2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I didn’t travel over the holidays, instead, I stayed in Kuwait and just binge watched a bunch of shows. Some were better than others, below is the list of what I ended up watching:

Electric Dreams
This is a sci-fi series made up of short stories written by Philip K. Dick who also wrote Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall and a bunch of other popular sci-fi films. Each episode is a standalone story by itself, and each one stars a really big actor like Steve Buscemi, Bryan Cranston, Terrence Howard and others. Sadly the show was underwhelming and even boring. Out of 10 episodes, I think I just liked two. Things got so bad I didn’t even bother to finish watching the last two episodes of the season. This show is available on Amazon Video.

Altered Carbon
After a disappointing experience with Electric Dreams, I was hesitant to watch Altered Carbon especially since I had read some negative reviews about it. But, 4 episodes in I was hooked and ended up loving the show which stars Joel Kinnaman from one of my favorite shows ever, The Killing. This show is available on Netflix.

Crashing
I heard about this show from the podcast Kill Tony since Tony Hinchcliff guest stars in one of the upcoming episodes. The show revolves around the struggling standup comedian Pete Holmes who finds out his wife was cheating on him. The divorce starts a series of events where he ends up meeting other comedians and crashing on their couches while touring with them. Lots of celebrity comedians make guest appearances including Bill Burr, Sarah Silverman, Jim Norton, Penn Jillette and more. This show is available on HBO Now.

Seven Seconds
No idea why I watched this honestly, but I ended up binge watching 10 episodes over two days and it wasn’t even that great a show. The acting was bad, the dialogue cliche and the story not that interesting. But, I was curious to see the story play out till the end and the whole thing was just a disappointing mess. The only good thing about the show is it got me hooked enough to binge watch it, but that’s the only positive thing I have to say about this. This show is available on Netflix.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
From all the shows listed here, this was probably the best one. Mrs. Maisel is a housewife in the 1950s who decides to become a stand-up comic after her husband leaves her. The show is funny, Rachel Brosnahan who plays Mrs. Maisel is incredibly good and her wardrobe on the show… I think me and my friend spent more time talking about what she was wearing than we talked about the show. Beautiful wardrobe, incredible sets and locations, definitely watch this show if you had to pick just one from this list. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is available on Amazon Video.

Here and Now
Finally, Here and Now. I started watching this show over the holidays but only three episodes are out so far so it’s difficult to make a judgment on it. So far it’s interesting, I’m still trying to figure out where the story is going but the cast is great and there are enough different stories taking place to make it interesting. This show is available on HBO Now.

Below is this weekends list of events. ComFest is taking place this weekend, The Hound from Game of Thrones is no longer coming but the event should still be interesting to attend. This weekend will also be hosting the last Qout Market of the season, so if you haven’t been to it yet, this is your last chance until next fall. Check out the rest of the events below:

Thursday
SnowTown in K-Town
Baseball Classic Championship Tournament
ComFest 2018
The Writers’ Hub Conference
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Baby Driver

Friday
SnowTown in K-Town
Baseball Classic Championship Tournament
ComFest 2018
Kuwait Music Academy at Muse Lounge

Saturday
SnowTown in K-Town
Baseball Classic Championship Tournament
ComFest 2018
Qout Market
Art Brunch
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Mother!

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

Screenshot from I, Tonya

The movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas or Sky Cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Black Butterfly (6.1)
Death Wish (6.4)
Gnome Alone (6.0)
I, Tonya (7.6) ♦ ★
Journey’s End (7.3)
The Midnight Man (4.8)

Other Movies Showing:
Black Panther (7.2)
Black Water (N/A)
Braven (6.5) ♦
Coco (9.1)
Early Man (6.4)
Ferdinand (6.8)
Game Night (7.4) ♦
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (6.9) ♦ ★
Mission Kathmandu: The Adventures of Nelly & Simon (7.3)
The Greatest Showman (7.9)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (8.3) ♦ ★
War Commanders: China Salesman (5.4)
Wolf Warrior 2 (6.3)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (N/A)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Extreme Weather 3D (6.6)
Tiny Giants 3D (8.0)
Watermelon Magic 3D (7.4)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

Hyperlapse is a technique in time-lapse photography that allows the photographer to create motion shots. The hyperlapse video above was shot by Sayed Husain Alhashemi and then edited by Abdulrazzaq Alsrayea, it took them 6 months of shooting and an additional 30 hours of editing to put it all together. Some of the scenes are pretty incredible so check out the video above or on [YouTube]

If you missed ComicCon last weekend because you were out of town, there is another comic festival taking place this weekend called ComFest. Last year ComFest turned out to be a fan favorite especially with cosplayers and its expected to be the same this year.

This year The Hound from Game of Thrones will be a guest at ComFest amongst other celebs who are mostly video game related. Entrance is KD5 and you can get a bit more details by clicking [Here]

The video on top is from last years ComFest.

Arabian Business has published an article about bitcoin mining and turns out Kuwait is the cheapest country in the GCC for mining bitcoins with a rate of $1,983 per Bitcoin. The reason for that is the cost of electricity in Kuwait is so cheap compared to our neighboring countries. Bahrain, on the other hand, is the most expensive GCC country for mining with a rate of $16,773 per Bitcoin. Check out the article [Here]

The Mogahwi stationary shop in old Salmiya had been around for over 30 years, it’s a nostalgic place that has looked pretty much the same ever since it opened. The store was fairly popular back in the 80s and early 90s, but as malls started popping up and old Salmiya started to die, so did the footfall at Mogahwi. Back in 2009 I posted about how I was worried they’d end up closing down and they finally did last week. It’s sad to see it go, especially since it was down the street from my place and I used to pop in frequently whenever I needed anything. Now I’m gonna have to get my stationary from somewhere else…

Kuwaiti musical artist Fatima Al Qadiri was recently featured on the Delta x VICE project ‘Launchpad’. It’s a 3-minute long profile on Fatima where she shares how she uses her global influences to create the music she makes today. Check it out above and then check out the rest of the films on the VICE website [Here]

It’s been a while since I shared a local commercial that I liked, but I just watched the Carriage national day commercial awhile ago and loved it.

Check it out above (it’s in Arabic). [YouTube]

For those of you in Kuwait for the holidays, below are a bunch of events taking place. If I missed anything let me know in the comments:

Thursday
SnowTown in K-Town
Exhibition: Culture Fair: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Comic Con Kuwait
Decopatch
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Jackie
Workshop: Introduction to Astrophotography
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

Friday
SnowTown in K-Town
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Comic Con Kuwait
Decopatch
National Celebrations Show Jumping Competition
Food Truck Festival
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

Saturday
SnowTown in K-Town
Yoga with the 3
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Comic Con Kuwait
Decopatch
National Celebrations Show Jumping Competition
Food Truck Festival
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

Sunday
SnowTown in K-Town
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Decopatch
Concert: Los Rumberos de Massachusetts
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

Monday
SnowTown in K-Town
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Decopatch
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

Screenshot from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

The movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas or Sky Cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Black Water (N/A)
Game Night (7.4) ♦
Mission Kathmandu: The Adventures of Nelly & Simon (N/A)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (8.3) ♦ ★
War Commanders: China Salesman (5.4)
Wolf Warrior 2 (6.3)

Other Movies Showing:
Black Panther (7.2)
Braven (6.5) ♦
Coco (9.1)
Den of Thieves (7.2) ♦
Early Man (6.4)
Ferdinand (6.8)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (6.9) ♦ ★
Kickboxer: Retaliation (5.0)
Maze Runner: The Death Cure (7.2)
The 15:17 to Paris (6.2) ♦
The Commuter (6.8)
The Greatest Showman (7.9)
The Post (7.5)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (N/A)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Extreme Weather 3D (6.6)
Tiny Giants 3D (8.0)
Watermelon Magic 3D (7.4)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

The openings of Avenues Phase 4, Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Center and the new pedestrian-only street in old Salmiya have all been pushed back. Previously they were set to open during the National holidays but that’s no longer going to happen.

There were also rumors that the inauguration of Kuwait Motor Town was going to take place during the National holidays but those rumors are not true.

I personally don’t mind since they’re all still expected to open soon and I’d rather they open when they’re ready instead of being rushed.

Comic Con Kuwait is taking place this coming weekend from the 22nd to the 24th of February. This is the second time Comic Con is being held in Kuwait and they’re expecting 20,000 people to attend. They’ve doubled the size of the venue compared to last year and they’re bringing in some bigger stars including:

Stan Lee: The comic-book writer who co-created the popular characters Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men

Michael Fassbender: The actor know for playing Magneto on X-Men as well as having main rolls in movies such as Steve Jobs, Assassin’s Creed, Alien: Covenant and many more

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Know for playing the character Ser Jaime Lannister, in the HBO series Game of Thrones

David Hayter: Well known as the English voice actor for Solid Snake in the Metal Gear videogames

Video of last years Comic Con (starts 1min in)

Ticket prices start at KD10 and go all the way up to KD150 for the Diamond pass. For more info on this event click [Here]

Al Kawakeb is an old ice cream and dessert shop in the city which you’ve probably passed by a number of times on your way to Vol.1 or Street (AlMakan) for dinner. The place has been open since the 50s and their display is filled with old nostalgic sweets.

BROWNBOOK have published a great article on the history of Al Kawakeb along with some great photos. I had no idea the shop was that old and I’m definitely going to appreciate it a lot more now that I’ve read this article. So check it out on their website [Here]

Last month after posting my review on the Bang & Olufsen H5 wireless earphones, I got a message from the audio brand Shure asking me if I’d also like to try their wireless earphones. I’ve been a fan of Shure ever since I got my first pair of in-ears back in 2004, the Shure E2’s, so of course I said yes. A couple of weeks later I got their new SE215 wireless earphones in the mail.

I had a few issues with my H5’s and was curious to see if the Shure’s would solve them. My main problems with the H5’s were the battery life and the low volume level of the earphones. So how did the Shure’s perform?

Battery Life
While the B&O H5 promises up to 5 hours of battery life, the Shure’s promise up to 8. That doesn’t sound like much but in real-world use, it is. With the H5’s I make sure I put them back on the charger after using them for a couple of hours, with the Shure’s I charge them every couple of outings and still have enough juice for a third outing. But what I like about the Shure’s is that if I do run out of battery, I can just charge them using any standard micro-usb cable unlike the H5’s which require the use of the charging station that came with the earphones.

Volume Level
I’m sitting right now at Arabica having my coffee and typing up this post with the Shure earphones on listening to music. I have the music volume at 80% because at 100% they’re just too loud. With the H5’s I would always have the earphones at 100% and wish I could raise them by at least another 20%.

So yeah, the Shure’s do solve my two biggest issues with the H5’s in addition to solving another issue I wasn’t aware needed solving. When you first turn on the Shure’s, you get a voice prompt letting you know once they connect to a bluetooth source and then the voice lets you know how much battery life is left. With the B&O’s I need to launch the B&O app on my phone to find out the battery life which isn’t very practical. Another advantage of the Shure’s is the price, they cost half that of the B&O’s and sound as good if not slightly better.

With all the positives so far with the Shure’s, you’d think I’d prefer them over the B&O’s but that hasn’t been the case. Whenever I leave the house and need to pick a pair of earphones to take with me, I kept finding myself reaching for the H5’s over these Shure’s. The reason for that is the Shure’s are pretty bulky. The battery pack isn’t built into the earphones but instead is located on the cable so it makes wearing the earphones awkward. On top of that, the earphone wires are too thin making the Shure’s feel flimsy and messy because the wires keep getting tangled up.

But in the end, it really comes down to the person’s requirements. Are you looking for battery life or style? If I’m traveling then I’m definitely going to pick the Shure’s over the H5’s. But if I’m just going to a coffee shop for a couple of hours to get some work done, then I’m always going to pick the H5’s.

If you’re interested in picking up a pair of Shure SE215 wireless earphones, they’re available on Amazon for KD45 [Here]