Category: Interesting

Kuwait is fourth and Saudi Arabia is first. [Link]

I’ve been wanting to watch the movie Sharq ever since I first saw the trailer back in February and it seems the movie is finally getting released. The new website is up and running at www.sharqfilm.com and you can now book tickets to the early screenings of the movie for November 18 and 19th. If you don’t know what the movie is about then check out the trailer on their website. I just booked two tickets for the 18th. [Link]

update: According to reader comments it seems the movie was already released a few months back and is available on DVD.

Just a reminder, don’t forget to check www.itsthefastestever.com at 9PM tonight for the launch of Zain’s new product. The site will be up only from 9PM to 10PM so don’t miss it.

Taken from BoingBoing: The BBC reports that when Italian police searched a Mafia boss’ hideout, they found a list of ten rules for proper mafioso etiquette.

1. No-one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.

2. Never look at the wives of friends.

3. Never be seen with cops.

4. Don’t go to pubs and clubs.

5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty – even if your wife’s about to give birth.

6. Appointments must absolutely be respected.

7. Wives must be treated with respect.

8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.

9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.

10. People who can’t be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn’t hold to moral values.

[BBC Link]

I got the following email from Agnieszka and it seems like an interesting opportunity for anyone whos interested.

—————————————–

I am currently looking for freelance copywriters based in the Kuwait market, working in Arabic, to work on some of our projects.

World Writers is a centralised creative and language resource based in London. We work with both agencies and direct clients to create international advertising. Our services include international copy adaptation, copywriting, cultural filtering, brand name screening, local client liaison and TV/print production management.

Over the years we have worked with numerous agencies such as Weiden & Kennedy on Nike, Vodafone and Siemens; with Springer & Jacoby on DaimlerChrysler; with Ogilvy on Huggies and so on.

Creative copywriting: Our work is mostly adaptations, based on the approved global English version. But we do understand the need for local improvisation and we do not want literal translations!

You will be involved mainly with international adaptation of advertising and marketing copy, from English into your own language and market.

Excellent understanding of English, translation skills and creative flair in your target language are crucial; knowledge of your local market – essential.

If you are interested to work as a freelance copywriter for us, please do drop me a line.

It would be great if you could send me your updated CV showing your experience in copywriting or translation (marketing, advertising preferably), a few samples of your work and let me know your availability and contact details.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Agnieszka Jablonska

www.worldwriters.com

World Writers
phone: +44 (0)20 3217 2418
fax: +44 (0)20 7251 9710
29 Clerkenwell Road
Farringdon
London
EC1M 5TA

A friend of mine was telling me that the word “wanayt” meaning pickup in local slang was actually based on an old pickup truck model number 1 8. He wasn’t sure if the engine size was 1.8 or why they used to call that truck 1 8 but the interesting part is how 1 8 became wanayt.

Lately I been playing lots of Halo 3 and been staring at that image as I wait for my games to load. It really astonished me since I am very familiar with the picture the world at night showing the world’s continents lit up.

Yet on Halo 3 Africa and South America are dark spots with a dots compared to the rest of the world.

It reminded me of my post Google Per Capita on how many people have access to Google. Yet the Halo Per Capita is even more telling. Just a quick glance of the map you can see which countries have access to high speed internet and disposable income to pay for a XBox.

Update: The lights on Halo3 map lighting up on the day of the game’s launch

On paper it doesn’t take much to open a store in Kuwait, the business process is comprised of the following: get money, get franchise, get location. The same store you visited a few years back on your summer vacation to an Arab hotspot (London, California, DC) has now shown up in your neighborhood avenue. In the past ten years, most Kuwaitis have grown accustomed to the growth of shopping malls and their associated brand names. The Midases of Kuwait who do come up with their own names are merely an amalgamation of other brands.

So what is one to do if the franchises (or combination of them under a local name) do not carry the products you are looking for?
You make it yourself.

Well, that is what one company recently did with Baroue… The concept was realized by Fahed Al-Mutawa after a bout of frustration finding items for his then newborn. After realizing the need for a child superstore; the idea behind Baroue was hatched, and it came to life through MS (Mutawa/Sayer) Retail (Restaurateurs in previous ventures).

What differs Baroue from any other children’s’ store?

Baroue has gone beyond the cookie-cutter approach of reselling items and retaining franchises; They have created a complete brand/franchise from zero. Their design studio (clothes) is based in London, their factories are in India and their head office is home sweet home, Kuwait.

Their first store is the third largest at the Avenues and carries everything from clothes and toys to a huge dragon that is a playpen in itself. And they have plans of expanding to other countries shortly.

For those who have had the theme song playing endlessly in their head (Baroue, Baroue, Baroue) .. You can blame Yuri Mrakdi, who originally came onboard as a Marketing director (and later sang the song). For the techies, you can track your children (RFID armbands) playing in the dragon through the kiosks scattered around the store.

I was just checking the Alshaya website for info on their new Italian restaurant when I found an article on the first Starbucks that opened up in Moscow last month. It was a joint venture between M.H. Alshaya Co. and Starbucks Coffee International. I thought that was pretty cool. [Link]

Still can’t find any info though on their new restaurant. A friend told me they opened up an Italian restaurant in The Avenues and supposedly its really good.

Seeing pictures of this one kilometer long pool (the worlds largest) makes me want to go through our hot summer all over again. [Link]

Thanks Anas!

I love Muthana Complex in Kuwait City because it has a lot of interesting shops and the latest I found is called Tea Art. Tea Art as you can guess from the name specializes in Tea and their stock is all imported directly from China. They sell Black, Green, Oolong, Pu-erh, White, Blooming and Red Tea. Their prices range greatly and they even have tea that costs over KD2,000 for 100 grams. I asked if I could try it and the answer was simply no, expensive teas can not be tried before purchase which sucks. Imagine dishing out KD2,000 for tea only to find that it tastes horrible.

They have cheaper teas that cost like KD600 and KD700 and for us regular folks they have tea that cost under KD20 and even under KD10 per 100 grams so it not all super duper expensive teas. Cheap teas (under KD20) make up the majority of their products.

If you are a tea fan they are located on the ground floor of the Muthana Complex next to elevator 6. Their phone number is 2490404.

www.teaart-me.com

Gulf Run is a yearly event where guys with fast cars take them The registration for the Gulf Run event that will be held on November 15th is now open. The cost for participating is KD365 and this includes:

1. Registration for One Driver and One Car to GulfRun3
2. Qualified Racing Instructors and Drivers to guide you through the track events
3. Automobile transportation from Kuwait to Bahrain and back by Agility
4. Initial medical service team and fire crew on standby

I am probably going to go with them this year but as a passenger and I will probably be blogging from the actual event. To register or if you want more information or pictures from last years event, visit the Gulf Run website. [Link]

Last year I posted about this very strange tourism video I found on YouTube in which three women try to convince the world that Kuwait is a great place to visit. You would think that alone was strange but the three women then take us on a tour around Kuwait highlighting some of its best parts which include Canary Restaurant, Taxi Al Resala and some unknown electronics store. It was extremely weird, cheesy and funny but now the wait is over, the full version of the film is out!

It’s 43 minutes long but you really don’t need to watch it all to realize how unbelievably bizarre it is. The whole time I am just thinking to myself what the hell are they talking about!? In one scene early on in the movie they point out how the new Kuwait is getting built side by side to the old Kuwait and how old and new architecture is merging and creating a new better future. It all sounds decent and corny except for the fact the video accompanying this theory is of the old back alley streets of Salmiya and their idea of old Kuwait are the 30 year old nearly demolished crack houses while the new architecture of Kuwait are the cheap ass multistory tiny bedroom built cheaply out of cardboard to make money apartment buildings. Actually, that does sound about right. A few minutes later into the documentary they take us to meet one of the “important faces in Kuwait”… the sales manager of Holiday Inn!

They are unpredictable and you never know where they will be taking you next but surprisingly I love it! It just keeps getting weirder and weirder and I can’t stop watching it. Although its a really really really terribly shot and produced movie and although their idea of whats cool in Kuwait is very demented, the documentary still manages to crack me up. It’s soooo unreal!

Full version of the documentary on Kuwait [Link]
Short version of the documentary on Kuwait [Link]
Website of people behind the documentary [Link]

Remember I posted about tattoos and the small tattoo place in the Marina Mall food court? Well I passed by today and its not there! I saw it two days ago and now its gone. Did they shutdown or did they get shutdown?

It takes 8.5 minutes for the light from the sun to reach the earth. I just found that out, I was expecting it to take much longer. [Source]

Oh and I am currently watching a movie called Sunshine.