Changing Lanes

Today was the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature "Thank you Lunch" for people who had volunteered at the festival this year. I was one of the photographers so got an invite a month back. Being socially tongue-tied most of the time, I had decided I didn’t want to go but a friend managed to persuade me at the last minute and I agreed to tag along with him. Bad decision!!!

Hadn’t slept well last night plus was kind of upset (again!!), so I should have known today would have been a bad day to get out. Anyway got picked up at 12pm and we got there by 12:45pm. As soon as I stepped into the room, I felt completely out of place. Everyone was dressed formally while I was in a T-shirt and track pants. Also everyone seemed to know each other while I didn’t really know anyone. Hung around for 5minutes, said hi to three people, then stepped out of the room and lingered there for about 15minutes after which I left, walked to the mall next door and sat there for another 15 minutes writing a poem. Once done with that, I caught the bus back home.

I suppose it was rude of me to leave like that but I’m in a state of mind where I’m not really sure what I’m doing and don’t really care what people think about me. I just follow my impulsive decisions, right or wrong; it doesn’t matter anymore because in the end life can’t get any worse.

My confidence is in a ditch right now and nothing I do makes a difference. I haven’t picked up my camera for the past 5 days. Once my escape, photography has just become a burden now...need to maybe let go of that as well...

Be careful what you wish for 'cause you just might get it all
You just might get it all and then some you don't want

A bit of a follow up to my previous post on this same topic...

So talking again about these self-centered hypocrites, I’ve come to a decision that I shall cut all ties with them after I manage to clear the payments they owe me. No point trying to be friends with people who assume I’m a kid and can be manipulated while they flaunt their riches in front of the world. It was a huge mistake to mix my personal life with work. Shall avoid doing that in the future because I’m not running a charity here and people tend change in a blink of an eye especially after their work is done....so that...

As a kid, I remember playing the original Prince of Persia game in the early 90’s. I never got around playing the other versions because by the time the new ones were released, I had stopped playing games due to having a poorly built computer.

When I saw the movie trailer for the first time, I thought the lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal (who plays Prince Dastan) looked gay. I don’t know how the character had developed over the years in the game but this is not how I wanted the character to look like and I decided I didn’t want to watch the movie anymore. But then I got passes to the press screening and I couldn’t say no to this opportunity. Went there with minimal expectations and in all honestly, I enjoyed it in parts.

The story revolves around Prince Dastan who was adopted as a kid from the streets by King Sharaman (played by Ronald Pickup) of Persia and Princess Tamina (played by Gemma Arterton) of the Holy City of Alamut, who are trying to keep an ancient dagger away from the dark side who might abuse its capabilities of releasing the Sands of Time which basically means you can reverse time and allow its possessor to alter the past as per his/her wish.

Jake Gyllenhaal surprised me. I loved the parkour based action scenes that were executed to perfection and his acting overall was quite impressive for a game based action hero. Gemma Arterton in simple words was not as beautiful as she was made to be and her acting was dismal in places. The chemistry between them was about average while the short romantic scenes between them where they almost kissed were pointless and slowed the pace of the movie.

The dark side is the evil uncle (how cliché) Nizam (played by Ben Kingsley) and the Hassansins. Ben Kingsley looked out of place and he was a shadow of the villain he could have been as I felt his character was poorly written giving him very little to work with. The Hassansins lead by their snake charmer pale looking leader (played by Gísli Örn Garðarsson) looked promising but a few of their scenes looked like a cheap rip-off of the Nazgul scenes from The Lord of the Rings which was kind of annoying. The Hassasins could have been given a better role but they just end up looking like a bunch of goons.

The support cast was a mixed bag. Sheik Amar (played by Alfred Molina) was a delight to watch with good comic timing and his acting does stand out from the rest. He was supported adequately by Seso (played by Steve Toussaint) who was the typical African dude who could kill you with his eyes closed but has a heart and conscious. Then we had two brothers; Prince Garsiv (played by Toby Kebbell) and Prince Tus (played by Richard Coyle) who were like 3 year old kids with no brains of their own being manipulated by the other characters..

In the end, what really make this movie stand out are the stunning visuals. The world that unravels in front of us through graphics and well made sets is brilliant. The cinematography was top notch in every sense i.e. from the beautiful desert landscapes to the magnificent cities created. The story overall was also well laid out but some things could have been avoided to make the movie shorter (movie runtime: 116mins). As I said at the beginning of this review, I liked the movie in parts.

5th may 2010, the last time I took shots for my personal satisfaction. 22 days later, I at last managed to get out and snap a few shots that made me happy. The photography drought is over for now....all thanks to SJ. *hugs* :)

Burj Khalifa with the full moon shining behind...Camera Model : Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time : 05/27/2010 20::19:43 PM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1.6 secs
Av(Aperture Value) : f4.5
Metering Mode : Centre weighted
ISO Speed : 100
Lens : EF-S 10-22mm
Focal Length : 14mm

Tonight I sleep with just a single thought in my head...if I'll see my dad in the morning. He's not feeling well at all and I'm kinda freaked out.... :|

EDIT: Dads feeling better now. He had already gone to work when I woke up...being the workaholic he is. :)

Saw this on kippreport.com

The UAE currently has one of the highest ecological footprints per capita in the world, and “If everyone lived like we do, we would need 4.5 planets and we only have one. Our choices all make a difference,” says this impressive UAE Ecological Footprint animation.

The paper-style animation, which is supported by Abu Dhabi Environment Data Initiative, aims to raise awareness among UAE residents about the scarcity of natural resources in addition to making them recognize that every action impact the planet’s ecosystems. Kipp approves of the eco-message, but we especially love the animation. Check it out.

Source: World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Today SJ had an off from work so she thought it might be a good idea to get her lens fixed. So I tagged along as I wanted to get my flash fixed as well. Went to National stores at around 1pm, gave my lens and then headed out to Deira City Centre (DCC) to get her lens fixed. Had lunch and then headed out to Ibn Battuta mall (IBM) to meet WS at around 3:30pm.

WS hasn't been very cheerful lately due to work related stress I suppose which was quite evident. So in an impulsive crazy idea before leaving home I asked SJ if she wanted to go visit WS on the other side of town to cheer her up and surprisingly she agreed. Went there, had ice cream at Marble slab creamery (very sweet, didn't like it), went to Sharaj DG (electronics fix), walked the whole mall talking, had Nerds (doesn't taste the same) and kinda enjoyed ourselves. Got back home at 7pm. A good outing... :)

On another note, the last time I took a picture for myself was on the 5th of May. Since then, every time I have picked up my camera and taken a shot, I had to take the picture and not because I wanted to. What that basically means is that I've been shooting for clients or family or friends and not for myself. Not in the creative sense at least. 20 days and counting. This sucks....

At least I have this weekend to look forward to. Might be going out shooting with SJ and WS... :)

I have seen the climate changing here in the UAE and the effects of climate change since I first came here in the late '80s. I've watched the wadi tracks being turned into blacktop and wadis such as the East Coast's Warryah and the great Hatta Wadi turned into graffiti-splashed rubbish tips and I've watched as the many natural pools that dotted the Hajar mountains were drained by farmers using stinking pumps that leak oil and benzine into the waterways.

fakeplasticsouks.blogspot.com, Fake Plastic Souks: Ch Ch Ch Changes, May 2010

You should read the whole blog post.

In the end, I also recommend taking the survey he has linked to. It's part of Richard Wagner's Doctoral Thesis, at the Vrije University in Amsterdam and is being supported by EDA, the Emirates Diving Association.

So I decided to have a look at the article today just to see where the issue/discussion had gone and was disappointed to find some of the comments were deleted.

Without a proper statement/reason, deleting those comments would just add to the criticism the writer i.e. Nabila Usman was already facing. On asking her why the comments were deleted, she told me that she didn't know anything about it and that maybe it had something to do with language abuse that was in violation of the comments terms & conditions. She later added that some people were using different names to make comments (i.e. same IP, different name).

Now these reasons might justify the deletion of those comments but it doesn't because a comment I had made was also deleted which did not violate anything (as it was just a one liner with nothing offensive) nor was it made under a different name. And honestly, some of the other comments that were deleted as well seemed fine apart from being negative towards the article. Disappointed indeed....

158 people died two days back as an Air India plane IX 812 over shot the runaway in Mangalore and crashed. The flight had taken off from Dubai. My prayers goes out to the friends and families who have lost their loved ones in this incident. I can not imagine their pain. May the dead rest in peace.

Innaa lillaahi wa innaa ilayhi raaji’oon (To Allah we belong and to Him is our return)

I hope the survivors manage to move on with life, I hope they find the strength to forget this incident.

Watching human life end this way is saddening, here's hoping such a thing doesn't happen again to anyone.

Speaking to a friend made me realize just now that maybe she had already moved on even before knowing about my lies and confessions. That I didn't have the need to lose everything for her. That I shouldn't have been so naive or stupid to believe her words....I hope not...but I will never know...so numb...

Nightmare or reality
20.05.2010

Getting lost in those eyes
His hand slipping into hers
Shifting himself closer
Intoxicated by her scent
Sensing her nervousness
He wraps his arm around her
She looks at him with hope
If he’ll take care of her
He smiles reassuringly
Everything will be perfect tonight

Lying in bed
Two souls became one
This was there special moment
Something they’ll never forget
She’s never been this happy
He was the only one
He would never let go
She was everything he ever wanted
He asks her to marry him
She says yes...

I open my eyes
Shivering sweating and scared
A nightmare or reality
I do not know
She will never be mine
But I shall still hold on
No one shall ever touch me
Like the way she did
I shall never love the same
Cause I will never forgive myself

-Stained

First read this article.

"Le Magnifique - Dubai's Hottest Networking Event" That's what they were calling it on their Facebook event page. I initially thought it would be just another social networking event like Geekfest or something along those lines. But then I read the description...

"Welcome to Le Magnifique.. where else can you network with the best Dubai has to offer, on a pool deck, with DJ and YOUR FIRST DRINK FREE!"

That spelled 'drunk people-jumping into pool-madness' for me. I know I'm making assumptions here but when you mention a pool deck as a USP for the event, it just makes you wonder if it's just another night life page 3 party. Obviously I didn't go so I would never know what it was.

Anyway there is an issue boiling over the above linked article written by Nabila Usman. Some people are calling it poor journalism, some calling it biased reporting while some are questioning the headline. I agree that the headline could have been different but the article seems fine to me. Yes a few facts were omitted but it was clarified that when the article was published, those facts were not available.

I know I'm not a journalist or some smart dude skimming through news reports on the internet, I read what I like and don't really dissect them to pieces. I'm more of a visual person. So to me the article (biased or unbiased) seems fine though the heading could have been different. It tells me what the event was about, what happened and what the response was. The Areeba removing her scarf angle could have been added to the article, that would make it more balanced I suppose for the critics. But apart from that I don't see any other issues to it. It's simple and to the point. Perfect for a layman like me... :)

When the water wraps around you and you struggle to breath. When the life you’re about to let go flashes in front of your eyes. When you try to fight the urge to resist and survive. When the darkness envelops you and you suddenly feel alone. Then all you remember are the promises that you’ve broken...the lies that were told...the pain that you’ve spread...the hate you deserve. And then you hit a brand new low in life...literally. The water was too shallow...

A second chance or just bad execution...either way there is only one way out now...you can only go up from here.

You’re right SJ, I need to change myself to become stronger within because people will always come and go...nothing lasts forever and I need to learn to let go. I need to remember why I did it all and that I can’t keep running away from it because that just makes me a coward. I’m sorry for yesterday...won’t happen again. Just want you to be here because you’re the only one who understands...the only one who knows it all. I shall survive. *hugs*

Looking through a shop window, his eyes were sparkling with excitement. The perfect ring with the right colored stone. They even had a sale on. He walks into the shop with a spring in his step and asks the saleslady in his most mature professional voice about the ring. She measures him up and tells him that the ring is costly doubting his purchasing power. He smiles and tells her that cost wasn’t a problem. She tells him the price wiping the smile off his face. He thinks, calculates and tells her that he’ll be back in a weeks’ time. He walks out...confused but hopeful.

Back at the shop, he’s now holding the ring. She’ll love it he knows...it was perfect. He walks out of the shop with empty pockets but that didn’t matter, she was going to be his. One day he will go down on one knee and ask her to marry him the filmy way. Everything would be perfect then.

One year later, as he walks out of a mall he drops the ring into a charity box. It was over....

He stops to enjoy the pain and glances at the wall. He panics and rushes to the kitchen to get a tissue to remove the stains from the wall. Another promise was broken today but it doesn’t matter anymore. This is the only way he can feel pain because everything else feels so numb. He rubs till the stains are gone and pauses to make sure no one is around. He then goes back to feeling alive but this time he’s wearing a pair of gloves that were gifted to him a very long time back...

About three months back I got the Mondeo. Even before deciding to buy a car, I had decided to wash it by hand most of the time with maybe a manual car wash at the local petrol pump once in a while. I got the necessary equipment (cloth, polish etc) and have washed the car at least 8 times till now. It takes me an hour to do the exterior which in this Dubai heat translates into sweaty and tired me. For the interior, I’ve bought a portable car vacuum cleaner that I use once in a while.

The reason I chose to wash the car by hand is not financially driven. Car washes in general are great but I’ve never been completely happy with the job they do. Also spending one hour cleaning it is a good workout. But in the end the main reason is that it reminds me of a person who used to wash her car all the time and this is just one of those things that I do to feel connected to her.

Btw I washed the car today and while removing it from the shade a bird decided to answer natures call right above my car. The story of my life...

Her tiny hand clasps on to my little finger as I look down into her teary brown eyes. She looks at me for comfort, I smile. I pick her up and cuddle her into my arms with a feeling of happiness I have never felt before. I look up with a big grin into those same brown eyes. This was our dream coming true...this was us in the purest form possible. I look back down and watch her fall asleep. I feel complete.

Go the idea to do the the quiz from PD's 'Twitter Addict' post. Wanted to see what my score would be...I thought it would be higher but I supposed I'm still not completely hooked to it. Still prefer blogging I suppose because I can keep typing and typing and typing and typing... ;)

I'm not trying to be a selfless lover or a martyr...there is nothing for me to gain from that. I'm not even trying to gain the pity of the people around me...that will not bring back my happiness. I'm just trying to say the truth for once but no one shall believe me.

Shots from the corporate portraits I shot on Tuesday and today. Very Cliché poses and lighting but I wanted to keep it simple. These men belonged to the financial sector so having the DIFC gate in the background was kinda a cool idea but I think my execution could have been better i.e. could have been more consistent with my framing.

It’s sad to see how effortlessly people change. Yes, change in general is good but when it borders on the edge of hypocrisy then it makes you wonder how superficial these people are. A complete contrast to the personality they project to the world. Self-centered hypocrites...that’s what they are.

Stealing this from a friends Facebook status...

You never know how strong you are...Until being strong is the only choice you have.

Driving all the way to Sharjah to video the fire behind National paints seemed like a great idea yesterday. I don’t feel the same way about it anymore.

The place where I had parked and where I was standing was the area where the wind was taking all the smoke. Even though the smoke was quite high, there was some wet sticky soot falling over the area. It fell on me and my car. A quick bath made sure I was all clear but getting it off the car was a completely different story.

Started off by trying to clean it with water, then tried some soap and then tried some scratch removing car wax. None of it worked so decided to go for a car wash today. Told the cleaner about the soot and he tried to remove it with a liquid and then blasted the areas with water. He managed to get some of it off but there were still a lot of it left. I paid AED35 for the wash and AED15 as tip to the cleaner for trying.

Disappointed, I drove off to the Yellow Hat outlet in Nad al Hamar. Showed the sales guy my car and he said that it would be better if I showed the car to the detailing guy who then told me it would take ages to remove them all and that I should make a booking instead. Booking for external detailing done for tomorrow morning and it’s going to cost me AED340 (after a 15% discount).

Total cost AED390 (assuming I don’t tip the guy tomorrow)
Financial benefit from video AED0
Earnings this month AED350

Life’s good…

My lame effort at DSLR video.

I think going there was a bad idea cause I can feel my breathing getting worse....tonight is going to be a tough one for me. Atleast my morning corporate shoot went well...

10.05.2010
5:31pm

Love
A word
Or a feeling
Said too often
Never truly felt
Selfish meanings
Selfless actions
Sentences
Answers
To questions
Forgotten

Lost
A situation
Or a reaction
Meant to feel
Raw emptiness
Limited breaths
Unlimited pain
Knives
Pencils
All the same
Piercing

Two words
Brought together
A coincidence
Torn apart
Just emotions
Dense lies
Transparent hands
Love lost
Bestowed
Does it matter?
Hurts

- Stained

Walking around in a daze with my hands stretched in front of me trying to feel my way around as I stare at nothing...

I have a shoot in 20mins. Need to take some creative shots of two kids and I have no idea what I'm going to do. Confidence level is on an all time low and photography skills have deserted me....I'm so screwed....

“Sometimes, I'm ashamed to call myself a human being” - @chromasia

This is what David Nightingale tweeted along with this news article and I’ve got to agree. Honestly it would have made complete sense to stone those three men to death who had raped the girl but stoning the girl. How does that even make any sense? How does rape equate into adultery?

Obviously those three men were part of the al-Shabab militia which essentially means that the rebel government would punish the girl instead. The people who are part of the militia should be brought to justice (as Bush used to say). Unfortunately nothing is being down to disarm/destroy this rebel government by the world powers. They’re too busy with more strategically placed countries. Sad...

Regarding the article, I don't understand why did they have to use the world Islamist. What does religion have to do with any kind of political or military organization? I assume yet another shot at Islamophobia and the opportunity to get more clicks/views.

08/05/2010
1am

Plans and executions
Dangling till the last breath
This stench is my death
Of the life I’ve given up...

Love and hate
Two souls entwined
This faith is my lie
Of the happiness I created...

No tears shall leave my eyes
There’s nothing left within
This numbness is my defiance
Of all the pain I cannot sense...

A dream seen by two
Lost in the ending
This is when I give up
Of everything I believed in...

-Stained

So I had to go to Wildpeeta yesterday for the Board Game Tweetup. I went, played and took a few shots which was the complete opposite of what I claimed I would do i.e. never go there unless I go with my CC. Fortunately for me, we were seated in the outdoor seating which allowed me to find a middle ground between my immature resolute and the tweetup. Basically I didn’t enter the main indoor section nor eat or drink anything which was great. Anyway from what I heard, a few tweeple were disappointed with their fusion shawarma meals as it didn’t taste as good i.e. compared to the last time they had it. So that!!!

Camera Model : Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time : 05/05/2010 18::38:06 PM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/60-1/1000
Av(Aperture Value) : f4
Metering Mode : Evaluative
ISO Speed : 200
Lens : EF-S 10-22mm
Focal Length : 10mm

Last night me and SJ had decided to wake up early and try to shoot the sunrise, the Sheikh zayed road skyline and some other random shots from Ras Al Khor. So woke up today at 4:30am, got out of the house by 5:10am and headed out to Ras Al khor hoping to find a spot to shoot from. We found none which sucked though driving with the windows down in the rain was fun...

In the process we ended up on Al Khail road and I managed to snap this 7 shot panorama.As we tried to make our way back to Ras Al khor, we ended up on the road that went the Nad Al Sheeba instead and I decided to show SJ the area. Parked and we randomly walked around. We ended up spotting a rainbow like phenomena in the sky.We were literally in the middle of nowhere in the sense that there wasn’t anyone to bother us, it was just us enjoying the silence and being shutter happy.

I kind of liked the way this tree looked and how it went with the whole scene. This is a 3 shot HDR.After that we headed towards a section I hadn't explored before to look for camels as SJ hadn't seen one for ages. Luckily we ended up finding a camel farm with a female camel and its calf outside the fence taking a walk. We bothered them for a while before they decided to walk back to the farm. The mother seemed a little annoyed by us. Got some really cute shots of the calf. Here's a shot of both of them.Then we headed off to Karama to have some cheese manakeesh from Al Reef. And in the end we made our way to Nad al Hamar to pick SJ's car from the garage and then home sweet home.

A nice morning out...managed to take lots of nice pictures and had lots of fun.

Camera Model : Canon EOS 1D MarkIII
Shooting Date/Time : 03/04/2010 12::20:59 PM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/100-1/640
Av(Aperture Value) : f3.5
Metering Mode : Pattern
ISO Speed : 100
Lens : EF 14mm f2.8L II USM
Focal Length : 14mm

04:32
04/05/2010

I take a deep breath
Sends a shiver down my spine
Try to swallow the dryness
With a slight frown
Blink my watery eyes
I exhale in dejection
Shut my eyes
To tell myself in retrospection
Everything will be all right
I shall survive
This daily ritual
I dry my eyes
No one shall see me cry

-Stained

Camera Model : Canon EOS 1D MarkIII
Shooting Date/Time : 03/04/2010 13:12:39 PM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/500-1/8000
Av(Aperture Value) : f3.5
Metering Mode : Pattern
ISO Speed : 200
Lens : EF 14mm f2.8L II USM
Focal Length : 14mm

I'm not a very religious person in the sense that I don’t offer prayers or read the Holy Quran often. Something I've felt guilty about for a very long time, have tried numerous number of times to rectify it and failed every single time. Being a procrastinator of the highest order does not help as I never manage to do anything on time and I always had my priorities in the wrong places which made me use my time up doing pointless things of little or no importance.

Now for the past 3-4 months, I’ve managed to somehow fix that by getting my priorities right. I still have a long way to go but I’ve started praying at least 2 times a day if not more which is a huge contrast to once a week i.e. Friday prayers only. Also I’ve managed to read the Holy Quran more often as well as I’ve loaded it onto my mobile which makes access easy and always at hand. Now I just need to take this further by improving my understanding of Islam and trying to incorporate it more into my daily lifestyle.

Just because I’m single now, some guys seem to think that it’s okay for me to check out (scan more like) every interesting looking girl that passes my path. I really don’t get what pleasure most guys get at checking out girls and seriously something I don’t intend to do ever. Annoying buggers...

Also being single does not mean I’m frustrated and therefore have the urge to watch porn. Pornography is disgusting and something I never plan to bother myself with. I’m just glad that I’m not in school/college anymore...I remember the number of times some people have tried to forward me porn disguised as something else...urgh!!

And one last thing, why do people in general assume that I'm interested in hitting on the girls I hang out with now that I'm single. Being single does not mean I’m unhappy and honestly I don’t always need a better half/companion to complete me...

This is what the sky looked like today and that bright spot is the sun...Camera Model : Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time : 05/03/2010 17:18:19 PM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/1600
Av(Aperture Value) : f5
Metering Mode : Evaluative
ISO Speed : 200
Lens : 50mm f2.8 Macro
Focal Length : 50mm

So the tweetup I really want to go for i.e. the Board Games Tweetup is at WildPeeta this Thursday...damn it!!

Now if you’re wondering what the problem is then you need to read my previous post about WildPeeta. Now I need to decide what I want to do. Hmm...I have a feeling SJ might just end up dragging me along saying that I need to live my life just the way my CC is.... *confused & annoyed*

There are some things that I wanted to do with her by my side and this is one of those things...

Dragonflies are difficult subjects to shoot. After waiting for over 15 minutes and getting bitten by other bugs, I managed to get just two decent shots. Here's one, will post the other one later.Camera Model : Canon EOS 500D
Shooting Date/Time : 05/01/2010 10:17:41 AM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/250
Av(Aperture Value) : f3.5
Metering Mode : Evaluative
ISO Speed : 100
Lens : 105mm f2.8 Macro
Focal Length : 105mm

I have this bad habit of backing up all my old sms messages on my PC because I like to look back at them once in a while. Before buying my Sony Ericsson P1i, I used to use the software ‘My phone explorer’ to back everything up i.e. contacts, sms, notes etc. It was convenient and easy to use. The only problem I had was that the time and date for the sent messages would not be recorded by the software due to some symbian OS limitations (I think). This was really annoying because what’s the point of having those sms messages if I couldn’t know what date I send them on.

One of the main reasons I bought the P1i was for its unlimited sms storing capabilities unlike other Sony Ericsson phones that had a limit of 200 messages. After using the mobile for almost a year (Sept 08-Oct 09), I realized that the P1i in fact did not have unlimited sms storing capabilities. I had a total of 2460 messages on the phone which was causing it to crash. This meant I had to back up everything which also meant losing the dates for the sent messages. So I decided to look for an alternative way to back up the messages. That’s when I found SMS diary. It needs to be installed on the phone and takes a long while to get all the messages backed up but it does exactly what I want it to do i.e. does not lose the date and time of the sent messages and sorts the messages (sent and received together) in a name plus date order which is perfect to look back at.

It’s not a free software (costs $10 I think) but is perfect for my need. I just backed up my messages again and it worked without an issue. I highly recommend it to any user who’s still stuck on symbian based phones.

Went to Mushrif park with WS and SJ. Spent almost 3 hours there taking pictures, enjoying the weather and in general having a good time. We plan to go there again cause it's just a beautiful place with hardly anyone to bother us...Camera Model : Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time : 05/01/2010 10:02:42 AM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/125-1/2000
Av(Aperture Value) : f5
Metering Mode : Spot
ISO Speed : 100
Lens : EF-S 10-22mm
Focal Length : 10mm

Don't say you're happy cause everything's alright, be happy cause everything sucks but you're doing just fine.

I like this quote (via @ihatequotes) so much that it's going into my About me section on the left...

I hadn’t seen the original Iron Man movie in the theatre and so I blamed that to not liking it i.e. the big screen awe effect of having a super hero bash different villains was missing. So when I heard about the sequel, decided to watch it in the theatre. Till yesterday morning, I thought it was a 3D movie but on checking the cinestar website I realized it wasn’t. I think not having it in 3D was a huge mistake cause even though 3D is over rated, I’d think a movie like this would have gained a lot from it.

11pm show at Mall of the Emirates, I was a little excited after seeing everyone else looking forward to be amazed by Tony Stark aka Iron Man. 2 hours later and the only word that came to my head was rubbish. That’s how bad I thought the movie was even though everyone else seemed to like it in bits.

The problem is when I think about comic book movies, I have this high expectation because a comic book has so much material to build on so I assume the movie will be amazing and apart from a few, most of them are disappointing. I’m not a huge comic book person but I know a bit about them to know how bad these films always end up being. I suppose it’s similar to the problem that the Harry potter movie series faces.

Now talking about Iron Man 2. The story revolves around Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.), the rich multi millionaire play boy super hero who has privatized world peace. How the government is trying to get their hands on the technology/weapon that is Iron Man while trying to replicate it with the help of Hammer industries run by Justin Hammer (played by Sam Rockwell). This time we also had a side kick in the form of Lt. Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes (played this time by Don Cheadle) who was the other Iron Man (?). Then we have Ivan Vanko (played by Mickey Rourke) who manages beat Iron Man up in their first clash with his garage built whip thing called whiplash (according to IMDB) and then gets hired by Hammer industries and creates a droid army and a new suit for himself. Wish they’d given him more of a role apart from talking Russian and sarcastic smiles/giggle.

The ladies in the film were Pepper Potts (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) and Natalie Rushman / Natasha Romanoff (played by Scarlett Johansson). Pepper Potts is Tony Starks secretary/love interest/better half etc … whatever you want to call it. Gwyneth Paltrow sleep walked through her tiny role which wasn't a bad thing while Scarlett Johansson was the eye candy (?) of the film to make the hyper guys happy. Tight clothes, skin show, kicking ass (literally) kind of summarized her predictable cliché role.

Finally we had the one eyed Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) who tries to knock some sense into Tony Stark who goes off the hook in the middle of the movie. I wonder why Samuel L. Jackson agreed to do such an effortless role. Maybe it has something to do with the movie The Avengers.

Few things that annoyed me…
- If Ivan manages to beat up Iron Man so easily in his poorly funded garage project, I’d assume killing Ivan later on when he’s got a whole new armor (with the backing of Hammer industries) would be quite a work out for Iron man and his sidekick but the final show down between them was short and just too easy.
- Don’t call the creation of a new element an almost impossible procedure and then make Tony Stark create it without any hassles.
- Yes we know what USA thinks about Iran, Pakistan, North Korea etc. You don’t need to keep reminding us that through movies as well.
- Yes Tony Stark is a playboy but do you really need to stuff that fact into our face every single time.
- Justin Hammer was annoying….enough said.
- Villains are important, give them more to say.
- Do you really need a character in the movie for guys to ogle over.

I’m sure there were more points but I just can’t break my head over it. Honestly, Robert Downey Jr. did a good job playing TonyStark/Iron Man but the movie was just too boring, lame, predictable, cliché etc that his decent act couldn't save it for me. Overall I’m glad I just paid AED15 for the movie…it wasn’t worth anything more than that.