Yacoubian Building (film review)_______________ فيلم عمارة يعقوبيان

Today I saw a nice movie called ”Yacoubian Building“ which was shown lately in the Berlin Film Festival and in other international festivals abroad.
Wahid Hamed tried to be as faithful as possible to the bestselling novel by Dr.Alaa El Aswany ...but the real challenge was the way the young and talented director Marwan Hamed decided to present the characters.He used clever tricks to jump from one story to another, yet giving each storyline all their aspects and details without losing control.

All the big stars (Adel Emam,Hend Sabry, Nour El Sherif , Esaad Yunus , Somaya El Khashab and the others) have done a great job , but the real star was the son of Adel Emam.His character was developing during the whole story and his acting was improving scene after scene.He reached the peak when he was crying and screaming in the prison after being savagely tortured.
Khaled Al Sawy tried to do what he can to present the homosexual character in the movie (as many actors refused to do the role), but his overreactions in many scenes made the character fragile and somehow funny (which was not the case in the novel). The costume design and light was superb, giving the film a touch of beauty and glamour.
The Cinematography was almost perfect.
The only things that I did not like was the score by Khaled Hammad… it did not add anything to the atmosphere but rather masked the dialogue between the actors...and that the movie was too long ( I think more than 160 minutes).
Marawan Hamed has elegantly put many symbols and hints in this picture…but will the ordinary Egyptian viewers understand them…I hope so...because it will open their eyes and minds to issues they did not know (and others do not want them to know ).


It is the most expensive film ever made in Egypt, it is the film that has broken box office records after release and it is the film that may compete with other international films in the upcoming Oscar nominations 2007 for best foreign films.

Did you enjoy reading the novel…(not) really.
Did you enjoy watching the film…yes I did.
Is our life a melodrama as shown in the film...no doubt.
Is this film only for adults...yes it is.

If you want to see the secret of Egypt… go and see “ Yacoubian Building”.

كيف نبوس الواوا

من الضرورى فى هذا الوقت الصعب أن نجعل تومنوميه تمانيه و سبعين حلال ، و أنا شخصيا لا اجد أى مبرر لتحريمه ، فهل تومنوميه تمانيه و سبعين من الفعل حرام شرعا ؟ يجب أن ننظر إلى تومنوميه تمانيه و سبعين على إنه نابع من العمق الإنسانى ، جوهره ابداعيه لغريزه اساسيه و هى الغضب أو الإندهاش ، بل إن تومنوميه تمانيه و سبعين جزء عفوى فى كافه المواقف اليوميه ، فكل إنسان بحاجه إليه ، على سبيل المثال لو وقع على يد الإنسان ماء شديد السخونه ، أو لو حدث انسداد للقناه الهوائيه بشوكه سمكه ، أو عند الخروج مسرعا من باب الشقه إلى العالم المثلج ، أو عند دخول جول فى مرمى فريقه ، أو عند الخروج من الإمتحان ، أوعند فقدان شىء ، أو عند الدخول بعد الفرح ، و كونه اسلوب حضارى راقى للتواصل مع الآخر لا يمنع أن يكون تومنوميه تمانيه و سبعين الهدف الرئيسى لكل الشائعات منذ اكتشافه و خاصه فى مصر ، حان الوقت الآن لمصالحه مع النفس و المجتمع ، فهل كان سيختلف الامر إذ كان تومنوميه تمانيه و سبعين تمانيه سبعه تمانيه أو تمانيه تمانيه و سبعين؟

Human for Humanity

We just watch that on television: Tsunami, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, epidemics, children in Africa, starvation, civil wars… Why don’t / can’t we help strangers?
Our concept: we already have problems; we first solve our huge problems, and then look what we can do for others.
Let us see what the others do outside the Arab world.
Many have problems themselves, but they try to solve others’ problems as well.
Many do not have a religion, but they have humanity.
Many do not have heaven as a reward in their minds, but they feel they have the duty to help the human kind.
They do look forward to have a better future; we do look behind to remember an unchangeable history.
They do, we talk.

"am sorry...no chance here"

سهل نغير حكام
صعب نغير شعوب

سهل نغير قوانين
صعب نغير عادات

سهل نغير سياسات
صعب نغير عقول

على إيه؟
ده الزمن واحد
و العمر واحد
و الرب واحد

Only for tourists ( بليز المصريين يمتنعون )

نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر بس نورت مصر بس كفايه نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر شششش نورت مصر الشريط علق نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر

Dear tourist

Egypt is considered the most beautiful place on planet earth.
Here you have the opportunity to spend the best time of your entire life.
In Cairo you can visit the pyramids, the Egyptian museum, the Cairo Tower, Mohammed Ali mosque, the Coptic museum, the Islamic museum; you can ride a horse or a camel in the desert, enjoy the view of the river Nile in a felucca and then spend a good time shopping in Khan El Khalili Bazaar.
Alexandria is the bride of the Mediterranean sea, you can visit the huge Montaza palace,the castle ,the Roman museum, then go to the oases of Siwa, see the miraculous sea of Marsa Matruh, dive in Hurghada, surf in Sharm El Sheikh,then go to Sinai and climb the Moses mountain to see the magnificent sunrise , visit St. Katherine, make a safari camp in Dahab and Noweiba , then take a Nile cruise down to Luxor and Aswan to see the ancient Egyptian civilization.There are thousands of other fantastic places in Egypt, but we will need millions of books to mention them all.



Everywhere you go you will find night clubs, discos, bars and pubs.
Egypt is the safest place in the universe; you can go safely on the street all the day long, shops are 24/7 open, even at 2 am you will find children with their parents enjoying their day.
The weather is more than perfect, not hot and not cold.
Everything in Egypt is cheap, that means you have to come with an extra bag because you will buy lots of things for sure.
Baksheesh is the greatest thing you will going to experience in Egypt,just enjoy it and be high.
The traffic is the best in history, you just have to make yourself visible ( you do not even have to raise your hand or make any movement ) and you will find a line of taxis waiting to serve you wherever and whenever you want to go.
Egyptians are so sweet and kind; the most friendly creatures in the world, every hour they will give you plenty of food, invite you in their houses, talk with you day and night, to make it short, their goal is to make you relaxed and euphoric happy, so if you need anything, and when we say anything we really mean anything, just ask an Egyptian and he will do it for you, but do not forget the magic word Baksheesh.
The Egyptian food is the best food ever made, you will never ever taste something delicious like that : Foul and Tameya,Mahshy Betegan,Mahshy Wara’ Enab,Mahshy Kosa,Mahshy Uta,Mahshy Koromb, Brain and Tongue sandwich, Kofta,Mesa’aha, Molokheya with rabbits, Batarekh, Koshary, Konafa, Atayef, Basbusa, Tawagen , Baba Ghanug and Tehina,Balady bread with nails,Shawerma, Fetira with sugar and other stuff of course.
Shisha and oriental dance are a must.
After finishing your trip you will wish to stay the rest of your life in Egypt and have the Egyptian citizenship, don’t worry, you will take it immediately with a lifelong guarantee.

We are eager to see you soon


نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر ييييه تانى نورت مصر نورت مصر مورت مصر نورت مصر بس اخرسوا نورت مصر نورت مصر مافيش فايده فيكو نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر نورت مصر-------- هيييييه النور اتقطع--------------- ضلمت مصر ضلمت مصر ضلمت مصر ضلمت مصرلأ حرام مش ممكن ضلمت مصر ضلمت مصر ضلمت مصر

What's left of me

I heard this song today and it just blew me away…although it is talking about loss and emptiness but I do not know why I can feel so much passion, love and sweetness in it.
The piano in the beginning of the song is like someone hugging me from behind, then touching my face gently and whispering in my ear with words I do not wish to hear.
That’s exactly what happened to Nick…and the voice of his yelling at the end of the song with strings is so beautiful and begging-like that you wish to scream with him.
Actually I am not a pop music fan, but this song is a sample of how you can really show and express your inner thoughts and feelings to the public as a cure of depression- especially after someone has hurt you-as Jessica Simpson did when she broke up with Nick Lachey.

878 Nike

Today I had a big problem because of taking random pictures. I knew from the beginning that this is not an easy thing to do here, especially in the nowadays events in Egypt.
I can just blog without including pictures of what I see and experience, it will not make that difference and it will be easier for me, photography was never my hobby.
Anyway, tourists do take pictures freely everyday, and when we see these pictures we will find smiling happy Egyptian faces enjoying being captured by a foreign camera. We do accept tourists taking pictures of us, but we do not accept it from our fellow citizens.
I also know that anyone can take the pictures in this blog and put it in another site or blog, and he could even change things in it.
We all know that these pictures could be used badly by anyone who has an access to the internet: am I responsible for that?
Anything can have its disadvantages, but till now I think I am not that bad guy. People will say that I am kind of a tool for using pictures in an inappropriate way. We can find many excuses.
The red sign w s does not have a meaning anymore.

I will not assume that a picture can say hundreds of words, but I can say that if we just look, meditate and analyze the condition we are living in, we may be able to find the reasons of our unsatisfied condition. Just by identifying small little details of something in an image could give me and you a hint of an upcoming possibility of improvement-the way we behave, the way we dress, the combination of colors in the street, the noise we hear, the beauty of silence we recognize…we may see the sadness in someone’s face, or feel the happiness in the eye of a child.
We see lots of things everyday, but most probably we don’t like to keep it in our memory, even if we think that some pictures show ugly and unpleasant things, we should know that these things are our guide to a better future, the camera is the memory and every picture is a proof of the chronicles of our daily lives.
We live in this country and have got used to it, that’s the problem. We can not tolerate changes.

Let us take this picture as an example:
I think all of us will say that we do not enjoy looking at it: but some people do enjoy it in a weird way, because they got used to live with it. I saw it beside the door of my university, and I had to see it for 3 days, and on the 4th day I was happy because it was no longer there. Well, this is just a symbol and everyone sees it everyday when he goes to the bathroom…till constipation comes.

الستات

استنه ياسطه
يا لاهوى
اوعى يا وليه كده
ما توعى انتى ياختى

ده رايح بولاق ده؟
آآآخ يا نى يا غولبى
فين الرشاقه يا ستى
رشاقه ايه يا ختى

بتبلبعى علب سمنه
معلش يا ماما خدى راحتيك فى الطلوع
ربنا يكرميك يا بنتى

يييه... كل سنه ابقى فى نفس الموال ده تانى
الناس بتخلص فى امتحاناتها و انا لسه بقول يا هادى
كفايه ان بقى فى نظريه التمدد فى موسم امتحاناتى... امتحاناتى انا بس... انتم قصدينى و الا ايه؟
مش ناقص المواصلات العامه بقه دالوقتى
ايوه بجد مش ناقص
اففف و الستات البلدى بقه لما يبتدوا يولولوا
حاجه بيئه
و انا تهقان من الامتحان اللى عملت فيه زفت مش ناقصكم
بس.... شششش... اخرسوا
ياريت كل ست فيكم تخرس و تحط لسانها فى بقها و تتكتم
لحسن اهب فيكم تانى زى ما عملت النهارده
و على فكره ... خلاص بقيت بايع القضيه
و مش واخد من الدنيا حاجه
يعنى ما فيش حاجه تهمنى خلاص
نفسيتى وحشه... ايوه نفسيتى خره فى تلاته و ستين نيله

SOS:no one is responsible here plus don't think you are our children

wat up

stuck in deba-no ships

y

don't know

wat u goin do

should have told me_mamfuh ismaweell#23

yup-ok

wanna go back home-we sleep n street_wife me

street-were

wat-who were

where__ffff*6

deba saudi arabia-no monye_ /d0n't ahv'e,32fvf2t4

wat

fe032x

wat

kidney complete 5 rub sweety

wat

fluyi air back

ok ok-we____d

u responsible

we no responsible

wat-of course u nd all u responsible/wat

who responisble

u U U uuu _ u

ok ok-we will sea

no - no no sea

ok-I C

الجديد BFM تأسيس حزب

حزب برابرنا فى مناخرنا

شعارنا

دور على بربورنا
تلاقيه فى منخورنا

برنامج بربوريتا الحزبى

احترام البربور
عاوزين نبربر على راحتنا
البربره لكل مواطن
لا تفرقه بين بربور و آخر... لا فى اللون و لا فى الشكل و لا فى الرائحه
حريه البربره
حقوق البربور و اللى بيبربره
المشاركه الجماعيه فى البربره
بلاش نبربر على بعضينا

اهداف الحزب
فوور يا بربور
كده علطول

.

ليه نبربر عمال على بطال
مادام بربورنا حياخد التار

.
حتبربرنى حبربرك

.
تعالوا نبتدى عهد بربره جديد
نعبر ببرابرنا إلى مستقبل بعيد

Instance = Strong East

I was innocent and have been captured and put in prison.
They tortured me , they humiliated me , they pumped me... I was no longer a human being.
After they found out that I was not what they thought I am , they let me free.
For god sake , do they think I will return to my ordinary life as a normal good person.
No way... they have made a terrorist... me.

صباح الخير يا مصر

حرام عليكم يا ولاد ال - بيب- المره ال - بيب -
تعاله هنا يله يا ابن - بيب- بيب - ال -بيب
-بيب- كان -بيب- امك -بيب-
شوف كده دخل الحاره ابن ال -بيب- بيب
اهلا بيكى يا حاجه ... ممكن ناخد من وقتك دقيقتين
حاجه مين يابنى ... انا ولا حاجيت و لا ... انت يله... تعاله هنا يا واد
شكلك مشغوله يا ماما
ماما... ماما مين يا روح امك... زى ما انت شايف الشغل واقف اليومين دول
بتشتغلى ايه
انت اتعميت يله... يا واد ما انت شايف اهوه... ببيع مناديل فورا
قصديك فلورا
بقولك ايه ياد... حتعملى شغل الخواجات ولاد ال-بيب-بيب- ال-بيب- تروح تلعب بعيد احسن... مش عاوزين عند -بيب - امك وجع دماغ على الصبح...حاجه لله... حاجه لله
------------------------------------------------------------------
بتحبى مين من الممثلين؟
مبحبش بتوع اليومين الهبل دول... قال اللمبى قال... فين جورج كلونى ... جورج كلونى ده خلاص بقى جوزى
بتحبى تاكلى فين؟
فرايدايز... ابل بييز...كورتيدجيانو... يعنى... مبحبش سيلانترو علشان العيال قاعدين فيه يتمنظروا باللب توب بتعهم... و عيشين دور الواى فاى
بتحبى تسمعى لمين؟
و الله زمان كنت بحب الواد حليم بس الوقتى بسمع امينم و سعات بسمع دى جى تياستو
المحل اللى بتحبى تشترى منه الهدوم دايما؟
اكيد طبعا مانجو... بموت فى مانجو
طب ريحه بتحبيها؟
ريحه ايه يله... اسمه برفان... بحب هيوجو بوص
اوكيه... و بتعملى ايه فى وقت الفراغ؟
ما عنديش وقت فراغ.. يادوبك بخلص بيع المناديل و بعدين بروح على الروتارى طوالى... بقولك ايه... كفايه كده...مش عاوز تشترى منديل

حال هذه السيده مش للفكاهه... ام عاجزه عن المشى بسبب امراض كثيره منها القلب و السكر و تعمل بأربع مناديل ورق... و مفيش حاته اكل تاكله... و ازازه الميه تقريبا خلصانه... ولاد الحلال اللى فى محل الفول اللى جنبها قالولى انهم بيدوها اكل... بس فى ايام كتير بتنام فى الشارع... و بيقولوا اللى نفسيتها مش ولا بد

Happiness

I want to live a happy life.
Most of the time I am not happy because I feel I have to do obligatory things to satisfy my surroundings , family and society...but I am not satisfied with myself.
Should life be like that.
My life is so complicated that in many points I can not satisfy both...the others and myself.
For me happiness is that god is satisfied with me.
The only way I can live a happy and satisfied life, is when I start doing things that make me happy and satisfied.(?)-(!)
Living a great life does not just happen.
It requires planning and following those plans to a life that reflects who I truly am.
Is it selfishness to make myself one of my first priorities?
I know that without a happy and satisfied me , there will be no happy and satisfied life. I might be consciously ignoring my needs and desires, but my subconscious mind has not forgotten about myself and will constantly remind me through failure, anger and sadness.
No one is going to work on my happiness for me.
I think I have to do unusual things to reach my aim...but people will not understand...I am sorry...I had no choice...my life after death is more important than my life now.

Shiloh Nouvel Brad Pitt

handsome man

pretty woman

perfect couple

beautiful baby

لو عاوز تعرف مصريتك

اول مره شوفتها كانت فى اول حلقه ليها و كانت بتقدم نفسها بكلام غريب و صدمه لينا و بصراحه أنا استغربت لطريقه كلامها الجديده و قولت مانشوف الست دى بتعمل ايه... معرفش ليه حسيت اللى انا شوفتها قبل كده... اكنها واحده من عيلتى... دخلت قلبى من أول طله ... و كفايه انها شبه سعاد حسنى و بتلبس كل يوم لبس شيك خالص... و بتتكلم بلغه كوكتيل من اللغه العربيه الفصحه و اللغه العاميه... المهم إن أنا كنت ادام حاله جديده من الاعلام ... و يوم بعد يوم استمتعت بحلقات برنامج عن احوال مصر بجد... اخبار مصر الحقيقيه مش المزيفه و لا المتفبركه ... برنامج مابيخفش... و جراءه مذيعه ماتعودتش عليها من قبل... حتى الضيوف بقوا بينفسوا عن اللى جواهم فى البرنامج و بيقولوا اللى هما عمرهم ما قالوه فى حياتهم...بس بصراحه احلى حاجه بحبها فيكى يا منى هوه و انتى بتبتسمى و عينيكى بتغمض... ضحكه احلى من ضحكه الموناليزا... انا خايف عليكى بس من الارهاق... و الحسد طبعا... بالنسبه لى انتى احسن مذيعه فى مصر

منى الشاذلى

.

.

.

اما انت... فأه منك أه... شقى...شقى موت... بس لذيذ...انت عارف إن انت عندك كاريزمه غريبه عمرى ما شوفتها فى حد قبل كده... المهم اللى انت حاله خاصه جدا... عارف ليه... علشان انت صادق مع نفسك قبل ما تكون صادق مع المشاهدين.. بتقول اللى فى قلبك... و صريح... و بتتكلم بطريقه طبيعيه زى المصرييين ما بيتكلموا مع بعض... مش زى المذيعين بتوع اليومين دول اللى فاكرين اللى همه فى فيلم ملودرامى... و بتطلع الكلام من الضيوف زى الشعره من العجين... انت فنان بصحيح... و احلى بوكيه ورد شوفته و انت يا محمود قاعد بتتكلم مع منى ... ياااه... الاساتذه بيتكلموا مع بعض... برافو محمود و جو اون... علشان انت بالنسبه لى احسن مذيع فى مصر

محمود سعد

06.06.06

Today I decided to watch Kubrick's 1971 masterpiece " A Clockwork Orange " to see my 17 years old friend Alex whose pleasure in life is ultraviolence : doing horrible things to people ( beat , rape , kill ). Some people say the book and the script were written by the devil himself.
Hee...hee...well...now I know why it has never been shown on television all these years , was withdrawn on its release from UK theatres and was rated X on its original release in the US. .
It is sooo shocking and tooo real ( it does contain some strong images that were too hard for my stomach)...but it is really a beautiful piece of art.
I had to ask myself : What is the definition of goodness?
Do we lose our humanity if we are deprived of the choice between good and evil?
Do I have to be sometimes bad to be good?

Sugarcane is for drinking

These are Egyptians crossing the street in Ramsis…B U T...they have to walk in a straight line…like ants ( not sheep as usual ) ... when the gate is closed ... Egyptians have to stay and wait…and wait…and wait…till they open the gate…to cross to the other side…and be free...but late...the gate is closed ... and ants will then be squeezed by cars...with no mercy

Look at this side of the coin

Sven tried several times to make many Egyptians understand that there is a difference between the American authority/government and the American citizens, and that America is not the devil, but Egyptians say that those people were dumb and have chosen their president so they are responsible for what is going on all around the world in the name of “war against terrorism”, so I found this nice “sorry-everybody” book where a lot of Americans apologize for not being able to change USA to make it and the rest of the world a better place…

… at least they have chosen someone