Meet “Al Gore”: Toronto Mayoral Candidate 2014

Each New Year’s Day Afternoon, The City of Toronto hosts it’s annual Levee, where members of the general public line up to get a turn at meeting and being greeted by the Mayor and members of City Council.

On a day when nearly everything else in the city is closed due to New Year’s, this was the only game in town. The only other game of note being the NHL Winter Classic down the road in Detroit, which everyone seemed to be following on their BlackBerries and other handhelds.

This being a Municipal Election year in Toronto, and the day before nominations officially open, I found numerous potential Mayoral and Council Candidates doing the rounds inside the Rotunda of Toronto City Hall.

Among City Council Wannabes wandering the Rotunda was one Al Gore, declared Mayoral Candidate. Oh really? “Al Gore”?
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Mohsina Khatoon…

My Grandmother passed away this morning at 4:55 a.m.

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InshAllah, God-Alone Willing, I will update this blog post with more about my Grandmother’s life in a few days.

On this sunny cloudless morning in Milpitas, California, I choose not to remember her as she lay in her hospital bed in San José, for almost the past month.

For the moment, I choose to remember my Grandmother as she was in this simple video of everyday life recorded September 24 2004 in Fremont.


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My Grandmother was 89


Syed Mahmood Ul Hasan

syed-mahmood-ul-hasan-31-july-2001-this-is-the-last-photo-of-me-himy-taken-by-my-grandfather

. HiMY SYeD . Mamoo [ maternal uncle ]. Appa [ maternal elder cousin sister ] . Mount Tamalpais . California .


This is the last photo of me taken by my Grandfather, Syed Mahmood ul Hasan using my Kodak mc3 digital camera back on July 31 2001. I was taking so many photos that day, my Grandfather asked if he could snap a photo of us for a change. This is that photo. To my knowledge, it’s the last ever photo that my Grandfather ever took

He passed away peacefully at Washington Hospital in Fremont, California, Monday night at 10:55 p.m. pacific daylight time

He was buried yesterday at the Five Pillars Muslim Cemetery in Livermore, California after his funeral, Janaza, prayers at the Islamic Society of East Bay, the ISEB, in Fremont

My Grandfather was 86