Monday, February 25, 2008
Sufi and the Body Builder
Body Builder: Hey Sufi how you doing? Why are you so skinny? Come train with me in the gym I’ll make you buff in 6 months.Sufi: Peace be upon you my friend. I am well, praise be to Allah, you are looking healthy as well masha Allah. Thank you for your kind offer, before I take you up though I need to know how much effort I will need to put in to achieve this maqam of ‘buff’?BB: Well if you want
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
A Bridge
Looking at my last few posts here, you could be forgiven that I've turned this blog into nothing more than an advert for my book (which you can buy here). Sorry an' all that. Here's a proper post.
The majority of the world's great cities are built on or near water: rivers, canals or creeks. And where you get a body of water dividing a city, you need to build the means to cross it. Ferries and tunnels are fine, but nearly invisible. Some cities have become defined by their bridges. Think of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Tower Bridge in London, the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol or the Forth Bridge near Edinburgh. They are all marvels of engineering design.
More recently we have the Millenium Bridge in London, which is purely for pedestrians. And what a beauty it is. It opens up a vista between St Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern Gallery, and is a superb example of what city governments can do to improve the environment for citizens.
So, I was very pleased today to come across images of a new bridge to be built across the Creek in Dubai on the UAE Community Blog. I've always thought that Dubai needed landmark bridges. The Maktoum and Garhoud Bridges are nothing to write home about: they are utilitarian devices for getting vehicles across the Creek without them getting wet. The Business Bay Crossing is also nothing more than a road over water. The new one, as yet unnamed, although I suggest that The Keefieboy Krossing would be a suitable name, is sexy, curvy, big and bouncy, and I love it! Kudos to the designers, FXFowle of New York and even to the RTA for commissioning it.
Images from Popular Mechanics
The majority of the world's great cities are built on or near water: rivers, canals or creeks. And where you get a body of water dividing a city, you need to build the means to cross it. Ferries and tunnels are fine, but nearly invisible. Some cities have become defined by their bridges. Think of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Tower Bridge in London, the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol or the Forth Bridge near Edinburgh. They are all marvels of engineering design.
More recently we have the Millenium Bridge in London, which is purely for pedestrians. And what a beauty it is. It opens up a vista between St Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern Gallery, and is a superb example of what city governments can do to improve the environment for citizens.
So, I was very pleased today to come across images of a new bridge to be built across the Creek in Dubai on the UAE Community Blog. I've always thought that Dubai needed landmark bridges. The Maktoum and Garhoud Bridges are nothing to write home about: they are utilitarian devices for getting vehicles across the Creek without them getting wet. The Business Bay Crossing is also nothing more than a road over water. The new one, as yet unnamed, although I suggest that The Keefieboy Krossing would be a suitable name, is sexy, curvy, big and bouncy, and I love it! Kudos to the designers, FXFowle of New York and even to the RTA for commissioning it.
Images from Popular Mechanics
Travels in Xanadu-du: Update
To those of you who have already pre-ordered a copy of my book: thank you, thank you! To the rest of you, here's a little incentive. Several of my buddies have expressed a wish that I sign their copy (in the mercenary and entirely unlikely hope that I turn out to be the next J.K. Rowling). Sadly this is not possible, because the books will be printed in Milton Keynes and sent out from Liverpool in sunny England, whilst I am stuck here in Madrid in (currently) cloudy Spain. So, here's the deal.
There is a map of Xanadu-du. It will be printed in greyscale in the book, and you may well need to refer to it in order to follow the action. Pre-orderers will get a full-colour version of that map (the same size as the book), personally signed by moi. Is that cool or is that cool? So get your order in: http://www.xanadu-du.com/books.
Have we gone to press yet? No. Awaiting final proofreading by Don Colin (no pressure mate!), and then we get a printer's proof, and then we are in production. We're still aiming at the end of February.
And I love you all! Mwaah! Mwaah!
There is a map of Xanadu-du. It will be printed in greyscale in the book, and you may well need to refer to it in order to follow the action. Pre-orderers will get a full-colour version of that map (the same size as the book), personally signed by moi. Is that cool or is that cool? So get your order in: http://www.xanadu-du.com/books.
Have we gone to press yet? No. Awaiting final proofreading by Don Colin (no pressure mate!), and then we get a printer's proof, and then we are in production. We're still aiming at the end of February.
And I love you all! Mwaah! Mwaah!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Asma bint Abu Bakr
by Shaikh Ibrahim Memon MadaniIt had been three days since they were hiding in the cave. Rasulullah (saw) and his close companion, Abu Bakr (ra), were forced to pause their migration from Makkah to Madinah and seek temporary refuge in the cave of Thawr. The disbeliever's hatred for them and the Islam they represented had reached its boiling point. The bounty was set for 100 camels for the person
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Valentines
by AhmedValentines day is hereits the same each yearwe are hit in the pocketpeople dash last minute to the supermarketto buy their loved one a giftso they can have a temporary liftand then the day is goneas quickly as the dawnand its back to reality for alltil next years valentines callgood mood and emotions consigned to the pastall year they could never laststop copying bill, freda and tedwhy
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
New Blogs Added
In addition to Baghdad Dentist and Iraqi Psychatrist, I have added links to two other Iraqi blogs.
Iraqi Plume holds the title of the only Iraqi blog actively detested by blog darling Sunshine, who accuses her of plagiarism, there are some [huge] angles to this claim, but still, some rather wonderful things began through imitation, besides, the blogosphere could use a few cheery girls anyway.
Inside Iraq is a blog written by Iraqi journalists working in the McClatchy newspapers, it often contains some useful insights.
Iraqi Plume holds the title of the only Iraqi blog actively detested by blog darling Sunshine, who accuses her of plagiarism, there are some [huge] angles to this claim, but still, some rather wonderful things began through imitation, besides, the blogosphere could use a few cheery girls anyway.
Inside Iraq is a blog written by Iraqi journalists working in the McClatchy newspapers, it often contains some useful insights.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The puzzle of the extra pronouns
Like most (all?) Songhay languages, Kwarandzie has two sets of 3rd person pronouns: in this case, they are a (sg.) / i (pl.) vs. ana / ini. In southern Songhay (eg Koyra Chiini, the longer set are used as logophors - that is, used to refer back to the speaker in reported speech. This is not the case in Kwarandzie, though.
ana/ini are obligatory in pre-sentential topic and focus position (including when followed by a preposition), while a/i are obligatory for possessors:
ana (*a) a e-kka. ghi "it's him that hit me."
ini (*i) i-bbey ibbagen "them, they know tales."
an (*anan) kembi "his hand"
But in normal object position, either set can occur:
e-ggwa / e-ggwana "he saw him"
After much checking, I still have no idea what factors drive the selection of one or the other in this position. These are not used, Algonquian-style, for tracking two distinct referents: ²e-gga.r.ana ²e-kka.r.a "I found him and hit him" can as easily refer to hitting the same person as to two different objects.
So it's not logophoricity (much less reflexives), it's not an obviative or a switch-reference system, it's not related to politeness or gender... can anyone think of another possibility for me to check before I leave?
ana/ini are obligatory in pre-sentential topic and focus position (including when followed by a preposition), while a/i are obligatory for possessors:
ana (*a) a e-kka. ghi "it's him that hit me."
ini (*i) i-bbey ibbagen "them, they know tales."
an (*anan) kembi "his hand"
But in normal object position, either set can occur:
e-ggwa / e-ggwana "he saw him"
After much checking, I still have no idea what factors drive the selection of one or the other in this position. These are not used, Algonquian-style, for tracking two distinct referents: ²e-gga.r.ana ²e-kka.r.a "I found him and hit him" can as easily refer to hitting the same person as to two different objects.
So it's not logophoricity (much less reflexives), it's not an obviative or a switch-reference system, it's not related to politeness or gender... can anyone think of another possibility for me to check before I leave?
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