2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I went to the Cedar Lounge yesterday at the Beirut Airport while I waited for my flight since they have a business center with free Internet. After getting frustrated with the slow connection I decided I would go over to the kids section since the last time I was at the lounge they had a bunch of PlayStation 2’s in the kids room and one of them had a MotoGP game. I figured to kill time I would play some video games. To my astonishment it turns out the kids room was recently overhauled and now had 4 new Xbox 360 stations complete with extra wireless controllers and a bunch of games to choose from.

I ended up playing some Gears of War until it was time for me to leave. Since kids are in school the kids section is usually deserted with only business travelers hanging around outside. One thing I was surprised at was the lack of security camera’s in the room. It is extremely easy to steal a wireless controller, game, xbox hard drive or even the whole xbox if you really wanted to.

I just got the following in my email:

We have created a new website to express the current issues with Kuwait in a few simple words: www.wtfq8.com

You can anonymously submit your own WTFs (What the fuck) here: https://www.wtfq8.com/add.php

-K.

There are already some cool WTFs on the site. My favorite is Muhajababes!

I am back in Kuwait so things should get back to the way they were by tomorrow.

I was taking a walk today in a Beirut district when I noticed some Arabic graffiti on the wall. I don’t think I had ever seen Arabic graffiti prior to this… I am not talking about the random scribbles regularly seen in Kuwait. I think graffiti agrees with Arabic really well, its because how nearly all the letters in Arabic are connected to each other.

I was at Virgin here in Lebanon checking out the Ingmar Bergman special edition DVD collection when I noticed the box looked like it was missing a DVD. I then noticed a warning label on top which said:

This box set is missing item(s) that were confiscated by the general security for censorship reasons.

So it happens even in Lebanon although DVD censorship here is not as common as in Kuwait and is usually left to really controversial stuff.

I had to shoot a TV commercial today so I had to wake up at 6AM. Its now 11:58PM and I just got back to my hotel so it was a really long exhausting day. Problem is tomorrow I have to wake up at 8AM for another shoot so I will barely have any rest and sleep. I have a lot to write about but I am too tired at the moment to do so. I get back to Kuwait Thursday night.

Between yesterday and today I managed to watch 16 episodes of the comedy Studio 60. Its currently one of my favorite shows and I don’t think I would have ever guessed that I would ever like Matthew Perry since I found him annoying on the show Friends but, surprisingly I do. Matthew Perry stars in Studio 60 which is a show based around a fictional sketch-comedy show and Matthew Perry is one of the executive producers of this fictional show. Imagine if they made a show on behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live, it would turn out something like Studio 60.

There are a lot of characters, numerous stories, lots of comedy and just a small touch of on set romance. I read somewhere that the show was getting canceled which is typical because a lot of good shows get canceled (Arrested Development). If you are looking for a new show to download and watch then I would like to recommend Studio 60.

[YouTube]

And in case you missed it, the Hungry Bunny commercial. [Link]

Thanks Feras!

note: If you didn’t live in Kuwait pre-1990 you will not get this

Since I arrived to Lebanon I have been asking around for a place where I could rent a scooter from but everyone keeps telling me no such place exits. I figured since I don’t have a car here I could rent a scooter and use it as my primary means of transportation but it seems it might be easier to just buy a used one for like $200. I have a friend though who knows someone who works at an impound lot and he told me they have a lot of scooters there and he might be able to hook me up with one. Hopefully that works out.

I went out to Gimayze street tonight pubbing since I don’t have to wake up early tomorrow. I was going to go pub hopping but it started raining so I ended up spending most of my time at a pub called Gautcho. The weather in Lebanon the past 2 days has been really dusty and tonight it was raining mud which reminded me a lot of Kuwait. Speaking of which, its looking like I am going to get back to Kuwait on the 19th or 20th since I have a couple of more jobs I need to finish up now.

The Windows Gaming Championship should have started on May 10th (yesterday) but the custom PC’s the organizers had ordered were not cleared by the Kuwait customs. The event has now been postponed till May 17th and 18th. Here is a message from the organizer:

Dear All, Please accept our sincere apologies but due to a technical problem, we haveto postpone the Windows Gaming Championship Kuwait event until next week. The event will take place on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th May, on the ground floor of Sharq Market Mall, near Zara and Next from 1pm – 10pm on both days.

With many thanks and best regards,
Louise Hickman

For more information visit the official tournament website. [Link]
Here is the website of the Gulf Gamers. [Link]

Thanks Yousef

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were recently added to PayPal! [Link]

Thanks Yousef

Had a photo shoot at a school today and while trying to kill time I started reading some wish lists that were stuck on a wall. Most of them were pretty average except for the one above that I found funny. In case you didn’t get it, the kids first wish was a PS3 and his THIRD wish was getting his dad back.

I just came back from Boubouffe which is my favorite shawerma place here in Lebanon and anywhere else in the world for that matter. With over 30 years experience, Boubouffe simply make the best chicken shawermas I have ever tasted. The price of each shawerma sandwich is KD1 which I guess would make it also one of the most expensive? Maybe, although I hear the shawermas in London aren’t cheap at all.

Nataly came home today to find her Apple MacBook in the hallway being chewed on by Geo, or dog. I don’t know what got into his head today but for some reason he took the laptop from the living room and started chewing it. Luckily it seems he only chewed the case since the screen is still working and so is everything else meaning it shouldn’t be too costly to fix (I hope). I still don’t understand how he managed to pick up the laptop off the table and drag it to the hallway…