2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

In 2011 Cinemagic is continuing the journey of the old, the latest and the best. Films that would never see the light in Kuwait and films that you should never miss. From the list of movies this month the only one I have seen is Four Lions which although was funny I thought dragged a bit too long. Here is the full schedule:

Thursday, February 3rd at 7:30pm
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Country: Sweden
Release: 2010
Genre: Crime | Drama
Running time: 129 minutes
Language: Swedish | English Subtitle
Awards: Winner Best Actress, Best Foreign Film
Rated: R

Saturday, February 5th at 7:30pm
THE TIME THAT REMAINS
Director: Elia Suleiman
Country: UK | ITALY | FRANCE
Release: 2010
Genre: Drama
Running time: 109 minutes
Language: Arabic | English Subtitle
Awards: 3 awards, Best DIRECTOR, Best Film…
Rated: PG

Thursday, February 10th at 7:30pm
DEPARTURES
Director: Yôjirô Takita
Country: Japan
Release: 2008
Genre: Drama | Music
Running time: 130 minutes
Language: Japanese | English Subtitle
Awards: 34 wins, Best Film, Actors, Cinematography, editing, sound, costume.
Rated: PG

Saturday, February 12th at 7:30pm
FOUR LIONS
Director: Christopher Morris
Country: UK
Release: 2010
Genre: Comedy | Drama
Running time: 97 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: 7 Nominations, Best Director, Best Film, Best Screenplay
Rated: R

Thursday, February 17th at 7:30pm
THE SECRET OF KELLS
Director: Tomm Moore
Country: France | Ireland
Release: 2009
Genre: Animation
Running time: 75 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Animation
Rated: PG

Saturday, February 19th at 7:30pm
NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS
Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Country: Iran
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama
Running time: 106 minutes
Language: Persian | English Subtitle
Awards: Cannes – Un Certain Regard, Special Jury Prize
Rated: PG

Thursday, February 24th at 7:30pm
SURPRISE FILM

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 Alghanim Electronics and LG. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

My brother has a thing for taking pictures of demolished and broken down places. The last time he took some amazing and very eerie pictures of the abandoned Amiri Hospital and this time he was invited to take pictures of the currently being dismantled Radisson SAS.

To check out the pictures click [Here]

Someone on twitter made me aware that some readers might not be aware of this. My YouTube channel is www.youtube.com/usurp

The YouTube channel www.youtube.com/mark248am is NOT mine. It does not belong to me and I have no access to it. A few years back someone set up a parody website called www.248-am.com (notice the extra dash) and started spoofing most of my posts. That anonymous person also set up the YouTube account mark248am. The parody website is no longer up but the YouTube channel is.

I’ve contacted YouTube before to shutdown the channel but they refused. But I now heard that there might be a case building against me based on that YouTube channel so I just wanted to make it clear to everyone that my YouTube channel is www.youtube.com/usurp

It feels very strange not having posted much here the past few days. I’ve had a lot on my mind so I haven’t really been focusing but it also felt awkward to post with all that was going on. No one has contacted me yet from Benihana and my court date is still set for March 8th. Once the trial starts it could take 2 years to finish and so I have to continue to post on this blog during that time.

Whenever there is any updates in the case I will post it here and keep everyone updated of course.

I would like to once again thank everyone who has been supporting me in this case. The amount of attention you’ve helped bring has just been mind blowing.

I’ve tried collecting all the coverage this case has gotten so far and will be updating this post throughout this trial as new sources pop up.

Thank you everyone for your support. It’s just been incredible.

Blogs
Fake Plastic Souks: Benihana Bashes Bloggers
BoingBoing: Benihana Kuwait sues blogger for $18,000 over bad review
Trying to be Fahad: Defamation or Constructive Criticism?
Catalyze: How not to respond to negative feedback
Snow in Kuwait: 248AM Blogger getting sued
Chicken Nugget: Benihana suing mark from 248am
His & Hers Q8: Being sued for a review
Ansam 518: Mark vs Lawsuit
LWDLK: Benihana suing the blogger of 248am
SuddenlyTwo: Benihana Kuwait #FAIL
Sandier Pastures: Benihana Kuwait sues blogger
oi Nagham!: Benihana vs The People
Lebanon News: Benihana Goes Bananas; Manager Stereotypes Lebanese
+961: Benihana sues one of the most popular bloggers in Kuwait
Who Sane: A Very Unnecessary PR Disaster
Blog 37: Social suicide by Benihana
Desert Girl: Mark at 248AM gets sued by Benihana
Beirut Drive-By Shooting: Shut up!
Irrelevant Combinations: One beef negimaki, and a lawyer please
Mich Cafe: Brand fiasco unites bloggers
SuddenlyTwo: Benihana Kuwait #FAIL
Oman Collective Intelligence: Benihana Kitchen Nightmares!
The Side Talk: Mark & 248AM being sued over honest review
Siouxsie Law: Kuwaiti Blogger Sued Over Bad Benihana Review
American Girl In Kuwait: “BTW, are you Lebanese?”
qEight: Local blogger in Kuwait sued by Benihana
Buzfairy: A really bad move from Benihana Kuwait, suing 248am
BeirutSpring: Benihana In Kuwait is a Terrible, Terrible Place. Stay Away From It.
Electrony: مطعم يرفع قضية على مدونة إلكترونية ويطالب بخمس آلاف دينار وإغلاق المدونة
iBloogle: Bloggers Unite – for the Right to Freedom of Online Speech
Q8HK: نحن معك يا مارك … دعم لمدونة A-Sides
Kuwaits Blog: Mark kuwaiti blogger sued by Benihana
Blog Baladi: Blogger sued over restaurant review
Chaotic pOsha: Benihana suing Mark!
18 Seven: اي شي يا بينيهانا
n3alba7ar: المدون مارك و قضية المطعم اليابانى
Ashish Panjabi: The Benihana Debacle
Desert Blvd: Benihana, Shame On You!
Khaled Rambles: Restaurant sues blogger in Kuwait
Blogger Mathai: Benihana Kuwait sues local blogger for negative review!
Techania: مطعم في الكويت يجن جنونه بسبب تعبير صريح للرأي من قبل مدوّن
Cyrographics: Kuwait’s 248am Blogger being sued by Benihana over a negative review
Hell is other people: #benihanakuw I bet you feel foolish now dont you!
B&D: Everyone’s Outraged as Benihana sues 248am over Bad Reviews
Marketing in Lebanon: The Art of Creating a PR Crisis
The Market Buzz: How much is your reputation worth?
Life in Dubai: Sued for saying he didn’t like his meal.
Life & Beyond: Sued for Writing a Bad Review!
Mind Soup: Benihana: We sue customers to compensate for our bad food
BABBLEQ8: Freedom of speech and its importance…
Roashina: 248am Lawsuit on Wikipedia
4th Ring Road: Order in the Court?
p0ach: Benihana, you ruined my vacation
Ashraf’s Blog: I Sue You!!!
The Identity Chef: Exporting Your “Brand” has New Challenges in the New Media World – Benihana Learns Firsthand.
Ashish Panjabi: Hints, Tips, Reviews – How will Benihana keep track of them?
Mr Qatar: Kuwaiti blogger sued… for a review…
Expat Life Coach: Why an expat blogger is getting sued in Kuwait
Life in Dubai: Benihana Update
MakChicken: Weather: Sunny with a high chance of getting sued by Benihana…
Ammouret Lebnen: Sued for not liking his dinner!
Nimer: Mark mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com got sued because he did not like the food
The Right Profile: Ignominy
Daily Mail: Kuwait blogger sued for restaurant review
America Blog: Benihana suing blogger for mediocre restaurant review
UAE Community Blog: Benihana Kuwait and Justice
Village Voice: Benihana Sues Over Crap Review
Starving for More: Silly Food Lawsuits
KiwiBlog: Cooking up a storm in Kuwait blogging

News Media
DubaiEye Radio Interview
Twitter
The National
TNW Social Media
Gulf News
CNN iReport
KippReport
Emirates 24/7
Arabian Business
Emirates 24/7 (2nd)
Kuwait Times
Econsultancy
Slashdot
Reputation Online
Honk Kong Association of New Media
Stuff Magazine
Huffington Post
Global Voices
TechDirt
Fast Company
Zawya
The Atlantic Wire
The Muslim Observer
LA Weekly
The Stir
Digg

Yesterday I got served with a court order, Benihana are suing me because of my post about my experience at their restaurant. If you haven’t read that post yet you can check it out by clicking [Here]

I’m currently getting legal advice from my lawyer Khaled Al Shamali who is actually a fan of my blog (that’s important) and I will be fighting this case in court. Originally my lawyer told me not to discuss this case with anyone but I feel it is important to share this with everyone since it doesn’t just effect me but the whole blogging community be it in Kuwait, UAE or anywhere else in the region. So after talking to my lawyer again, he’s now given me the green light to be transparent and open with everyone regarding this case.

I’ve uploaded the court order I received yesterday and you can download it from [Here]

The court order is in Arabic but if someone ends up translating it to English I will post it up as well. Benihana have the right to sue me but I don’t believe I said or did anything wrong and I stand behind everything I said and wrote in that post.

I’ve personally been threatened with lawsuits a number of times before, I know another popular blog recently got threatened with a lawsuit from a restaurant as well and I am sure there must be other bloggers who at one point in time have also been threatened. If blogs were recognized like newspapers or magazines we would all be protected from lawsuits like this but at the moment we aren’t. I find this unfair and if I end up losing this case what will it mean to all the other bloggers? Should bloggers be afraid to say anything negative about a company? Should all our posts just be happy happy joy joy?

I’m hopefully not going to lose this case and will try my best to win it and set an example so that other companies understand that if they don’t like something they read on a blog they can’t just sue the blogger.

I’ve been receiving an overwhelming amount of support on twitter. Honestly as much as I am a geek I never really understood or realized how powerful twitter can be until now. I literally have over 50 pages filled with tweets from people all over the region offering support. It’s really unbelievable and a lot and I mean A LOT of people from UAE have also been rallying behind me on this and according to one twitterer (is that the right word?) the Benihana topic is currently trending in the UAE at #8 at #3. A lot of people have also been leaving comments on the Benihana’s twitter account @benihana__ and on their Facebook page. But a few moments ago they deleted ALL the comments from their Facebook page but luckily I saved a pdf with some which you can download [Here]. They were actually a lot more than that before they were deleted. a reader saved a screenshot of all the comments which you can see [Here]

So thank you everyone for your support, I will try my best to keep everyone posted along the way on everything that takes place regarding this case.

——————————————-

Update: I just finished an interview with the Dubai Abu Dhabi based newspaper The National. I will also be on air live tomorrow at 11AM Dubai time on the DubaiEye 103.8FM.

Update2: An amazing reader translated the court order to English. You can download it [Here]

Update3: Please no one call and harass Benihanna or their employees. You can show your support in other ways. Thank you.

Update4: The National article on this lawsuit is up and you can read it [Here]

Update5: I’m now on Gulf News [Here] CNN iReport [Here] and TNW Social Media [Here]

Sheeel.com have a deal right now on the latest iPod Shuffles, they’re selling them for just KD10 which is cheaper than the retail price in the US! [Link]

Update: Looks like the link is dead and so is the offer

Here are the internet prices for Qualitynet and KEMS from InfoConnect. They’re basically exactly the same except the 1Mbps one year price for Qualitynet is slightly more expensive than KEMS. Also with KEMS you have a setup and router fee with Qualitynet you don’t.

Annual subscribers will be eligible to:
1. Winner of the draw will get four round trip tickets to any destination in the world.
2. A draw on a trip to attend Real Madrid FC vs FC Barcelona match Prize includes two round trip tickets to Madrid, 3 nights hotel accommodation, and two match tickets
3. A draw on a trip to attend Manchester United vs. Chelsea FC matc: Prize includes two round trip tickets to Manchester, 3 nights hotel accommodation, and two match tickets

Every annual subscription is eligible for one scratch and win card:
1. 4 Mbps Annual Subscription
2. Second place: 1Mbps Annual Subscription
3. Third place: 512Kbps Annual Subscription

Scratch and win coupon for the following prizes:
1. 1TB External HD
2. iPads
3. Cash of 100 to 1000KD
4. Money back

If there is a mistake above please tell me about it. Also I don’t have the Fasttelco prices so if someone has them please share them with me.

Update: Here are the Fasttelco prices

Update2: A reader set me the following email

Regarding the ISP prices… I’ve been a Mini-DSL QNet (4 Mbps) last year.. Now its 357 or something like that. I got a call from them today (expiry today), and they gave me an offer I couldn’t resist (258 for 4mbps). I took it.

From the cover of the tape, this film “explores the rapid social evolution and economic transformation of Kuwait from a small pearling and trading community in the 1940s, to a country now occupying a pivotal position in world affairs.”

Kuwait a Dream Suspended is a rare documentary film about Kuwait in the 80s. I haven’t had the chance to watch it all yet but from what I saw it looks interesting. [YouTube]

Thanks om3ali

Last night I noticed that they’ve decorated the Gulf Road palm trees with lights which looks pretty cool. [YouTube]

Today is the first day of the InfoConnect exhibition. If you’re looking to get a new Internet subscription or to renew one, InfoConnect is usually the best time to do it since they usually have the best deals going on. I still don’t have details on any of the offers taking place but as soon as I get them will post them here.

Location: Kuwait International Fair Grounds, Hall 6
Date: January 30th, 2011 to February 5th, 2011
Time: 9am – 1pm and 5pm – 9pm

The entrance is free. For more information click [Here]

The Kuwait Riders are holding their first bike show ever this coming Friday at the Marina Crescent parking lot. There will also be a competition between 19 categories of custom, classic and sport motorbikes, here are the details:

Date: February 4th, 2011
Location: Marina Crescent
Time: 1pm to 5pm

There will be plenty of activities as well. For more information visit their Facebook page [Here]

The Choowy Goowy restaurant is currently open this week at 52 Degrees with a small menu as a pre-soft launch kind of thing. They will be closing again next week before opening up once again but with a fully featured menu but for now you can pass by and get a taste of some of their dishes. I just got back from Bahrain today so I still haven’t had the chance to pass by but Fahad did and he loved the food. They’re open after 5:30PM and you can check out their current trial menu [Here]

Some pretty creative ideas there. [YouTube]

Today was the first day of GulfRun6 and it was exhausting. This year I’m helping them out with the video so I spent all day with a camera man walking around the track and setting up the framing for him. NegativEffect will be editing the video like last year so should turn out really good. Anyway I did manage to take some still shots with my camera, 3 of my favorite I’ve shared in this post.