we spoke of was and when.

did everyone in the world know that hannah montana (weird whine-y pre adolescent tween singing sensation)'s real name is miley cyrus??
AND did everyone know that shes the real daughter of billy "achy breaky heart" ray cyrus (brc)??
and that brc plays her dad in her sitcom who writes her music?
i just think thats weird.

weird because its the kind of thing i would expect me to know.
i'm usually quite 'hip' with what the kids are upto...if you know what i mean.

i think its important to stay up to date with these trends. if only to earn the respect of my nephews and nieces.
nothing makes my heart fill up with joy more than when i can impress them with my knowledge regarding ninja hathodi, dragonballZ or their current favourite...the blazing teens.

of late i find myself being left behind quite a lot.
and then i cheat.

i act like i know my blazing teens (who apparently are kids with yo-yos?!?) but i really have no idea.
i pick up on snippets that i hear them talking about...and then throw it right back at them. so they feel they can connect with me better because i know who matthew and leon are.

another favourite these days is MAD on cartoon network.
i havent seen that either. but i totally act like i have. ive heard it stands for "Music Art and Dance" and it actually sounds better than anything else on tv these days.

i dont like how gauhar (of jal) lecherously looks at that girl while she's walking away with that hybrid half pink-half brown cycle of hers. and he does it every ten minutes on every channel in the world.
and speaking of which...why in the world did gauhar get the girl and why was farhan relegated to role of unimportant wingman.
i guess thats still better than shazis role of cycle mechanic.
haahahahaaaa....this blog will make no sense to my international readers...
like my good friend who replied to my earlier post with his little speech on ju-dy gar-land. (i dont want to say it properly because i fear he'll come back)

hadiqas singing that weird "its all the same" song on tv abhi.
what the hell is that all about???

even though i dont speak punjaabi i once wrote a punjaabi song.
well, actually, i cant take all the credit (blame). misbah and i wrote it at indus.
i dont know why.

its not really a song.
we sort of imagined it as a rap (gangsta ...if you please)

here is the original (with a translation for all of us non punjabi speaking folk)

Sanu pyaar karaan teray naal...
main tainu naa chuddunga.
(I have loved you...
I won't let you go.)

the "tainu naa chaddunga.." line is actually a threat.
hence the "gangsta" feel to the song.

tussee heer raindeeh-ay assaan dil ki
main tainu naa chuddunga.
(you are the heer* of my heart,
I won't let you go.)

ballay ballay sohniye, aaja aaja heeriye (obligatory punjaabi words that basically mean "i have the ball lover. come here lover")
oho oho, a-haa brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruah.
(uh-huh , yeah. thats right. uh-huh, yeah.)

[the oho oho's can be replaced with the more jawad ahmad-esque ho-haa's]

if that doesnt have 'hit single' written all over it i dont know what does. maybe i should give abrar a call.

*[fictional heroine of tragic folk love story where heer either drowns or gets killed by evil uncle, or both. not necessarily in that particular order]

if i could open my eyes.

how i wish you could see the potential,
the potential of you and me.
its like a book elegantly bound but,
in a language that you can't read (just yet).

i'm in love with death cab for cutie all over again.
i love the new single.
i can't wait for the new album.
(narrow stairs: releasing 13th May 2008)

there are days when outside your window,
i see my reflection as i slowly pass.
and i long for this mirrored perspective,
when we'll be lovers,
lovers at last.

you gotta spend some time--love,
you gotta spend some time with me.
and i know that you'll find--love,
i will possess your heart.

i havent been this excited about new music in ages.
but this single, i will possess your heart, is absolutely the most inspiring piece of songwriting i have heard in very very VERY long time.

ive been telling this to everyone i meet lately. and everyone thinks im wierd.

as always the brilliant mr. walla is producing but it sounds nothing like his production. it sounds like the bands been jamming on this stuff for ages. and it sounds like theyve discovered Wilco.
:)

i love Wilco.

speaking of which... i think the company that makes MR. WHITE (smokers toothpaste)- For the entire family, has out done itself with its new brand ... and im not making any of this up...

As if being a 'smokers toothpaste' for 'the entire family' wasnt confusing enough...they felt the need to add further interest in the brand by launching a new product.

MR.WHITE... BLACK??!?!

its still a "smokers" toothpaste.
its still " for the entire family".
its still Mr. WHITE.
but now...its also BLACK!!!

i have personally seen posters of "MR.WHITE -smokers toothpaste- For the entire family- BLACK" ,
featuring Moeen Akhter reprising his role from the obviously hugely successful initial campaign, wearing not a white suit like he did previously, but a black suit.

everything else is more or less the same.

i wonder if the paste is actually black.
that would be something.

i would buy it. i but stuff like that. hina hates it. but i buy any new candy that comes out in the market.
i can proudly state that i have had countless 4evers, hilal ki super sours and khopra candy (of the "banay phirtay ho hatim tai...khopra candy hum ne khilai- jingle" fame )

interesting fact: the afore mentioned jingle for khopra candy ("banay phirtay ho hatim tai..." etc.) was sung by Hasan Jehangir's daughter.

wierd...
but true.

kind of like me.

im wierd.

hello miq.
get the DCFC song!!!
:)

where in the world is luke perry?

hello world of lonely late night bloggers.

i should be asleep-ing.
but hinas not home so i run the usual routine of staying up until the morning, doing nothing.

the devil wears prada is on tv.
is it odd for me to like that movie?
ive never seen it in its entirety but its always on tv. and it usually seems watchable. im hoping that idol starts in five minutes. because if it doesnt it means that itll start at 3am. which is the name of that matchbox20 song. who have this new single out called These hard times, which i really like.

the girl just got her makeover. the lead girl, i dont know her name. theyre playing Vogue in the background. which is an inteesting song to cover i feel.
also because it has that interesting "judy garland, something something, DiMaggio..." rap bit. which would be great to sing over a guitar riff.

this guy in the movie (some designer...Holt or something) is wearing an interesting blue blazer, with a different deeper blue sweater with a green shirt. it looks half decent. i should start dressing up a bit more.
maybe i'll wear a tie to work tomorrow.
hahahahahaHAHahahaha... thats really quite funny. i might just do it.

i always liked ties. and socks.

i thought the impossible today...
i thought id join a gym.

for about 5 minutes i actually gave it some serious thought.
i wish i could though...i wouldnt mind getting in shape. i also think itll help when im older. which is a good reason to do it.
i just wish gyms didnt have the kind of elitist ring to them like they do.
i think about joining one then i think i should just go jog in the morning...and then i do neither.

theyre playing "city of blinding lights" in the movie now.
i think the movies ending now. theyre in paris. i really dont know whats happening.

ill go watch.
i also need to take out a tie for tomorrow.

i will possess your heart.

the pressure to write kills me.
i think all great writers (such as i:) can't deliver under pressure.
some of them go mad ..like brian wilson. (please note accompanying picture)

im at work...still trying to make this model of a house that will probably be the end of me.
i shall die while trying to work out how i can make this model stand in one piece while it also is easily disassembleable .
what a wierd word i just came up with...disassembleable.

not many people in this world have the pleasure (or talent) to come up with words.
John was one of them. I am another.

oh, by the way. im on the lookout for a small office space. slightly bigger than my current one.
if anyone is interested in sharing office space with a budding-ish architect/musician let me know...i need about 800 sft. :)
you can keep the rest.

i do not share office space with the following:
1) architects. (all of them suck) (unless youre najeeb sahaab) (which if you are...then you should really get back to work and stop wasting time reading this blog)
2) people who smoke. (this includes people who are on fire, literally)
3) people i dont like (you know who you are)
4) shama.
5) party people.
6) people who think they have a better design sense than i.
(hahahaha...this isnt really a concern. i know of no such people)
7) members of the british royal family. (for the last time harry...No.)
8) people who listen to tranc-ey, beat-y, innane mind numbing music. even in private. i dont care... you have a tiesto cd in your car? dont bother applying.
9) ugly people (you know who you are)
hahaha...im being mean...i like ugly people.
10) animals. (wild or domesticated)

preference will be given to
1) people that smell good.
2) readers of this blog.
3) fans.
4) rich people.
5) those who can bring me lunch.

thats about it.
im up for anyone apart from those listed above.
if youre interested...let me know.

this post shall self destruct in a couple of years when the world blows up.

oh and before i forget...i must mention my good friend, miq.

try to see it once my way.

the title is from Bush. (the band...not the american idiot)
they copied it from an alice in chains song "would".

hello friends and random people
ive been meaning to write for some time now. i just never got around to it.
i have gotten around to it now. so back off.

heres what ive been thinking about.

i use the elevator once a week.

i realised that today, because today was friday.
i use the elevator once a week...on a friday.
which is when i go to do my radio show. and the stations on the 8th floor. but the elevator only goes up to the 7th. then we have to take the steps. but im digressing.

sometimes in life strange quotes get stuck in your head. and they pop right up whenever youre in a certain situation.

for example...one such quote was made by my teacher/ex boss / friends father shahid sahaab...
he once said (as i was doing the tiling layout to a bathroom)
"you need to think that 100 years from now...when people walk into this vacant abandoned ruin of a house... they'll be admiring it like its a museum. and the bathrooms should look no less like a museum."

that makes no sense what so ever.

but its something i think about EVERY time i do a tile layout.
i get what he was trying to say. and i appreciate it. even though if asked to explain what he meant, i probably couldnt.

in any case. the point being that whenever im designing a bathroom, thats what runs through my head.

and whenever (once a week) im entering an elevator im thinking
"a crowded elevator smells very different to a midget"

read that again.
ill wait here...

"a crowded elevator smells very different to a midget"

isnt that really uhh..interesting??!?
its something to think about. i dont think its funny. even though it is. i just think its true. and im concerned.
although ive yet to personally know a midget (vertically challenged person).

flamflam maybe....

hahahaha...im being mean.
mean inside joke there.

so this week i thought to myself. im not going to think of that line when im in the elevator.
i actually consciously thought not to think of it.
i lasted about 3 floors. when the doors opened and a not so tall person walked in.

just my luck.

i shall try again next week.

i have a feeling this is going to be a long post.

aunty came home today. maashaalah. which is part reason i feel like i can blog again.
life over the last three weeks has come to revolve more or less around aunty and her ilness...
but she came home today and she loked so much better as well maashaalah:)
im hoping being at home will be a lot more therapeutic for her and a lot more easier on the family inshallah.

its 4:20 am.
i have a 10 o clock meeting.
hinas at moms house tonight.
the carpenters are working in our bedroom. (not at 4:20 am...generally..during the day i mean)
therefore i cant sleep in the bedroom.
im in our lounge. on the floor. using our newly installed wi-fi :)

if you go through some earlier posts...i think in 2006..i wrote im getting a wireless router.
it took me two years.

but i have one now.

and interestingly enough...a day before they came to install this i discovered that my cousin next door has wifi and it isnt locked. and i can use it comfortably from our lounge.
free internet!!...with the added bonus of this really awesome buzz you get knowing that youre getting something for free by cheating.
:)

is this getting really long??
it is.
i know.
you could just go away and come back and read the rest later.
its really not my fault that youre wasting your time here.

in any case...on the music front...
ive (re) discovered the joy of limewire. i have soo much awesome music nowadays its not funny.
songs such as
The Devlins-Someone to talk to
David Bowie(& nin)-Im afraid of americans
Colin Hay-Waiting for my real life to begin

and as i type im downloading a bunch of Bush songs.(the band..not the president)
i was a huge Bush fan..way back in the day.
Gavin Rossdale has a new album out this year. i like Gavin.
i also really like his wife. :)

also on the music front ...as most of you should know by now...im playing with ADP these days :)

that always sounds wrong to me.
"playing" with adp.
what sounds worse is when you say "im playing with Omar these days..." . sounds michael jackson-y.

which is why i wont say it.

but i am "pursuing a career in music" with the lads from the Aunty Disco Project these days. and im quite enjoying it. we dont meet much but its good to get into a room with a band again and play some music. :)
and ive been writing a bunch of stuff again...which hopefully we can play at one of our upcoming gigs.
maybe at indus...:)

for those of you who dont know who ADP is heres omar(aka Oba)'s really funny blog : http://www.adpdiaries.blogspot.com/

i dont know how to make those cool hyperlink thingys where "omars blog" would become blue and it would be the link to the site itself.

i guess i should learn how to do that.

heres my website **

i think i just did. :)
you learn something new everyday.
i also learnt (today) that the afore mentioned Colin Hay, was the front man for australian band , Men at Work.

somedays you learn two new things.

its 5:15 am now.
4 more hours and the carpenters will be back.

i should try to sleep.
im really hungry now.
i wonder if its ok to have breakfast before going to sleep...



**Nabeel Ejaz is a friend in dubai, who i have met once in my life :) who made and owns this website. i had nothing to do with it... incase any of you think that i have unjust delusions of my celebrity status.