Persian comedians

Really funny!!! Note there are 4 videos (you have to press the >>| button)
(I've only seen the first one yet which is really funny!!)

The Falling Towers

Isn't weird how sometimes dreams can be so real and vivid with so much detail? It makes me really wonder at our definition of reality and how many worlds there are that we are not aware of.

Last night I had a very vivid dream which was kind of a re-enactment of the collapse of the twin towers. Only this time, it was thunder and lightening (i think) which destroyed the handful of towers. My family and I lived in one of the floors of one of the towers, high up. We found out there was going to be a disaster which could potentially destroy the buildings and the land around us. Everyone was trying to think of where to hide to survive the disaster - a lot happened in my dream which i can't recall precisely, for example, me and some other people going to the top of the building thinking that might be the safest spot. (I know that doesn't seem logical!). In the end, disaster struck in the form of a lot of lightening - the first tower got hit and we saw that the damage was much worst than we expected - the tower started crumbling down. We knew that the chances of us surviving was really low if our building got struck. But then our tower got struck and the building started burning from outside to in. In the last few moment of my dream I was huddling with the rest of my family in a room and i could feel the fire around us and as the temperature was increasing, I remember wondering how fast we were going to die and i kept hoping i would not feel anything.
And then i woke up.

What a dream.

Diet Tips

An interesting article about diet tips, dos and don'ts.
Ok starting today i am going on a health food diet and cut all excess junk foods. Wait can junk food be excess? :-P ok ok I'll do it!! lets see how long this lasts.

away

I have been away for the past couple of days in CA, visiting dazbend. It was his birthday on thursday so we have been celebrating non-stop. Dinner with friends on thursday night, gokarting on friday, whale watching on Saturday and walking around the uni and Telegraph st which is a cool hippy st in Berkeley on Sunday.
I will write more about the events and post pics, probly on facebook - just wanted to update everyone on our recent activities.

Naming and Babies

If I have a boy I am going to name him:
Mohammad Jesus Moses Abrahim Noah
and his nickname is going to be: Buddha.
Now the question is, does that name sound better with a Cardenas at the end or a Taban? :-P
Or maybe the name has enough weight ad doesn't require a surname. Like Madonna or Prince.
Hey what if I do a prince and choose a symbol for his name? Something better than an epsilon else he will have self-confidence issues.

Cereally though, naming a kid is so difficult. It is a decision that will effect decades or longer if you are lucky.
No wonder I am not ready yet for a baby ......

boy. Now a baby girl is a totally different thing. Since I have already picked her name, the rest should be easy.. right? :-P

Another day, another song

One of the songs i have been listening to a lot in the past couple of weeks is There Will Come a Day, and not by the original artist, Faith Hill, rather by one of American Idol contestants from last season, Melinda Doolittle. The song it self is amazing and i love the lyrics, not so much because of the religious overtones, rather because it touches upon the harsh realities that are often hidden in entertainment:
"Wars are raging, lives are scattered
Innocence is lost, and hopes are shattered
The old are forgotten, the children are forsaken
In this world we're living in
Is there anything sacred?"
But then the song goes into the theme of hope that:
"There will come a day, there will come a day
The song will ring out, down those golden streets
The voices of earth with the angels will sing"
and
"There's a better place, where our Father waits
And every tear He'll wipe away
The darkness will be gone,the weak shall be strong
Hold on to your faith"

The song really speaks to me. Maybe because the idea that a day wll come where the wrong will be righted is so irresistible.. of course i am not sure if i believe it, but it is something that you like to lie to yourself about.
This is the Faith Hill version btw. When i heard it after Melinda's version, all i could think is how much that song deserves a stronger voice and how Melinda's version was more emotional.

Wear Sunscreen

Above is one of my favourite songs, based on the following essay, put to music by Baz Luhrmann. Every time I listen to it, it makes my heart lighter.

Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young

A newspaper column by Mary Schmich, published by the Chicago Tribune on 01 June 1997.

Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out, some world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on life to young people who'd rather be Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never be invited to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns, but there's no reason we can't entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for Graduates.

I encourage anyone over 26 to try this and thank you for indulging my attempt.

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

My Favourite: El laberinto del fauno

I never ended up talking about my favourite movie: Pan's Labyrinth or El Laberinto Del Fauna.
I recently got the sound track and now I listen to it all the time and recall different moments from the movie. I find the movie so very very very sad. And yet the fairy tale land brings hope and possible meaning to the confusion of our ordinary lives.
"A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamed of blue skies, soft breeze, and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside..."
I thought I would write something about this today, but then again i got lost in people's interpretations of the movie and the pics. It is a movie which appeals to all my senses and the juxtaposition of the beauty and ugliness of the world. Of the hope they we all have that there is more to life than the ugliness that we sometimes see.
I've uploaded the first three tracks of the soundtrack which include the lullaby. The password is my real name all lower case. (let me know if you have any problems)

Simpsons

This link puts together some very funny Simpsons quotes - why is that show so funny? cereally!!!
They come up with so many funny ideas. I can't wait to watch the movie.
Meanwhile it is going to be a very busy weekend for me - a friend will get married, then attend two birthday dinners and possibly attend the sala rociera to dance me some sevillianas... ole!!