TizaNabi

[quote name='spectrum055' date='01 April 2010 - 11:38 PM' timestamp='1270154288' post='461357'] [url="http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/for/1661170476.html"]http://phoenix.craig...1661170476.html[/url] It's a great price..... I talked to the guy and no rust... I'm picking it up Tuesday on my way back from Tucson...Just hope at the moment it fits my KM's Base or I'll have to wait to enjoy it : p [/quote] How can you tell if it's rusted, or has bad welding spots, or holes?

[quote name='TizaNabi' date='06 April 2010 - 07:06 PM' timestamp='1270569982' post='462211'] [quote name='Synesthesia' date='30 March 2010 - 09:02 AM' timestamp='1269928930' post='460720'] hi guys! so, i moved into a new apartment and as a housewarming gift to myself, i bought a new hookah. i am smoking out of it for the first time right now, and its awesome! i've only owned a crappy pumpkin and then moved on to a mya econo. i bought a nammor azizi and its great, smokes like a charm and i love the pull that the nammor hose gives. my only complaint is that this thing is top-heavy and wobbly as fuck! im so scared its gonna tip over and break and im not sure what to do. it didnt come with a base protector thingey and of course i didnt buy one. im so used to my sturdy little mya so im kind of lost using a much bigger hookah. any ideas on how i can stabilize this thing DIY until i can buy a base protector? thanks!!! [/quote] [/quote] You could get some kind of clay and stick the base right into it while on the floor. Then decide if you want to put it in a kiln, glaze it or add colours. Or Play dough.

[quote name='Synesthesia' date='30 March 2010 - 09:02 AM' timestamp='1269928930' post='460720'] hi guys! so, i moved into a new apartment and as a housewarming gift to myself, i bought a new hookah. i am smoking out of it for the first time right now, and its awesome! i've only owned a crappy pumpkin and then moved on to a mya econo. i bought a nammor azizi and its great, smokes like a charm and i love the pull that the nammor hose gives. my only complaint is that this thing is top-heavy and wobbly as fuck! im so scared its gonna tip over and break and im not sure what to do. it didnt come with a base protector thingey and of course i didnt buy one. im so used to my sturdy little mya so im kind of lost using a much bigger hookah. any ideas on how i can stabilize this thing DIY until i can buy a base protector? thanks!!! [/quote]

[quote name='mushrat' date='06 April 2010 - 04:51 PM' timestamp='1270561897' post='462182'] It's natural "lump" charcoal you are talking about. That's ok. It's like the natural lemonwood charcoal. Just chunks o tree. [/quote] Yes, quite light, more even than some Arabic lemon charcoals from Jordan. So...... its Kosher!!! Thanks.

[quote name='Josh Hamilton' date='06 April 2010 - 04:02 PM' timestamp='1270558965' post='462177'] what store was this? what brand of charcoal? hmmm....that would be cheap then [/quote] I live on a small village between the little Town of Bethleham and Hebron in Israel. I don't think its local, but it might be. Its extremely cheap, no doubt now in my mind its from wood, and healthier for sure than quick lights and even some natural. But...don't run off and buy those round briquettes.Mercy! I get almost daily letters from Chinese manufacturers of hookah products, among them coal. They actually state that much hookah coal is from floor sweepings on the large coal processors. Much like your salami luncheon meat!!!

[quote name='Tyler' date='23 January 2010 - 01:12 PM' timestamp='1264241578' post='447262'] In a commencement speech given by David Foster in 2005 at Kenyon College I started on a thought process through my first readings in my Spirituality and Presence class. Foster argues that we as humans experience things that support our own "default" mind set that we are in-fact the absolute center of the universe; the realest, most vivid, and important person in existence. Rarely do we talk about such a perspective because its self-centeredness and because it's socially repulsive, but it's pretty much the same for all of us, deep down. Whether or not I agree with him on this matter remains to be decided but delving further into his speech he starts to talk about the day to day grind and how we as a modern society are so caught up in the rat race that the person who cut you off is an asshole in your mind, never mind that his son is in the backseat with a life-threatening illness or injury, the fact that out of all the people, he chose to cut you off, is insulting in your mind. When we stand in line at the grocery store, everyone is in front of us yet we care not that we are in front of someone else. In the day to day, we lose sight of the things that should be most basic to us. Take the short story he opened with: "There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning boys, how's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes "What the Hell is water?" We've become so discriminate with, not only ourselves, but others, that we've begun to progress into a mindset where we're ignoring the basics of life. When we're sitting in traffic, when we're standing in line, when we finally realize that maybe some people have a higher priority than us on the road, we've begun to get wet. To break free from this solipsism we need to begin to become intimate with ourselves and others; we need to be able to go beyond not only asking what water is, but what effect the water has on us. Abraham Joshua Heschel has a very interesting article called The Sabbath: Architecture of time that really begins to open up this issue in a new light. His basic argument in this article works through the nature and celebration of Shabbat, or the Jewish Sabbath as it is known. His argument is that Judaism, a religion of time, not space, symbolizes and sanctifies time though the veneration of the Sabbath. Additionally there are other aspect to his article, but to stay on point he argues that "we cannot conquer time through space. We can only master time in time." What does he mean by this? I'm sure there are just as many correct answers as there are incorrect answers but that is kind of the point: Is this a sign of linguistic poverty, or rather an indication of an unwarped view of the world, of not equating reality with thinghood? He continues on talking about some of the festivals and celebrations of Judaism such as Passover, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Booths, and points out of these celebrations that the unique events of historic time were spiritually more significant than the repetitive processes in the cycle of nature, even through physical sustenance depended on the latter. As I previously mentioned, Judaism being a religion of time, it aims at the sanctification of time. Unlike the space-minded men to whom all hours are alike, qualitiless, empty shells, the Bible senses the diversified character of time. There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious. Think about Judaism and the Hebrew Bible for a moment. What things are the earliest example of holy? Is it the creation of the Trees of Life and Knowledge of Good and Evil? Is it the theophany on the Mount, is it the actual appearance of G-d in the burning bush? While all of these things are indeed holy in their own right they are not the first, most holy thing in the Bible. In fact, the first time the word "qadosh" was used in the Bible, is in reference to the seventh day in which G-d rested. Rest. Holy. Two ideas that we're all pretty familiar with to their own respective degree, but how often do we put the two together? What, exactly, defines what is rest and what is holy? This is where my questioning comes to play. To me, rest is the point where both mentally and physically you are at one with your natural self. All the worries of the day have settled into their own corner of the mind, the aching of the back, feet, head, and legs subsides to the comfort of whatever position you find yourself in at the time, and you can truly focus on the thing[s] in which bring you closer to whatever it is you're spiritual with. Holy, on the other hand, has many different connotations. What I hold holy in my heart and mind might be frivolous information and ideas to another. But, this thing, this activity, this action, what ever "this" is remains the upmost important thing in one's life. Taking the traditional idea of religion out of the picture, imagine a person that we all probably know, someone who is self-proclaimed atheist and spends their time against any ideas of religion, yet when they're on their laptop at the coffee shop, they're suspicious of anyone in their area because that person might be invading their privacy, looking at their computer screen and seeing what they hold as "qadosh." They don't want to share it because to them, what they do on that computer, the thing that allows veneration of their sacred, is so intimate to them that they feel violated with uninvited infringements. When this person is on their computer, they are praying to their g-d, they are venerating their "qadosh," they are being intimate with themselves the best way they know how. (Yes I know I went a bit far with this example but bear with me) Now, take someone like me. I am a very spiritual person, religious, and to me, the computer, the sacred to my qadosh, is prayer. Prayer is the ultimate intimacy for me because it is what I use to connect to the most important "this" in my life: G-d. Yes, I am saying that to me, prayer is more intimate than sex in a number of ways. When I invite someone to pray with me, to listen, to watch, to witness me pray in any way shape or form, or am invited by someone to do the same to them, I feel that I am sharing the most humanly intimate possible connection. Contingent to this fact, is that I or any other person is actually praying. There are those, for instance, some Muslims, whom do the actions, say the words, and adhere to cleanliness aspects of ritual prayer, but their prayers are, for lack of a better word, still born. When one prays, as they have for a long time, they know what they're expecting and have already formed a bond and love with it. However, if one prays without the understanding and consciousness of what they're doing, they are doing nothing more than delivering a stillborn action. The purpose and meaning is not there but the shell of existence is. In order to share this intimacy you must give birth to a living prayer. It is this connection, the connection to whatever is qadosh to a person, that will eventually end the solipsism I mentioned earlier that according to Foster, is the default of human nature. When we can finally do this, we must keep in mind, that not only need we be aware of water and that others swim in it, but we must remind ourselves: this is water, this is water, this is water. Is it unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive, day in and day out, but it is not impossible. We must learn to be intimate once again, and for me, the most intimate thing one can do with another, is pray. [/quote] I like what you said about a stillborn prayer. In Torah those words are used exactly. If a person would learn the Holy Torah all day and into the night,but does not fulfill even a little of what he learned, it is like a stillborn birth, thrown back in his face. So much for being Kadosh-holy. which might answer a bit of your long page. Who says we were put a soul into a body to become holy? Angels are holy, they were created that way, they are called in Hebrew "Holy Animals" because they did exactly nothing to be holy, they just are, to do their missions. Man can move up and be holier than an angel by far, or down and be worse than a pig.Worse, not almost. But our job is not to be holy. We were brought down an infinite soul part of the Infinite One, enclothed in the body we were given on purpose,to the parents we got,to our siblings,teachers,culture,religion,nation in this time and space. Most of us have been on this world before and come back to polish things up. We learn in Torah that time and space are a creation, that there are infinite physical worlds in the universe and here, infinite spiritual worlds, parallel worlds. That the planets revolved around the sun, that the earth is round, this all proceeded Galileo and Cristofer Columbus in the Torah revealed to 3 million Jews on the foot of Mount Sinai. And the Jews were dispersed to Babylon and returned to Israel, then 2000 years ago dispersed by the Romans to Rome,Spain,Gaul of France.England. From the Spainish Inquisition many fled to all the North African nations, also to Yemen,to Ethiopia, later to South America, 1190 the Jews were kicked out of England, many ended up in Eastern Europe, some were there before. But my point is all of these communities large or small the world over came to Israel and we all had the same Written Torah and the same Oral Torah. Of course we knew this from before. So if time and space are a creation, of course we learn how. Some of us can laugh at the scientists who explain how, with proofs. Much which are correct. Like Columbus and Galileo, but 1400 years after it was stated in Torah. Wouldn't the better question be "WHY were they created?" Why ,if time ans space are mere creations, then it means they are nullified at their source in G-D. Just like a million candles in the sun, what are they? And one sun beam, what is it in the source of the sun? In the Infinite One's creation of time and space which come from G-D's speach, not his thought time and space are nothing.G-D loves, G-D wants,G-D speaks!! Is G-D a creep like we are that speach is important? Where do we have power to love,hear,speak,feel and think? It comes from G-D.A tiny portion of real true love or real Infinite wisdom. Try unplugging your friend's stereo while he is in a state of bliss. What happened? The electric energy in that socket returned to its source and the music along with the mechanics running it returned to their source. So since G-D created the universes in 6 days, did he fly down to the Virgin Islands for a well needed vacation? Because the Wisdom is complete,because "He" created you, then "She" the female aspect of G-D,nature nutures you at every moment. If He in His Infinite Wisdom created your soul,your body then He must know you at all times, change you when you grow. Even when youe electric power goes off nothing will work. After G-D brought you into existence, along with the birds,worms,sun,angels,5 billion other humans he is "existing " us all. That power keeps our tiniest atoms alive and moving and exists them. Just as He exists a wooden table that is actually trillions of little moving bodies. A scientist can tell you why, suppose it, but to say : "Oh, this table of wood was created for this reason..." isn't the why, the purpose even more important. Its why you bought a pc!!! You probably didn't learn how to take it apart and rebuild it, though you can. You were shopping for the best model at the cheapest price. That is WHY you bought a pc and the how might mean very little to you. Torah being the plan for life means we were created with an infinite soul into a body now and here to serve. Not to be served, or pray for an ipad before our next birthday. We use our soul powers and our bodily powers to make this world here a better place. And G-D shows us how. In one way if we look around even not long ago it might have been your parents born between 1945-55 who honestly believed that the world and world culture can change. Quite a lot did as a matter of fact.More was changed in the 60's and 70's than in whole centuries. But they mainly put their faith in a labratory produced tab of LSD or NHT (Non-Hookah Tobacco) which was grown cheaply and sold by criminals. The love and sharing was not based on truth, it was basically an animal desire for calm. Peace and acceptance of others is not a nice idea. If its not the Creator's wish, He who created all and G-D then says, "I have this problem with love, I gave you some and I want it shared". This might entail the small detail of visiting your decrepit Grandfather shut up half blind,with his runny nose and rancid breath.But as I remember being 3 ,13,30,and now 57 if we live long enough it might happen to us. You visit because you were told to BE kind. It didn't say FEEL kindness. Maybe you never can or will. If slowly you can reach the stage of feeling, then you have grown in your service.

[quote name='KyleTheJustin' date='23 January 2010 - 08:13 PM' timestamp='1264266815' post='447283'] I think praying to an invisible man in the sky who grants wishes to random followers based on his own volition kind of negates the idea of praying being legitimate and even worthwhile. However, I respect much of what you wrote and find trouble in much of what you wrote. You claim that prayer is "more intimate than sex," and invite others to watch you perform an act that does little more than makes you less crazy for talking to yourself. Again, I respect belief and raised Catholic for a good portion of my life, but the thought of praying always had me wondering what the hell (no pun intended) it was for. By process of sheer chance you may end up with, say, 50% of all your prayers being "answered," but that hardly identifies that any spiritual or higher being contributed to whatever it is you prayed for. But, that aside, that delves into a different debate regarding religion as a whole, which, to keep this topic on topic, we'll save for another time. Praying, to me, gives people hope in something they are hoping for in the future; an idea that seems ludicrous and provides nothing more than a way to close their eyes at night and feel that they are that much closer to God, or the Smurfs, or even Gandalf from Lord of the Rings--each of these entities holding just as much solid ground as the big G man. Totally disregarding the fact that I think prayer is bogus, what you stated has a lot of great importance and a lot of "alright, dude, now you're just being really weird." There are hundreds of thousands of ways to be intimate, one of which happens to be smoking a hookah with great friends around a table. Prayer, if it means this much to you, seems to be a valid form of intimate connection, but I feel that the connection can only be made between you and another person, not a mythical man (or woman, if you want to disestablish the patriarchy that is religion) in the sky who bends the idea of the "divine plan" to suit your needs and wants. Because at the end of the day, no matter what, prayer bases itself around one idea: my wants. Surely one can argue that your "wants" contribute to the greater good, but one must define and identify thoroughly the greater good on a grand scale before asking Papa Smurf to help mom rid herself of cancer. I'm sure she's not the only one in need of assistance. [/quote] So, praying is "asking smurf for favours". In Hebrew praying means "to unite with".Its not Christmas morning everyday of the year.Maybe the idea when we ourselves lose our wallet,or our eyesight, we don't pray for their return. In Judaism we make a blessing to G-d thinking for what we recieved. Its what we needed. Prayers by my very close by neighbors in Arab villages are 5 times a day. The prayers start with praise for Allah. Jewish prayers are 3 times a day with the morning prayer running quickly at 45 minutes to an hour. Or often more. Of our 87 long page morning prayer 57 full pages are mostly Psalms which praise the Infinite One.Page 58 we have general requests for peace, the rebuilding of Jerusalem,Messiah's comming,then back to more pages of praise. Yes, if "give me" is what people are doing, then its a sorry situation.Afternoon and evening are short prayers with a before bedtime prayer about the soul. Just like some people buy a car ,keep it maintained,change the oil, fix the car themselves, write down logs, wax, etc, while some people gas the car only and when things go wrong, they take it to a garage mechanic. Some people love their children,nuture them, educate them in a positive way, and some parents just pass out credit cards. Its about caring.

The issue is not abortion. The issue is what help can we give to women who are undecided, and need advice,a friend,economic help, maybe therapy in case of rape. Actually, the real issue are boys and men. (I am a man). Here in Israel there is abortion,there is social medicine for everyone, social services for women raped, or pregnant and confused. The males need the real education, so do the women to protect themselves. We have women's rights groups which help the women on a private free service. We have also a very large women's org. of Jewish religious women who help people consider having the baby either keeping the baby or putting up for adoption. In Israel we have many people who want to adopt. Since a woman who is pregnant has so many economic difficulties all at once, many will abort only for that reason. This woman's organization gets private donations and gives women money to go through gestation 9 months, buy clothes,baby needs,and spending money. They either decide to keep the baby or have it adopted. I understand the anti abortion groups in America, but we don't have them here. I was brought up secular for 25 years and became religious 32 years ago, so I do understand both sides. As a religious community we educate our children about sex from the time they start reading the Torah at age 3 and no part is left out.Anyone who learns the Torah knows what goes where, what should not go where, and how baby's come into this world. Not only do they know, how, but they know "why". And who asks that? My wife and I have 7 children, mostly married early and with many grandchildren thank G-D. We do practice "birth control". We practice! and G-D controls, but for those not educated in this way, those girls and women need all the support we can give.

Most of the replies are good in that they express the fact that you are not alone. Its terrific the way you described your feelings and emotional attributes, that is more than half the fight, admitting to the fullest an emotional problem. I'm going to explain a theological method for sucsess in helping to change anger. Its brought out in "The Book of Tanya" based on Kabalistic teachings. The main point is that the soul powers fit the body perfectly. Your head on top,then the throat,then the heart, then the kidneys below. The key law is "The Brain should & always can rule the heart (emotions)." So...why not 100% of the time for a person who learns this daily for years and puts it to practice? The Throat is the problem.The brain is large and all the power of it should overule the heart's emotions, ...but it can't get past the throat, that small thin passageway.(It refers to Egypt).To "go out of Egypt" and let logic say "this is the 19th diaper I've changed this morning, you use the brain to say "and you, did you never soil your diaper? Am I going to wallop this baby because I'm angry?". So you use the throat and actually in a low voice say to yourself with all your being "Am I going to act like an animal or a human and use my freedom to choose?" It will enter the heart and diliberate in the kidneys. You could also voice a prayer if you want. Each person was born with a good nature and bad natural attributes. Some people are so calm they never had to vanquish their anger since they never had that given fault.So, what have they actually done? This doesn't mean he is better. If you manage to control your anger once out of 20 times, you might be the real hero. Next month try for 2 out of 20.etc. Its meant to be a lifelong job,but it is what makes us human and not animals.

[quote name='Hassouni' date='05 April 2010 - 07:03 PM' timestamp='1270483392' post='461976'] [color="#5D5D5D"][font="tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif"][size="2"][color="#5D5D5D"][font="tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif"][size="2"][color="#5D5D5D"][font="tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif"][size="2"] [img]http://www.bmivoyager.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/000.ppm_LARGE9.jpg[/img] Atmosphere: 5 out of 5. Smoke nargile next to the sea! The place has actually been classed up since the above pic was taken, but its amazing location jutting out into the sea remains and gives it high marks. This is DEFINITELY a locals-only place, you won't find tourists of any kind here. The entrance is right next to the Luna Park on the Corniche. Hookah: 4 out of 5. Standard Lebanese deal: small bowl, narrow Mya-type hose. That being said, it's at least as good as anything I can get in the states. They clearly pack right, and of course use natural coals. I ordered a apple, but was brought grape by accident...before I sent it back I could actually smell the grape without even smoking it. That's pretty good....(Not sure what kind of tobacco they use, but the grape smelled very Al-Fakher-y) Service: 4 out of 5. Service in Beirut is never world class, this place isn't bad Food: 4 out of 5. Properly legit Lebanese mezza, snacks, and grilled food. I got a bunch of food here, including shish taouk, vine leaves, hummus, all the standards, all excellent. They lose a point because they used to have alcohol, but the owner's son took over and decided it would be a dry establishment (I think he's more religious)[/size][/font][/color][/size][/font][/color] [color="#5D5D5D"][font="tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif"][size="2"][color="#5D5D5D"][font="tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif"][size="2"] Price: 5 out 5. Very reasonable. Food was cheap, the nargile was pretty cheap, I think around $7. Overall recommendation: There are other places in Beirut to smoke overlooking the sea, but everywhere else is on high cliffs. Rawda is right at sea level, and they have a lot of seats right on the waterfront. Highly recommended to just chill there for an afternoon, enjoy the sunset, and relax[/size][/font][/color][/size][/font][/color][/size][/font][/color] [/quote]

[attachment=4812:imagesCA9DUCLV.jpg][attachment=4811:jerold_shukshop.jpg][attachment=4810:imagesCA5DP6F6.jpg][attachment=4809:w.jpg][attachment=4808:images.jpg]First time I smoked a hookah I was 17 years old & that was 1970,but I remember that red letter day perfectly. I went up a few alleys in the Arab market of Jerusalem which also contains next to it the Al-Aksa Mosque holy to Islam, and the Western Wall the remains of the 2 Holy Jewish Temples from 2700 years ago and then 2000 years the 2nd. The place to smoke was in a tea house a back room arbor of a house, having only grapevines as a roof. In our area of the Middle East,Jordan,Israel,Syria and Lebanon the hookah is called "nargilah". I had to pay 3 whole Lira, the old Israeli currency which was then worth $0.95!!! They brought us a small cup first of very sweetened tea. We were 4 people there. An elderly Arab,an Israeli boy like myself and an American tourist. The hookah they brought was the large size, I wonder if I ever remember seeing mini hookahs back then. The Arab smoked first, the hose had a simple brown wooden mouthpiece, I can assure you they didn't have plastic mouthpieces for hygiene and for what? (I gave my pet dog mouth-to-mouth twice, I'm not sensitive). So we passed around the hose, non of what you read in "Hookah ettiquite about "laying the hose downfor the other to pick up". Unless Arabs maybe haven't heard yet? I noticed that the shisha was put on top of the coals, with a regular clay brown head,not Persian style. It wasn't Ajami or Zagloul shisha,both of which I often smoke, seemed more of one piece. When we finished the Arab left, then the American with his backpack, he started yelling "I left my Frisbee in there, whre's my frisbee?",but the owner showed him where to go! I stayed on a bit with my new aquaintance, then left. I met my friend 5 months later in 1971 ,in the same basic training base of "Golani" which is like USA Marines. In 1973 during the war he was of the 12 of our 75 man unit killed, he by a Syrian sniper. We ended up 25 kilometers from Damascus and I finished my 3 years 1974. Hookah I've been smoking 10 years now daily.[attachment=4807:e.jpg]

Wait!!! Before you say "sure it is", what if I heat up my BBQ with natural wood hookah coals? Its expensive and will cost a lot for sure but then they would qualify also as "BBQ charcoal",no? I only smoke with natural wood coals for years. All quick lighting coals I've ever used, and I always tried to get the best left an after taste from bad to horrid. Last week I ran out of natural coals and used quick lighting,for sure it was bad. I found a grocery store 2 kilo sized bag of wood charcoal ,but them on my gas burner and got ready to choke. I found no after taste and no chemical taste. I'm smoking it now. The amazing thig is, after 10 minutes the coal went from black to brown and looks just like a piece of wood, with wood grains and all! I'd appreciate any feedback (except from owners of wood charcoal or shisha dealers who sell charcoal.) Thanks

Yeah, around 10 hookahs I've given away,plus shisha etc. How many hookahs can I smoke from at once?