Cinnamon Zone: children

يحيا الذكاء

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:10:00 GMT

This was perhaps one of the most entertaining children shows that most of the 70's and 80's kids grew up with. I was surprised to find it in a DVD store and in a very good quality too. However, it was the Czech version, not the Arabic dubbed one, so the notorious catch phrase of the two handymen "يحيا الذكاء" was missing.

Anyway, I found some Arabic clips from Zingo wa Ringo on youtube. I also googled them as "Pat and Matt", their original names and founds quite interesting info on Wikipedia, but this was the funniest piece of information:

"In socialistCzechoslovakia, the authors had to explain their "subversive" characters and stories to the Praguewatch-dogs of the regime, e.g. one of the questions was if they chose the t-shirt colors, red and yellow, to make fun of the Soviet-Chinese tensions. However, their explanations were "unsatisfactory", and so the "ideologic impurity" and the ban on Pat & Mat production remained. Yet, the Slovak colleagues from Czechoslovak TV in Bratislava gave Pat & Mat the necessary support, assigned them production means, so the production began and went on in the same Czech studio in Prague where Lubomir Benes and his crew worked, under their Slovak cover (28 episodes, 1979–1985)."

Here's one of the Arabic clipd, and there's more where that came from

Violence Next Door

Sat, 30 May 2009 20:26:00 GMT

Few years back, I was walking in the neighborhood with a friend when we heard the screams coming from one of the houses in the street. They were the sounds of a man and a woman who seemed to be having a big fight. He was cussing her and her mother out and then it sounded like he started beating her. You might think those things only happen in movies, but what we heard was so loud and so intense like those things you see in Arabic movies, or worse, in Kuwaiti Drama.

Few years have passed since then and although I passed by that house many times I didn’t hear similar noises again. I always wondered about the family though, but didn’t give it much thought, not until 2 days ago when I heard 2 neighbors talking about a woman in the street, who turned out to be the same woman I heard fighting with her husband years ago. It wasn’t over yet.

They said that the people who live next door to them hear them fighting all the time. They said that they heard their children crying while their parents fought and called each other names. They even said that from the sound of it the man seemed to be giving his wife a beating. They said they fought day and night and the neighbors could hear it all.

That night I stayed up at night thinking how this marriage could have survived all these years of possible physical, verbal and emotional abuse. What could’ve become of the children? Why are these people still together if they fight so much? Then I remembered the national campaign about domestic violence and how everyone is responsible, especially when it came to the children, and that’s when I started to seriously consider reporting them to Family Protection.

To tell you the truth, I still have my doubts about this. I mean, this woman must have endured all those years with her husband for a reason, so what if she refused to cooperate with the police or denied any abuse? But then I thought about the children. I mean she’s an adult and she’s free to do what she wants but it’s not up to her to expose her children to all that violence and abuse. But again, I thought that although this doesn’t seem like the happiest family on earth, but what if this intervention made it worse? What if the children were caught up in an ugly divorce and instead of watching their parents slamming each other at home they could be dragged to see it in court.

I’m really not sure what to do, but to think of what this could turn into I feel responsible to take and action to nip whatever might happen in the bud.

So, what would you do?

Ring the Bell Campaign: Against Domestic Violence

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:10:00 GMT

Given the apparent increase in the quantity and quality of tragedies caused by domestic violence in Jordan, one must have wondered what to do to take a part in stopping this epedimic. One could write, could protest, could spread awareness, but what if you witnessed one of those domestic violence cases first hand?

A while ago I came across this great campaign that's called Ring the Bell

Basically, the campaign's aim is stop domestic violence on the spot. "The next time you hear your neighbour beating his wife, ring the doorbell and ask for a cup of milk."

I believe this is a great way to help save many women and children who suffer from the plight of domestic violence, and it could be a good way to encourage people towards assuming more social responsibility and to encourage them to take more action.

Today you ring the bell, the next day you're calling the police, and before you know it you may just have saved an innocent life from going to waste.

To learn more about Ring the Bell Campaign you can check out the campaign videos on Youtube

The Cutest Thing Ever!

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 09:54:00 GMT

As much as I enjoyed the sun this morning, I couldn't wait to find a taxi before I froze over. So, I stopped that taxi and the driver pulled over. I noticed there was a little girl in the passenger seat. I told him my destination and he said that he must drop his daughter at school first; I thought it was okay and got in.

I couldn't see the girl's face, only her smooth brown hair worn down and the sleeve of her jeans jacket with a patch of fur on the cuff. She kept asking her father questions and he answered her with a smile. Her soft cheerful voice made everything she said seem like the cutest thing eve. At last, we reached the school. As the car pulled up, he kissed her on the cheek and she said "bye baba", then she turned to open the car's door, turned her head sideward so I could see her cute little face with all the tiny features, her soft brown hair pulled back and draped over her shoulders. She had that smile that made her sparkling eyes look as though they were laughing, the kind of smile that makes you smile no matter what. With that very face she looked at me and said: "bye auntie", then hopped out of the car briskly and wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders as they walked away together…

Just what are the odds that you'll witness such mind-blowing cuteness in a taxi first thing in the morning? She utterly made my day!

"They" take 1 JD...

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:47:00 GMT

This weather loves hot chocolate with marshmallows!”That was the message I sent my friend as I sat in the car waiting for my father, cuddled up in the warmest clothes I have and yet feeling my feet freezing.

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