mosquers 2011

The Mosquers turned 5 years old this past Saturday. The show was held at the Myer-Horowitz theatre on the University of Alberta Campus, and had over 600 attendees! A pretty successful event, by any standards.

There were movies, awards, a comedian and, of course my favourite, food! You can never go wrong with free food.

On with the photos!

A few movies from years past.

Myer-Horowitz theatre, pre-show. The logos on the side walls were a cool touch.

And then the mob arrived. The place filled up fairly fast.

The evening started with a recitation of the Qur'an by Br. Mahmoud.

Paul Mennier, former anchor of CityTV Edmonton News. He also MC'd the very first Mosquers. Nice of him to come back.

Our three judges for the evening: Andrew Hanon, Leslie McDonald, Mousa Qasqas (left to right).

I tried to get a picture of the food, but...the place was packed! Barely any elbow room!

Some serious thinking happening as the audience participates in the new interactive text voting for People's Choice Award (Larry Shaben Award). Neat feature!

And then Ahmed Ahmed came out, and the crowd went nuts! He is a hilarious, hilarious man. One of his most famous performances is from the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour.

I laughed so hard, half my photos had to be tossed. Thanks, Ahmed Ahmed!

The crowd loved him. They wanted more!

And he just kept going with the jokes.

And we all just kept laughing!

Time for the awards! They got upgraded this year. Looking beautiful! Should have taken one when I had the chance (I kid. Mostly).

Best Drama was awarded to The Table.

Best Comedy went to Thinly Sliced Strips 2. I think this is the third year in a row this cast has won Best Comedy. They're on a streak!  Update: My bad!

Islam and the West: A Little Bit of Everything took home Best Social Conscience.

People's Choice went to The Table!

All the movies were fantastic! Congrats to everyone who won, and made the finals. Hope to see you all there next year!

Full set of photos should be up on my Facebook Page in a few weeks (delay due to exams and general University stuff).

If you're interested in booking me for your next event, you can contact me via my 'investment' page (link located at top).

EDITED

Forgot to add, I want to give a shout out to Mumbai Dreams! It deserves an honourable mention. Very good short film. Be sure to watch!

Dash for Cellphone Free Driving

Wow, it's been a while eh. I blame school. So here's what's been up lately!

 I was invited to the Dash for Cellphone Free Driving last Saturday at Kinsmen Park, held by the University of Alberta group, Students for Cellphone Free Driving. It was a pledge-based 5k run, and for their first time, they did awesome (over 1500 pledges)! It was a lot of fun, and for a great cause as well.

 And, yes, of course there was food ;) The cake was AMAZING. There were also medals and prizes given out!

ahzum & alisa

Had a cousin (the groom) get married last week, yay! They asked me to snap a few photos here and there of the family :) I also tried back button focus and rear sync flash for the very first time, and I gotta say...It. Is. Awesome. The difference is monumental!


This is the henna night. I didn't take a whole lot then, only a few, and this is the only photo I took of them dancing. Bride in the yellow, groom is second guy on the right.

The next day was spent at Alisa's house for a lunch, before the wedding (nikkah) ceremony at the gardens.

One of the nephews looking sharp in his little suit :)

Did I mention the bride's family is Bosnian? As per tradition, everyone in the bridal party that isn't an immediate family member of the B&G get two small white roses (left or right side depending on whether you're married or single). All the immediate family members get purple roses pinned. Pretty cool.

These guys make delicious desserts! My tummy was extremely happy that day :)

And the groom, Ahzum, himself! All the men were outside in tents (shelter from the rain), and the women inside. He popped in for a minute.

Some of the cousins.

My mom (left). Ahzum's mom (right).

I'm pretty big on the black and white, as you can see!

After the wedding ceremony, Ahzum brings Alisa home.

But...he's barred from entering!

Meanwhile, Alisa is carried by his cousins and brother inside on a chair. She is clearly amused by this.

Poor Azhum is still at the door, his cousins not letting him in, while his friends negotiate for him to enter the house. This is all just a game for the girls to get some money out of the groom (he has to bargain his way in), haha!

The uncles are amused. They remember what it was like ;)

Ahzum finally breaks through the crowd, and into the house!

He is extremely happy.

So they do a little dance.

Then some hugs.

Then more dance.

The kids want to dance too.

A day later was the reception. For the record, this isn't my appetizer plate!

Ahahaha, this kid always makes me laugh.

My dad (right). Ahzum's dad (left).