We Built This City on Rock and....!

I'm leaving tomorrow early morning for the Dubai Desert Rock Festival over the weekend.

I'm getting giddy about it. Bands like Incubus, Stone Sour, Iron Maiden and Robert Plant are gonna play. I used to listen to a lot of Iron Maiden in my cousin's crappy Huyndai hatchback ten years ago.

It’s a two day line-up, so it should be a lot of fun, considering that I've got a press pass and all that and I'm gonna meet up with Samar who's gonna use her artistry with a camera to cover the thing.

Run to the hills people, run to the hills…!!!

A Cock & A Bull

Last night I attended a musical performance unlike anything I've heard or seen before.

Kamilya Gubran's evening could've been enjoyed even more if it weren't for those inconsiderate idiots who kept chattering and whispering and giggling and moving about through most of the performance. I wish people would just grow up and stop acting like children.

Once those irritants departed, it was easier getting into the music. Kamilya's way of playing the Oud is refreshing, teasing the tones out of it with seemingly the slightest touches of her fingertips, while her voice traveled high and low with each verse.

******

After waiting to see it for several months, I didn't expect to be in for such a disappointment. M. Night Shaymalan's Lady in the Water is likely to be his worst offering yet. The film lacked a whole lot of magic and it was no more than an average exercise that didn't amount to what it should have, which is a real shame. I wanted to like the film so much. Signs is one of my favorite films of all time and Unbreakable was excellent. So I was looking forward to this.

But I was in for a wonderful surprise in Tristram Shandy: a Cock & a Bull Story! The film was hilarious, intelligent and extremely human. Rob Brydon in a wonderful actor who's work I enjoy a lot, seeing him in the likes of Human Remains and Marion & Geoff

Lady in the Water (2/5)
Tristram Shandy: a Cock & a Bull Story (5/5)

One Side of My Face

One Side of My Face
Originally uploaded by *A*L*I*.

For some reason, reaching 10,000 views on flickr seems to be a feat worth marking! So, when I found out I had passed the mark, I thought I should do something. But I just sat and stared. I wasn't sure if I was meant to do a little dance or sing the 10,000 views anthem (there must be one surely!), or what. Then I figured that would be silly.

This apparently is my most viewed image (214 and counting).

How To Save A Website!

My main website alialsaeed.com was hit by a virus recently. It was inaccessible for about two weeks or so, I only knew about it a few days ago and have been trying to fix it. Thankfully, the guys at the hosting company were quick to act as soon as I contacted them and the site is now up and running again without any problems. So, apologies for anyone who's tried to log into the site recently, if I knew earlier I would've put up a warning!

Anyway, the third Elham night was a tremendous success and a whole lot of fun. The Saudi poet Nimah Nawwab was awesome; watching her perform was a real treat. And the "chopper"-like bicycle was a talking point! We've got big plans for this month's event as we focus on film.

Speaking of film, Samar, Hisham and I are preparing to shoot a short on Friday. We're finalising things tonight. It's gonna be crazy! We're doing the whole thing in a couple of days!

Last night I watched: The Squid & The Whale (3/5)
Recently I've been listening to: The Fray "How To Save A Life"

Explode

I feel as if I can stare
Into your eyes for eternity
As if all the people around are no more
Than specs of exploded stars
And your eyes are their sun

And it's starting to hurt
To see you there talking to strangers
To not be able to touch you
To not have all of you

You tease me with your smiles and
You lead me on
But in the end, you leave me
Right where I was

Desecration Smile

Our third Elham Evening is upon us!

Check out this month's line up, including a special "international" guest featured for the first time. We hope we'll be able to attract more established international writers/artists in the future alongside new and upcoming talents. The event start from 7pm this Tuesday.

The image provided for this month's invitation-card is by student filmmaker-photographer Samar Ameen. Please also check out the new content added to the Elham website.

I don't think I've achieved much the past couple of days. All I know is that I'm once again trailing behind with deadlines fast approaching.

And just because I feel like it, I give you the songs that I've been playing constantly on my mp3 player/laptop for the past week or so…
Top 5 Songs of the Week:

Desecration Smile – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Trouble – Ray LaMontagne
Crazy – Ray LaMontagne
Rewind – Paolo Nutini
Grace Kelly – Mika

Should My Fiction Be Responsible?!

Recently, I keep being told to be more "responsible" in my writing which I'm finding it rather difficult to digest the probable implication of what that might mean.

A couple of days ago I finally finished my latest short story Keep, which is about Love, literally. I've written 90% of it and got stuck at the ending (typical!), and what I ended up with is not what I had in mind to begin with.

So far, especially when it comes to writing short stories, I've been relaying on instantaneous instincts, taking a impulsive and random approach in writing them and I am yet to really, fully decide if that is a good or a bad thing. I suppose, just like everything else - like Love, like Life - it has its pros and cons.

My submission has been accepted to appear in the upcoming anthology Strange Stories of Sand & Sea, to be published by Fine Tooth Press later this year.

My presentation/reading at the TARA Conference will be held on Saturday, Feb 24th, from 11.15am to 12.15pm at the Crowne Plaza Convention Centre (Upstairs Room 2), during which I will be talking about our group Elham, my work, experience and read a short story. You can view the full four-day programme by visiting the website.

I will let you know how it all goes!

Trailer Roundup

Eye-candy for your pleasure... watch out for these super-looking flicks:

Across the Universe

First Snow

Grindhouse

Zodiac

The Lookout

Smokin' Aces

The Host

29

Yesterday, I discovered that being 29 feels no different than being 28.

Other Such Writings

An idea for a new project occurred to me a few days ago and I've been working on it since then. I'm not certain it's a great idea, but I'm nonetheless getting excited about it. I've decided to put together an illustrated book of poems, songs and "other such writings" and try to get it published sometime late this year or early next.

These are very personal and intimate pieces I've written over the years and have not been published or even publicly shown before. The current working title for the project is Sad Man Dancing. Will keep you informed on it's progress.

Meanwhile, you can finally log onto the Elham main website at www.elhambahrain.com so go ahead and check it out. It looks pretty good, if I may say so, having come up with the original design/concept for the WMP people to work with.

Bookmark the link for future updates and loads of new and exciting content over the coming weeks and months. Speaking of Elham, I've been told that the City Tribune will run a piece on us in today's (Thursday) paper, and of course you can check out the feature in Ohlala this month as well.