Yesterday I was checking twitter when I read that Sylvester Stallone is going to be coming to Kuwait for the launch of Planet Hollywood. This sounded a bit déjà vu for me since back in December 2009 I posted the exact same thing but that it would open March 2010. That obviously never happened and now it seems they’re opening up this month on the 24th. If its true that Sylvester Stallone is going to be here then I really really REALLY need to meet him. First I need to get my picture taken with him for facebook, and secondly I need him to sign my Cobra DVD for me. Wish I had a Cobra poster for him to sign but I guess there is always time to order one online.
The video above is supposedly a rehearsal for the fireworks show thats going to be held over the weekend. The rehearsal took place on the Gulf Road near the KPC building. [YouTube]
Local blog Tidbit Du Jour currently have a giveaway taking place in which one lucky person will end up winning the cool LunaTik iPod Nano watch band in addition to a silver 8gb iPod Nano. Check out their website for more details [Here]
Speaking of iPods, the website Sheeel is selling the iPod Shuffles today for KD10 (11 with delivery) [Here]
The picture above is of the US military preparing for the 50/20 parade. Someone told me the military parade will take place on the Gulf Road but according to the PDF I downloaded from the Kuwait Fest website, the only military parade that takes place is going to be in Al-Subiya. Does anyone know if there will be one on the Gulf Road? [Link]
My brother has a thing for taking pictures of old and broken down buildings and I’ve posted the last two of his photo-sets on the blog before (here and here). He recently went and shot another building and uploaded a new photo-set on his flickr account. One picture grabbed my attention since it had an old poster advertising a wrestling event. I told him to send me a close up of that poster which he did and which you can see above and below. The poster was on a building that’s soon to be demolished on Fahad Al Salem street.
I don’t know how old the poster is since there isn’t any date on it, my brother thinks it’s the 80s but my rough guess based on a bit of online research would put this sometime in the early 60s. I think it’s very cool and someone needs to preserve stuff like this. Maybe the part of the wall that has these posters can be broken off or maybe just these pictures are enough?
Here is the link to the full set of pictures my brother took [Link]
Update: A reader was able to calculate what year the poster is from based on the day, date and my rough estimation. The best guess to when this poster dates back to is now 1965.
Whoever started this car window sticker trend in Kuwait is a genius. I think I first started noticing them at Marina Mall but now other malls in Kuwait are using it and even universities. Basically how it works is if you park in a place you shouldn’t park (handicap spot, over the curb, black and yellow etc..) you get a sticker stuck on your window telling you not to do it again. Doesn’t sound too dramatic but you can’t really just peel those stickers off your car since they tear apart and look horrible. Because it’s actually pretty difficult to get removed is why this is so smart.
Many people would rather get a ticket than get a sticker which is why I think cops should start using these. Anyone caught speeding? Give them a ticket AND stick this on their window. Car illegally parked? Give them a ticket AND stick this on their window. I think it would work.
I just found out there is a website dedicated to the golden jubilee of the independence of the State of Kuwait. The website has a downloadable PDF of ALL the events that are taking place this month, for example did you know that tomorrow the 2nd Kuwait National Arabian Horse Championship will be held under the Patronage of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait or that tomorrow in Mubarek Al Kabeer there will be a Sports Day and Entertainment Festival? I didn’t.
Here is the link to the PDF [Link]
Here is the link to the website [Link]
Ace Hardware are selling UV flashlights. CSI fans will know what a UV flashlight is and can be used for and I picked one up for that very reason. Lots of warning labels all over the place, I didn’t think a UV flashlight could be dangerous. Now I understand why they wear those orange goggles on the TV show. Price? Just KD2.770
Note: As someone mentioned in the comments, this is not a toy and not for kids. There is a reason for all those warning labels on the package and flashlight.
A Kuwaiti architect called Omar Al-Rajhi decided to start a new hobby after graduating from Kuwait University. He decided to recreate Kuwait City in 3D bit by bit. So far he has already has gone ahead and created 3D models of some of the most famous buildings which you can see on the projects FaceBook page.
It’s a painstakingly slow task and he currently doesn’t know what this could be used for once he’s done (maybe commercial or educational purposes) but for now he’s focusing on remodeling the whole of Kuwait City and once he’s done he’ll see what he can do with this data he is creating. Personally I think this could probably mean we could finally get 3D navigation like some of the main cities in the US. Here is the link to his projects Facebook page [Link]
On the occasion of Kuwait’s 50th National Day as well as the 20th anniversary of Kuwait’s liberation and the 5th anniversary of HH The Amir of Kuwait “Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Al-Sayer will be attempting to break the Guinness World Records by releasing 5000 doves into the sky.
Date: February 24th, 2011 Location: Marina Crescent Time: 3:30pm to 6:00pm
For more information visit their Facebook page [Here] and [Here]
The other day @nibaq posted a 360 panorama of a graveyard in Kuwait and I found out he did it with an iPhone app called 360 Panorama. So I downloaded it and tried it out and found it incredibly easy to use. I just did a 360 interactive panorama of Fahad al Salem street which you can see by clicking [Here]
I think I will be doing various panoramas of places and events around Kuwait when I can and post them here since its so easy to do. The image above is NOT the 360 panorama, it’s just the flattened out panorama.
I just saw a post on Confashions about an art auction that was held in the still under construction Phase III of the Avenues. The place looks great and the artwork looked amazing but sadly the public exhibition of the work was on February 8th and the auction was last night. Luckily Confashions took some pictures which you can check [Here]
Awhile back my MacBook was starting to feel sluggish and I was really tempted to buy a newer model but since I was just using the laptop to get online from the couch or for when I travel, I didn’t think it was worth buying a new laptop. Instead, I decided to upgrade my MacBook from a 2.5inch 5400rpm 250GB hard drive to a 64GB SSD.
What is SSD? SSD stands for solid-state drive and to keep it simple its just a hard drive with no moving parts and is around 5 times faster than regular notebook hard drives. I ordered the ADATA 64GB drive from Amazon since based on my research I found it had the best bang for the buck. I also looked at two other brands before deciding on ADATA which were OCZ Technology and Crucial Technology, both of which have extremely fast performance drives but at a slightly more expensive cost.
I could easily review the drive in just 7 words: “It makes all other computers feel slow”. It cut down the boot time of my MacBook to less than half and it also sped up the launch time of all the applications. For example it now takes 1 second to launch Photoshop while other applications like Safari and Microsoft Word launch practically instantly. No waiting or spinning colored wheel just click and they’re open. The SSD drive not only brought new life to my aging MacBook but for day to day use it made it feel a lot faster than all my other computers including my already very fast iMac and Mac Pro.
I got the 64GB SSD and not something larger because the prices became tooooo expensive with the larger drives. For example a 256GB SSD would cost you around $500 which is nearly half the price of a brand new MacBook! The 64GB drive on the other hand cost me around KD35 with shipping to Kuwait and after installing the OS and ALL my software I still had 40GB of free space left. That’s more than I need since I just use my MacBook to surf the web, edit some pictures and for traveling. If you’re planning on storing media like your photo or music library than I highly doubt 64GB would be enough.
I would definitely recommend everyone pick up an SSD drive if you can, it really makes a HUGE difference. But, if you need a large drive and are not in a rush, the longer you wait the cheaper the prices will get. Here is the Amazon link to the hard drive I got [Link]
After dropping off the Vespa over the weekend I picked up the Italian made Piaggio MP3 and looking at the picture you will straight away notice that this bike is in fact a trike since it has two wheels in the front and one in the back. It’s a strange and futuristic looking scooter that to me could have been perfect if it wasn’t for two annoyances which I will discuss later.
The MP3 has a few features I liked which the Vespa didn’t, first of all it shows me the outside temperature on the digital display. This was actually important the past few days since I wanted to know how much I was freezing my ass off. Secondly it had a large front windscreen which helped block the wind from my upper body which played a crucial role in keeping me warm during the cold mornings. Finally and most importantly it had three wheels! The three wheels were a bit strange to get used to at first but they quickly grew on me. They offer better grip on the road specially when it’s wet and the MP3 felt a lot more stable at high speeds and when running over potholes. It also brakes a lot better than a regular two wheeled bike. In one incident I was riding in the left lane on the Gulf Road when the car in front of me decided to slam the brakes and make an illegal u-turn (seriously wtf?!) I quickly slammed the brakes and swerved into the middle lane and managed to avoid him. Later I realized if I was on a two wheeled bike I would very probably have slid the bike doing that. The scooter can also hit highways speeds easily so you can take this onto the ring roads and not worry about being too slow. As you can see in the video above it also has a lot of storage space.
Now that I got all the good stuff out of the way here are the negatives. There are three issues I found, 2 being major. The first minor problem is the fact that the scooter isn’t as nimble as the Vespa in parked traffic. The MP3 is a heavy scooter and a big one so weaving around parked cars in traffic is a lot more difficult. But that’s a minor issue. The two major issues I have with the MP3 relate to comfort. I found the MP3’s seat uncomfortable. I’m 6’1 and so I found the seat a bit low for my height and it also felt like it was tilted forward. The Vespa on the other hand was extremely comfortable and made me want to spend more time on the bike while the seat on the MP3 was giving me a wedgie the whole time. The second comfort related problem I faced was with the foot rest. The right footrest of the MP3 had a foot brake that activates all three brakes of the bike at once. I didn’t feel comfortable using the foot pedal so I had to place my big feet behind it which resulted in very little and cramped leg room.
So although I was really impressed with the MP3, the two comfort issues were a major let down specially since this is a scooter I would easily have considered for long trips. The Piaggio MP3 I rode was a 400cc and costs around KD2,800. They have a 250cc version for cheaper as well. If you’re interested here is the link to the Bike World website [Link]
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