2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Mishal Abul on the left with Lorenz Larkin, Audie Attar, & Ramsey Nijem

Back in 2012 I posted about a friend of mine on the blog, Mishal Abul since every now and then I like to highlight a local talent or achievement. Back then I posted about how he was a partner at Paradigm Sports Management, a US based company that manages Football, Baseball and MMA athletes. The most popular fighter they were managing when then was Michael Bisping, and I thought that was a pretty cool achievement, that a guy from Kuwait was part of the team managing Bisping. Bisping wasn’t even that big of a star in 2012 but this year that changed when Bisping caused one of the biggest upsets in the UFC title fight history to become the UFC Middleweight Champion. So the fact that a Kuwaiti is a partner in a company that manages Michael Bisping is already an amazing feat.. but that’s not even their biggest star anymore. Paradigm Sports now manage a ton of other high level fighters including arguably one of the most popular fighters on the planet right now… Conor McGregor.

Conor McGregor winning his second belt at UFC 205

Yup, a Kuwaiti is part of the team that manages Conor which is also how I got into Conor’s afterparty last year after UFC 189 (best wasta ever). It’s crazy! Their whole roaster of fighters is now insane, like no exaggeration here are just some of them:

Artem Lobov
Chris Weidman
Conor McGregor
Gunnar Nelson
Jimi Manuwa
Lorenz Larkin
Michael Bisping
Rick Story
Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson
Tony Ferguson
Uriah Hall

Mishal Abul with Amir Aliakbari in Rizin

In 4 years they’ve managed to grow so much and these are just their MMA stars, they also manage other athletes but since I don’t follow any other sport (except for Formula1), I’m not really interested in the other athletes. Mishal is also now a partner in Tough Prints who do most of the printing for the UFC Reebok fight kits and he’s also now the point of contact for the Japanese Rizin Fighting Federation who are exploding because of their fight matchups involving the likes of Fedor, Wanderlei Silva, Mirko Cro Cop and Shane Carwin.

Anyway, to most of you the above is going to sound gibberish, but for those of you who’re into MMA I thought you’d appreciate this random info. If you’d like to find out more about Paradigm Sports Management you can check out their website [Here]

Over the weekend I passed by the new VOL.1 thats opening up in Mayar Complex to get a sneak peek. I was curious to see how the place was turning out so I asked the owner if I could drop by and check it out. The new location is going to be located in Shuwaikh and is around 3 to 4 times the size of their current location in the city. The new space has a much larger circular bar and the same bench style seating surrounding the walls. The new location also has an second floor which will contain their offices as well as a small space where they’ll be holding classes or coffee cupping sessions. They’re expecting to open sometime next month but no specific date has been set yet.

The Mayar Complex where VOL.1 is located is surprisingly a pretty good looking space. I didn’t think it was going to turn out the way it did and I love the way they’ve used marble everywhere. I took a walk around it and a bunch of shops have already opened with a bunch of others opening soon. There is going to a gym there, two spinning studios, a bunch of fashion and accessories stores and a few restaurants. The only issue I have with the complex is there isn’t enough parking, but thats to be expected I guess. Here is the location on [Google Maps]

I’m sure many of you have noticed strange looking devices similar to the ones above lying all over Kuwait. These devices are part of KOC’s exploratory campaign called Deraya to explore Kuwait’s geological layers. Over 50,000 of these devices have been placed all around Kuwait so that specialized vehicles like the one pictured below can perform seismic surveys.

When I first started seeing these trucks rolling up and down the Gulf Road I though they were electric generators but turns out they’re actually seismic vibrators. These trucks drive around Kuwait and stop at various locations to perform seismic vibrations which are then picked up by the sensors.

The aim of this campaign is to study and record data about Kuwait’s different underground layers to form a basis for future studies. KOC have a video explaining the whole process which you can watch above. It’s in Arabic but it’s an animation so you can still figure out whats going on.

I found out about the Kuwait International Book Fair earlier today so I decided to pass by and check it out to see if there were any English books available. The book fair is taking place in halls 5, 6 and 7 of the international fairground and so its pretty huge. 95% of the books are in Arabic which makes it sound like there aren’t many English books but due to the size of the fair, 5% is still a lot. In hall 6 there were two large aisles stretching from one side of the hall all to the way to the other end full of English books ranging from educational and kids books, to novels and more. The amount of people at the fair tonight was insane and parking was crazy so I’d recommend parking far like at hall 8 and then walking over to the book fair. The fair is going to be there until the 26th of this month.

The Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre website just got a facelift along with an updated events page that now lists all the upcoming events that will be taking place there as well as the option to purchase tickets. Check out [Here]

Thanks Fatima

A few cool things taking place this weekend, firstly the Kuwait International Jiu-Jitsu Open is taking place this whole weekend and they’ve taken over and converted the ice skating rink for the event. You also have the Tania Saleh Concert taking place tonight at Al Shaheed Park, The British Ladies Society Winter Bazaar tomorrow and the Gulf Bank 642 Marathon on Saturday. Check out the full list of events for this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Ain’t Nowhere to Hide
Exhibition: Poor Image by Khalid Al Gharaballi
A Fifteen-Year Journey: The Art of Amira Behbehani
Exhibition: Precious Fragments
Kuwait International Jiu-Jitsu Open
Tania Saleh Concert
Kuwait International Book Fair

Friday
Kuwait International Jiu-Jitsu Open
Macro Photography Workshop
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
The British Ladies Society Winter Bazaar
Full Body Cardio – Weight Loss Program
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Voices & Verses Open Mic Night
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup
Kuwait International Book Fair

Saturday
Kuwait International Jiu-Jitsu Open
Gulf Bank 642 Marathon
Yoga with the 3
Guided Tour: Old Kuwait City
Kuwait International Book Fair
Jumo Coffee Community Brunch

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.

Shakshooka, the nomadic farmers market is coming back again this year. If you are a passionate person who likes making things from scratch, are crafty and a foodie then they’re looking for someone like you. The food has to be handmade by you, nothing processed, no nutella, no lotus, no cookies and no cupcakes.

To be part of the Shashooka market contact Mimi on [email protected]

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape and Grand Cinemas:

New This Week:
A Street Cat Named Bob (7.4)
Bleed for This (6.4) ♦
Complete Unknown (5.5)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (8.3)
Ghost Coins (7.5)
Raven the Little Rascal – The Big Race (7.6)

Other Movies Showing:
Deepwater Horizon (7.2)
Doctor Strange (8.0) ★
Hacksaw Ridge (8.8) ★♦
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (7.4) ★
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (7.2)
Operation Chromite (6.3)
Ouija: Origin of Evil (6.8)
Shut In (N/A) ♦
The Accountant (7.8) ★
Trolls (6.7)

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

If you don’t know what the mannequin challenge is, it’s basically a new craze that went viral a couple of weeks back where people freeze in a scene. A ton of celebrities have made their own videos including, Hillary Clinton with Bon Jovi, LeBron James with Michelle Obama, Ronaldo, Sesame Street and so many more. I’ve been kinda waiting for a Kuwait version to pop up and it did yesterday. It was shot at a Nuqat workshop and if it wasn’t for the people in the background it would have been pretty flawless. Check it out above.

For the gamers who are interested in picking up the new NES Classic Edition console, I just got back from Rehab Complex and nobody has it, not even for an exorbitant price. Most of the places I asked didn’t even know what I was talking about even after showing them a picture. One shop did tell me that they might be getting it this Thursday. I gave them my number and they’re going to call me up if they do. Will keep you posted.

Aerial yoga seems to be the current “in” activity to do. I haven’t tried it and don’t think I will, but it seems fun and it takes place outdoors so should be great to do in this weather. Aerial yoga is similar to traditional mat yoga but instead of the mat you’re suspended in the air with soft fabric hammocks.

Fly High Kuwait are holding classes aerial yoga classes in Jumeirah and the classes start from KD15 a session. If you’re interested to find out more, check out their website [Here]

Update: I thought they were ongoing till Thursday since that was written on their website, but turns out they made a mistake and the last day was actually yesterday. So it’s over now.

It’s no secret that Mark (and I) have an online presence and therefore we are a target of online harassment. It so easy for some people to sit behind a computer and put out their issues in negative comments. Mark (and I) believe in freedom of speech, and always let people say what they want on the blog or via email, just like Mark (and I) are enjoying our freedom of speech with our posts, we want the same for our readers. Unfortunately though Mark (and I) have both received unnecessary threats from a person or two.

What can you do if you face the same situation? What can you do if someone comments on your twitter “I want to beat the **** out of you”. People think that because they are behind a computer no one can find out who they are! It is as if they didn’t know that Kuwait has a Cyber Crime department under the Ministry of Interior, that is highly capable of finding out where the person is located, what device they are using and other information. (They once found a criminal on behalf of my client in Morocco).

If you are facing any type of online harassment you need to go to the said department located in Salmiya across from the new Boulevard Mall. You will fill out a paper, and you will need to show them the comment. They will gather all the information from you and start an investigation, within 10 days if the person that commented is in Kuwait he/she will be called in for an investigation.

What charges is the person going to face? There is a few different crimes that I could write in my brief to the court but the easiest would be in reference to Article 6 of Law 63 of 2015 famously dubbed as the “Cyber Crime Law” (it has a more complicated name) and I don’t want to complicate things as the law refers to another law, but the person could easily face a KD 3,000 to KD 10,000 fine.

Of course once the criminal court passes the final judgment, Mark could file a civil case and ask for compensation as well. Good thing though the law forgives those who apologize or notify authority before any serious damage is done. Be careful with what you say guys and remember to be nice to each other. We all have difficult situations in our life and sometimes its so easy to let out our frustration on someone else. But we really need to respect each other more. If you have gone through a similar situation email me, I would love to hear from you. Stay legal guys.

Feel free to email me [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to announce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

So as you’re aware I’ve been inviting more and more people to write on the blog recently. One of the new people I’ve invited to write is Grant, the brand manager of % Arabica Coffee. He’s the guy who got me into coffee and is a real coffee geek. The reason I’ve asked him to write about coffee is because I noticed a lot of people drink coffee, but don’t know much about what goes behind a good one. Based on the comments under some of my coffee posts I know there are quite a few coffee geeks who read my blog so you’ll appreciate Grant’s posts. For the average joe, I think you’ll still find Grant’s coffee posts informative and not that technical, so I think you’ll enjoy them. His first post is up, check it out [Below].

So I was asked by Mark to write about coffee. At first I was overjoyed at the thought. This was, after all, what I had wanted to do for ages. So I got sucked in; I put my head down and I wrote. I put together a little over 1500 words and I reread it. It was gibberish, strewn with jargon and technical talk, laden with scientific references. It was too much, but then where does one start with coffee? Well, at the beginning of course, the beginning being the flavour of coffee and in this article I am going to focus on how temperature affects flavour.

Customer: “My coffee is cold”

This is something one hears all too often, and you begin to think as a consumer these baristas really ought to know how to steam milk to the right temperature – heck it’s their profession! What you’ve just done is stumbled into a great coffee shop, riding the 3rd wave of coffee – you’ve just had a cup made by a coffee specialist and know that there is method to this madness.

The first point to consider is how your tongue works. Simply put, it registers flavours better in a certain temperature range. If we use ice cream as an example; One does not taste the sweetness when it is frozen, only once it melts on your tongue (Go get an ice cream, I’ll prove it). Similarly, melted ice cream can be hard to drink because of its intense sweetness.

Beverage producers in the modern era focus less on quality and flavour and more on ensuring the beverage is served at a certain temperature. I call this the “warm beer phenomenon”. In my home country there is a very popular malt beverage and the company advertises its flagship bottle being drunk in frigid conditions. The merchandising team stocks bars with powerful sub-zero fridges and the design team has even put a large snowflake on the label that turns blue when it is cold enough to drink. They are planting the seed that this has to be served extra cold.

Ok, so what does this have to do with coffee? The answer is as follows: the colder the beverage the less you are actually tasting (your tongue works best tasting things between 15-50 degrees). Once the beer in question warms slightly you will more than likely throw it out.

Larger coffee chains use this technique too. Their hot drinks are scalded and their cold drinks are over iced – you will even see crushed ice being used instead of blocks. This crushed ice has an increased surface area in contact with the liquid so you have significant, rapid cooling.

What it boils down to is this: These coffee outlets are hiding their flavour, likely because it is bad. They are serving super cheap beans on subpar machines with undertrained baristas, but you the consumer are left unaware as you cannot taste much and that’s exactly what they want. The consistency is also much greater, they are consistently bad.

The second reason certain shops serve warm coffee is this: Heating milk to and not above a certain temperature enhances the inherent sweetness. Above 65 degrees you start to breakdown the lactose present in the milk (lactose can be thought of as milk-sugar). This as well as other reactions occur at higher temperature and affect not only sweetness, but also texture. Overheat your drink and you are left with milk that has terrible texture and much lower levels of sweetness.

But what if my coffee is served without milk, it’s still not hot enough?! Well, the same applies with regards to tasting only between a certain temperature range. However, if actual ground coffee is subjected to temperatures above 93 degrees, you start burning the coffee and this inevitably results in a bitter, over extracted drink. This is similar to what happens when one steeps their tea for too long.

So before sending your warm coffee back next time (and you may, you are entitled to whatever temperature you wish – you are paying for this drink), take a sip, think about what you’re tasting and know that you will sacrifice this fantastic orchestra of flavours, aromas and textures when overheating your coffee.

Post by Grant Mouton
Self–proclaimed coffee guru, coffee education addict, SCAA/SCAE accredited. Brand manager at % Arabica.

Elsewhere is a a new ingenious concept that opened up next to Elevation Burger on the Seif strip. The concept is actually owned by TABCo, the company that owns Elevation (who are one of my advertisers). It’s an experimental space created for local entrepreneurs who have ideas and concepts they want to try out for limited time periods. Currently the space is occupied by Richard’s Coffee for the next 76 days whom I wrote about a couple of weeks back.

The space doesn’t have to be occupied by a coffee shop or a food related concept, they’re open to different ideas like fashion, retail or even some sort of activity. Even the amount of time you could rent the spot for is flexible, it can be as little as you want it to be as long as its an idea that will help bring traffic to the area. The rent is very reasonable as well for the space/location. I’m not sure I can share it on the blog because I’m assuming it’s not a one price for all, but I can say that they’re definitely not profiting from the rent. The rent is low to attract the interesting concepts who in return will bring traffic to the area and indirectly promote and bring traffic to Elevation Burger next door. It’s a smart marketing idea.

Currently nobody is lined up to take the spot after Richard’s, so if you’re interested in renting the spot you could contact them on [email protected].