I think this is a classic story that a lot of us are familiar with and I was happy that Tim Burton took the project and turned it into a film. From all the previews and Johnny Depps presence I knew that I wanted to see this movie. The funny part is we all know the story from our childhood and what is the story with the caterpillar with so many hookahs, they said the director was on LSDs at the time. Then there are all these kids in the theater see it for the first time, it was a mix of a crowd. The story is in bland England with a odd Alice seeing things when others dont, then she falls into the hole and it takes a different twist. The whole adventure is a lot of fun, so many funny characters, the Red Queen was hilarious, and I loved Chester the cat, always smiling and disappearing and reappearing when needed. The story line is fantastic, just to be expected from Tim Burton, but I wanted more of Johnny Depp, and Alice fit the bill perfectly. The fun never stops, there is always something going on and you know what is supposed to happen at the end but not how its supposed to happen and things just keep popping up, it was a really fun movie and I loved the Mad Hatter, he was really mad.

Link: IMDB
Rating:

I have had this thought of cutting back on Soda for a while now and shrinking my portions a bit. I realized that I now drink coke on a consistent basis, just telling myself that I just feel like it right now. First step of getting healthier was cutting back on all forms of soda, so when I stopped soda completely I got a headache for a few days, its the sugar levels adjusting, it was annoying but now after 10 days I dropped about 1 kilo without doing anything but stopping soda. So now the other steps is cutting back on portions which I have partially started but I really need to get into it. I have gone for a few kilo walks the few weeks but not consistently enough. Its a start and I feel good about it, but I need to keep it up, I’m not having dinner this week except for fruits, its good that I love tangerines and lots of them. Hopefully I will manage to get into a healthy system, those starving diets work to drop weight but never to keep it off for me so I’m trying to figure out what fits at this moment. And the gym will come in soon, its in the works but I need to get over a few hurdles first.

I’m not a fan of consumer laptops from Dell or HP, but I do like their business lines. They are heavy duty laptops which can take a beating while performing flawlessly. Now they have came out with the Latitude 13, which is part of the business line but had some of the design cues from the Dell Adamo which looked good but wasn’t successful. In this case this machine is thin and perfect size but packs a punch.

Specs:

• Intel Core 2 Duo 1.3 GHz
• Windows 7 Pro 32 Bit or XP Professional Downgrade
• 13.3″ Widescreen HD LCD with anti-glare (1366×768)
• Camera 1.3MP
• 4GB DDR3 1066
• SSD or HD
• External Optical Drive
• Intel WiFi Link 5100 a/g/n
• Blue Tooth

Link: Dell

I have been using this Sync tool for over two years now, Sync Toy is a tool developed by Microsoft just for fun. Its not really supported by them but they have made decent improvements with it. Been using it since version 1.4, to 2.0, and now 2.1 which is a huge leap forward in comparison. A lot of features have been added and bugs have been fixed. The best tool I have found to sync drives or folders with lots of files and subfolders inside of it with little issue and lots of customization is Sync Toy. I needed it to Sync the different folders between the WHS Hazmat Server and the WHS Hazard Server. One will balance the other in file storage which won’t require any need for file duplication. It now supports 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems, works locally on a machine and across networks.

The first folder I needed to Sync was my Anime folder which is 2.49 TeraBytes of media, this is to be done across the network. Testing the file transfer it would transfer between 78 MB/s to 86 MB/s between both the machines so I start the transfer earlier in the evening for it end the next afternoon. Overall its the perfect free tool from Microsoft for all Syncing purposes, two-way sync, or one-way sync and lots of other combinations available.

Link: Microsoft Download

I tried Pinkberry a few months ago and I remembered that it was good and I haven’t gone back there since. This past weekend we went for breakfast and after that we passed by Pinkberry for desert, I was pleasently surprised. It was damn good and I was really hungry for something sweet. They have two flavors that I tried, Pomegranate and Original, I went for the combination of both and it tasted damn good. They have some fruit and candy toppings but I just wanted it plain, didn’t feel like any toppings. People had some odd combinations but they seemed to like it. Later in the day we took the kids to the new Fantasy World in Avenues which was fun, and I thought to take them to Pinkberry for a little desert before heading home. When we went down stairs the line was at least 20 meters long so we decided to go else where. The food and quality is fantastic, the only problem they have is the system and how slow they are, they don’t seem systematic and really need to make these combinations faster even if people want to try. But it seems that people like them so much they are willing to wait and stand in this long lines.

I’m usually not the type of person to generalize but its hard not to feel there something very wrong when my car always gets hit by a woman, specifically muhajabah (Those who wear scarfs on their head), or they try to kill me while I’m on the motorcycle. I honestly don’t think any female has an intent to kill any person while on the road, and oddly enough its always a muhajabah who takes me out or hits me. This time it was the most annoying accident I have ever had, I’m happy it wasn’t a bad one but I was pissed as hell when my car was hit.

I’m in the left lane by the main Mishref Co-op and the right lane isn’t moving because a car is waiting for another car to exit. I’m moving about 5 kph per hour, snails pace and stopping when they stop when I hear I thump and painful metal screech. I moved and heard my car screech from the rear, I got out to find that a woman in a gold Jaguar four door hit my right rear passenger door. I pulled forward away from traffic and told her to stop behind me. I was pissed, very pissed, how in the hell could she hit me, I wasn’t moving and neither was her side. Her front left fender was bent and front left light was broken, while my door and rear right wheel well has a nasty dent. I spoke to her and she automatically said that I was moving too fast and she didn’t see me, I answered saying that I wasn’t moving and the car in front of me wasn’t moving and you hit me in the rear so if we go to the police station you would automatically at fault. She then said she is sorry because she was turning left when she was looking right so she won’t hit the car in front of her so instead she hit me, I tried to calm down because I saw she had a child in the car with her. I asked to speak to her husband and I will sort it out with him, I told her the damage is minimal on both cars please pay attention next time, then I spoke to her husband. I told him what happened and to check on his wife but everything is fine except for the damage, I asked him to come to the police station with me to state that I wasn’t at fault and I wouldn’t want anything from them except the police report as my insurance would cover it. I told her to go home and not to worry about anything, I calmed down but I was still really annoyed, its annoying that she wasn’t paying attention and tried to blame me right away but what calmed me down quickly is seeing the child with her and didn’t want to make the kid upset so I told her to go everything will be fine. Went to the police station three days later with the husband and sorted it out, we had to wait an hour for the accident investigator which is a short time from my experience, he was apologizing and asking to fix the car, I thanked him and said this is more then enough, I’m lucky that he was a good man because I know that being nice and letting the lady go I could have been screwed but I wouldn’t do it any other way. Still its very annoying, why don’t women pay attention, that is what freaks me out the most when driving people who don’t pay attention to the rode.

It seems Dubai has turned into the Center of Credit Card thieves and credit card fraud, I got a call from the bank late Thursday night if I made transactions in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and a few online transactions. The amount was 460 KD, I told them I only used my Credit Card once in an ATM in Dubai at a National Bank of Dubai ATM in the Mall. How in the hell could my card have been copied from that terminal, I honestly looked at it and scrutinized it and I still got taken. The bank said it isn’t a problem and they will clear it up, I won’t get charged but they found the transactions to be odd. I use this credit card once in a blue moon, so all these charges seemed odd to them. The first time it happened with my NBK Check Card and that was a huge inconvenience, since they changed my account numbers and all the details, but this time it was my credit card. I try to travel with sufficient cash to Dubai but sometimes I have to use my credit card and I decided to use my credit card instead of my check card so I’m lucky that the amount wasn’t huge and the bank reacted quickly. They told me two days for a card replacement and I will be able to use the card normally.

These days the weather has been near perfect, sunny during the day and cooler in the afternoon. Just a little too hot at noon but still great for riding, I’m out when I can be but this was a special ride. I got a call from Ahmed at Bike World which I visited last time and he told me he has something special for me, I asked him whats special he said to pass by and I will see. I was expecting a Moto GP Machine capable of breaking the sound barrier with futuristic technology. When I got there he had for me a scooter, not any scooter but a scooter on steroids and that is something I wasn’t expecting, the Gilera GP800.

He told me to take it for a few days to try it out and let me know what I think, I told him it better not sound like one of those whiny motorcycles which has a whistle for an exhaust. Oddly enough I have never driven a scooter before, driven a few Harleys, lots of supersports but never a scooter and not one like this either. He told me has a customer that goes to Saudi in it, now that would be a site. I got it, I felt I like was a high end delivery guy, meant to deliver gourmet food and I was wearing my bike gear so it felt like I was in racing gear on a scooter, I was laughing to myself as soon as I got on. Switched it on and it had a growl to it, this is wimpy machine, it had more umph then I expected. I took off for a little tour around Kuwait before heading home. This little beast can do 180 kph, well thats what I reached in it, it felt funny that I was trying to control it like a bike.

This is probably one of the most comfortable ride I have had, now its a little different since it had an automatic gearbox which felt strange to me and my seating position is that of a seat. My whole form didn’t feel like I was sitting in the position I’m used to on a two wheel machine. It had a great turning radius and its comfortable around town, very comfortable, zipping around everywhere in it. The brakes felt odd because I have to squeeze both levers when I’m used to a pedal and the right lever, no clutch just felt alien to me. It took some getting used to but this is great for someone who wants to have some fun, with good transportation and it had a big storage area under the seat which I was using for a few days. But I’m used to the braking of a Ducati and KTM, the maneuverability of those machines too so any scooter can’t match up to that and I learned that quickly. But the funny part is that I was laughing like giddy school boy under the helmet while driving this scooter on steroids around town.

It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they’re not happy: Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy’s mother. As Percy finds himself caught between angry and battling gods, he and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy’s mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.

A new twist on Greek Mythology, Percy Jackson is thrown into a world of monsters and Gods, and he is tasked with a mission which he must accomplish or earth will be a casualty of war between Gods. Percy Jackson is a normal highschool kid with a few problems here and there, the last thing he expected to be was the son of Poseidon. The story has a creative style to it with a thin line between reality and the realm of the gods which exists around us. It was an adventure to see all these Greek characters come to life and who they would be embodied by as actors and their nature. Lots of fun as the movie progresses and he develops his powers trying to accomplish the mission while trying to protect his family and fight off other creatures and demons. A lot of fun for any fantasy movie fan, not the Harry Potter they were expecting at the Box Office but worth watching.

Link: IMDB
Rating:

I think that Russel Crowe is a jerk, but he is also a phenomenal actor, probably one of the best at portraying whatever character he chooses. Now he has taken the role of Robin Hood, the last Robin Hood I remember was with Kevin Costner back in the 90s, and then there were Men in Tights, but that was just funny. Aside from those movies, this is taking Robin Hood into an Epic film, as some critics are already saying it, its going to be another Gladiator. I still watch Gladiator every once in a while and I still get moved by that movie, something about it just hits your core, the injustice and more. Now the trailer for Robin Hood seems to be fantastic and you don’t feel that it is doing it justice, your just taking a small bite of a juicy story. Ridley Scott is the director of many of my favorite movies, here are a few he has directed Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven, and American Gangster, so hopefully he will take this story to the next level.