About Flying Flip Flops:

Q u e s t i o n .. Everything

Monday, December 5, 2011

My kitty loved ice cream :)


The cat was thought to be a female so I named it Shiba or Shibeh, a term used in the sense of playfully mischievous, an endearing term. When Shibeh turned out to be a boy, I had to change its name; meet Shibo.

Shibo, a tabby kitten was shy for the first few days but soon would own the house.  Cats are notorious for that and Shibo did not disappoint.  Shibo also thought he was human, whenever I sat down to have a meal he wanted to share; he wanted me to share my food with him even though I never asked to share his.  He had a love affair with anything dairy, be it milk, cheese, yogurt and of course ice cream.

On occasion I would get some ice cream, the kind that comes on a stick, get one from the freezer and go to the living room, sit on the couch, lift my feet up on the coffee table and get ready to relax and enjoy my ice cream.

Shibo is already there, well not even 5 seconds after I sit down on the couch he is there and keeping his eyes on the prize.  He's on the coffee table or in my lap with his eyes fixed on the ice cream that is now disappearing, lick by lick, bite by bite.   Shibo tilts his head as the ice cream continues to disappear and I can sense that he is getting anxious.  Sure enough he lets a little moan out accompanied by a paw movement. He lifts a paw and gently reaches for the ice cream without touching it, he knows his limits.  Then he comes a little forward and persists.  There is little ice cream left on the stick now and a little meow comes out.   Shibo knows though that he always gets his share.  How could I not give him his treat.  Now Shibo!  I offer him the stick with the vanilla ice cream on it - cats by the way should not be fed anything chocolate as it will make them sick and even kill them -  and I hold the stick while he licks away.  I turn the stick to the other side and he finishes off the rest in no time and gives the wooden stick a couple of extra licks just to be sure that nothing is left there.  Once satisfied that there is no more ice cream he loses his anxious mode and settles in my lap or next to me for a little nap or some petting followed by some heavy breathing, purring happily.

Shibo was the only cat out of six that I have that enjoyed and demanded dairy products.  Mr Sheebs, another nick name for Shibo, used to do many unique things:  like fetching a little soft ball.  He could do that for an hour and not get tired of the game.. well when he was younger.  He would fetch that little soft red ball and drop it in front of me and then find a chair or a corner to hide behind and anticipate the next throw.  His hind legs would be tapping the floor making his hips look like they are moving from side to side, faster and faster as the moment of the throw, as he anticipated it draws to a close and off he goes, the ball goes up in the air and he jumps and with one move of his right or left paw blocks it.  Rewind, repeat, loop mode.  

There was a time when I had a regular job and I would come home almost at a regular hour.  Shibo would be waiting at the bedroom window that is closer to the back patio door that I used to enter the house.  As soon as I disappeared from his view, I would have 4 more steps to go before I got to the door and opened it.  Shibo would already there even though he would have to jump off the window sill run out of that room, turn a sharp left, and another sharp left and go towards the heavy glass sliding door.  I would take off my shoes and massage his belly with my foot.  He knew the routine and he would lay on his back and enjoy the little rub.  All of a sudden he starts playing rough and grabs my foot with his front paws while his hind legs start painfully kicking me. I'd laugh and manage to get lose.

If I was sidetracked with a phone call or something when I first entered the house Shibo would chase me position himself next to me and then would paw me, he would paw my arm repeatedly until I gave him attention in the form of petting and eye contact.  If I'm too close to him he would rub his face against mine.  For Shibo that was love, recognition renewed daily and often.

The thing he (not it) did often that was human like motion and sound was when he looked me straight in the eyes and his head moved up and down slightly accompanied by a gentle emmmh sound. I suppose it meant different things depending on the time, I would like to eat now, how about some ice cream (you worked hard and I deserve it), hello or maybe let's chat a bit, how does google translate or  interpret “meow”?

Shibo enjoyed playing with balls made out of chocolate rappers.  He was easy to please and yet demanding, but demanding for attention and affection.  Sometimes I would hear him meowing as if crying, well that’s what it sounded like.  And I’d look and see him with one of his toys in his mouth.  I’d call him by name and he would come and drop the toy at my feet.  He wants to play, but other times he acts like that, like babies do when they’re tired and sleepy. 

Shibo died December 9, 2010 and I miss him.  Thanks for the memories Mr. Sheebs :') <3

Sunday, September 18, 2011

To Palestine or not to Palestine

photo by simon hanna (copyright)
WHAT SHOULD THE PALESTINIANS EXPECT FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AT THE UNITED NATIONS?..  


(Judge them by their actions!)

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Father's side or Mother's side? This will clear things up for uncles, aunts and cousins.

The Arabic language distinguishes between whose side of the family an uncle, aunt or cousin is. And now, the English and French languages DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER FROM THIS LINGUAL AMBIGUITY ANYMORE !!

I would like to UnVague the english language when it comes to the use of the words uncle, auntie and cousin,  since none would tell you which side of your parents the uncle, auntie or cousin is from.

What applies to the English language also applies to the French language.

I will use two letters to revolutionize the French and the English:
M and F  for English and M and P  for the French.

Used in the following manner, M and F will unveil this cognitive dilemma:
A "muncle" is an uncle on the "M"other's side, while a "funcle" is an uncle on the "F"ather's side.
So, why not Mauntie and Fauntie, Mousins and Fousins.

For the French the spelling and pronunciation is slightly different:
Moncle, Poncle, Mante and Pante, Mousin and Pousin (and the gender consideration: cousine et fousine (not available -yet- in English)).

You get the idea.

Use at your own risk!



(copyright 2007-2011 simon sakkab)

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Show me yours, I'll show you mine. LIKE-A-TITION?? what is that?


(No offense to anyone..  just some observations on this cultural phenomenon).  


Facebook page promotions are run under the guise of "Competition" where the most likes determine the winner. Competitors solicit their family and friends for votes or Likes and post a plea on the "Competition" page repeatedly, so as to maximize visibility to new page dwellers and get their vote.  Such persistence seems to pay off as well.  Some invitations sound like this:  your vote gets mine, Like mine and I'll Like yours, Support me please, Help me win


There is absolutely nothing wrong with this except for one word:  competition.


To put this into perspective imagine a race where a slow runner that comes in last in the race would actually win the race because the runner had the most audience or spectators' cheers.  Finish last and get the recognition and the awards, ok maybe not necessarily last and maybe not even finish the race,  but you get the idea.  Ok, another example  would be a dancing competition but the audience, who decides the winner, supports a mediocre performer.  This is how these so called competitions are run on Facebook and the real winner is the page itself as it builds, if it builds, a large audience and recognition to itself or its agenda.


One cannot blame entrants for directing the traffic to their thing to vote on.  Sometimes the sheer number of entries discourages people from browsing the entries and "liking", but that is what they're supposed to do.  Many would just satisfy the urge to be done with the task of helping one or more in need by linking to them directly.  So, the system is not perfect!


Again, there is nothing wrong with that activity except the name, competition.  That, it is not.  Call it what it is, "Like-a-tition".. how is that for a new word?  Win prizes based on your ability to get "Likes".


Here are some screen grabs from a very successful page promotion for an event:  
AUB Outdoors 2011 Samsung Photo Competition.










Thursday, April 14, 2011

It's Dandelawns when dandelions prevail.

I'm thinking of dandelions.  Why do people spend so much time and energy trying to kill them and get them out of their lawns.  Who said lawns have to be 100% green, and the cost to keep that perfect green could amount to quite a bit of money.  So, why not let the dandelions take over.  They seem happy to take over your lawn and for free at that.  And what is the difference to you and your neighbors anyway?.  Besides, if you get hungry you can grab few dandelions and have them for lunch :p
Well, the other difference is color.  Your lawn would reflect a very bright yellow with some dark green which would actually bring out the yellow.  A yellow and green lawn.  I love it.  Let them dandelions prosper and multiply.  Dandelions, they're not a weed anymore, they are dandelawns.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The Girls got milk, but watch out for skunks!

From a distance one's reaction to the view might be "oh what the heck".  These skunks must have hit a huge patch of steroids except that they are cows and not skunks.  These cows adorned skunk colors, all black and a wide white strip running from head to tail.   I had never seen cows trying to pass for skunks before.  There were normal cows too, but if you don't believe me when I say these cows have skunk features, well, take a look at the evidence.

I tried to talk to the owner about this phenomenon, so I walked towards the barn and when I finally got there I announced myself but no one came out.  I got closer to the door and stuck my head in and to my shock and surprise there was this big mean skunk..  Oh my God, what's this skunk doing? Oh, the horror!  I had to get away in a hurry; besides, the stink of  pungent ammonia smell suddenly filled the place. But is it possible that the skunk, uh! no can't be!!  


They say cows never forget a face.


Many just stared at me..


..and stared, maybe it's the camera. 
Well girls, you sure are pretty..  and who's that in the distance?



doesn't she look like "Pink" the singer?

and moo to yoo too!

ok, now look straight head, pretend you're thinking.  aaaaaaaand perfect. thanks.


I think the girls got milk, whatchu think?


Location:  somewhere in Virginia, the "Bonanza" state

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Sometimes just one photograph doesn't fully capture the moment.

  • Sometimes a single frame photograph is all you have room for to tell a story and one photograph would leave you with a certain impression about a story, a happening ... or an emotion.  Sometimes and when time and space allow, a sequence of frames allow your impression to be sharper and fuller.  Here is one of those moments as captured in about 2 seconds by a Nikon D300:









More faces can be seen on facebook  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123035491050126 "1001 Faces Lebanon".  Feel free to join.

You are invited to leave a comment below.