The Holy Month of Ramadan officially began last Saturday, 22nd August. Albeit a little belatedly, allow me to greet all my Muslim friends and readers: Ramadan Kareem!

Being a conservative Islamic country, Oman observes Ramadan pretty strictly. That is, no eating and drinking in public during the daylight hours. All restaurants and coffee shops are closed as well, and will only open during Iftar (the break-fast meal during sundown) and operate until the early morning hours. Even Christians and people of other non-Islam faiths are expected to respect and follow this “fasting” practice, at least publicly.

Dress code is also a bit stricter during the Holy Month. For both genders, the upper arm and the knees must be covered by clothing while in public places. No tank tops, minis and shorts. Of course, no plunging necklines.

Ramadan lasts for around 30 Gregorian calendar days and culminates with a few days of rejoicing, called Eid-al-Fitr. These days are normally declared non-working holidays for both the public and private sectors in Islamic countries.

Have a blessed Holy Month, everyone.

This morning, I managed to get two tickets to the local premier of The Passion of the Christ.

The screening is being sponsored by the church group of a friend of mine and he had some tickets left to sell. Uncle and I will be catching the show late this afternoon, which is running until the early part of the evening.

Right after the Holy Week, I tried to procure tickets to the premier of The Passion through some family acquaintances. Unfortunately, I lucked out because, apparently, all of the tickets had been sold out in the days prior to the Holy Week.

Thus, it is a very good thing that my friend brought his quota of tickets and sold them with no price increase (scalpers, keep away!) whatsoever.

I took part in a most diverting and riveting conversation during lunch today.

The topic was movies. We talked about two films in particular, both widely popular milestones in their own time.

The first film we discussed was Ben-Hur, touted “The World’s Most Honored Motion Picture.” With good reason, too, having won the most number of Academy Awards.

The second was, arguably, one of 2004’s most controversial silver screen features, The Passion of the Christ, helmed by Oscar alumnus and multi-talented Hollywood icon Mel Gibson.

The Passion of the Christ gained extra attention from the rather excessive amounts of blood and gore splattered throughout the film, especially during the beating-and-lashing session prior to Jesus’ crucifixion.

Our discussion centered mostly on random facets of both movies, such as the real-life dangers faced by the actors during Ben-Hur’s famous chariot race sequence and the authenticity and difficulty of the language used throughout The Passion’s script.

I, however, confess to not having seen the latter movie yet, as it is due for a premier in my city come April 21st.

How fitting, indeed, that our attention was focused on historical roots of the Christian faith, as it is Good Friday. Today is when Jesus Christ dies on the cross, and when the world should offer even just moments of its time in mourning His passing.

Have a blessed Good Friday, everyone.

I read this rather interesting bit of news recently and opted to share it.

The article is entitled Pope to ping the faithful, with the news lead: “Verizon Wireless is launching a new cell phone service in the United States on Wednesday that will allow subscribers to receive messages from the pope.”

Similar to so many a-text-a-day ventures, this new Verizon Wireless-Vatican City partnership involves enabling the faithful to get their daily dose of enlightenment and wisdom straight from His Holiness, via SMS (Short Messaging Service) or, in simpler terms, text.

The rationale behind this service was very well expressed by David Kerr of Strategy Analytics: “Religion has the classic ingredients of any popular content service: a large and passionate community of interest. For this to extend to the mobile environment is only natural.”

In addition to this market-responsive reasoning, here is another positive spin on the matter, from Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: “People are always trying to find ways to market His Holiness.”

Too bad, really, that Verizon Wireless still has not ventured into the Philippines. Perhaps a syndication by Globe/Touch Mobile or Smart/Talk-and-Text is in order?

Now, when I think about, I would be very interested in receiving daily text messages from Jaime Cardinal Sin, what with his razor-sharp intelligence and wit.

This article was forwarded to a mailing list of which I am a member. It was, in a nutshell, about the Pope’s opinion on the current state of the Internet. He deems cyberspace to be a place of “both danger and promise.”

The Internet has given us human beings, with our limited perceptions and flawed faculties, the power to access and transmit a lot of information in so short a span of time and so easily.

Power in itself is neither good nor bad; it depends on who uses it and how he or she does so. Spider-Man realized after the death of his Uncle Ben that with great power comes great responsibility. Even if we are not superheroes, this adage does apply to us in a manner that whatever we have, we should never seek to abuse it or use it without regard for the consequences. Responsibility is about caution, foresight, moderation and, above all, consideration for the welfare of those around us and who rely on us.

I have been writing research and position papers on the Internet and its various facets ever since I was in high school. Time and time again, I could not help but stress that it is a double-edged sword. We just cannot use it mindlessly, as there always will be repercussions to our actions if ever we cross the line between what is freedom of expression and what is abuse of that freedom.