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I used to make these cookies back when I was in university. They used to come out really good and everyone always nagged me about when I would bake some more. I forgot what brand of brown sugar I used but for the actually chocolate chips I used to use the brand Baker. I haven’t made the cookies since I came back to Kuwait because I can’t find decent brown sugar and I can’t find Baker chocolate chips which sucks. Anyway here is the recipe, I forgot where I found it:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) white sugar
1 1/4 cups (270 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups (525 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons (6 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (375 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

————

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl cream the butter. Add the sugars and beat until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time making sure to beat well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using. The cookie mixture will be moist and hold together.

Using two tablespoons, drop about 2 tablespoons of dough (38 grams) on the prepared baking sheets. Do not flatten cookies. Bake on the center rack of oven for 12 minutes, or until golden brown and still soft when gently pressed.

Makes about 48 cookies.

Today is the last day for the Camel races since they stop racing in the summer. The AWARE Center is arranging a final trip to the racing club in Kabad today. You can join them and take photos with the camels, and if time permits ride them. They will be meeting at the club at 2PM. Maps will be provided and admission to the club is free.

Date: Thursday, April 6
Time: 2pm

I just called the Kuwait Zoo to find out until what time they were open today and the guy was like 12PM. I figured that was because today is Thursday and maybe the Zoo have half day. So I asked the guy how about on usual days, till what time are you open? He was like 12PM, we are open till 12PM everyday except for Saturday when we are closed.

I find that a bit strange to be open till just 12PM, I know I have been there past 12 before like 5 or something. I guess this is their new summer time although I don’t count this weather summary yet..

Kuwait Zoo telephone: 24733389

Update: Here are pictures I took the last time I was at the zoo [Pictures]

Update2: Opening hours are now 8 to 12 and 4 to 8.

I am sure many readers here have tried pouring ketchup from a new bottle only to fail misrebly, thats because you were doing it wrong, most probably banging it from the backside or something. This link will show you in great detail the correct way to pour ketchup, I have seen it in action many times at Johnny Rockets. [Link]

A point-and-shoot with 3200 ISO, sounds promising. If I see some cool sample shots at the high ISO’s I might just get one for myself.. although I am not a Fuji fan.. [Link]

For the past couple of years I have been forced to use Extensis Suitcase to manage the fonts on my Mac. There was one serious competitor and Extensis ended up acquiring it. Awhile back I found out Linotype released a beta version of their own font manager software called FontExplorer X. I went ahead and tried it out and it was a bit buggy and had some features missing so I removed it and continued using Suitcase. A couple of days ago Linotype released the final version of their software so I downloaded it and ever since then I haven’t gone back to Suitcase.

FontExplorer is wayyy faster, has more features, and best of all its fucking free! Its FREE! Suitcase costs $100 and I see no reason why I should pay that much for a software that doesn’t perform better then the free FontExplorer. So what I am trying to say here is if you are a designer and frustrated with Suitcase, download FontExplorer, its lightyears ahead and so much more cooler.. [Link]

Last year I posted pictures of the abandoned Apple store in Kuwait City and they quickly spread all over the web. The coolest thing about this dirty old store were the old Apple posters, everyone wanted to get their hands on them since they are very rare and impossible to find. So I passed by the place today during lunch time and to my surprise the posters were all taken down and the store completely emptied and cleaned. I quickly got closer to see if I could find any trace of the posters and their they were folded on the floor of the display window. So I went upstairs to the Apple stores office and spoke to this Apple tech guy whom I met a couple of times before and he told me that they had just finished repainting the store and they would be opening it up in the next few days. I asked him what they were going to do with the posters since he knows how badly I wanted them, he told me that they were going to hang them up again. SUCKS! So now I am never going to get my hands on these Apple posters nor will I be able to get my hand on Lego guy!

I just ordered a jar of cookies from Choowy Goowy, at first the person I spoke to told me they don’t deliver just one jar and I needed to order more. I told him I had already ordered a jar alone before and that there are always people ordering from my office. He told me OK but that I would get my cookies in two days. I was like what about tomorrow, because when you crave cookies you want them right away, not in two days.. he told me he would try to get me them by tomorrow afternoon but no promises.

Seems their business is doing good and they are really busy, but I don’t like the idea that a person should order more then a jar and that he should wait two days to get it. I hope they don’t become slow like Aramex..

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Poseidon
Mission: Impossible III
and Snakes on the Plane

Just got the dog show forms and they are scanned and attached to this post. Here are the details of the event again.

Event: First Dog Show in Kuwait
Date and Time: Friday April 7th, 2-6PM
Location: British Embassy Gardens
“Join us for a great day out with bric-a-brac stalls, face-painting, fun competitions & great raffle prizes!”

Admission Form Front
Admission Form Back

Note: You don’t need a dog to join in the fun!

We will be entering Geo in the “Most Adorable Dog” and “Best Puppy” categories.

Album cover spoofs, goofs, tributes, send ups, near misses and coincedences. This is the all-new Knockoff*Project. There are over 100 new knockoffs… stashed all over the place. [Link]

Below are a list of TV shows I am currently watching, what I think of them and what episodes I just finished watching.

Grey’s Anatomy (Pictured above)
Season 2, Episode 18
Really entertaining and addictive, I am watching 2 a day.

X-Files
Season 1, Episode 12
Used to be my favorite show, I missed out on a lot of episodes when I was in university so I just started watching them all over again. I got 9 seasons which means I should be done by Christmas!

Prison Break
Season 1, Episode 13
I hated the show when I first started watching it because I didn’t like the main guy. Now though I still hate him but I really like all the supporting actors who are pretty fucked up but in a cool way.

24
Season 5, Episode 12
The best show ever, I have said it a million times already and will say it a million more times, Jack Bauer is just the coolest character ever. I was watching the movie Stand By Me the other day and it turns out Jack played the role of this delinquent teenager. It was an old movie and he was really young in it but he still looked a lot like Jack does now which made things weird.

Family Guy
Season 1, Episode 8
I watched the movie first, then I watched season 4 and now I am watching season 1. Doesn’t make sense I know but better then nothing.

Arrested Development
Season 3, Episode 10
I only have 3 more episodes left and I am scared to watch them. Arrested Development got canceled last year and the show ends at episode 13 of season 3 so once I am done, I am done forever. I never want the Arrested Development experience to end so I am watching only 1 episode a week but I know in three weeks time it will be all over, one of the funniest shows ever made will be over. Its sad.

The IT Crowd
Season 1, Episode 4
“Yeah, you do know how a button works, don’t you? No, not on clothes. No, there you go, I just heard it come on. No, that’s the music you hear when it comes on. No, that’s the music you hear when… I’m sorry, are you from the past? ”

Reno 911
Season 1, Episode 3
This show is like a spoof of the TV show COPS. Sometimes I find it really corny but other times I can’t stop laughing.

Knight Rider
Season 2, Episode 3
KITT was really pimped out. He had a built in video game system, GPS navigation, video conferencing, Nitros, night vision, voice activation… some really high tech stuff..

Desperate Housewives
Season 2, Episode 15
Its not as fun as season 2 but doing a hell of a lot better then Lost (read below)

Lost
Season 2, Episode 15
I have no clue why I am still watching this crap. Season 2 has been a disaster, the show has become extremely lame, boring, uneventful and repetetive. What started off as one of the most exciting shows ever has taken a 180 degree turn for the worst. Total crap.

Curb Your Enthusiam
Season 1, Episode 8
Larry Davids charactar is a mixture of Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza. He’s a bit weird at first but you get used to him.

Weeds
Season 1, Episode 10
This show started off boring but it started getting really good around episode 3. Its about a school mum who starts dealing weed to make some money. First season is only 10 episodes and now I have to wait till July for season 2, I can’t wait.

Update: I added Weeds, don’t know how I forgot about it.

Many of you might not know this but the Commercial Bank of Kuwait logo was designed by one of the best design agencies in the world, Pentagram back in 1979. Not only that but the designer who worked on the Commercial Bank identity, Alan Fletcher, is also among the most influential figures in British graphic design history. I decided to share with you what Alan Fletcher said about the Commerical Bank project back in the 1980’s and also the idea behind the logo itself.

The text below was written by Alan Fletcher

Designing in the Middle East requires certain cultural adjustments to one’s normal working pattern and lifestyle. The Gulf States are seven hours’ flying time from London with a time difference of three hours. Travel by Arabic airlines is like arriving in the Gulf before you’ve left. It’s a dry journey – no alcohol. At midday, Muslim passengers are likely to say prayers prostrated in the aisle; one wonders about the flight deck! Normal working hours are 8.00 am to 1.00 pm, and even then a government survey indicated that the oil-rich Kuwaiti only works an average of ten minutes each day. Friday is a holiday but they work Saturday instead. Appointments, are not necessarily appointments, and frequently involve hours (if not days) of waiting.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait had catered only for institutions and businesses within the Gulf States until it decided to expand into international markets and enter retail banking. The new policy created the need for an appropriate visual identity. Since the bank had neither the experience nor resources, it appointed Tony Vines, via Ogilvy and Mather, New York, to set up a marketing department and create a new identity within eighteen months. Vines flew to London in 1979, interviewed various advertising agencies and designers, and on reaching a rapport with Pentagram commissioned us to work on the program. His fast response to locating a design resource set the pace for the hectic schedule that followed.

In architecture the term ‘fast tracking’ describes the method of designing whereby the architect keeps one jump ahead of the builder. In this case the severe deadlines and cultural differences made it more of a jump in the dark. The brief stipulated that the corporate identity and design style should be Arabic in flavor, but be understood internationally. The symbol, in particular, was required to mean something to both an Arab and a Westerner. Designing within these constraints reduced the normal available options. The two different scripts precluded using the alphabet to form a logotype such as Unisys, or initials such as IBM. An abstract mark would take too long to establish. A pictorial device might have encouraged the client to insist on a heraldic solution such as a scimitar crossed with palms. However the design of the symbol proved to be the least of the problems. Designing from right to left, in a script and language one didn’t understand, and within an unfamiliar culture, required keeping one’s head fast on its feet.

The new Commercial Bank symbol is an amalgamation of calligraphy and image. the words commercial and bank are rendered in kufic, a geometric script, to make a decorative star, recognizable by anyone as a distinctive pattern and, additionally, readable to an Arab. The dual language identity has English type in Paul Renner’s Futura with a compatible Arabic script especially drawn by Ahmed Mustafa.

Back in September I posted on Miskan my weight which was 90.6KG. As some of you who know me since “Moblogging from Kuwait“, I used to be a fast food junkie. I used to have McDonalds nearly daily and if I wasn’t having McDonalds I was having Burger King, Hardees or some other burger place. Anyway back in September I decided to cut back on the junk and start eating better. Well I got on the scale yesterday and I am now 84KG. Since September I have had McDonalds only a handful of times, Hardees only twice and Burger King also twice. I still eat food from the food court but I don’t have any burgers and I rarely have french fries or anything fried. My diet has been a success!

Today I decided I will discontinue posting porn on this blog. There are a couple of reasons for my decision but I think the main one is that porn is attracting a “different” kind of crowd to this blog. My Haifa and Nancy Ajram videos I posted awhile back were recently linked to by an Arab porn forum and I didn’t like that neither did I like some of the comments that were left, so I decided to delete those two posts. Then I realized, hey, why not just remove the rest of the porn, I don’t have that many porn posts anyway so very little will be missed. So starting Sunday the porn will be deleted. So make sure you help yourself to whatever is there now before its all gone. [Sex]