Sunday, May 28, 2006

graphing websites...

This is really cool! By analyzing the HTML code that structure websites you can obtain a visual graph using this…
The visuals are interesting to look at and since they are based on real data that build your website, it can give you an [honest] representation…
This is how my blog look like as a graph…



Via Aharef… and he got all the logic behind it...
more websites' graphs...

Thursday, May 25, 2006

25th/May | Independence Day

So today is the independence day of Jordan… it has been 60 years now masha Allah… May Allah protect the land of Jordan and its good people… and May Allah give them His mercy and blessings… so Jordan here you go…
أردن أرض العزم أغنية الظبا
نبت السيوف و حد سيفك ما نبا
في حجم بعض الورد إلا أنه
لك شوكة أهدت إلى الشرق الصبا

Also today is the 6th anniversary of the liberation of south of Lebanon where they kicked all the Israeli army out of the south and after long struggle Lebanon went back to its people… and I remember when they showed their festivals on TV they used to put this song a lot… so Lebanon here you go too…
لازم تعرف يا محتل
احنا مين و انت مين
احنا هيهات من الذل
و انت للذل عنواين

And in my own small bubble… this day carries two events… in 1998 I got my scholarship to study in one of the prestigious high schools in Jordan… and in 2005 I got my first letter of acceptance to study abroad… it was in London which I didn’t actually go to… but for me 25th/ May has a lot of positive links…

Alhamdullilah rab ala’ameen… who bestow His mercy upon us each day… praise be to Allah for all the blessings that He continually bestow on us…

Monday, May 22, 2006

[upon culture] street theatre

I remember when I was doing my undergrad thesis I was fascinated by my own conceptualization of the carnivalisque life of people in a dense public space… I named my thesis and my project “a celebration of people”… because I felt that there was this hidden festive spirit in that area of Amman… it was in al-Mahta where is Ragadan temporal bus station “is it still there? I dunno!”… I investigate certain events that took place in that space and studied the changes on the nature of these events along time… and I ended up designing a public open space [/multi-layered/ plaza/ stage/]…

[click on image for larger view]
Anyways…
I really do feel that in every act people do there is this hidden ritual, festivity or carnival spirit…
You’ll be amazed by what you’ll feel from just looking around and reflecting upon different events that take place in any open urban space…
Here in Edinburgh I’ve been introduced to even a lovelier urban festivity… “Street theatre”…
You have performers in the street dancing, playing music, singing, bag piping, sketching and/or doing magic tricks.
For me it adds a lot to the charms of walking in the Royal Mile or in Prince Street… you feel that the music is part of a sound track in a movie… and you become immersed in this fantasy world of your own… where all around is fake yet real… and you become a heroine/hero in a tale…
I would love to see Street Theatre in Amman… it is an amazing way to bring Art more into people’s lives by enhancing their urban experiences amidst busy mundane spaces…





[click on image for larger view]

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

[upon art] The cow parade!!


The cow parade is the largest public art event happening in Edinburgh where 100 cows are forming a trail across the city center…
The cows are built from fiberglass and been painted and decorated by local artists, celebrities and communities.
This arty event has first been introduced in Zurich 8 years ago… and till now 3,000 cows had been sculptured across the world…
Not only this is a wonderful urban art… but it aims to raise charity where after the trail show ends in 23rd/July all the cows will be auctioned for sale with 75% of the proceeds going to charity…
Uhh… don’t you just love the cows!!
I advice you all to take strolls round and about Edinburgh and enjoy the blessing of art… and in my first stroll… I got these for you…
[click on an image for a larger one]




More cow parade/Edinburgh or cow parade/world

more about cow parade/Edinburgh soon...

Thursday, May 11, 2006

last night...

Monday, May 08, 2006

مطر...مطر...مطر

اليوم أحسست برغبة شديدة للكتابة بالعربية... ربما أكون أشتقت لها... و ربما..... على أية حال... حاولت و خانتني تعابيري الركيكة... لكنني ما زلت أريد أن أقول شيئا بالعربية... أقوله لمن هناك... هل ما زلنا نتفاهم؟... رغم أننا ما عدنا نتكلم ذات اللغة... أم أن بعد المكان و مرور الزمان و وقوع الأحداث فرقتنا فما عدنا نحن من كنا نحن!؟
و في غرقي في معجم كلماتي و تعابيري الشعرية طفت كلمات بدر شاكر السياب على سطح بحري الضحل... ما زلت أحفظها من قبل سبع سنين عندما تعلمتها لأول مرة... كانت كلماته من أهم الأسباب التي جعلتني أحب العربية... تعابيره الرمزية... صوره الواضحة... يرسم أحداثا أكاد أشم رائحتها... و رغم أننا عشنا في أزمان مختلفة إلا أني أكاد أجزم بأني عشت تلك القصص...
و هكذا ما دمت فشلت في التعبير عن ما بنفسي سأترك المجال للسياب ليعبر عن ما بنفسي...
[[كالبحر سرح اليدين فوقه المساء
دفء الشتاء فيه و ارتعاشة الخريف
و الموت و الميلاد و الظلام و الضياء
فستفيق ملء روحي... رعشة البكاء
و نشوة و حشية تعانق السماء
كنشوة الطفل إذا خاف من القمر!

و كركر الأطفال في عرائش الكروم
و دغدغت صمت العصافير على الشجر
أنشودة المطر...
مطر...
مطر...
مطر...
تثاءب المساء و الغيوم ما تزال
تسح ما تسح من دموعها الثقال

كأن صيادا حزينا يجمع الشباك
و ينثر الغناء حيث يأفل القمر

أتعلمين أي حزن يبعث المطر
و كيف تنشج المزاريب اذا انهمر؟
و كيف يشعر الوحيد فيه بالضياع؟
بلا انتهاء كالدم المراق... كالجياع
كالحب, كالأطفال, كالموتى هو المطر...

و كم ذرفنا ليلة الرحيل من دموع
ثم اعتللنا – خوف أن نلام بالمطر...
مطر...
مطر...

في كل قطرة من المطر
حمراء أو صفراء من أجنة الزهر
و كل دمعة من الجياع و العراة
و كل قطرة تراق من دم العبيد
فهي ابتسام في انتظار مبسم جديد
أو حلمة توردت على فم الوليد
في عالم الغد الفتي, واهب الحياة
و يهطل المطر...
]]

المزيد عن بدر شاكر السياب...
قراءة أنشودة المطر كاملة...

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

A PC or A Mac?!


now these are the coolest ads I ever seen...
I always wanted a Mac... I still wanna Mac!!! uh...

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Design in Nature

It’s amazing… how much beauty lies within our sight… how many perfect pictures are scattered around us… even in the mundane we can still spot beauty…
Praise be to Allah who created all this…
Looking into Allah’s most beautiful names I came across several which relate to design and beauty in nature…
- Al-Khaliq [The Creator]
”God is He who has created seven heavens, and, like them, the many aspects of the earth. Through all of them flows down from on high, unceasingly, His creative will, so that you might come to know that God has the power to will anything, and that God encompasses all things with His knowledge.” At-Talaq 65:12

- Al-Bari [The Maker of Order]
“He… creates everything and determines its nature in accordance with His own design.” Al-Furqan 25:2

- Al-Musawwir [The Shaper of Beauty]
“He it is who has created for you all that is on earth, and has applied His design to the heavens and fashioned them into seven heavens; and He alone has full knowledge of everything.” Al-Baqarah 2:29







These photos were taken in the Royal Botanic Gardens
Flashback: The Spring Wind