log / Usman Malik

"sqrt(cos(x))cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5"

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:15:57 +0000

“sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5”

- If you are a closet-nerd like me and do not completely understand wisdom of Valentine’s day, copy paste above in Google Search for a plot of butt.

Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) I think this...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:53:23 +0000

Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)

I think this is a perfect Valentine’s day share!

p.s. Draw your own conclusions :D

Okay this Valentine Day offer from Islamabad is pretty...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:21:05 +0000

Okay this Valentine Day offer from Islamabad is pretty interesting:

Zefra announces

“Love Bites” Valentine’s nyt live Bar B Q, open Bar 14 Feb, 10 pm onwards its tym to shake ur body wid DJ Fawax Feel d powful beats kk in… Strkly couples @ Rs. 4000/couple, 1500/girl 0333 88888143

Interesting thing in above is (which I am thinking of confirming in morning) that they are actually offering a girl for Rs 1500? Because it doesn’t make sense of why there is mention of per girl rate if this is “a strictly couples only” event! (mobile)

Naseer & Shahab - Za Pukhtoon Yam I am not very fond of...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:12:00 +0000

Naseer & Shahab - Za Pukhtoon Yam

I am not very fond of “ethnic nationalism” but this is first of all very catchy, secondly it has a point which is dear to my heart as it breaks the stereotypes against Pakhtun (esp given war in Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan), and finally it has beautiful lyrics!

The enemy brands it as a language of hell,
To heaven I will go with Pashto. (Ameer Hamza Shinwari)

2:58 pm // Mother of all video conferences!

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:07:31 +0000

Yes, this goes in the future “autobiography”!

Asfandyar Khan - About her Shot at 968th death anniversary of...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:00:59 +0000

Asfandyar Khan - About her

Shot at 968th death anniversary of Sufi Saint Abul Hassan Ali Hajvery (Data Gunj Baksh) 990-1077 in Lahore, Pakistan.

Artist: Asfandyar Khan (check/buy his music: asfandyarkhan.bandcamp.com)
Track: About her
Director: Usman Malik
Post-Production: tisvr Media Studios (tisvr.com)
Shot on Canon 7D with 50mm and 15-85mm lenses.
Photos from the event can be found here: flickr.com/photos/ujmi/sets/72157628980808247/

Ladies and gentlemen, finally I am ready to share my first music video with you. I know I could do things different, but it was a pretty spontaneous shoot. Looking forward to your comments and critique.

Every time you make a Powerpoint, Edward Tufte kills a...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:10:25 +0000

Every time you make a Powerpoint, Edward Tufte kills a kitten.

Thing is that legendary Edward Tufte doesn’t like Powerpoint a bit (here is his critique). Presently reading ebook of “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information”, but trying to locate a hard copy in Pakistan.

Skydiver Felix Baumgartner to jump from 36km above sea...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:12:00 +0000

Skydiver Felix Baumgartner to jump from 36km above sea level!

The mission, Red Bull Stratos, will take renowned athlete Felix Baumgartner to at least 120,000 feet above the earth, to the very edge of Space.

From there, he will attempt a stratospheric free fall jump - the longest in the history of man - and hopefully will become the first human to break the speed of sound with his own body.

Something which is just simply beyond awesome. (Official Red Bull Stratos website / for a BBC news item)

"…in Asia we live within our means. So when we are poor, we live as poor people. I think that..."

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

“…in Asia we live within our means. So when we are poor, we live as poor people. I think that is a lesson that Europe can learn from Asia…You refuse to acknowledge you have lost money and therefore you are poor…And you can’t remedy that by printing money. Money is not something you just print. It must be backed by something, either good economy or gold.”

- Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian Prime Minister’s tough message to Europe. (Complete news)

Photojournalism: Spirituality in death On 14th January I covered...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:38:00 +0000

Prayers

Pride

Legacy

Myst

Curious

Vessel

Pose

Memory

Teller

Rave

Photojournalism: Spirituality in death

On 14th January I covered 968th death anniversary of Sufi Saint Abul Hassan Ali Hajvery also known as Data Gunj Baksh in Lahore, Pakistan. Here are some pictures from the day. You can check the complete set on my Flickr here.

I also shot some clips there which I am using in a music video for an extremely talented musician from Islamabad. Will be sharing that with public by end of this week!

Racial, Verbal abuse on Central Line London Train 23.01.12 A...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:12:00 +0000

Racial, Verbal abuse on Central Line London Train 23.01.12

A Pakistani tells you how to deal with Racial abuse, you sing! This one comes with translated subtitles.

Replies...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:21:53 +0000

goodbyeblighty replied to your post: Replies

Keep it up at the gym and I’ll check out some of your writing now. It’s Waqqar :P With 2 Qs :)

:) got the two qs now!

helpmeflyyy replied to your post: What are your detailed views on Imran Khan?

This is exactly what I say! No joke. Glad we’re on te same page. It’s one of those “best of the worst” situations. I’m still holding out some hope for IK though

Great minds think alike!

Indeed it is, another problem out there is that if elections are delayed further, Imran Khan might just become irrelevant by not being in the news enough!

nedispersonne replied to your post: get over yourself.

Anon, YOU get over yourself.

Hey Anon, you hear that! I got some muscles now!
:)

shakattack replied to your post: 5:11 pm // Poverty in Lahore

if you think about the flood, you would see how much more it divided the poor and rich. those katchi abadis became worse. even diseases and such increased. lets hope for a better government next year.

They were pretty much spared from the recent flooding in Lahore, apart from regular monsoon flooding due to inapt rain-water drainage system. But you know apart from a good Government, we need to do a lot of work on raising the basic civics of our people. Once that is done, I can assure you that politics will automatically change.

goodbyeblighty replied to your post: 5:11 pm // Poverty in Lahore

It’s saddening and sickening at how the poor are removed from society and then forgotten about.

Maybe it is how world think they will solve the poverty issue - by letting all the poor people die!

"Oh you people from Birmingham, which language do you speak in?!?!"

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:14:29 +0000

“Oh you people from Birmingham, which language do you speak in?!?!”

- Me being confused at gym!

5:11 pm // Poverty in Lahore

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:30:41 +0000

Just went through an Asian Development Bank report on Rapid Transport System for Lahore and came to know some very disturbing facts.

There are over 300 katchi abadis (slums or basic unplanned brick-mortar housing areas) which hold 50% of all Urban Lahore population.
35-50% of people in Lahore are classified as poor.
Majority of those Katchi Abadi dwellers are below poverty line.

That is some serious irregular distribution of wealth!

To compare Lahore in GDP with a city you might be living in, you can check these stats here and for area wise stats click here.

James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream (Live on BBC Sound Of 2011)

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:40:35 +0000

James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream (Live on BBC Sound Of 2011)

What are your detailed views on Imran Khan?

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:10:00 +0000

First of all my sincerest apologies for such a long delay.

I have always been a supporter of Imran Khan. I remember raising money for his Cancer Hospital when I was a kid (still have his signed certificate somewhere) and then even worked with a wonderful team to establish his political party’s (PTI) chapter in Scotland.

I have believed in him, I have agreed with many of his political view, I know he is the best we have - but only recently I have started to get scared of him. To my understanding he is presently enjoying genuine popular Urban middle class support. In this country “burger eating kids” have never gone to Political rallies before, Dads have never taken Moms to go see a political address but this guy has made all of that happen. Only problem is that presently our Army Generals hate Nawaz Sharif (for their personal reasons) but they also do not trust Zardari (for obvious reasons). MQM could have been a national party but they destroyed any hope of it with their senile Nationalist behaviour when they started killing innocent non-Urdu speakers. Establishment also doesn’t like Zardari (I don’t think even Zardari likes Zardari!) but they are not too sure about Nawaz Sharif unless he agrees to things their way.

That said (in a very compressed manner) Imran Khan comes as a great pawn in this game. I personally believe IK has been used as a scare crow by Army and Establishment to get Zardari and Nawaz Sharif do certain things. Just before the elections they will come up with something to kill Imran Khan’s vote and get back to a more easy position with the two bigger parties who have dominated Pakistani politics for ages.

And then on top of this, even if Imran Khan does win - I am sorry to say but he might prove “Obama” for Pakistan. He comes in promising changes, and leaves with nothing but “hey I am trying as hard as I can with my just too frequent town hall meetings all around the world”.

p.s. If nothing extraordinary happens, I am still voting for Imran Khan in next elections and urging everyone else to do that - but still I have my fears.

I just want to see how you look....

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:09:00 +0000

Hmmm come with your ID then because this is a little weird!

Could you post a picture of yourself?

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:56:02 +0000

Why? I’m not that pretty and I have a beard - just making sure there is no misunderstanding here!

Replies

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:52:12 +0000

goodbyeblighty replied to your post: 11:39 pm // Realisation!

Don’t let it be the start of an existential crisis! I’m sure you look better than you think you do and stamina is a wonderful thing in how quickly it comes back. Stay positive and stay focused and working out will get you all the results you want!

Thank you Waqar! It does feel good to be back in gym but only thing is that I hope I can keep my routine this time around :)

almaswithinalmas replied to your quote: “Thank God for the overwhelmingly large number of…

LOL. I’ve been taking my mom and she was nervous b/c she thought only ppl my age go, and after she left she said, “Thank God all these budda logh come to the gym!”

God bless those budda logh and those pot bellies!

pious-blunt replied to your quote: “To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.” —…

Masha Allah. Once I did the same too. Did you feel weird once back from the funeral? Like everything everyone is so concerned with is so useless.

I guess funerals are like one deep cut in how we are like people. It is just so complex that I do not understand where to begin. You see all the commotion, pain, reflection and then all of sudden these people who think it was a good opportunity to catch up and have a laugh. But anyway a good lesson.

roushay replied to your photo: Have decided to order in the ultra wide angle lens…

i love tokina 11-16 mm. great choice!

Thank you! Now only thing is that I need to find someone who is willing to ship it to Pakistan before I pick it up by paying extra locally! Are you using it?

goodbyeblighty replied to your post: Short Fiction: Love of my life

I want to see more of your writing!

Waqar, I never thought anyone would want to read so much macabre and morbid words. Reading my own stuff makes me upset! But hey some old stuff is here.

unspokenkairos replied to your post: Short Fiction: Love of my life

I love writing tooo!! goodjob!! love it :D

Great, then you need to let us read more of your stuff!

nedispersonne replied to your quote: Only thing I hate about Pakistan is how much I…

What happened? (Context?)

Well in last four weeks I am going on one significant “altercation” a week. People jumping queue and then not even apologising for it, rather telling me, “oh okay you can go ahead if you are in such a hurry”. Or people blocking the road because they felt like stopping without warning. Or perhaps people who believe honking their horn is justified even when they are the one making a mistake on main road!

get over yourself.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:39:18 +0000

Thank you for the tip! There is too much to get over with, takes time and I am trying :)