Month: April 2005

WAMA, The First Arab Boy Band

Wama

WAMA are the first Egyptian and Arab boy band, consisting of 4 very talented members, all graduates of the Egyptian conservatoire.

They are Nader Hamdi (Waddour,23, pianist and bass vocals), Ahmed El Shami (Shami, 23, percussionist and bass vocals), Mohamed Nour (Nour, 22, violinist and lead vocals) and Ahmed Fahmi (Fahmi, 24, violinist and lead vocals).

WAMA was formed in 1999. They wrote their own lyrics and started composing, singing, and arranging their demo tape.

I first knew of them when I heard their first single and first album title track “Ya Leil” a couple of years ago. I really liked the song and thought they had the potential to become a successful boy band and lead the way for other Arab boy bands.

Now they’re coming out with a second album called “Ya Ghali Alayya”, and from the 2 or 3 songs I heard from it, it looks like it’s going to be a really good one.

I really like the direction they’re taking in their music and style.
If you don’t know them, I truly recommend checking their stuff out.

For more info about them, check the: WAMA Official Website.

links for 2005-04-16

Taxi

Last night, we watched the Hollywood version of Luc Besson’s Taxi starring Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon.

The story follows along the lines of the first French movie with some changes here and there. Queen Latifah plays the role of the speed-crazed taxi driver and Jimmy Fallon plays the dumb cop who doesn’t know how to drive.

The movie turned out pretty ok. I like Queen Latifah’s comedy roles and Jimmy Fallon does a not-bad job. The movie has some good laughs in it. Anyway I still think the original French version is a lot better, more fun and more enjoyable.
I guess it’s always like that though. Originals are always better than the remakes.

My score for this movie would be: 6.5/10.

My Tunisia Photos On Wandalust

Wandalust, the First Class UK Travel blog has featured my Tunisia photoset in an entry about Tunisian Travel Imagery.

This is what they say:

Tunisian blogger Subzero Blue has a really wonderful photoset on Flickr. There are more than 75 photos taken over the last six months. It’s an insider’s view of a magical country: souks, medinas, landscapes, foods and buildings that make up everyday life in a world of intense colour and contrast. This gorgeous gate photo is among my favourites.

Wow 🙂
I’m very happy my pictures are promoting Tunisia and giving its beautiful places the exposure they deserve.

Photography is a great passion of mine, and it’s so cool that the photos I love to take are being shared with people from all over the world.

links for 2005-04-15

Tunisian Blogger Meetup on April 24th

Finally, the date, time and place for the first Tunisian Blogger Meetup is set.

It’s going to be on Sunday, April 24th at 7PM in Biwa (Les Berges du Lac).

For more details and to confirm you’ll be attending, go to the Tunisian Blogger Meetup event page.

I hope everyone blogging from Tunisia can make it. I can’t wait to meet you all.

And hey, please spread the word and promote the meetup on your blogs too so we can get as many people as possible there.

Global Economics in 2 Cows

You have 2 cows:

Socialism: The government takes them both and gives you some of their milk.

Fascism: The government takes them both and sells you the milk.

Nazism: The government takes them both and shoots you.

Bureucracy: The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other then spills the milk.

Capitalism: You sell one cow, use the money to buy a bull and breed the remaining cow with the bull, increasing your assets.

Arab Corporation: You sell one cow, then force the other cow to produce 4 times as much milk as usual, then find it shocking when the cow collapses.

Japanese Corporation: You redesign the cows so that they are 10 times smaller, and yet produce 10 times more milk, then design a cartoon character called

Used Book Shops

I’ve always been one big book worm. Ever since my childhood I’d go through one book after the other. I guess it’s because of my love for stories and letting my imagination run wild in recreating them and the worlds they happen in.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across a used book shop in ColisĂ©e Saula in Manar 2, and ever since then I’ve been hooked and actively looking for other ones like it.

I’ve come across another interesting one in Rue d’Angleterre where I bought Siddharta by Hermann Hesse, the book I’m currently reading.

It’s quite hard to come by good new English books in Tunisia, just a handful at Al Kitab bookshop, El Moez bookshop and the book fair. So it’s cool that a person can find some interesting stuff scattered around in these used book shops.

There’s also another side to used book shops that I like; the fact that all these books were read by someone else before you, taken care of and saved, and that they’re somehow being passed on to you.
It reminds me of this interesting site I found a while ago called BookCrossing. Book Crossing is the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.

I truly think used book shops are as important as libraries and new book shops as they have some books you couldn’t find elsewhere and make book prices more accesible to everyone.