Cloud Stew » Personal

How to Watch A Movie

Mustafa Al-ammar — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:44:07 +0000

I just finished watching one of my all time favorite films, Dan In Real Life (IMDB), with a few of my friends. So what’s so special about that? Well, you see, this is the third time I’ve seen this film and I can honestly say that this time around I had the time of my life. Why? First, let me tell you what it was like when I watched this movie for the first time.
I was sitting by myself the day before a long flight from Philadelphia to California. I had just finished my last final exam, packed everything, and was just lounging around waiting for the day to end and the next to begin. Most of my classmates and friends had already left and there was just one person left to kill time with. So we decided to walk over to the closest movie theater, grabbed some drinks, and then stumbled upon the movie “Dan In Real Life” in our clumsy search for some entertainment. It looked like a decent movie with an uncomplicated combination of plot, characters, and a nice happy ending. Just the thing we were looking for to pass the time.

Boy was I wrong.

We had just found the most depressing, hilarious, dramatic, cozy, and crazy schmorgasborg of a film. I’m not going to go into a review of the film but suffice it to say we were completely taken in by the story and two and a half hours later we became the most satisfied movie goers on the face of the planet. I was so delighted with the experience I decided that I would never see such a beautifully well formed story for a long time.

And again—-I was just wrong.

Eggplant Parm (Bathenjan)

Two days later I was sitting in utter comfort with my family in California enjoying a warm homecooked meal (mmmmm….eggplant parm) and I started describing the film to them. A few mouthfulls later we all shoved ourselves into our couches, turned on the tv, and saw Dan in Real Life for the first time. And when I say ‘first time’ I mean that for everyone, including me; With my family at my side every joke took on a different shape. Suddenly the funny became more hilarious, the sad more depressing, and the cute adorable. It was like every single emotion was intesified tenfold. And two and a half hours later I was even more delighted than the ‘first time’ I had seen the movie. There was no way this movie could get any better!

WRONG!

So I’m back in West Philadelphia born and raised on the playg—sorry, got derailed there. Anyways, fast forward two years and there I am with a couple of friends who don’t know what to do with their Sunday night. So I suggest we watch a movie. How about Dan In Real Life? “Dude that looks lame!” my friends implore. But I press on and with few other options in their hands I convince them to come to my place to enjoy something I thought I had known all too well. My friends were slow to come around but they eventually succumbed to the movie’s engrossing characters. They began to snicker and lose their ‘I’m too cool for this’ attitude. And then those snickers became laughs, which quickly become guffaws, and finally uncontrollable CONVULSIONS of hilarity. I realized something interesting; Here I was seeing this movie for the third time and enjoying every joke, feeling every twist and turn, and fully immersed in the story more than ever before. Once again my environment and the people surrounding me resonated with what I was seeing. And the result was perfection.

(to be continued…)

Brea Fire

Mustafa Al-ammar — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:11:26 +0000

I’m in California for this weekend to get my driver’s license (long story) and what do you know a fire breaks out in my hometown of Brea, California.

Smoke over the House

Smoke from my patio is Brea, California.

The fire is so close that I’m tasting smoke and watching ash fall on my patio. Helicopters are flying by and sirens are blaring.

More Smoke

30 minutes later.

Fires have also broken out in Corona and Yorba Linda. KNBC is reporting that 5 homes in Corona have been at least damaged due to the fire. It also looks like like the fire is being pushed by winds towards the east.

The smoke is getting thicker to the east and south.

Panorama

Check out the gallery:

Southern California Wildefires (11/15/2008)

Check out the more up to date gallery (UPDATED):Southern California Wildefires (11/15/2008)

Track the fires here

The End of Ramadan

Mustafa Al-ammar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:58:55 +0000

Now that’s almost the end of Ramadan I feel like the month went all too quickly. You might think I’m crazy for wanting to keep fasting but I think that if you were in my place you would realize why I’m going to miss it. Every year after this month ends all of my friends begin to slowly drift apart again. The month simply keeps us together and a lot of times forces us to be together. And the truth is that you never fast alone.
On a lighter note here’s one of my friends after having been cloned:

Zohaibs

Staying up for Suhoor

Mustafa Al-ammar — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:56:38 +0000

It’s 7:10AM and I still haven’t gone to sleep. Why? Well, last night/this morning had a good chance of being Laylat_al-Qadr, one of the most important nights in the history of Ramadan. Because it’s so important, many of us stayed up to pray for the entire night in the hope that we’ll reap the rewards of this night. Eventually, after a satisfying night of prayer, we ate our Suhoor meal at a local restaurant, Philadelphia Diner.

First, we ate deliciously joyous pancakes.

Mutant Smiling Pancake

And felt somewhat sad for them.

False Sympathy

Then we went home to our less than cozy dorms:

Vertigo Inducing