2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Below is this months schedule for Cinemagics rooftop movie nights. If you’ve never been to them before, they’re held twice a week, every Thursday and Saturday on top of the building that has Xcite in old Salmiya. I think this is the first time where I haven’t seen a single movie from the list they’re playing. Usually I would have watched at least one but this time none. Actually the only one I’ve even heard of is Caché. Check out all the movies and their timings below:

Thursday, December 5th 2013 at 7:30PM
DEAD MAN
On the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake encounters a strange North American man named Nobody who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.

Saturday, December 7th 2013 at 7:30PM
SHADOWS
Cassavetes’ jazz-scored improvisational film explores interracial friendships and relationships in Beat-Era (1950s) New York City.

Thursday, December 12th 2013 at 7:30PM
TO THE WONDER
After falling in love in Paris, Marina and Neil come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Their church’s Spanish-born pastor struggles with his faith, while Neil encounters a woman from his childhood.

Saturday, December 14th 2013 at 7:30PM
A MAN ESCAPED
French Resistance activist Andre Devigny is imprisoned by the Nazis, and devotes his waking hours to planning an elaborate escape. Then, on the same day, he is condemned to death, and given a new cellmate. Should he kill him, or risk revealing his plans to someone who may be a Gestapo informer?

Thursday, December 19th 2013 at 7:30PM
CACHE
A married couple is terrorized by a series of surveillance videotapes left on their front porch.

Saturday, December 21st 2013 at 7:30PM
SURPRISE FILM OF THE MONTH
Every month they’ll be playing a surprise film, where you won’t know what you’re watching until just a minute before the film begins. One thing is for sure, every month the surprise film will be either one of their favorite film on the list, or the most unique in one way or the other. This month’s film won and was nominated for over 30 awards worldwide including the Oscars, Golden Gloves, Independent Spirit Awards and the Baftas. A unique, hilarious, bizarre and poetic little film.

Thursday, December 26th 2013 at 7:30PM
MUD
Two young boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the bounty hunters on his trail and to reunite him with his true love.

Saturday, December 28th 2013 at 7:30PM
NO
An ad executive comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile’s 1988 referendum.

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Xcite and LG and there is no entrance fee [Map]. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

Shakshooka, the nomadic farmers market is taking place tonight from 6PM to 8PM at the new SIRBB Circuit in Shuwaikh. Due to more venders participating this week the market will be open for 2 hours instead of the usual 1. Also as an added bonus the GulfRun karting practice sessions will be taking place at the same time (more info here). Here is the location for the circuit on [Google Maps]

Don’t forget to bring cash and a carrying bag if you will be buying stuff.

Photo above by @faisalthef

Earlier today I was planning on putting together a list of my favorite tracks from this year and then Spotify came along and created a year in review website where I was able to get a summary of my Spotify listening habits for 2013. That’s what you see up on top but I also took the liberty to list the top 10 songs from my Spotify account below along with links to the songs so you could check them out if you’re interested.

Get Lucky – Daft Punk
Amor Fati – Washed Out
Red Light District – Midi Matilda
California – Delta Spirit
Shake, Shake, Shake – Bronze Radio Return
Islands – The XX
Take a Walk – Passion Pit
Sweater Weather – The Neighbourhood
Big TV – White Lies
Show Me – Team Me

More conveniently, you check out the full playlist on Soundcloud with all the songs above except for ‘Islands’ which wasn’t available [Here]

Now even though the list above is what I listened to the most this year I wouldn’t necessarily count them as my personal favorites of the year. That’s why I’ve also gone the extra mile to list my hand picked favorites of 2013 below. This list is not in any particular order although the first song ‘Line of Fire’ which I’ve also embedded is definitely my favorite song of the year. These tracks also didn’t necessarily come out this year:

Lovely Bloodflow – Baths
Scala – Agoria
Big Jet Plane (Animal Trainer Remix) – Jan Blomqvist
Bitter Moon – Zulu Winter
Open Eye Signal – Jon Hopkins
Another Love (Zwette Edit) – Tom Odell
See Right Through – Tensnake featuring Fiora
All The Days – HAERTS
Second Best – Echoes
When the Music’s Loud – Colette
Cross – Air Tycoon
Touch the Universe – Memphidos

Again, more conveniently you can check out the full playlist on Soundcloud with all the songs above except for ‘Cross’ which wasn’t available [Here]

If you want, share your top songs of the year with everyone in the comments below, preferably with links to make it easier to listen to.

Click the Facebook like button below and stay connected with the latest updates.

The 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index is out and Kuwait is still dropping down the list every year. In 2011 Kuwait was ranked 54th place worldwide, then last year we dropped down to 66th place and this year we dropped down further to 69th place. Below are some of the rankings:

1- Denmark
14 – United Kingdom
19 – United States of America
26 – United Arab Emirates
28 – Qatar
57 – Bahrain
61 – Oman
63 – Saudi Arabia
66 – Jordan
69 – Kuwait
94 – India
94 – Philippines
114 – Egypt
127 – Lebanon
144 – Iran

You can check out the full list [Here]

Thanks Tariq

While checking the Qout Market instagram account I found out that there is a local dealer for Pure Fix Cycles. I had seen the bicycles online before on a bunch of lifestyle websites, they’re very minimal in design and are great simple city bikes that look great. Right now they don’t have a physical store just an instagram account (@pfcycles_kw) and they only have three bike models with two models costing KD120 and the one pictured above with glow in the dark wheels for KD150.

If you’re interested they’re going to have a stand at Qout Market this coming Saturday where you will be able to check the bikes out in person.

Qout Market is an outdoor market that started last month and will be taking place again this coming Saturday, December 7th. The market takes place on the first Saturday of every month and this month it’s going to be located on the roof of the Arraya Center parking lot in Kuwait City. [Map]

The market will be bigger this month and have a petting zoo, a stage, stands selling crafts, street food, fresh flowers, jarred items, artisanal products, a kids and crafts lane, baked goods and local produce. It will be open all day long from 10AM to 7PM.

For more information here is a link to their [Facebook Page]

[YouTube]

Brix is another Kuwaiti rapper and up until a few minutes ago I had never heard of him until a reader shared the link with me. I’m curious to why a lot of local rappers seem to be able to produce music videos while other kind of music genres aren’t making them. I know there are a lot of local bands so why aren’t they producing any videos?

You can follow Brix on Instagram @brix_q8

Found this interesting article on Reddit about a female mechanic in Kuwait. A female mechanic is a rare sight anywhere in the world so you can imagine how difficult it must be being a female mechanic in Kuwait.

Being a Female Car enthusiast is tough, especially since it’s a male dominant field. But you know when it becomes even more tougher? Being a Female Car Enthusiast, in Kuwait.

In Kuwait, “mechanic” and “girl” are not mutually exclusive states of existence. In fact, the number of girls I personally know who are interested in cars and mechanics, is next to zero. It’s not to say that they don’t exist, because they do, and some of them are getting up there. Girl Street Racers, Drifters, Dragsters, Motorcyclists., and a couple of others who also work in this line of work/own autoshops. However, they are, we are, the minority. Being a female in Kuwait is hard enough. But being a Car Enthusiast and a female. Is even more harder.

Check out the full post on her blog Autoholics 965 [Here]

[YouTube]

Kuwaiti rapper Arabique has released a music video for his track ‘Warning’. The track is off his album Lucid Dream which you can download for free (legally) from [Here]

You can also follow Arabique on [Facebook] or [Twitter]

Out of curiosity, Big D or Arabique, who do you prefer?

[poll id=”4″]

I saw this picture today and loved it. According to the Instagrammer who posted it:

This photograph was taken on a boat trip in London in 1955. From left to right, His Royal Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah the former Emir of Kuwait, their British escort, Abdul-Rahman Al-Ateeqi and Sheikh Salem Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah the previous Minister of Defense.

via @gurwic

The embassy of the Republic of Korea are holding a ‘Korean Movie Night’ this coming Friday. It’s kinda perfect timing with the release of Oldboy in theaters which is a remake of probably one of the best Korean movies ever made also called Oldboy. Here are the details on the movies showing and their timings:

Friday, December 6th 2013 at 4:00PM
MASQUERADE
Amid national chaos and fear for his life, tyrannical King Gwanghae orders his trusted councilor Heo Kyun to find a royal body double. He hires Ha-seon, a peasant mimic who bears a perfect resemblance to the King. When King Gwanghae collapses from a mysterious poison, Ha-seon reluctantly becomes a King. He must follow his conscience to save his country from collapse, avoid assassination, and pull off the biggest masquerade in history.

Friday, December 6th 2013 at 7:00PM
MIRACLE IN CELL NO.7
A story about love between a mentally ill father and his lovingly adorable daughter. Which is her father, accused of murder and rape.

Admission is free for both movies.
Both movies will be playing at Cinescape Laila in Salmiya. [Map]

Slider Station, the locally created sliders and American tapas bar is opening up in Dubai next year at a new development 5 minutes away from Dubai Mall. They’re already open in Oman so this will be their second international location albeit the most competitive. The rendering above is a first draft look on how the place might end up looking like.

I’m interested to see how a local favorite will perform in a market like Dubai. I think it should do really well but with food you never know. There’s a Lebanese burger chain for example that recently opened up in London and even though they’re not that great in Lebanon, they’re doing really well in London.

‘Playtime’ is a short film by Kuwaiti writer and filmmaker Hamad Al-Tourah. Last year I posted about him when he was trying to raise funds so he could make this short movie and he ended up getting all the funds and making it. Now the movie will be premiering at the Dubai International Film Festival as one of the 15 short films chosen to play at the festival. The movie is about Matthew, 10, who lives with his mother in Kuwait. One night,when his mother leaves him alone, Matthew finds company in Dalal, a Kuwaiti girl who lives down the street and eventually makes a plan to escape with her. You can watch the film trailer above. [YouTube]

Back in April I posted about my experience with powered paragliding here in Kuwait but it was pretty much near the end of season and not many people were able to try it out. Now that the weather has gotten cooler, the powered paragliding season is back.

If you’re interested in flying check out my post on powered paragliding [Here].
That post has all the details you need on this adventure including videos I shot during flight.

The pilot is Sultan Alenizi who recently competed in a powered paragliding championship that was held in Spain. You can follow him on instagram @alenizi_s. If you’re into photography, this is also a great way to take some beautiful aerial shots.