Man, under-destruction?

 If stand up comedy could be compared to sports, then I guess you could say my interests are all over the place. I say this because I am not drawn to a specific genre of comedy. I love African American & African comedians. I love white comedians. I love foreign comedians. I love female comedians. Seriously, if you can make me laugh, you're aces in my book. One particular favorite, that I learned to appreciate from my sis is Bill Engvall. Sure, it might be his sarcastic, almost condescending manner he has when speaking of "dumb people", especially when he mocks them of their "stupidity", quickly following that up with "here's your sign" (his classic catch phrase) or the fact that he talks about his family who seem nice enough, but from his description almost makes mine seem normal. But, for me, its been his admission of smoking. As he's said time and again, "quitting smoking will kill me long before smoking ever does". I can't ...

Funny thing about life.....its never quite as smooth a ride as we would hope for. I suppose one might say adversity builds character. For some, their adversity should stimulate great personal growth.....a pity it doesn't always work out that way.....but I'm getting ahead of myself....... I've always been a movie buff. I might have said it before. I'll probably say it again. Maybe its because I've always liked the idea of how every person's life is their own personal movie & they are the leading man/woman, or should be anyways. If anything, I suppose mine would be viewed as a Woody Allen-esque comedy (Laugh Out Loud.....despite their convience, I hate internet jargon). I've also always liked the concept of writing fantasy that's based on reality, in a sense. After all, what is fantasy, if not a simple acceleration towards a place outside the realm of reality that might not always be entirely plausible, but still interesting to ponder. But I'm c...

I shared a quote with a friend the other day. "Great men have great flaws". When thinking about its true meaning, I had assumed that it referred to how a person's greatness might magnify the size of his/her blunder or mistake, simply because they are held to a higher standard. But perhaps, it can be taken in a more literal context. Perhaps, men of greatness are destined to have "greater-than-average" flaws. Remembering this reminded me of something I had written upon the death of Michael Jackson. Love him or hate him, I simply beg your indulgence.......   I've said it before & I'll say it again, I'm a movie buff. Every situation I've been in, I've always compared it to a movie scene. One of my favorites was a scene from "King Ralph", starring John Goodman. It was the story of a an american man who is crowned King of England (due to him being a distant relation), after a freak accident wiped out the entire royal family (which co...

Riddle me this, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Napoleon, Idi Amin, Attila the Hun & countless other tyrants. What do they all have in common?? Aside from the fact that between the aforementioned alone, they've killed enough people to occupy 3 planets, they also shared a similar trait. No bullshit. Lacking in tact & diplomacy throughout their political careers, they made up for that with direct claim to what they desired & a locomotive-like momentum in the pursuit of these things. While I could never look at these individuals without feelin sick to my stomach, I must admit that, on a certain level, we'd like to be like them. Only on that level, which is the need to be direct of your wants & needs & to have the will to go after it with such ferocity. Why I would even say that would assuredly make you wonder if I should have a CT-Scan or visit a mental health professional, I'm sure. But I promise you, I choose this analogy, not to get a reaction, but to pos...

I've always been a student of history. No, it's not some contemporary rock & roll band or some ironic title or acronym to some new wave form of yoga therapy or whatever the latest craze may be. I've always had an appreciation for history because it's always served as a reminder that history is more than just names, dates & a summary description of what had happened some place. It's a vast catalogue of human behavior & interaction. It shows not only what happened, but also what could happen. Hell, Dr. Phillip McGraw, a.k.a Dr. Phil, always said "the best determinant of future behavior is past behavior" & the man says that on a regular basis, so we already got that down. But human history isn't always about some significant event or some fanatical act of aggression. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that what you are about to read is probably one of the most romantic, yet heart-wrenching stories of "love". Not some rate...

I remember when I was a little boy, I had this overwhelming fascination with ninjas. It was almost unnatural. I wanted to be like them, so I devoured every book I could find on stealth, espionage, martial arts, gymnastics, etc. Despite the lack of knowledge regarding them, they are just as popular now. One thing I learn was how, when injured, they would not grit their teeth in anticipation of any upcoming pain. They would just clear their minds & just go for it. Pull out the arrow, mend the wound & keep going. Quick & painless, once u overcome the momentary pain. It's a popular misconception that tensing up will prepare you for it, but calming yourself & clearing your mind works much better. One could learn quite a bit from them. When we look at relationships, sure, they don't work out & one or both parties will wanna get out of it. But, why attempt to soften the blow, assuming that feelings have been caught (Yes, I said caught, like a virus)?? When breaki...

Growing up, I became a hardcore videogame buff. Almost an addict, one would say. Throughout my youth, I played, mastered & quickly became bored of countless games, of various genres, evolving from the Super Nintendo system to the now obsolete PlayStation 2. To this day, one of my favorite games on the latter format has been, & still is, Def Jam Fight for New York. Not to delve to deep into the story, you play a character (that you create), which is required to fight his way through various venues in the city of New York, in order to earn cash, developmental points &, ultimately, respect. During the story, the boss that you fight for, the aptly named “D-Mob” chisels into your mind that same word, respect, & that it should never be confused with fear. He went on to state “A beaten dog might fear his master, but the second he turns his back, he’ll take a bite outta his ass. Real power comes from RESPECT”. The word is defined as “a sense of holding esteem or high regard f...

I’m a movie buff. I’ve always been an indiscriminate fan of movies. Anything from the black-and-white classics to the latest releases, from big Hollywood blockbusters to the constantly under-rated, yet thoroughly enjoyable Indies (Independent films for those who don’t know). I’ve always loved them for multiple reasons, but I think mainly due to the amount of time & effort taken in making a totally believable script. But I think that my main fascination in a script is that they are written by people. Albeit literarily gifted people, but people nonetheless. Meaning that every now & then, there’s an element of wisdom spoken. One movie that comes to mind is “Sabrina”, starring Julia Ormond, Harrison Ford & Greg Kinnear. The plot revolved around a young teenage girl who falls for a man who her father works for, but leaves for Paris, only to return as a stunningly beautiful woman who is noticed by all, including the aforementioned man. One line from that movie always got to me....

I’m not a superstitious man. Admittedly, I have my own beliefs & illogical thoughts, as many who know me would attest to. Nonetheless, I stand by my beliefs for reasons that have little to do with factual logic & more to do with the illogical side of reality, commonly known as superstition & false notions. Now, I mention this not to garner pity or shock the masses (the latter being quite too easy), but to commemorate the age old fallacy of “Friday the 13th”. What’s interesting to note is that despite how random this day may appear to be or appear in general, it does have its own effects. According to a study conducted bythe Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, 17 to 21 million Americans are affected by the outright fear & terror that they get from knowledge of this day. So much so, that they often barricade themselves in their homes & are down right terrified to do even the most mundane elements of their daily routine. Some ...

You ever hear that expression, worth its weight in gold? It was always a bit of a materialistic phrase for me, despite its reference to mundane & often monetarily priceless things, like a dust buster that could suck up all the dust in Africa ( which is not to say that Africa is one big dust haven, but let's be honest, it's not exactly asthma-friendly). The meaning of it has always been to express the value that a certain thing has, beyond monetary worth, but in terms of use, positive effect & desirable results. All things in life are, more or less, labeled good or bad by these factors. Despite the label we've placed on planet earth as, "the big bad world", there are plenty of things that we still value in it. Love, family, success, religion, spirituality, money, intimacy, sex, etc. We place value & importance upon these things because of the bliss that they bring us. We use them to make our lives a little bit better, to motivate us to work harder ...

During my years in college, I did a lot of investigative research on a wide-spread act of such depravity that is exercised under the guise of "tradition", called F.G.M. (Female Genital Mutilation). It is considered a rites of passage in some cultures. Excuse my ethnocentricity when I say this, but it borders on sheer abuse & torture in the name of an out-dated belief. This was practiced on girls & women, of various ages, through the world & time, for many reasons that, although have no relevance, seems to make sense to the perpetrators. One of the most commons beliefs for condoning this was to curtail or limit the sexual desires of the females until such time when those urges & feelings would be deemed "acceptable", usually within the framework of a marriage. In short, they would not be allowed to have sex until the society chose for them to, not themselves, taking away that very right. Although I am aware that I am in no position to judge, as a hu...

Having spent half my life growing up in Asmara, Eritrea, the summer season was always evident by the arrival of the “Beleze”, which is a Tigrinya word for a fruit that comes from the cactuses which are predominant in the Eritrean highlands. But it’s also Eritrean slang for the youth of the Diaspora, the children of Eritreans who left during the 1961-1991 revolutionary war & relocated in various countries, mostly in north America, Europe & the middle east. I suppose I could claim to be one since I was born & raised in Saudi Arabia, but that’s irrelevant since I also grew up in Eritrea, implying that I have the best of both worlds. These young Eritreans were called this because, like the fruit, they were mostly around during the summer season, which is, for them, a time for fun, cavorting & opportunities to engage in some extra-curricular altercations with the local population. I remember meeting a group of such individuals, who were college students, bragging about thei...

For anyone who watches TV on a daily basis (a luxury that I haven’t had for quite some time now), they would be aware of a show called “Numbers”. The main protagonists of the show were a pair of brothers, one who was a mathematical prodigy & the other was an FBI agent. The FBI agent would seek help from his brother on various cases, which he would assist in their successful conclusion through the use of various & often complicated mathematical algorithms & equations, which would help simplify a given problem or in most cases, solve the case at hand. I bring this up because of a line mentioned during the course of the pilot episode, “Everything is numbers”. Being a journalism graduate who has a fair grasp on the concept of numbers, I found this quite intriguing. If we were to apply this thought to everyday life, we can find quite a number of scenarios to back that claim up. When you go to the store, every item is categorized through a barcode, which is essentially mathemat...

I once heard a story when I was a little boy that really had no effect on me other than the idea of how hilarious it was. Now, although I read this in a World War II novel, this particular incident was based on an actual event. During the course of the Second World War, when many battle ships & armored carriers were docked off the coast of various south-eastern islands near Japan, there was one such ship. Onboard this particular ship was a detachment of Marines (Semper Fi), one particular marine was an individual named Private Donald “Duffy” Johnson, a real bear of a man who was a golden-gloves winner prior to enlisting in the marines. Johnson was not very liked by his other marines due to his bullying ways & overly aggressive attitude, culminating to a point where he was medically discharged prior to the storming of these islands due to an “accident” in the bathroom area of the ship involving some sort of fire, which led to him suffering second-degree burns along his buttock...

Despite the beliefs that anarchists hold dear, as well as the unruly bad boys of any generation, laws do exist outside of the control of man. Laws that hold our world together, laws that bind us, laws that shape the existence & reality of any given state. What is generally ignored, however, is that laws are present in almost every facet of human existence. In every aspect, from the most relevant, such as the laws of gravity, laws of energy distribution, the laws of infinite volumetric area of the universe etc, to the most mundane, such as the laws of color coordination of shoes & handbag when attending either a big banquet or the latest hip hop club, of the laws of which sexual position can be done, in regards to the participants size, weight & flexibility. In relevance to everyday human interaction, there are certain laws that are in place. Laws that would appear obvious to some, but not to others due to some social inhibition, deceptive intentions or simply “not giving...

We all used to watch cartoons growing up. And I'm willing to bet that quite a few of us still do (and yes, the Simpsons & the Family Guy count as animated shows, despite the adult themes & humor). But did anyone ever stop to think that these cartoons might actually possesse certain life lessons, as ludicrious as that may sound? Consider the always popular scenario of a figure standing before a dam. Due to some fantastic mishap, a crack forms, with water squirting out. Now, as that individual sticks his finger in the crack to stop the break, another crack forms. He uses another finger to plug up that second hole & another crack opens. And another. And another. And another. The idea here is futility, the harsh reality that sometimes, when we put our best efforts into something, it simply isn't sufficient to illicit the desired effect or outcome. In short, sometimes our best simply isn't good enough. Now, we've all had, at one time or another, felt that sen...

For those of you who are unaware, allow me to speak about my brother. While I love him unconditionally, he leaves quite a bit to be desired in a sibling. Then again, I suppose we all do as well, but that point is rather moot. Living with him has been an experience unlike any other. Despite the appearance he makes as a wild maniacal animal, he is quite an intelligient individual. However, he has his faults, as I will no doubt explain. Growing up, he set the pace for the rough nature of all our games, which included my baby brother & our sister, who is beautiful but has undeaniable masculine tendencies bordering on being a tomboy. Our mother, bless her heart, would try to put an end to these games, but later resigned herself to the condition, in regards to potential & then-future injuries, that unless bones were broken or blood was gushing out, it wasn't serious. However, although I can honestly say I've never had a broken bone, I will show u that our injuries, especial...