Books vs E-Books

Since the Kindle and the ipad been released, I've been thinking about the direction of books as we move into the future. I love to read, even if I don't invest as much time reading as I'd like. And I'm also into tech stuff, so naturally I fell inlove with the Kindle. One would assume that I would be reading all my books on Kindle but I'm not.

Sure the kindle offers an easy way of purchasing books and getting them to you into a matter of seconds. However, there's something precious about holding and reading the actual book in your hand. Physical books to me are an experience. There's the front and back cover art with the teaser summary, the size and weight of the book, the varying thickness of the paper (depending on the publisher I guess). Books have different smells, depending on the paper and its age. New books have that new book smell (sort of like a car has a new smell) and the same with old books, it's all about the experience.

I'm a collector. I enjoy having my books lined up in my book shelf, looking at all the multi-colored spines all organized by author. There's just something about being surrounded by books that is so comforting to me. I love going to bookstores and libraries partly for this reason.

You're probably thinking wow what a nerd but hey everyones a collector of something and this is just one of the things I'm passionate about.. Love books =)

Enough Said

R is for Rainbow Brite!! *_*

The girl with the rainbow belt and white talking horse! *_*

دبلج هذا العمل بالعربية وكان يسمى "الحصان السريع" وأعتقد أنهم قاموا بدبلجت بضعة حلقات فقط

من أجمل الأعمال التي شاهدتها وقمت بشراء العمل كامل من

Amazon :-)

First Spark! MJ

It all started with this record right here.. I was in 7th grade when my older bro made me listen to it and I was hooked up on "Billie Jean".

I still remember it was on side B of the cassette!

Woahhh! Seems like a life time ago.

Remeber Nsync: Who did u like?

Like every other thing that we grow up loving.. Nsync ofcourse had a huge part of pop culture in the 90s just like all the other popular acts during that time.

Looking back I had a huge crush on none other than the blonde curly kid.. Yup Justin Timberlake was my choice lol. I remember when their first album came out, I thought it was so awesome and I won't even lie I still listen to it from time to time. :p

Kill the zombies.. Survive the evil!

I guess many of you have guessed by now that being a geek I have to have a thing for video games and this game right here is MY PASSION.

I fell inlove with it ever since it came out in playstation way back in the day. This game has the best story line, characters and most of all Monsters! (They really get creative with their villains)

And what I've enjoyed the most is the character development that you go through from game 1 up to now so it gives you a feeling like you know these characters as you watch them grow from one game addition to another.

Up til now there are about 16 titles avaliable in many platforms for everyone to enjoy.

If you're into video games you'd really wanna try this! :D

How ironic is it..?

The sinking of the Titanic is known to be one of the most tragic events in history. Yet, it's depicted beautifully in such a amazing looking painting?

I am inlove with how the lighting is handled here, inside the ship and the reflection on the water. The angle of this scene allows us "the person looking in" to feel as if we're part of what's going on.

A M A Z I N G ! *_*

For the past week..

I honestly think the network hates me!! -_-"

This better be solved soon *fingers crossed*

Funny Find

So as I was looking through the bookstore when I was away. I found a dedicated section to the Twilight saga and interestingly enough found this book LOL!!
Sent from my BlackBerry ®

Arabic section.. really?!!

As I was stroling through Virgin the other day at Villagio, I walked towards the so clamied "Arabic" section in the books area.

I was surprised to see that the "Arabic" section held books under the names of: Daniel Steal, Simone de Bofore and William Fokner. Now correct me if I'm wrong but these names don't sound arabic to me?!!..

I do understand having forgien books translated into Arabic but these were the only books displayed there. I seriously feel sad to see that amazing Arabic writers like: Ehsan Abdelgdoss, Yousif Al Sebai and Najeeb Mahfoz not avaliable at the market and at such popular places as Virgin.

I felt like I needed to address this promblem that is occuring not only at Virgin stores but at many places in Doha.

وإسلاماه

من أجمل أعمال السينما المصرية في عصرها الذهبي ومن أحب الأفلام التاريخية لدي.. فيلم وإسلاماه.ح

وتدور أحداث القصة بين عامي ٦٣٣-٦٥٨ ميلادية في أفغانستان، وتبدأ مع هروب سلامه من هجوم التاتار علي مملكة السلطان جلال، وقد أخذ سلامه معه ابنة السلطان "جهاد" وابن أخته "محمود" وقرر بيعهم مع العبيد حتي لا يتم الإمساك بهم وهكذا تبدأ المغامرة وتنشأ قصة حب بين جهاد التي تقوم بدورها الفنانة لبنى عبدالعزيز ومحمود الذي يقوم بدورة الفنان القدير أحمد مظهر الذي قام ببطولة العديد من الأفلام المعروفة والناجحة.م

وما أعجبني في هذا الفليم هو الجو العام من أماكن التصوير إلى الديكور والملابس، فيقدم هذه الفليم جزء للجميع من قصة حب وأجواء إسلامية وتاريخية حتى جزء من الأكشن بمشاهد المبارزات والتفنن بركوب الخيل!ي

إنه لمن الأسف أن أعمال مثل هذه لم يشاهدها الأغلبية لأنني متأكدة أنه سينال إعجاب الكثيرين لتوافر كل مقومات العمل الناجح فيه.م

Nouriko?!! :/

How did that come about?! Some wondered where did that nickname come from?!!

Well typically the nicknames for the name "Noor" are (Nawari.. Noorz.. Nawar.. etc) so "Nouriko" was something different than the usual. (a reason that made me like it eventually)

It all started with a cartoon I used to watch with my bro called "Al Batal" (The Champion) it was about a kid from tokyo who was striving to become a professional boxer. One of the characters in this cartoon was called Nouriko and from that moment on my bro kept calling me that.

I found it to be so annoying at the beginning cause I didn't like the character that much! but with time, PLENTY of it, I got used to the name and ended up liking it! ^_^

Good Job bro! :p

Whooo are youuu?!

A very easy question yet not so easy to answer, at least I would think so.

We all are familiar with Alice in wonderland which is such an amazing story (one of the all time classics and one of my all time personal faves). The story goes like this: in Chapter 5 of the book, Alice comes across a Caterpillar that is resting on top of a giant mushroom smoking a hookah pipe. The two stare at each other in silence before the Caterpillar asks Alice, “Who are you?”

Alice in the other hand, finds it difficult to answer the Caterpillar's question. She is surprised that she's finding trouble with it. Think about it, who knows you more than you know yourself? yet can you seem to answer the above question easily?

Back to the book, Alice struggles with the importance and instability of personal identity. It is obvious that she is constantly ordered to identify herself by the characters she meets, but she herself has doubts about her own identity as well. I guess the positive thing about this is in one way or another we do know who we really are but because in time and in life we grow, change and experience things that affects and adds to who we are and ultimately to who we become.

Food for thought..

Many Faces

" Though dreams can be deceiving, like faces are to hearts, they serve for sweet relieving, when fantasy and reality lie too far apart."

How often did you hear the expression "Don't judge a book by it's cover" ?
I guess every person takes a journey through life thinking that people are exactly like the way they look or the way they act. However, that doesn't seem the case. Many would agree that life or should I say time teaches you to weigh in carefully who is being honest and who is not.

The Queen of France

For many of the people who know me personally, they know that I am obsessed with everything that has to do with the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette (otherwise known as the last queen of France).

Where did that obsession come from you wonder? Well first of all the story of Queen Marie Antoinette is with no doubt one of the most tragic stories in history.

In my situation, It all started with a anime I watched when I was younger. Lady Oscar is what it's called in Arabic but in many other languages it's known as The Rose Of Versailles. The story of the anime takes place in France during the 1700s when Louis the 13th, the king of france marries off his grandson Louis the 16th to Maria Theresa's daughter Maria Antoinia (an austrian princess) who later became known as Marie Antoinette.

Growing up, I got more and more interested in reading about that time in France that was going through an era that changed the course of history where the people formed a union against the ruling of the King and Queen. The story to me is more like a soap opera and it is evident in the number of novels/fiction/movies written about Marie Antoinette and the era of the French Revolution.

However, to me the sad thing is the ideas and "misconceptions" most people have about the queen, with the famous quote "Let them eat cake" that she didn't say according to Author Antonia Fraser who wrote Marie Antoinette: The Journey that Sofia Coppola adopted into a movie in 2006.

Pls keep in mind that A) the queen was 14 years old when she got married. B) France and Austria were enemies 7 years prior to her marriage to Louis. C) She was handed over to a court that is known for being emotionless and overly strict. D) Being young, she trusted people around her and they took advantage of that. E) She was accused of not wanting to have children when her husband Louis had a condition that didn't allow him to preform his part, besides being awkward and not know how to deal with his wife.

Finally I just end with a quote by the queen herself. “Courage! I have shown it for years; think you I shall lose it at the moment when my sufferings are to end?”