Bring your own Shisha

So London got hit by an awesome storm last night. It really was something out of the movies. It’s amazing how something can be awe inspiring and frightening at the same time. (click for biggie).

On the journey into work today I was reminded of Sylvester Stallone in Rambo with his catchphrase: “Don’t Push Me”.

So what exactly does this mean in the context of a truck?:

An awesome way to save money, use powertools and still clean your baby’s butt.

Take a roll of paper towels, cut in half, slap in some baby oil, baby soap and water, and Voila! You have your own set of baby wipes!

Full instructions here.

I got one of these a few years ago, but a couple of months ago I received a great bit of marketing.

To fill everyone in, a Tesco Clubcard is a loyalty card for Tesco (Largest Supermarket chain in the UK). Traditionally this card has been the size of a credit card and fits in your wallet. So you go shopping, give them your card, collect points, and then get vouchers off for the next time you shop. But the issue I always had was that I would never put the card in the wallet and kept missing out on those lovely points (much to the Mrs’ annoyance). But a couple of months ago I got a keyfob version which means that I always get to collect points! WooHoo! So there we have the end of a post on the mundane.

Tesco Clubcard Keyfob:

I’ve been hit by the Book tag meme thanks to Sameen!!

So books. My earliest memory of reading a book is when I was around 6 or 7. I stole my Dad’s torch (a big silver 5 ‘D’ battery jobbie) and got caught under the covers of my bed reading ‘The Wizard of Oz’. I got shouted at to go to sleep, but I didn’t feel guilty as I knew Mum & Dad wouldn’t mind. Then my time in Desh I read all sorts, from Huck Finn to a Nancy Drew Mystery (Oh the shame of it!).

Then I stopped reading for years, until the age of 13 when I picked up a copy of ‘The Wizard of Earthsea’ and it got me going again. I went through the typical boy’s Sci-Fi stage, reading ‘I, Robot’, and getting into ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ and on a lighter note, ‘HHG2G‘.

How many books do I own?: Currently, at the age of 30, I believe I have a library of around 500 books. Library is a bit of a misnomer as it sounds very grandiose, when in actual fact a lot of them are in boxes in the garden shed.

Subjects range from the Occult (Necronomicon Spellbook, The Grimoire of Armadel, The Goetia), to the Islamic (Islam and the Destiny of Man, Muhammad, Ghazali’s ‘Ihya Ulum Al-Din’). I also have a copy of Paul Coelho’s classic, ‘The Alchemist’ which Sameen can’t stop raving about.

Of course there are the kiddie’s books which have been popular in the recent past (All the Harry Potter’s, some Lemony Snickets, the first 2 parts of the Bartimaeus Trilogy and of course the classic His Dark Materials Trilogy)

There’s the horror of Clive Barker and the London based horror of Christopher Fowler (I still love the cover of Spanky)

The list is too long.

Last Book Bought:The Life of Mahatma Gandhi. Still getting through it, but it’s an interesting and open account of his life, if not a little too hagiographical.

Last Book Read: The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad. A good read about a life and culture which look familiar to me, but altogether where I wouldn’t want to be

5 books that mean a lot to me:

The Quran: I think for obvious reasons, but it has allowed me to understand my faith a little better and not get embroiled in South Asian Islam which is a cultural hotch-potch.

The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce: I read this when I was about 15 and it made me feel all grown up because I’d seen my 40 year old cousin reading Ulysses and that was a grown up’s book

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: A cracking read about how the prejudices in the world are not limited to the colour of the skin and how a new life can change everyone’s perspective, but still make you remember your roots.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: This book made me really think about how we treat people and how the American Dream is a bit of a fallacy which is not just American.

The Spook’s Apprentice by Joseph Delaney: Read this last year and I keep reading it. It reminds me of my youth and I can’t explain why. It’s all about witches and stuff. Don’t ask.

So I now have to tag: The Lone Oak Tree, Indigo Jo, Hijabman

What a weekend!

So the temperature soars to just over 30 degrees Centigrade. And the Aussies took on Bangladesh at Cardiff. A thrilling last few overs led to Bangladesh beating Australia with 4 balls left! An awesome innings from 20 year old Ashraful (100 runs from 100 balls) who fell just after his century, and then the innings closed off with a six from Aftab and the single to take the match. The scenes at home were noisy as Ruqaiiya started crying at our whoops and screams!

Then came Sunday. Another boiling hot day, and Australia take on England. Amazing bowling by Steve Harmison lead to 3 wickets in 3 balls and and awesome catch by Collingwood led to Harmison’s 4th. But Mike Hussey & Michael Clarke stepped in and helped the Aussies rack up 252. Then came England. Trescothick and Strauss for 16 each and England were in trouble. Collingwood and Flintoff failed to really make an impact but in stepped the captain Michael Vaughan who put up a respectable total. Then cam Kevin Pietersen who defied the English selectors to deliver another amazing batting display against the Aussies. The boundaries racked up while the wickets of Solanki and Jones fell. Left with Lewis as support, Pietersen knocked the ball around the park and on one occasion out of the park.

As Vaughan said, “We didn’t chase too well until Kevin Pietersen came in and played an unbelievable knock, almost genius-like, to see us home. It was one of the best innings I’ve seen in one-day cricket.”

England won by 3 wickets: 253-7

So we went. And the weather was a bit rubbish. But hey, still got to see a good innings by Aftab and of course ‘Tressers’ knock up a cool ton. Apologies for the poor quality pics, but we were a bit of a distance away and my camera won’t zoom that far.

OCS Stand @ The Oval:

Aftab racking up his 50:

And Tressers at his 50:

Sadiq’s post about finding the Order of Revelation inspired me to put the Suras in that order. Hope it is useful. I’m going to use it to start studying as per how Allah dictated. This also has the advantage of allowing me to see how different verses overruled previous ones.

Anyway, here’s the linky (posting it here directly makes the post too long!)

We will be going to the ODI tomorrow at the Oval. Should be fun. Will take lots of pics and I WILL be supporting England. At the moment, we have already won on the Flag count:

England 3: Bangladesh 1

Best of Luck to Bangladesh, but I expect there will be quite a few 4s and 6s esp after England’s performance against Australia in the Twenty20 in Southampton earlier this week and to hopefully set things up for the Summer we have Australia’s defeat to Somerset today.

So it was Ruqaiiya’s first birthday yesterday and she had fun. Or at least we filled our bellies with Cake (courtesy of Mum), and ‘Murog Pulao’ (Chicken Biryani, courtesy of Afrin).

Cake before and after an attack by a troop of Smarties:

Birthday Girl: