Workout Summary

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Ramadan!!

Following are a few useful websites:

http://www.scholaris.com:
The entire collection of Dr. Israr's Tafseer-ul-Quran (commentary) in English and Urdu can be found on this website.

http://quranexplorer.com/:
This is an excellent website for everybody who wants to listen to qirat (recitation) along with its translation (Urdu and English) or only the translation as well.

http://alafasy.tripod.com/:
The link to my rock star :)...Mishary. You can find all the surah's recited by him on this website.

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/quran/:
You can download a PDF version of the Quran in English and tafseer (commentary) in English as well from this website.

May Allah guide us on the right path.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Scrabble anyone?!!!

INICTEH..can anyone come up with a 7 letter word? I did, and completely instinctively. It was challenged, and I ended up getting 5 extra points. I didn't know the meaning or origin or how to even use it, but nevertheless was a valid 7 letter. To come and think of it, I wasn't even sure if it existed or not, it just sounded one of those duh-challenge-it-if-you-like words.

Scrabble is just plain simply an amazing game. It's a very good pass time and at times really jogs the mind; 3 consecutive Scrabble games, a guaranteed headache!! I have come across some really weird words, especially those two lettered 'unfair' ones. I mean c'mon man, 'CH' is a word, or 'AA' is a word - the latter actually meaning 'flow of hot lava' or something like that.

There is one other word which actually got me into a fight with his highness, thy Hamster :D - 'QI'. He never used to play against me, maybe out of fear that he would lose and he'd discover that I was a deadly player...HA..no, definitely no. In fact, I do recall somebody higher up letting me know as politely as it can sound - 'Sufo, you just aren't that important'. Anyways, getting back to the incident, so here we were playing ourselves out, trying to outdo the other, going neck and neck, with only a few tiles at hand, and he comes up with, not 'EN or 'AN' or 'BE' or 'UN' or anyone of those zillion two letter words, but 'QI', and that too on a 'Triple Letter Score'. 'QI'?!!? It sounds more Punjabi than English or any other God forsaken language. Of course, i ended up losing the game and, in the process, my cool. But yea, just to get the record straight, 'QI' is in fact a word. It's pronounced 'CHI' and means 'life energy', in short.

For those of you who don't know - 'Q' has the highest points, 10, out of all Scrabble tiles, hence, a 'Triple Letter Score' would give the player 30 points straight away. So, bloody unfair, right?

Scrabble has been an integral part of my family's entertainment, along with trekking and hiking. Trips to Kalabagh meant a walk to Meran Jani, and loads of Scrabble to be played while basking in the sun. Oh, good old days!! Every single time we used to be pummeled by the General - experience!! Besides, he is a genius when it comes to this. I'm not sure if Hamster has had any success against him. As far as I recall, I've only been able to best him twice or thrice.

In the recent past, quite a lot of Scrabble has been played at 6/21. Mu'adib and Sakeena make a pretty decent team to play against. So far, the score is 5-1 in my favor. I had the pleasure of introducing this beautiful game to them with all those two letter controversial words. The rules and plays of the game are always met with such disbelief and shock combined with loads of 'nahi yaars'. It's always fun.

It's sad that there aren't a lot of people I can play with. I miss the old times, and soon will be playing against my old competitors again :). Till then, Scrabble anyone?!?!?

Oh, by the way, the 7 letter word was 'NITCHIE' - disparagingly offensive. :)

Cheers

Monday, February 15, 2010

'Sigh' - How bloody self-explanatory!

After almost a years hiatus, I'm back :). I started writing this blog solely concentrating on what used to be my passion - Music. However, the last one year has been a roller-coaster ride for me. Something inside me has changed, I know it and I'm still trying to cope up with it. I haven't written on my blog mainly because I just didn't know how to put my thoughts to words; there was just too much going on in that small head of mine.

Of late I feel things settling down, and my mind getting out of some sort of engulfing vortex of weird and crazy thoughts which I did know existed in as puny and dumb head as mine. Damage control...no no...reflecting...hmmm..close...not making any sense...YES.

Anyways, the main purpose of writing this excerpt is to rid myself off of the lethargy combined with some remote sense of inferiority that has come to reside in my very being. There is a lot to talk about and share; how that has to be done is the challenge. Am I suddenly scared of being questioned and not being appreciated for what I write...maybe.

Over the years, Hamster and Buddy have just been too supportive of every single crappy little piece I've been coining up, musically or otherwise. There are very few blokes I can actually rely on; the feeling of somebody having my back through thick or thin is just overwhelming. I love you guys.

Sigh!! That is one big load of crap I've written. Hopefully, I'll come up with something better in the near future. However, right now, I need to get back to my CDRs - another load of crap I'm writing to give worth to my all so superficial qualifications :P.

Cheers!!
Happy St. Skeletor's Day!! (I know I don't qualify but still...:P)