2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I have two sets of photos to share with you in this post. The first set is taken I think in 1979 on the Gulf Road near the Kuwait Towers. I am assuming they’re taken in 1979 because I was born in 1978 and I think I look like a year old in the pictures. I am not enjoying the fact that I am sharing my baby pictures with strangers but these were the only pictures of a vintage national day parade I could find and I feel its important they be shared.

The second group of photos below were taken in 2005 in Salmiya, Salem Mubarek Street near Sultan Center. The whole street starting from Central Plaza down to Eureka was closed and made pedestrian only. It was like a big carnival mixed in with a parade. Lots of fun and as you can see from the pictures it was pretty packed but not chaotic.

So my question is why have these parades stopped? How did National Day celebration turn from a wonderful event into something that’s gotten completely out of control with foaming. This year I heard a lot of reports of actually spray paint being used instead of foam and I actually saw a car that had been spray painted. Kids and teenagers are still opening your car doors and spraying you and whoever else is inside with you. Many people decide to travel during this holiday so they could avoid this chaos while other people like me try to spend time indoors to avoid being attacked on the streets. And yes I am calling it attacked because when you get foamed against your will that’s harassment. No one has the right to foam you, foam your car and they definitely don’t have the right to open your doors and spray you. I am not even talking about spray paint, urine or any other chemical some kids use.

Can this year please be the last year National and Liberation Day turn into a horrifying foam fest and instead can we please go back to fun for the family street parades?

update: A reader sent me this link to news article on Arab Times, it seems there were 200 injuries and 1 death due to foaming this year. [Link]

update2: Tonight (Sunday 28th) Nat was on her way back from the gym, she was driving on the Gulf Road casually when suddenly just before Texas Chicken a kid jumps out into the street and sprays her while another kid throws a can of foam at the car scratching the paint job. WTF?

Yesterday a skyscraper in Kuwait City caught on fire at around 3PM. Judging by the video it seems the short building to the right of the skyscraper caught fire first and that contributed to the skyscraper catching fire. [YouTube]

Thanks mabkw!

Update: Below is a picture taken from q8blackmarket.com showing the small building on fire.

Even Pinkberry was celebrating with cute little Kuwaiti flags. [YouTube]

Here are two videos I found on YouTube, one was shot from the bridge at Marina Mall the other in Bnaider.

[YouTube]

[YouTube]

Although this year I’ve noticed a lot more cops on the roads than the previous years, I don’t think its making much of a difference. Gulf Road is still jam packed and the inside roads parallel to the Gulf Road (like Baghdad Street) are also packed.

Picture by Pretty Point of View

Spotted somewhere in Saudi Arabia..

Thanks Bader!

Don’t forget to STAY OFF THE GULF ROAD!

What do you wear with this? [Link]

Update: I am NOT interested in these sneakers!

Update2: Thanks to a reader I now remember where I had seen these sneakers before… Sport Billy had them!

Thanks Saud!

The Alpine iXA-W407 which I posted about a few days ago is supposed to sell for around $750 but for some reason it’s being sold for just $379 on Amazon right now. I’m sure its a mistake so I quickly placed an order for one. If you’re interested in it here is the [Link]

Update: I purchased the unit twice and both times the seller canceled my order. Did this happen to anyone else?

Update2: Price is back up now to $550. I placed an order for the fourth time and it seems to have worked now. $550 is still a good deal. I ordered the following items so far for my Toyota FJ install:

Alpine iXA-W407 Digital Media Station
Alpine HCE-C107D Rear View Camera
Peripheral PTR7 Multi control interface bypass module
Scosche TA2076B 2007 Toyota FJ ISO/Double DIN With Pocket Kit
Stereo Wire Harness Toyota FJ Cruiser 07 2007

The PTR7 will allow me to change the system settings and watch movies while the car is in motion and not just parked.

Update: I originally purchased the Scosche adapter for the Toyota FJ Cruiser but it turned out to be really crap and wouldn’t fit the stereo right. I ended up installing the Alpine using the Metra adapter which worked out a lot better. Here is a link to it on Amazon. [Link]

Cool new Nike commercial featuring Rampage Jackson from the UFC among other athletes. [YouTube]

Posted by Fahad AlYehya | Core Fitness – Kuwait

It takes me 8 hours to write an article, 8 more hours to review it and 60 minutes to press publish; and I still make spelling and grammar mistakes. I shower 3-4 times a day, wash my face with the most expensive fascial cleansers out there and I still get mild acne. I see people train hard, diet hard and recover, but they still lack that muscular maturity. Females go through episodes of anorexia to look like that Cosmo model, yet they lose a lot of hair, the sparkle in their eyes diminish, their nails start to break off, their skin barely shines and their bones are as fragile as a piece of tissue.

The above are all side effects of a lifestyle low in fat. Has anyone seen those Lebanese, Jordanian, Syrian and Palestinian documentaries about how their senior citizens live above the age of 90? How do they do it? They have more energy and vigor than Kuwait’s older generation; but how do they do it?

“Ebnakul zaitoon,” or “bin7ib zait el zaytoon kteer.” (English Translation: we eat olives or we love olive oil a lot). Those are literally the two answers available to explain how they managed to live that long.

Or approach a Japanese dude and ask him how they live so long and why heart disease isn’t such an epidemic: “We uuuh, rive very hearthy rong rife because uuuh we eat sushi and aaah hearthy fatty fish high in omega sree! And when Godzirra come again, uuuh we can fight!” (English Translation: I’m not really sure what he said, but it had something to do with karate and sushi).

Fat is a lot more important than any other macronutrient. I’m not saying that fat should be consumed alone; in conjunction with other macronutrients, fat can do wonders. Unfortunately, I learned it the hard way.

When I started weight-lifting, I did what the pros did: ate a diet high in carbs and proteins and low in fat. I wanted to be as big and as ripped as they were. And come on, it’s common sense! Why would I listen to some nerd who majored in medicine and not a freak with veiny arms? Long story short, I paid the price and should’ve listened to the pencil neck. I had terrible acne, my short-term memory was a joke, my hair barely grew to considerable volume, my immune system was a disaster, every joint in my body hurt like hell, I was tired all the time, my muscles looked like soft ballons that only looked decent when training and I suffered constantly from overtraining. Why? Because I went low-fat, thinking that low-fat would get me big and ripped.

The Kuwait International Rally will start on March 4th at 3PM under the Kuwait Towers. It will be a ceremonial start for the event with the first race day held on March 5th and the last March 6th. It will be two days of gravel special stage action taking place in the Kuwaiti desert. For more information on this event visit the official site [Here]

Thanks Wyn!

My advertising agency (JWT) is currently looking to hire a Senior Arabic Copywriter. If you’re interested, send an email to [email protected]