To break the political monotony of the last couple of posts here are a few of my delicious pickings for the last couple of days that are more entertaining than serious.
- Recycled Wonderlands: Simply put, some of the craziest architectural creations you’ll ever see.
- Muppet President: You know how they say every president is […]

“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.” - The Second Law of Clarke’s Three Laws
To Arthur C. Clarke, whose words fueled my imagination growing up (especially the wanting-to-become-an-astronaut phase). May God rest your soul.

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While everyone waits with bated breath the results of today’s deadly primaries in the US, here are a few del.icio.us pickings I’ve been reading these past couple of days:
- A Rose By Any Other Name: An Iranian court has ordered a man to give his wife the 124,000 roses that he promised in her dowry, […]

There is a social trait in this country to shower people with flattery; it’s known as mujamalat. Most of it is insincere but then again, those being showered are well aware of that and participate in the masquerade. Having not grown up in Jordan, the concept of flattery for flattery’s sake is foreign to me […]

In the state of siege, time becomes space
Transfixed in its eternity
In the state of siege, space becomes time
That has missed its yesterday and its tomorrow…
The siege will last in order to convince us we must choose
an enslavement that does no harm, in fullest liberty!
- Under Siege by Mahmoud Darwish
Gaza is still under siege
Mahmoud Darwish […]

Here is a selection of my delicious picks: a few interesting articles/links from across the Net.
- Robert Fisk recalls his first meeting with assassinated Hizballah commander, Imad Mougnieh, in 1991.
- Arab information ministers have met in Cairo to endorse an Arab League charter, which allows host countries to annul or suspend the licence of any […]

I’m as cynical as the next guy when it comes to Valentines day in the Arab world, but this may be going a tad too far, no? It’s funny in a sad way.
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s religious police have banned red roses ahead of Valentine’s Day, forcing couples in the conservative Muslim nation to […]

These thoughts have been wandering in my mind for some time, and have only recently, within the context of a conversation, found a way to congeal into something articulate. Actually, articulate is not the right word, but let’s go with that for now.
The other day, a fairly socially liberal colleague told me, out of the […]

The snow is on its way out so I thought I’d shift gears here on the Black Iris. Transitioning back to reality isn’t easy when snow is still the talk of the town, so here’s a selection of my delicious picks these past few days you might find interesting. Only the first two are about […]

Captain abu raed won world cinema audience award. recycle won cinematography. woohoo.
26/01/2008
07:04PM
UPDATE:
Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic
CAPTAIN ABU RAED
Directed by Amin Matalqa
Excellence in Cinematography Award: World Cinema Documentary
RECYCLE
Al Massad
[Sundance]
MABROOOOK!!

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What’s been happening on Jordan’s citizen journalism project, 7iber lately? Ramsey is at the Sundance Film Festival reporting on the ongoings of two, yes two, Jordanian films premiering there this year: Captain Abu Raed and Recycle. Check out his insider updates as he gets up close and personal with the stars. All Hail The Zarqawi […]

The New York Times recently ran an article in its travel section on food in Amman, painting it as the “stable center” of the Middle East. After reading it once over, I picked a few things that annoyed me but I brushed them aside. More recently, someone else who read the piece brought it to […]

Last night I attended the jaha for my best friend Abdullah, who was visiting here from Canada for a few weeks. I’ve known Abood for over 13 years and so I can safely say this is definitely the only jaha I’ve been to in Jordan where I was actually happy for someone and/or happy to […]

Here’s another round of my del.icio.us links for this past week. The fact that most of the links are Islamic-related is pure coincidence.
- A 16 year-old girl in Toronto is murdered by her father for refusing to wear the hijab and being “too westernized”. I don’t what to say about this story other than the […]

As we were driving around Amman the other night and the jolly Christmas lights and decorations glared from the balconies of apartments and doors of homes, my friend wondered out loud why there’s so much emphasis on Christmas but not on Eid Al-Adha. My initial response was not all that well thought out as I […]

The Guardian has run an interesting photo story of “Guerrilla Artist” Banksy’s latest graffiti work on Israel’s illegal wall that winds through the West Bank. Banksy left his mark on the wall back in 2005 and has come back with other graffiti artists, in order to promote some tourist action in Bethlehem during the Christmas […]