Search: “sti”

The other day I posted that I had heard about a movie called Shabab Cool and it dealt with street racing in Kuwait. I also heard it was banned and after watching parts of the movie I figured out why… its because the movie is REALLY crap. You have to watch the video I uploaded onto YouTube to really see what I am talking about. Its extremely cheesy with some of the worst acting I have ever seen.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Gr9nAeTNrog

Pan’s Labyrinth (Movie)
I didn’t like it, it bored me and was uneventful.

Harsh Times (Movie)
I hated Christian Bale in this movie a lot and thats why I loved this movie. He is such an amazing actor, so real that the whole movie I thought he was such a dickhead.

Casino Royale (Movie)
He barely had a cool car for 3 seconds, there was no car chase, no secret gadgets tucked up his sleeves, he still drinks martini and there was no nudity. Yawn.

What Dreams May Come (Movie)
Super boring.

Heroes (TV Show)
Really amazing, lots of characters and things happening. My second favorite show at the moment.

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (TV Show)
Not to be mistaken with Ramsay’s Hells Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares is a much more exciting show. I really love it, its my favorite show at the moment although I think I have watched all the episodes available.

Lost Season 3 (TV Show)
Extremely boring. The shows viewership in the US has also dropped by half. Hopefully they take this as a sign and kill the show.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 3 (TV Show)
Still fun to watch, things are actually happening on the show unlike Lost.

Prison Break Season 2 (TV Show)
Biggest surprise of the year. I thought once they escaped show would get boring but its one of the most exciting shows this year, they really did a good job with the story.

24 Season 6 (TV Show)
Un-Fucking-Believable.

Seems I pissed someone off at Brainstorm the architecture firm because I said they made a mess of the new Bazaar website (they designed it). Here are two comments left by them on my blog today:

HIHI what is going on… I believe a blog for most of all should be nautral and independant. Or you can call it 248complainingandbitching…

I just checked out the Bazaar site and I think it is very coool and I cant wait to see the readable issue on site.. Because how irritating is it when Starbucks is out of copies. Now what is wrong for an arcitecture firm who also have a grapich department, doing his site….? Honestly we are all designers with new ideas.. and yours are highly appreciated, but stop using your own tast as an agenda.. The site is still under development, so give it some time and you will see. Go and bitch at others magazines who are copying Bazaar big time. That is a crime!!!!

I do not agree that Bloggers are nerds, but I do think that what Bazaar did was right, because it is the freedom of speach. And if that pisses you off so much Mark, why do you bitch and complain about others all the time. We all read your blog and we do like it, but try to be grown up enough to take some criticism and turn it in to something. If there was not a hint of truth to it, you would not react so harsh… I guess all doze long days infront of the computer are getting to you.. you should do some outdoor sport other than walking your dog…and driving your bike.. And leave Bazaar alone , he is older than you by 10 years…

Bazaar Magazine have a new website (finally no more hotmail emails) which you can access by going to bazaar-magazine.com. Sadly the WHOLE site is flash based which is a disaster. Who still does a fully flashed based website nowadays yet alone a magazine?

As K.thekuwaiti put it, Flash is dead. Bazaar should have done a proper online magazine which would archive all their articles so they could at least be search able. They need to start building a database of all their previous issues and their current ones because old fashioned print magazines are quickly becoming extinct. Digital is the future and a perfect example of an excellent magazines online presence is WIRED.

Finally, where is the Bazaar blog? Majority of companies and corporations are adding blogs to their website so its surprising to see that a popular, young and trendy publication like Bazaar still hasn’t jumped on board the blogging wagon knowing for a fact that the editor of the magazine and majority of their writers read blogs themselves.

Currently the website barely has anything to make it worthy of a second visit. Unless they revamp it I don’t think I would ever bother checking it again. [Link]

Here is another classic football song called Al Azraq. [MP3 4.5MB]
Thanks to Holla for sending me this song.

And if you previously missed it, Haydoo.

Today the weather started off perfect. In the morning I went riding with Marzouq on my bike and then in the afternoon drove around in the SLK with the roof down. Its a lot of fun driving around in a roadster convertible, so fun that I didn’t want to even park the car somewhere so I could take shots for the blog.

I was cruising on the Gulf Road with Nat by my side when I spotted k.thekuwaitis car on the other side of the road heading the opposite way. He then called me up and we decided to meet up on the side of the road. Thats when I took the camera out to take shots of the car or else I would have kept on driving.

The SLK although having the small 1.8 liter engine doesn’t feel too slow on the road. The acceleration feels fast and I thought the car was actually faster then my beemer but to my surprise when I checked the stats online turns out the SLK actually is 1.1 seconds slower from 0-100. I guess with the roof down and the sound of the engine blasting it exaggerates the impression of speed.

So far I am really enjoying the car. Its both compact and a convertible so its a lot of fun. Best thing of course is the hard top. Once the weather got really dusty it took a click of a button to put the top back up and just like that its not a convertible anymore, it was a coupe with a hard roof.

Today afternoon I went picked up a red Mercedes SLK from the dealer so I could review it over the weekend. Originally I was supposed to get the G55 but it was out with a potential buyer so I got the SLK instead. Which by the way isn’t a disappointment at all since the weather is perfect for a convertible.

I have had a crush on the SLK for a long time now but the original one, the first model that came out was a bit girlish while the new model looks more aggressive. They gave me the SLK200 which is the low end version of the car meaning no power seats, no navigation and the smallest engine but all that really doesn’t matter when flying down the Gulf Road with the roof down.

The first thing I did once I drove out of the dealers lot was to bring down the hard top with a click of a button. My Wrangler needs like 15 minutes and 2 people to be able to remove the roof and here I was sitting in my car and with a flick of a switch, 30 seconds later the roof was off. How I love technology. I am extremely disappointed that BMW still use soft tops which I really hate.

The color of the SLK is red which matches my Ducati nicely. It was dark by the time I picked up the car so I couldn’t take any decent pictures so I will take better ones tomorrow. While at the dealer waiting to pick up the car I spotted an SLR on display. I was surprised they were displaying it since I thought you needed to order the car. The price is KD150,000 which the dealer assured me is a good deal since it was previously priced at KD165,000. Thats still a bit over my budget.

Why can’t places in Kuwait have decent websites? Speed Zone is a used car dealership located on the Gulf Road opposite Showbiz. They always have interesting cars parked out in front of it and so when I found out they had a website I was excited. I don’t pass by Speed Zone often so I figured I could keep track of all the cool cars they get via their website.

Turns out I was wrong, their website is a mess and contains practically no information whatsoever. I even checked the Arabic version of the site figuring it might be more complete and still ended up with nothing. It would be cool if they had a live webcam over looking their cars but thats asking to much when they don’t even have a photo gallery.

Also whats with the weird spelling and grammar. They have an animated flash saying “Speed Zone which you can’t catch up”. What does that mean?

Check this out also taken from their site:

prief about Speed Zone
This is Speed zone company on Kuwait which care about speed & luxury vehicles. we will provide the new cars, motorcycle and their spare parts which will give you the optimal performance and speed, so don’t miss our site it would be up to date with the new stuff so catch it up or you will miss it with speed zone.

I really hope they fix things because they do get some really cool cars all the time and their site isn’t doing them any justice. [Link]

Whats up with my luck? Thursday I suddenly felt like pizza and ordered from Papa John’s only to end up in a fight with them because over an hour and half had passed and my pizza hadn’t arrived yet. I decided I would never order from Papa John’s again.

Tonight I placed an order for pizza from Dominos. I placed an order at 8:33 and they told me I would have it within 30 minutes. 9:03 the pizza was still not delivered. 9:11 I get a call from the driver, he is around a block away from my house, less even like 100 meters away. He was lost and I explained to him how to get to my place. Take a right and get onto the main road, then take a left and another left. Very easy directions…

Thirty minutes later and the guy was still lost. Everytime I told him to take a left he takes a right, go straight he takes a right, U-Turn and he takes a left. The guy was a complete idiot. I just called and canceled my pizza, told them its been over an hour snce I ordered the pizza and over 30 minutes on the phone with the delivery guy and he still can’t follow directions.

I just called Papa John’s and ordered a pizza from them. I can’t be pissed at both Papa Johns AND Dominos… I have to still eat pizza from somewhere…

note: The guy was an Arab and I was talking to him in Arabic so it wasn’t a communication barrier.

Also while writing this post the Dominos manager called me and apologized. Told me what happened was unacceptable and that before anything they want me to be happy. He told me he would call the Dominos branch now and have them resend me the pizza and it would be for free. I told him thanks but I had already ordered from Papa John’s and thanked him for his call. He was like what can I do to make it up to you, I told him by calling me and apologizing you made it up and I would order from them again the next time. He apologized again and I thanked him and hung up. Thats good service.

update: Papa Johns told me the pizza needed 45 minutes, it arrived in 40. They must have sent me their best driver because he didn’t even call to get directions. Glad my pizza curse is over with.

A while back I posted about a good web space provider and today I decide d I would post about a good domain name provider. Although most hosts nowadays provide you with a free domain once you sign up, I for example have around 30 domains for a whole bunch of various sites of mine so I need a good domain provider where I could manage my domains and not pay an arm and a leg every time a domain renewal comes up.

For the longest time I had been using Directnic for my domain management and purchases. I started using them back in 2000 when they first launched. They were one of the first companies to offer domains for only $15 a year (before that domains cost a lot more). I never had any kind of problem with them but they also never really expanded their services. Six years later there are now many other sites that offer domains for much cheaper then $15 a year and with more features, so I decided to find another domain manager.

My first two options that came up were Joker.com and GoDaddy.com. For some reason I always had a negative impression about Joker plus they sell domains at 12$ a year while GoDaddy is $9 a year, so I went with GoDaddy. After transferring one domain name to them I realized GoDaddy really sucked. Their domain management interface was just awful and unintuitive. Not only that but whatever you wanted to do, buy a new domain name, transfer an old domain name, whatever you want to do they always seem to be trying to sell you stuff. I really hated how pushy they were.

I hated my experience with GoDaddy and I had only one domain there, I started looking for another domain provider and I found NameCheap. I have now been using NameCheap for a few months and I have transferred nearly all my domains there. The interface is fast, simple and practical to use. Their prices are also cheap, they sell domains for $8.88 and they have had this offer now for a couple of months where if you register or transfer a domain name they give you WhoisGuard for free. WhoisGuard keeps your domains anonymous which is pretty handy.

My experience with Directnic was great and I never had any bad experience with them. Customer service was always prompt and helpful but in the end of the day they weren’t offering me much for my money. The WhoisGuard option isn’t even available with them. GoDaddy was just a total diaster and I would never recommend them to anyone. NameCheap is now my new domain manager and I really like them a lot. I haven’t contacted customer service yet about any issues so I don’t know if that department is any good but everything else has just been working out flawlessly and the site is the quickest of the bunch to load. I would definitely recommend them.

Me and a friend at work both purchased some pimped out RC cars from Fantasy World. I got the Mercedes G-Class and he got the Dodge Charger. We built like a makeshift ramp in the office and we were flying the cars off it. The cars although costing only KD8 are pretty responsive and fast.. for their size. My G-Class out performed the Charger in everything except when it came to making donuts but thats because the Charger has a longer wheelbase.

I got this in my email today:

We’ve experienced some turbulence. Now you can fly comfortably for less. British Airways is offering dramatic price reductions on flights to the UK and North America. Book now and secure a great deal, on us! Travel in World Traveller to the UK from as little as KD 90* or to North America from KD155*. What’s more you can also get 15% off hotels and car hire at https://ba.com/middleeastoffers Book online now at https://ba.com/middleeastoffers to secure great deals before someone else does. Offer ends 23 February 2007. Alternatively contact British Airways Kuwait 802 777.

Yours sincerely
Shaun Davis
Executive Club Director Asia & the Pacific

*This offer is subject to change without prior notice. Prices quoted are after discount and exclude tax, surcharges and service fees. This offer is valid for travel between 3 February 2007 and 12 June 2007. All flights are via London Heathrow. Tickets purchased online must be paid for immediately. British Airways Holidays discount are only available online at ba.com. Further terms and conditions apply. For a list of destinations and terms and conditions log on to https://ba.com/middleeastoffers

I got an email today from Hilton Kuwait Resort inviting me and Nat to a a live “chocolate show” done by one of the world most famous chocolatier, Pierre Marcolini on February 11th. The day will start off at 12PM with lunch at the Teatro Restaurant, this will then be followed by a live chocolate presentation by chef Pierre Marcolini at 2:00PM in the Song Bird Cafe where we can eat all the chocolate that we can eat.

The live chocolate presentation is open to the public and you will be able to buy and try a variety of chocolates. I have never been to a chocolate event so it should be interesting. You can view the ad for the event by clicking [Here]

A friend of mine just told he saw an ad for KEMS (Zajil) in the newspaper saying that you can get an 8MB DSL connection for only 8KD. For more details you have to visit their stand at InfoConnect. Anyone know anything about this???

update: I just called Zajil and this is there offer.

Now until February 9th they have a special 3 in 1 deal. When you sign up for their DSL connection you get a free dial up connection AND access to all their hotspots in Kuwait. Here are their prices:

256KB DSL + Dial up + Zajil Hotspots = KD96 a year (KD8 per month)
512KB DSL + Dial up + Zajil Hotspots = KD179 a year (KD15 per month)
1MB DSL + Dial up + Zajil Hotspots = KD349 a year (KD29 per month)

You can get more info by calling them on 820820

I think the 1MB connection for KD29 is a really good deal and add to that free access to the hotspots and it makes things a lot more interesting. I am really tempted to swap over from Qualitynet to Zajil now.

note: The Zajil Hotspots can hit up to 8MB thats why they are saying 8KD for 8MB.

Just got back from the Kuwait Advertising Arab Awards, it was better then last years event but it was still extremely poor. The way the categories were divided and the way the ads were nominated didn’t make any sense. Our agency submitted work to some categories for example but during tonights event those categories didn’t exist. I heard the same feedback from other agencies who participated, everyone was just confused to what the hell was going on. The actual presentation of the awards was also a mess, they couldn’t get the TV commercials playing right (how hard is it to press play and pause) and the woman announcer had the most cheesiest one liners. The event was also supposed to start at 7PM according to our tickets (which had a major mistake btw), but according to their website the event was supposed to start at 7:30PM but in reality the event actually started at 8. There were also less agencies participating this year probably because after last years fiasco no one wanted to be involved with the KAAA.

On a positive note the stage looked good, BUT it was a near copy of the KREA awards. Compare the picture above to the picture [Here]. Notice the starry backdrop?

Anyway my agency ended up collecting the most awards (I think), with a total of 12 bronze, silver and gold trophy’s but it really doesn’t mean much since the KAAA doesn’t have any credibility internationally. One of my favorite TV commercials ever which was created by our Beirut office won a Gold in the food category. The version of the ad they played wasn’t the one I liked though, it has a different soundtrack and editing so I figured I would share with everyone the version I like which I uploaded to YouTube a while back. The commercial was for the product Zwan, if you haven’t checked it out you can by clicking [Here]. And thats it basically, I got to see a lot of old friends and I got to wear a suit so everything else didn’t matter much. Hopefully next year I won’t go.

update: here is another review of the event [Link]

update2: Just found out that they canceled one of our categories because we were the only ones who entered it. So according to the KAAA logic if you are successful and have no competition you can’t win. Now lets play along with that for a moment, how about you call us and tell us that you canceled that category, at least then we could have told the client not to come to the event. No professionalism whatsoever.