Author: Mark

I was at Virgin here in Lebanon checking out the Ingmar Bergman special edition DVD collection when I noticed the box looked like it was missing a DVD. I then noticed a warning label on top which said:

This box set is missing item(s) that were confiscated by the general security for censorship reasons.

So it happens even in Lebanon although DVD censorship here is not as common as in Kuwait and is usually left to really controversial stuff.

I had to shoot a TV commercial today so I had to wake up at 6AM. Its now 11:58PM and I just got back to my hotel so it was a really long exhausting day. Problem is tomorrow I have to wake up at 8AM for another shoot so I will barely have any rest and sleep. I have a lot to write about but I am too tired at the moment to do so. I get back to Kuwait Thursday night.

Between yesterday and today I managed to watch 16 episodes of the comedy Studio 60. Its currently one of my favorite shows and I don’t think I would have ever guessed that I would ever like Matthew Perry since I found him annoying on the show Friends but, surprisingly I do. Matthew Perry stars in Studio 60 which is a show based around a fictional sketch-comedy show and Matthew Perry is one of the executive producers of this fictional show. Imagine if they made a show on behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live, it would turn out something like Studio 60.

There are a lot of characters, numerous stories, lots of comedy and just a small touch of on set romance. I read somewhere that the show was getting canceled which is typical because a lot of good shows get canceled (Arrested Development). If you are looking for a new show to download and watch then I would like to recommend Studio 60.

[YouTube]

And in case you missed it, the Hungry Bunny commercial. [Link]

Thanks Feras!

note: If you didn’t live in Kuwait pre-1990 you will not get this

Since I arrived to Lebanon I have been asking around for a place where I could rent a scooter from but everyone keeps telling me no such place exits. I figured since I don’t have a car here I could rent a scooter and use it as my primary means of transportation but it seems it might be easier to just buy a used one for like $200. I have a friend though who knows someone who works at an impound lot and he told me they have a lot of scooters there and he might be able to hook me up with one. Hopefully that works out.

I went out to Gimayze street tonight pubbing since I don’t have to wake up early tomorrow. I was going to go pub hopping but it started raining so I ended up spending most of my time at a pub called Gautcho. The weather in Lebanon the past 2 days has been really dusty and tonight it was raining mud which reminded me a lot of Kuwait. Speaking of which, its looking like I am going to get back to Kuwait on the 19th or 20th since I have a couple of more jobs I need to finish up now.

The Windows Gaming Championship should have started on May 10th (yesterday) but the custom PC’s the organizers had ordered were not cleared by the Kuwait customs. The event has now been postponed till May 17th and 18th. Here is a message from the organizer:

Dear All, Please accept our sincere apologies but due to a technical problem, we haveto postpone the Windows Gaming Championship Kuwait event until next week. The event will take place on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th May, on the ground floor of Sharq Market Mall, near Zara and Next from 1pm – 10pm on both days.

With many thanks and best regards,
Louise Hickman

For more information visit the official tournament website. [Link]
Here is the website of the Gulf Gamers. [Link]

Thanks Yousef

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were recently added to PayPal! [Link]

Thanks Yousef

Had a photo shoot at a school today and while trying to kill time I started reading some wish lists that were stuck on a wall. Most of them were pretty average except for the one above that I found funny. In case you didn’t get it, the kids first wish was a PS3 and his THIRD wish was getting his dad back.

I just came back from Boubouffe which is my favorite shawerma place here in Lebanon and anywhere else in the world for that matter. With over 30 years experience, Boubouffe simply make the best chicken shawermas I have ever tasted. The price of each shawerma sandwich is KD1 which I guess would make it also one of the most expensive? Maybe, although I hear the shawermas in London aren’t cheap at all.

Nataly came home today to find her Apple MacBook in the hallway being chewed on by Geo, or dog. I don’t know what got into his head today but for some reason he took the laptop from the living room and started chewing it. Luckily it seems he only chewed the case since the screen is still working and so is everything else meaning it shouldn’t be too costly to fix (I hope). I still don’t understand how he managed to pick up the laptop off the table and drag it to the hallway…

Had a photo shoot today from 9 in the morning till 8 in the evening. Its really never as fun as it sounds and its nothing close to being glamorous. At one point today we were with over 20 cast and crew in a small apartment living room with no AC for 6 hours. If that wasn’t bad enough, add to it the stress and pressure of directing these people in addition to the fact that you spend hours shooting the same situation over and over so that in the end you have 1 shot that makes the cut.

Now there are positives of course, I get to travel and meet new people and that usually balances things out most of the time. Still though when you tell people you are traveling for a photo shoot they think you are going on vacation.

Found this outside a Red Cross office. The text roughly translate to:

The Lebanese Red Cross
Gift from the Kuwait Red Crescent

Here are two layouts from the Young Lions competition. For those who missed my previous post, we needed to promote the WFP “Food for Education” program with our ads.

The body copy for the “I am hungary” one says:

Help educate children while providing them with nutritional meals. Find out how you can make a difference by donating towards our Food for Education program by logging onto www.wfp.org

The second layout the body copy and the headline wasn’t finalized because we killed the idea in the end. Supposedly the gold winner at the competition had a similar idea with the bitten pencil but I haven’t seen that layout yet to know exactly how close we were to winning gold.

Might be the best Star Wars yet… [YouTube]

Thanks Digi!