Cat's Cradle

Hey yaars,

The title of the post corresponds to the book I've just finished by the famed Vonnegut. Unlike Slaughter House Five I actually understood this book a better, without being confused about time travel. And yes, like all of you, I am too a Bokononist.

Football Sunday and Monday was pretty decent for once. We ended up going 9-7, wich was par for the course. I'm totally for taking the big risks this week (as always), but I have a feeling rationality will set in.

Found out that my uncle will be flying out to Indiana from Pakistan within the next month, according to his plans. From what I understand he plans on staying with a pen pal of his, someone he's written back and forth to since he was a young chap. Normally I'd be ecstatic at the chance of seeing my only maternal uncle, I'm just scared things are a bit messier than I comprehend. On the flip side, it would be a great chance to perhaps see the Colts or Pacers in Scarborough's sister city (it's true).

Got my hair cut (finally). I realized yesterday that it had been about 5 months since my last cut, and am feeling so so lighter without all that hair. Too bad I feel bald!

Oh, and I almost broke my computer yesterday. I bought a big spindle of DVD's which were burning coasters (useless corrupt discs) all the time, after which I googled to find out that I had to update my DVD writer's firmware. In the update, it asked to unplug other CD/DVD drives from the computer, meaning I had to open the tower up. Which was fine, until I accidentally pulled out the CPU! Oh, and it was in pieces when it came out!

Luckily my panic genes didn't set in and I managed to re-assemble it, and with a bit of trial and error, got things going somewhat smoothly. It made me realize that I so need a new one, so that I can ditch this one off to Zan!

Evidently I've been getting quite the read-ups on my Quebec posting a few days ago. If I didn't say it already, this is an extremely short-sighted move by the government and Second-Choice Steve may have created his own administrations' "boondoggle".

I'll try and think of something interesting to say in the coming days, though I fear it may be bland as hell, wish me luck in my creative endeavours!

NFL Picks - Week 12

Little T Learns to Share!

So it goes without saying that the picks myself and J-Fizzle have made over the past 3 weeks have done sh*te. I falsely correlated our failures to me posting our picks online - which lead to another 6/16 week. Hence, I figured it couldn't hurt to write about our scholarly prognostications. And not to sound arrogant, but we nailed all 3 Thanksgiving games (I TOLD you Dallas would cover by 11!).

On to the choices...

JAX @ BUF (+2.5)
I hate picking games involving the Jaguars. The more and more I despise JP Losman, the more he performs. I wanted to say the Bills in spite, but Jamie insisted we take the schizophrenic Jaguars.

HOU @ NYJ (-5.5)
Jamie thinks I love the Texans a bit too much. I say there's nothing wrong with that! They can score and are developing. Though I like the Jets, they seem too much like a team with a great coach and modest talent. A six point victory was a bit much for me and since Jamie got his say on the Jags, I forced my opinion in favour of the Texans once again.

PIT @ BAL (-2.5)
Jamie's pick - I know my bias says Pittsburgh, but I don't blame him for taking the Ravens. Even still, I smell an upset. The champs will survive!

CIN @ CLE (+2.5)
Battle of Ohio. Common Sense dictates that a team that's scored so much over the past two weeks should calm down this week. Bollocks to common sense. Go Ocho Cincho!

ARI @ MIN (-5.5)
My pick. If it weren't the Cardinals, I'd be inclind to go against Jamie's offensively challenged Vikings. But since it is the Cards, I chose the Vikes.

SF @ STL (-5.5)
We've done real well with the Rams against the spread this year, though after seeing the 49ers handle the Seahawks at home last week I'm sold on thier uprising. To me, the Rams are like the girl who looks hot in certain lighting, but hideous in sunlight, which makes it hard to tell which team will show up. Just don't expect them to light up the Niners.

NO @ ATL (-2.5)
Another team that's done us well. Jamie LOVES them, while I don't buy into them being America's new team. They had a good start but with a sagging D, I see them being derailed and run all over the ground by Vick, Dunn, and Co.

CAR @ WAS (+2.5)
I've lost my faith in the Skins. When you have 'anonymous' players trashing your team's coaching, something is up. I'm just waiting for the report on nasty whiteboard messages.

CHI @ NE (-2.5)
Tough one. My heart says the Bears, while my mind says the Pats. They say it's best to go with your heart, and even though I don't know who 'they' are, Go bears!

PHI @ IND (-9.5)
Peyton Manning after a loss? Expect huge numbers! (Yes, I said this before they played the Titans, but it's different this time, I swear :P )

NYG @ TEN (+2.5)
I really like the New York footballing Giants. But when you've lost 5 of your starting D-Men, you're going to get scored on. Along with that, Eli's been struggling the last month or so. GoTennessee!

Plus, I love that the Titans have a player named Pacman Jones.

OAK @ SD (-12.5)
We struggled on this one. The chargers should win, but the spread is huge. I looked it up and Oakland tends to lose BIG when on the road, so we decided ont he Chargers. With our luck this year, watch Aaron Brooks run a last minute TD in to have SD win by 12.

GB @ SEA (-9.5)
Hassellbeck and Alexander back at home. Favre's playing hurt. How do you spell massacre? (Please Please don't fail me on this one!)

Sacre Bleu!

Hey guys and gals,

I'm sure many of you have heard the expression about a butterfly fluttering it's wings, leading to a tidal wave on the other side of the world. I'm afraid my one day of getting up at a reasonable hour with a full night's sleep has triggered an enormous reaction which appears set to tear our country apart!

By now it's out EVERYWHERE that Prime Minister Harper proposed recognizing Quebec as unique nation within Canada, opening up the sovereignity talk we all loathe. No country in the world would allow a segment of the population to vote for its own independence, yet we let it happen twice! What raised my ire even moreso was the fact that the Liberals support this legislation! My feelings are similar to Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, who mentioned on Friday that Canada also has a Greek nation, Tamil nation, Italian nation. Canada is a mosiac of nations, yet still flying under one banner.

Canada is all about compromise and understanding, but where do we draw the line? I hate to say it but these separatists have been hijacking Canadian politics for decades now. If Quebec had been persecuted, unacknowledged, our lived under tyranny, I would have some sympathy for their plight. Unfortunately, I have nothing but vitriol when speaking of our eastern neighbours.

The federal government has bent over backwards to accomodate them, with bilingualism, two referendums, and the prevalance of the Bloc Quebecois (what is the point of having a party in federal parliament that has only self-serving interests for its own province? At least the Conservatives try to make it look like they're for the whole country :P ). Let's not also forget all the subsidies and transfer payments the feds send over. This is like a white elephant being asked to be painted with a fresh vanilla coat.

By acknowledging their 'unique nation', it seems as if our government has put up the white flag on defending federalism, which saddens me. What hurts even more is that it seems as if this is a ploy to win Conervative votes in Quebec, in order to disect whatever Liberal support exists in La Belle Province. If this is true, shame on you Mr. Harper!

The whole idea of a country, nation, soverign state, or whatever you want to call it, is entrenched with unity. Of course there is give and take, with larger provinces taking on a larger load of the work to help their provincial brothers/sisters. Bickering over partitions to me is akin to bickering amongst siblings. It should be handled swiftly and fairly. Which does NOT meen acquiesing to the demands of one faction. Fuck, what's next, Alberta wants to be independant? :P

If all this rubbish does happen in the next few years, I want to be an MP for the United States of Toronto.

Productive day

Surprise surprise! Who would have thought that the key to efficiency was getting up a bit earlier.

I managed to parlay my 6 a.m. wakeup to accomplish the following...

- Return $180 of merchandise I was putting off doing
- Go to Service Canada to get some stuff sorted out
- Call my car insurance company, which ends up saving my family over $500
- Beat Zan with a last second buzzer beater by Vince Carter in NBA 2k7 (I'm now 17-20 against him)
- Clean out my wallet which desparately needed cleaning (If you've ever seen my wallet, you know how big it is already!)
- Catch up with a friend for a bit
- Properly make my bed (even straightening the bedskirt - you can bounce pennies off of my bed today!)
- Shave (A more cleaner-looking terrorist)

And it's still only 6 p.m. !

The Apocalypse is Near.

Oh my God, I'm up at 6AM! AND I have a full night's sleep! This is straight out of bizarro world. What's next, I win a million dollars (please!).

I actually have time to get some things done today! I'm off now to get ready, wish me luck!

I See a Red Door...

Yes, I'm addicted to the Stones' classic. Through the magic of downloading mp3's, I found this song on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 greatest songs of all time. Admittedly, I've heard snippets of the song on the radio, usually sports talk, but to hear Mick Jagger's voice before the drugs and alcohol took their toll is something to behold! Before anyone says anything on the matter, no I am not, repeat NOT, turning into a hippie!

(Side note - my parents always thought of hippies as white people who would come to Pakistan with long hair, funny clothes, with the sole intention of getting cheap narcotics. Were they far off?)

I have to say I'm beginning to realize that life as a sloth is not as fun as it's cracked out to be. The more I try to fix to a decent schedule, the worse it gets. You know something is wrong when 8 AM is BEDTIME! The thing is, I go to bed thinking I'll wake up earlier, spend the next day exhausted, and then fall sound asleep to fix the circadian rhythm. Of course when the alarm rings after a few hours of sleep, the pounding headache co-erces me to continue my slumber. Have no fear though folks, right on cue my mother's found a solution to the problem as I type. She's working at her company's other factory, which means it's too far for her to take a bus (an extra 20 minutes). This means that tomorrow yours truly will not only have to wake earlier, but arise at the ungodly hour of 4:30 so that she can get to work! I'm scared!

Football picks? No comment! But I did win another Pro Picks ticket last night. Here's to hoping my mom doesn't scan through my wallet and throw out another $30 winning ticket!

The Cubs signed Alfonso Soriano to a staggering 8-year, $118 million deal. It goes without saying that this deal is an albatross waiting to happen, but I actually don't dislike the deal. He's a power hitting infielder, which fills two of their holes, and is a star player (something the Cubs need!). The thought of a Soriano-Lee-Ramirez middle order is making me very anxious to go to Wrigley for a few games next year!

Alright, I gotta jet. Once again I'm suffering the ignominy of having to chauffeur Mum around - this time to Cederbrae Mall of all places. Wish me luck!

Odds and Ends

Hey yaars,

The Frank Thomas era begins. I'm not so sure about this move. Ken Rosenthal reported earlier this evening that they're close to a 2-year, $23 million contract for The Big Hurt. That's a bit much for a 38 year old hitter who had ONE great year after a few mediocre ones. Don't get me wrong, I like him as a DH for us, but not at that cost! I'd rather have JD Drew (he's younger, and can actually field decently).

Before I hear any rebuttals of "It's not YOUR money", I will say this - yes, it is. It's OUR money spent on merchandise, concessions, and tickets (well not me in this case) that help a team fund it's payroll and quite frankly (no pun intended), I believe they could have gotten him on the cheap, or a younger, better player for a similar price. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm probably not.

(Let it be known that if we're parading a Jays World Series victory on Yonge Street next year, all of the above is rescinded. I will buy a Thomas t-shirt or jersey if it happens.)

Onto some other views of things in the news that have caught my eye....

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The Pakistani government has ammended it's laws regarding rape. It's about bloody time. The Hudood ordinances implemented by General Zia Ul-Huq's government in the late 70s made adultery punishable by death, along with making it mandatory for rape victims to have 4 witnessess to verify their accusations. I don't think there ever is an instance where a creep would rape in public so that 4+ people would view it, the law was an archaic interpretation of 'Islamic law'.

I have always been of the belief that religion and politics should not be so intrically linked. They should be distinctly separate, with religion acting as a guide towards political policy. To answer those "fundamentalists" who consider the revoking of the laws to be un-Islamic, I say this - Islam is suppose to respect ALL religions. To force feed your religions' views on a society revokes the rights of the minority, who are entitled to equality. If you feel so strongly about certain principles, you can follow them without the need for legislation - don't force others to!
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I would be remiss should I not mention the depressing story of the week - K-Fed and Britney splitting. It's about goddamn time! I give Mr. Federline credit for mooching for years, while at the same time laughing at his idiocy at blowing it all away in attempts to be a 'rap star'! All the guy bloody had to do was be a decent daddy to his kids, perhaps ask Brit "How was your day?" every once in a while, and he'd be set for life. Instead, he's probably preparing to Po-Po-Zao his way to the welfare line!
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An english version of Al-Jazeera launched today
. To those who are petrified at the thought of a network that may have biased reports, is partial with regards to the U.S., and gives terrorists free publicity, I ask - have you EVER watched Fox News?
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David Miller was re-elected as Mayor this week, which I think is a good thing. He's a great face for Toronto, and usually says the right thing. His opponents may or may not have had great ideas, at the same time I don't think it would have mattered if they had brilliant ideas. Why? Because the ideas ALWAYS end with "with the help of the provincial and/or federal government". I agree that cities need funding, but for once I'd like to hear some ideas without that appendage at the end. For this reason, in municipal elections I would suggest voting for the representative whom you believe is a good face for your city.

Speaking of which, what in the world is happening in Vaughan? Stealing of campaign indeas, vote-rigging, and graffiti on road signs? I imagine my Conservative friend Rob will comment on this election, which was decided by 90 votes. I'm sure he's elated over the dismissal of ex-Mayor DiBiase. And I don't know if it's just me, or does he actually remind you of the old WWF's "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase?

(humming along to The Million Dollar Man's entrance music)
'Money, Money, Money, Money, Money, Money!'
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Oh and before I leave, I will admit that yes, me and Jamie suck at picking NFL point spreads. Believe it or not we went 0 for 10 on all of the 1 O'Clock games this weekend, and were saved by a 4/5 showing in the evening games. We definitely will regroup, kick ass and take names this weekend!

Swashbuckling Success? Sadly No.

Hey yaars,

It goes without saying that Sunday's football picks of our sucked donkey balls. I don't know how it happened, but we got all 10 early games wrong! There's a 1 in 1024 chance of that happening, and of course it happens to us this week! I figured I had some respite when I say the Bengals whipping the Chargers by 3 TD's at the half, but of course as it wasn't our day, LaDanian managed to score 4 TD's and lead them to victory.

After posting his photo yesterday I think I've discovered something. I have the opposite Madden effect. Getting on my blog gives you the best of luck it seems, except when it's me!

Luckily, through my shrewd evening picks, we managed to get 4/5 right, the sole mistake being J-Roc counting out my Steelers! After this week though, I figure we're destined to have an amazing one next week. At least you'd think that!

Pakistan are playing the West Indies in Lahore. The player pictured (Mohammad Yousuf), today scored a century, which is kinda like rushing for 100 yards in a game. It's his 6th this year, which is quite good, and he's attributing his success to his recent conversion to Islam last year. You see, he was previously known as Yousuf Youhana, a Christian representing the less than 1% minority in Pakistan. Personally, I think his success just may be because he's no longer receiving those death threats for being a non-Muslim in the team :P

Tomorrow the Toronto municipal elections go down. I'm inclined to vote, at the same time chuffed as to whether or not I feel strongly enough to support one candidate over another. They all have grand plans, which almost always are dependant on funding from the province and the feds. To be frank, that ain't happening! Though I must admit, I do admire Mr. Miller going to every ward to canvass. Yet I have to ask, where was he the last 4 years? I don't think Scarborough ever even had a sniff of mayor presence during the term. If I am wrong, my bad.

Of course if I was mayor, I wouldn't be wanting to hang around Scarborough either! Starbucks and sushi would be quite fine thank you :P

Talk to y'all later!

LaDanian!

Not sure if anyone else agrees, but I enjoyed ranting about the NFL picks J-Roc and I managed to lose miserably on last week. Here's our picks for this week, with my obligatory commentary. (And no, I'm definitely NOT Bill Simmons!).

KC @ MIA (+0.5)
After whupping the Bears, I can't see Miami doing it again, regardless of how much 'talent' they have. Here's to hoping Larry Johnson doesn't make a fool out of us!

HOU @ JAX (-10.5)
Jamie figures I have a crush on the Texans for some reason. I think he may be right. I go back to them time and time again and they seem to ALWAYS fail me. And of course when I pick them, they dissappoint. Yes, we took the Jags, Gerrard better CRUSH 'em.

SD @ CIN (+0.5)
We had a rough time deciding on this one. While we both agreed that the Chargers are the better team, I feel they wouldn't mind losing this game as much as the Bengals, who NEED this win. Many people are counting Carson Palmer out for the year, I think he shines. Well, at least my quarter did after landing on Tails to pick them.

CLE @ ATL (-7.5)
I think Jamie loves the Falcons and Michael Vick. He really pushed for this one. Will the real Michael Vick please stand up?!?

BAL @ TEN (+6.5)
If the Ravens won't be able to trash-compact the Titans, I'll wear a seer-sucker Tennessee Lee suit.

BUF @ IND (-12.5)
Peyton Manning seems locked into really going for that perfect year. He better not let the Bills stand in the way. Goliath better be prepared to crush David this time.

NO @ PIT (-3.5)
Jamie's Pick - He agrees that the Steelers should win this one out of desperation, though they won't cover. I'm cool with that. So far I'm 0-2 each time I've worn the Polamalu jersey, I might flip back to Roethlisberger tomorrow.

WAS @ PHI (-6.5)
When this game was brought up, I figured I had a fight on my hands in convincing Jamie that Washington would cover. Suprisingly he blurted out Redskins before I could and we're hoping Joe Gibbs actually uses a playbook from this decade.

GB @ MIN (-4.5)
My pick. I've now lost all faith in Brett Favre's last minute comeback ability. It's gone. And after the Vikings suffered the ignominy of only scoring a field goal last week, I'm looking for them to come out fighting.

NYJ @ NE (-10.5)
My colleague insisted that Tom Brady will come out firing after a horrible game last week. The Jets are another one of my sentimental faves, and for the first time all year I'm cheering against them ;(

SF @ DET (-5.5)
I told J-Fizzle the Lions weren't as brutal as he thought they were. Now after opening my mouth so much and letting him know how wrong he was last week, I'm hoping he won't manage to shut it this week!

DEN @ OAK (+8.5)
Something inside me feels Randy Moss will make a great catch or two to make the Raiders cover. That, and the fact that I'm banking on this crazy pick gaining some ground in our pool.

STL @ SEA (-3.5)
This sticks-and-straws propped up Seahawk team is bound to lose before their big guns on offense come back. Marc Bulger should hopefully get the job done.

DAL @ ARI (+6.5)
Even though the Cowboys are on the road for a successive week, I'm not betting on Arizona until they can hold onto a lead!

CHI @ NYG (-2.5)
The Sunday-Nighter. I like both of these teams and was distraught at having to choose one. We both just felt that the Bears will be reeling from last weeks embarrassment against the Fish. Broken toe or not, Urlacher's going to make some hits.

TB @ CAR (-9.5)
I took a roll of the dice and figured Gradkowski won't suck dong as he has the last week or two. That, and the fact that my gut instinct with games involving BOTH these teams is always wrong. Gut says Panters, meaning our pick is the Buccaneers.

Happy football Sunday everyone!
Arrrrrrrgoooooooooooooos!

I'll Be Ready!

Hey yaars,

Here's another Naveed special of random musings. Hope you like 'em :

Remembrance day was yesterday. It's one of those days I feel has lost it's prestige, as I see fewer poppies every year. There was a time when the whole country stopped at 11 AM to mark the day, which just doesn't happen nowadays. Sure, it happens at government functions, but factories, stores, and airports seem to not be bothered with 'wasting time'. While it doesn't bother me greatly, at least wearing a poppy and giving a few bucks to the Royal Canadian Legion would be a start!

The flipside to my Remembrance Day rant is how much our media publicizes about soldiers who've died in Afghanistan. While I have respect and sympathy for their families, anyone signing up for the armed forces should know going in of the sacrifice they're partaking in. To me it's just a bit awkward watching a 10 minute top story on one soldier dying in the line of duty while a tad few moments are used to publicize innocent victim's deaths in the region. It might be the cynic in me, I just feel many tend to acknowledge pain and suffrage when it hits home, and ignore it when it's in a 'far off place way out there'.

I've been re-reading my copy of Michael Moore's Stupid White Men. I already have re-read Dude, Where's my Country? and have been thoroughlly fascinated AND disgusted with the current Commander-in-Chief's election "win", and subsequent actions in the "war on terror". I know Mr. Moore goes a bit over the top, but facts are facts, and he may well be the worst President in the history of the United States. From rigging Florida votes to WMD in Iraq to Afghanistan to Enron, he's managed to bungle his way in every step. The Democrats seem to finally have swung the pendulum in their favour, and so long as they don't drop the ball in picking a leader, I can't possibly see another Republican president. And seeing as us Canadians in recent time tend to mimic our American cousins in federal voting (Regan-Bush/Mulroney, Clinton/Chretien, Bush Jr./Harper), could this be the beginning of a new age? (I think I FEEL my conservative friend's cringing!).

Here's a debate we've been having in our home with regards to phone etiquette - I personally feel that when calling someone up, it's only proper to ask "Hi, may I speak to ______?", or something of that nature. I'm not a fan of the infamous "Is ____ there?" nor "this is for ___". It's just plain rude. OTHERS in my family disagree. According to them so long as they don't swear at you or insult you everything's hunky dory! I guess it goes back to my upbringing where my dad would scold me for not using words such as 'May I', 'Excuse Me', 'Sorry to bother you'. In any event, is there anything better to use then my line? Please let me know!


Alright, that's enough blogging for now. I'll leave y'all with one last question, Is ignorance an excuse for error?

L8er

Gimme a smile baby!

Hey yaars!

Once again I've managed to neglect the blog for a few days more than I should, I imagine this doesn't bode well for future marriage prospects (deadbeat husband, moi?). Of course I haven't had the most eventful of weeks either so I'm grasping at straws to find some material to talk about. I'm sure my loyal following will find a way to stroke my ego!

(Yes, I reduced the font for this post. It just seems as if I can get more into a post while still maintaining readability. If it's too small for any of you, definitely let me know.)

The American elections are complete and the Democrats have control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. It's strange to see a voting system where the head of state is NOT elected along with his representatives. It's interesting to see that an opposition party can lead, putting a check and balance on their leader. At the same time it could mean that nothing ever gets done (as if anything ever does in politrix!).

I finally checked out the Borat film this week. For someone who's followed Sacha Baron Cohen's stuff for some time, I owed it to myself to watch this film. I've been watching Borat's escapades since 2000, when I stumbled upon original episodes of 'Da Ali G Show' which aired on Channel 4 in the UK. Sufficed to say, I've been a huge fan of Ali G, Borat, and Bruno and absolutely LOVED the film. Like everyone who's raved about the jokes, I haven't laughed that hard in years! If you even minutely enjoy the humour of Borat Sagdiyev, I encourage you to go watch the movie. In fact, I'm willing to go again so if anyone has some spare time, shout me a holla! It is NICE!!!!

Normally I'd rant for a few more paragraphs but at this moment my fries and fish portion are burning in my toaster oven. Talk to y'all soon!

Welcome Week 9!

I had no idea how much of an influence gambling is in enjoying NFL football. For a decade I had followed football here and there for a bit, having my travails with teams for a season or two. And after 5 years of Buffalo suffering, and 2 years of Pats loving (when they lost in the SB with Bledsoe, not the Brady bandwagon) I thought I had my fix. Until last year!

My mother's best friend's son (I have no other better way to phrase it) invited us over a few times last year to watch games at his place as he had Sunday Ticket. He insisted I drop a toonie on a few games just for fun. And yes, I was hooked.

Despite knowing that one has absolutely no control over the game's outcome, it's still fun attempting to pray your team to victory when a few bucks are on the line.

Blasphemous? Totally. At the same time I challenge one of you to try it for a few weeks and then NOT anticipate Sunday afternoons!

This year myself and Jamie dropped a bit of coin to be in a point spread pool, and we're hoping this week will be the breakthrough week where we finally whoop some arse. At the moment we're about 18th out of 44 people and seem to have vanilla weeks every week! What I've discovered is that we're pretty decent at picking games involving the Jets, Giants, and Rams. On the flipside, we've found it impossible to prognosticate matches involving the Chiefs, Buccanners, and Falcons. Here's to hoping our picks work out this week!

Oh yeah, here they are....

KC @ STL (-2.5)
Maybe the hardest one to pick. The Chiefs have done well the last few weeks, but the games were at Arrowhead. The Rams seem to be very good on turf and I think we just both closed our eyes and the first team to pop in our heads we chose. Go RAMS!

CIN @ BAL (-2.5)
Another hard one. As much as I want to see 'Ocho Cincho' do a touchdown dance, I can't see it happening that often against a vicious Ravens D. That family friend of mine who got me into betting loves the Ravens and they've tended to do well for us. Quote the Raven - PLEASE WIN!

HOU @ NYG (-12.5)
Eli at home - nothing but a 'thang. I backed frikkin Houston to pull of a few upsets and they dissappoint me time and time again. Sage Rosenfeld at QB? My brother loves the Dolphins and had to laugh at hearing that last week. GIIIIANNNNNTSS!

TEN @ JAX (-9.5)
As much as I like Jacksonville (they were one of the teams I was thinking of supporting back in the day), they're so damn inconsistent I can see David Garrard playing it safe and winning the game 28-23 or something like that. Hence we took the Titans.

DAL @ WAS (+2.5)
How 'bout them Cowboys? They're such a tease. They get Romo to finally start at QB after one good week and everyone's ready to crown him as the saviour. And while I know the Redskins are probably not playing Brunell, Portis, AND Moss, something tells me they'll pull this one off in some weird, Chris Cooley way like they did last season. Jamie will be kicking me if this goes wrong as he can't see it happening.

GB @ BUF (-2.5)
Favre's on a roll. I figure he's got one last kick at the can like Muhammad Ali going into the Rumble in the Jungle. After this week I see him being rocked into retirement. In the meantime, we're taking the Pack.

NO @ TB (+0.5)
I'm still arguing with Jamie that the New Orleans Saints are going to fade fast, but they seem to be Jamie's sentimental favourite. And seeing as he correctly picked them to win at their return to the SuperDome in September, I'll let him have this one - GO SAINTS!

ATL @ DET (+4.5)
Another big discussion with J-Fizzle. The line just seems TOO good to bite on. In theory Michael Vick should roll over a team while playing on turf. In reality I see him having a shitty game as he seems to always have after two great games. Jamie insisted at how bad Detroit was and couldn't fathom the thought of Detroit covering. We'll see (we picked the A-T-L).

MIA @ CHI (-13.5)
It's a pretty sad tale when a Dolphins fan doesn't want to see this game, expecting it to be 41-0. We both couldn't see how in the world the Bears don't cover this. After going to Chicago in May I've seemed to pick up on all Chicago teams, hence my liking of the Monsters of the Midway. Oh yeah, and any reference of bears reminds me of Conan's Masturbating Bear (I don't know why).

MIN @ SF (+4.5)
The Vikes are Jamie's team. Since Minneapolis was the closest NFL city to his village of Thunder Bay, he joined their set. I still think of them as the team with the ugliest jerseys in the NFL. Always have been, always will. Gore will take care of 'em!

CLE @ SD ( -12.5)
LaDainlian is going to run rampant over the Brownies. So long as Schottenheimer doesn't start playing Marty-ball, we should be good with the Chargers. I still don't get why they don't ditch the ugly navy blue jerseys for the powder blue 70s ones.

DEN @ PIT (-2.5)
Now our rule of thumb is that Jamie and myself pick the games involving each other's team. As I followed the Steelers quite a bit last year from the second half of the regular season on, I've been crowned a Steelers fan. Luckily, Jamie has allowed me to full-heartedly cheer for them this weekend!

IND @ NE (-2.5)
Zan thinks Tom Brady is the Clark Kent of the NFL. A strong, good-looking, can't-do-wrong dude who is just too damn perfect. As much as I want to pick them, I can imagine that Peyton Manning has been planning for this game since last February. Jamie agrees and I begrudgingly say go colts.

OAK @ SEA (-7.5)
Seattle without Hasselbeck and Alexander - no problem, cuz it's the RAIDERS! There's no way they win three games in a row, as the UNDERDOG. It might actually awake Al Davis, and nobody wants that!

Wow, I can't believe I actually chronicled each and every game this week. I imagine maybe two people read this, and both of you skimmed! Here's to hoping J-Roc and myself are geniuses!

Eid Photos

Hey yaars,

I finally managed to unload a few pics off of my camera, and was pleasantly surprised by the artsy nature of a few of them. Here they are, feel free to comment (please no negativity!).

Here's my younger brother Zan barely cracking a smile for the camera. Evidently he's Mr. Social when he's not at home. I have yet to see it as his conversations at home usually begin and end with 'fine', 'yes', 'no', 'okay', 'stop bugging me Naveed!'.


Here's a picture of the Rathore Brothers at our Cousins' place. This is probably the only time my brother actually voluntarilly allowed his self to graze my shoulder!


Our family at JJ Muggs for lunch. I actually tried NOT to smile in this one!

My "familia": Zan and Myself in the back, with two of my aunts, cousin, and mom in the front.



In fear of my internet connection seizing on me, I'll post these and perhaps come to others soon enough. And yes, I freely admit my brother looked straight 'baller' (his words not mine!).

Am I turning into a righty?

Hey yaars,

In case you haven't been watching the news over the past few days, many people are in a furor over the federal government's plan on inserting a tax on "income trusts" which until now were not doubly taxed (like every other investment I can think of). Now I'll be honest, like most people I had never heard of the term income trust until this week, but after reading up just a bit I actually agree with the government's position on the matter.

From what I understand, the federal government will tax corporations on their profits, and also tax stockholders on their individual profits, hence the double-fuck scenario. Income trusts managed to avoid this double-screw somehow through loopholes I presume, and now their time has run out with the feds laying down the law. I'm almost inclined to actually compliment the Tories on a brilliant tying up of loose ends....

Except the concept is a Liberal one!

The Grits proposed this tax during the Martin regime and I'll give everyone one guess as to who was blatantly against such doing. Yes ladies and gentlemen, it was the Tories. I could go on and on about hypocritical policy, of course that's the nature of the beast. If any of us still believed in the oxymoron of 'honest politician', we'd be outraged at this.

It goes without saying that this tax was necessary in order to curb the trend of corporations attempting to grease their way out of owed money. Today's Toronto Star has a great editorial piece on the move where they question why corporations would indulge in income trusts, reducing their ability to re-invest, translating into lack of jobs. If I'm correct, the tax wasn't meant to "take from pension income", it was meant to cease corporations from reducing what little tax they pay at the moment.

All jargon aside, this still won't co-erce me into voting Conservative, though it does cushion my dislike of their government. Yes, I'm still a bleeding-heart liberal!

(And as for Ignatieff jumping on the negative bandwagon. I think that's another case of trying to garner votes from those who've lost money!)

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Hey yaars,

It dawned upon me that in the year or so I've been blogging, I've learned quite a bit about social interaction and the human psyche. And of course a few blogging etiquette rules along the way.

In the past year, I've managed to learn the following about myself...

I'm funny.
I'm ugly.
I'm handsome.
I look good with a beard.
I look good clean-shaven.
I need a new haircut.
I'm crazy.
I'm bi-polar (oh what trouble that caused!).
I have no spine.
I'm a gossip-slut.
I'm too brown for my own good.
I'm sensitive.
and many others to boot....

I came into the whole blogging stratosphere expecting people to laugh at my antics. Which I'm sure has occured on numerous occasions. I just had no comprehension of how much of one's self is out there when the PUBLISH button is hit upon a new post. Yes, you get to speak the words you wanna say, at the same time you have to be careful as to not hurt people who might think differently of themselves. It's definitely a tight-rope walking experience, which I've suffered and enjoyed over the year.

Duplicitous yes, whilst at the same time an immense learning experience. I've actually lost and gained friends through this wonderful Stand Up Speak Up blog, and here's to hoping I muster enough energy to spew out some more vitriolic words in the coming future!

In with a Bang, out with a whimper?

Hey yaars,

Needless to say, my birthday festivities were outstanding! I can only say that I indulged in a few things I didn't plan on doing. And yes, a gentlemen's club was involved!

If you weren't there, I'm not going to reward you with the details, you'll have to get them out of me verbally the next time I see you! If I haven't already, a big thanks to my boys Cedric and Jamie for organizing things, along with gratitude to a certain friend who I now know is quite the 'playa'.

Onwards and forwards though, I'm 25 now and hopefully it'll be a good year. Here's what's been brewing in my brain over the last few days...

- What's up with Norman Spector? Considering he was a foreign diplomat (former Canadian ambassador to Israel), for him to call Belinda Stronach a bitch was uncalled for. This could be the politically correct me, but there probably were better ways to achieve his point about her. At least Peter MacKay is keeping it behind closed doors!

- What happened to those Pakistani cricketers I wrote about a few weeks ago? Their trial completed today and both were suspended. Shoaib Akhtar for 2 years, Mohammad Asif for 1. I'm officially mourning over our prospects in next march's world cup!

- Kenny vs. Spenny is the shiznit! Zan got me into this show a few years back when he use to watch it on CBC after school. They got so outrageous they ended up going to showcase, where this week they both suffered the humiliation of being t-bagged! We couldn't stop laughing for a good ten minutes. Maybe there was some inside relevance to that - actually yes, there definitely was!

- In case you haven't heard, Madonna adopted a boy from Malawi. I'm beginning to think third world kids are the new "Tinkerbell's" for celebs. As great as it is for the child, it's just a tad exploitative to adopt so publicly, to court the media's attention. Now Madonna may not have outrightly courted the attention, of course she hasn't hidden from it either (interviews on Oprah aren't exactly indicative of a humble disposition).

- Baseball's officially over for another 5 months. For yours truly it was a good year as I managed to visit THREE new ballparks. If you haven't been a regular reader (or haven't talked to me in the last 6 months!), in the spring I managed to visit Wrigley and U.S. Cellular Field, while at the end of this season I managed to mozy on down to COmerica park in Detroit. What's next on the itenirary? I'm thinking I'll want to hit up Miller Park, and any other park that finds its way into my plans!

- As a generally liberal supporter, I must say I too am not a Belinda Stronach fan. Simply because it seems she's in politics simply on a whim, with attempts at gaining the PM's office one day. In the meantime, she's managed to be linked to Bill Clinton, Peter MacKay, Tie Domi, and evidently half the country! And is it just me, or does she remind you of that power-hungry girl in high school who would do anything and everything in order to reach the top of the social ladder? (I'm sure a certain Conservative friend of mine will love that comment!).

- Spooks is sooo wickedy-wicked right now. For those of you who haven't heard of the show, it's on the BBC and can be found on different times on A&E. The show revolves around the day-to-day scenarios of Britain's MI-5 domestic intelligence agency. It's dramatic, suspenseful, and well-writtedn WITHOUT the need for gratuitous explosions (don't worry, there's still the odd bomb). I highly recommend you to watch this show! (In North America's the show is named MI-5)

Talk to y'all l8er!