Balance is the word

We, the young teenage rebels of the twenty first century, have become part of a world where finding leisure, fun and entertainment is a click away. Long gone are the days when teenagers had to spend a handful of cash to entertain themselves in a bowling arcade or buy a novel, we have it all for free! While many of the supporters of that will debate that it has narrowed the cultural variation gap, and that lack of funds wouldn’t lead to lack of fun, this has also made our generation shortsighted, unintelligent and above it, all, uninterested in anything but who is going to comment on their ‘Facebook’ status. The already flaming debate about whether we should ‘live the moment’ or ‘aspire for the future’ has sizzled with the stakes so high… What’s right and what’s wrong?

Many of the youth of today live their life to the fullest, embracing every second and making a milestone out of every day, appreciating the lily’s aroma in the spring, the flaming sun in the summer, the rust feel of the autumn and the breezy chill of winter. Their high school life goes by as they engage in partying, dating, clubbing, shopping and any other, moral, and sometimes immoral, activity you can possibly imagine. After they’ve ‘done it all’ and they’re broke, they are confronted by the fact that they wasted the years in which they should’ve been maturely developing on worthless ‘fun’. Some will go on living off part time jobs, but a part of them will know that it’s over. They will have hit rock bottom. Others may proceed to the ‘right track’ or whatever you choose to call it, but the inevitable fact will not miraculously disappear: They have wasted the most relevant decade of their life.

The second group, that seems to be diminishing in the world today, are the absolute opposite of the ones who have “Live while we’re young” as their cell phone ringtone. These are the youth who build their present around their future. Their every act is with the motive of reaching for the stars, moving one step closer to the future they worked for and pondered over for a majority of their existence. They have their university and career of choice planned and they spend every waking moment where they aren’t cramming to ace an exam, daydreaming about the day when that dream will turn into reality. The question is, though, are these young scientists, poets, lawyers and doctors of the future doing themselves justice? Will they wake up two decades from now, realizing that they wasted their life prepping for an interview or conference in their dorm room? They probably will but it shall then be too late.

If I had to pick a lifestyle of the two, I would be more in sympathy with the latter but the good news is, I don’t, and neither do you. Why don’t we break the trend for once and rather than condemn ourselves to the life of a nerd or a partier, obliviously following a stereotype, make our own trend and lifestyle? Why don’t we strike a balance between the two? It isn’t as hard as many might believe it would be. We can always sign up for extracurricular activities which are both enjoyable and educational. It’s basically the best of both worlds. Read a book, go to a party, prep for the exam then head to the GYM! There are twenty four whole hours a day and conforming to a mere activity all along is tedious and repetitive. You intertwine both lifestyles and you got yourself an winning infusion!

Stereotyping Genders

When was the color blue attached to boys while pink for girls? Who ingeniously decided that football was for men while fashion was for no one but women and gay guys? Why was Twilight declared for females and Lord of the Rings for males? Most significantly, why is anyone breaking those ‘rules’ immediately labeled as a weirdo, nerd or worse?

It seems to me, ladies and gentlemen of the twenty first century, that we have evolved minimally, from the times of our ancestors. Adults in TV shows and high school are always whining about how teenagers are conforming to stereotypes. The real question is, who gave us these stereotypes? These tiny unbreakable boxes? Weren’t your parents the ones to get your little sister a Barbie doll and your brother a video game? Didn’t they shop for you right after the sonogram came out telling them your anticipated gender?

Until today, in a majority of the world’s cultures, it’s okay for a guy to fool around before marriage but it doesn’t work with the opposite sex. A stay-at-home dad is considered someone with lack of chivalry and honor, but housewives are okay.

My point is not about showing that society is biased against a particular gender. The double standards we live in are unjust to each and every one of us, male or female. The tragic part is that we are the one to blame. We cling to stereotypes to avoid our insecurities. If each one of us was really confident and had a sense of their identity we would make our hobbies and interests, rather than sexuality, define who we are. It’s a matter of choice.

Project Runway - S11E04:

The Ultimate Hard and Soft

Over the seasons, I always found the unconventional challenges extremely enjoyable and interesting simply because they sometimes manage to reveal the designers’ open-mindedness and creativity. Unfortunately though, in some cases, it manages to highlight their eccentricities and flaws.

The fact that the shows’ creators gave the designers the opportunity to mix between the soft and hard was also a rather intriguing choice that got me excited for this episode to start! The challenge was a two-day one with an extremely high budget of $2500 per team to design six cohesive looks. In the beginning, I felt that the teaming was rather unjust since Dream Team only had five contestants left while team Keepin’ it real was intact. This was ultimately solved by Tim Gunn when he gave Dream Team the opportunity to take two designers from Team Keepin’ it real. They ingeniously chose Layana and Stanley. On the other hand Team Keepin’ it real was given the opportunity to take one from Dream Team. To my surprise, they all seemed to agree on Michelle even though I see Benjamin as a more worthy contestant with higher potential. Another thing I completely disliked is that most designers seem to regard Patricia as a weak link while I find her eccentric ideas genius.

During Caucus time, Dream Team seemed to give Stanley the leadership role while Team Keepin’ it real, functioned collaboratively with no evident leader. The sketch work produced gave me an impression that we were not in for a fabulous runway. As always, Amanda was bitching about the challenge. Since ALL the challenges don’t seem to satisfy her, WHY IS SHE HERE? Another question, why has Benjamin been wearing the same shirt for three challenges now?

In the Workroom

Amanda’s moss (which is the material she chose for her dress) kept falling off. I find it inefficient that she didn’t check about that during shopping. Team Keepin’ it real seemed to struggle a lot, unlike in the former challenges. The looks weren’t cohesive. On the other hand, Dream Team’s Benjamin Mach seemed to be doing the same mistake he always does which is sketching something completely unachievable in the tiny time frame.

Once Tim’s critique came, Team Keepin’ it real seemed a bit more on time. The connecting factor in this case was that they all had an Avant Garde edge to them. I was blown away by Michelle and Richard’s piece though. I wasn’t impressed that he has been using leather looking material for two weeks now. C’mon, where’s the versatility? Like in the past, I saw Patricia’s dress as something with potential, yet eccentric. Joe’s was just UGLY which was proven to me even further during model fitting! Amanda’s looked like something that a sexy Santa would wear and I loved the silvery thingies (excuse my mime vocabulary when it comes to hardware utilities) on top which looked like a necklace. Kate’s looked a little crafty and beauty pageant looking. Cohesion was still an issue.

Dream Team seemed to have been much more organized this time. The general theme of their collection was Dior. Layana had a beautiful edge to her Victorian dress and Tu’s vest was AMAZING! I want that vest! Surprisingly, while micromanaging everyone else, witch success, Stanley’s was the only one to lack the sophistication that Dream Team brought to the table. Benjamin’s weaving was interesting and intricate. BRAVO! Samantha’s was weird and confusing.

On the Runway!

The show started with Team Keepin’ It Real. For the first time ever, Daniel’s dress wasn’t good. It was plain hideous. Joseph’s look was equally detestable. I suddenly lost faith in my favourite team. The look that Michelle and Rachel gave was beautiful but I didn’t like the rustic feel. Patricia’s was interesting as well. Amanda’s was over the top but it really was the only way to hide the inadequacy of the moss material. I don’t blame her. Kate’s was by far my favourite. I feel like Kate is suddenly growing on me. She took a risk and, to me, it paid off. That dress represented sophistication, beauty and hard work. Overall, it’d give the team a 3.

                                                                             

Moving on to Dream Team, Matthew finally produced something that was worth my attention. That piece was fierce, fabulous and I could swear I would’ve never guessed belonged to the unconventional challenge. Stanley’s look was intricate and looked fitting for a princess in the prehistoric times. Tu’s vest was amazing but I despised the skirt. Don’t mean to sound racist but his English is starting to get on my nerves as well! Benjamin’s intricate piece finally satisfied my belief that he is one of the best in the competition. I feel like once he stopped micromanaging everyone, he was able to focus on the greatness that is his aesthetic. It is my belief that he should have won this challenge. I loved Samantha’s use of contrasting material. Nevertheless, her piece wasn’t a frontrunner. It did manage to show a silhouette that is, while similar to Daniel’s, had a unique touch of sophistication. Layana’s piece reminded me of Gone with the wind for some reason. I love it nevertheless. This young woman manages to impress me week after week.

I believe Dream Team aced the challenge this time and were way better than Team Keepin’ it real. I’m surprised Heidi said it was such a close run.

I was repulsed by the fact that all members of Team Keepin’ it real threw Amanda right under the bus even though her piece was one of my personal favourites. Layana and Benjamin being in the top three was adequate. What shocked me was Samantha being placed in the same category. The finishing was a hot mess, for Christ’s sake! I disagree with Zac Posen who claimed that Amanda’s proportions were off. They seemed fine on screen. Joseph’s was terrible but I actually found Daniel’s way worse.

I feel like the elimination choice was unjust this time. Daniel’s dress wasn’t even considered for the bottom three. It was plain weird! The fact that Samantha won was equally weird. C’mon, I would’ve understood Layana taking the win from Benjamin’s trendy floral piece but Samantha! WHY?!

After a very dismal episode, the ending suspended us all in midair wondering what was yet to come!

My dedicated Readers,

I realize and understand the several of you who have chosen to stop checking my blog completely since I have not posted for a week now. To the few who still check, claiming to be busy would be dishonesty. To be truthful, I am simply feeling bored and uninspired. I believe it is a severe case of writer’s block. Expect more very soon.

Love,

Adam Ashraf

The Myth of Unconditional Love

I’d be writing this article from St. Tropez if I got a dollar for every time the words ‘unconditional love’ were mentioned on a cheesy eighties movie or some stupid New York Times’ bestseller involving an  equally cheesy storyline. The mere ideology behind unconditional love is naïve, unrealistic and plain ludicrous. Excuse my apparent lack of romanticism.

Before I elaborate on why unconditional love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, let me ask you readers, out there, a simple question, what is Love? According to Dorling Kindersley dictionary, it’s ‘a passionate affectionate’. I’m sure that to you it means the butterflies in your stomach or the magnetization you feel when you’re next to your significant other. The more important word in this praise though is ‘unconditional’. What does that one mean? Well, according to the exact same dictionary, it’s ‘limitless’ or ‘not subjected to conditions’.

Here’s my question to Bella of Twilight, if Edward killed Reneesme or Jacob, would you still love him unconditionally? Would you still have the same limitless affection for him? Well, clearly not! The ironic part is that nearly every couple on television break up three episodes after claiming their unconditional love to each other, and what about the 50% worldwide divorce rate which usually involves couples who once upon a time made a vow to love each other ‘until death do us part’. It’s no wonder some people stopped believing in marriage! The only couple to actually be in love unconditionally was Romeo and Juliet and look how that ended!

Wrapping up, to quote my iconic idol, Nicholas Sparks, “Love is like the wind, you can’t touch it, but you can always feel it”. Well, guess what? The wind passes by, leaving nothing behind but a cold chill. To me, real love isn’t a mere butterfly in your stomach. Rationality and kindness, waking up in the morning knowing that you have an anchor, a reference, someone to hold on to, someone who will hold you up and right your wrongs. This is true love.

Project Runway - S11E03:

Surprise Me!

OMG! Unlike the second episode, this one was super interesting! Let me just start by confessing that the episodes where the challenges involve designing for Heidi or Nina are my personal favorite, which is why I was so excited for this one! Once I saw the storyboard for the ad campaign, I was hooked even further. Each team was asked to produce six looks, four of which are for Heidi to wear on her fragrance advertisement and two for the press releases with a budget of $1200 in one day.

In The Workroom!

Unlike in the first two episodes, Team Keepin’ It Real didn’t seem much in synch. I guess the winning got to their heads! Teaming Amanda and Joe together was a stupid idea as they both have completely different design aesthetics. The problem with Amanda is that she simply lacks team spirit. Joe seemed to want to design a dress that would have been okay for another challenge. I am glad Amanda tuned him appropriately. His vision didn’t suit Heidi’s swagger style at all. Like in the first challenge, Patricia started doing her own material. Initially, I saw her dress as a train wreck, but like in the first challenge, by runway time, it was a well-sculptured piece. Kate and Layana’s look seemed interesting. I wonder why Layana was being such a drama queen.

Moving on to Dream Team, as always, Benjamin was over the top, fabulous and just forward. He keeps reminding me of Austin Scarlett! I was concerned with the fact that by the time Tim came for the critique, he was yet terribly unfinished, though. The part where he talked about his social life made me long for his win even more. Cindy simply sucks, as always! And Michelle keeps proving that she is meticulous and fashion forward.

Runway Time

My initial thought was, “OMG! Heidi’s dress is so AMAZING!”, but then what’s new, her clothes are always amazing. Zac Posen’s fabulous red suit is a long way from good old Kors’s all black look which we’ve been seeing consistently for ten seasons. OMG! Kristin Davis is the guest judge, YES! I totally love Sex and The City!

As soon as Team Keepin’ it real’s models start sashaying down the runway, my jaws drop at how intricate everything is. I never took great notice of Daniel’s dress in the workroom but the second it hits the runway, I felt that this was the winner, without a question. Patricia’s look was interesting yet lacks sophistication and the Amanda-Joe look was nice (but to quote Michael Kors, “You never wanna be reviewed as ‘nice’.” That’s especially true when you’re designing for Heidi Klum. Richard’s looks would’ve been good if he had the brains to remove that stupid black butt-tail he made her. Layana and Kate’s look was AMAZING, flawless and fitting. I wasn’t a fan of Stanley’s piece though. Too much styling to me simply because I tend to be a simplistic person.

Cindy's outed look!

Contrary to my belief initial belief about Dream Team in the workroom, Michelle’s piece wasn’t that meticulous. Unlike Matthew’s belief, I found his dress fierce though slightly similar to Max and Lubov Azria’s 2013 collection. Since this was filmed last summer though, clearly that wasn’t a case of copyright infringement. Cindy’s dress was weird and lacked proper execution. The fact that she found it good proves her inefficiency. Samantha’s was fierce and the model made it work. I loved Benjamin’s piece, and I didn’t like how the judges hated on it, but I clearly there was an issue with the breasts. While he keeps being in the bottom three, I still feel there is potential within. Tu’s was weird; I don’t even want to remember it.

I wasn’t surprised with the judges’ choices. To be honest though, Dream Team seemed closer to winning this time.

One of the two winning looks designed by Kate and Layana

I am glad that Kate and Daniel won this challenge. I believe that they were both the two best pieces on the runway today! Like in the case of the first challenge and Emily, and unlike the case of James and challenge two, Cindy’s outing was obvious and inevitable. The sneak peeks from the upcoming episode had me craving for Thursday to come so I can watch episode 4 already! See ya next week, fashionistas!

*My reviews aren’t based on the judges’. In fact, I tend to disagree with the judges a LOT

My Oscar Winning Speech

FOX Corporation has announced a competition, in the Middle East, involving amateurs filming what they would say on their Oscar winning speech. The winner gets their speech previewed on Fox Movies. This is what I said for my video entry.

“WOW! For years and years, ever since I wrote the script for my high school musical production, I would stand before my mirror, late in the night, and practice my Oscar Winning speech knowing that this wasn’t just a dream. It was bound to happen, it was inevitable. Surprisingly, ever since I stepped on stage tonight, I seem to have forgotten every word of it! Anyway, now that I have that little naked statue to keep on myself and cherish for the rest of my life, I feel like I’ve come home at last.

I’d like to dedicate this to my amazing mother, without which I wouldn’t be standing before you. She was the one who told me, twenty years ago, ‘Adam, the world is your oyster. I know you’re capable of achieving all your dreams. You go get ‘em’. The way she had trust in me was the light that illuminated my pathway. A big thank you to the picture’s dedicated cast without which my screenplay wouldn’t have come to life.

Here’s a little something I’d like to say to every dreamer out there, whether you’re a poet, singer or actor, 'Don’t Dream it, Be it', and remember my mother’s words. Believe me, they’ll come in handy."

Why I hate Capitalism!

Just Until the time I moved to Cairo, earlier last year, I saw communism as a mere economic ideology that does nothing but limit the deserving rich and deprive them of their financial freedom while providing lazy losers with privileges they did not earn and, consequently, saw capitalism as justice. As someone who lived in nowhere but Dubai all my life, I simply did not know what poverty was and saw it as a foreign notion. The capitalism I saw was, ‘There are people who are extremely rich and people who are financially middle class.’ You get what you deserve! What’s wrong with that?

Upon moving to Egypt, I found myself in a status quo completely different from that of my former residence. Egypt was a capitalist country to further extremes. My place of residence there was Maadi, a high end suburb that was Egypt’s equivalent of California’s Pasadena, yet obviously not as glamorous. It was classic suburbia where housewives worked as teachers in the morning right after having their $10 breakfast at Starbucks, going shopping in Nine West or playing a tennis match in one of the several community clubs made for this niche. The men chose medicine or engineering for a career, basically conforming to a stereotype. My life felt like a game of house, except for one bit!

My dad enrolled me in a $5000 school which was, physically, a mile away, yet socially, another world. An invisible social barrier, taller than the Great Wall of China itself, separated high end Maadi from Tura, a slum where sanitation is viewed a privilege. It was a world foreign to me. As I started walking to school every day, it felt like a challenge as I stepped into the world of oblivion, a world crowded by shadows of people who experienced hunger, poverty and pain firsthand, a world where pot stash is treated like water. Everyone who lived there either worked as a driver or maid for someone in Maadi, or in other cases, drug dealers and pimps.

I won’t deny it, at first I was repulsed, disgusted at the mere idea of such beings crowding my vicinity where the biggest concern was whether I was going win Student Council President elections or not affording the trip to London my school is offering. I blamed them for their ever-ailing circumstances until I found out that the average Egyptian family’s net earnings per month was $150s, about as much as I spent on MUN registration. How do you expect them to aspire, or even want, more when they starve every night with no supper to give their kids? Upon further analytical reflection, I think I’m starting to despise capitalism.

To conclude, neither is capitalism, nor communism perfect. Each has its own strengths and flaws. Capitalism, if implemented with appropriate governmental welfare schemes, for the financially unstable, without being a controlling tool in the hands of the upper socioeconomic class, would be a blessing that would bring about social equality. Yet, in the world we live in, which dictates ‘survival of the fittest’, I’d rather put my money on Communism!

Repulsive Human Rights Violations

I was just about to get to sleep when a devastating, repulsive piece of news appeared on my television set. I am not the person to easily get moved by such but this was just shameful and nearly reduced me to tears. Earlier today, thugs, reportedly sent in by The Muslim Brotherhood, have infiltrated the lines of the demonstrators in Tahrir Square sexually harassing and raping not only females, but also males, publicly, which was never heard of in the past in Egypt. I won’t be reporting any details since people interested will receive information from sources.

This is an act which has taken Human Rights Violations to new level. Here’s a little message to Human Rights Watch and the United Nations Human Rights council. What are you doing now, huh? Isn’t that your job? Such Violations and inhuman, barbaric gestures simply prove that contrary to the people’s beliefs, the human race is going backwards.

Sources for Information may be found here:

Sex attacks against women in Tahrir Square alarm rights groups.

Muslim Brotherhood 'paying gangs to go out andrape women and beat men protesting in Egypt' as thousands of demonstrators pouron to the streets.

Fearless Felix

We all know Felix as merely the man who flew faster than the speed of sound, yet, there’s a lot of things that none of us know about the skydiver that has attracted eyes since his astonishing freefall .

First of all, Baumgartner was born in the city of Salzburg, Austria (Yes, It is that amazing setting of the one and only, The Sound Of Music) on 20th April 1969. The genius was immersed into the world of skydiving in 1985, at the age of 16, after his first sky dive.

“The company's [Red bull] out-of-the-box thinking and Felix's adventurous spirit clicked, and they've collaborated ever since leading to Felix’s records”, claims Red Bull’s website, yet, a recent illustration revealed by British National Daily newspaper, The Guardian shows that when he was five, the skydiving daredevil drew a picture of himself parachuting down to earth while his family watched.

Conventional skydiving eventually outgrew Felix’s always challenging spirit and the adrenalin rush it gave him stopped being enough, this is when he extended his skills to BASE jumping which is simply parachuting from a fixed object or landmark.

“I find that the lightning-fast reflexes and precise techniques required by such low-altitude feats also enhance my high-altitude skydiving technique”, he once said. Felix has became the first person to BASE jump from the completed Millau Viaduct in France on 27 June 2004 and the first person to skydive onto, then BASE jump from, the Turning Torso building in Malmö, Sweden on 18 August 2006. On 12 December 2007 he became the first person to jump from the 91st floor observation deck of the then-tallest completed building in the world, Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan and has been nominated for a World Sports Award and two categories in the NEA Extreme Sports Awards. He is also a prominent advocate for the nonprofit Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation. And, while he acknowledges that the Red Bull Stratos mission is a step into the unknown, his determination to reach the edge of space and break the speed of sound was unshakable.

On October 14th 2012, Felix jumped to Earth from a helium balloon in the stratosphere. As part of this project, he set the altitude record for a manned balloon flight, parachute jump from the highest altitude, and greatest free fall velocity.

The conclusion I would like to make is that Felix is an example of a person we can take as a role model. You definitely don’t have to be a scientist to be an example or to take him as one. However, as a world citizen, you should make yourself a pioneer wherever you go and in whatever you do in the world.