And the winner is...

OK, i couldn't help it, I was going to wait till they air it tonight on TV, but I just couldn't I had to know who would win best picture, as most of the movies nominated were rather good movies I’d say anyway, just to fill you in... Here is the list of winners at the 78th Academy Awards and I’m really glad with the results of Best Picture, I for it all the way... :o)

Best supporting actor
Winner: George Clooney – Syriana (Haven’t watched the movie yet, but really want to… I like George Clooney nevertheless, so I’m sure his supporting act was excellent)
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
Paul Giamatti - Cinderella Man
Matt Dillon - Crash
William Hurt - A History of Violence

Best visual effects
Winner: King Kong (wouldn’t know?! Although I heard it was good.)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
War of the Worlds

Best animated feature film
Winner: Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Howl's Moving Castle
Corpse Bride

Best short film
Winner: Six Shooter Ausreisser (The Runaway)
Cashback
The Last Farm
Our Time is Up

Best animated short film
Winner: The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
Badgered
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
9
One Man Band

Best costume design
Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha (Very happy with this one, Definitely unique)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Mrs Henderson Presents
Pride and Prejudice
Walk The Line

Best make-up
Winner: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Best supporting actress
Winner: Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener (Haven’t watched it and looking forward to now)Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain
Frances McDormand - North Country
Amy Adams - Junebug
Catherine Keener - Capote

Best art direction
Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha (That’s the first thing I said when I left the theatres)
Goodnight, and Good Luck
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong
Pride and Prejudice

Best music (score)
Winner: Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Pride and Prejudice

Best sound mixing
Winner: King Kong
The Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Memoirs of a Geisha
Walk The Line
War of the Worlds

Lifetime Achievement Award
Director and writer Robert Altman

Best music (song)
Winner: It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp - Hustle and Flow
In the Deep - Crash
Travelin' Thru - Transamerica

Sound editing
Winner: King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
War of the Worlds

Best foreign language film
Winner: Tsotsi (South Africa)
Don't Tell (Italy)
Joyeux Noel (France)
Paradise Now (Palestinian territories)
Sophie Scholl - The Final Days (Germany)

Best film editing
Winner: Crash
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Munich
Walk The Line

Best actor
Winner: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote (Got to watch)
David Strathairn - Good Night, and Good Luck
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line
Terrence Howard - Hustle and Flow

Best cinematography
Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha (Definitely well deserved)
Batman Begins
Brokeback Mountain Goodnight, and Good Luck
The New World

Best actress
Winner: Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line (From the trailers that I’ve watched, I couldn’t agree more)
Dame Judi Dench - Mrs Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
Charlize Theron - North Country
Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice

Best adapted screenplay
Winner: Brokeback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Munich

Best original screenplay
Winner: Crash (Thank you!)
Good Night, and Good Luck
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana

Best director
Winner: Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
Steven Spielberg - Munich
Paul Haggis - Crash
Bennett Miller - Capote
George Clooney - Good Night, and Good Luck

Best picture
Winner: Crash (Well deserved, I’ve watched this movie twice and it definitely moved me.)
Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich
Capote

Some of you might disagree with the best picture win if you weren't a big fan of the movie and especially if you had the chance to watch the other nominees, but even though i wanted it to win the oscars, i didn't really think it would, especially having run against such good movies. Were you happy with the winners for this year's oscar, what's your say?

Source: BBC

Tagged by None Other than... Mimi!

I see curiosity got the best of you, therefore, i shall let you into my identity

Seven things to do before I die: (or at least try)
1. Go to Hajj
2. Become a CEO of a Company and even better, own one!
3. Sky Dive
4. Build & Own my own dream house
5. Attain other academic degrees - masters/PhD
6. See a lot more of the world (travel, travel and more traveling)
7. Wouldn’t mind writing a book

Seven things I can't do:
1. Smoke
2. Cycle
3. Watch animals (goat/cows/sheep) being slaughtered or killed.
4. Drink alcohol
5. Betray a friend's loyalty (Alhamdulilah, so far I haven't)
6. Belly dance (don't know why, I’m horrible and unfortunately haven't got the assets)
7. Just for the sake of filling this up, can't watch a horror movie alone.

Seven things I always say- (I'm stuck, weird, coz honestly, i use too many words quite often, I’m contagious with the things I say hehehe.. ):
1. What the hell?!
2. Are you serious?
3. Daaaamn
4. Oh boy!
5. 7asha
6. Sweet
7. InshaAllah Kheir

Seven books I loved:
1. The da vincci
2. Who moved my cheese?
3. The alchemist
4. The 48 laws of power
5. Mayada, Daughter of Iraq
6. Angels and Demons
7. Stupid white men

Seven movies I love watching over and over: (can't think of the movies I’ve watched more than once or ones I’d watch again... but here goes)
1. Last Sumarai (culture!)
2. Moulin rouge (excellent cinematography)
3. Finding Nemo (cute)
4. The interpreter (profound)
5. As good as it gets (have watched it many times, Jack Nicholson is crazy!)
6. A beautiful mind (Excellent acting)
7. What women want (love Mel Gibson)

Seven things I get attracted to:
1. Perfume
2. Chocolate
3. Kittens/cats in general
4. Art work (Mimi, I think we have this one thing in common)
5. Beautifully shaped/colored Eyes
6. Intelligent, respectable people (men/women)
7. Jewelry


Hmm, now that i've read through it, i don't know, oh well, i'm not giong to make changes to it.

Original in his own right!

I was thoroughly going through the "City Business" an English magazine earlier yesterday and i must say i enjoyed the articles published, however, i couldn't help but notice a slip-up on the Business Quotes page of the magazine titled "and they said it..." in which it listed quotes brought forward from Minister of Commerce and Industry, CEO of Sohar Aluminium and from none other than... * drums rolling* the ruler of dubai himself... Shk. Rashid bin Maktoom?! Now mind you, I'm not very familiar with the proper naming of the Shiekhs, but according to my understanding, the late Ruler of Dubai was Shiekh Maktoom bin Rashid Al Maktoom and his brother Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid is currently the Ruler, However, i was a tad bit confused becuase the picture placed on the page did not hold the correct name. Last time i checked, he (Shiekh Maktoom) didn't look like (Shiekh Mohammed) and i could've sworn that the picture placed is of Shk. Mo, so what went wrong there exactly?! Now Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but is there a Shiekh Rashid bin Maktoom, or let's just say the editors didn't do their job well?!I don't know about this magazine much, but they need to work a little more on the editing bit, coz we might have a few people who are probably not very familiar with the looks of either sheikhs, let alone the names!

Anyway, that's beside the point (but i still think they should sort it out) of this post, just wanted to rub that in, the point being, what really caught my attention was his (not sure who exactly, but let's assume its Shk. Mak/ or as the Picture depicts Sheikh Mo.) quote on development which stated "The joy is on doing something that has never been attempted before. Otherwise, there is no point in trying it at all."

Now tell me, he didn't practice what he preached?! Dubai has proven to do everything it has set its mind to. Only 10% of Dubai's GDP comes from oil, the rest of it comes from the various growing sectors such as real estate, retail, wholesale, tourism and many more. Sheikh Mohammed has always been passionate about business development, as he once quoted: "We believe that the role of the government should be restricted to legislation and regulation, in addition to the continuous development of the infrastructure - thus making the private sector the engine of the development process."

Some people may be cynical about it and think that it is going a little OTT with it's attempt to develop into a unique world renowned city, some may argue and say "it's just going to be an artificial city", or even say "It's crazy!" and "Will they get their money back for all the developments?!", Damn it, look at the palm, they managed to sell most of their apartments before the building was finished, and guess what, most of the buyers were International Investors. All I have to say is, this is just their initiative to prove Dubai's ever-growing potential. The traffic maybe out of control, there may be a lack of culture in the air, probably quite a large population of expatriate in fact 80% of its population are expatriates, but at the end of the day, just look at it. They've got the resources and they've put it to use, main objective: business development, bring in the Benjamin’s, recognition, standing out in the world map, provide the best services for its people and the neighboring countries, better yet, provide local and international investors with money. The Sky's the limit with Dubai as my dad likes to say, it remains to have an electrifying economy and as long as it can bring busiess to the city, nothing's going to stop it from growing.

Mad props to you sheikh. I salute you for this accomplishment.

What's your take on the development?!

'You are the cornerstone of the future’ - HM Sultan Qaboos of Oman

As i was flippin through the pages of Oman Observer this morning, i came across this article on the Features section on Aisha Al Khurusi; and I thought to myself... MashaaAllah, she's made it, I have so much respect for her and she's an excellent role model to all Arab women.

I have nothing much to say, I just thought I’d share the article on my blog, as i was very happy for the achievements she's accomplished within the past few years. I've met her before and I know quite a few people who know her personally. I hope we "Arab women" continue to follow the footsteps of such independent women, live our dreams & ambitions and stand proud to represent our country internationally. I wish her further success in her career and life!

Enjoy the read...


Aisha, a role model for Omani Women...
For Omani women gender is no constraint to take up challenges in other countries, as the mission is to come back and serve their country, armed with diverse experience and skills for the betterment of their country’s future.

One of the few examples is Aisha Abdullah al Kharusi, Director of Strategy Development, Middle East Region International Relations, Boeing, based in Dubai. She narrates her success story in an exclusive interview with the Observer, saying that success is not what she craves but the value she carries with her in her daily work.

“Success is a combination of maintaining an open mind, determination, patience and an employer who believes in you. Thankfully, so far, I have been fortunate,” she says. “Working for a publishing house in Oman was the first chapter of my career path. What made it so rewarding was having an employer who had confidence in me and the same goes with my experience here at Boeing,” she adds.

Click the Oman Daily Observer Link to read more...

"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them."

Happy New Year Dear Bloggers!

Hope this year will bring happiness, health, security and prosperity to you and your family and may all good things come your way!

Before, i continute, the above quote is by "Kahlil Gibran", i read that quote before, but until recently, i wouldn't have agreed more. :)

Another year to look ahead at, more decisions to make, problems to face, tears to shed, more
good days and bad. A whole lot to experience.

I think last year was an interesting one for me; I had come across many things, people, and incidents. I came to realize that I have become patient towards certain issues in life, I’ve become tolerant, or probably my way of taking things in and bottling up worries and emotions are through patience?! I don't know. However, I know the year ended with quiet a few tests with my emotions. Incredible I tell you, incredible.

Because of that, I have decided to change my way handling different issues, I’ve decided that I can't stand and watch things happen whilst I sit and take it all in, that if i don't speak up or show how I feel it will never be heard or seen, therefore, i need to push myself to fight for what I deserve. The past year has made me realize that opportunities will not sit there waiting for me to grab it, I need to get a good grip of it and make use of it. I just need to decide on the choices I take, instead of letting fate choose it for me.

Have you ever been a "what-if" situation?! A situation where something occurred and due to other reasons distracting you from taking a step/action, was unable to continue with your journey, experience and you were left wondering "what if"?!

Would you fight for something you feel you deserve, however, you know the chances of getting it are slim?

Have you ever been in a situation where you watched that one thing you cherished and appreciated slip away from you, yet you were too afraid to run after it because you were afraid to be disappointed?!

Well i don't know, but I’ve gone through these situation and I don't think I’ve learnt how to deal with the end result, which is complete disappointment. Life can test you in many ways, we sometimes feel like its unfair that we have to go through so much stress, heartache, remorse or disappointment, but I guess its what makes you stronger at the end of the day, but question is, how do you handle all this, especially when you feel you're alone?! How do you handle the wrong choices you've made in life? I believe the choices we make in life be it right or wrong is part of the experiences we face and is what instills the strength in us. However, sometimes we don't know how to handle the wrong choices we've made. I know I for one haven't been doing a good job.

Life!

Thoughts, Weddings & Tradition - Random!

I know I’ve neglected my blog. I would like to wish all the fellow Bloggers a Belated Eid Mubarak, I meant to blog this Eid, but I got caught up with the Eid hype and by the time it was over I was just too excited to type it all out.

I've just been having such a difficult time putting my thoughts down. I've realized that I’m settling for the conventional method of diary writing. I've got heaps of diaries at home that I’ve collected over the years (Yes, I collect Diaries and very cute and unusual ones as well, you're welcome to come see them) and just recently I decided to put all my thought down.

The past few months have been interesting I must say. The year is coming to an end and as I look back at the months gone by I realized that I have experienced so many interesting incidents, events & things. However, there have been so many days where I felt really down and de-motivated, hence the decision to write on my personal journal.

OK, enough with all the melodramatic gibberish and on to the gist of my entry. Note that this is a self argumentative random thought that just popped up in my head due to the fact that my foreign colleagues have pointed a few aspects of our weddings out. As we "the Omanis, gulf nationals or Arabs in general" know, December is our wedding season, so we've got women all over the place looking for right outfits to show off at the wedding and we've got tailors already refusing to take materials (that's if you're one to tailor them dresses) and then there's the issue of going down to Dubai to shop for gowns, coz unfortunately we don't have many choices out here, so basically, its women going crazy over the endless invitations to extravagant weddings. I know, how dramatic!

See, this understandable and I guess it happens to the best of societies. However, my self argument is, coming from an Arab culture, I find it that we lack the cultural atmosphere when it comes to our weddings, ok, maybe lack is not the word I’m looking for, but I feel that our weddings are starting to lose their identity, for the sheer reason that women in our society these days are leaning towards a more westernized approach to their weddings, where the woman is dressed in an all white wedding gown that reveals parts of her body in some cases (that’s just the girl’s personal choice - Respect) and the bride’s maids who enter along with her who again are either in white or some other flashy colors with those little rose baskets that makes them all soo adorable. OK, I know you're wondering where I’m going with this, but don't you see it?! What’s with the white, bridesmaids and all that jazz? You could argue and say that it's only a reception celebration and on the actual "Malka, 3aqd" - "Matrimonial ceremony" you are dressed in green or adhere to our Arabic traditions. I know that everyone is entitled to their decision on how their wedding should be like and that the weddings is not complete without a reception with the white gown, bride’s maid, cake and watnot, but think about it, really, does that convey our wedding traditions? Ummm.. Not really! I know we'd like to believe that it has already been accepted and has become part of “our tradition" but for those guests who come from abroad to celebrate our weddings, I mean international guests, can't help but comment on the fact that our weddings are very western influenced. I guess it happens not only in our society, we've got a few Asian societies that follow the west; however, I don't see why we should?

We go to a wedding today, whether it's at the Henna or Reception and I feel that most of them have become very standard or has a slight twist to it just to make it look a lil different, however, nothing represents our culture anymore, I mean for God's sake, we've got brides wearing the Indian wedding attires to their 7enna and walk in with some melodramatic Indian track I can't help but find it hilarious!

I'm not one to talk about following traditions I’ll have to admit and not the conventional type of gal, but I can't help but argue to myself about why are we deteriorating from our culture and traditions, why don't our weddings have a sense of tradition to it anymore, do we even know how a typical “Omani or any other Arab wedding” is celebrated?!”, trust me some have actually said “they don’t!”. Are we starting to appreciate other ways of celebrating weddings and neglecting ours, is it just the fact that we are after something different, how do we justify ourselves and why is it that other cultures don't adopt our ways of celebrating or dressing in weddings, aren't we interesting, classy, different enough for them to adopt or are they happy to stick to their ways and traditions?! I'm at an age where I can't help but plan for that "perfect wedding" and I start to wonder "why the white dress, bride's maids, cake and the ring bearer?!" I know I don't have to do all that and no one is forcing me to, but you know how society judges that one night just because it wasn't an "All white wedding", more like "Western influenced wedding". I’m still contemplating mine, but for now I still wonder where our weddings will end up when matters of tradition and culture come in hand?! Would you go for the conventional type of wedding with a twise of Modernization or would you just settle for what we call and believe to be our standard way of celebration?!

Life!

OER Champions of Progress

"OER Champions of Progress, a youth empowering initiative that will for the first time give the youth of Oman, an invaluable opportunity to connect with the country's corporate sector.

OER Champions of Progress is an exclusive, high profile forum for the youth of Oman to express their ideas on issues related to Oman's socio-economic progress. It is a national creative competition for all university and college students in the Sultanate of Oman and is supported by leading members of Oman's corporate community.

Apart from showcasing the creativity of Omani youth and providing them an avenue to interact and share ideas with corporate leaders, creative icons and government officials, OER Champions of Progress will play an important role in the personal and career development of Young Oman.

The prestigious OER Champions of Progress trophy, exciting prizes, scholarships and prospective job opportunities with leading corporate houses await winners of this competition. Moreover, OER Champions of Progress will be a rare event that will genuinely connect students and their educational institutions with the country's leadership, corporate sector and the media.

OER Champions of Progress will have students from all over Oman working in groups to create digital presentations in English on topics pertaining to Oman's progress and development. Five exceptional presentations from all entries will be showcased in a grand event 'OER Champions of Progress' to be held in December 2005. It will then be followed by a creative exchange of ideas between the students and the audience, and felicitation of outstanding presentations and participants."

The following are some of the topics on which the student presentations could be based.

Telecom – With very less differentiation in terms of product offering and technology used, how should telecom companies in Oman move beyond voice based services to offer more revenue oriented broad based data services?

Foreign Investment – What are the potential market segments in Oman that are not tapped by Omani companies and how they could be marketed as the perfect platform to attract more foreign investment?

Global Market – What are the business opportunities available in the global market that could be tapped by Omani Companies to expand their footprint, to give rise to more Omani Multinational companies?

Education – How should educational institutes adapt to the changing market dynamics by offering more job-oriented courses to accelerate the economic development of Oman and the process of Omanization?

Above Quoted is from a credible anonymous source, probably newspaper, newsletter or some article.

Hmm, i think it’s a very interesting venture to launch, a great opportunity for the Omani youth to express their views on relating to the socio-economic progress of the country. In addition, the topics provided for presentation are exceptionally well chosen and I believe it should allow students from the various colleges and universitie(s) in Oman to get involved and network with managers "corporate bigwigs" and representatives of some of the leading organisations in various industries and get acquainted, enhance their knowledge to the various issues that pertain to the development of Oman.

Better yet, i think this is a great opportunity and experience for Omani students especially after they graduate from uni, i don't know, but from what I’ve been seeing, most of the graduates today lack the motivation, drive and knowledge required and this can act as a boost or a launch pad to increasing awareness, help students get involved in research, allow them to think outside of the box, an opportunity to add weight to their CV, help motivate them into getting involved in other forums, build confidence, take challenges and of course teamwork, all which are highly required and looked at in the employment process. Question is how universities and colleges can motivate their students to the step and get involved in this forum, not in an academic level, but rather on a level of achievement, research, personal knowledge and to share with the public?

What's your take on this?

For further details; Check the following pages out:

- OER Website

- Champions of Progress

Ramadhan Greetings to Everyone! 

Judge of character

This post was influenced by a few incidents that has kept me wondering about my judgement of people and the other way round...

How do you we judge people?? What determines our judgement? How do you know when a person is of good character or bad?What's the first thing you pay attention to when meeting a person for the first time?

Another question that went through my mind the other day is how can we judge a person through electronic means, how do we determinetheir characters? For example, if you were to chat, sms, email or read a person's blog, how would you justify their character, especially if you've neverpersonally met them or know very little about their personality?

Som people are easy to read and their personality is very out in the open and others can be very quite and have a mysterious aura about them, that we fail to see their true colors, however, its not always the case, because i feel that sometimes, we as individuals don't pay much attention to the obvious in people that we fail to judge an individuals personality/character.

They say "never judge a book by its cover"

Do you know whether you're a good judge of character or are you bad at it?

Thought

Thoughts:

Note – This is a random thought really, something I wanted to put down.

We live in a small world and its amazing how sometimes we encounter situations that or meet people who could make a big difference to our lives or impact us. Take the time, sit back and think about all the random situations, happiest and saddest moments that we go through in life.

Isn't it just amazing? We need to appreciate life and our surroundings sometimes and not remorse on the mistakes and mishaps we've done or gone through. Everything in life happens for a reason, whether good or bad. Remember, life's a learning experience and a test, sometimes we just can’t question it. Let's appreciate it more often and thank Allah for all he's put us through.

Life!