Author: Mark

[YouTube]

Yousef Al-Haddad is a Kuwaiti musician who lives in the States. He plays a bunch of instruments but guitar is his main thing. He graduated from University of Southern California back in 2009 and now lives and works in Santa Monica. He basically works at Trader Joe’s and plays his guitar all day. I’ve watched a bunch of his videos and I think he’s extremely entertaining to watch and listen to. For example in the video above he talks with a Jamaican accent and sings Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”.

Below are two more videos I liked but you can check out all his other videos on [YouTube] as well as a few tracks on [Soundcloud]

[YouTube]

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As part of his world tour, the popular French-Tunisian street artist eL Seed was in Kuwait and tagged his work on the rooftop of an abandoned building.

eL Seed’s graffiti incorporates traditional Arabic calligraphy, a style he calls ‘calligraffiti’. You can check out more of his work on his website [Here]

Kuwait will conduct medical screening tests to “detect” homosexuals who attempt to get into the Gulf kingdom, according to a senior official.

Yousouf Mindkar, director of public health at the Kuwaiti health ministry, said that the routine clinical screening of expatriates coming into the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) will include tests to identify LGBT people who will then be banned from entering the country. [Source]

Good luck with that!

[YouTube]

There’s a guy selling a beautiful classic Porsche 911 on Q8car which isn’t anything new except for the fact he has a YouTube video linked in the cars description. I hadn’t seen that before on Q8car and thought it was a pretty smart thing to do. Here is the information attached to the video:

This is My Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3 , model 1991 I have had it since 1991 and I am looking for a new home for my Porsche . It is in a good condition and it has a mileage of 105944 Km , this is the original color of the car and The original interior leather , I did some paint jobs in the past 23 years and always kept the same color . I have changed only the cd player of my car , every thing else in the car is Original .

[email protected]
+965 60051891

You can also check out his Q8car page [Here]

The Kuwait Historical, Vintage & Classic Car Museum just finished building a race track and will be officially introducing it to the public on October 10th. The race track was built across the street from City Center Shuwaikh in the empty desert space right next to the car museum.

Once the track is open it will be available to anyone who wants to race on it. The track will be used for a variety of different activities including racing, karting, drifting, car dealership test drives and even a 4X4 experience.

They still haven’t finalized how much it will cost to use the track but I’ve been told it will be a minimal fee. For more pictures check out their Instagram account [Here]

Track photos above by zDistrict

A building that was being demolished in Jabriya collapsed suddenly onto the street earlier today. According to early reports a person is trapped under the rubble. I don’t have any more information but will update the post if I find out anything else.

Photo above via whatsapp

Update: Below is another photo taken from @milsimkuwait

A Bahraini family in Kuwait escaped unhurt when armed GCC nationals robbed them of a lion and 35,000 riyals, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily. It all started after the family members bought a lion for 40,000 riyals from an unspecified GCC country. Unknown to other members of the family, a 14-year old member was interacting with one of the suspects who offered to pay 47,000 riyals for the lion, although the boy informed his uncle about it later.

Upon their arrival to the country, the family contacted the man and set a date to complete negotiation and purchase, but they were surprised when seven people pulled knives and threatened to stab them. One of the suspects had even fired gun shots in the air as warning until they fled the scene with the lion and aforementioned money. The family lodged a complaint in the police station immediately and pictures of the suspects were displayed on Instagram. The search is ongoing to arrest them. [Source]

I thought people were smuggling exotic animals into Kuwait but turns out they just drive them over the border…

Photo not related.

Henley & Partners released their Visa Restrictions Index which is a global ranking of countries according to travel freedom. Kuwait scored 52 and ended up somewhere in the middle of the list while Finland, Sweden and the UK tied for first place. Kuwait did score better than neighboring GCC countries coming ahead of UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. For more information and the full list of rankings click [Here]

Photo by zDistrict

The second mezzanine floor at Salhiya Complex is getting a makeover. The floor which has the Maki Restaurant is getting the ceiling height raised and a lot of clothing stores were closed down and instead restaurants will be opening up in their place.

Coloring the Past is an exhibition and lecture that will be held at CAP (Contemporary Art Platform) and co-hosted by the US Embassy. The exhibition is opening on October 6th and will feature the artists Kate Seelye and Ammanda Salzman who will be exhibiting 19 artworks which illustrate their family’s rich past in the Middle East, in addition to a video with footage of their family in Kuwait and elsewhere in the 50s.

The artists will also be delivering a talk on October 7th where they will share the history of their family’s rich past and talk through the methods and inspirations of their work. They will also be screening photo slides that will explore the family’s journey through the region, specifically Kuwait.

Coloring the Past Exhibition
Date: Sunday October 6th to October 27th, 2013
Time: 7:00PM (for opening reception)
Location: CAP (Contemporary Art Platform)

Coloring the Past Lecture
Date: Monday October 7th, 2013
Time: 6:30PM to 8:30PM
Location: CAP (Contemporary Art Platform)

I got an email from Q8geeks asking me if I would be interested in trying out the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. He had one and had set it up at his stand at the KuwaitySteps event so I passed by awhile ago and tried it out.

My first impression was the Oculus Rift was pretty light. When you see the device you expect some heft to it but then you pick it up and you’re like thats it? I got to try the headset with a quick round of team fortress followed by a virtual roller coaster ride and then a trip to Norway to check out the Northern Lights. The headset works really well and tracks your movement very accurately. When I first started the roller coaster demo for example I was sitting facing the back of the roller coaster so I had to physically turn around so I could face the front. I loved that. The biggest issue with the Oculus Rift for me was the size of the pixels on the internal screens, they’re pretty large and visible but then again this is just the developers kit and the actual device when released will have a better updated screen (amongst other things).

If you’re interested to try out the Oculus Rift you can pass by the KuwaitiSteps exhibition and try it for free. Q8Geeks has a stand there when you first walk in called GuuStore where he’s also selling micro-controllers such as the Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

Location: Tent outside Safir International Hotel [Map]
Time: 5PM to 11PM
Date: Till Saturday October 5th
Price: For some odd and silly reason there is a KD3 entrance fee

[YouTube]

Arabyoyo.com (the #1 online Arab yo-yo community) yesterday organized a local Yo-yo contest in which returning champion Abdel-wahab Nayef “Kimo Chone” won the event. You can check out his winning performance in the video above.

If you’re a yo-yo fan then check out Arabyoyo.com for a lot more information and video.

This was uploaded by the Kuwait Fire Department. Basd on the cars I’m guessing it’s from the 1960s. [YouTube]

A falcon was recently sold at an unbelievable price: KD 209,000. This is a record price for a bird of any kind. The unique falcon was sold during an auction held in Jahra.

…

This falcon is a unique Iranian Farsi falcon which was hunted by Kuwaitis in Al- Nuweisib when it was flying over Kuwait from Iranian mountains during the migratory season, seeking warm weather. According to a local daily, these hunters were training their falcons in the area, and when they saw this unique falcon, they immediately sent a hunting pigeon with a net to capture it.

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According to Al-Ruwei, if the falcon was hunted in Kuwait while it was flying over the country, its price would be higher than if it was hunted abroad. “People who love this hobby spread news about this on social media, so they always know where the falcon is hunted and when the auction takes place. When a falcon is imported into Kuwait, its keen followers will immediately know when exactly it entered Kuwait and passed through the customs,”

There’s a whole different world out there… [Link]

Saudi Airlines pilot aborts takeoff after a passenger informed him that he had forgotten his mother at the airport https://t.co/6KW3SAK9J7

— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) October 3, 2013

I thought this was too funny not to share. Here is the article in English [Link]