Saba's Ramblings

“I say, never be complete. I say, let the chips fall where they may”

u2bale — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 06:51:34 +0000

If everyone hates everything so much – that it shows through “insurrections” and “riots” and “blogs” – when then are we rushing to turn off nuclear power plants? Because they are “dangerous”?

Clearly no one WANTS peace, no one ENJOYS the differences amongst us as race, and wants to hate based on ‘them’ being different – then lets just run the nuclear power plants. What are we saving this human race for? Everyone in the race is hell bent on ending it – or so it seems. Khatum karo yeh bakwaass… what use is all this pretense and show of “love” and “intelligent debate” and “progress”?

The minds have been eaten up already, either due to religious fervor or due to economic strife. So, now what? You want to use these feeble minds to make decisions?

For all those looking for the signs of “end of days” – the world heard you.. and the world is answering your call…

Not blogging -

u2bale — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:24:50 +0000

until I have something “chipper” to say. Until the thoughts are dark and small, so must the blogs be: tweets.
Too little to say as too much is happening (and none of it is my doing).

There is an army of young voices in Pakistan and though they all seem to have something to say, that is all it appears to be: words.

The people performing acts are all the wrong ‘uns

Enough.

As for life here, I remain at the fringes looking in. I wonder when I will realize that this is the only time I will be here. Still viewing life in 2D – like a movie happening to someone else. I guess this is some sort of disassociation syndrome.

Need your voice – URGENTLY

u2bale — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:27:52 +0000

There is a lot of talk about the power of the people… lets see if this works.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION to save an innocent woman falsely accused. Keep her from the barbarians who plan to stone her to death by the end of the week.

Free Sakineh

She URGENTLY need your signatures, before injustice is carried out… you YOU can / may be able to stop it.

Also for the people interested in Pakistani efforts at democrazy…

please see if you can sign the petition (and if it will mean anything)…

Pakistan needs flood relief not another monumental mistake

Since there is always a cry AFTER the disaster happens and after people die.. can one use one of the only shows of people power to the powers that be… BEFORE something goes horribly wrong. Protest / sign petition….. if you care.

/no comment/

u2bale — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:58:14 +0000

This is my obligatory September post.

I had had a lot to say as I had one of the kinds of adventures I was often caught in the middle of, back in Pakistan but then I realized even that does not matter. Recent events around the world especially Pakistan would only fill me with disgust if I still had a heart. (Tin Man you have competition)

Riding buses all over town for 4 hours means even less. It is just my life. In a world where lives are worth nothing, why should mine be any different.

Then to some I can say, bleeding hearts are fine so long as they are not worn on the sleeve.
There is not much I want to say, any more.

Friends or people masquerading as friends who only stand up to berate you as a means of defense.. can they be qualified as “friends”? Yep, had one of them incidents too… and then people ask why I shirk from meeting people and mingling. Nothing is sacred. People-kind is profane.

People, events, disasters and decisions though monumental leave you with no words. Cannot promote fund raising, don’t want to be a part of anything – good bad or ugly.

“
Don’t want to lose my shirt
Don’t want to dig the dirt
Don’t want you to get hurt
“
- Slug by U2 – posing as Passengers

“hardness, it sets in, you need some protection, the thinner the skin”

No no no … er… THIS is my life!

u2bale — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:03:02 +0000

For those of you who STILL have not subscribed to this funny man’s videoes on You Tube, WHY HAVEN’T YOU?

(un)Productive Day – not!

u2bale — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:41:46 +0000

Just a few notes from the day… the sleep cycle is totally out of whack, such that now I cannot sleep during the night and since the day demands that I be at a place of work, I am forced to doze off intermittently during the day at inopportune times! (I literally awoke 3 minutes before the CEO and CFO stopped by my desk to say hi and to welcome me…this could have been the shortest career, if I had kept on dozing!!) Next stop – I create an incarnation of Tyler Durden!

Today, during a cab ride which I shared with some inquisitive co workers, who insisted on asking me my age, my marital status, my background etc… I seemed to have shocked the cab driver when I said my parents are from Pakistan… I actually saw him rise in his seat and check me in the rear view mirror – I have never had that happen before – at the mention of me (or my family) being from Pakistan! Either I had sounded too strange to be desi or that I was a potential threat to him… I think the former as he too was of S. Asian descent.

It seems I am working for a group of phenomenally smart engineers and it’s cool to see that some companies STILL work with real engineers and not marketeers posing as engineers! Also, it appears to be worthwhile (so far, am highly skeptical of all things now) to work for a small company where the engineering department is just within reach and not like at a large global company where the engineers are in some other time zone so you never get to actually see them! Today seeing all them Canadian engineers (iron rings on nearly all little fingers) I realized that it was like being back at university. The quiet, understated (nearly modest) *NEARLY* modest way of the engineer was apparent, the peeps that are interested in FGPAs, knowing what they know and knowing it well… all else is fluff anyway!! The obligatory xkcd.com cartoon on the wall, the sneaker supporting, T shirt wearing wiry men who sit looking through code and literally blowing up bits as they solder and drill stuff (there was a mini explosion as we stood around them because someone seemed to have drilled something too hard and bits flew across the room!).

Strange things I saw during my ride home!

On the way home or across the water in a ferry then, I was with other passengers one of whom seemed to be attending circus school as he sat across from me practicing rotating some orbs in his palm. Also on this ferry I saw a couple of men who caught my eye, at first, because one of them had tattoos all around his arms – from his wrists to his shoulders (which btw I see ALOT of here, or I see the same people – who knows!) but what I then noticed was that

1. this person was a mix of Keith Richards and Ron Wood (Rolling Stones) but only if they were ANOTHER 20 years older – clearly this man puts his body through some serious abuse
2. the guy with him was having some drug withdrawals as I saw him scratch himself all over his legs and arms during the 15 min ferry ride -(this could have made me sad – but I saw it as an academic ferry ride and refused to employ emotion).

O and as I was nearer the house at the train interchange I saw a pair of black sneakers with socks stuffed in them, just sitting there, in the middle of the pathway.. no owners no business… just sitting there!

ALSO, I must, MUST insist (to those of you who listen to music) that THE NATIONAL are now quickly becoming one of my favorite bands. Why have more people NOT been going on about them? Their earlier work (though High Violet IS mind blowing) – both Alligator and Boxer are precious pieces of musical subtlety. The gentle to the ferocious guitar work, and the drumming… omg the drumming (military style with strange complicated loops), they have it all…. And then the man with THE voice… if James Earl Jones were a singer, his voice could not have competed with the depth and richness in this man’s voice… and of course a voice that literally sounds as if it is holding the world’s woes deep within it…listening to them is highly recommended and yeah, please try to avoid the suicide you MIGHT feel compelled to commit after listening to them! (though, some songs have a dark humor hidden deep within – so you see, they are not all doom and gloom!)

Just another quick reminder, folks in Pakistan – those NOT flying across the world as the country goes under, DO still need help from everyone in this time of crisis. The flood victims suffer endlessly and no respite seems apparent. There are very few individual donations and yet the people wait….please help if you can. If you need avenues to help through, please check out the
Wiki here
and here

or you can contact me for more info.

Pakistan’s Flood

u2bale — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:38:22 +0000

Just wanted to get the word out for those of you who are sending donations to Pakistan for the relief efforts. Not trusting the various scams in Pakistan, I did not know how to get donations across to the people affected rather than line Zardari’s suits…that was until I found that my own aunt who has been a vociferous HR activist for 25 years is actually taking rations and needed supplies to the areas with her gang from Islamabad.

If any of you care to work through her please do. Her name is Tahira Abdullah and I think some of you have even met her. If you all trust me I can say that she is about 10 times more trustworthy than me… so will ensure your donations reach the right folks.

Anyway just thought I should spread the word. There is severe donor fatigue this time around. People cannot afford to feed themselves (with nearly 20% inflation on food items) and now this so the folks are having a hard time collecting funds this time. Add to that; the fact that there is no more trust in that society – so of course collecting funds is an issue.

Here’s a link for you perusal… please share on your Facebook – those of you who have more friends(!), to share the info – just click on your social media icon of choice.

http://ciopakistan.com/2010/08/pkfloods-a-little-big-effort/

Also, I have more info regarding direct bank deposits etc. for Tahira’s efforts for both: donors from Pakistan and those abroad. Please comment or email me else follow the wiki mentioned in the link above.

Flood Pictures

Some pictures of the devastated areas… how much more can they and the world take? The scale and depth of the destruction has and will apparently set Pakistan back decades.

THIS MAN EITHER HAS TOO MANY BRAINS (individual – all logged in his head) or… MAN!!!

u2bale — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:42:41 +0000

Warning – This is a U2 related post

u2bale — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 08:26:16 +0000

So this is when my favorites all played together, played a song I LOVE and in a city I used to live in. What then is the problem? I was not there!!!

This is U2 – featuring Arcade Fire playing Joy Division’s “Love will tear us apart”. This song though brilliant has only been made extra special here thanks to the multi multi faceted and multi multi talented Arcade Fire with the B Man.. so now how did this happen – that I missed seeing them?

Well. I DiD see them -(meaning) U2 play live but not in Montreal. Well. I did see them play in Montreal but not in 2005. Well I did see them play in 2005 but not in Montreal….
Confused yet-?
Interested still?

Hahaha – thought not.

I did see U2 in Montreal in 1997 and in 2001 but of course Arcade Fire did not exist then… so of course I missed seeing them. Then.. THEN… I missed seeing Arcade Fire tonight on a YouTube / Vimeo Webcast from Madison Square Garden…

following in the footsteps of their mentors – U2 who webcast their Pasedena show live from the Rose Bowl last year…. but hey that was a worldwide first…. and it was U2 so what was one to expect, eh, (breaking new ground)?!

For those of you keeping score, the number of times I have seen U2 perform live is….10

1991- ZooTV Tour – Tempe Arizona (yes yes I missed my degree final exams.. BUT THIS WAS U2!)

1997- PopMart Tour – Montreal, Canada
2001- Elevation Tour – Montreal, Canada
2005- Vertigo Tour – San Jose, CA
2005 – Vertigo Tour – San Jose, CA
2005- Vertigo Tour – Portland, OR
2005- Vertigo Tour- Oakland, CA
2005 -Vertigo Tour – Oakland, CA
2006-Vertigo Tour06 – Honolulu, HI
2009 – 360 Tour – London, England

Shows attended: 10
Tickets bought to shows: 17
Pure joy at seeing them live : Priceless

(and yes I do not, as yet, have tickets to any of the N. American shows scheduled for 2011).
However for those of you who still need to know why this band matters (in case the music is not inspiring enough for you), maybe the pizza will help!

http://u2log.com/2010/08/06/cheesy-goodness-u2-brings-the-pizza/

“Fans outside the Olimpico stadium in Turin got the surprise of a lifetime when all of U2 came out to greet them after Thursday night’s rehearsal bearing gifts: pizza for all!”

And….. finally the ultimate reason for this U2 high today.. I finally heard / saw / found what I had been looking for – a live version of “Hawkmoon 269″. I do not know why I had not seen this earlier. This and Acrobat my two favorites that U2 NEVER ever play…. yet there is this extremely rare find of Hawkmoon 269 being played live.

o yea and the U2 360 tour re starts today – after delays and health scares. Bono, here’s wishing you SAFETY… we’d MUCH rather have you safe than to see you jumping / dancing / prancing around (or off) stage.

My existence

u2bale — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:13:26 +0000

THIS IS LITERALLY HOW I SPEND MY DAYS….

Honestly this guy: from “Tales of Mere Existence” is my hero..

Thanks dude!