2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

According to the website Box News, the Ministry of Health is withdrawing the smoking ban a day after the law got passed because it would be impossible implement. This has to be a joke. Why don’t they give it a shot and try it out for more than half a day before giving up? [Link]

I’m upset. Can we also cancel the ban on running red lights and the ban on speeding since those two seem impossible to implement as well…

Update: I just found two things: 1) I shouldn’t rely on Google Translate and 2) it’s not actually a complete withdrawal of the ban as I had understood from the article. The ban is still in place for public places like airports, malls, restaurants etc.. but now does not apply to shisha cafe’s, hotels and other designated areas. This actually makes more sense since I was actually against the idea of banning smoking at shisha cafes. I’ve gone ahead and amended the post title. I am no longer upset.

One of my goals in life is to one day end up in WIRED Magazine so I’m kinda jealous these guys got in before me. I guess my flavored banak idea isn’t WIRED worthy. Anyway back to the subject. WIRED has a feature in their latest print and online issue on the new Stars of Science Arab reality show. I haven’t watched the show but the article features the final 5 and includes local inventor Mohammed Al-Rifai who created a steam iron robot. You can read the article online on WIRED’s website [Here]

Kuwaiti is aiming to double its tourist arrivals to one million by 2015 as it seeks to boost its tourism infrastructure to attract more leisure travelers, said the organisers of an upcoming travel expo in Dubai. [Source]

Ummm what tourists??

Have you gotten your loved one a Shani today?

Brake Banzeen visited the McLaren showroom in Shuwaikh and took some great photos of the Senna Formula 1 car. Check out his shots [Here]

Two Kuwaiti guys have created an iPhone game called Negooshi which revolves around a kid who takes revenge on some school bullies by using a slingshot. I found the controls a bit difficult to use and the menu system hard to navigate and understand but I liked the Kuwaiti voice overs and the fact that the game is localized. If you’re interested, Negooshi costs $1.99 and is available in the iPhone store right now. [Link]

Just read on Gulf News that “Kuwait has banned smoking and shisha in all public places, including airports, cafes, restaurants, shopping centres and recreational areas.” I thought at first the law was against shisha only but it seems it’s against both smoking and shisha.

Now what’s confusing me is that in the same article it states that “Under the ban, cafes, restaurants and hotels have to allocate a secluded area for smokers.” Isn’t that basically how things are right now? [Source]

The team behind photo documentary Kuwait Invasion: The Evidence is now in the process of putting together another project but this time on the Free Kuwait Campaign and they need your help.

In the coming weeks freekuwait.org.kw is going to be launched and they would like to hear from people who have videos of the Free Kuwait Campaign events that took place in London from August 1990 through February 1991. If you have anything please contact them on [email protected]

This is another important archiving project and whatever you have will prove to be very valuable in preserving this period of Kuwait’s history.

The Historical, Vintage and Classic Cars Museum have a new driving school for children. I haven’t been there yet but looking at the picture above and video below makes me want to take a ride there myself since it reminds me of Efta7 Ya Simsim. I’m currently getting more information on this and once I have more details will update this post. The commentary on the video is hilarious.

[YouTube]

Update: I managed to get more information on this driving school. The school is for free and all you need to do is register for it. Once you register you then have to take a written test of all the road signs. Once you pass that test you take the test drive and if you pass the test they give you a license (not a real driving license of course).

Thanks BuZaid and Zak

An Ayrton Senna Formula 1 car is currently on display at the McLaren showroom in Kuwait. The McLaren showroom was just recently launched in Kuwait and the video below is of one of the cars being driven into the showroom. They’re located at the BMW and Range Rover dealership in Shuwaikh.

[YouTube]

Thanks K

Wonderland from Zero Film Festival on Vimeo.

Looks like a Kuwaiti version of Alice in Wonderland. I’m intrigued.

The video above is from Redbull’s event yesterday. The Subaru is being driven by Lebanese champion rally driver, Abdo Feghali. [YouTube]

The winner of the event was Mubarak Al-Rumaidhi, the co-founder of Slide N’ Glide. He’ll now be going to Lebanon this summer representing Kuwait against other competitors from the region. You can watch one of his runs from yesterday in the video below.

[YouTube]

Update: Here are some photos taken by Hassan Raza [Link]

You can now view the entire collection of winning images from the 55th World Press Photo contest [Here]. There are a ton of great shots but below you can find some of my favorites:

Lucha libre at La Loba
15 June 2011
Masked luchadores at La Loba in the Chimalhuacán neighborhood of Mexico City. Lucha libre, the Mexican version of free wrestling, is probably only rivaled by soccer in popularity among Mexican people, and its cultural impact may be even greater.

Cliff-Climbing Polar Bear Attempting to Eat Seabird Eggs
30 July 2011

A male polar bear climbs precariously on the face of a cliff above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie in northern Novaya Zemlya, attempting to feed on seabird eggs. This bear was marooned on land and unable to feed on seals–its normal prey–because sea ice had melted throughout the region and receded far to the north as a result of climate change.

North Korea
05 October 2011

A picture of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung, decorates a building in the capital Pyongyang.

Occupy Wall Street
21 October 2011

Arrest of protesters in Harlem, New York, during a demonstration against police tactics and income inequality.

Here is a link to all the winning photos [Link]

According to the Kuwait Time’s photo the guys sister is Britney Spears. I’ve noticed they’ve been using random pictures off the internet for their articles. Below are two more:

Funny. You can check some more out [Here]

Update: Looks like Kuwait Times read this post and have corrected their mistake. They’ve now removed the Britney Spears photo and instead replaced it with Natalie Portman’s…

Ubon that new Thai food restaurant I’ve previously posted about is finally opening it’s doors this coming Saturday. They’re going to be open from 6 to 11pm for now since they’re starting but later on they’ll be opening up for lunch as well. They’ve also launched their website which also contains their full menu which you can check out [Here]