First, I got the ticket and the second; I watched the movie with the Batman himself!!! It was just unbelievable! Now, I can easily declare that that day was one of the best days in my life.

(It's off course fiction)

2008-11-17T08:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, I remember I wrote that the next post is going to be about Heath Ledger or a book, but no, it’s something else. It’s a short poem written by me. I was sitting alone and was bored out when I thought of writing a poem instead of just goofing around. So here it is and hope you like it.

This scenery is such a bliss to the eye,

fluttering birds in the beautiful sky.

From the solitude my heart frees,

when I see the dancing trees.

There is nothing like a sigh,

when I see the mountains so high.

This scenery seems like folk story,

and seems to me like a houri.

In the distance I could hear the church’s bell,

and the flower’s fragrances I can smell as well.

I think I can sit here all day long,

listening to the bird’s song,

watching the troubled sea,

with such a jocund company.

"ELECTED FOR THE THIRD TIME AS CLASS REPRESENTATIVE"

2008-09-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

“Class seven B, Irtiza Akhtar” “Class seven C, Usama Lali!” And so I was called upon the stage by my own aunt, Naheed, who is now a coordinator of senior and junior branch. I was elected for the third time as class representative. My school fellows say that I’m used to all this “calling on stage and giving certificates” kinda thingy because I get at least one or two every two months! But it’s really not like that. I always feel honored when I’m called upon the stage before the whole school which of course applauds.
I easily won the elections because there was no competition!!! I had about 15 votes out of 20. Samar (the math’s genius) got 2 or 3 votes and the others got one each! I don’t know why some duffers are elected for the class rep. “God’s glory, God’s Glory. Every monkey has a houri!” this suites them well though. When they are called upon the stage their eyes are like that of a boy who enters a candy shop and finds the shopkeeper fast asleep. Here, I can’t name them but one thing I can state for sure that Arham is excluded from the list as he is my “bestest” friend and a real true one I ever had. (ain’t I being too emotional yaar?!)During elections, every thing depend on the “treats”. If you offer a guy a pizza or a coke at least, one vote is for sure yours. Well, I admit though that I also got about 2 to 3 votes because of the treats. But I only gave the treat to one guy, Hamza Alam. At first the excuse was “Yaar, Ramzan kay baad treat dun gaa. Ramzan mein khatay huay sharam nahin aaey gi kia?!!” But then they didn’t remember the treat after the Ramzan. Only this Australian boy Hamza remembered it. So I got away with it.
Boy, I must admit that this rep. duty is really nerve wrecking. “Usama, distribute the copies!” “Usama, You should know! You are the class rep.” “call Imanat” “if the teacher was absent, then why didn’t you call some other teacher?!!” “Why are these copies on my table?!!” and most irritating of all “Please collect the copies!” when I’m on the first question out of three! What the Hell am I supposed to do after I’ve told a peon about the teacher’s absence and he disappears round the corridor’s corner after telling me he is going to call a teacher? It’s not my fault that he never came back, let alone the teacher. “These copies are on your table because the previous lesson’s teacher didn’t let me to distribute them and told me to put them on the table. Anyways it has a lot of empty space too.” is the answer exploding inside me. Anyways, if being a class rep. was so easy, every ass( I mean donkey) in the school will be having a badge over his left side’s front pocket.
In the end I’d like to say congrats to my brothers who have been loaded with this unbearable responsibility.

The next post will be about a novel I’m reading now a days or perhaps about a tribute to Heath Ledger (The Joker).

Arsenal vs. Blackburn Rovers.

2008-09-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

(This post is dedicated to all the people who voted for Cesc Fabregas.)

Boy, what a match! A cracking first half as well as a stunning second half. I will start off with my post straight away by saying “Hats Off” to Arsenal.

Eighth minute into the game and Arsenal had a goal! Walcott made a wonderful run and dribbled the ball through defenders to pass it to Van Persie. At the moment Van Persie got the through ball, he got into the position and left footed it into the back of the net. A brilliant teamwork display and a superb goal, I must say.

As soon as the Blackburn Rovers kicked off after conceiving a goal, Santa Cruz got a real chance to score an equalizer but thanks to Toure, who lifted over the bar by his head.

45th minute into the game and we got our second goal! Denilson, (as I remember) got a cross in to Adebayor, who making no mistake, headed the ball into goal! So Here We Go!!

We(I mean Arsenal!) started off well and know what? We got a penalty in the second half! And Adebayor again got the ball into the goal! So, three goals for Arsenal and two for Adebayor….

In the extra time I don’t really remember who made this chance……… maybe it was Van Persie…….. but anyways, Adebayor was passed the ball through all the defenders and he was On Side!! Everyone’s eyes were fixed upon Adebayor and the Blackburn keeper. Adebayor didn’t seemed to be in a hurry to complete his hatrick and just dodged the keeper by kicking the ball towards his left. The keeper fell down to the ground in an effort to capture the but Adebayor was to quick. While the keeper struggled to get up, Adebayor got in the position and kicked……….GOAL!!!! HATRICK!!!! A “Typical Adebayor Finish” I must say.

So, Arsenal won 4 nil. Adebayor had his hatrick (Hail Adebayor!!!) and Van Persie had one goal. I’d also like to say “GUUGUUGOOCHIGUU!!!” to the SUCKING Man U’s SUCKING fans for loosing 2-1 to Liverpool.( Congratulations Fooqi!!!) So I end my post here by saying “LONG LIVE ARSENAL!!!”

LACAS.....Really Unsafe?

2008-09-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Today, after the brake, we were studying Computer Studies when a bell rang and our class teacher came in our class and asked us to leave every thing and make a line. Puzzled we were. After we made a line our teacher took us down and into the ground. Some of the boys were really happy “OAY!!! LALI!!! ENGLISH KA PERIOD GUZAR RAHA HAI!!!” but others, mostly juniors were really looking panicked not because “English Ka Period Guzar Raha Hai”, but because there were rumors about a bomb disposer team coming to LACAS and about a bomb being found in Girl’s Branch. Some people were also saying that a girl had been murdered in Girls Branch or Pre-School! Well I believe that there was a bomb disposer team in our school but not this GAPP! about a murder. Our school isn’t that big that a girl is murdered and even the screams aren’t heard. I was really touched when I saw a boy weeping because his sister also studied in Pre-School. I assured him that there was no such thing but that’s another story. We had to sit for a very long time on the mats and when we asked any teacher about what was going on, she just smiled! Well, that wasn’t the answer to our question… or was it?

It was about 12:30 that the bell rang and we were allowed to go home……… but wait! What about our bags?!! They were in our classes! And when I was going upstairs, a teacher stopped me said that none of us were allowed to take our bags with us to our homes!!! Well, Ramzan Ka Mahina Hai Or Main Jhoot To Boal Nahin Sakta so yes, I felt happy at this point because this meaned NO HOMEWORK!!!

Nowadays I’m interested in Greek Mythology so I had borrowed a book from our school library about Hercules. I pleaded to miss that please let me take that book only but NO WAY! She just won’t listen…….

Anyways this was all I had to say…It’s 1:30 in the night and now I must go to sleep as I have to Fast Tomorrow too. Anyways, today was my 11^th Roza. Take Care.

(Don’t Forget to Comment)

Arsenal FC's Fixtures For Premierleague Season 08!!

2008-09-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

August
16 West Brom (H)
23 Fulham (A)
30 Newcastle (H)

September
13 Blackburn (A)
20 Bolton (A)
27 Hull (H)

October
4 Sunderland (A)
18 Everton (H)
25 West Ham (A)
28 Tottenham (H

November
1 Stoke (A)
8 Man Utd (H)
15 Aston Villa (H)
22 Man City (A)
29 Chelsea (A

December
6 Wigan (H)
13 Middlesbrough (A)
20 Liverpool (H)
26 Aston Villa (A)
28 Portsmouth (H)

January
10 Bolton (H)
17 Hull (A)
28 Everton (A)
31 West Ham (H)

February
7 Tottenham (A)
21 Sunderland (H)
28 Fulham (H)

March
3 West Brom (A)
14 Blackburn (H)
21 Newcastle (A)

April
4 Man City (H)
11 Wigan (A)
18 Liverpool (A)
25 Middlesbrough (H)

May
2 Portsmouth (A)
9 Chelsea (H)
16 Man Utd (A)
24 Stoke (H)

....Of My Countless Achievements.

2008-09-08T03:03:00.000-07:00

Before I start off with my article, I want to tell you that I have been nominated for the class representative elections. Tomorrow are the elections and let’s hope that all goes well….

I still remember that when I was young, I went to my first school, Zaheen Academy, about six months later than the school’s actual opening date. I studied hard and guess what? I got first position in my class!!! I got a certificate for this achievement which I can still see, hanging on the wall behind my computer along with Fabregas posters. So in this way I started off with my schooling with a success. My parents could see that I had a bright future ahead so they began to take me to a female tutor. Her name was Miss Ghazala I guess. She was my first and last tutor I had because I never needed the tuition afterwards. I still remember how my father used to drive me to the tutor after giving me a chocolate. I didn’t disliked studying with my miss but I rather preferred studying at home because of that teacher’s dog. He always stared at me with mean eyes and barked whenever I went near it…..

When I was promoted to the second grade, my new school, Quaid-e-Azam Divisional Public school, didn’t had any final exams so didn’t get any position. Even then I kept on getting highest marks in my class tests. When I was about to be promoted to third grade, my father who was a judge, retired on 9th October 2005. We shifted to Lahore........

In Lahore, at first, we had to find a good school for my brother’s, mine, and my kid sister’s education. At first, we couldn’t find a school but then my Auntie Naheed, who was already living in Lahore, told us about Lahore
College of Arts and Sciences (LACAS for short). Her own children were also studying in the same school. We decided to give the entry tests for LACAS and know what? I passed it easily. The entry test was as easy as a pie!!!

And so began my journey in LACAS…………

I got an ACADEMIC CERTIFICATE in Third Class along with a dozen of other certificates like:
• First Position in English Hand righting.
• First Position in Urdu Hand righting.
• First Position in Alama Iqbal Quiz competition etc.

Then I was promoted to fourth grade. In fourth grade, I got certificates for:

• First Position in English
• First Position in Urdu.
• First Position in Mathematics.
• First Position in General Science.
• First Position in Islamiat.
• First Position in History.
• First Position in Geography.
and
• First Position in Arts.

I also stood 1st in my whole school in the National Kangaroo Mathematics’ Competition!!! I stood 7th in the entire Pakistan!!!

After these achievements my parents always expected more from me. And as I couldn’t disappoint them, I had to work harder to make my parents proud of me. So I did work hard. A lot of nerve wrecking maths problems and the most difficult exams came my way but I conquered them.

In my Fourth Grade, Fifth Grade, and Sixth Grade, I again got certificates for:

• First Position in English
• First Position in Urdu.
• First Position in Mathematics.
• First Position in General Science.
• First Position in Islamiat.
• First Position in History.
• First Position in Geography.
and
• First Position in Arts.

I have also been elected twice for the CLASS REPRESENTATIVE and I’m hoping to become a CLASS REPRESENTATIVE again.

I have always been thankful Allah for giving me such a good family and such good friends. THANK YOU ALLAH!!!
Thanks For Reading.

....Of Summer Trip to Naran and Kaghan.

2008-09-07T03:54:00.000-07:00

I before troubled waters.

Before I start, let me say that “California Love” is my new favorite song.

Well.....here I am, sitting in my bedroom, writing this article, listening to the birds' songs outside my window and thinking of my summer vacations which were about a month or two ago but yet they seem to have passed in a blink of an eye. It makes me think about how time passes and still we stay unaware. Anyways.... We Move Tomorrow and there is nothing we can do......

I along with my family, went to a beatiful and rather I should say "HEAVENLY" place Naran and Kaghan. One could almost swear it's like Heaven in those places and
yet they are wrong because It's no match for even a drop of beauty from heaven.......

My uncle is a Brigaddier. He lives in Abbottabad. He has recently retired. As his post is a honorable and respectful post, he is provided by a lot of facilities from the army. He booked a mess in Kaghan for my family, his family and my mamoo Nasir's family. The journey was a long one from abbottabad to Naran and Kaghan but yet I didn't felt tired at all because I was too busy looking at the beautiful sceneries. It was only then when I got out of the car that I found that my legs were aching.

The mess was on a really beautiful location with a lot of mountain tops covered in snow to look at. The mess was on the edge of a river(I always keep forgetting it's name!).

I had lots of fun there and some of the places I visited were:

Jhal Khad
The Kunhaar
Jheel Saif-ul-Malook and a lot of other places I don't remember the names of......

It was a good experience which left many moments, some happy and some funny, carved in my memory lane....

In the end I want to thank everyone who made my trip so special specially my cousines(Musab, Suhaib, Sanwal........)

Thanks For Reading.

An Introduction to Naruto.

2008-09-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

I dunno what you think about the Naruto anime but I think this anime is FABULOUS!!! Here is intro. of our hero Naruto Uzumaki:
Naruto Uzumaki is the son of Minato Namikaze the fourth hokage and Kushina Uzumaki a former ninja from the land of whirlpool. During his childhood he is a mischievous boy who have Kyuubi the nine tailed demon fox sealed inside him by his own father, Kyuubi had killed so many people in the village including parent of Iruka Umino Naruto Uzumaki teacher or sensei twelve years ago, he is shunned by the parent and adults in Konoha for this reason. Before he was aware of about this, Naruto Uzumaki is orphan and living alone in his house eating his favorite ramen cup noodle, he always get other people attention by being a brat. He once painted the face of all Hokage that was sculpture in the mountain making fun of them. He even made fun of his ninja apprenticeship classes by inventing stupid ninja skills known as Sexy no Jutsu where he turn into undressed girl rather than transforming his appearance to look like his teacher.

Naruto Uzumaki is very good at his ninjutsu ability name kage bunshin no jutsu clone illusion techniques that he learned from a secret forbidden scroll when he was tricked by Mizuki into stealing it. His kage bunshin no jutsu differ from the normal clone illusions that other ninjas used, the kage bunshin no jutsu produces multiple shadow clones duplication of himself in which each of these clone can physically attack and dealt real damage to opponents.

Naruto Uzumaki believes that the only way to have villager and people of Konoha to accept and respect him is by becoming the next Hokage. This is his highest and ultimate goal that he determined to achieve it no matter what. Naruto Uzumaki may be a head strong but due to his guts and power, it can produce a surprising results for example when he first learned kage bunshin no jutsu shadow clone technique, mastering it by only half day. Having Sasuke Uchiha as a teammate in team7's, He consider Sasuke Uchiha as a rival and push harder to win each other.

Naruto Uzumaki doesn't really know that he have more chakra potential than Sasuke Uchiha and even Kakashi Hatake one of his teacher or sensei. The reason is that the spirit of the Kyuubi the nine tailed demon fox is still resided within him and the Kyuubi dark power is draw out when Naruto Uzumaki pushed over his limit or in dangerous situation. He always keep the Kyuubi power sealed deeply inside him because he know that the Kyuubi uncontrollable power can cause much problems for him.

Naruto Uzumaki found out about the Kyuubi nine tailed demon fox sealed inside him when Iruka Umino his former teacher or sensei was fighting with Mizuki for the Konoha secret forbidden scroll that Naruto Uzumaki steal in exchange for obtaining higher level ninja ranking. Mizuki is shout at Naruto telling him that about the fact that everyone hates him because of the Kyuubi that was sealed inside him. However, Naruto Uzumaki doesn't seem to believe Mizuki at first and acts like he had never heard of it.

Naruto Uzumaki learns from Jiraiya sannin one of the three legendary ninja his new teacher or sensei on how to do a summoning jutsu techniques. He learns how to summon a frog name Gamma Bunta and his son which is usually carried around like Akamaru on Kiba. After training for two and a half year Naruto Uzumaki finally return to Konoha but his ninja ranking will still be a Genin while his friends ninja ranking become Chunin and Jounin already, it is because Naruto was training with Jiraiya during the period of examination. But At present Naruto ninja ranking should already be a Jounin meaning that he have the potential at Jounin level. The same case for Sasuke Uchiha that he should already become a Jounin but he decided to walk his own path by training with Orochimaru one of the three legendary ninja.

The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

2008-09-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

Wazzup Boys!!! I just watched this movie and it was AWESOME!!!! Brendean Fraser takes us on another roller coaster ride, filled with adrenalin and adventure. Jet Li and Fraserlook really handsome in this movie too. Brendean Fraser returns as Rick O'Connell to Combat the resurrected Han Emperor(Jet Li!) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all new adventure by son Alex(Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello) and her brother, Jonathan(John Hannah)(he,s too funny!!). And this time, the O'Connels muststop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plungethe world into his mercilaess unending service.

Kung Fu Panda.

2008-09-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

Guys the only thing I want to say about this movie is that it's STUNNING!!! The funniest in this whole decade!!! It is a "MUST SEE" movie. Dreameworks animators have proved themselves as the best animators of this time. Jack Black (Po) Jackie Chan (monkey) and Anjelina Jolie (tigeress) are the voices behinde the characters and this is also the reason of it's success too. Please watch it guyz.

My Best Friends.

2008-09-04T09:39:00.001-07:00

Muhammad Arham
Shani Zafar
Sallu Shah
Mozzay ;-) (murtaza)
Danai Raza
Noshi
Chachi
Basit
Billy (akbar and maneka)
Ammar Haider (AEEEEEEEEE!!!!!)
Ansi
Fooqi Dooqi ;-) (Hassan)
Summer.......did I spell it right??....no!...it's Samar!!!

I LUV YOU ALL A LOT!!!!!!!!!!

The last book I read.

2008-09-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading this novel and it was really SUPERB!!! It is funny as well as a sad book and could you believe it?!! I read all of this book of about 300 pages in 6 days?!!!!! Please read it if you like reading, otherwise don't even bother to even look at it!!!! The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a novel by Mark Haddon that won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year, the West Australian Young Readers Book award in 2005 and the 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. Its title is a quotation of a remark made by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1894 short story "Silver Blaze".

The story is written in the first-person narrative of Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old autistic boy living in Swindon, Wiltshire. Although Christopher's condition within the autism spectrum is not stated explicitly within the novel, the summary on the book's inside cover describes it as Asperger syndrome.

FIFA 09 Coming Soon!!!

2008-08-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

All the FIFA fans get ready to experience a whole new experience with FIFA 09. EA has revealed the release date of FIFA 2009 for PS3, 360, Wii, PC, PS2, PSP, DS and mobile platforms. The game will hit European shelves on October 3, and according to MCV and boasts a number of improvements over previous games."We've made over 250 improvements from last year and we wanted to give the team the time they needed to make the best FIFA game possible," said senior product manager Trevor Uzice. "We're continuing to build on the solid foundation from last year which saw us create the most successful FIFA both in terms of sales and quality."The improvements include a 20-player online mode, more responsive shooting, better goalies and an arcade mode for Wii.