A look back at 2007

Maybe it’s a bit late to wish whoever might stumble upon this blog of mine a happy new year, but I’m always late, bet I will be late for my own funeral. Always said it, and will always say it again in amazement: Time flies, and so much happens in one year. Won’t go into every little single thing, as it’s impossible to remember everything… Will try to mention the so-called highlights…

I never imagined myself taking pictures with a big fat ass camera, something in me tells me that I made the upgrade way too soon, as a friend’s suggestion in the summer of 2006 rings in my head that it would be a waste of money, but at least I enjoy it, became such an addiction. Had my first proper photo shoot with a DJ friend, DJ Afroboogie, the resident DJ at Peppermint Club here, gladly it turned out quite well and he uses the pictures in his official press releases, not bad I guess, I also became quite picky with pictures. Lately tried to experiment with HDR, it’s not as easy as it seems, and it’s diluting my previous concept of avoiding photo manipulation… But I have to admit that although HDR photos ARE fake, but they sometimes turn out amazing.

Another addiction is trance, kind of drifted away from house and electro. Trance Around The World with Above & Beyond remains my favorite radio show, the Deep Blue Radio Show with Solar Stone and Agnelli & Nelson and their lovely guest mixes, along with A State Of Trance by Armin Van Buuren (The new number 1 DJ in the world according to the overrated DJ MAG poll and ranking). Met some great and humble guys, such as Fila of Aly & Fila, Sean Tyas, Robert Nelson of Agnelli & Nelson, one half of Mark Norman and one of my all time favorites, Ferry Corsten amongst others. I missed out on Above & Beyond’s gig here in Dubai due to some messed up reasons, but 2008 promises to be even better, with a slight, very slight chance of going to Trance Energy in Holland, the line-up is scary, on a more domestic note, in the next month Ferry Corsten is coming again here, while one of trance’s new sensations, Sied Van Riel is playing in Muscat, Oman (Yes, considering going to that after missing out on DJ Amadeus’s gig there).

I got myself a second set of decks as the first one was utterly useless and did not even work, the new one is more than double the price, but much better, way better actually and easier to carry around. I still don’t have a clue how to mix, beat match or anything, heck, I don’t even know how to use the use the infamous cue button, but I’m taking things slowly, after all, you can’t learn and master such things overnight. As we say “God didn’t create the world in one day” (Six days to be precise, according to the Quran).

As far as education goes, it’s been a hectic year, especially the fall semester, out of the dean’s list, but at least the grading system changed, which boosted everyone’s GPA dramatically. It’s a pity how when you look back it the mistakes seem so easy, but at the time of committing them; it didn’t seem worth it to even bother. But hey, I’m a few months away from graduation, and since I mentioned that, I’m seriously considering NOT going to my own ball/prom/graduation party or whatever it is called, such an overrated affair. Quite ironic that I went to all the other balls during my four years at university, but won’t go to my own. (As if anyone will notice my presence or absence).

Summer was surprisingly good, despite me insisting that I will NOT go anywhere, I ended up going to Jordan twice, the first was for Distant Heat in Wadi Rum, memorable event, generally for the right things, a look back at my older posts will show you the not so good things when all the memories (Almost) were stolen by a freakin’ cunt. (Excuse my French)…
Football-wise, I posted my thoughts and reflections on the year on XT here: http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showthread.php?t=226083 , happy reading! It’s funny how a year ago we thought the Americans (Gillette and Hicks) and their takeover was the best thing to happen to our ‘big’ club, but a year on, we’re full of doubt over the future of the club, where it is going, whether we will finally win the league title again or not, now everything is uncertain, the new ground which has been in limbo for a decade or so, the new signings we need to seriously challenge for the title, our boss staying or leaving, the tactics on the pitch, getting rid of the deadwood (Riise and Kuyt for instance) and so many other less serious issues, but ones that still have a serious impact on the club as a whole. We reached the Champions League final again after a mesmerizing run that saw us beat Barca and Chelsea, they were quite emotional moments only comparable to the 2005 win, we were labeled the worst fans in Europe by the UEFA because of the lack of proper organization and planning on THEIR parts, I don’t know what the heck Plattini is doing up there, trying to change things that are fundamental parts of the game… We eventually lost 2-1 to AC Milan), but even that is seen as a distant memory now…

I met many new people thanks to friends, Facebook believe it or not and university, also lost contact and fell out with others… C’est la vie really. You can’t have it all your way. One can just hope for the best but prepare for the WORST.

New year’s resolutions? Nothing really, it’s just the same long-standing hopes that transferred from 2007 to 2008. On an off-topic note: My elder sister is planning to do the switch from Peugeot to Audi like me and get the Audi Q7 inshaAllah if everything went well, personally, the mere mention of the Audi A5 (Or even better, the S5) turns me on! Hoping I would be able to afford that piece of German brilliance at some point after I start working :).