I’ve had these photos in my archive for a couple of years now, I forgot where I got them from but I guess it’s about time to share them. Some of the photos are really great but I’m not 100% positive about the date of the photos.
They’re a mixture of photos ranging from 1975 to 1977. I think 1977 because in one of the photos you can see the Kuwait Towers in the background and it looks like construction on it was completed, but that only happened in 1977. But in other photos, you can see the dates 1975 and 1976 so it’s a mix.
No matter the dates the photos are really great and with all the silly drama with yoga taking place now, vintage photos like these are now more important than ever to share. You can view and download them all in hi-res by clicking here.
In addition to the photos, there is also a video taken from the AP archive showing the 1975 parade. Usually, I’d say bring back the parades but even if we did, I don’t think it would ever be the same. Kuwait was so different back then.
A lot of people are traveling this holiday now that PCR tests are no longer needed but if you’re staying put and are looking for some shows to watch, here are a few I recently finished watching:
Euphoria
I already posted about Euphoria last year but season 2 is out now and somehow they’ve managed to make the show even better. Season 2 Episode 3 is probably one of my favorite top 10 episodes from any show of all time and the whole series is a must-watch. If you find yoga offensive, skip this show. Euphoria is on HBO Max.
The Shrink Next Door
I didn’t really like this show that much but I’m putting it here since when I was stuck at home with Covid I killed a lot of time by binge-watching this series. The Shrink Next Door stars Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd and is based on a true story. It’s available to stream on AppleTV+
The Book of Boba Fett
Is it me or are the shows based on the Star Wars movies actually better than the movies themselves? First, it was The Mandalorian and now The Book of Boba Fett. Even if you’ve never watched any of the Star Wars film you’ll still really enjoy this series as long as you’re into scifi. You’re going to need Disney+ to watch it though.
And Just Like That…
Quick confession, I was always a huge fan of Sex and the City but mostly because of the character Mr. Big played by Chris Noth. And Just Like That… surprisingly was fun to watch, not too cringy and somehow relatable. The girls have all grown up, they have families now and we get to watch them adulting while they also try to be their old selves. This show is streaming on HBO Max.
City on a Hill
If you’re a fan of detective shows like The Wire, you’ll enjoy this a lot. The first season was better than the second season but was still good to watch. City on a Hill is produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon while starring Kevin Bacon in one of his best roles yet. If you’re my age you’ll also recognize a bunch of actors from old shows like Rescue Me, The Sopranos, and of course, The Wire. Really easy to binge watch and it’s also streaming on HBO Max.
Dexter: New Blood
As a huge fan of Dexter, I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy this reboot but I just finished it last night, and shit, that was a pretty great series. Except for the last episode that is. No spoilers but I didn’t think it made sense, and going by the reviews online it seems nobody else liked the last episode either. To watch Dexter: New Blood you need to subscribe to Showtime.
If you don’t know how to stream the shows, it’s pretty simple. You need to sign up to a smart DNS service first (easier than a VPN). I use Smart DNS Proxy (affiliate link) and they have step by step guides on how to set it up on your system (I use Apple TV). I then subscribe to all the networks through my Apple TV using my US Apple account.
This weekend is incredibly busy with lots of things happening including two large events. Starting today till Saturday you have the Bugsha Market taking place at Green Island. Then on Friday and Saturday, you have the Made Food Festival taking place at Kuwait Motor Town. I’m coincidently taking part in the Car Open Track on Saturday at KMT so it should be interesting with the event happening there as well at the same time. If you have a bicycle you could go Saturday morning and ride your bike at the track and then when done, enjoy the festival or chill and watch the racing events at the track.
Anyway, below is the full list of events for this weekend, let me know if I missed anything:
Dave’s Hot Chicken is a Los Angeles based chain that was started back in 2017 by four Armenian friends in a parking lot with just $900. Today they have over 40 locations, Drake as a major investor and will soon have 30 more locations opening up in the Gulf. According to the press release that was published yesterday, the company that got the rights to Dave’s Hot Chicken in the region is the UAE based Lavoya, a company that also has the rights to Joe & The Juice.
The press release doesn’t mention an opening date only that they will be opening 31 locations in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. I’m trying to remember if I ever had Dave’s Hot Chicken while in LA since the logo looks familiar (plus they’re Armenian) but can’t seem to find any photos of the food in my vacation albums. The food does look really really good on their instagram account so you can drool over those for now @daveshotchicken
Does anyone know the process of replacing an old/damaged license plate? I’m currently in the process of restoring a car and I need to replace the front license plate with a new one since the one on the car currently is bent and worn out. I’ve only ever gone through the process of swapping a square plate to a Euro-style license plate so not sure what the process is for replacing a worn-out plate (if thats possible even).
Give is a local non-profit organization that aims to improve the process of donating. Their online platform connects donors with registered Kuwaiti charities in order to make it easier to discover what charitable projects are available and to donate to them all in one place.
The Give website lists different projects in various countries you could donate to not just Kuwait, so if you want to donate to a certain cause that’s not local, you can also do that. Locally as of this post, they have 33 different projects you could donate to ranging from snacks for low-income workers to sponsoring an orphan child. Navigating the various projects and finding one that is of interest to you is a very easy process, the whole experience actually is very simple and I really like that.
The process of donating once you find a cause is incredibly fast and more importantly, anonymous. You don’t need to create an account to donate, you don’t even need to give them your name or email address. It took me less than a minute from the moment I found a project I wanted to donate to till I checked out and finished paying. One thing to note is that Give charges a 500fils service fee when donating. They don’t explain what it’s for on their website, but I’m guessing it’s to fund the service. Update below
Give also have apps for both Apple and Android devices if that’s something you prefer. That way whenever you feel like donating you can just launch the app and find a project to donate to. I’m really impressed with the whole concept and I definitely recommend checking them out so visit their website give.org.kw
Update: Give made me aware that they do actually mention what the service fee but during the checkout process. I just didn’t notice it.
Pixel artist Comet Confetti yesterday posted a really great 8-bit art recreation of the famous photo of a Kuwaiti girl and her lamb taken right after the Gulf War. If you’re into 8-bit art like me then you should check out her instagram account for more of her work @cometconfetti
On a side note, what’s the story behind the picture? I couldn’t find anything about it online and I’m guessing the girl in the photo is around 40 years old now. I wonder where she is?
On Friday I visited the Liberation Tower for my first time ever after booking an appointment earlier in the week. I had booked a 4PM spot back when you could book a time slot, but decided to pass by at 2PM instead. The process to enter the tower was very simple. I parked in the underground parking across the street and then headed to the main tower entrance on the main road. There was a guy standing at the gate who was scanning the ticket QR code, he wasn’t checking the time slot just that you had an active QR code or not. Once I got through him I just needed to show my vaccination status to another counter and then was pointed in the direction of the elevator.
I’d never been to the Liberation Tower before so I was really excited to get to the top. I saw the tower being built as a kid, and as an adult I drive by it all the time so I was really looking forward to finally be able to go inside. Once I stepped out of the elevator onto the observation deck I was actually surprised, it looked nice. Because it’s an old government building I think I was just expecting it to look rundown but instead it was actually very clean and looked brand new. As part of this one month opening of the deck they had some vintage telecom and postal service related items on display but without any explanation or information. They also had an old phone booth which was cool and viewing binoculars spread out around the deck. It was very chill, I liked it.
When I posted photos of my experience on Instagram a lot of people messaged me to ask if it was worth visiting or not. That’s difficult to answer. My office in Hamra Tower was higher than the observation deck at Liberation Tower so you are’t going there because it’s the tallest structure in Kuwait. I think it’s one of those places worth visiting just because of what they are, an important Kuwaiti landmark.
To book tickets you can do so by visiting LiberationTower.com but like I mentioned in my previous post you’ll get a “Sold out” error if you do so. Instead, you need to get tickets through the loophole I found which is by booking through this page. People who booked through that page have confirmed they were able to visit the Liberation Tower at the day and time of their choosing and were let in without any issues. Just make sure you have a QR code for every person in your group.
I just found out that this year’s COMFEST 2022 is going to be held at The Arena, the new venue part of the 360 Mall expansion. The Arena is a 5,000+ capacity purpose-built indoor live entertainment and events space that was designed to world-class standards. No events have been held at the venue yet so COMFEST 2022 will probably be the first event to be held there.
The event will be taking place from March 29th to April 1st, no tickets are on sale yet but to stay posted follow them on instagram @comfestcon or visit their website for more information comfestkw.com
The Liberation Tower is now open to the public for the month of February. The Ministry of Communications is holding a communications and postal exhibition on level 150m of the tower to showcase a unique collection of telecom devices and items related to the postal service.
The tower is open on weekdays from 3PM to 8PM, and weekends from 2PM to 8PM. You need to book ahead of time and you can do so by visiting liberationtower.com
Update: Tickets are sold out!
Update2: Ok, I found a loophole. If you try and book a ticket the normal way you will get a “Sold Out” error. Instead, what you need to do is head to this page and add the product to the cart. You will find tickets available but you can only book one ticket at a time. As of this post they had tickets available from today till Sunday. After clicking on submit, the page will hang and time out. Ignore that and check your email. If you don’t have an account on the website then you will get an email asking to verify your email. Once you verify you should get the tickets sent to you.
Update3: Looks like the loophole has now been closed.
Update4: According to a reader he was able to visit the Liberation Tower using a ticket that didn’t contain a date or time. So the loophole above still works.
Kuwait will ban a new film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s whodunnit “Death on the Nile” with a cast of Hollywood stars including Israeli actress Gal Gadot, authorities said Sunday. Source
Can someone with free time on their hands get the domain bannedinkuwait.com and just start listing all the things banned here so we can keep track? Thx.
