STORIES, STORIES

Ever feel left out? The kind of left-out that makes you feel like you’re way behind in a race, even though everyone else is within arm’s length? I get that a lot. I meet people my age and I don’t feel like I belong. I meet people younger and older, and I still don’t belong. I tell myself it’s that Loser Streak that I’ve had all these years that I’ve nursed for so long, the one that convinces me time and again that maybe, maybe losers were meant to exist to help the winners feel their win so much more, and that maybe this is my purpose. The Glorified Tech Support. And the proof is in the series of failures and bad decisions that make up most of what I call my adult life. The thing about feeling this way is that I don’t say it out of some desire to get sympathy from others, or to get advice on how to “fix it.” I don’t even feel that bad or sad about it, most times I just feel introspective and resigned. And a little exhausted from introspecting. These feelings are magnified when I wat...

This satirical sitcom of American politics has taken my insulated life by storm, and I’m thankful for it. It’s a break from the dark, obsessive ambition of House of Cards (which I enjoy) and the headless-chicken, unfunny and severely uninteresting political opining of my Facebook feed (which I hate). That’s what Veep is for me, really – a combination of the heady glamour of Hollywood-ized politics and the ugly reality of its effect on the everyman. I’ve never been invested in any of that, but I’ve always wondered what it’s like behind-the-scenes, and Veep has pulled the curtain to a(n exaggerated) collection of moments that nobody is supposed to see. The show follows Selina Meyer, the fictional first female Vice President of the United States, and her posse as they maneouver the political landscape. Instead of a tightly knit plot from beginning to end, each episode is packed with scenes that feel like outtakes as they go about staging the veep’s public appearances, s...

Gakkou Gurashi – A Matter of Perception by Carcass H Initial impressions: Let us begin with a happy moment: perfectly normal girls attending their classes, as if it was school as usual. What is unusual, however, is the presence of a unique club within the school. I’m sure the students in most schools have extra-curricular activities, such as participating in clubs (gardening, language, sewing) or sports-based activities such as football, baseball or track. Well, the exciting premise (I’m lying) here is that our main characters are part of the School-Living Club, where the main activity is… living in  the school. Our happy-go-lucky protagonist, Takeya Yuki, seeks out fun school activities such as camping and tests of courage, while the other club members seemingly go out of their way to entertain her whims.  Mental Anguish Before we continue to the end of the episode, those watching the show with a keen eye will likely see a few things amiss in ...

To save you some precious time, I go through movies, TV shows, books, websites and apps – both good and bad. Here's a list of my recommendations for you this month.  Good TV, Bad TV Now that the Big Kahunas have ended (The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad) or are winding down (House of Cards, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Doctor Who) ,  us television rats are scrambling about for the Next Big Thing to put our social lives – and sometimes careers – in jeopardy with the binge-watching and Twitter-ranting that comes with committing to a TV show. At least I was, earlier this year, and so I hunkered down on the couch and went on a brave mission to find just the right TV series.  Here are some of the worthy ones: FARGO (Season 1) If you're a sucker for character development like I am, you'll have to fight not to be mesmerized with the one in this show. It certainly helps that they are doled out by such fine actors as Billy Bob Thornt...

There's a ripple going through the fabric of internet space-time continuum as nerds and non-nerds across the web's multiverses scramble to get a piece of the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who special. Mine is sitting on my desktop, just waiting to be stared at and wept for, which I will do in just a few minutes. But first, a tribute to two magnificent otherworldly men - The Doctor and Thor.  Here are the top 10 reasons why I loved Thor: The Dark World . 10. The Train Scene. The troubled demigod needs to get to Greenwich, and the only way he could do it is by catching the train, where some lucky woman standing next to him had to steady herself against his chest when the train lurches. That woman could have been any one of us. This woman, and not Natalie Portman, symbolizes hope for us mere humans. 9. Shirtless Thor.  There is justice in a world where Thor can only contemplate his life and the worlds he wants to save while looking out a vast balcony with nary a pi...

I can't sit still for a 2-hour movie anymore. We've evolved (?) into a generation of TV show audiences; we can only sit still for about 45 minutes at a time, and it's getting more and more difficult for TV people to keep us entertained. That could also be because we are armchair directors and producers, and we like to shout at the TV in prediction of what's going to happen next. Can I get a A-MEN? Here are my top 6 awesomest shows of all time. Battlestar Galactica   Or, as Anas likes to call it when he makes fun of me (as everyone does), Starwar Balactica. For some reason, the mere fact that the title of the show is a combination of the words battle, star, and galactic is enough to turn them off. The truth is, this show is less about space and more about humans, their behavior, their (questionable) morals, and everything in between. I love the re-imagined series for its great writing, and for being a very intelligent show.  Doctor Who I love...

In one of my earlier posts , I talked about how my brothers and I mulled over The Cupcake Dilemma, wherein  icing is never proportionate to cupcake. This is ridiculous. There should be cupcakes that have more icing than actual cupcake; so much more icing in fact, that it should be called the Icing Cake with just a smidge of cupcake. The cupcake should DROWN IN ICING. The actual cupcake should be so little that when you bite into it, you're all "Hmm.. I detect a bit of.. cupcake. Is there cupcake in this icing?" I've been discussing this dilemma with Menelik since this morning, and like all things we discuss, it ended with the Fringe Division , and how they would react to our ideas of smothering THEM in frosting. "Agent Dunham, you must dress yourself up in cake frosting." "Agent Francis, CAKE FROSTING ON YOURSELF. FOR MY ENJOYMENT. NAO."  Incidentally, this is Agent Francis' reaction to ANYTHING. What a prude. Anyway, today being Thursday...

I was just watching Fringe, and there was this part where SPOILER ALERT everyone thought Olivia Dunham was crazy (as usual) because she kept insisting that she was not THE Olivia Dunham, she was the OTHER Olivia Dunham. As can only happen in TV shows, there was one stranger, a cab driver, who didn't think she was crazy. It wasn't that he believed her, it was that he thought that it would take only one person who has faith in you to help you sort whatever shit you're in. And he was willing to be that person. We all do and say things that are completely out of character at some point in our lives. I do believe that we all learn from our experiences, and we get to know who our true friends are, and who truly loves us, when we go through that phase. It is the people who stand by us at our worst. The people who know when we are out of character, and when we are not. They are the ones who also deserve our best.  One thousand calories worth of love.

I like to think that if I weren't living in Jeddah, I would never ever forever ever be caught dead watching Glee. I blame it on Jeddah. IT'S YOUR FAULT!! Nevertheless, here's what I just watched: I would forgive myself if it weren't for the cheesy acting. I'm still enjoying that song. I give it 3 more listens before I'm all "FUCK YOUU hoo hoo hoooo!" (I had to.) It's Hajj vacation and I have already started on my Big Plans, first with Saturday Night Live reruns. I swear to god, if money and 10 million other things weren't factors, I would focus all my time and energy into trying to get a writing spot on SNL. One spot. That's all. Just one. I love (the writers of) that show. My other plans are as follows: - Get back to my workout. I have not lost any, but not gained any either, so that's an accomplishment, thank you. - Start reading and/or watching Dune, because really, my non-Battlestar Galactica-watching friends are just about ready to...

Now that my friend M and I have spent countless hours chatting and making reference jokes about the show Fringe, it's time that we share some of our major points of discourse. He and I agree that these people are doppelgangers of each other. If the Fringe people would only smile a little. You know? Why so serious? 1. Anna Torv - hot FBI Agent Olivia Dunham is like a less dorky version of Donna from That 70s Show. 2. Joshua Jackson - Peter Bishop, the resident mysterious and guarded commitment-phobe, is like a yummier, less Father-figure-ish version of George Clooney. They even sound alike. I might also mention here that when I was a kid gushing over his Mighty Ducks character, I never once thought he would grow up to look like this. Aw. But then again, I also never knew I would be blogging about it. 3 - Jack Noble - the mad scientist Walter Bishop is like a mad scientist version of our favorite madman Gary Busey. 4. Kirk Acevedo - Olivia...