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Review written by Tarek J

Movie studios have been purchasing and investing in properties over the past few years as their main currency: Marvel, DC, Disney, Star Wars… What property can we own and milk for years and years to come. But there’s one property no one has a monopoly on: Nostalgia. In this age of endless information, bad news, white nationalism, prejudice, and dabbing, people have had a need to relive the good old times. But when a film adaptation of IT was announced off the heels of the success of Stranger Things, I said “here we go again”. Surprisingly though, Andy Muschetti’s film turned out to be one of the most entertaining and well directed films of the year.

So when Vox Cinemas invited me to the premiere of IT Chapter Two, I didn’t hesitate. The event itself was quite fun, every seat had a gift bag with a poster, a funky pop Pennywise doll, and a few other little trinkets. For added effect, each seat had a red balloon tied to it. But the standout was an extremely dedicated actor dressed (with some impressive makeup) as the titular character. He would provide some fun jump scares to the guests as they walked into the theater (but thankfully disappeared when the actual film started). As a whole, it was a great experience from Vox and I hope they do this with every major release. Now let’s get to the film:

IT Chapter 2 picks up 27 years after part one, and after a disturbing opening sequence, we catch up with our characters all grown up, mostly successful, but separate from one another. However, after the resurgence of a familiar string of missing people back home, it becomes clear that they have to reunite and fulfill the pledge they made to each other at the end of the first film. And that’s as much as I’ll spoil in terms of the plot, because half the fun of the film is discovering it as it reveals itself.

It Chapter 2, like its predecessor, is one of the most entertaining films of the year. There was not a moment where I shifted in my seat or looked at my phone. The film is exciting, at times surprisingly hilarious, and sometimes pretty scary. The best thing about these films remains the characters and the performances. The casting of Chapter Two is impeccable. Probably the best casting I’ve seen where the adult actors look like their child counterparts. The characters themselves are fully developed and individual enough that they always keep the film entertaining. The performances by James McAvoy and Jesica Chastain are solid as always, but its clear the standout here is a hilarious but ultimately moving performance by Bill Hader (Barry fans rejoice!). The film as a whole doesn’t take itself too seriously and is aware that some of its plot’s sillier aspects (faithfully adapted from the original Stephen King novel who has a fun little cameo here) aren’t given too much weight to take away from the film itself. The story itself and the turns it takes is a bit disappointing, but it’s clear that Mushcetti has a lot of love and passion for this story and for filmmaking itself. Which brings me to the production. A second highlight of this film is its production value, specifically the cinematography, musical score, and directing itself. It’s directed with a strong visual and emotional intelligence, harkening back to the days of early Speilberg and Zemeckis, giving the film a kind of 90’s bravura of big visuals, big sound, a living camera, and little bit of cheesiness. As a director, Muchetti is definitely a talent to look out for. Some of the more “harrowing” sequences are beautifully shot and executed, and having a big budget horror spectacle like this is rare these days, so that alone is worth the watch.

However, not all things are great. Midway through the film it’s clear that the scares (while “bigger” here) aren’t as effective as the first time around. There is some creativity with the way Pennywise manifests the character’s fears, but it slowly gives the feeling of when you’ve seen one scary sequence you’ve seen them all. In addition, the themes of the different trauma’s the characters and the town endured growing up and how that helps them in the end, while clear to me as a book reader, didn’t translate so well in the finale.

And that brings me to the final 20 minutes of the film, which are exhilarating. I was kind of dreading it as everything the film was building towards felt a bit like the final sequence would be predictable, but I was so happy to be wrong. The film builds and builds and then it delivers a non-stop rollercoaster ride of horror, comedy, and emotions that by then I felt I could overlook the issues I had earlier on.

All in all, this is a GREAT time at the cinema. It’s not a perfect film, and it’s not as solid as the first one, but it’s definitely worth the price of the ticket, and is the kind of horror film that everyone (above 18) can enjoy.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a long time you probably already know how nostalgic I am which is why I also love old video games. Over the years I’ve posted about a variety of game consoles including ones that allow you to play old video games like the Pandora and Dingoo. LDK Game is a console I recently picked up and I’m so in love with it!

Firstly just a bit of background. My first game console ever with the Coleco which my parents got in me in the early 80s. Since then I’ve gone through everything from the Sakhr MSX2 and Commodore, up to the current consoles like the PS4 and Switch. My favorite console ever would have to be the Super Nintendo followed closely in second by the Sega Dreamcast.

The LDK Game is a pretty tiny portable unit that plays nearly every console from the 80s and 90s including a lot of games from the original PlayStation. For such a small (and cheap) game system it just blows my mind how well it does playing some of my favorite games. Out of the box, all you need to do is plug the unit into your computer via a regular USB cable and it will then show up as an external hard drive. You can then just drag and drop the games (roms) onto the unit in the proper folders, so SNES games in the SNES folder and PlayStation games in the PlayStation folder and that’s pretty much it. You then just launch the games using one of the many built-in emulators. If there is a missing emulator (like the MSX or Coleco one) you can then just download them and install them easily. Currently, I have games from the following consoles running on my LDK:

Coleco
DOS
Gameboy
Gameboy Advance
Mame
MSX
NeoGeo
Nintendo Entertainment System
Sega Game Gear
Sega Genesis
Sega Master System
Sinclair
Sony PlayStation
Super Nintendo

In addition to the above, I also have Doom, Quake, Wolf 3D and Duke Nukem 3D installed. I really have 90% of my favorite games ever running on this tiny console.

All the games I have installed run flawlessly. Older consoles like the NES and Gameboy obviously run flawlessly on many other systems but I used to run into issues running some SNES games on my previous game consoles. I don’t have that issue here, and not only that, somehow this unit can run PlayStation games. Not all of them mind you, 3D intensive games like Tekken run but aren’t playable on this but 2D games like Castlevania, NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat Trilogy run perfectly, and games like Ridge Racer, Tony Hawk 2 and GranTurismo seem to also run really well. Another surprise was the fact that it also ran DOS games. I managed to install some really old games like Prince of Persia, Test Drive 3, Captain Comic and even the original Need for Speed and they all ran flawlessly. Oh and even sprite intense NeoGeo games like Metal Slug and Mars Matrix run without a hint of slowdown.

The screen has a 4:3 ratio which means you can play old games without having awkward black bars on the sides like you do when playing old games on your new TV. The sound is also fairly loud because there are two speakers on the back but you can also plug in your headphones if you prefer. The LDK has 6 buttons, four on the front and two shoulder buttons which means you won’t have issues controlling SNES or PlayStation games.

The coolest thing about the LDK Game though is that it sells for just $56! That’s not a lot to pay for a game console that can basically run ALL the cool old games. In fact, if it only ran Castlevania Symphony of the Night I would have paid $56 to get it and not only does it run it and really well, but I can also play Super Metroid, NHL ’94, Neo Drift and a ton of other games all on the same device. I still can’t believe I can play Symphony of the Night on this! Even the battery life is great running at over 4 hours and because it uses a standard USB port, you can charge it on the go with any battery pack.

I ordered the console from the LDK website and shipped it to my US forwarding mailbox. But, the device ended up shipping from China so if I was to order it again I’d ship it straight to Kuwait or at least my Shop&Ship Chinese mailbox. If you want to get one, here is a link to their website.

Early this year I decided I wanted to get a cool classic car and not sure how exactly, but I ended up deciding on an old Alfa Romeo, specifically the 1750 GTV. So I started looking all over the web for a car that fit my requirements and I ended up finding a couple in the US, one in Sweden and one in Germany but in the end, I found a perfect one in the Netherlands at a family-run classic car dealership called Gallery Aaldering. After a few emails back and forth, I decided to fly out to Holland to check the car in person. The place was insane! It was 4 floors and filled with so many beautiful and pristine condition classic cars. It was like a museum except everything was for sale. While there I actually didn’t give the Alfa much attention at first because I ended up falling in love with a Lancia Fulvia Coupe 1600 HF. But after I test drove the Alfa and left the dealership did it start to settle in and I knew I wanted it.

This was back in April and once I got back to Kuwait I proceeded with the purchase. It took around 8 weeks to finalize the paperwork and get the car registered for exporting and it finally shipped to Kuwait this past Monday.

One thing I realized through this whole process is that very few people in Kuwait know what the process is for importing a classic car. There is a lot of misinformation and the whole thing is just confusing so I decided I would share the process on the blog.

So this is what I was told, but keep in mind laws change all the time and there are various exceptions that can be made so use this info just as a starting point. Firstly cars are divided into three categories and each has different rules:

New Cars
Cars less than 5 years old are considered new. Both expats and Kuwaitis can import these cars without much of a hassle.

Old Cars
Cars older than 5 years but less than 40 years are considered old. Expats aren’t allowed to import old cars while Kuwaitis are allowed to import one old car in their lifetime.

Classic Cars
Cars that are older than 40 years are considered classics. Expats aren’t allowed to import classic cars while Kuwaitis are allowed to import one classic car every two years.

Now I’ve also heard from people I know that cars older than 20 or 25 years are considered classic. I can’t verify that since I was told by a car importer that it has to be older than 40 years old. But I was also told exceptions can be made. If you get a paper from a dealership stating the car you’re importing is special or rare, then from my understanding, the car doesn’t follow any of the rules listed above.

Since I’m not Kuwaiti I’m importing the car under a friends name. I’m using a local logistics company called Transcrate to get the car from the Netherlands to Kuwait and they’ll also be getting all my paperwork done. They’re pretty pricey compared to other companies, but their customer service is great, I’m communicating with them in English by phone and email (haven’t visited them in person yet), and they’ve been updating me with photos on the progress of my car. The company also belongs to a friend of mine so I feel really comfortable dealing with them. Other companies I approached either didn’t take me seriously, only communicated in Arabic or were pretty slow in responding to simple questions or requests.

The car is now expected to arrive at the end of August and once the car arrives I’ll post Part 2 with information on the registration process.

It’s a tiny list but there are some pretty cool things happening this weekend. Check out the list below and if I missed anything let me know.

Thursday
Al3ab Village
Cultural Festival – South Korea

Friday
Al3ab Village
Cultural Festival – South Korea
O I Summer Residency featuring Kade B.
Vi by Vogularity x Bunka Pop-up

Saturday
Al3ab Village
Cultural Festival – South Korea

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double-check with the organizers.

In a bid to stop people from parking illegally the MOI have launched new “No Parking Vehicles” to drive around areas and ticket illegal parkers. The vehicles have cameras located on the outside to capture the license plate of violators automatically without having to leave the car making it really convenient.

Not sure how I feel about this, I think I preferred the previous method of removing license plates and towing cars since those were instant punishments that caused a lot of headache to the violators. I don’t think this new system will be as effective since violators will only know they got fined way after the incident.

In any case, not being pessimistic or anything but based on the history of MOI ideas, this won’t last long anyway before things go back to normal.

Thanks Meshari

Back in September, I posted about a cool new 3D printing service at Best Electronics where you can get a very realistic miniature figurine of yourself (and of you and your friends). That didn’t last long since the very next day Best were forced to close down the service due to religious reasons.

But, Best recently opened up a new store in The Avenues, it’s near Saveco in the basement in a pretty hidden location. But, the good news is they’ve brought back the 3D printing booth and have it set up there. So if you previously wanted to 3D print yourself but missed out, you should probably pass by Best quickly before it gets shut down again.

My brother sent me this yesterday and it’s such a sad story. Laila who is a cat owner came back to Kuwait from the States with her cat and at the airport was told the cat would need to be seen by the airport vet. So they took the cat from her and three hours later tell her that the cat ran away when they were on the way to see the vet and the couldn’t find it. You can check out her instagram post on this below:

Im fucking crying my ass off while i type this. Winston is missing. When we arrived Kuwait the officer stopped us at the airport and told us we needed to get a paper signed to get winston in kuwait (even though i showed him all the correct paperwork specifying winston is healthy and up to date in all his shots, ect). Since they are too lazy to accept the documents they made me sign a paper. As i picked up winston’s bag they stopped me and told me that he needs to go see a doctor at the airport to make sure hes not carrying any diseases and apparently thats what happens to all animals that arrive the country. I fought with them and begged them not to take him but the officers said those were the rules.

I waited for 3 hours and in the end they told me that he fucking ran away in the cargo on the way to the doctor. He ran away out in the open where all the planes and trucks are. Ive been crying screaming and hysterical ever since and im not authorized to go search for him. We begged the guards to let us in and we were able to scout the area but i wasnt allowed to leave the car. It’s currently 95 degrees and will continue to get hotter to 114 degrees . I am so devastated and destroyed. I dont know what else to say. I am charging my phone and will be back at the airport in a few hours. If you are in kuwait and can help please let me know. .

They wont even let me SEARCH FOR MY OWN CAT please if anyone has authority and can help please let me know this cat is my entire life please help me

I think the worst part for me is the fact it took them three hours to tell her they lost her cat and then wouldn’t let her in to help them look for him. I understand there are security procedures since it’s an airport but there must be ways around that like by having airport security accompany her. Pets generally will panic in an environment like an airport and there would be a much higher chance of finding the cat if the owner was involved in the search. Cats especially aren’t like dogs and won’t just come to a stranger when been called for.

Laila is constantly posting updates on her pets Instagram account so if you want to know more about what’s happening, check @leya_and_winston

Update: Sadly, the cat was found dead at the airport earlier today. The National Aviation Services (NAS) who were responsible for transporting the cat to the vet posted the following statement on their instagram account:

We regret the unfortunate turn of events with Winston.

We extend our deepest condolences to Ms. Laila and her family during this difficult time.

We are very sorry for their loss.

We are conducting an in-depth internal investigation into the matter.

People will be held accountable.

We will also be putting in place more stringent procedures under “FOSTER” rules to ensure this does not happen again.

To ensure higher safety standards for each animal in our care, we are creating a $100,000 fund – “Foster” towards improvement of animal care facilities at the airport.

We carefully handled over 700 household pets last year without incident. We understand that each animal is unique and precious.

I recently found out that it’s the British School of Kuwait’s 40 year anniversary. What not everyone knows is the little fun fact the school used to be called Sunshine School when it first opened in the late 70s up until 1990. I was in Sunshine School from 1980 to 1990 and I was part of the last class to graduate from it before the Iraqi invasion, after that, things got a bit messy and I ended up bouncing a lot from school to school and country to country until I finally graduated high school.

Because of the 40th anniversary, the school is publishing a small book and asked me if I had any photos to contribute since I’ve previously shared photos on the blog. I did of course and so had my sister mail me all the Sunshine School photos we had stored in our family home in Lebanon so I could scan them.

What’s cool is I posted some of my karate club photos taken in the early 80s and one of my followers recognized the karate instructor and sent me a link to his Facebook account. Turns out up until recently, he was still teaching karate in Kuwait.

There are 58 pictures and you can check them out after the link below. If you want the hi-res scan they’re also available to download on Flickr.

If you recognize yourself in any of the photos let me know!

Back in February, the Ministry of Interior decided to cancel the use of residency stickers inside passports. Instead, you need to have a valid Civil ID card when traveling as a means of verifying your residency.

The name on the Civil ID card has to match your name in your passport or you’ll risk being denied travel in or out of Kuwait. But, having your name misspelled on the Civil ID is a pretty common issue and my previous post on how to fix your name constantly gets comments from people with similar issues.

But now the Ministry has issued a statement that they will no longer correct spellings at PACI but instead, all requests must now be made online. They even have a dedicated section now for misspellings.

So if you need to fix the spelling of your name on your Civil ID, click here.

Not many events taking place this weekend but still more than what’s been going on the past few weekends. If I missed anything let me know.

Thursday
Al3ab Village

Friday
Al3ab Village
Fête De La Musique

Saturday
Al3ab Village
Book Club: Lolita Novel by Vladimir Nabokov
Global Wellness Day

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double-check with the organizers.

This is a long shot but does anyone have a copy of the book “State of Excitement” by James Bond creator Ian Fleming?

The Kuwait Oil Company commissioned Fleming to write this short book about Kuwait. However, the Kuwaiti Goverment disapproved of the final manuscript, which they found condescending, and the book was never published, despite repeated overtures to the Kuwaiti Goverment over the years.

The frontispiece to Fleming`s copy of the book reads: This is the only bound copy of a short book I wrote on Kuwait in December 1960. It was a condition of my obtaining facilities to visit Kuwait and write the book that the text should have the approval of the Kuwait Oil Company, whose guest I was.

The Oil Company expressed approval of the book but felt it their duty to submit the typescript to members of the Kuwait Government for their approval. The Sheiks concerned found unpalatable certain mild comments and criticism and particularly the passages referring to the adventurous past of the country which now wishes to be “civilised” in every respect and forget its romantic origins.

Accordingly, the book was stillborn. [source]

Here is a review of the book as well where they highlight some reasons the book might have been banned including this one:

A second rather humorous story the author relates revolve around an invitation he received to dine at one of the Sheikh’s numerous palaces. It seems that this palace located somewhere along the Persian Gulf coast had a very long dock which extended out far from land and at its end was a beautiful building where the Sheihk invited Fleming and other guests. In grand fashion the guests were carried from the shore in a stretch limousine out along the dock to the mini-palace. He noticed that after the guests had been dropped off, the driver had to back up the entire length of the dock, turn around and then back up the entire length of the dock once again. Fleming surmised that the driver was instructed to do this so that when the dinner was finished, the Sheikh and his guests could get back into the car on the ‘correct’ side and drive “forward” back to the shore. Fleming, almost snidely relates that even with all that money at his disposal the Sheikh couldn’t design and build a dock with a wide enough turn around. In other words, in this little vignette Fleming is mocking his host’s design and thereby his intelligence.

If you have a copy can you please accidentally leak it to me from an anonymous email address? Thank you!

Back in 2016 I bought a 1973 Datsun 240z. I used to really love that car and fixed it up so I could daily drive it and I was doing so until I decided to buy my first Lotus. I ended up selling the 240Z to a friend of mine so I wouldn’t feel too guilty about spending so much money on the Lotus, and I always regretted it. What’s worse is that he offered to sell it back to me at the end of last year, but I said no because I was in between jobs and that wouldn’t have been the responsible thing to do. By the time I realized my mistake, the car was sold off to another friend of ours who sent it to Bahrain where it’s getting a full restoration job.

I really needed a classic car in my life and I tried to find something interesting locally but couldn’t, so I started looking outside of Kuwait. I eventually ended up finding a beautiful red 1970 Alfa Romeo GTV in Holland and bought it back in April. But that car is still in the process of getting registered for export in and then needs around a month to get to Kuwait. So while waiting for it I kept my eye open for a 240z and a couple of weeks ago I finally found a good one that was located in Sulaibiya. It was blue like my dad’s Datsun in the 70s, and the guy was asking a reasonable price for so I went and checked it out.

At first glance, the car didn’t look like much, and I think that’s what might have scared other buyers off. The seats were ripped, the interior had been fully carpeted by the owner covering up all the original diamond stitched vinyl that covers the interior, and the original engine was swapped out with a 280z engine. But, the dashboard with all the dials and knobs was super clean! It was in much better condition than the one in my older Datsun and it’s actually the most expensive thing to restore in the car. Everything else like the seat covers, interior vinyl trimming, carpets, plastic panels etc.. are readily available and not for much. But a new dashboard without any of the dials and different buttons on it? That would easily cost you a third of the price of the car. The whole dashboard and center console area looked like it was refurbished or swapped out with a new one by one of the previous owners, so I quickly realized this was the car to get. Even the fact that the engine was off a 280z was a good thing for me because it meant I could install air conditioning and more engine parts were available for it.

So now I’m a proud owner of a 1972 blue Datsun 240z. I spent the weekend ordering a whole bunch of parts for it and I already scheduled an appointment with my mechanic to start work on it. By the time I’m done it should hopefully look similar to the 240z pictured above which was featured on Petrolicious. I’m super excited!

This is going to be a fairly long post but trust me, if you love nostalgic Kuwait related posts you’re going to want to read this because it’s just so random and really interesting.

A couple of weeks ago I was over at the Australian ambassador’s house (Jonathan) who is a music buff and while there he showed me a record which he knew I’d be interested in. The album was called “Jazz, Jazz, Jazz” by a Sudanese band called The Scorpions & Saif Abu Bakr and inside there was an interview with the band members. Turns out the band used to perform in Kuwait back in the 70s at different venues including the Hilton Hotel, the Sheraton Hotel, and the Marriott Hotel. Check out the clipping below:

And can you tell me about your journey to Kuwait?

We went by ourselves and without visa but with the help of our friend Saif (who was also our singer during that stay). And we went there without instruments or anything. At the airport we arrived and waited for Saif to pick us up. Of course, they asked us at the airport for our visas and who we were, but we replied not to have any. Saif wanted to help us to get in, so he called the son of the Prince who liked our music. Saif and him were friends. Following, the son of the Prince came in person and said “These are my guests, give them visas”. This way, we entered the country and made a contract with the television. We went to the shops to buy instruments and from there straight to the TV. After getting paid by TV we went back to the shops to also pay the instruments. That was our first time in Kuwait. But we went once more. The second time we also had a contract with the Marriot Hotel; to us it looked like a ship. This time we had a visa and stayed for a long time. We had an organ player from Jordan and a guitar player from France.

That KTV performance is actually online and you can check it out below:

So this is where things get even cooler. I get all excited about this and start taking photos of the record album and posting them on my Instagram account. A couple of hours later I get a message from a follower saying:

This is so weird. Saif is a colleague of mine and seeing this and reading it, it just seems like it’s another dimension. We knew that he was a part of some band, we just didn’t know to what extent. Where can I get this record/Cd?

Saif was still in Kuwait?? I quickly shared the message with Jonathan who suggested we invite him to dinner. So I had Saif’s colleague talk to Saif and see if he would be interested to meet. I ended up getting his contact information and Jonathan set up the dinner for us.

Me with Saif

A few days later we got to meet Saif and he was just full of interesting stories. Saif was never meant to come to Kuwait, when he turned 18 he decided to leave Sudan and head to Germany. So he headed to Lebanon first so that he could take the train to Germany. Once he got to Lebanon he met a girl and so decided to stay there for a month, he needed the money anyway and he figured he could earn money performing music while there. He then left Lebanon and headed to Syria and from there he got convinced to head to Kuwait and try and earn money there.

Once in Kuwait he met up with an old friend of his called Adam who used to play football for Qadsia club. Adam hooked Saif up with a job as an English teacher for air traffic controllers and as a side gig, he would perform music on Kuwait TV talk show. One day one of the guys at KTV comes up to him and asks him if he could put a band together because he wanted to record a performance for the station. Saif tells him he could and called up his friends in Sudan whom he used to perform with called The Scorpions. That’s basically how the whole story with that KTV broadcast came to be.

The Scorpions & Saif Abu Bakr Performing at KTV

But that’s not the end of it. Saif used to perform for a Kuwaiti event organizer back then called Hussein Abul. Hussein was the guy who brought the likes of Boney M, Demis Roussos, James Brown and Santa Esmeralda to perform in Kuwait. When James Brown came to Kuwait, Hussein gave Saif the job of driving James Brown around since Saif spoke both English and Arabic. Since Saif spent a lot of time with James Brown, a friend of his told him to ask James Brown if he could perform the track Super Bad at his events. The first two nights James Brown performed he didn’t play Super Bad but it was a really popular song with the locals and so a lot of people were requesting it. So Saif explained that to James Brown who said he didn’t mind. During rehearsal that day, James Brown tells his band that he wanted to play Super Bad but, one of the two bassists in the band didn’t know how to play it. James Brown tried to help him out by humming the rhythm he wanted but the bassist couldn’t get it right. Out of frustration James Brown asked his band if anyone else knew how to play the bass on Super Bad, and Saif who was sitting there watching the whole thing said he knew how to play it. James Brown was like are you sure you know how to play it? Saif and his band used to perform covers all the time and he used to practically play Super Bad every night at hotels. So even though he was under pressure now to perform in front of James Brown, he knew the song inside out. He ended up playing for James Brown who was so impressed that he asked Saif to perform the song with the band over the remaining events in Kuwait.

One interesting fact I found out, Hussein had also supposedly signed a contract with Michael Jackson to come to Kuwait. But before Michael Jackson’s event, he had scheduled the popular band Osibisa to come to Kuwait as well. But Islamists caused an uproar over one of Osibisa’s tracks because it contained an Islamic verse or something like that, and Hussein was banned from organizing events ever again. Hussein supposedly ended up leaving to Brazil where he now lives permanently.

Saif with Pele in Kuwait

Anyway, Saif eventually ended up leaving Kuwait to study but then came back once he was done. He’s been in Kuwait ever since and currently still teaches English at a local aviation school but still performs in Sudan every now and then with his old band. He lost most of his old photos during the 1990 Iraq invasion but I shared two remaining ones in this post, the Pele photo above and the band performing at KTV above that. Jonathan the Australian Ambassador is also gonna try and bring the band together again to perform in Kuwait and once that happens I’ll let you guys know.

For now if you’re interested in buying a copy of the album “Jazz, Jazz, Jazz” it’s available for purchase in different formats on bandcamp.

Update: Jazz, Jazz, Jazz is also available on Spotify. Farrah Galbi Aljadeed is my favorite track followed closely by Forssa Saeeda.

As a kid growing up in Kuwait in the 80s there weren’t that many things to do, so my mum enrolled me in skating classes at the ice skating rink (that’s me with the instructor in the picture above). I took classes until one day I fell and cut my hand on skates and didn’t really go back to the rink until the early 90s. The ice skating rink in the early 90s was the place to be, with the latest hits blasting on the ice skating rink speakers while we either ice skated or hung out in the ice skating rink’s arcade. Now the ice skating rink is the next national landmark in line to be demolished.

Laila Al-Hamad is the founder of Zeri Crafts, a brand that casts light on Kuwait’s crafts heritage. Recently she published the article below in the Arab Times and with her permission, I’m publishing it here along with some great photos she took.

Tearing Down our Memories

A skating rink in the desert is about to celebrate its 40th year of life. Forty years of an architectural masterpiece that has withstood the Iraqi invasion, the harsh summers, the wear and tear of time is truly an event to be celebrated. But just as Sawaber and countless other landmarks that have marked our architectural landscape have been mindlessly demolished without a purpose or a plan, the Kuwait Ice Skating Rink too is on death row.

A tent-like structure with wooden pillars reminiscent of Bait al-Shaar, the Kuwait Ice Skating Rink is a magnificent piece of architecture that was built in close collaboration with France in the late 1970s. And just as its unique architecture stands out in the midst of the many soulless glass towers that adorn the Kuwait City skyline, its place in Kuwait’s memory landscape is even more extraordinary. Beyond any commercial value, the Ice Skating Rink is – par excellence – a pillar of our national heritage; it has shaped the childhood memories of hundreds of thousands of the country’s inhabitants. Ask anyone who grew up in Kuwait in the 1980s what the Ice Skating Rink means to them, and expect a barrage of ecstatic responses.

Against all odds, a skating rink in the desert became the perfect oasis for those seeking a cool sanctuary away from the scorching sun. Upon entering this haven of tranquility, we were welcomed by the smell of cold, a smell so rare in Kuwait that we stored it in our olfactory memory. Take a left and find yourself in the ice-skates rental room, lined with dozens of benches awaiting eager skaters. A few meters beyond that lay the space we were all here for: the big rink. Grand and majestic, the big rink is a marvel, its walls bedecked with striking geometric patterns in warm reddish and ochre hues reminiscent of Sadu weaving patterns. Here would begin our journey on the ice, energizing us with a feeling of freedom and joy that few sports can equal.

Despite a hiatus associated with the Iraqi invasion, the rink has been operational for almost 4 decades, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. In my case, what was part of my childhood became part of my adulthood: I would take my children there to learn to skate as would many of my friends. This generational link gives the ice skating rink a special status; whereas many of the landmarks of our youth – including cinemas and theaters – have been abandoned or demolished, the rink has stood firm in its resilience. One of the few non-consumeristic enterprises in the country, it continues to be a refuge for those seeking family fun in a non-commercial setting. The unique modernist design fills us with a sense of pride linked to Kuwait’s golden age of architecture, where function met aesthetics. The place leaves few of us unmoved.

Inaugurated in 1980, the rink was not only the first such structure in Kuwait, but also the first ice skating complex in the whole of the Middle East. March 2020 marks its 40th anniversary. But instead of celebrating this milestone, we are getting ready for its imminent demolition. It is being sacrificed for the Shaheed Park phase 3 extension, making way for a concert hall and – ironically enough – a new skating rink. The rink is facing demolition not because of a lack of demand from the public (it welcomes 150,000 visitors a year), nor because of any maintenance or structural issues, but because someone has decided to build something new. Why demolish a perfectly functioning architectural masterpiece? Why not renovate and revitalize the existing structure and integrate it into the park? We can only gain from bridging rather than eliminating the various layers of Kuwait’s built landscape.

Two weeks ago, the JACC opened its doors to a Kuwaiti musical called “Memoirs of a Sailor.” By word of mouth, news of the musical spread like wildfire. Almost every person I know, Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis alike, attended, some even twice. What drove thousands of people to the show was a thirst for memories, roots, a past that is now completely out of reach to us. Isn’t it paradoxical that we are looking for identity inside theaters while we destroy it outside? Many Kuwaitis are upset about the neglect and erasure of their culture in its many forms; the architecture, the crafts and even the natural environment through the pollution of the sea.

The senseless destruction of our architectural heritage for the extraction of commercial value for the few is a violation of our national heritage. The Kuwait Ice Skating Rink should not be the next victim on the list of public executions that awaits our many landmarks. In a spirit of sustainability, and historical and architectural preservation, the structure should become a listed architectural landmark integrated into the new extension. May our development be respectful of our memories and our environment. And may wisdom and the public good prevail.

By Laila Al-Hamad

One of the contributing writers at the aviation news website SimplyFlying.com recently passed through the Kuwait Airport. While passing through he visited 3 of the 4 lounges in the airport and did a quick review. He missed the Emirates Derwaza Lounge but I’m guessing thats because he wasn’t aware of it since it’s fairly hidden.

If you’ve never been inside the lounges or just curious to read what he thought of them, here is the link to his article.