I don’t listen to 99.7 at all but a lot of people do and a couple of weeks back a friend asked me if I had heard the morning show recently since Linda was no longer on and instead two other hosts instead who are supposedly a mess. Then a few days back some readers started complaining about the two new hosts under one of my posts and awhile ago someone left the following comment:
Right now the rumor is that Linda from 99.7 has left Kuwait permanently which comes as a surprise to all of us. Though she wasn’t a favorite of everyone, she was certainly a part of Kuwait in her own way. She hosted the morning radio show for as long as I can remember. I’m sure not hearing her in the mornings must be a stark reminder of the changes Kuwait is currently experiencing.
I originally figured she just left on vacation but I wonder if she had a Latina Mina incident on air and had to leave the country like her?
Yum Galore is the blog of Sarah, a Kuwaiti chef in training who’s currently living in London. Recently she started posting cooking videos and I just checked them out and I really like them. They’re more artsy than your regular cooking videos with gorgeous colorful shots and great framing. If you like the one above then you can check out the rest of her videos on her blog [Here]
According to a friend of mine the sinkholes on the King Fahad Highway (40) are being caused by ongoing pipeline projects. They’re micro-tunneling under the 40 passing pipes from one side of the highway to the other and because the ground beneath the road is not stable it’s creating sinkholes [1,2].
In case you missed the Red Bull 5 Pics exhibition at 52 Degrees, photographer Alex Dennis Bolado created a virtual tour of the exhibition that took place there a couple of weeks back. Red Bull 5 Pics was a competition in which each photographer using just 5 photographs had to answer the brief “Kuwait through your eyes”. Check out the virtual tour [Here]
Once you’re done with the tour you can check out all the submissions including the winners on the Red Bull website [Here]
“Beating the NBA: Tales From a Frugal Fan” is a book by Kuwaiti author Motez Bishara. I thought the subject was very interesting since I purchase most of my concert tickets from “secondary markets” so I emailed Motez and asked him to tell me more about himself and how he came up with the book and this is what he had to say:
I am a Kuwaiti who grew up between New York and Kuwait, before going to university in Boston and grad school in New Orleans. I now reside in London (so I’m kind of all over the shop).
I have been a big fan of the NBA since I was a kid at ASK, where I played high school basketball. Going to Boston University during the end of the Larry Bird era, I had to find ways to buy tickets to see the Celtics on a low budget. From there, I developed a set of guidelines that ordinarily allowed me to gain entry to live events of every nature (theater, rock concerts, etc.) for less than the price printed on the ticket.
About eight years ago websites like StubHub and Craigslist allowed fans to find ‘secondary market’ tickets much easier. Buying off of scalpers on the street was now just one option, instead of the only option, aside from the box office. Conversely, sports teams kept raising their prices to the point where they were not in line with demand. As more and more season ticket holders in the United States started using the likes of StubHub and eBay to sell unwanted tickets, I would often find deals for a fraction of what teams were charging.
As a fan, and conscientious consumer, I was insulted that sports teams — NBA teams in particular — were still clinging to their antiquated model, while it was obvious that their ticket prices were not reflective of the actual market value of those seats. A point I drive home in the book is that fans (and consumers of all goods) should pay no more than the market value of what they are purchasing. And if they can get away with paying less, then all the better. I show people how to do just that.
Beating the NBA: Tales from a Frugal Fan is a collection of stories from my trips around the United States, Canada and London which document how I, along with other fans I met, go about getting good deals. It is sprinkled with anecdotes and interviews from my travels to 31 games.
If you’re interested in purchasing the book its Available on Amazon as paperback [Here]
The Kindle version will be available any day now as well.
The Daily Mail has photos and an article about the two executions that were carried out yesterday. Their article also has over 900 comments so far with the majority of the commentators praising the executions. Here are some of the “Best Rated” comments on the article:
Well – THEY won’t be raping and killing again… what a concept! – John
Nice one Kuwait …… hanging is the ‘green option’…. hardly any carbon footprint. – Captain Calamity
Rape a child, you need to die. Period. – farsideoftheworld
People may say that it’s inhuman and barbaric, but crimes like these are very rare in Kuwait due to the death penalty. Sadly in this Country of ours, there are no deterrents for any crime! – UK was great
Now why can’t we do the same here in Britain. – david
Check out the photos, article and all the comments [Here]
Just a quick note. If you ever come in here and don’t find a new post but still want something interesting to read or check out then visit 248PM. It’s just a random place where me and my brother just post interesting videos or anything else we deem interesting that’s not related to Kuwait.
You can visit that blog by hitting the link on the top navigation strip or just by clicking [Here]
The Masked Hitman is a 4 part short film that will be aired this coming Ramadan. The film by Khaleel Hayat is based around a hitman that was kidnapped as a child and had his parents killed by a gang that kidnaps children to use in drug trafficking. After escaping their clutches, the hitman is coming back for revenge. Not your regular run-of-the-mill Ramadan series that’s for sure.
Originally the film was going to be shot in Canada but due to the film containing weapons and Canadas strict rules, the film is now being shot in Kuwait. The Masked Hitman will be uploaded onto YouTube in 4 parts with one episode per week during Ramadan. Once the first episode is out I’ll be posting it here on the blog so stay tuned. [YouTube]
Two days ago I was parked at the traffic light on the Gulf Road before KFC heading to Kuwait City when a cop in a tracksuit walked out onto the road towards a Ford Mustang that was a couple of cars in front of me. I recognized he was a cop because he was wearing a fluorescent orange vest with the words “POLICE” printed on it plus it looked like he was wearing his badge on a necklace.
Last night I was dropping a friend off near Holiday Inn Salmiya when I noticed a checkpoint on the opposite side of the road with cops again dressed in casual civilian clothing with the same fluorescent orange vest and badges hanging around their necks.
Not sure why they’re in civilian clothing but my guess is it’s connected to the recent crackdown. I’ve been hearing a lot of stories recently in regards to the crackdowns and it’s hard to tell what is real and what is just a rumor. Fajer has been trying to find out more in regards to that but she’s been facing difficulty as well.
A reader left the comment below under on of the old posts:
I will clear everything at the current moment, this house belongs to my dad’s uncle. In the Late 50′s all four brothers built quite similar houses, 4 of them to be exact, One in Shamiya, Two in Daiya and one in Salmiya (the one posted). Three of them were lived in and the fourth was made a diwaniya (the one in Salmiya). All the houses have been demolished and still are held by the same owners. They were two toned, white and blue. The only one left is in AlDaiya you could visit it, holds the same desgin. The house is not haunted, it was held on a valuable location that at the time it was impossible to forecast how much it was worth. How could people lower the prices of such a land create rumors about it. The family kept away from media and didnt care about any rumors. Since it was a sharp location
So basically the reason the house was vacant for all this time was because it wasn’t being used anymore and the owners were just waiting for the right time to sell it and not because the house was haunted.
Since this weekend was a long one, the long term parking at the airport was completely filled. Usually I’d wait outside until someone leaves but I figured this time around it wasn’t going to happen so I decided to park at the short term parking lot instead. According to the sign at the entrance of the short term parking, the cost would be 200 fils for the first hour and then 400 fils for every hour after that. Calculating that into a day would mean it would cost you KD9.4 for 24 hours which is a ridiculous sum. Luckily, thats not the case.
The short term parking has a maximum fee of KD4 a day. Although expensive, it does mean if you’re traveling for just the weekend and the long term parking is full then you could park in the short term one as an alternative option. I left Thursday morning and came back Sunday morning and the total was KD16, double the price I would usually pay if I had parked in the long term lot.
Over the weekend while in Lebanon I oddly found out about a farmers market located here in Kuwait called Shakshooka. I hadn’t heard of it before and the fact that someone living in Lebanon knew about it while I didn’t was a bit weird. I was planning to visit the next Shakshooka so I could write about it but turns out Danderma beat me to the punch since she posted a full write up on it on her blog earlier today. So check out her post [Here]
The Daily Mail Online have an article on the tire graveyard out in Sulaibiya. According to the article the tire graveyard is so big it can be seen from space. That’s not really true though since the tire graveyard is actually visible on Google Maps which is not really the same as being seen from space. A bit exaggerated but then again this is the Daily Mail. You can check out their article [Here]
Two traffic officers in Kuwait are to spend one week behind bars for parking their patrol car in a spot reserved for the physically challenged.
Abdul Fattah Al Ali, the assistant undersecretary for traffic, said that the two uniformed men be transferred to a new department after they serve the seven-day sentence in jail, Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas reported on Wednesday.
“The official has given instructions that all legal measures be taken against the two men for flouting the rules,” a source quoted by the newspaper, said. “He said that there would be no leniency towards violators whether they are civilians or members of the police force,” the source, that the paper did not identify, said.
Abdul Fattah Al Ali has gained an impeccable reputation in Kuwait for his strict application of the law, regardless of the names or status of the violators.
No effing way. I’m super impressed. That’s pretty cool that they’re actually punishing two cops for this. [Link]
The Kuwaiti criminal court sentenced on Sunday four suspects to death for killing a Lebanese doctor with a cleaver in December last year.
Samir Yousef Jaber, 26, a Lebanese dentist born of a Kuwaiti mother, was repeatedly stabbed with the cleaver following a disagreement with the four young men at Avenues Mall.
It seems all four individuals involved in the murder will be getting the same sentence. [Link]
