I just about remember what i was doing at this time last year. I was anxiously finishing a website i had to make for one of my assignments. I was also worried about what i would choose as a dissertation subject.
I feel grateful to Allah for what He has enabled me to achieve in this year. I passed university with flying colours and had the chance to go out in the path of Allah for four months to India and Bangladesh. In India i was in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata. In Bangladesh i was Dhaka, Sunamganj and Sylhet. I extended my stay in Bangladesh a month extra just so i could visit some family members whom I've never seen before. It was a nice feeling knowing there are so many people that are a part of my family.
When i think about whats there for me in the coming year i feel like the pressure is really on now. With all these good grades and experience i feel like its imperative on me to get a good job. But this, at the end of the day is all in Allah's hands. I hope this year is a good year for me.
Friday, 31 December 2010
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Friday, 23 July 2010
Graduation
I thought I’d never see the day when I would finally finish my life in education. Well here I am donning the mortar board hat and graduation gown, smiling gleefully along with the rest of my journalism classmates, signalling the end of an era. We are officially University of Bedfordshire's Journalism class of 2010. So now after three years of hard work, trying to get a degree, we have to work even more harder to get a job. This will be the real test. The test which will determine the boys from the men and the girls from the women.
However being student doesn't stop here. Even if i do get a job i will still remain a student. Learning is a lifelong process which has to be constantly sought for. I think there was a saying by god knows who, which goes something like this: "The best university after university is a good set of books." Time for me to get reading! (Not that i haven't been reading!)
Friday, 2 July 2010
I got a 1st!!!.....and oh yes, we're out of the world cup
Blood, sweat and tears have led to the culmination of me getting a first!!! My goodness, I literally feel I’m on cloud nine with this result. But let’s just get back to reality. There wasn't really any blood involved, but there was a lot of sweat yes, A LOT of sweat. I don't recall any tears, and even if there was I wouldn't say. But one thing is for sure...this result wasn’t by my efforts. It was through the help of all my lecturers, classmates, family and of course my faith in Allah, who helped through my time in university! All praises are due to Allah and thank you everyone!
This is something which will keep in high spirits for some time, thankfully, after England’s most disappointing thrashing against Germany in the world cup. And here we had all these England flags flowing with pride on top of buildings, cars, shirts, faces, and God knows what. I blame the British media for this (funnily enough). The England team has been so overrated it’s unbelievable. Yes they have some great players, but the build towards the world cup, so much analysis, speculation, assumptions...it was just driving me nuts! And the award for the most overrated player goes to...yes you’ve guessed it, Wayne Rooney. Almost everyone were betting their chances on Rooney. The guy had many moments with Man United and Everton in scoring goals but when it comes to the world stage, his previous track record just goes out the window. The real test of any professional footballer is, what I think, playing on form in the world stage and the world cup is the perfect place for this.
Personally I wanted England to go further but I knew teams like Brazil, Germany and Spain would have had them for breakfast anyway. The England players don’t seem to gel so well as a team. Maybe it’s time to get the next generation of players on board rather than the oldies we see all the time.
This is something which will keep in high spirits for some time, thankfully, after England’s most disappointing thrashing against Germany in the world cup. And here we had all these England flags flowing with pride on top of buildings, cars, shirts, faces, and God knows what. I blame the British media for this (funnily enough). The England team has been so overrated it’s unbelievable. Yes they have some great players, but the build towards the world cup, so much analysis, speculation, assumptions...it was just driving me nuts! And the award for the most overrated player goes to...yes you’ve guessed it, Wayne Rooney. Almost everyone were betting their chances on Rooney. The guy had many moments with Man United and Everton in scoring goals but when it comes to the world stage, his previous track record just goes out the window. The real test of any professional footballer is, what I think, playing on form in the world stage and the world cup is the perfect place for this.
Personally I wanted England to go further but I knew teams like Brazil, Germany and Spain would have had them for breakfast anyway. The England players don’t seem to gel so well as a team. Maybe it’s time to get the next generation of players on board rather than the oldies we see all the time.
Monday, 21 June 2010
World cup fever
Everyone's still waving their England flags with pride as England drew with Algeria last Friday in their most disappointing match of the decade. The fate is now with their match against Slovenia where they have to win in oder to qualify to the next stages.
Today however Portugal seemed like they were enjoying themselves thoroughly after giving North Korea a good 7-0 thrashing. This gives them a perfect confident boost for their match against Brazil, which I'm looking forward to.
Today however Portugal seemed like they were enjoying themselves thoroughly after giving North Korea a good 7-0 thrashing. This gives them a perfect confident boost for their match against Brazil, which I'm looking forward to.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Carnival
Luton's one day carnival bonanza which happens once a year is set to arrive next Monday. Back in the day i used to love going to the carnival but now it just seems really strange. I don't really know what it is...maybe it's something to do with age? Who knows! But i think the last time i went to the carnival was back in 2004. The carnival back then used to travel nearly all around Luton. They kept the procession quite small this time around and restricted it to town centre. The Luton carnival which is supposed to be the biggest one day carnival in Europe has had a bit of a bad reputation in the past. It has been a breeding ground for trouble where gangs in Luton and the surrounding areas, use it as a time to spark off petty fights. Kamran Shezad was an unfortunate victim in 2005 where he was stabbed during gang violence which erupted in Wardown Park between black and Asian youths.
Things have become much more safer now thanks to the constant police presence during the carnival. There are more people involved in the carnival than ever before now , thanks to the UK Carnival Arts Festival which opened up last year next to the University of Bedfordshire. It's a centre dedicated in supporting agendas for neighbourhood renewal and regeneration, tourism development, arts in education, business development and community cohesion. Luton needs more thing like these to wipe off the bad reputation which has been created over the years.
Things have become much more safer now thanks to the constant police presence during the carnival. There are more people involved in the carnival than ever before now , thanks to the UK Carnival Arts Festival which opened up last year next to the University of Bedfordshire. It's a centre dedicated in supporting agendas for neighbourhood renewal and regeneration, tourism development, arts in education, business development and community cohesion. Luton needs more thing like these to wipe off the bad reputation which has been created over the years.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
University for me has now technically ended...yay!
I gave in my final year project today, which was a dissertation. What a relief. I did have the option of creating a 'media product' like a magazine, film or website but i decided to stay 'safe' and play the dissertation card.
It's called "The Islamic Threat? Misrepresentations of Muslims in the Anglo-American News Media." At first i wasn't really keen on this idea mainly because i thought it was a cliche topic which was probably done so many times over. I asked my supervisor who told me, "Your good at researching this subject and its probably best to stay safe with a topic you know and like." I went along with his advice, since he did have a point. What made this dissertation easier was because i had done previous research on the same topic in my first year at university which literally took off half of my work load. I knew which books to get, who to talk to, and i had some contacts whom i could already go an interview.
I eventually found out that not many people had actually done that much work on the topic, expect for a lecturer and academic, named Elizabeth Poole. The thought of this just spurred me on to do as much as i could for my dissertation.
I looked into the recent violence in Luton which had erupted since the Luton anti-war protest and the ripple effect it created in the aftermath. I then started to question the way Muslims were represented in these chain of events and found that the Anglo-American news media were as if constantly waiting for the next event which would spark off violence. Obviously the news media cannot avoid things which create controversy and sensationalism but the amount of coverage they gave these incidents compared to other more newsworthy incidents set the precedent of where i would take the paper.
The results of the paper are set to come out in the beginning of July. I'm hoping for a good grade but this is all down to the will of Allah.
It's called "The Islamic Threat? Misrepresentations of Muslims in the Anglo-American News Media." At first i wasn't really keen on this idea mainly because i thought it was a cliche topic which was probably done so many times over. I asked my supervisor who told me, "Your good at researching this subject and its probably best to stay safe with a topic you know and like." I went along with his advice, since he did have a point. What made this dissertation easier was because i had done previous research on the same topic in my first year at university which literally took off half of my work load. I knew which books to get, who to talk to, and i had some contacts whom i could already go an interview.
I eventually found out that not many people had actually done that much work on the topic, expect for a lecturer and academic, named Elizabeth Poole. The thought of this just spurred me on to do as much as i could for my dissertation.
I looked into the recent violence in Luton which had erupted since the Luton anti-war protest and the ripple effect it created in the aftermath. I then started to question the way Muslims were represented in these chain of events and found that the Anglo-American news media were as if constantly waiting for the next event which would spark off violence. Obviously the news media cannot avoid things which create controversy and sensationalism but the amount of coverage they gave these incidents compared to other more newsworthy incidents set the precedent of where i would take the paper.
The results of the paper are set to come out in the beginning of July. I'm hoping for a good grade but this is all down to the will of Allah.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
BBC Debate - Afghanistan: War in the East
It’s not every day where you get the chance to take part in a televised debate, and my case is no exception.
Being a journalism student I take try to take advantage of each opportunity. So when asked by the BBC to join a regional debate on the War in Afghanistan with a panel of politicians, I was pretty excited. It was the first time I would be appearing on TV but don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t the main reason. It was a chance to question some politicians. Some people may think this is the least of the exciting things in their life and the lack of trust which has built up for MPs doesn’t help either. But it’s the job of us journalists to be ‘watchdogs’ of those in power, so this was a great opportunity to put my questioning skills to the test – or so I thought.
I found out later that I may or not even get a chance to speak and if I do speak I would have to keep it short. Let’s just say I was a tad disappointed but nevertheless I went with the flow and took it as ‘work experience’.
I was initially told about this by my University lecturer who then passed me on to BBC East Current Affairs Researcher, Stephanie Crowther. She told me the programme had a diverse range of people as the audience and she would like some Muslim media students from Luton to be part of the audience. I found it interesting that they were looking for Muslim students from Luton to represent the mainstream Muslim community. Did they just assume my opinion is the mainstream view? (quote maybe)
The debate was held in the University of Essex in Colchester, and the BBC kindly gave me and another fellow journalism student transport to the venue. The long one and a half hours drive from Luton to Colchester made me think we were getting late, but having arrived there I found out that we were far from late, in fact in TV there’s a lot of waiting around.
There were three Mps as part of the panel with Labour MP and Minister of the armed forces, Bill Rammel, Tory MP and also part of the Defence Select Committee Bernard Jenkins and MP for Colchester, Bob Russell. Another panel member was Inayat Bunglawala, the founder and chair of Muslims4UK. The presenter of the programme was Susie Fowler-Watt, the news present for BBC’s Look East. She introduced herself to me right before we were starting the debate and told me when it was my time to speak, I should keep it short.
The programme was similar to that of Question Time, but on a less grand scale and more restricted with regards to questioning. Everything was of course planned and prepared. They first filmed the beginning and end of the programme, thereafter asking the audience to start clapping until they told us to stop. This was probably one of the awkward parts of the filming since you had to clap even if you didn’t want to. Another awkward but funny moment was when all the politicians had to stare at the audience for a little while. I just couldn’t help but put on a smirk at the cold stares of the MP’s, and to top it off Inayat Bunglawala suddenly waved his hands in the air making a silly face. We all burst out laughing to which Bob Russell then said “You’ve done it now. We’ll be seeing that on outtake TV”. This light hearted joke seemed to have eased any tensions occurring from the issues surrounding the debate.
There were a lot of people in the audience who were affected by the war on Afghanistan. A lot of them were families of soldiers fighting in the war and some were victims of the ongoing struggle. Sitting next to me was a man whose daughter had died in the London 7/7 bombings. I spoke to him telling him more about the politicians on the panel and it seemed he was getting fired up to speak to the politicians. When it was his turn to speak, boy did he churn out a long one. I give him credit for saying everything he wanted to say.
I knew my cue was slowly drawing nearer as a video report of Luton titled ‘Luton: A community divided’ was being showed. It was about the provocative anti-war protests against the Royal Anglican Battalion last March. As the presenter asked me my opinion, I just said what I had in mind at the time.
My moment of fame lasted for 30 seconds. So was I worth it? I definitely think so. I asked Stephanie about the programme and when it was being aired. Surprisingly she told me it was being broadcasted in the very same day, and then I hurriedly phone home to tell my parents to ‘Sky plus’ the programme.
This for me was a invaluable experience, being part of a programme where I shared my views but also being able to see how a programme is created and broadcasted on the same day. Next target: BBC’s Question Time here I come!
Being a journalism student I take try to take advantage of each opportunity. So when asked by the BBC to join a regional debate on the War in Afghanistan with a panel of politicians, I was pretty excited. It was the first time I would be appearing on TV but don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t the main reason. It was a chance to question some politicians. Some people may think this is the least of the exciting things in their life and the lack of trust which has built up for MPs doesn’t help either. But it’s the job of us journalists to be ‘watchdogs’ of those in power, so this was a great opportunity to put my questioning skills to the test – or so I thought.
I found out later that I may or not even get a chance to speak and if I do speak I would have to keep it short. Let’s just say I was a tad disappointed but nevertheless I went with the flow and took it as ‘work experience’.
I was initially told about this by my University lecturer who then passed me on to BBC East Current Affairs Researcher, Stephanie Crowther. She told me the programme had a diverse range of people as the audience and she would like some Muslim media students from Luton to be part of the audience. I found it interesting that they were looking for Muslim students from Luton to represent the mainstream Muslim community. Did they just assume my opinion is the mainstream view? (quote maybe)
The debate was held in the University of Essex in Colchester, and the BBC kindly gave me and another fellow journalism student transport to the venue. The long one and a half hours drive from Luton to Colchester made me think we were getting late, but having arrived there I found out that we were far from late, in fact in TV there’s a lot of waiting around.
There were three Mps as part of the panel with Labour MP and Minister of the armed forces, Bill Rammel, Tory MP and also part of the Defence Select Committee Bernard Jenkins and MP for Colchester, Bob Russell. Another panel member was Inayat Bunglawala, the founder and chair of Muslims4UK. The presenter of the programme was Susie Fowler-Watt, the news present for BBC’s Look East. She introduced herself to me right before we were starting the debate and told me when it was my time to speak, I should keep it short.
The programme was similar to that of Question Time, but on a less grand scale and more restricted with regards to questioning. Everything was of course planned and prepared. They first filmed the beginning and end of the programme, thereafter asking the audience to start clapping until they told us to stop. This was probably one of the awkward parts of the filming since you had to clap even if you didn’t want to. Another awkward but funny moment was when all the politicians had to stare at the audience for a little while. I just couldn’t help but put on a smirk at the cold stares of the MP’s, and to top it off Inayat Bunglawala suddenly waved his hands in the air making a silly face. We all burst out laughing to which Bob Russell then said “You’ve done it now. We’ll be seeing that on outtake TV”. This light hearted joke seemed to have eased any tensions occurring from the issues surrounding the debate.
There were a lot of people in the audience who were affected by the war on Afghanistan. A lot of them were families of soldiers fighting in the war and some were victims of the ongoing struggle. Sitting next to me was a man whose daughter had died in the London 7/7 bombings. I spoke to him telling him more about the politicians on the panel and it seemed he was getting fired up to speak to the politicians. When it was his turn to speak, boy did he churn out a long one. I give him credit for saying everything he wanted to say.
I knew my cue was slowly drawing nearer as a video report of Luton titled ‘Luton: A community divided’ was being showed. It was about the provocative anti-war protests against the Royal Anglican Battalion last March. As the presenter asked me my opinion, I just said what I had in mind at the time.
My moment of fame lasted for 30 seconds. So was I worth it? I definitely think so. I asked Stephanie about the programme and when it was being aired. Surprisingly she told me it was being broadcasted in the very same day, and then I hurriedly phone home to tell my parents to ‘Sky plus’ the programme.
This for me was a invaluable experience, being part of a programme where I shared my views but also being able to see how a programme is created and broadcasted on the same day. Next target: BBC’s Question Time here I come!
Friday, 26 February 2010
Final push, final year - dissertation
Oh how time flew by! Just yesterday i can imagine just entering university on my first day. I was all nervous and anxious about how hard it was going to be, or how strict my lecturers will be, how will my classmates be like? Now I'm in my third and final year and when i look back at everything I've done, everyone I've met, and the things i have accomplished i can safely say that my time in University was well worth it.
All i have to accomplish is this last great feat. The ultimatum of three years of my hard work comes to this final showdown of the final project. Ive decided to do a dissertation rather than a media product like a film, magazine or radio package. Mainly because they involve in working in groups and working in groups as I've mentioned in previous blog posts is not something which i like to do. Although i don't hate it...its just for this final piece of work I'd rather rely on myself than on anyone else.
The deadline is April 28 2010. Its slowly creeping its way in, so I'm having to constantly keep a track of my time and hopefully I'll get everything done by the end of March which will give me time to get everything else done, like checking references, spelling, grammar, etc. This will obviously be done as i go along anyway...but i need a few weeks to properly sort everything before i hand it in. I'm actually even wasting my time writing this blog post...so i shall now skidaddle.
All i have to accomplish is this last great feat. The ultimatum of three years of my hard work comes to this final showdown of the final project. Ive decided to do a dissertation rather than a media product like a film, magazine or radio package. Mainly because they involve in working in groups and working in groups as I've mentioned in previous blog posts is not something which i like to do. Although i don't hate it...its just for this final piece of work I'd rather rely on myself than on anyone else.
The deadline is April 28 2010. Its slowly creeping its way in, so I'm having to constantly keep a track of my time and hopefully I'll get everything done by the end of March which will give me time to get everything else done, like checking references, spelling, grammar, etc. This will obviously be done as i go along anyway...but i need a few weeks to properly sort everything before i hand it in. I'm actually even wasting my time writing this blog post...so i shall now skidaddle.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Avatar 3D Review
Yesterday i just watched the upcoming blockbuster of this year or probably this century, Avatar - and in 3d too. James Cameron the director of the film had his plans ready from 1997 but the technology to make the film wasn't available so he waited it out. And boy wasn't that the greatest decision he made in his life?
Avatar was the most expensive film ever made with a budget of around $300 million dollars which is about £186 million. So far it's the fastest ever movie to hit the billion mark and this is set to rise.
The story is good, but not amazing. It had some nice character development, are the whole film seemed to flow pretty well with each each not dragging as some say at all.
The film itself is visually stunning, with some spectacular landscapes and very life like 'alien humanoids' calling them selves the 'Navi'. These aliens are in CGI mixed with real motion censor technology which obviously enhances the fictional characters to be more realistic. There were at times though the Aliens looked at tad cartoon like, and certain CGI elements were obvious, but most of the film is aesthetically very good, probably the best I've seen so far. The CGI is well done as well, probably a little lower or on par with Square Enix's Final Fantasy Advent Children.
I went to watch the film in Real D 3d and it does enhance visuals a lot with it's depth of field. You really feel life you are in the exotic landscapes which the film portrays. There were some things where the 3d never worked like when the characters were in a room and suddenly you see the 3d affect come into play which was totally pointless but when the actions scenes came about, as the audience you get yourself braced for lots and lts of 3d effects since so many potential chances where the 3d could have used, but it wasnt. Aside from these minor annoyances, the 3d did actually make the overall film look better.
I'm going to watch the film again sometime to really get more out of the film, probably in the IMAX theatre, since i'm hearing from people the sound is top notch, though i hear the visuals are not as good as Real D 3d. If i was to rate the film out of ten i'd give it a 8/10, mainly because it was entertaining and had something for everyone.
Avatar was the most expensive film ever made with a budget of around $300 million dollars which is about £186 million. So far it's the fastest ever movie to hit the billion mark and this is set to rise.
The story is good, but not amazing. It had some nice character development, are the whole film seemed to flow pretty well with each each not dragging as some say at all.
The film itself is visually stunning, with some spectacular landscapes and very life like 'alien humanoids' calling them selves the 'Navi'. These aliens are in CGI mixed with real motion censor technology which obviously enhances the fictional characters to be more realistic. There were at times though the Aliens looked at tad cartoon like, and certain CGI elements were obvious, but most of the film is aesthetically very good, probably the best I've seen so far. The CGI is well done as well, probably a little lower or on par with Square Enix's Final Fantasy Advent Children.
I went to watch the film in Real D 3d and it does enhance visuals a lot with it's depth of field. You really feel life you are in the exotic landscapes which the film portrays. There were some things where the 3d never worked like when the characters were in a room and suddenly you see the 3d affect come into play which was totally pointless but when the actions scenes came about, as the audience you get yourself braced for lots and lts of 3d effects since so many potential chances where the 3d could have used, but it wasnt. Aside from these minor annoyances, the 3d did actually make the overall film look better.
I'm going to watch the film again sometime to really get more out of the film, probably in the IMAX theatre, since i'm hearing from people the sound is top notch, though i hear the visuals are not as good as Real D 3d. If i was to rate the film out of ten i'd give it a 8/10, mainly because it was entertaining and had something for everyone.
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