Search: “kuwait”

The Kuwait Textile Arts Association is hosting a ‘Winter Bazaar’ at the historic Beit Al Sadu where you’ll be able to find original designs, quilts, bags, table linens, silks, designer jewelry, shawls, crochet, hand embroidery and more. It’s taking place this weekend so if you’re interested here are the details:

Date: Saturday, December 7th 2013
Time: 10AM to 6PM
Location: Sadu House, Gulf Road [Map]

BigMo – “Stuck Between” from N. S. Wynn on Vimeo.

I’m not really into rap but BigMo is probably my favorite Kuwaiti rapper. This new video is off his debut album called “Both Sides of the Sand” and it’s about being stuck between two worlds.

I promise, no more rap videos for awhile.

Below is this months schedule for Cinemagics rooftop movie nights. If you’ve never been to them before, they’re held twice a week, every Thursday and Saturday on top of the building that has Xcite in old Salmiya. I think this is the first time where I haven’t seen a single movie from the list they’re playing. Usually I would have watched at least one but this time none. Actually the only one I’ve even heard of is Caché. Check out all the movies and their timings below:

Thursday, December 5th 2013 at 7:30PM
DEAD MAN
On the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake encounters a strange North American man named Nobody who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.

Saturday, December 7th 2013 at 7:30PM
SHADOWS
Cassavetes’ jazz-scored improvisational film explores interracial friendships and relationships in Beat-Era (1950s) New York City.

Thursday, December 12th 2013 at 7:30PM
TO THE WONDER
After falling in love in Paris, Marina and Neil come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Their church’s Spanish-born pastor struggles with his faith, while Neil encounters a woman from his childhood.

Saturday, December 14th 2013 at 7:30PM
A MAN ESCAPED
French Resistance activist Andre Devigny is imprisoned by the Nazis, and devotes his waking hours to planning an elaborate escape. Then, on the same day, he is condemned to death, and given a new cellmate. Should he kill him, or risk revealing his plans to someone who may be a Gestapo informer?

Thursday, December 19th 2013 at 7:30PM
CACHE
A married couple is terrorized by a series of surveillance videotapes left on their front porch.

Saturday, December 21st 2013 at 7:30PM
SURPRISE FILM OF THE MONTH
Every month they’ll be playing a surprise film, where you won’t know what you’re watching until just a minute before the film begins. One thing is for sure, every month the surprise film will be either one of their favorite film on the list, or the most unique in one way or the other. This month’s film won and was nominated for over 30 awards worldwide including the Oscars, Golden Gloves, Independent Spirit Awards and the Baftas. A unique, hilarious, bizarre and poetic little film.

Thursday, December 26th 2013 at 7:30PM
MUD
Two young boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the bounty hunters on his trail and to reunite him with his true love.

Saturday, December 28th 2013 at 7:30PM
NO
An ad executive comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile’s 1988 referendum.

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 Xcite and LG and there is no entrance fee [Map]. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

Qout Market is an outdoor market that started last month and will be taking place again this coming Saturday, December 7th. The market takes place on the first Saturday of every month and this month it’s going to be located on the roof of the Arraya Center parking lot in Kuwait City. [Map]

The market will be bigger this month and have a petting zoo, a stage, stands selling crafts, street food, fresh flowers, jarred items, artisanal products, a kids and crafts lane, baked goods and local produce. It will be open all day long from 10AM to 7PM.

For more information here is a link to their [Facebook Page]

[YouTube]

Brix is another Kuwaiti rapper and up until a few minutes ago I had never heard of him until a reader shared the link with me. I’m curious to why a lot of local rappers seem to be able to produce music videos while other kind of music genres aren’t making them. I know there are a lot of local bands so why aren’t they producing any videos?

You can follow Brix on Instagram @brix_q8

[YouTube]

Kuwaiti rapper Arabique has released a music video for his track ‘Warning’. The track is off his album Lucid Dream which you can download for free (legally) from [Here]

You can also follow Arabique on [Facebook] or [Twitter]

Out of curiosity, Big D or Arabique, who do you prefer?

[poll id=”4″]

I saw this picture today and loved it. According to the Instagrammer who posted it:

This photograph was taken on a boat trip in London in 1955. From left to right, His Royal Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah the former Emir of Kuwait, their British escort, Abdul-Rahman Al-Ateeqi and Sheikh Salem Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah the previous Minister of Defense.

via @gurwic

‘Playtime’ is a short film by Kuwaiti writer and filmmaker Hamad Al-Tourah. Last year I posted about him when he was trying to raise funds so he could make this short movie and he ended up getting all the funds and making it. Now the movie will be premiering at the Dubai International Film Festival as one of the 15 short films chosen to play at the festival. The movie is about Matthew, 10, who lives with his mother in Kuwait. One night,when his mother leaves him alone, Matthew finds company in Dalal, a Kuwaiti girl who lives down the street and eventually makes a plan to escape with her. You can watch the film trailer above. [YouTube]

Back in April I posted about my experience with powered paragliding here in Kuwait but it was pretty much near the end of season and not many people were able to try it out. Now that the weather has gotten cooler, the powered paragliding season is back.

If you’re interested in flying check out my post on powered paragliding [Here].
That post has all the details you need on this adventure including videos I shot during flight.

The pilot is Sultan Alenizi who recently competed in a powered paragliding championship that was held in Spain. You can follow him on instagram @alenizi_s. If you’re into photography, this is also a great way to take some beautiful aerial shots.

Kuwaiti designer Tata Botata is back with a new tshirt design, this time it’s the Majed character from our childhood schoolbooks giving the middle finger. It’s priced at $69 but you can get 20% off by using the discount code ‘tatathanks’. [Link]

Some readers reported feeling an earthquake yesterday around 5PM. Turns out an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 hit Southern Iran yesterday, around 300km north of Kuwait. [Link]

This Friday the British Ladies Society are holding their annual winter bazaar. The bazaar will have over 100 stalls and the BSK orchestra and choir will also be performing. Hot and cold food will also be available. If you’re interested in passing by below are the details:

Date: Friday 29th November, 2013
Time: 10AM to 4PM
Location: The British School of Kuwait [Map]

Download the flyer [Here]

Last night I got to see Imagine Dragons and Atlas Genius both perform live here in London. I was supposed to arrive at the venue two hours ahead of time so I could try and end up close to the front of the stage but in a typical Mark move I ended up arriving two hours ahead of time… at the wrong venue. The concert was being held at the O2 Academy Brixton but I ended up going to the O2 Arena so after finding out my mistake I had to spend 40 minutes in the subway heading to the correct location on the other side of town. Although I didn’t end up right up front it wasn’t bad at all since I was still pretty close to the stage.

[YouTube]

The first band to perform last night were Atlas Genius. Even though Imagine Dragons are performing in London for three nights, Atlas Genius were only opening up for them on the first night and since I’m a fan of theirs I decided to get tickets for that night. Atlas Genius aren’t that popular but they’ve got two songs I really love one of which would probably make it into my top 20 indie tracks list. They weren’t that exciting performers live but nevertheless it’s still always great to hear a favorite song being played live in front of you.

Dan Croll came on after Atlas Genius but I only knew and liked one song of his (From Nowhere) and even though his performance was better than Atlas Genius, I couldn’t wait till he finished so Imagine Dragons could come on.

[YouTube]

Imagine Dragons were the third and final act for the night and I had heard they were great live. After watching them live now I can say that is very true. I was actually surprised by their whole performance. Even though they had arrived to London from LA just 5 hours before the show, they played every song with so much passion and energy I was just blown away. My favorite song of theirs is Amsterdam (watch it here) but I think their performance last night for Radioactive which I’ve embedded above was my favorite. Oh yeah the stage was full of percussion instruments which the whole band participated in therapeutically venting out on through out the night.

Yesterday was the first time I took my GX1 camera with me to a concert. Micro 4/3 cameras like the GX1 are perfect for concerts since they look like point and shoot cameras which you’re allowed to bring in, but the quality of the shots is closer to DSLR’s which you aren’t allowed to bring into events. I was taking photos with my camera and then transferring them to my phone using the Eye-Fi card which I posted about the other day, and then uploading them to Instagram.

Two more concerts left and then it’s back to Kuwait.

The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows are going to be performing tomorrow in Kuwait as part of their Middle East tour. The RAF Red Arrows are considered to be one of the world’s premier aerobatic teams and they just finished performing yesterday in the UAE. If you’re interested in watching the show below are the details:

Date: Tuesday 26th November, 2013
Time: 1PM
Location: Marina Crescent and the vicinity

Update: I got the 1PM timing from the Red Arrows Facebook page but according to Arab Times it’s at 3PM.

Lorenzo is a locally created Italian restaurant that opened up before the cupcake and burger craze took over the market. They’re old school and although they have a bunch of locations around Kuwait my favorite is easily their Salmiya branch located in Al Khalid Complex where Gia recently opened up.

The interior is small but nicely designed and pretty cozy. The carpeted floors continue along the wall and then curve up onto the ceiling which is an old fashioned thing to do but somehow works out nicely here. Since the location is small they’ve managed to make it look bigger by splitting up the restaurant into two spaces with the back space being a more intimate area separated from the rest of the restaurant by vertical mirror pillars. There’s lots of marble everywhere which helps makes the place feel luxurious without looking tacky at all.

Their menu hasn’t really changed since they first opened up with my favorite items being the fresh bread they serve as well as their mushroom soup and chocolate cheesecake. When I do want a main course I usually go for their fish dishes, either the sole or the hammour.

It’s a very nice location that’s empty most of time. I usually have business meetings there and I’ve never seen the place filled with more than two or three tables. To top it all off the service is really good and the staff are very friendly as well. If you’re looking for a nice quiet restaurant to go to that’s not in a mall than this Lorenzo location would be a great option. It’s in Al Khalid Complex in Salmiya and here it is on [Google Maps]