PhilAsify 101

For anyone that keeps a tab on the latest headlines, you are already aware of the depressing state the world is in. Morons are abdundant and reproducing at an alarming rate. We live in a world where a state of emergency can be called, not for a terrorist attack, not for a bomb threat or nuclear holocaust but for Justin Bieber riding around in a bus ! Of course, this is not new at all. Idiotic fan mobs have existed since the infant days of radio and television. They went bonkers for Elvis and Michael Jackson forgetting the fact that they were human beings, just like them. They took dumps, they had flaws, they slept and ate and did tons of things other than entertain. But that didn't stop them from attempting to create a stampede for a chance to publicly rape them and other popular celebrities. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Now people are going loco for a prepubescent boy that dresses and looks like a girl.

I'm MAKIN IT RAIN!!! Well, not really... You know what's really cray ? In the last few years, unless you've been comatose or have been cut off from any form of electronic stimulation, you'd know that our economy is in shambles, man! We're still reeling from it. Stock market is nothing to smile about, gas prices are just gag-inducing, people are getting kicked out of their homes, getting their cars repo'd, having their businesses shut down, getting laid off work, not finding work. PAN-DE-MONIUM, I tells ya! BUT...at the same time, what is plastered all over your TV screen? What's poppin' in the streets? It's folks with the latest threads, the hottest gadgets and the fanciest cars that are just flaunting their riches like theirs no tomorrow. It's like they're number two'ing out money from their plump little keisters! Like they just stumbled on this money without even trying. You put these two ends of the spectrum together and what do ...

Uh, the Elevator is out of order. Sorry for the inconvenience The city of Dubai to me has always been a mystery of some sorts. When I was younger, my Pakistani relatives would always mention it when going on trips and their eyes would light up when talking about the prospect of taking a trip their and going shopping at their vast markets. When I got a little older, my cousins from Oman would talk about getting expensive items like  video game consoles, cars and such for "dirt cheap. Whenever I thought of the middle east, I always thought deserts, modest villages and such. But Dubai was an exception. They practically have the biggest and most gaudy anything, whether its their shopping malls, their indoor ski resorts, their sinfully huge buildings and artificial landmarks.  I watched a special on the travel channel about Dubai about it's transformation to the "Arabian New York" and it is just mind boggling. I mean theirs more construction workers and contractors ...

For the two or three people that have followed me since the beginning of PhilAsify, you would know that I aspire to be a lot of things that I have yet to venture towards. One of those pipedreams is screenwriting. My passion to read as well as craft compelling stories led me to take a great interest in screenwriting while in college. I took a course on it and have  read a few books that ignited my affection and respect towards this skilled art and made me feel that this may very well be my calling card. I still think it can. Looking back, I wish my  study of screenwriting would have lasted more than a semester and that the class (though I'm not knocking my professor, Sam Havens, as he was a brilliant, funny and blunt teacher) would have been more extensive and hands on. 

Okay, you got me. This blog was an excuse to show off this sweet pic! Now it's no secret that I'm a big basketball fan and I love my Houston Rockets and yearn for the days when Houston was a respected and feared team across the league like the days of my seven-foot brother Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. Unfortunately, those days aren't going to be repeated anytime soon as the Rockets are a young and rebuilding team after losing Yao Ming to injury retirement. That being said, the Playoffs haven't been all that appealing to me other than enjoying seeing teams I hate get dismantled like both LA Teams getting eliminated, rival champions the Dallas Mavericks get stomped from the first round and the Miami Heat struggling. I was happy to see the Jazz (who snared a playoff spot from the Rockets and every Houston fans know our bitter history) get swept by the Spurs. And it's looking very much like the Spurs are going to take the titles once again. Yeah the ...

A phrase that has long been thrown around is the popular term, "a real man". Being labeled a "real man" has forever been seen as the ultimate compliment of respect one man could give another and to be viewed in this way has been regarded as the ultimate goal to achieve for the male population. But what is "a Real Man?" Sorry Mike Gundy, age doesn't have anything to do with it.

Holy hell! The attack of the graduation caps! Ah, the month of May. Final exams are at last behind us and many of us have Google and Wikipedia to thank for that. So many people across the nation and the world spend this month preparing for that glorious day they get handed a rolled up piece of paper that symbolizes their diploma while Randy "Macho Man" Savage's theme music blasts over the intercom. For some high schoolers, this date is their biggest and for some their final noteworthy achievement of their lives. They are out of the system and are released to the real world--often with little to no preparation for what lies ahead. They are told that they have made it and are fed that tired line of the "world being their oyster". The possibilities are endless now and they can choose their path to success. For a number of those beaming faces, its their last stop, subsequently followed by finding a minimum wage job, knock up somebody/get knocked up (if they hav...