Music for your soul?

Well, I was just on a bus trip to Mahableshwar and Panchgani with a pack full of very enthusiastic teenagers for the college picnic . As it is with youngsters throughout the world, there was an insistent demand for music. Ironically no one had carried any cassettes with them, thanks to mp3 compatible phones everywhere. One student (who also happens to be a close friend) came forth from the back seat with a cassette that said 'Sami Yusuf'. I was like, "Sami who?". She said he sang Islamic songs. I was skeptical. Wasn't sure if these bandanna brandishing hip hop girls were going to like this. At least not with the mood that they were in. But she insisted. A soft, lulling voice wafted through the boisterous bus. It was unanimous. These weren't exactly 'picnic' songs. But I kept the name at the back of my mind. 'Must check it out later', I said. A couple of days later I checked the net for the name. Downloaded some tunes and must say, it's been well the effort. For a music buff like me it was quite a find, especially 'Al-Mualim' , 'Hasbi Rabbi' and 'Mother'. Songs that are rocking the Islamic world. Songs dedicated to the Creator and the Guide. Plus some long forgotten values put in for good measure. The lyrics are pretty soothing themselves. I couldn't help but notice the conspicuous absence of any stringed instruments in the songs (I could be mistaken of course), which are generally considered forbidden in Islam. Of course, there is some contention about the place of music itself in Islam, but I am not going to delve into that debate here. Some say it is allowed some say it isn't. Allah knows best. But here's an article that could be starting point for some discussion on that.
At any rate, if you like music (and a lot, like me!) you probably wouldn't mind exploring some unconventional genres. And while it, you could also sample Mesut Kurtis , Nazeel Azmi or Hamza Robertson. Haven't heard them yet, maybe you could give me a review! Till then, long live Limewire!

It Couldn't Be Done...Or could it?

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.


By Edgar A. Guest

(Food for thought, ain't it?)

The desire to be A-religious

I came across a blog, 'Maverick's Domain', with a particular post on the 'need' to be 'a-religious'. There was a sense of disillusionment that I found hard to miss. When Karl Marx said that religion was the opium of the masses, I am sure he was voicing similar sentiments. I, however, would like to respectfully disagree.
We humans are an exigent race. When religion seems imposing, it becomes cumbersome. But when need arises, we all turn to God in despair. We all do. And unfortunately we cannot have religion custom made to our individual needs and situations. We may damn religion for whatever it stands for. But when our car dangles precariously over a cliff after an accident, we pray fervently for a safe return. Oh well. Man has always been a confused species.
The problem perhaps then, is not with religion per se but with our interpretation of religion. Maverick talks disdainfully of the unfortunate Graham Stein's murder, the Gujarat riots , the divide-and-rule policy of the Imperialists and the terror wreaking Arabs. I totally agree with her here. (I assume it's a 'she', there was no profile info to check with!)
But what makes us think that these tragic events happened BECAUSE of religion alone and what guarantee that they would NOT have occurred had there been no religion at all?
Yes, religious texts do teach us the cliched concepts like tolerance and benevolence, etc., etc. But cliched as they are, they are also sorely lacking in us. But for these texts, we would probably not even know that these are concepts worth valuing, the uncouth race that we are.
If there had not been any standards set in the first place, we would have cared little for any deviations.
Why blame religion when it is the misguided practitioners who cause all the mischief? And who can tell, they would have thirsted for blood even if they were atheists. Maverick exhorts us to 'shed the pretense' of religion as it leads to no growth whatsoever. Now 'growth' can be a very tricky term. And sometimes it comes in very inconspicuous packages as well.
A brilliant young boy I know was told that cheating in exams was deplorable as it was theft and that God hated thieves. It was this belief that kept him going. He was assigned an exam center for HSC where cheating was rampant. He was even offered a few answer books. He refused, despite the temptation. For him topping this exam was of utmost importance, but he resisted. Why? Because his religion taught him to. Everyday he would come back; sad, disheartened and frustrated. He knew his friends were gaining an edge over him. But he trudged on. When the results were to be out, he didn't even bother to dress up for the occassion. It was only when the college sent the professors and peons to fetch him did he realize that he had topped the entire division (and the state in one of the subjects) that year. He was an overnight celebrity.
Even if he hadn't it would not have been such a bad thing. Because now when he is employed in a reputed MNC, his employers know that they have an honest, God-fearing employee. He is worth a lot of trust, a trust on which they base the 'growth' of their company.
A little learning, they say, is a dangerous thing. The fault usually does not lie in religion but on how we take religion. It is the half baked ideas about God that lead to all grief. As for the 'murderous Islamic countries' that Maverick talks about, I have always maintained that if Muslims only read the Quran with understanding (and followed it), there would be little to complain against them; it's so simple. Alas, we have made the simple things complicated with our own additions.

Divided we stand, United we fall...

I am not much of a politics person but I just happened to come across a recent article by Thomas Friedman. I usually avoid reading him-for several reasons. I find him blatantly biased against the Islamic world and well, he has a certain talent with the written word that makes even his ludicrous neo-imperialist ideology seem fair seeming to a naive outsider. But there's something that we might learn from him. When he laughs at the growing divide amongst Muslims themselves, it's time to sit up and take notice. Not because he's saying so. But because our Prophet (PBUH) never meant us to be like this. We have Hadeeth quoting Muhammed (PBUH) that the whole Ummat should be like one single body-so that even if a finger is in pain, the whole of the body should agonize over it. It makes sense even if you are not much a believer of the Hadeeth tradition, doesn't it?
Why are we are silent over the rising sectarian violence that's raging in Iraq then? The problem is that we have divided ourselves-we have forgotten the Book and grabbed false messiahs for our salvation. Why the Sunni-Muslim divide in the first place? Both the sects believe in Muhammed (PBUH) and his Prophethood, but both fail to realize that he neither went by the name of either 'Shia' or 'Sunni'. These are inventions of generations that came much later.
Why must we fall on innovative interpretations of Islam when it's all so clear in the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet?
The question is: why are we searching for alternate identities when all they are serving is growing sectarianism? Is it serving any purpose? Why are we so skeptical about just following the Quran and the Prophet? Why do we need the 'add-ons' so much when Allah Himself proclaims in the Quran: "This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed MY favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as religion." (5:4) Why the thirst for 'improvisations' in the divine message, when they can only imperfect at their best, because they are so human?
It's sad how we divide ourselves over something as small as who was the Prophet's successor AFTER his death-a time when Islam was already a complete entity, as we see from the verse from the Quran. While that may be a serious issue indeed, is it serious enough to demand a re-interpretation of our entire religion? Is it serious enough for us to be divided like this for centuries on end? Is it serious enough to give us the right to kill our own brethren? How can we allow the killing of either sect by members of another when Allah condemns the unjust killing of any life:
" For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind." (5:32)
and elsewhere:
"...And that ye slay not the life which Allah hath made sacred, save in the course of justice. This He hath command you, in order that ye may discern." (6:151)
and yet again:
"And slay not the life which Allah hath forbidden save with right. Whoso is slain wrongfully, We have given power unto his heir, but let him not commit excess in slaying. Lo! he will be helped." (17:33)
We say we kill in the name of Islam when Islam requires us to have a VERY just cause to kill; we say we take the Quran to be the word of Allah and yet we flout it in the name of religiosity.
I admit these are tough times, but that shouldn't be reason enough to forget the divine word, no? In fact this is just the time to bond even more firmly, to Allah and to all our brothers in faith. If Islam means 'peace' let us not violate it, except for a cause justified by Allah-for instance when one has to punished for murder or other such sin-and killing another because you don't like him or his leader cannot in any way be defined as justice.
And may better sense prevail. And may Allah unify this broken Ummat again towards Him. Ameen.

The distance between us and Allah...

"The distance between us and Allah is the length of our desires; the shorter this length, the closer we are to Allah"

I quote my cousin here. Sometimes youngsters can amaze you with the wisdom they exhibit. My young cousin deeply impressed me with his ideas when we interacted last week. He told me to read some Quran-said that we soon realize then that if we have our Eeman with us, it is not the end of the world yet.
"Maybe some good will come of this." That was the refrain in the story he narrated to me. An old farmer keeps telling that to himself every morning as his only sheep, only goat and only dog are devoured by a hungry wolf in three consecutive nights. The fourth night the entire village is raided by dacoits who rob all the villagers of all their possessions but spare the old farmer's house thinking that since he had no live stock, he would be too poor to have anything worth robbing. There was some good in an apparent evil. But it requires immense amount of faith to believe in that till the good actually begins to show. Sub-hanallah. May Allah always give us enough patience to believe in His wisdom and power till the difficult times tide over. Ameen

Eid Mubarak folks!

Phew. Anothe Eid gone by. My cellphone hass't stopped beeping ever since I woke up this morning. Eid and New Year coincide and the greetings have just been pouring in by the hordes! Nice time to reconnect. The visits to old friends and relatives whom we hardly seem have time to catch up with the rest of the year-it's all kinda nice :)
I never got that Biryani done but there were other yummy goodies to make up for it. Don't know where the day went-just whizzed by. Good thing. Was invited to a large luncheon get-together with cousins and aunts and uncles all over the place! LOL.
Well, hope everyone had a smashing Eid-ul-Zuha and here's wishing all the folks who are through with their Hajj, a very Mubarak Hajj :) Cheers!

Work smart, not Hard

Sadia my friend. She just sent me this email and thuogh I had read the anecdote somewhere before, it still made me smile. :)
I have Mashallah been very lucky with the people around me...so much like the son in the story...especially my friend Anisa...wonder if I can ever love people unconditionally like she does. When she wants to do something for me, or for anyone for that matter, well, she has the will to do it. And we are so much happier for it. May Allah bless her kind soul...

Here's the aforementioned email copy:
An old man lived alone in a village. He wanted to spade his potato garden,but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him,was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his situation: Dear Son, I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden, because your mother always loved planting time. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren't in prison. Love, Dad.

Shortly, the old man received this telegram: "For Heaven's sake, Dad, don't dig up the garden!! That's where I buried the GUNS!!" At 4 a.m. the next morning, a dozen local police officers showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns. Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what happened, and asked him what to do next. His son's reply was: "Go ahead and plant your potatoes,Dad... It's the best I could do for you from here.

"NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN THE WORLD, IF YOU HAVE DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING DEEP FROM YOUR HEART YOU CAN DO IT. IT IS THE THOUGHT THAT MATTERS NOT WHERE YOU ARE OR WHERE THE PERSON IS."

Laughed again today...and some soothing Dua'as

Yep. That's me again, Alhamdulilah. Atleast two people must have said that to me today; "Nice to hear you laugh like that again." Oh well. C'est La Vie. And of course there is solace in prayers.

"And when My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I respond to the du'a (prayer) of every suppliant when they call on Me" - Quran 2:186

How true. Here are some more prayers from the Holy Quran which I am sure will provide succor to whoever seeks it from the Almighty:

Our Lord! Bestow on us endurance and make our foothold sure and give us help against those who reject faith. (2:250)

Our Lord! Take us not to task if we forget or fall into error. (2:286)

Our Lord! Impose not on us that which we have not the strength to bear, grant us forgiveness and have mercy on us. You are our Protector. Help us against those who deny the truth. (2:286)

Our Lord! Lay not upon us such a burden as You did lay upon those before us. (2:286)

Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate from the truth after You have guided us, and bestow upon us mercy from Your grace. Verily You are the Giver of bounties without measure. (3:8)

Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and the lack of moderation in our doings, and make firm our steps and succour us against those who deny the truth. (3:147)

Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and efface our bad deeds and take our souls in the company of the righteous. (3:193)

Our Lord! We have sinned against ourselves, and unless You grant us forgiveness and bestow Your mercy upon us, we shall most certainly be lost! (7:23)

Our Lord! Pour out on us patience and constancy, and make us die as those who have surrendered themselves unto You. (7:126)

Our Lord! You truly know all that we may hide [in our hearts] as well as all that we bring into the open, for nothing whatever, be it on earth or in heaven, remains hidden from Allah (14:38)

Our Lord! In You we have placed our trust, and to You do we turn in repentance, for unto You is the end of all journeys. (60:4)

Our Lord! Perfect our light for us and forgive us our sins, for verily You have power over all things. (66:8)


And finally....

Allah puts no burden on any person beyond what He has given him. After a difficulty, Allah will soon grant relief. (65:07)

On the occassion of Hajj, here's wishing everyone a very blessed pilgrimage and may Allah grant us all enough wisdom to put implicit trust in him. For Allah says again;

"And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish his purpose: verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion." (65:03)

Ameen to these wonderful verses...and may we never despair in times of test and in times of peace, and may we always have enough grace to submit ourselves to the caretaker of the Universe.

A sadder and wiser me...

"He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn :
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn."
-S.T. Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner


If life was a piece of cake, few would have relished its taste. Err, food surfaces predominantly even in my profound thoughts, ahem. Jokes apart, adversity does indeed make us sad, but it also offers oppurtunity to become wise. 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going.' Heard that one before.
But you know, sometimes it makes us very sad. And then you don't understand what to do. And then you realize that when effort and understanding fail, then it only means one thing-that Allah had a different plan...and surely there must be some good in an apparant evil. Or else it would have worked out just the way you wanted it to. Oh well, C'est La Vie. Easy to say, hard to follow. Hard yes, but not impossible.
Prayers, they say, can change destiny. And I have seen that happen, way too many times to ignore that bit. And have also seen how prayers not answered work favorably too...because what you wanted so bad at one time, wasn't so good after all, in fact; we are often better off without it.
Easy to say I know. Or else there would have been no tears. No moments of despair. But then again, a phoenix rises from the ashes too. And Allah is close to those who bear with patience. And I hope we have enough grace to accept that. Ameen.

Dear Diary...Confessions of a 'Blogs of Note' wannabe

Dammit. The more great 'blogs of note' I see, the more inadequate I feel. There are probably millions of wannabe bloggers like me who will never make it to the A-list because...well because we are just not upto it! These pros must be real geeks to understand the gobblydook and nitty-gritties of blogging. There's some new tech thing on almost all blogs and you know you will never be able to catch up! If just good ol' writing could do the trick, sigh! (Actually, it wouldn't help even if that were the criteria, considering the stuff we dole out! LOL)
Hmmm...the problem is, except the occasional and inconsequential ramblings, mere mortals like me have err, precious little to blog about, which is I think, pretty evident by the way I am going on now. Ahem.
Now let's see. Should I talk about the painful dentist's appointments I have been having every week since 2 months (If only medical prosecution was more real in India, I would sue my previous dentist for the disaster he's done with my teeth) or should I blog about the delicious cakes I had today, or maybe about how I haven't gotten upgraded to the beta version of blogger yet??? Hmmm...maybe there should be something wild like the Blogger's Rasberry Awards, maybe I could win an accolade or two there! Hehehe....and I thought I was 'creative'...You never realize how sparse innovative ideas are untill you begin blogging. And while you engage in a losing battle with your muse, the blog serves as your redressal system. Just like the ol' 'Dear Diary...' days. Only it's more public now. Bet Bridget Jones would never have had those 'profound' thougts if she knew they were going to be fodder for public consumption. And now, if my snooty li'l blogger brother reads this, he will drive me crazy by gloating on his 'Told ya I was better' refrain. Sigh. The things lack of inspiration does to you!

The Great Healer and an inspired brother

Phew. So I am back. After a loooong hiatus. So much has happened, transpired, occured and well, changed since then. Been occupied with quite a bit...
Life-teaches you a lot. Well, I say, Time is a great healer, and Allah the Greatest healers of 'em all. And come to think of it, things could have gotten far worse. What's important, perhaps, is what you take with you from the not-so-good times. So here I am- back to my chirpy self. Armed with some fresh persepectives. With some wisdom. And maybe some more maturity. And yeah, a brother who's taken to blogging, or rather 'quality writing' as he may well prefer to call it. Here's the wannabe William's page: http://musababid.blogspot.com The accompanied claim is that the blog is errr..'far better' than mine. Ahem. Now you know how these kids are! (Roll of the eyes)

Capt. Jack is Back!

Wanna know how I liked Capt. Sparrow's latest antics? Read my review here (and then maybe you could 'review' my review). The first one was a real rocker but somehow Dead Man's Chest was not the same. Sigh. What to say.

A Bad Blog Week...Phew!

Had a little misadventure which you must have noticed if you had visited my blog this last week. I had this great weekend getaway to the Konkan region. To Agar Daanda, to be more precise. And then I had these awesome pics to show the world (which incidentally were clicked by me). And then I came across thise site called bubbleshare that allowed my to display all of 'em here. So I pasted the code on my blog so that all could see the beauty of God, Agar Daanda and my two megapixel camera, in that order. But to my horror, the 'window' displaying my pics appeared after every single post and no matter what I did, it just didn't go away! In desperation I deleted all my pictures from bubbleshare, thinking that if there were no photos in the 1st place, there would be none here to bother me either. I was so wrong. The windows showed even after that. Albeit empty ones this time.
So I did what I had to do. Sent an SOS message to another blogger called javshak, who is really tech savvy and all that, and thanks to his timely suggestion, my blog's back in place. It looks a bit different okay, but it doesn't look BAD.
Phew. Alhamdullilah. It's a good thing I browse to other 'specialist' blogs. Or else it would have been a long time before you heard from me again. And oh! by the ways, I am uploading those pics again. Hopefully this time the blunderer in me won't mess it up.

I am a bad, bad writer!

I feel so dissappointed with myself...when was my last post? Lemme see, it was so long ago I can't even remember! That's it! The last time I had a 'writer's block', it lasted for like four years! LOL. So if I am getting it again, it's reason enough to be alarmed. This SHOULDN'T happen to good (or even POTENTIALLY good) writers! I can't possibly go on this subject forever, can I? WAIL!
Now what do I do???
Tell you what. As good readers, you MUST help me. Tell me what I should be chronicling about! I know this is not done, but HELLO! How many of your (ahem!) 'favorite' writers ACTUALLY ask you what you want to read? LOL. So please keep those 'comments' (shhhh... Don't tell but I mean 'ideas'!) coming!

A new community on Orkut

Calling all alumni of the Abeda Inamdar Senior College for Girls, Pune. Orkut.com now has a new community catering just to them. So all you who have ever felt, feel or are likely to feel for this fun institute, join in!
orkut

Same old standard excuse

So I didn't post anything for a looooong time. I had what they call as a 'writer's block'. I had almost promised myself that I'd never begin any post with the standard 'I-couldn't-think-of-anything-so-havn't-posted-for-a-long-time' crap but whaddya know, I am a victim of my own pride. Actually, if I read half as much of the newspaper as I should, I would have truck loads of ideas to work on. But the slug that I am, everything is 'not done'. Got a book from the British Library (I pay half of my subscription fee in fines to them). It's a nice book on how to write for magazines. ( I am trying to be a feature writer if you havn't noticed) and they say I should be always 'Open' to ideas around me. Yeah right. I am too numbed by TV and the internet to receive idea inspirations. Should really get my act together. Technology kills our drive, don't you think? But then again, we n always find a way to blame our failures on things other than ourselves. Boy. Am I sinking or what? Hehehe.

Maladies of a newly registered Puneite

I was feelin' like a writer today. And my Yahoo blog was looking hopelessly neglected. So I just put two and two together and wrote on Yahoo instead! Am I smart or what? As for my Blogger audience, I wouldn't dream of leaving them out of anything. So here's a copy. Hope you identify.

Pune

Don't have the pictures yet! Sob!

Ok so I promised that I would get some awesome pictures of my dear 'ol Azam Campus to back up my last post while here I am, three days later, reaping the ills of a procrastinating disposition. Two days went by because I couldn't get my camera to be charged. Today I finally managed shove in my camera and charger in my bag despite being hopelessly late for college. Thought I'd charge it in college and then go click, click, clicking after work. Sounded simple till I forgot the camera in the department before running off to my Scholar batch class. Thank God I have a good colleagues who cover up my callousness. I have already lost one of my digicams and can't possibly afford to lose another. I even forgot to pick it up from the department cupboard after my Head of Deparment had safely tucked it in. Darn. My apologies. I really should have gotten those pics by now.

Let me be verbose today...

I usually keep my posts short and crisp; not because I talk less but because I want people to actually READ my blog rather than just 'skim' through it. Hehe. I have heard tons and tons about the oh-so-short attention span of a web-surfer and how on the net being prolific does not translate into profit. But today I thought I would make an exception. Today, I want to talk. it isn't about any earth-shattering experience that has changed my all perspectives so much that it compels me to share it with the world in its absolute totality. (Phew!) Just a mood. A self indulgent desire to speak...
College re-opened (officially) today and it was wonderful. Wonderful to be back to my musty-dusty department; to breathe in the pristine monsoon air of Azam campus.; to feast my eyes on the vast open expanse in the form of the sports complex and wonderful to take in the luscious green trees. (Which by the way get even lusher in the rains). Oh, to speak of the misty cloudy skies. And the soft, silent zephyr. And then of course, old friends. Friends who have been there by me for years. And some friends who till a year ago were my teachers, and now my colleagues. What do I say...Allah has been kind.
The expansive Azam Campus, nestled cozily in the heart of Pune has become a part of me now. Five years as a student and a year as a lecturer has made it more than just an address for me. I fall in love with it every monsoon, because that's when it's at its brightest best. Not a single start of term since 2000 that I haven't felt so happy about being in it. It's like a tiny world in itself. You step out and the contrast hits you. Traffic, garbage and all that yuck. But once inside, it's a different stage.
You may argue it is not all 'heavenly' as I make it out to be. Of course I am biased. But what the heck. Sometimes you just get a feel of belonging to somethings. Even if you hate a lot of things about it.
I like it here. I like working here. I like to be contributing in some way in its progress. And there are nice people around too. People who have been a part of my growing up and people who I connect with. Plus, there won't be another job in the world where I can be so 'me'. Like in another set up, I would think a zillion times before I can picture myself scaling a wall as a lec. Not here. Here I can sit on the college 'kattas' with my pals, fool around in the canteens, race my friends to the exit, play about without a care and just be. Because I have been a student here, because I have my closest friends here, I can care minimally about what people will think.

Okay. Time to break the reverie. Ideally I should have ended this piece with a very dramatic close. But I wouldn't force that kinda thing. Perhaps posting some pictures of it would have been 'befitting'. Oh well, I said what I wanted to say. Maybe not as well as I meant to. But it's done. And thank God for that. I am blessed. Period.

Anonymous Comments Again!

Now tell me; Why can't people STAND UP for their comments? Anonymous comments (and their respective commenters) really pique me 'coz there's no way you can get back at them! Check out this comment on my previous post: "Does begging on your blog really fetch you things?" Grrrrrrrr. Well in my case, it fetches me comments!
If I only knew who wrote that! Well, to the 'commenter's' credit, I did laugh out loud when I first read it. But still...WHO WAS THIS? (With the audacious piece of devilry.)
At the risk of repeating myself, here's my humble request: Will the 'The Anonymous' please stand up and take responsibility? I solemnly promise I will not throw anything at you. Even if I wanted to. It's cyberspace remember?