Many of you already know Fluffy, he’s a popular American stand-up comedian. He recently went to do a stand up show in Saudi and I loved seeing him talk about his experience, it was something beyond comedy. He bashed many stereotypes, showed Arabs in a new perspective and had a great time.

People who don’t understand Arabic often think it’s okay to shrink someone’s name for their convenience if it starts with ‘Abdul’. What they don’t know is that it’s offending to many Muslims including myself. I’ll explain in detail why it’s offensive, as my name ‘AbdulAziz’ is a sentence not a word.

In pronunciation, it is (Abdol Azeez), but linguistically, the name contains three parts:

Abd = means the worshiper
Al = is the definite article in Arabic that is equal to “the” in English
Aziz = A name of God’s 99 names Muslims like, it means strong

The 3 parts compose what we call (Phrasal Name) that must be said or pronounced in full. Neglecting any part of it may create an insulting, ironic or opposite meaning of the wording. Phrasal names aren’t specific to Muslim names, they are used all over the world in different tribes and religions.

In old English (started in Ireland and Scotland, and now everywhere):

The prefix Mc or Mac means (Son of).
So, James McDougal would be James, Son of Dougal

Examples: McDonald’s, McKenzie, McPherson

In Germany the prefix (Fitz) in Fitzgeral, mean (son of Gerald)

Examples: Fitzwater, Fitzhugh, Fitzakerly

I understand that some Arabic names are hard to pronounce for non-Arabic speaking persons, but it’s not about pronunciation, it is about omitting or dropping parts of the name, which leads in many cases to unpleasant meaning of the name.

It’s Abd Al-Aziz
Spelt as AbdulAziz

A thank you goes to Aeid Hassoun for helping me structure this post.

It’s now all over the news that Omar Borkan Al Gala, a Dubai based actor and poet was one of the three that were deported from Saudi because authorities saw them as too handsome and a threat because woman might lose their minds over them? I don’t know what to make of this. On the other hand, never heard a woman was banned from an event for being too pretty, which is probably a dream come true to any girl. I guess being too handsome isn’t always a good thing.

Even though this piece of news has been posted everywhere, including msn and The Daily News, I question its credibility. I haven’t found any source that mentions how they discovered he was one of the three.  Omars Facebook fan page doesn’t mention he was deported, nor does his personal facebook page.

I was impressed to find there’s a handful of Google Doodle’s celebrating iconic Arab figures. The biggest portion were from Eygpt, so far I couldn’t find any GCC figures who were brought up on a Google Doodle but I guess there’s going to be one soon. Feel free to point out someone I’ve missed out.

Google celebrating Mohammed Mokhtar‘s birthday

Google celebrating Khalil Gibran‘s birthday

Google celebrating Ibn Buttuta‘s birthday

Google celebrating Naguib Mahfouz‘s birthday

Google celebrating Taha Hussein‘s birthday

Google celebrating Ibn Khaldun‘s birthday

Google celebrating Ismail Yasin‘s birthday

Google celebrating Mohammed Al Mahdi‘s birthday

When I found out about this buzzing on the web I was sceptical. I don’t understand how some people believe any rumour they see or hear of instantly. Before spreading the word research. Make sure the source(s) you’re getting information from is legit. The button was a hoax by Pan Arabia, a news website famously known for being the Onion News for the Arabian region. Facebook won’t be unveiling this button nor will they offer premium services for the GCC region.

I’ve tried this theme park slingshot before. You sit inside a big ball that fits up to 3 people. The ball is attached to a huge rubber band that shoots into the sky. The hilarious part about the video is the reaction of the guy sitting on the left. He wanted to get off before it even started. I’m not sure where they’re from but I they’re probably GCC.

 Mobile Version

I couldn’t exactly say it was an above the clouds experience, but somewhere high up there. My friend felt his childhood was missing an important piece having never visited Kuwait Towers before so we decided to have breakfast there. I surprised to find out guys aren’t allowed to the open buffet 7 days a week. Only woman, families can enter on weekends.

There was however a big caffeteria one floor under the open buffet area where we were allowed to sit. When we first arrived the place was empty, eventually westerners started coming in. The view is still as good. The windows are dirty which is saddening because you would have expected better maintenance of the place.

We ordered both the Middle Eastern and American breakfast which was pretty much the whole breakfast menu aside from the list of cocktails they offered. The American breakfast gets you some eggs cooked the way you like and some hot dogs. The Middle Eastern is a mix of everything that’s Arabian but mostly Lebanese.

We then got tickets to visit the upper circle where tourist normally go, the tickets are 2KD per person. There are two shops there, one for tourists and a small cafeteria(in gallery). According to the cafeteria guy this place is crowded on weekends. The ground still rotated like the old days but was extremely slow, not sure if it was this slow before.

One of the very famous opening sequences out there would be that of Dexter’s show. I can’t remember how many times I didn’t skip the intro cause it was so good. Admittedly the egg scene makes me hungry everytime. This is a remake of the intro using “العود” as the main instrument. I am impressed, looked very professional. There’s also a Mario Arabian version.