Category: Events

Seems there is a poetry event this Thursday so if poetry is your thing here is some info:

A poetry contest we be held at Baalbaak Palace near the Scientific Center this Thursday night 17 August. The poetry contest will be followed by an after party with music by DJ Terradome and a Live Performance by the DC/Texas Duo: “A.P.B.” featuring the hit single, Lean. Everyone is invited to come and have a good time. Its a little something different to do on a Thursday. If you think you got some skill with the pen then you should enter the contest as well.

For ticket information to enter the contest, contact:
Nakata: 759-6184
Lucky: 749-5838
Marvin: 984-4163
Mike: 720-2952
Ayana: 775-9613
(Tickets can also be purchased at ‘A Taste of Jamaica’ in the Mareena Towers)

The Kuwait Cinemagic & The Royal Film Commission invite everyone to attend a Jordanian Short Film Screening event which will take place at Al Sha’ab Theatre on the evening of June 22nd, at 7:30 p.m.

They will be screening around 10 short films made by young Jordanian filmmakers, some of whom will be attending the event and discussing their work.

It promises to be a fun evening, and you can bring as many people as you like just as long as you come early, as the seating is free and will be on a first come first served basis. Here is the flyer for the event.

Yesterday night I attended the KREA which stands for Kuwait Rewards Excellence in Advertising. I hate attending such events and yesterday was actually my first time attending one. I prefer being low profile and as Bruce Mau says, “Don’t enter awards competitions. Just don’t. It’s not good for you”. But, yesterday was an exception and I had to attend. A good friend of mine was one of the judges at the event and he was only in Kuwait for a few days and the only 2 days I would be able to see him were the night before the event and during the event. So, I ended up attending the event so I could see more of him.

Unlike what I was expecting, the event turned out to be pretty fun. I ended up seeing a lot of old friends and the whole thing felt like a high school reuninion. I was sitting with Nat and some friends at work on a table on the first row and we spent most of the time joking around and having some fun. The event honestly was a disaster although people were telling me this one was slightly better then the Kuwait Awards that was held a few months back. There were a lot of presentation mess ups and the whole thing didn’t feel very organized. There were also some fishy moments which didn’t help with the awards credibility. Agencies were only allowed to submit work that was from 2004 up till now yet there was one agency I know of that submitted work that was prior to 2004 and they ended up winning awards! I found that very shady.

Overall though it was a good night for my agency, we won a whole bunch of awards and I actually got on stage to receive a couple.. not a smart move for someone who would rather remain low profile. But it was fun and I was dressed up very formally which I only do like once every blue moon. The event finished before midnight but by the time I got home (it was held at the Hilton Resort) it was past 12 so I just quickly hit the sack. I don’t think I will ever attend another awards ceromony but atleast now I know incase I do it will probably be fun.

U Shop We Ship will be hosting an event on the 1st and 2nd of June at Marina Mall. They are going to have a Raffle Draw and will be giving out a lot of great Gifts. It would also be a good time to ask them any questions about their service if you have any. Looks like its going to be a busy weekend at Marina Mall.

The Legend of The 99 begins at the Virgin Megastore in Kuwait’s Marina Mall on the 1st of June. Aside from the press conference that will be held at 11am, The 99 premiere itself will take place from 2 pm to 6 pm.

Everyone who attends this event will receive a special, collectible preview of The 99, free commemorative giveaways as well as a chance to win subscriptions to Teshkeel’s comics and magazines! [Link]

I am soooo fucking pissed now. I was just reading the Kuwait Times newspaper from a few days ago where they talked about the Beach Spike event that took place on the weekend and it turns out Kid Loco was the DJ at the event. KID FUCKING LOCO! He is like one of my favorite artists and this is the second time I missed him. The first time he came to Lebanon to play at one of my favorite pubs (Bongos) but I was here in Kuwait and couldn’t go down see him play cuz of my Army papers and now this. I didn’t go to the event because I couldn’t leave Geo alone all day neither could he spend the whole day under the sun but if I had know Kid Loco was going to be there I would have atleast taken all his CDs with me to get them autographed. This is totally unfair, I am extremely pissed. Kid Loco was in Kuwait from all places! Kid Loco!!

Here is a link to some of his albums on Amazon. My favorite is a A Grand Love Story. [Link]

I was at Marina Crescent yesterday with Geo when I noticed a guy setting up a large telescope. I then remembered Astronaut Girl’s post on Astronomy Day at Marina Crescent. They had two large telescopes located at Marina Crescent and passerby’s were encouraged to look through it. I wasn’t able to since I was with Geo and I didn’t want to bother the crowd but most of the reactions from people who tried it was of amazement. I would have posted about the event before it happened but it had totally slipped my mind…

Update: Tonight at Ujeri Observatory, Science Club there will be some presentations by Ujri himself, amateur astronomers, and Astronaut Girl. Astronaut Girl will be giving a presentation about Space Science and the opening of the new branch of Space at the Science Club. Visitors will also be able to observe the sky with the big telescope. Time: 7:00PM to 10:00PM

On Friday I picked up my friend and we went and had lunch at IKEA before heading off to the H3 Ride & Drive event. When we got to the location it was like arriving in the middle of no where, we couldn’t see anything it was all desert and hills. Then we noticed some dust coming up from behind one of the hills and we decided to go and investigate. Luckily I was in my Wrangler because there was no paved road, its like you needed an H3 to get to the H3 event. I didn’t mind that since it felt like a true off road event even before I got to the place. When we reached the top we found the H3 camp, it was located at the bottom of the hill surrounded by a ton of Hummers and random visitor cars. We drove down to the camp and parked the Jeep… first impression was very positive so far.

We walked into the tent where we were greeted by some cute girls who took our names and made us sign a disclaimer stating if we got hurt they wouldn’t be responsible. I found that odd since its supposed to be just a test drive.. how bad could things go you know? Once we signed the papers they gave us a goodie bag and pointed us to another person who would put us into a Hummer.

This is where the fun starts. We get into the Hummer and drive off a hundred meters down the road where the Hummer driver tells me to swap seats so I could drive. I get into the drivers seat, adjust everything to my liking and then drive off towards a Hummer flag further down the road. When I first was told about the event, they told me that there were two tracks, a soft one and a hard one. I would be allowed to drive on the soft one while a professional driver would drive on the hard one. So automatically I assumed the soft track would be a stupid flat circle where I would safely drive around looking like an idiot. Well that turned out to be a completely wrong assumption. When I got to the Hummer flag I saw a deep fucking ditch in the ground filled with water. I figured that was the end of the test drive and I probably need to swap seats with the Pro driver so he could take me around the hard track. To my surprise the driver was like ok go in. I was like where, in that ditch? He was like yeah so I was like fucking cool. At first I thought this was a privilege I got because I knew the organizers but it turns out it wasn’t a privilege but in fact this was actually the start of the soft course! I got down the ditch and drove through the water till the end where I reached to a wall. I am not exaggerating here it was a nearly vertical sand wall that was soo high up I couldn’t see out of the ditch. The driver told me to step on the gas and not to press the brakes. I thought for sure the front end of the car would hit the wall before the tires but it didn’t. Up the wall I went and out of the ditch I drove. It was very cool and kinda unreal. I drove down to the next check point and this time the road ahead turned into holes. Each hole was maybe around 40cm deep and they were placed on both the left and right sides of the track. We drove through the track without any problems and very smoothly. Sure the car was moving up and down like a fishing boat in a perfect storm but we were driving through a track filled with 40cm deep pot holes! The whole time I was thinking shit my Wrangler can’t do this…

When we were done from the soft track which involved numerous impossible to climb looking obstacles, it was time to give the control back to the pro. He drove us to the hard track and put the H3 on 4x4low and told us to fasten our seat-belts. The first obstacle involved the H3 driving across two small dunes where half way through the driver stops and explains to us how the H3 at this point has only 2 wheels touching the ground. We then continue off to what I can only describe as a roller-coaster ride. We went up and down so many obstacles that were so high up and so steep it was just unbelievable. I tried to take pictures out of the window but all I could capture was either the sky or the ground. It was seriously jaw dropping. Once the drive was over I called up Nat and told her to get ready because I was going to come and pick her up. I drove all the way to Salmiya and back just so she could experience the drive. That ofcourse was a big mistake because now she can’t stopped nagging me about how she wants an H3 and when I could take her to the showroom.

I took a lot of pictures that day but something happened to the memorystick and all my pictures got erased. But, Alghanim sent me pictures yesterday that were taken by a photographer who came in from Dubai and they are way better pictures then the ones I had taken. Check them out, they are all from the Ride & Drive event here in Kuwait. The H3’s have Dubai numbers because they were brought in from Dubai. [Pictures]

I had a lot of fun.

Thanks for everyone who participated in the H3 Ride & Drive contest. Over 60 people participated but sadly we only had 10 tickets to give away. I just sent out an email to the 10 winners, 8 were chosen by random and 2 were handpicked. I gave a ticket to the first person who sent in a picture of an H3 and I gave a ticket to one user who looked like he walked around the Marina Mall Alghanim parking lot looking for H3s because he found and shot 9 different ones. Anyway I hope to be seeing you guys at the event.

I was able to get more info on the Hummer H3 Ride & Drive event and I was also able to get 10 tickets to give away!

On the 27th and 28th, Alghanim Automotive is having a Hummer H3 Ride & Drive event which will happen at the Gharnata park, near the ministry of health. This is an event that is organized throughout the Middle East and Levant. It is a full day experience, with test drives, professional hard track drive (no other 4×4 can do that stuff), Hummer gear fashion show (with 2 sexy models from Dubai), open buffet, shisha, kids section, the works!

Now the cool part is since Alghanim Automotive are the sponsors of 2:48AM they have given us 10 tickets to give away. Each ticket will allow entrance for two people so you can bring your friend along. Since there are only 10 tickets to give away I have decided to do a small contest.

The Contest
All you need to do to win a ticket to the Hummer H3 event is to take a picture of an H3 on the streets of Kuwait using your camera phone or regular camera and email it to EMAIL REMOVED. It can be a shot of a parked H3 or one on the streets.. its up to you. Ten winners will then be randomly chosen and they will be able to go pick up the tickets from Alghanim Automotive. The last day to submit the pictures is April 24th so you have 5 days to find an H3 and shoot it. My advice is to pass by the showroom in Al-Rai or the Marina Mall parking lot.

Here is a map to the location, if you go there without a ticket they won’t let you in so take a picture and send it in. [Map]

Note: Please do not send me pictures of H3’s from the web, they have to be taken by you here in Kuwait. It’s been less then an hour since I posted this contest and already I received 2 pictures of H3s that were taken from the Hummer website or something..

So after all the build up to the Mardi Gras event at the US embassy I didn’t end up going. Not knowing there would be food at the event me and Nat decided to go have Sushi first which later was followed by a bit of shopping. By the time we were done we were too late and there just wasn’t enough time to pass by the event. I heard it was a real blast though with lots of free food and alcohol. Oh well maybe next year..

There is a Hummer H3 Ride & Drive event on the 26th and 27th of this month. It’s an off-road event where people will be allowed to take the H3 out for a test drive on a professional course. The event is by invite only so I am once again trying to get myself an invite. The Mardi Gras event is tonight btw, hopefully I can take pictures. When I first saw the H3 last April at the showroom I thought it was ugly but now that I see it on the streets the design is growing on me. I think black is my favorite color on it.

Anyway I will try to get more info on this H3 event since I think its being organized by Alghanim Automotive who are my sponsors.

I just uploaded the video from Fridays dog show to YouTube.
You can check it out on YouTube [Link]

Yesterday I went to the first dog show ever held in Kuwait which was organized by PAWS. The event took place in the British Embassy gardens from 2 to 6PM and it was open to everyone even if you didn’t have a dog just as long as you signed up ahead of time and paid the KD2 entrance fee. The weather was perfect a lot of sun and a little cold breeze.

The British embassy is really nice and their garden is huge. There were a lot of stands selling stuff from used books and dvds to sandwiches and and soft drinks. It was Geo’s first time out to a public place since the me stepping on his leg incident over a month ago so he was very excited to be out surrounded by other dogs and children. I have to say Geo must have been the most playful and friendliest dog there. Their were other friendly dogs at the event but all of them at one point or another got upset by another dog or person and tried to attack/bite or bark back. Geo on the other hand never got upset with anyone.. even the dogs who tried to bite him.

There were easily around 40 to 50 dogs at the event yesterday if not more. You had a lot of good-looking dogs like my favorite which was a Sheepdog and you also had some previously rescued dogs that were mostly mutts. Speaking of rescued dogs, there were a couple of puppies during the event that were wearing “Adopt Me” bandanas, they were puppies and dogs that didn’t have homes and could be adopted by anyone interested in them. Geo had a lot of fun playing with two of them, actually as usual, Geo runs and jumps up and down by himself thinking he is playing with the dogs but they actually just sit there and watch him.

The events were fun to watch, Geo of course as I mentioned yesterday came in second place in the Best Puppy category, the puppy that came first was a German Shepherd and Husky mix and looked really cute. Maybe if Geo was 2 months younger he would have had a better chance at getting first place but yesterday he looked oversized compared to the other puppies. I didn’t get a decent picture of the puppy that came in first but I was checking the PAWS website and I found the puppies picture there, his name is Bear and he in the one on the right [Picture].

The US ARMY K9 unit was there and performed a fun show for everyone. I will talk about that in more detail once I post the video of their show maybe later on today or tomorrow. Anyway overall it was a really fun event and I would for sure participate again next year. I got to meet two Kuwait bloggers at the event, Stallion and iDip, they turned out to be a lot different then I expected them to be.. in a good way of course. I also met 3 readers of the blog, which is always a nice experience. I had a lot of fun and it was really exhausting for everyone but definitely a lot of fun. Check out the pictures from the event. [Pictures]

If you are interested in adopting a dog then check out the PAWS website, they have pictures and information on all the dogs they have available. [Link]

Just got 2 invites for the Mardi Gras event that will be held at the US embassy on April 18th. It should turn out to be a lot of fun but what I am expecting will be even more fun is the dog show event at the British embassy tomorrow. I will take pictures and post them up when I get back home.