Farewell Shawn Michaels

[Contains Spoilers to Wrestlemania 26]

Ok, I admit it, I watch wrestling occasionaly, and I am a huge fan. Get over it.

Its hard not to; growing up in Kuwait, it aired every friday on Sports Channel 3, and, like all guys, I had a huge affinity to Shawn Michaels, the Heart Break Kid.

Shawn epitomised the care-free man; he was confident, charismatic, funny, flamboyant. I was instantly hooked as a fan. Ever since the days of The Rockers. To this day I would only tune in to the WWE if he was show-cased. I was even there when the WWE (back then WWF) came to Kuwait, and have a candid snap of him at the airport, with title in tow (albeit being in a briefcase!).

Unlike all other wrestlers, Shawn has maintained his physique throughout his WWE career (as opposed to Hunter who buffed out after taking the Triple H gimmick), his attitude has differed, he has played both face and heel and in either role, the crowd loved him. I still remember his first farewell, they played a wonderful music video entitled "Tell me a lie", a verse:

You always were my angel,
Flying high above,
Always looking out for me,
The Angel that I love,
But Now my dreams are fading,
Like Angel Age old Photographs,
Hurt too much to look at now,
Reminders of our Past,

(Chorus)
Tell me a lie, and say that you won't go,
Look in my eye, and hold me even though,
I realise, you have to walk away,
No more yesterday.

Now, I know that wrestling is just scripted drama, I can pretty much call a match play-by-play, and give an almost 90% accurate guess as to the outcome. After watching Wrestlemania however, the flagship of WWE PPV, I have to say; Wow. Shawn Michaels, hats off to you. I was skeptical if he could pull off a match as spectacular as the last Wrestlemania, but I was humbly proven wrong. When he mounted the top rope I was expecting a vintage elbow drop, that moonsault caught me completely off-guard, and left me yelling praises at the top of my lungs and doubting his sanity.

I knew in my heart of hearts however, no way was Shawn going to pull a victory over The Undertaker. A streak of 17 victories in Wrestlemania shall probably be retired as well. Both superstars represent the last of the old school wrestlers (Big Show and Chris Jericho do not count as they were WCW). It was a fitting end to Shawn's fabled, story-book career.

Granted, the ending was a little cliche, but its message was loud and clear. Mutual respect. A respect for a two decade plus career of sports entertainment.

Watching Shawn wrestle his last match was like saying goodbye to a part of my childhood. He will forever remain the Heart Break Kid, and the Wrestling World is now a little darker with the departure of Shawn's Light. He will indeed be missed.

In closing, a quote from a sticker book I filled out, back in the day (or maybe a Sega game, I'm not entirely sure):
Shawn Michaels: "I'm the greatest thing going on gods green earth."

Where is all the moolah?

Kuwait posts 28.9 billion dollar preliminary budget surplus

despite this phenomenal amount, green apples have reached 800fils/kilo @ the Co-ops. Rents are sky-rocketing despite constant reassurance they are to move downward. The consumer price index is on the rise.

Oil revenues contributed 94.7 percent of total income.
Kuwait needs to search for alternative sources of income; with the world developing a green thumb, I predict that, sometime in the not-so-distant future, biofuels will become obsolete, in favor of their more green, efficient counter-parts. What will happen to Kuwait then?

And even if oil remains mainstream; its a limited resource (geography-101), whether its 50 years down the line, 100 or 200, it will run out. Then what?

Jahra Arsonist Sentenced to Death in Kuwait

I doubt anyone has not heard of this story; it lead to the Kuwaiti government banning wedding tents. A distraught 23-year old woman set fire to her "husbands" wifes wedding tent, of women and children, leading to the worst civilan disaster in Kuwait in which 57 perished.

According to Wikipedia: At least 49 people were killed and about 80 others wounded when the grooms' 23-year-old first wife, sought revenge for her husband's second marriage, poured petrol on a tent where women and children were celebrating and set it on fire. Within three minutes the whole tent, which had only one exit and did not meet fire safety regulations, was engulfed in flames, trapping many inside. It was the deadliest civilian disaster in Kuwait in the last 40 years.

What bugs me the most is that she had admitted to setting the fire as an act of revenge for her husband taking another wife, then in court she decides to flip 180 and proclaim she had nothing to do with it.

Tragic.

BBC article

Pac Man sighting: On the Moon!

It seems that Pac-Man, who has been missing since 1980, has finally been found; roaming the moons of Saturn, in his never-ending quest to gobble pac-dots. I wonder if those ghosts are not too far behind?

for the full article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8594101.stm

Boy, 12, will be tried as adult in double homicide

CNN Article

For those who are not familiar with the case; here are the highlights from CNN.com:

* Jordan Brown is facing adult charges in the February 2009 shooting death of his father's pregnant girlfriend, and a judge turned down a petition to have the case transferred from criminal to juvenile court.

* Houk's (the victim) 4-year-old daughter found her mother in her bed, according to police. The child alerted landscapers working near the home, who then called authorities.

* The weapon was a youth model 20-gauge shotgun, designed for use by children, that belonged to the boy, according to investigators.

The second amendment at its finest; does that final comment sink in? The shotgun, a weapon, was designed for use by children. Children! Those whom you have to explain the difference between real and make-believe to! And here we have a 12-year old who shot and murdered, in cold blood, his fathers pregnant girlfriend. And worse, her body was found by her 4-year old daughter.

I have never been to the US, I've seen enough westerns and documentaries to know, that way back in history, the 1780s, America was a free-for-all for every gun-totting cowboy. Hence, in the absense of law enforcement, the American people had to have a right to defend themselves. So granted, back then, it made sense to allow people to bear arms.

Nowadays, with 911, the FBI, the CIA, its an obsolete law. And every Tom, Dick and Harry can get a permit for a weapon in 3 days. Look at the social stigma of this; metal detectors in schools, the murder of that kid a year or so ago for being openly gay in school.

What will it take for the world to realise that, what was good in the past is not necessarily applicable nowadays?

Balance in Life

How can one balance a full-time job along with studies and wanting to participate in the following activities:

1) Going out to meet new people
2) Learning to play the guitar
3) Learning French
4) Going jogging
5) Going to the gym

Time-Management is a theory! Its not about how much time you spend doing something; its about the quality of time you spend. I can sit infront of a book for 2hrs and yet learn nothing, or i can sit infront of it for 30 mins and grasp all the important concepts. Its all about applying yourself, but it is easier said than done. Advice, as always, is easier to give than to implement.

Road Rage on the 4th,,

Ok, i'm going to share a recent traumatic (no, learning is a better word!) experience with y'all,

I was driving back from Salmiya, I was on the road parallel to the 4th, heading toward the Fahaheel Express(the one with Apollo Hospital on it, and all the flower shops). Anyhoo, as I took a right at the traffic light (near Amman St.) to go towards the 4th, I was abruptly and rudely cut off by a speeding behemoth of a Yukon, speeding on the right.

Now, I am not an agressive drive, I'm a reactive one. Lo and behold, the opportunity presented itself for me to get some retribution, so I cut off the Jolly Red Giant and over-took him. This is all happening @ the traffic Light near the Firestation. I checked my mirror and saw this dude was driving recklessly and gaining, mind you, the light was still red, after several crazy negotiations, and me remaining rooted in my position, he was again infront of me. His crazy dance was encored with a single flash of his Waiting Lights. a not-so-subtle insult.

He was now directly infront of me, and the light turned green. Unfortunately for him, the guy on his left wanted to continue going straight, a wrong move on his part, as the Yukon came THIS close to slamming into him, as they were tussling before me, I seized the opportunity and, believing the Yukon would also continue going forward, slammed my foot down on the accelerator to take the turn onto the 4th with a nice tire squeal. Little did I know that, beyond my vision, Jolly Red had also turned a sudden left, and found me right there. An unintended mistake, as I thought I was done with him, but it caused him to nearly slam into me. Unintentionally. He roared and followed.

I didnt take notice, as I previously said, I wasnt doing it out of malice. So, I decided, heck, I need some fuel, and pulled into the petrol station off the 4th. Cowardice? HARDLY! But, a smart move none-the-less, read on to find out why..

My friend who was with me in the car warned me that the Yukon was parked outside the petrol station, apparently waiting for me (in a Red Corolla, I was kind of hard to miss). At that point, my throat went dry, and I thought he was pulling my leg. Whilst paying the dude @ the pump, guess who should run up next to me? And me, parked all the way on the far end of the petrol station, instead of down the middle?

Him...

Now, I have been in 2 similar situations before (as a passenger! I am not reckless! HONEST!) so I kinda have some experience with it. Go with the flow. The first thing I notice is hes q80 (typical, big car), and the first thing he asks me is "so you think your a hotshot?", to which I replied, not really.

He then went on and on about many things. The jist of it being: I was going to ram into you, but you are lucky my engine has problems, its not my car its a friends, I can hit you and nothing will happen to me, I hit guys on motorcycles before, I will not pay anything to get this fixed,, etc. etc.

"I will let you off the hook this time, you seem genuine", he proclaims. In a gesture of goodwill I reach over to shake his hand, and guess what? On his right hand, a dazzling set of Brass Knuckles..

Road Rage? This.. Is.. Q8!!

3,,2 ,,1,, LIFT OFF!

Come one, come all, witness the launch of the latest (and soon-to-be greatest!) blog in HIStory! Follow me, the auspicious youth in search of meaning in a crazy world of nonsense and insolence!

Little bit about me, your pilot on this wonderfully bizarre tour of the world through my own two, I'm 23 (goin' on 24 nxt month) dude, employed, single (^^,),workin in q8, been doin so for the past 4 years now (graduated in '06 with a BA in Business Admin),

I call it right down the middle (slightly skewed to the left!)

I'm ambidextrous so u cant call me biased!

Put your seat-belts on, its going to be a bumpy flight!