Saturday 23 April 2016

Things I Never Told Anyone




Just as the title says. Some of them because there was never any occasion. Others, well, because they are weird personal things people don’t usually talk or even think about. Let alone publish online. But someone has got to do it, and I humbly volunteered. So here you go.

On that same note, also check the following More Things I Never (Really) Told Anyone, Even More Things I Never (Really) Told Anyone, and Some of my First Times.


1- If I ever have to pee in the shower, I cup one hand and make an umbrella over my wee-wee so the running water doesn’t interrupt the process or the projectile. 





2- In the whole history of the Internet, I don't think I ever LOL'd. I also never used the Facebook Chat.


3- If my fingers are dry when I’m about the cut my nails, I usually suck on them briefly to make them slightly wet and the cutting easier. 





4- When it happens that I don’t have money at all, I sometimes give away my last couple of Pounds of Dollars to a homeless person, thinking that they probably need them more. It gives me a peculiar, unexplainable sense of freedom and happiness. 





5- I often downgrade my vocabulary when I talk to certain people so I don’t sound cocky or pretentious.


6- I sometimes write sarcastic comments on people’s posts on Facebook, then never post them. Because through the years I realized how they have become more and more sensitive to what I say — or write.


7- I loved numbers as a kid. I would count my pee as I would count my steps from the sporting club to my grandma’s house. Sometimes I would try to predict the final number before counting. This stayed with me until today and came to be quite useful in a variety of ways.


8- At some point in my life I made lots of money from real estate, then spent most of it over several months on heroin, cocaine, sushi, and the girls and women who were around then, in that particular order (in terms of importance, not value). A thousand dollars a night on average…in Egypt!



9- In my late teenage years, I had a sort of fantasy to be caught cheating by a girlfriend then have her throw water — from a glass — on my face in a semi-public place. 
You know like we see in the movies.


10- In my early 30s in Toronto, I spent three birthdays in a row in Wonderland, riding scary rides and enjoying the adrenaline rushes. Because natural highs don't have lows.



And it's a wrap. It’s been fun and I actually feel slightly lighter now that I’ve shared with you that which was never worded before. I guess you're not too weird after all, huh.


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Funny Drug-Related Stories 2




Funny Drug-Related Stories 2 by Omar Cherif, One Luclky Soul

After last week's Funny Drug-Related Stories, here is more jollity. Being 4-20 today, it's a highly convenient occasion to share this sequel. So Happy 420, Lucky Souls!


1- Brothers i̶n̶ ̶L̶a̶w̶ 


When I was 20, some friends and I went on a camping trip to the Western Desert Oases of Egypt. One was my age, plus his brother-in-law and a couple of other friends. The three guys were about five years older than us and were experienced campers, which means they were the ones driving and had all basic equipment.

 I only had my cameras and some other vital enhancements.

They were in two cars when they passed by me at around 4 a.m. As we were loading my stuff, my buddy came whispering in my ears: Look, we can smoke and drink all we want in front of his brother-in-law, but let’s keep the roofies between you and I. I agreed, before we shared a couple of pills. 



We began the trip and happened to stop somewhere else not far away from our starting point, maybe to put gas. This time, it was the older brother- in-law who came to me and discretely said: 

Listen, we can smoke and drink in front of [his own brother-in-law] but let’s keep the roofies between us. Sure, man.



This was getting amusing. 



The brother-in-law was driving the four-wheeler, my buddy next to him, and I’m enjoying the backseat to myself. Music on, beers open, and yeah. Adventure Mode: Beast.



And then, a while later — an hour or two through — I was woken up by the two guys. “Omar?”



I open my eyes to find them both looking back at me and there is a huge piece of tile right in between the seats with two kick-ass lines on it. Mid my daze, it took me a few seconds to register what’s going on. Looking around, I could see that we're off-road in the desert and the sun was about to shine. So I peacefully smiled, proceeded to take the roofies, and then told them about what just happened.

Apparently, i
t took them one hour on the road to open up to each other and come clean about what they had in mind for the trip. Only to discover that what they had in mind was the same. So the in-law part was dropped and they become true Brazars!

We had an amazing few days surrounded by Nature, bathing in hot springs and sleeping on the sand.

The featured photo on the tracks is from that trip, which was 18 years ago. Waow. 




 2- I Am You and What I See Is Me


A year before when I was 19, I was in L.A for the summer and I happened to go to a 24-hour illegal outdoor rave in San Diego. I had experimented with pretty much everything by then, except LSD. So I told a relative of mine who has done it before, and he told me that this rave would be it.

We got there and started by taking one tab for $5. A bit later we took MDMA, then another gel tab for $7. He said that the first one was not that strong, so this to make sure that we'll go there.

There was about 5000 people and I had a blast. W
e stayed for 12 hours then the next morning we got into our car and headed back to L.A, still tripping but somewhat in control. I went home and bumped into two Mexican girls who were my neighbours at the UCLA dorm. I told them about my trip so they suggested that we all go to Venice Beach. 

As we were walking on the boardwalk, each girl holding one of my hands, I see a guy coming towards me. We locked eyes for a moment and then something happened. After looking away for a second, I couldn't help but to look again; and at the same instant I did that, he was also looking at me.

After we had crossed each other, I felt an irresistible urge to turn around and look at that stranger one more time. So I did, and as I was turning my neck, I could see him do the exact same. Of course I had no explanation, but I was mesmerized by the eerie connection with that mere stranger.

This was Sunday noon and Venice is usually pretty busy by then. However, it didn't stop me from checking the mysterious man one last time as I turned around and jumped. To my pleasant surprise, he was jumping and turning around to look at me as well. And then we parted ways.

This experience has left me startled. Who is he? What happened? Could he be tripping too? The girls looked at me, trying to understand, but I knew it was beyond them. There was nothing for me to explain.

Being new to LSD, I felt so weird at the time. I thought I may be losing my head, so I left the girls in some store and went to the bathroom, only to find myself tearing up. I stared at myself in the mirror for a while, washed my face, then went back to them.

I already knew Echoes by then as I was/am a great Pink Floyd fan. Though I never made the connection between my experience and the lyrics until one day afterwards when I was listening to the song and BAM!


Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can


So this happens to other people too? Sweet.

After that whenever I’m tripping and happen to lock eyes with a stranger in such a sentimental way, I instantly know that he’s one of ‘Us’ — whatever ‘Us’ means. As for Echoes, it remains one of my favourite songs ever.





3- Madmen 


After drinking Hysacamus muticus (Sakarana) in Sinai one day then eating a couple of leaves the next one, my friends and I tripped for about 30-something hours. Yeah. It was a heck of a dangerous trip, yet we made it out alive. There are many things that happened then which we can now call funny.

One of them was when a friend fell and injured his head then was taken to the hospital. The guy was in another world and he happened to entertain the whole floor by insisting on rolling imaginary joints in the air. When the nurse came closer to see what he was doing, he gave her his back and said ‘sorry’ [that he's rolling in bed]. Then when the Head Physician came to check on him, he thought he was one of his dad's friends and called him ‘Uncle’. Hilarity ensued.

This is the full story in addition to the research I have done later: Surviving the Madness of Sakarana — Hyoscyamus muticus.


Funny Drug-Related Stories 2 by Omar Cherif, One Lucky Soul


4- “ODing on Weed...Again


15 full years after the first encounter when my cousin “OD’d” on weed, it happened again with another buddy. This time we were in our mid-30s and I was in Canada when an old friend came to visit.

Obviously he is not a smoker, yet he occasionally has a few puffs here and there. The first time we met in Toronto, he took a few hits and things went fine. Then a week later we did it again — he probably smoked a little bit more than that first time. Also, Canada's greens is much stronger than the hash he experimented with in Egypt.

With that in mind, after about 10 minutes I could see his face becoming slightly pale. I might have seen it coming, though I didn’t say anything. He rushed to the kitchen and began drinking water, then juice, then proceeded to swallow several spoonfuls of ice cream. A couple of minutes later, he finally told me that he doesn't feel well.

As usual, I remained calm as I should be. I went to the kitchen to get him more juice and this is when I heard the door opening. I rushed out to find him standing in the corridor in front of the elevator and holding his heart.

I need to go to the hospital,” he paranoidly said.

Thinking in my head “Oh Boi, Not Again,” I smiled and told him that he only took a few hits and that he'll be fine pretty soon.

Don't worry, man, it’s me. I won't give you anything that would hurt you. Just wait here, I’ll close the door and we go down take a walk,” I comforted him, even gave him a hug.

I now know how breathing properly, fresh air, and changing location can usually do wonders in such cases. So we did just that. We took the dog and walked to a nearby supermarket where he can get distracted. A short walk around the building for 15 minutes then we went back to the house.

He was relatively fine by then, still a little pale though.

This was when my ex-partner was going to pass by. He was kind of reluctant that she sees him in such a state. But I convinced him that he's already fine and that she's totally cool.

Later on when he snapped out of it, he told me that it was paranoia. He had big family-related things in mind at the time and the ganja just made him feel helpless for this one hour, which freaked him out since he lost control of his mind. He's not used to losing his mind, and that's why he worried.

A couple of weeks later, we met again and he still had a few hits and was completely fine.



5- Almost Busted While Spray Painting on Acid


After that San Diego rave, my growing fascination with LSD resulted in wanting to share the experience with my close friends. One of them was the same cousin who had “OD’d” on weed in Part 1.

About a couple of years after that incident, him, a third friend and I happened to be on acid one night in Cairo. It was my cousin’s first trip and I was the one in charge. The dose was nothing too much, maybe a couple of hits for myself and one for each of them.

All went smooth then we decided to take a spin late at night. At the time, I had a can of orange spray that I was keeping in the car. We stopped somewhere by a tunnel and began spraying on the wall. I remember a smiley face and a Fido Dido who kind of looked like our third friend.

Mid the fun, a police vehicle passed by and stopped. I was holding the spray in my hand and as they came right next to us, I just threw it on the ground. You know, as if it’s not mine. As if I just happened to be standing next to a freshly painted wall and a spray can.

They took a look in the car and inspected the tapes I had. They tried to compare them with whatever we painted on the wall. I believe they thought we might have been satanists, which was once a hot potato of a topic in 1990s Egypt. What are you doing? asked the officer.

I decided to philosophize. “Well, you know it’s Thursday night (the weekend) and there is nothing to do. You know, all the outings are packed and everywhere is busy. So instead of getting bored we thought of playing a little bit.”

The man gave me a weird, unimpressed look. “You know this is vandalizing, right? He asked, “I can easily take you to the station.”

I was then interrupted by my cousin: “ حضرتك احنا ولاد ناس ”.

“Welad nas” in Arabic literally translates into “children of people” and it usually describes those who come from good families and background. So what my anxious cousin was politely telling the officer is that we are good, well-behaved kids. He also told him that the three of us live on that same Nile street — as a proof that we are “Welad nas”.

The officer and I spoke for another couple of minutes, during which we were interrupted again by my cousin...twice.

“ حضرتك احنا ولاد ناس ”

After the last time, the officer looked at the guy and almost shouted:
“ يعني احنا ولاد كلب؟ ”

“So we are the children of dogs?”
Ha.

Eventually they let us go. The orange drawing on the wall stayed for maybe seven or eight years afterwards and it was a fun reminder of that night.



Stay tuned for more Funny Drug-Related Stories. There are still many.



ALSO VIEW:


Funny Drug-Related Stories

Funny Hotel-Related Stories

Surviving the Madness of Sakarana — Hyoscyamus muticus

Opiated Then Hatin' It

Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, and Crystal Methamphetamine — A Psychonaut’s Review

The LSD Experiments of the 1950s and 60s [Videos & Documentaries]

Out-of-Body Experience and Ego Death on a “Heroic Dose” of Mushrooms

Placebo Effect & The LSD Prank 

The Egyptian Man Who Kept a Piece of Hash in His Stomach for Four Years

Animals Getting High: Weird Nature ― Peculiar Potions [Documentary] 


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Monday 18 April 2016

Encounter With a Drowning Fruit Fly



Encounter With a Drowning Fruit Fly by Omar Cherif, One Lucky Soul

Teach your children that whenever a mosquito bites them or a fly lands on their food, they are only trying to feed and survive. This is the natural order of things in Life. There is nothing personal about it and there is no reason to freak out or to curse the insects.



Since I’m currently residing in a hotel, I get to use the small pool whenever I want. Not bad for a perk. 
So last week I was in the water when I see a tiny fruit fly right in the middle of the pool. At first, I couldn’t tell if it was dead or alive. A few seconds of observation and I realised that it’s still moving its extremities.

Being who I am, I used my index to lift the poor thing out of the water. I could sense its physical relief — it might have been struggling for hours. The survivor kept hanging on my finger like a distressed baby koala on its caring mama. Then it began drying itself. Apparently they, too, do this.

After some more minutes, I gently placed my finger by the border of the pool onto the solid ground. To my slight surprise, it was reluctant to leave my helping finger. Perhaps the long-awaited relief made it not want to.

In some weird way, by that time I had already developed a bond with that minuscule form of life. Actually I didn’t want to let go either.



“Imagine having an insect for a pet,” came to mind. I mean, I’ve been ‘communicating’ with, and writing about ants, spiders, flies, and mosquitoes for a while now; I rarely ever kill an insect, I just catch and release them instead. And believe me, they do cooperate. They do want to live more than to be killed. It’s a natural instinct for survival.

That said, I hereby suggest that if you want to get rid of an insect in your house, open those doors and windows and guide them out, or catch and release them. In fact, there are simple tools now that allow you to do just that as seen in the below video. Or if you don’t want to spend, use magazines, cups, and tissues. You will feel good.

My earlier ant pieces can be found Here, Here, and There. Reviving a Drowning Bee [Video] — Learning The Do’s and Don’ts and Befriending a Flying Insect are two more.


Encounter With a Drowning Fruit Fly by Omar Cherif, One Lucky Soul
From Befriending a Flying Insect on the same pool

Back to the pool...A few more gentle finger manoeuvrers and there was the fruit fly; safe, sound, and on the ground.



Under my watchful eyes, I could see that the kiddo stayed where it was. It was still trying to dry itself by shaking its arms, legs, and wings — or at least that’s what appeared to me. But it looked healthy and ready to carry on living…for a few weeks. Hopefully.


I wish I had a camera then to take a selfie together and commemorate this special moment. 
Could that be the next step? Does the insect kingdom trust me enough now to welcome me in and befriend me? I guess we’ll have to wait to find out. 


The whole encounter took about 15 minutes. When I snapped out of it, shifting my vision from the micro to the macro world and looking around, I was happy that no one was watching. Just because I looked like a lunatic having a peculiar, highly emotional relationship with one of his fingers.






ALSO VIEW


Reviving a Drowning Bee [Video] — Learning The Do’s and Don’ts

Befriending a Flying Insect

Why Ants Carry Their Dead and Other Fascinating Facts

Ants Carry Other Live Ones As Means of Transportation: Further Evidence That They Must Be Communicating [Video]

Guiding Ants Out Of The Kitchen...Alive











Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Saturday 16 April 2016

اللي يخاف من الشيطان يطلعله



بعد شهر في أول زيارة لي لمصر بعد الثورة في يناير ٢٠١٤ كنت ركبت حوالي ١٠ تاكاسي. حاولت أتكلم شوية مع كل واحد علشان أعرف الشارع بيقول إيه. لاقيت إن كله طبعاً قالب عالاخوان ونصهم على درجة من الوعي وفاهمين اللي بيجره كويس. أخر أسبوع قلت أغير شوية وانزل حتة شعبية نسبياً وأحاول أسمع الناس.

اخترت يوم الجمعة بما إنه هادئ
، ركبت تاكسي واتجهت على شارع الوحدة في إمبابة. يومها كنت سامع عن مسيرات للاخوان في الهرم ومدينة نصر بس سكتنا احنا كانت فاضية، عدينا الكيت كات ووصلنا في حوالي عشر دقائق. واحنا داخلين لاقينا ست وولدين بيجروا علينا: "إرجع إرجع، الاخوان قافلين الشارع و بيضربوا نار."

السواق كمل شوية كمان ولاقينا تكاتك وعربيات بتلف عكسي وجايا فوشنا: "لف لف الاخوان لسة مموتين واحد."

السواق ساعتها أم راكن على جنب وقالي مع نفسك بقي حضرتك
، أي تكتك يوصلك و يخرم من جوه. فكرت لحظة...طب أرجع واللا أدخل أشوف بنفسي؟ همم، لاقيت اني ديه فرصة يمكن ما تتعوضش قريب وقررت أكمل. سواق التاكس شافني غريب عن المنطقة فكثر خيره نزل وواقفلي تكتك، بس السواق كان مقلق والتاكسي لاغاه وقاله يخرم من جوه و اقنعه.

ركبت وراه في التكتك والأدرينالين عندي ضارب فالعلالي، حاولنا نخرم من الشوارع الجانبية بس كان لازم نطلع تاني على شارع الوحدة علشان نوصل لأخره.

سرحت للحظه ساعتها...تخيل تاخد رصاصة طايشة وتموت وانت جاي تتفرج. بس الاحساس بالخطر كان ممتع وخرج الافكار اللي مالهاش لازمة من دماغي.

المهم خرجنا عالشارع والجدع قرر يمشي عكسي علشان يتفادي القلق اللي كان في طاريقنا. هو بجد كان ماشي في نص الطريق وكل اللي جاي فوشنا من تكاتك وعربيات كانت هي اللي لازم توسع. بعد دقيقة واحدة وصلنا للزحمة اللي كانت علي يميننا قبل التوحيد والنور.

خير اللهم اجعله خير، لقيت ٢٠-٣٠ "ولد" عاملين دوشة وحواليهم ناس بتتفرج وتصور وبس كده ― أنا ماكنتش واخد الكاميرا مخصوص علشان أعرف اندمج من غير ما يبقي شكلي سايح. بس ولا كان فيه دم ولا جثث ولا نار حتي. قلت يمكن القلق خلص. دخلنا يمين مع نهاية الشارع ونزلت من التكتك. شربت عصير قصب الاول وبعدين رحت اعدت على قهوة في المنطقة وطلبت شاي.

وقتها افتكرت جدي الله يرحمه لما كان بيحكلنا عن شغله قبل الخارجية في القسم المخصوص تبع الداخلية أيام الملك لما كان بينزل يقعد على القهاوي علشان يسمع الناس بتقول إيه. المهم اتكلمت مع كام واحد وعرفت إن اللي حصل ما كانش ضرب نار وإن "الاخوان" ما ماويتوش حد. حاسيبت و إتمشيت شوية و بعدها أخدت تاكسي علشان أروح.

السواق في اواخر العشرينات كان مشغل الراديو. نفس التمثلية التركي والبرين-واشينج اللي عمال أسمعهم بقالي شهر فكل محطات التليفزيون (أنا ما باتفرجش عليه بس بخبط فيه وانا بازور أهلي و أقاربي) والراديو اللي بسمعه في التكاسي فقط.

صوت أجش بتاع أحمد سمير مذيع الثمانينات:

- جماعة الاخوان الارهابية تقتل ثلاث في مسيرة لهم مش عارف فين.
- جماعة الاخوان الارهابية تعطل الطرق مش عارف فين.
- جماعة الاخوان الارهابية أبصر إيه.

* فاصل إعلاني: نعم للدستور يعني الفلاح يعرف يشتري بذور (ده بجد بجد مش هزار).


أنا: إنت واخد بالك إن ما بين كل "جماعة الاخوان الارهابية" و "جماعة الاخوان الارهابية" لازم يبقي فيه "جماعة الاخوان الارهابية

هو: طبعاً يا بيه، ماهو لازم يخوفه الشعب و خصوصاً قبل الاستفتاء علشان كله يقول نعم.

أنا (مبسوط مالسواق): عندك حق، ذي ما كان مشغلين الفزاعة الستين سنة اللي فاتت.
هو: عارف حضرتك هي بانت امتى أوي؟ بعد فرقعة المنصورة، ال إيه كاميره المراقبة تقطع ١٠ دقائق قبلها. وبعدين دي مديرية أمن مش محل كشري، عادي كدة تتفجر و ناس تموت وبعدين يطلع يقولك أنصار بيت المقدس، فيلم هابط أوي والله.

أنا (فخور بالسواق): هو فعلاً الموضوع إتكرر كتير وما يصدقوش أي عقل بيفكر شوية وبعدين الناس مش عبيطة على فكرة و فاهمين اللي بيحصل كويس، هو شعب طيب اه انما مش أهبل.
هو: لأ مش أهبل...ده شال حسني مبارك بجبروته في ١٨ يوم و مرسي في أربع أيام.

طب إيه موضوع المسيرة و ضرب النار ده؟
 
رد بثقة: دول كانوا شوية شباب على كام شمروخ علي كام مسدس صوت.

أنا: أصل وانا داخل المنطقة من ساعة كان فيه ناس بتجري و عربيات راجعة عكسي و"ضرب نار" و"الاخوان موتوا واحد"، ده حتي التاكسي سابني ومارضاش يدخل الشارع. هو ده عيب الخوف بقي.

 
هو: حضرتك الخوف لو سيطر عليك يخليك مش عارف تتصرف. وعلى فكرة ،أنا قافل قنوات الراديو الحكومي ديه طول الاسبوع و بافتحها يوم الجمعة بس علشان أعرف هما بيقولوا إيه و بيفكروا ازاي. تصدق بقي أن أنا نفسي السيسي يكسب علشان يعرفوا إن المشكلة أكبر من كد
ه بكتير.

عفارم عليك يا نموذج المصري الواعي. هانزل هنا يا حبيبنا.



و دمتم مش خايفين :}


البوست الأصلي
 (١٥ يناير ٢٠١٤)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Friday 15 April 2016

Funny Hotel-Related Stories




http://www.villadarte.nl/kunstgids/hotel-stories-different-people-different-stories

After growing up living in hotels for 20 years, I worked in hotels for another seven. So naturally I happened to witness, and sometimes even became part of lots of different stories. While some are dramatic, others like the ones compiled herein are humorous. The spooky tales will be left for another article.

Once done, check Hotel Living: Then and Now, which is a more recent piece in which I am comparing between those 20 years when I grew up as “the son of the General Manager” — mostly in Egypt and when 20 years later I resided in a smaller hotel in sunny Venice Beach on and off for two years as a long-staying guest.

On a parallel note, Funny Drug-Related Stories and its sequel Funny Drug-Related Stories 2 are two more list-articles which were inspired by this one. 

May you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing.


1- Haifa The Pillow Princess



Once in a fancy 5-star hotel in Egypt, I was called to the reception to check out Haifa Wehbe — the seductive Lebanese singer. After a three-day stay the bill was a little over $3000. However, she said she was supposed to be invited and shouldn’t be charged. Knowing that there wasn’t any notice left on the system, I replied that I have no info about this arrangement. So she unhappily handed me her credit card.

For some reason, I still called the owning company office, informing them about the situation. I was quickly told to let her go and to “put it on the company”. I gave her back the credit card and said that it’s all taken care of. She smiled and thanked me, then headed to the main entrance preparing to depart. 



At that exact same moment, the head Housekeeping called me from Haifa’s vacant suite to tell me that she took one of our exceptionally soft pillows with her! A little confused, I called my manager and told him the story. He asked me to check with the bellmen handling her bags and look for the pillow, and to stop her if found.

I went to the luggage room and we did find the pillow. 

Imagine now I had to personally go to Haifa, who was standing in front of the main entrance surrounded by her Emo posse ready to get into the limousine, and find a gentle way to tell her: Hey, we all know that you just stole something from us but we want it back. 

And it came out like this:

Excuse me, the Housekeeping informed me that there is a missing pillow from your suite.”

She instantly and nervously replied: “No this is mine.”

I then knew she was lying. 

I only had two choices; I was either going to tell her, “No it’s not, we saw it inside your luggage and you're not leaving with our pillow” and risk some unknown consequences. Or, pretend that she convinced me with her soft, spoiled voice and wave bye bye.

I chose to wave bye bye and to keep telling the story.



2- Desperate Measures


Once in the late 90s in a 5-star hotel in Egypt, an Arab guest was seen in his balcony hanging a bed sheet with his room number written on it in huge as he was trying to pick up a woman from the opposing building!


3- Turkish Connection


Another time in a different five-star hotel in Cairo, I was called to meet a Turkish “walk-in” guest who desperately needed a room while we were fully booked. I told him that the situation was extremely tight, but he insisted that I help him. I then called the other property and made them book the last room they had, as well as arranged for a limousine ride to there. What a VIP treatment to a man who merely just walked into the property.  

While the car was getting ready, I got curious to know why he was so desperate. So I simply walked to the lobby to find a ravishing, seductive woman in a red dress sitting there waiting for him. Aha. Hanky Panky. No wonder it seemed like sort of a do-or-die thing for him.


Before departing the property, the guest was all smiles when he came up to hand me a US$ 100 bill. He looked at my face and said: “Thank you very much, but you're not Egyptian... you’re Turkish!” What! How truly fascinating. To which I smilingly replied back:

Well, I do have Turkish blood though my paternal family. But how did you know?”

I just do,” was his mysterious response. 
Hm.

I'm still wondering what made him say that. Some friends suggested later that it was due to how I write my family name with a ‘C’, which he could see on the name tag. Though this is a French thing and not Turkish where the initial family name is written Şerîf.

Oh well. Happy to have helped people make love. I hope they had fun and didn
’t think about me too much while mid action. 

Pimpingly yours.



4- A Pimping Guest 


Once in a 5-star hotel in Cairo, a colleague contacted an Arab guest to kindly ask him to take a visiting female out of the room as it wasn’t allowed. The man asked if he could do it after half an hour or so, but my colleague refused. So the desperate man offered him some money, and when he still refused he offered him the visitor herself after he was done with her. Yep.



5- Hash-Sniffing K-9

When working for a 5-star hotel in Egypt, security called me once saying that the guard dog at the entrance of the parking ‘caught’ some hash in one of the guests’ cars. I went down to check and told them to leave it as it.

Thing is, anyone who knows a tad bit about detection dogs would know that there are either “drug-sniffing” dogs or “explosive-sniffing” dogs, they cannot be both. We confronted the security company which provides the canines and they confessed they had picked the wrong dog for that specific shift. Of course anything could have happened because of this mishap and I doubt anyone would have suspected.



ALSO VIEW:


Funny Drug-Related Stories

Funny Drug-Related Stories 2

Hotel Living: Then and Now

The Ashram Sweeper Who Blocked Me on Facebook 

Blocked by an Anonymous Facebook ‘Friend’

The Joy of Being a Wanderer and the Credit Card Number
   
A Dollar & Thirty Four Cents in Me Pocket and Feeling Fine 

Personal Questions I’m Often Asked and Their Answers

The Bloke Who Thought I’m Too Much of an Alpha Male

The Girl Who Wouldn’t Share Toilet Paper

Not Sleeping With a French Hooker at 14

The Day I Became Bill Gate’s Elevator Boy

The Spell of the Topless Redhead 

The Night We Turned ‘Beast Mode’ On

The Night I Became a Stripper

Placebo Effect & The LSD Prank

The Joy of Being a Wanderer and the Credit Card Number

I Kissed a Grandma... and I Liked It

When Lady Ran Away

When The Puppies Ate The “Chocolate” 


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Funny Drug-Related Stories



Funny Drug-Related Stories by Omar Cherif, One Lucky Soul

As many of you know, I experimented with lots of different substances in my youth. It was all fun and games until I got hooked on a drug of choice for some years. I was only able to kick the habit when I finally realized that I do not need drugs to be happy or cool or whatever.

Drugs, however, could be occasional tools for altering our states of consciousness and for expanding our perspective. But when it becomes a need, like the case with addictive drugs, this is when one should rethink their life’s priorities.

Now years later, the psychonaut in me can still look back at some of those times and have a chuckle. Let me share with you the following collection of Funny Drug-Related Stories.


1- “ODing” on Weed


When I was 19 I went to L.A for summer courses in UCLA. I brought a glass bong back with me to Egypt, which was something totally new for many people there. One day, I was home alone with my nephew and a couple of my sister’s male friends and I fired it up.

My nephew wasn’t a legitimate smoker and he only took a hit from the bong, and another two hits from a joint a little later. That was it.

As I was playing Nintendo, I could see the dude moving around the house in an unnatural way. Then about 20 minutes through, he came to me, saying that he doesn’t feel well. He was holding his heart which was beating faster than normal. I calmed him down and got him a 7-Up to drink. When he still wasn’t fine I offered him milk.

Nothing seemed to work, though, and he began panicking. I, one the other hand, was not worried at all. I knew he took three puffs of weed. The bong was a killer, yes. The seedless stuff (bango) we got in Egypt in mid-90s was also a killer. But again, those were three puffs. I actually had to keep myself from laughing.

Not knowing what to do, the guy decided to call his friends and invite them over to come ‘help’. Then he laid on the floor holding his heart, telling me that I need to take him to the hospital. When I said that we can’t tell them that he only took three hits, he opened the house door and just lay on the floor and said: OK, you’re not going to take me, I will die here.

Maybe 30 minutes later and his friends arrived — four guys, if I correctly recall. As soon as they saw him, they looked at me and asked where is the stuff. I took them in and offered the bong. One of them smoked, the others kind of freaked out and didn’t. Again, the concept of the bong was completely new, so seeing what happened to their friend made them reluctant to go near it. Let alone at that experimental age none of them was really into drugs yet.

About an hour and a half through, he came back to his mind. He told me that if I’ll ever smoke again he would tell my dad. Ha.

This was 20 years ago, that’s two decades. Oh well, I still feel young. 


2- Waking Up Standing Up


Almost 10 years later, I had already been doing much harder drugs. One night, I wake up to find myself standing in front of the elevator of my building, right outside my apartment, with the door closed. I had absolutely no idea what I am doing there; if I’m coming back from somewhere, or going somewhere, or what. Zero clue. Fortunately, I had the house key in my pocket and was able to get in and carry on ‘dosing’.

It’s true that now this is funny. But when you think about it, it’s also kind of bone-chilling to be in such zombified states of unconsciousness. 



3- The Rivotril and Parkinol Week


There is a Parkinson’s Disease drug called Parkinol (Trihexyphenidyl HCl), which is an antiparkinsonian agent of the antimuscarinic class. I was told by a doctor that some of its ingredients are extracted from Sakarana (Hyoscyamus muticus).

In Egypt, Parkinol is a cheap synthetic atropine-like anticholinergic drug that has a street name of ‘Sarasir’ in Arabic, meaning ‘Roaches’. That is because users usually see black moving spots which look like insects.

Outside of Egypt, the street names for Trihexyphenidyl include its trade name Artane and Courage, Octane, Sexy Trihexy, T Rex, and Tri-Sexual.


Funny Drug-Related Stories by Omar Cherif, One Lucky Soul
  
One of the times when I was 19 and my parents were away, a friend and I took some Rivotril (Clonazepam). There was a shortage of roofies (Rohypnol) — in the 80s and 90s they were recreational drugs in Egypt, and not used to date rape — and the guy gave me those instead. We had never tried them before and thought why not.

Once at my place, we began by taking a few pills and drinking beer. At some point, there was tequila, too. I think I called a few friends to come spend the day with us at the pool of the hotel.

Now the trick with the Rivo is that the high stays till next day. So if you happen to take again the next day, you end up by getting notoriously confused. Our ‘party’ lasted for either four or five days, during which I remember once waking up and driving to university, only to find that it’s a Saturday and the building is closed. Total zonk.

By the second or third day, I woke up to find a girl I do not know coming into my bedroom. I look around and find my buddy sleeping on his extra bed. Who’s this?, I asked him.

Apparently, it was a group of girls we met on the pool and I proceeded to have sex with one of them. Now on the following day she was there to wake me up to go to the pool again. Yeah.

At the end of those four hazy days we decided to take Parkinol as a finale.

Similar to Sakarana, the effects include talking to people who aren’t there, seeing ants or black dots and imaginary smoke, not being able to light cigarettes, rolling imaginary joints, confounding confusion, in addition to the antimuscarinic effects — blurred vision (diplopia), insane dehydration, urinary retention, and gastro-intestinal disturbances.

At some point during the trip, we found ourselves sitting in the living room in front of the TV.

A bit later, my younger sister came out. Some blabbing that I obviously can’t remember and then I told her to go to bed... because it’s late. The thing is, it was about 7 am and she was going to school. She repeated that a few times, but I couldn’t register and kept telling her to go to bed.

Sitting next to me, my friend was like: “It’s OK, you don’t have to sleep, you can sit with us for a while.”

The girl sat down and he asked her: “So how’s everything?

Nothing,” she responded.

“Nothing? OK then go to sleep.”

Note that we were not being funny or playing some kind of sketch as we usually did. We were damn serious. In fact, we were so serious that we were later informed that the TV we were watching was an empty channel. Just blank white noise! Not only that, but the sun was about to come up, and we had no idea if it was a sunrise or a sunset. We tried, but we just couldn’t figure it out. Uhu.

That’s how Not There you are with these things. You are indeed OUT, but not the fun, stimulating OUT which psychedelics offer.

Poor li’l sister, she saw so much. Actually during this same week, I once entered her room in the middle of the night, holding a lighter and a BB gun. When she opened her eyes, I asked her where my parents were. She said they were away. And I was like: Ah, so they are not in their room now. That means I can go down. OK, bye. And I left her room. I also probably left the house, too. But until today we have no idea where I could have gone at 3 am in such a state.

She truly did see so darn much.




 4- Scaloppinos


My friends and I were once zonked on roofies. It was Ramadan and we went out to have ‘Sohour,’ which is the late night dinner during this month.

Apparently we were so out that night. I was repeatedly putting tea bags in glasses of cold water on the table, thinking it’s my tea cup. I also vaguely remember calling the waiters and by the time they come closer I would forget why I called them. It was a real mess.

The food was eventually served and that was when one of my buddies suddenly passed out and his face fell in his plate right onto the escalopes panées (schnitzel). He was sitting next to me when it happened and I was able to ‘wake’ him up. He had some kind of mild epilepsy, and the pharmaceuticals we used to do back in these days would sometimes trigger those fits, especially with high doses.

The guy was fine and we carried on with that bizarre night. Since then, the word we use when referring to him passing out is ‘Scaloppinos’. For quite a while, I kept using the word to refer to many other things.



5- Cops’ Version of Cocaine


During my mid-20s, my younger nephew and I went to Nuweiba in Sinai for a few days. One day, we left our camp and headed to Ras Abu Galum. We parked the car by the Blue Hole and began walking. That’s the only way you can get to that magical place, or on camels.

Once there, we went and spoke to an older Bedouin. I first asked him about weed. He showed us some commercial, touristic stuff, which we refused to take. He then took us at the back of the hut and revealed a huge bag filled to the brim with marijuana. We picked what in Cairo would be considered worth 100 L.E and were asked for only 20 L.E.

Once done with the weed, we still wanted to experiment with whatever else we could find. I could tell that the Bedouin looked high, so I didn’t hesitate to ask him about other stuff. He said usually there is heroin, which we already knew, but not at the moment. The guy was almost nodding while talking to us, so I didn’t really believe him. However, he said he has something called ‘Khoshkhash,’ or the poppy plant itself. It looked like crushed herb and it should be drank with tea; according to him, that would get us high.

We got some Khoshkhash and were excited to try something new. After a few hours in Abu Galum, we walked back to the Blue Hole, then got into our car and headed to Nuweiba. In one of the check points, they looked inside our ashtrays and found half a joint of hash we had totally forgotten about. So they took us inside the station.

The officer was about my age, possibly a couple of years older, and was quite calm. He told us that if we give him whatever we may be hiding, he’ll let us go. If, however, we said we have nothing on us and he searches and finds, then we’re in a lot of trouble.

Looking at the man’s face and listening to his words made me sense some sincerity. I didn’t think much and put my hand in my shorts and got the bag out. At the same time I signalled to my nephew to do the same with the bag he’s carrying in his own balls.

Now the officer had a bag of weed and another of that unusual substance right in front of him on the desk.

You smoke weed? No, I’m disappointed. When I found the hash in the car I thought you guys are better than that.”

Due to the shitty quality of Egyptian weed beginning the late 90s, many switched to hash, and since then weed smoking had been regarded as a less cleaner high.

He then inspected the ‘Khoshkhash’ bag and asked us what it was.

I began playing the role of the inexperienced kid who paid money for some bad weed and some other touristic scam. I said the man who sold us the stuff told us it’s a drug that you put in your tea.

Did you buy this from Soliman?” He asked.

“Yes.”

The dealer was pretty well-known there. We actually knew his name before heading to the area, which later made us think if he was the one who turned us in. But we doubted it, since it was us who forgot that half a joint in the ashtray; without this, we would have probably been fine.

The officer clearly had no idea what this odd-looking substance was. He took the bag out and disappeared for a bit, probably asking the other policemen.

Then he came back, looking all witty: “Do you know what that is?


We nodded.

This is cocaine!

Uhmm...NO,” we both said at the same time, then looked at each other and smiled. I mean, we knew pretty well what cocaine was. He was either told this by one of his subordinates and he doesn’t actually know that cocaine is a white powder, or he was trying to trick us. Either way, another 15 minutes at the station and he let us go.

We thanked him and headed on our own way. Though for a few moments I thought about turning around and asking him for our stuff. Whether it was going to get us high or not, I was really curious about that new substance. Oh well.

For years afterwards, “This is cocaine” in Arabic became a funny meme between my nephew and I which we would repeat while mimicking the officer’s voice.


Check Funny Drug-Related Stories 2 for more hilarity.



ALSO VIEW:

Funny Drug-Related Stories 2

Funny Hotel-Related Stories

Surviving the Madness of Sakarana — Hyoscyamus muticus

Opiated Then Hatin' It

Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, and Crystal Methamphetamine — A Psychonaut’s Review

The LSD Experiments of the 1950s and 60s [Videos & Documentaries]

Out-of-Body Experience and Ego Death on a “Heroic Dose” of Mushrooms

Placebo Effect & The LSD Prank

The Egyptian Man Who Kept a Piece of Hash in His Stomach for Four Years

Animals Getting High: Weird Nature ― Peculiar Potions [Documentary]

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Saturday 9 April 2016

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: A Woman, Her Girlfriend, and the Girlfriend's Friend



http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-male-lion-three-females-morning-light-masai-mara-image60619769

Before we begin our tenth story, I would like to share with you something amusing about these memoirs. I initially began writing them to lighten up on myself as well as on my readers. Not everyone is interested in psychology, philosophy, and metaphysics, so I gathered this kind of storytelling could bring a new audience to the blog.

By the sixth or seventh article I began noticing a pattern; a significantly low number of Facebook ‘likes’ — sometimes as low as four or five, on F.B and on here — yet a significantly high number of views, which I can see through the statistics — reaching hundreds of people.

People being drawn to sex and eroticism is nothing new. In fact, “Sex Sells” was one of the first lessons we learned in Journalism. However, the funny thing here is that some of those people may be embarrassed about their natural enjoyment and therefore they hide it. Hence not ‘liking’ an erotic article on the Internet so that the world doesn't know.

Humans are funny like that. Oh well, now back to debauchery.


In his mid-20s, my buddy met a fun young woman through work. They became friends before one day they let go and proceeded to shag. After meeting for two or three more times, another female appeared on the scene. She was an alluring European in her early 40s.

The new woman also worked with them and she became friends with my buddy's ‘friend’. One night, the two women had a third lady friend and they all went out together along with my bud. By the end of the night, it was the European woman's turn. Her and the guy went home together and had steamy sex.

After a couple of more meetings, the third friend, who was Asian and who happened to be the assistant of the second, reached out to my buddy. He sensed that she, too, wanted to get her share, so he invited her over — alone.   

After the action and as they were lying in bed, the woman got her phone out and snapped a photo of my naked buddy. He didn't give it much attention and thought that due to the complication of the whole situation, she would be discreet.

We're guessing that Ms. Asia must have shown the pic to her boss, because right afterwards the woman has totally changed towards my buddy. Despite remaining friends with the original woman, he never again spoke to the other two.

This was not his first time to individually engage in coitus with a group of female friends — we'll leave this for future articles. Yet, the series of adventurous events had certainly boosted his boyish ego and added him with some worthy experience.


Until the next adventure of my incognito friend.



ALSO VIEW:

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: The Italian Belly Dancer

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: The Stain on the Levi’s Shirt

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: The Girl Who Came

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: The Nine-Months-Pregnant Woman

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: Reliving a One-Night Stand...13 Years Later

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: The 17-Year-Old Lebanese Belly Dancer

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: Three Girls, One Perfume

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: The Sex Party

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: Threesome With Two Virgins

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: The Mother of Six Who Drove for 50 Hours

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: Another Sex Party 

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: Ten Days with a Charming Older Woman

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: The Neighbour’s Lustful Guest

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: 22 Years Later — Once Teenagers Now Adults

Memoirs of an Incognito Friend: Affair With an Older Married Woman
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Friday 8 April 2016

رحلة عبر التاريخ مع الدكتور عبدالفتاح البيطاش: واحة باريس وتفشي الملاريا في الأربعينات



Dr. Abdel Fattah el Bitash by Omar Cherif


شاء القدر أني اجتمع مع خالتي وزوجها الدكتور عبد الفتاح البيطاش في لوس أنجلوس بكاليفورنيا بعد فراق يزيد عن ٤ سنوات. كان الدكتور عبد الفتاح — أو توتو كما تعودنا أن ندعوه — موسوعة متحركة من المعلومات. فهو يتذكر كل شيء منذ ثلاثينات القرن الماضي إلى يومنا هذا، بالاسم الثلاثي وبالارقام والحجج. فهو يعرف بعلاّمة العائلة الذي كان ولازال كثير القراءة والإطلاع. ولأنه مقيم بالولايات المتحدة مع زوجته منذ الستينات فلم أئخذ كفايتي من الاستمتاع به ولا من الإستماع إلي قصصه التاريخية. بما أني أعشق سرد القصص كما أعشق التاريخ فالدكتور توتو يعتبر من أشوق الtopics لدي شخصياً.

ثالث يوم لي مع خالتي والدكتور في البيت حيث يستضيفونني لبعض من الوقت خرجنا إلي الغذاء ودار حوار شيق قررت أن اكتب عنه. أنا في عادتي مؤخراً أن اصطحب معي نوتة و قلم و خصوصاً في وقت السفر، نفس حال الكاميرا تمام. الدكتور بدأ يتحدث عن سنة ٤٨ في مصر وعن واحة اسمها *Baris وعن أزمة مية في الواحات وعن حالة تفشي ملاريا!

*باريس بالباء وليست ( پ ) كما في Paris العاصمة الفرنسية. 

طبعاً أنا إزبهليت من كام أول ثانية. أولاً، أنا بأعتبر نفسي محظوظ اني زرت جميع واحات الصحراء الغربية، أو التي كنت أعتقد انهم جميعاً: البحرية، الفرافرة، الداخلة، الخارجة، سيوة و الفيوم طبعاً، وأكثر من مرة. ثانياً، واحة اسمها باريس وفي مصر ولم أسمع عنها من قبل؟ وما تلك الازمة وما هو موضوع الملاريا؟ ثانية واحدة سعادتك... فلمعت عيناي وقتها وأخرجت القلم والنوتة وبدأ انترفيو ممتع طال لمدة ثلاثة أيام.


الدكتور عبدالفتاح البيطاش ولد سنة ١٩٣١ في شارع أمير حليم بحي الزمالك. كان والده الدكتور محمد حسين البيطاش الذي كان وكيل وزارة الصحة في ١٩٥٦ وقت الجمهورية العربية المتحدة، أي وقت توحيد مصر وسوريا، ثم أصبح وكيل الوزارة المركزية في أوائل الستينات نفس وقت زواج ابنه بخالتي. تخرج الدكتور توتو عام ١٩٥٣ وعمل بالقصر العيني و مستشفي أحمد ماهر حتي عام ٥٨ إلي أن جاء له أمر تكليف من الجيش. وبما إنه دكتور فبعد ٧ أيام تدريب — بدون سلاح — عين يوزباشي بثلاث نجوم، وبقي سنة واحدة حتي استأنف عمله بمستشفي أحمد ماهر إلي أن سافر إلي ولاية ديلاور بالولايات المتحدة في ١٩٦٢.

أكيد معظم المصريون يعرفون منطقة وشارع البيطاش بالعجمي، وهي مسماه بهذا لأنهم كانوا يمتلكون المنطقة وذلك من وقت الجد الكبير الذي أتي من المغرب في أوائل القرن ال١٩; ١٤ فدان بالظبط كانت ملك إلي الدكتور حسين وحده، وهو كان واحد من أصل ٤ أخوات كانت لديهم أراضي في نفس المنطقة. تلك الأرض أخذت منهم وقت الحرب العالمية الثانية من ١٩٣٩ إلي ١٩٤٥، حيث كانت تمثل خط دفاع الجيش الانجليزي عن منطقة الاسكندرية بأكملها. ويتذكر الدكتور من أيام صباه أنها كانت مليئة بالمدافع والرشاشات في ذلك الوقت. ويتذكر ايضاً أن مدام شيكوريل صاحبة محلات شيكوريل اليهودية الأصل كانت تقطن بنفس المنطقة، وكان ذلك سبب أن فرش البيت هناك كان من عند محلات شيكوريل.


ما هو موضوع الملاريا يا دكتور و ما هذه الواحة التي تسمي باريس ( Baris ) ؟

”وأنا في الثانوية في مدرسة السعدية والدي بما إنه أخصائي أمراض متواطنة (endemic) جاله "تكليف" للتصدي لمرض الملاريا الذي تفشى في الواحات بسبب وجود فائض في الميه. الميه الكتير تجيب ناموس والناموس بينقل الملاريا. ده كان وقت اجازة نص السنة و رحنا أنا وصديقي عطية البنداري اللي أبوه كان دكتور البنداري اللي هو بردو كان ضمن الحملة و كان صديق أبويا. كانت القافلة تتكون من عربيات نقل كبيرة وأخري نص نقل اللي ركبنا في واحدة فيهم أنا وعطية و كنا قاعدين في الضهر وساندين علي الاستبن. طريق الواحات كان من أسيوط وكان كله مدقات، يعني مفيش شوارع، والوحيد اللي يعرف السكة هو اسطة حسين السواق الكان قائد الموكب.

في الواحات الابار هي كل حاجة، يعني السؤال مكانش عندك كان فدان... لأ عندك كام بير. كان النظام إيه بقي انهم يمدوا المواسير في الارض بس من مناطق عليا، يعني ٣٠-٤٠ متر والمية كانت تطلع من غير ولا موتورات ولا حاجة. كان بيبنوا ذي حوض أو حمام سباحة كبير تحتها لحفظ المية اللي طالعة وكان بيتملي وتنزل منه علي الاراضي فكل الاتجاهات. الزراعة كانت فعلاً تفوق الوصف وكان فيه كل أنواع الخضار والفاكهة لكن المشكلة الوحيدة إن ماكنش فيه طرق لتوصيل المحاصيل إلي المحافظات. كانت ألاف مؤلفة من الفدادين المزروعة ومية في كل حتة لكن محدش كان عارف يستفيد بهذه المنطقة الغنية. علشان كدة بعد سنين كثيرة بدأ موضوع الوليد ابن طلال والمشروع إللي اسمه... توشكي.

وقت الحملة كنا بنقعد يوم أو يومين فكل واحة، يرشوا DDT علي المية الراكدة وبس. الكرم هناك كان بزيادة والعزومات كانت تتوالي علينا خصوصاً إن كل عمدة كان يعرف أبويا لأنه أول ما اتخرج سنة ١٩٢٣ بعتوه أيضاً على الواحات لمدة سنة وبقي دكتور هناك، ففي ٤٨ كل ولاد العُمَدٌ بقوا هما العُمَدٌ.

واحة الداخلة كانت أغناهم، والملاريا ماوصلش لسيوة. الديوك الرومي كانت للركب وجوز الفراخ كان بقرش تعريفة (يعني ٥ مليم للمايعرفش). كانوا يبعتوا معنا شويليت برتقال وبلح يقعدوا يحملوها في العربية ساعتين... ييجي بتاع كام ألف برتقالة وكميات بلح قعدت عندي فالقاهرة لمدة سنة بعدها. بس وتم القضاء علي الملاريا في المنطقة. أتذكر وقت هذه الحملة إن النقراشي باشا تم اغتياله... اجازة نص السنة ديسمبر ١٩٤٨.

أما باريس ديه بقي تبقي واحة من الواحات اللي الملك فاروق كان ناوي يزرع فيها ١٠٠,٠٠٠ فدان. وكان عمل فيها إستراحة غرفتين وصالة قعدنا فيهم لما رحنا. الراجل كان عارف قيمتها لكن الثورة قامت ومافيش حاجة حصلت لفترة بعدها.
 
كما علمت لاحقاً عن طريق معلمي Google أن Baris تعرف الان بمركز باريس وهي توجد علي بعد ٩٠ كم جنوب الخارجة. يوجد بالمنطقة معبد "دوش" الروماني الذي بني للإله سيرابيس، Serapis أو Sarapis، وهو إلاه إغريقي/مصري ظهر في العقد الثالث قبل الميلاد بأمر من بطليموس الاول (حكم ٣٠٥-٢٨٤ قبل الميلاد) في سبيل توحيد اليونانيون والمصريين. كما علمت أيضاً أن محافظة الوادي الجديد التي اقيمت في عهد عبدالناصر تمثل ٤٤٪ من مساحة مصر يعيش عليها ٢٠٠,٠٠٠ نسمة فقط!


إيه بعض الاسعار الاخري اللي تتذكرها من هذا الزمن الجميل؟

ال٤-٥ بيضات كانوا بقرش. كله كان بالرطل و الوقية. ٢ أو ٣ صاغ كانوا يجيبوا رطل لحمة والخضار كان بيتاخد فوق البيعه من شارع حسن صبري في الزمالك. والعجيل كان في الاصل بقال (فعلاً؟). ٢ Cadbury شكولاتة سادة بقرش تعريفة (٥ مليم) و ال-٢ اللي ببندق بقرش صاغ (١٠ مليم). الجزمة الباتا في ٣٦ كانت ب١٠ صاغ. في ٤٨ الأيس كريم البسكوتة كان بقرش صاغ. العربيات مثلاً، فعندك ال-Pontiac سنة ٣٦ كانت ب٢٠٠ أو ٣٠٠ جنيه...ال-Mercury سنة ٤٩ كانت ب-٨٠٠!

 و القرش المخروم والمليم اللي كان بيجيب بنبوني والسنترال وحاجات خيالية تانية كتير، لكن للاسف كان لازم أوقف لأن المواضيع  تشعبت والدكتورماعندوش أي مانع إن أن يستغرق في ذكرياته طوال اليوم و يسرد لي تلك الحواديت الشيقة،. وهو شيء يسعدني طبعاً لكن أردت أن اضع تلك المعلومات في مقال واحد فوجب أن انتقي.


الطريف أن بعد هذا المقال أحد أقاربي ارسلت لي لينك YouTube هذا فيلم لم أشاهده من قبل إسمه زوجة من باريس، و هو بطولة رشدي أباظة وفؤاد المهندس ونبيلة عبيد، وتدور أحداث الفيلم فعلاً في واحة باريس.



ودمتم حالمين مثقفين 😀
 
    



مقال أخر عن الدكتور
    The Doctor Who Wittily Saved Two Lives in 1956 — الدكتور الذي بَرَعَ في إنقاذ حياتين سنة ١٩٥٦


إضافة

الدكتور عبد الفتاح توفي في فبراير ٢٠١٩ في لوس انجلوس عن عمر ٨٨ سنة. هاتوحشنا قصصك يا دكتور
💔



ALSO VIEW:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Tuesday 5 April 2016

Random Stuff You May Not Know: Seven



1- Most Crosswalk Buttons Don’t Work



These buttons can be found in many places around the world. Their secret is, the majority of them do not function and are intentionally left like that. Dubbed “placebo buttons”, in New York for example only about nice percent of them actually work according to New York City Department of Transportation. If cars are forced to stop every time a pedestrian pushes the button, it will slow down the overall traffic and cause delay.

We can say that crosswalk buttons exist to make people feel like they are in control; like they are getting what they want.

In certain areas around the UK, Canada, and the U.S, the buttons do function. However, only in certain times of the day, mainly after midnight to early morning, and/or only in quite areas. At a standalone pedestrian crossing, unconnected to a junction, the button will likely turn a traffic light red.

Since I have learned this crosswalk button fact last year, now I can’t help but notice everyone who uses them. Some actually keep pushing multiple times in hope that it works faster. But most of these buttons don’t do anything at all, especially in busy intersections.

Once I told a couple of 20-year olds after seeing them pressing the fake button here in Venice Beach. “By the way, I research stuff and I just found out that those are placebo buttons which do not work.” They laughed and seemed convinced. Maybe the research bit make it more believable. The following time a dude told me ‘Fuck you’ while flipping me the finger, to which I simply just smiled back.

That said, I then decided to keep the ‘secret’ to myself, or just write about it. I might tell closer friends as I already have. But no more random strangers in the street. After all, no one likes to feel they have been fooled, possibly for their entire lives. Maybe they wouldn’t even believe me. 

A similar situation can be seen with the ‘close’ button for most elevators, which by the early 1990s had stopped working all over the U.S. Some people though often tend to repeatedly push on those as well.


2- Wife Carrying Championship
 
Known as Eukonkanto or Akankanto in Finnish, the Wife Carrying Championship has been taking place in Finland every year since 1992. The track is 253.3 meters (831 ft) and there are numerous obstacles to pass along the way.

There are several types of carrying: Piggyback, Fireman’s carry (over the shoulder), or Estonian-style (the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the husband’s shoulders, holding onto his waist). Interestingly, one of the rules of the competition states that all entrants must have insurance.

Other than Finland, there is currently a Wife Carrying World Championship is Australia, America, and Asian.

On a similar note, there is also a mobile phone throwing competition which had equally started in Finland in 2000. I’m not sure what’s that mysterious link between Finns and throwing stuff. See for yourselves in the below video.





3- Painkillers Epidemic in America
 

Americans, constituting only 4.6% of the world’s population, consume 80% of the global narcotic painkiller supply — opioids. In 2012, 259 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers were written, which is more than enough to give every American adult their own bottle of pills.

Ten of the highest prescribing states are in the South, with Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia leading the nation.

The Northeast, especially Maine and New Hampshire, have the most prescriptions per person for long-acting/extended-release painkillers and for high-dose painkillers.

The lowest prescribing state is Hawaii. I wonder whaii.

Those who are interested can watch the documentary Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease and Pushing Drugs to know how the heck happened. 



4- Cold Rinse After Shower  

Since I was a kid my dad taught me to finish my hot shower with a cold rinse so I don’t get cold once I’m out. This stayed with me until today, especially in winter. I also enjoy the invigorating freshness sensation that it gives you.

Just recently, I came across another benefit for that final rinse which I never knew; and it’s how cold water shuts the hair cuticle, or the outermost layer of the shaft, tight. According to some hair peeps, this “will cause it to reflect the most light and give off the most shine.”

That’s of course in addition to all the other benefits of cold showers.



5- “The President”: The Oldest Known Living Sequoia 
Located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in the United States, east of Visalia, California, this giant sequoia stands at 247 feet (75 m) tall and is estimated to be over 3,200 years old. The trunk is 27 feet (8.2 m) wide, with 2 billion needles from base to top.

As of 2012, the volume of its trunk measured at about 45,000 cubic feet (1,300 m3), with an additional 9,000 cubic feet (250 m3) of branches. It was nicknamed “The President” after President Warren G. Harding in 1923.

The President is not the tallest giant sequoia tree in the world nor the widest in diameter at the base. But it is the third largest tree in the world, measured by volume of trunk, as well as the oldest known living sequoia. According to the scientists who climbed it, it also has the largest crown.

Because of its unbelievable size, the tree has never been photographed in its entirety...until recently. A team of National Geographic Photographers have worked along with scientists to create the first photo that shows this historical tree in all its glory.

They had to climb with pulleys and levers, and took thousands of photos out of which they selected 126 and stitched them together to produce this stunning portrait of The President.


ALSO VIEW:
 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...