Ramadan 2009 @ The Big Picture

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/08/ramadan_2009.html


Phenomenal pictures, as always. You know, I've really never understood the desire to travel the world (no, seriously), but it's really starting to hit me lately. One day, inshaAllah?

McCain/Obama Roast(s)

All sorts of amusings.

YouTube - John McCain Brings Down The House - Al Smith Dinner Part 1

YouTube - John McCain Brings Down The House - Al Smith Dinner Part 2

YouTube - Barack Obama at the Al Smith Memorial Dinner Part 1

YouTube - Sen. Barack Obama - 2008 Al Smith Dinner - Part 2

Islam and the Cultural Imperative by Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah (Part 1)

I <3 Nawawi Foundation.

I recommend reading the full article, particularly if you're interested in the topic specifically or the growth of Islam in America in general.

Highlights (Part 1):

In history, Islam showed itself to be culturally friendly and, in that regard, has been likened to a crystal clear river. Its waters (Islam) are pure, sweet, and life-giving but—having no color of their own—reflect the bedrock (indigenous culture) over which they flow. In China, Islam looked Chinese; in Mali, it looked African. Sustained cultural relevance to distinct peoples, diverse places, and different times underlay Islam’s long success as a global civilization.

Today, the Muslim world retains priceless relics of its former cultural splendor, but, in the confusion of our times, the wisdom of the past is not always understood and many of its established norms and older cultural patterns no longer appear relevant to Muslims or seem to offer solutions. Where the peacock’s tail has not long since folded, it retains little of its former dazzle and fullness; where the cultural river has not dried up altogether, its waters seldom run clear.

A working democracy, for example, is as much the fruit of particular cultural values and civic habits as it is the outgrowth of constitutions or administrative bodies. In our mosques, schools, and homes, many day-to-day aggravations are patent examples of cultural discord and confusion. Often, they have little to do with Islam per se but everything to do with the clash of old world attitudes and expectations—often authoritarian and patriarchal—with the very different human complexities, realities, and needs of our society.

People can repent from broken rules but not from broken psyches. The creation of a healthy Muslim American psyche is contingent on the creation of a successful, well-integrated indigenous culture. A well-integrated psyche and unified sense of identity make authentic Islamic religiosity, true spirituality, and moral perfection a normative possibility within the American context.

"The Prophet and his Companions did not look upon human culture in terms of black and white, nor did they drastically divide human societies into spheres of absolute good and absolute evil... the Prophetic message was, from the outset, based on the distinction between what was good, beneficial, and authentically human in other cultures, while seeking to alter only what was clearly detrimental. Prophetic law did not burn and obliterate what was distinctive about other peoples but sought instead to prune, nurture, and nourish, creating a positive Islamic synthesis."

the principle of tolerating and accommodating such [pre-Islamic cultural norms] — among Arabs and non-Arabs alike in all their diversity—may be termed a supreme, overriding Prophetic sunna. In this vein, the noted early jurist, Abu Yusuf understood the recognition of good, local cultural norms as falling under the rubric of the sunna.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

How Ruben (Abu Bakr) Became A Muslim

:) :)







Part 1
Part 2

Randy Pausch Gives Exuberant "Last Lecture"

Randy Pausch:

Almost all of us have childhood dreams: for example, being an astronaut, or making movies or video games for a living. Sadly, most people don't achieve theirs, and I think that's a shame. I had several specific childhood dreams, and I've actually achieved most of them. More importantly, I have found ways, in particular the creation (with Don Marinelli), of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center (etc.cmu.edu), of helping many young people actually *achieve* their childhood dreams. This talk will discuss how I achieved my childhood dreams (being in zero gravity, designing theme park rides for Disney, and a few others), and will contain realistic advice on how *you* can live your life so that you can make your childhood dreams come true, too.

Fantastic Lecture.

Watch here.

Empire State Building Goes Green for Eid

Source

:)

NEW YORK (AFP) - New York's iconic Empire State Building is to be lit up green from Friday in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid, the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar marking the end of Ramadan, officials said.
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"This is the first time that the Empire State Building will be illuminated for Eid, and the lighting will become an annual event in the same tradition of the yearly lightings for Christmas and Hannukah," according to a statement.

Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month, is expected to be celebrated in New York from Friday, depending on when the new moon is sighted, and the city's tallest skyscraper will remain green until Sunday.

Built in the early 1930s, the 443-meter-tall (1,454-feet-tall) Empire State Building was first lit up with colored lighting in 1976, when red, white and blue lights were used to mark the American Bicentennial.

Jon Stewart Quotables

After seeing how warm and fuzzy inside this list of Jon Stewart/The Daily Show quotables made me feel, I had to go read both sources in their entirety.

Enjoy!

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/8174

I AM SO SMART! I AM SO SMART! S-M-R-T!

i mean S-M-A-R-T!

http://www.coudal.com/thefish.php

NBA Mascot Bloopers 2007

I'd feel bad for these guys, if I wasn't too busy laughing at them.



it's the off season, what do you expect me to post?

Petition for "Arrested Development" Christmas Special

When faced with reviving "Arrested Development" early last year, creator Mitch Hurwitz wasn't optimistic it could be done.

Eddie Wrenn isn't taking "wasn't optimistic it could be done" for an answer.

Wrenn, a reporter in Northamptonshire, England, launched www.arrested development2009.com last month, an online petition aimed at Hurwitz, producer Ron Howard and the rest of the show's execs to bring the Bluth family back for a Christmas special.

"I just want the idea in everyone's heads now, just so when it comes to early 2009, and everyone's planning their work-diaries, perhaps Mitch Hurwitz will call the other producers and the cast and say, 'Are we gonna do this?' "

Source
Sign Here

Gilbert Arenas on Shark Attacks

made me lol. a lot.

There Are No Such Thing as Shark Attacks
I know this is random, but I just want to clear this up for people out there.

There are these things called shark attacks, but there is no such thing as a shark attack. I have never seen a real shark attack.

I know you’re making a weird face as you’re reading this. OK people, a shark attack is not what we see on TV and what people portray it as.

We’re humans. We live on land.

Sharks live in water.

So if you’re swimming in the water and a shark bites you, that’s called trespassing. That is called trespassing. That is not a shark attack.

A shark attack is if you’re chilling at home, sitting on your couch, and a shark comes in and bites you; now that’s a shark attack. Now, if you’re chilling in the water, that is called invasion of space. So I have never heard of a shark attack.

When I see on the news where it’s like, “There have been 10 shark attacks,” I’m like, “Hey, for real?! They’re just running around? Sharks are walking now, huh! We live on the land, we don’t live underwater.”

oh, gil. how i heart thee.

Source

Sheed Tosses His Jersey

Eastern Conference Finals 2007, Game 4

Yes, I realize bronbron was amazing last night in Game (29 of the Cavs' final 30 pts, including the last 25) and that he's oh so close to becoming the all-time leading playoff scoring leader for the Cavaliers (beating out Mark Price who had 818 pts in 47 games; as of Game 5, James has 793 in 28 games), but no. NO. rewind to post game 4, as the Pistons exit the court after their loss.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOA4nITEQTc

I have watched this clip at least 5 times and continue to cringe/laugh at each viewing. I love Inside the NBA. <3

fny21: i've never seen a jersey bouce like htat
Bastard: i've never seen a man wear a nasty jersey with 10 lbs of sweat on it on his head

Bringin' Back Sweet Memories...

and so the allusive blog titles return.

Stop Mike Lupica assembled the few, the shamed, the... very, very few Knicks fans/bloggers to reminisce of better days in Knicks history. You can read sequentially, as they pass the mic from one blogger to the next, or click each below.

On Silly Memories of the Knicks at Stop Mike Lupica

Memories Live at Posting and Toasting

Dusting Off Those Glorious Knicks Memories at The Serious Tip


MEMORIES Like The Corners Of My Mind at Son of Dippin

More people are expected to weigh in, but hey, I'm leaving the country next week and probably won't get a chance to stay on top of such things. Forget your Knicks/Isiah/Dolan boycotts for a moment and remember better days. Unless you're not a Knicks fan. Then shove your collective faces.

Caron Butler Surprises Surprise Party

this made me smile all huge :)

A Caron Butler Surprise

Anthony Fadel had met Caron Butler once before. The Centreville High sophomore had a friend whose cousin lives two doors down from the Butlers, and they stopped by once and rang the doorbell. Caron's wife came to the door.

"We didn't know what to say," Anthony told me. "We were just like, 'Is Caron there?' She was like, 'One second'."

Then Caron came out to chat. So understandably, Anthony has been partial to Butler, and he told his mom how cool it would be to have Caron over one day to hang out and play some basketball. So when his mom was planning Anthony's surprise 16th birthday party, she had her 13-year-old daughter Kristen drop off an invitation at the Butler home.

"I wasn't going to go myself; the little girl can always get away with it," Anthony's mom, Marie, told me with a laugh.

The invite said the Fadels would hold the surprise party any day in the month of May, if Caron were willing to come, even if just for five minutes. They never heard back from him. A week later they went back with another invite, and he came to the door and said maybe. They never heard back from him.

So the party planning went on. On the day of the surprise, May 12, Anthony's dad took him out to the driving range. About a dozen friends came over and waited in the basement.

"And then I see a black Range Rover coming up my driveway," Marie told me. "I looked out and I said 'Oh my God, Caron Butler is here."

She went into the basement and told Anthony's friends who had arrived. They thought it was some sort of code word or nickname for Anthony.

"I said 'No no, Caron Butler, from the Wizards, the real one'," Marie told me.

So Caron came inside, and asked what she needed him to do.

"I said 'It's a surprise party, everyone's in the basement'," Marie recalled, and so Caron Butler went down into the basement to watch the NBA playoffs with a bunch of high school sophomores who were waiting to surprise their buddy. About 10 minutes later, Anthony arrived home, with his dad.

"We just went downstairs, opened the door to the basement, and Caron Butler's just over there chilling with my friends," Anthony told me. "I couldn't say anything. I was just shocked."

So the birthday party carried on. They all sat in the basement and watched the second half of Cavs-Nets, Game 3. The Fadels offered Caron food; Anthony told me he only accepted a Pepsi. He posed for pictures, and gave Anthony a signed pair of sneakers and a signed poster that he had brought. Then, as he was leaving, he took out his cell phone, made a call and handed the phone to Anthony.

"I just kind of grabbed it and it was Gilbert Arenas on the phone," Anthony told me. "I was just, like, shocked. So I talked to Gilbert for a little bit. He said happy birthday to me. I asked him about his leg."

Then Caron left, in the Range Rover. Then the 15 boys played five-on-five basketball, according to plans.

"We were like, 'We just hung out with an NBA all-star player'," said Youssif Aziz, who was at the party. "It just made the night right there."

"It was awesome," Anthony summarized.

WRC found out about the party through Lindsay Czarniak's hairdresser's son; they ran a piece a few weeks ago, which I never saw at the time, but which you can watch here. I found out about the event via a friend of Anthony's, who reads my blog and e-mailed me the info. To their eternal credit, the Wizards made a concerted decision not to seek out birthday party coverage, figuring that would have made the gesture seem less genuine somehow.

Anyhow, I talked to Caron today. He said the invite had been hanging on his refrigerator, and that he didn't have anything going on that particular Saturday, and that it just seemed like a good idea. He said everyone in the community has been "real courteous and very kind" to him, and that local fans have supported him since he's been here, and that he just thought he should reciprocate.

"I thought it was a good thing to do, to make someone's dream come true," he told me. "It was just as rewarding for me as it was for him."

I asked whether he wasn't worried that every teenager in the D.C. area would immediately send him a birthday party invitation.

"I'm actually moving, so they'll have to find me first," he told me. "As long as I'm not doing anything, I don't have any problem going to anyone's birthday party. I'm not anti-social. It's good being around your fans."