Search: “kuwait”

FADER, a US based music-culture-fashion publication has an interview with Kuwaiti music composer Fatima Al Qadiri who’s currently based out of New York. I hadn’t heard of Fatima until just a few moments ago so I found all this pretty interesting. Her latest EP is titled Desert Strike and is inspired from the classic Sega Genesis game with the same name. The full story behind the album as well as samples of her song are on FADER which you can check out [Here]

Thanks Marko

Update: A reader reminded me that I do know her but I just didn’t recognize her. I posted about her last year and the post generated a lot of hate. [Link]

I was on the first ring road earlier this evening when I noticed lights and music coming out of the huge Kuwait City park across from the Tijaria Tower. Turns out there was a big event taking place where the new golden jubilee monument of Kuwait’s constitution was revealed. Buz Fairy has pictures and more information on the monument and event which you can check out on her blog [Here]

I was wandering around Avenues Phase III today and noticed The North Face had opened up their first store in Kuwait (they’re on the second floor). It’s a good brand for anyone looking for outdoor and camping gear. Their tents aren’t very portable but their sleeping bags can be very compact and they’ve got a nice collection of soft and hard shell jackets as well as camping backpacks.

The Daily Mail has a great collection of photos from last nights fireworks show which you can check out [Here]

This review turned out to be tougher than I expected since I was expecting the Big Jambox to easily come out on top but the Soundlink put up a pretty good fight. Both speakers are similar in that they are compact and very portable, run on rechargeable battery and connect to your music player wirelessly using bluetooth.

From the two speakers right off the bat I’ll say the Big Jambox is the better sounding of the two. There is no question about that. I played a variety of music ranging from Mumford & Sons and Zulu Winter to 16 Bit Lolita’s and Guy J when testing the speakers out. Switching between the two speaker was very easy using the iPhone and so I was easily able to compare the same songs on both speakers. In each and every case the Big Jambox topped the Soundlink when it came to the sound quality. The Jambox always sounded richer, had deeper lows as well as clearer highs. To top it off the Jambox could also go a lot louder than the Soundlink.

So you’d think there was a clear winner here but there isn’t. The thing is although the Big Jambox did sound better than the Soundlink the difference isn’t that dramatic in most cases. Because I was switching from one speaker to another instantly I was clearly able to distinguish the differences but if I had heard the two speakers on different days for example it would be a lot more difficult to distinguish the differences.

What I think clearly separates the two really depends on what you’re planning to use the speaker for. A friend of mine was looking for a speaker to take when traveling and use in hotel rooms, the Bose Soundlink would be the one to recommend in this case because although slightly taller its lighter and more compact so will fit easier into a suitcase. On the other hand if you have a gathering and want a portable speaker you could move out onto the balcony or onto the beach than the Big Jambox is the one I’d go for.

Design wise I personally prefer the colorful and chunky Big Jambox over the Soundlink. It comes in a variety of colors and it just looks funkier than the classier and more conservative looking Soundlink. The Soundlink has a 6 hour battery life while the Jambox has an astounding 15 which is why I’m guessing the Jambox is much heavier. Both speakers are selling for the same price of KD99 here in Kuwait.

So which one is better? Sound and design wise the Big Jambox is the clear winner for me. But the Soundlink does sounds pretty good as well and comes in a more compact and lighter package. For my needs though, I’d go with the Big Jambox.

Jawbone Big Jambox is available at Blink [Here]
Bose Soundlink is available at Xcite [Here]

StudioToggle is a design studio for Kuwaiti architect Hend Almatrouk and Gijo Paul George. They’re the same team behind the coolest movie theater design I’ve ever seen which I posted about last year.

The same team have now created a temporary pavilion called Pneumatic_Grove, which they’ve installed infront of the National Library of Kuwait facing the Gulf Road. It is part of the Housing Sessions conference which started a few days back at the National Library. The pavilion is an urban intervention which comments about the inaccessible landscapes of Kuwait. The official opening for the pavilion was two days back but it will be running until tomorrow the 8th of November. If you’re also interested, they’re having panel discussion about the pavilion today at 4PM as well.

On Saturday GMC were planning to break the record for the largest convoy of GMC vehicles in the world and according to a reader who participated in the event they were able to break it.

Does anyone have a list of all the records Kuwait currently holds? I’ve honestly lost count and there are 7 more that will supposedly be broken during the fireworks show on the 10th.

Here are some pictures of the event [Link]

Thanks Ahmad

#welcometokuwait [YouTube]

via @nibaq

Early on in the week I posted about the huge fireworks show that’s going to be taking place this month on the Gulf Road. The show supposedly cost four million Dinars and will be held on the occasion of the 50th year anniversary of the constitution. Well it turns out the event won’t be taking place on the 11th as I wrote but instead the show will be taking place on November 10th.

The day will start off at 2PM with a parade and various performances from Green Island all the way to the Kuwait Towers. Then at 8PM the fireworks show will begin. This won’t be your regular fireworks show since there are a bunch of surprises that will take place (I’m not allowed to say what) but I can tell you it will include fireworks, sound, lasers and 3D projections. The fireworks show will take place from Green Island to Kuwait Towers, a 4.4km distance and the show will last for a total of 64 minutes. That’s over an hour of non stop fireworks. The event is expected to break a total of 7 Guinness World Records!

FYI: The best place to be to watch the show is the area between Kuwait Towers and Chilis although the show will be visible from much further distances.

Cheesecake Factory is going to be officially opening this coming Monday. I was there tonight for a tasting and I think the place is way nicer than the Dubai one. The location is really great and the place is open from three sides so the atmosphere should be really great. One thing I loved about Avenues Phase III is the lighting, I hope they keep it this dim and colorful once it opens (check picture above).

Cheick Kongo, Cyrille Diabate, Greg Babene, Mishal Abul

Every now and then I like to highlight Kuwaiti talent and achievements and I believe that Mishal Abul fits the bill. He is a partner at Paradigm Sports Management, a US based company that manages Football, Baseball and MMA athletes. I met Mishal through my blog sometime back and since I’m a huge UFC fan I was shocked to find out he was managing UFC stars like Michael Bisping and Chris Lytle among others.

Mishal was always into combat sports, he wrestled in high school back in the US as well as college. He got into MMA in 1998 because of the UFC and because of his trainer John “The Machine” Lober who was a pioneer of the MMA scene with a background in Jeet Kun Do, Grappling and BJJ. Mishal is probably the first Kuwaiti to train in MMA.

Jake Shields, Mishal Abul, Tareq Azim

I asked him about MMA in the region and if the UFC is considering bring The Ultimate Fighter to the Middle East like how they did TUF Brazil and the upcoming TUF India. This is what he had to say:

MMA is still way too young for the entire Middle East to recognize it, understand it and accept it. Fighting from a professional position is already here with Karate, Boxing, Muay Thai now they need to learn MMA, the best form of martial arts. There are already some locals or in the region who have trained and are becoming teachers.

Sending TUF to the Middle East is in the plans but not right now that’s because the mentality of the population within the Middle East is not the same as elsewhere with a history of combat sports which usually belongs to other large countries where it would boom immediately like Brazil, Russia and parts of Asia. But, I do believe the Middle East as a whole has some huge potential of breeding the best MMA competitors in the world. Parts of the Middle East strongly train in Karate, some other parts in wrestling or even Judo. Countries like Iran who are naturally strong could develop some amazing wrestlers which is the best base to begin with to enter MMA.

As a UFC fan I think it’s very cool to have a Kuwaiti managing UFC fighters. If you want to find out more about Paradigm Sports Management you can visit their website [Here]

I think TJC Films has been releasing on average a video a week which is just crazy. This week he released a video of En Mexico, a small Mexican restaurant located in Jabriya which I posted about early in the year. Makes me hungry. You can watch the video above or on [YouTube]

The Future Shorts Festival is the biggest pop up film festival of its kind, showcasing the most exciting short films from around the world. As part of their Autumn Season world tour they’ll be making a stop in Kuwait next week at the Contemporary Art Platform.

Date: Sunday November 4th 2012
Time: 7:00 pm
Entrance fee: 3KD to be collected at the door
Location: Contemporary Art Platform (https://capkuwait.com/location/)

The Autumn Season will feature the following short films:
Café Regular, Cairo – Ritesh Batra
A Brief History of John Baldessari – Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost
Rite – Michael Pearce
The Black Balloon – Ben Safdie & Joshua Safdie
On The Line – Reto Caffi

There will also be a special live music set after the screening. There are limited seats so make sure you come early. Doors will close at 7:30 pm.

Preparations are currently underway for the epic fireworks show thats going to take place on November 11th 10th here in Kuwait on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the constitution. Speaker systems and projection boards are being setup all along the coast starting from the Green Island and going all the way to the Kuwait Towers. They’ve also started setting up the fireworks which reportedly is costing over KD4,164,000.

The event company behind this epic show is Filmaster MEA who’ve also worked on other large scale events like the Turin 2006 XX Olympic Games (opening and closing ceremony), the Juventus new stadium opening ceremony and the UAE 40th National Day Anniversary.

This so far looks like an event that shouldn’t be missed and will probably be the biggest show that Kuwait has ever put on.

Update: Check this link for more information [Link]

Last night I watched Skyfall with some friends at Grand Cinemas in Hamra Tower. Unlike my brother I didn’t think too highly of the movie. I mean it was good but I didn’t think it was great. One thing I regret not doing is getting a jacket. My brother wasn’t exaggerating when he said the theater was freezing. The cold could actually be one of the reasons why I didn’t enjoy the movie much, I just wanted it to be over so I could get outside where it’s warmer. Tip: Take a jacket!

The food stall outside the theater is very similar to Cinescape except they were a lot slower. A LOT slower. The theater seats were comfortable and really other than the fact it was freezing cold the only other issue I noticed was that there was dirt on the projector lens which could be seen on the top left of the screen.

If you’re interested in booking tickets their website is now live and you can check it out [Here]

Update: It seems the link doesn’t work for some people but it works for me. No idea why.

Update2: The link seems to be working now for everyone but you can’t purchase tickets from the website as of now since their KNET system isn’t active yet.