Search: “ace”

The Annual exhibition by KASA (Kuwait Architectural Students Association) is being held at Bayt Lothan from 10 to 14 March. The exhibition is open from 7PM to 9PM and will be displaying work done by architecture students. Bayt Lothan is located in Salmiya adjacent to Marina Mall.

I found this old ShowBiz Pizza Place promo from 1983. Anyone who has been to ShowBiz (or Chucky Cheese) should find this interesting. [Link]

Today morning I got 24 cup cakes from Little Treats. The delivery guy came early in the morning to my office, I paid him and then hurried back to my desk so I could dig in. I spent the first 5 minutes just staring at the cupcakes, they were just so beautifully decorated I didn’t know if I should eat them or just look at them. Finally I opened up the package and tried the cupcakes.

The Little Treat cupcakes are much better then Juju’s. Everyone at my office who tried them gave the same comment “these are better then yesterdays”. Yesterday being Juju’s cupcakes. Other then the fact that the cupcakes are bigger and better decorated then Juju’s, they also taste better.

My biggest issue with Little Treats is the packaging. Its difficult to take out one cupcake without damaging the decoration on it or on the cupcakes adjacent to it. Other then that after trying both Juju’s and Little Treats cupcakes I have realized I prefer muffins over cupcakes and cookies over muffins.

If you are interested in Little Treats check out their website by clicking [Here]

I just found this old article from TIME Magazine that was written after alcohol was banned in Kuwait:

A month ago the oil-rich sheikdom of Kuwait banned all liquor within its borders, and since then many of its thirsty citizens have been drinking everything in sight from perfume and eau de cologne to rubbing alcohol and Sterno — with predictably disastrous results. By last week, an estimated 150 Kuwaiti had died from alcohol poisoning, several hundred more had been blinded, and Kuwait’s hospitals were filled to overflowing. Bathtub gin is flourishing, and bootlegging the real thing has become Kuwait’s fastest growing business. A fifth of Dewar’s White Label Scotch now commands a sheik’s ransom of $50 on the black market.

Prohibition came to Kuwait as deviously as an Arab horse trade. In theory only Christian residents of the predominantly Moslem nation could drink, using ration cards to obtain whisky through London’s Gray Mackenzie & Co. Ltd., which has had an import monopoly on Kuwait’s liquor flow for decades. In fact, Moslems imbibed increasingly, and drunken-driving fatalities mounted apace. The nation’s stricter religious leaders then teamed up with local merchants who resented Gray Mackenzie’s lucrative monopoly to introduce a prohibition bill in the Kuwaiti Assembly. With voting a matter of public record in the tiny Moslem land, the bill passed easily, despite its manifest unpopularity and whatever the legislators’ private lapses from the temperance of Mohammed’s grace might be.

Gray Mackenzie padlocked its doors, and the poisoning cases began to stagger in as sales of after-shave lotions and cologne soared tenfold. Several dozen British and American petroleum engineers served notice that they would not renew their employment contracts if Kuwait stayed dry. Several influential Kuwaitis have applied to remote countries for posts as honorary consuls, hoping thereby to qualify for diplomatic liquor privileges. Many of the thirsty began flocking to Basra in Iraq, 100 miles from Kuwait City. Their pilgrimage has also produced agitation for repeal of the law from their weekend widows left behind. They fear that the forced-draft drinking by the boys and the wiles of the women of Basra may prove a dangerously combustible mix.

TIME Magazine – Friday, Jan. 22, 1965

I was waiting for Marzouq to post about this but he hasn’t still so I am going to post about it first… although it is HIS story.

Today I got an email from Marzouq and he sounded really pissed and depressed. He was vague in his email but it was something about losing a really important bid. I was like fuck, what was he bidding for? I figured something related to work, maybe he was trying to get the rights to Google Kuwait or some fast food chain or something. Anyway a few hours later he gives me a call.

We are talking and he tells me about this charity auction that took place in the US and how they were auctioning off a variety of items like electronics, snowmobiles etc.. I was thinking he probably tried bidding on a limited edition motorbike and he lost. Then he tells me that one of the items they were auctioning off was the chance to appear on an episode of 24 next season! Whoever won the auction would have a role on the show in season 7 and would also get to meet the whole cast and then leave with the episode script autographed by everyone. So I was like ok what happened??

Turns out he had a friend at the auction who was bidding in his place. He told his friend to bid max up to $10,000. Turns out though he had a tough competitor, some wife of a millionaire who according to Marzouqs friend came up to him and told him she wanted to have Jack Bauers babies. She kept bidding against him until past his $10,000 limit. In the end he increased his max bid till he hit around $16,000 but she kept bidding until in the end she won the auction for $21,000.

Its such an insane thing, imagine, a blogger from Kuwait would have been on 24. I would have been really jealous if he had won, but it sucks he didn’t. I know how much it would have meant to him being on the show. Anyway I think he is going to be pissed now because I posted about HIS experience before he did!

This reminds me of when King Abdullah appeared on Startrek.

update: Here is a link to Marzouqs post with more details! [Link]

Today I got a long rectangular box with a dozen cupcakes from a new place that opened up in Fanar called Juju’s Cupcake. All the cupcakes looked stunning and within seconds they disappeared. Everyone just wanted one. I don’t have any idea on the prices and although the box has a website address, jujuscupcake.com, the website is still not up. If you are interested though you can call them on 5722999.

Picture above taken by 7oO7oO

Over a year ago I got the Sennheiser PX100 headphones to replace my Shure E2s canal phones. The Shure’s although really great weren’t very practical for office use since putting them on was a hassle and at work I am always being interrupted which meant I had to keep taking them on and off. Thats when I decided to go with the PX100 headphones and the sound was really great but, I ran into problems. The PX100 were open air meaning they let sound in and they also let sound out. People around me could easily hear what I was listening to and I could hear them. This is why I researched for new closed headphones.

I found a nice bunch of headphones including the amazing the Beyerdynamic DT 990 which I was ready to get until I found out they had an impedance of 250ohms which meant I needed one heck of an amp to power them.. not very iPod friendly. After days of research on Headfi.org I realized the headphones for me were the Austrian designed AKG K81 headphones. They were closed air, had a good amount of bass and a very decent sound stage. They were also 32ohms which meant would run off my iPod very nicely and they were very affordable at $95.

I have been using the AKG’s for a few months now and I love them. They are very comfortable and the sound is superb. For the price I paid I don’t think I could have gotten anything better. I think they are the best headphones you could get for under $100. But, its not perfect. The headphones just barely fit me. I don’t have a large head but I am guessing Austrians have a small one because I have the headphones expanded to the max and they just barely fit. So if you have a big head I wouldn’t recommend the AKG. Final score is a 4 out of 5.

Today morning I went riding with Marzouq on the Gulf Road. The weather is great so I am trying to take advantage of it as much as I can. Other then riding my bike I am going to be taking the roof off of my Wrangler (after National Day due to foam season) and I will also be going out riding.. on my bicycle. I haven’t ridden my bike since early last year way before I got my motorbike so I figured I would start again now since the weather is good again.

I went to Ace Hardware, picked up an electric air pump and came back home to pump some air into my bicycles tires. After filling it with air I decided I would take it for a small spin around my parking lot just to see how it felt.

It felt incredibly strange. Because I now ride a motorbike, riding my bicycle just feels completely way off. The seat is uncomfortably hard, the bicycle is super light, the riding position is different and the strangest thing of all.. I have to actually PEDAL! After taking the bicycle for a few spins up and down the floors of my buildings underground parking I was exhausted and had a headache. I couldn’t even ride properly! Since my motorbike weighs around 170KG and my bicycle like 12KG I was literally throwing it around turns.

Tomorrow I am going to try riding my bicycle around Salmiya, if it turns out to be a crappy experience like today I will probably end up selling it. The whole point of the bicycle was to go urban exploring but now since I have a motorbike license I can just go get myself a dirt bike.

I watched The Prestige yesterday night at Marzouqs place. It was a really really good movie specially when compared to The Illusionist. The movie is over 2 hours long but its one of those movies you just wished it was even longer.

The Prestige Vs The Illusionist and Christian Bale Vs Edward Norton. No contest here because The Prestige has a much better storyline with an interesting although controversial twist at the end in addition Christian Bale’s character is more exciting. Even the other supporting actors like Hugh Jackman and Michael Caine were performing at their best. But really its the story, the idea behind The Prestige that set this movie apart from The Illusionist. The problem with The Illusionist is that very little happened and there was very little magic. The Prestige on the other hand is full of events and you get to see a ton of magic tricks and best of all they even show you how they were made, something The Illusionist was lacking.

The main plot deals with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman who are both magicians. Early in the movie an event takes place which results in the two hating each other. The whole movie is about them competing against each other.

For the final score I would give it a 4.5 out of 5. Without spoiling the movie for anyone who hasn’t watched it, the reason it didn’t get a full 5 out of 5 was because of the ending, it just wasn’t as real as the rest of the movie.

Oh and fuck Thomas Edison!

I got the following in my email today:

Cinemagic Kuwait Launches Weekly Short Film Screenings
“Short & Sweet”

(Kuwait 05/12/2006) Cinemagic Kuwait are organizing “Short & Sweet”, a schedule of weekly short film screenings. The screenings will commence on Wednesday, February 21st, and run throughout the year. The events will take place at the Cinemagic Courtyard in Bait Lothan, Salmiya, and will run between 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

The screenings will bring together a collection of short films from all over the world including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, Brazil, Jordan, Lebanon and Kuwait. Each week we will screen a different selection of short films of varying genre, nationality, and style.

For its part, 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 filmmaking

Attendance for the event is free of charge, but seating is limited. Snacks and refreshments will be served throughout. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at the numbers below.

Yazan Al Ghazzawi
PR & Marketing Manager
Kuwait Cinemagic

Tel: (+965) 574 3253
Cell: (+965) 722 2416
www.cinemagics.com

This years Dog Show will be held once again at the British Embassy Gardens on Friday 16th of March 2007. Last year it was a lot of fun for so we will for sure be going back this year. In last years show Geo won second place in the Best Puppy category and this year we are hoping to win in other categories including Best Tail Wagger, Most Adorable Dog and Most Obedient. These competitions aren’t anything serious its all just a lot of fun. If you have a dog you should try and make it this year. For more information click [Here]

Here is my post of last years event.

Thanks Stallion for reminding me

Was approaching Seef Palace today when I noticed smoke and some traffic. When I got closer I saw a Blazer smoking and a bunch of guys trying to put the fire out. I guess the fire extinguisher law can come handy once every blue moon.

I got an email yesterday from the owner of Shoo? Shawerma asking me to go back and try their shawermas now. He had read my extremely negative review of Shoo? Shawerma and decided to explain the situation to me.

It turns out they had a problem with the shawerma master and they ended up firing him and replacing him with a new more qualified guy. He also told me the reason their shawermas are more expensive then other places is because most places uses Indian beef which is 600fils a KG while they use Brazilian beef which is KD1.300 a KG. But with the firing of the shawerma master they decreased the shawerma price down to 300fils and they changed the menu.

So next time I go to Sultan Center I will pass by Shoo? Shawerma and give it another shot and then either update my review or keep it the same.

Yesterday I took a day off work so I could go to the Pierre Marcolini event at Hilton. It started off with lunch at Teatro followed by a chocolate presentation at the Song Bird cafe at 2PM. The presentation which I thought would be boring turned out to be pretty cool and informative. It was like watching an episode on Discovery Channel on how chocolate is made except the presenter was Pierre Marcolini himself. I guess it was like watching the Teutul family talk about how they made choppers minus all the shouting and banging.

I now understand the difference between good chocolate and bad chocolate. The presentation was a walk through on how Pierre Marcolini chocolate is made. It turns out they are the only ones in Belgium who actually create chocolate starting from the cocoa beans all the way to the chocolate bar. Its a long process but in the end you get the best product. They even passed around chocolate in its various unfinished stages so we could smell and at one point taste.

Once the presentation was over me and Nat went up to Pierre and had a little chat with him. Since he only spoke French, Nat was my translator. I made her ask him if he had a favorite commercial chocolate like Crunch, Mars, Twix etc.. He replied telling her that he didn’t eat commercial chocolate but every now and then he would try new products just out of curiosity. He also told her he does like eating chocolate from small chocolatiers in France and Italy. We then asked him what he thought of Kuwait. He told us he had just been in Japan and now he was in Kuwait and the difference in culture is huge and he loves that. He said he loves experiencing new cultures because he learns new things. For example now that he has visited Kuwait he is considering making chocolate with coffee.

He was a very friendly guy with good sense of humor so the whole thing was really enjoyable. In the end they gave us some chocolates as a thank you for coming gift and we then left the place. It was a cool experience and I am glad I went.

Why can’t places in Kuwait have decent websites? Speed Zone is a used car dealership located on the Gulf Road opposite Showbiz. They always have interesting cars parked out in front of it and so when I found out they had a website I was excited. I don’t pass by Speed Zone often so I figured I could keep track of all the cool cars they get via their website.

Turns out I was wrong, their website is a mess and contains practically no information whatsoever. I even checked the Arabic version of the site figuring it might be more complete and still ended up with nothing. It would be cool if they had a live webcam over looking their cars but thats asking to much when they don’t even have a photo gallery.

Also whats with the weird spelling and grammar. They have an animated flash saying “Speed Zone which you can’t catch up”. What does that mean?

Check this out also taken from their site:

prief about Speed Zone
This is Speed zone company on Kuwait which care about speed & luxury vehicles. we will provide the new cars, motorcycle and their spare parts which will give you the optimal performance and speed, so don’t miss our site it would be up to date with the new stuff so catch it up or you will miss it with speed zone.

I really hope they fix things because they do get some really cool cars all the time and their site isn’t doing them any justice. [Link]