Search: “ur”

26 maart Kiele kiele Koeweit (1974) from Vandaag Voorheen on Vimeo.

I found the video above on Vimeo and it looked interesting since it was from 1974 and had something to do about Kuwait. But, I couldn’t understand anything since it was in Dutch so I sent the video to a friend of mine in Holland and asked him what it was about. This is what he emailed me back:

Haha… this is a funny carnival song from early 1974 about the oil-crisis of 1973. It’s because of this song the Dutch found out about the existence of Kuwait. The 4 guys were famous in the 70s because of their political cabaret show on television; Farce Majeure.

In 1973 Kuwait boycotted the US and Holland for their support of Israel in the 1973 War (Ramadan War). Because of the fear of running out of oil, Prime Minister Den Uyl took the decision to introduce the ‘oil-bon’. A maximum supply of oil for each person every month. Another measure was that cars were not allowed to drive on Sundays. Only doctors, firemen, police and others who could prove that it was absolutely necessary to use their car on Sunday were exempt. But those exceptions were only a few and basically it was a nice time in my youth, being able to roller skate and cycle on the empty highways.

The song is a simple carnival song. Kuwait, Kuwait, tickle, tickle, Kuwait, tickle, tickle Kuwait and so on.. Just funny, no offensive lyrics whatsoever. In the clip you see the official agent (honorair consul) of Kuwait in The Netherlands at that era, Mahmoud Rabbani. A nice person who earned a lot of respect from the Dutch people because of his approach. When he receives the 45″ single in the clip, he thanks the members of the group and add to this the memorable words;

‘Critisism is a good, as long as it’s brought with a sense of humor.’

Yeah, times have changed… 🙁

At first Kuwait was angry about the song and threatened with more diplomatic sanctions. They blamed the performers of the song for adding even more fuel to the fire. But, as you noticed, Mahmoud Rabbani acted wisely and became popular in Holland. Unfortunately not that much in Kuwait… but that’s another story.

A very interesting story, one I hadn’t heard about before.

Thanks Marcel

A while back I contacted KDD and asked them if I could visit their factory so I could post about how my favorite ice creams were made. After a few emails back and forth I finally got to pass by earlier this week for a private tour. I was given some basic rules with regards to photography. I wasn’t allowed to shoot video or take wide shots of the factory floor and all the shots I did take would have to be approved by them. I thought these were fair requests and as long as I could still tell the story of how the ice creams were made I didn’t mind them.

The KDD factory is located in Subhan and is really huge. Before going on the tour I was required to wear a lab coat, a hair net, wash my hands and remove any jewelry. We then had a long walk to the ice cream making section of the factory and when we finally got there it turned out it was my lucky day. The first ice cream machine was busy making my favorite ice cream ever, KDD Silver. Because the post is long and full of pictures you have to click on the link below to check it all. Also if you want to go on a tour yourself there is contact info at the end of the post.

An interesting feature from 1992 on the propaganda that helped gain American public support for the Gulf War. It’s around 30 minutes long but worth watching. [YouTube]

The locally created The 99 comics has been banned in Saudi Arabia for religious reasons and the creator Dr Naif Al Mutawa is also being sued locally.

However, Al Mutawa, the CEO of Teshkeel Media Group has vehemently defended his work, saying that it had won universal praise, including from the Emir of Kuwait and President Barack Obama.

“Those who are attacking men are claiming that I am using the 99 Holy Names of God for my characters,” he said. “However, I never thought they would go as far as accusing me of blasphemy and atheism. I am surprised that this is happening in Kuwait, a country of law that respects the Constitution and freedoms,” he said.
Al Mutawa said that his work was under an Islamic company and funded by an Islamic bank.

“We have succeeded in presenting a positive image about the Islamic culture at international events. We had a role in dissipating the negative images of terrorism and killing that people had of Arabs. The series is being shown in 70 countries across the world,” he said. [Article]

The 99 is a comic book featuring a team of superheroes based on Islamic culture and religion that became a worldwide sensation. Dr Naif was featured on the front page of CNN previously as well as being mentioned by Barrak Obama in one of his speeches.

Al-Babtain are currently the car dealers for Infiniti, Nissan and Renault among others and I managed to get my hands on some old photos of the dealership. There are three photos, one if their first showroom in Kuwait, the other photo is of their first spare parts shop and the final one is of the interior of their showroom in 1980.

If you have any old photos of Kuwait [Let me know]

Thanks Abdulrahman

As part of GREAT British Week, British chef Gary Rhodes will be coming to Veranda restaurant at the Avenues. There are two different events that will be taking place:

Gary Rhodes Afternoon Tea
Venue: Veranda Restaurant
Date: 26 March 2014
Time: 14:00
Price: KD12

Gary Rhodes VIP Dinner
Venue: Veranda Restaurant
Date: 27 March 2014
Time: 19:00
Price: KD22

If you’re interested you need to call Veranda to book tickets on 22283141

Thanks jhonybravo

Because of the Arab Summit, some roads are going to be closed or diverted tomorrow and Wednesday (March 25 and 26). Kuwait Times created a map of the different roads closed and you can check it out by clicking [Here]

Thanks Abeer

Mohammed Taher is a Kuwaiti music director, producer, writer and the guy behind the music label Brave Wave. I posted about him last year after the popular gaming blog Joystiq posted about his then upcoming album, World 1-2 which featured 21 video game composers. Recently though he was invited to give a talk at Bit Summit, an indie game festival held annually in Kyoto, Japan. My brother managed to score an interview with him and just posted a feature story on him in the gaming section [Here]

Q8books found a bunch of vintage Arabic comic books in a pile of donated books and are trying to figure out their value. The conditions of the books range from around a 5/10 to maybe an 8 or 9/10. Does anyone know how to go about finding how much they’re worth? The books are:

Superman 6 (1984 reprint)
Superman 58 (1981)
Superman 63 (1982)
Superman 64 (1983)
Batman 13 (1977)
Batman 15 (1979)
Flash 4 (1973)
Lulu 16 (1980)

Just a minor change, I renamed the Market section to Classifieds. I figured Classifieds is easier to understand plus is more google friendly. All the old Market links you have should automatically take you to the new location. [Classifieds]

Fourteen suspects have been arrested in connection with an attack on a police patrol during a wedding party in western Kuwait City, the Interior Ministry said Friday.
…
The policemen had gone to the wedding party to demand that guests refrain from firing guns into the air during celebrations.
[Source]

I got the video on top a few days ago but didn’t really know what the story was until I read the article above. Pretty messed up.

Weekly roundup from 248AM Fashion:

For the love of… Grace Kelly
Glamorous Grannies
A Teaser
Al-Ostoura Events
Online Shopping
Toogood Showroom Visit, Paris
Fatma Al Safi on the Cover
Yohji Yamamoto Paris Fashion Week & Marais Showroom
Etro? Yes, please!
Choose the Perfect Choo’s

I just found out about this and will be adding it to the list of things to do this weekend. Following the opening round held in Qatar, the FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues this weekend in the Kuwaiti desert. 33 competitors will be fighting for victory in the second round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship. If you’re interested in checking them out they’ll be starting off today from the SIRBB Circuit. Entry is free but there are limited seats.

Leg 1, Super Special Stage:
Date: Thursday, 20 March 2014
Time: 6PM
Location: SIRBB Circuit [Map]

For the rest of the schedule click [Here]

Early on in the week I asked if anyone knew who I could contact to get a piano moved and tuned. I ended up getting three or four different contacts but in the end decided to contact aDawaliah. aDawaliah are actually the dealers of Yamaha Music and since the piano I wanted to tune was a Yamaha, I figured they’d would be the best people to get for the job.

I originally called up the store and the employee didn’t seem to know if it’s a service they offered or not so he took my number and said someone would call me back. I didn’t hear back from them until the next day when I got a phone call from them requesting details. They wanted to know what kind of piano I had, how far I wanted to move it and which day I was free for them to pass by. The piano was an upright one and I wanted it moved from my neighbors apartment next door over into mine. At the end of the conversation they quoted me KD35 for the tuning and KD5 for moving which I thought was a fair deal.

A few days later they came over to my place at the agreed time, there were four employees in uniform with white gloves on, the piano tuner and the sales manager. They were extremely professional, like they surprised and impressed me kind of professional. First thing they did was wrap the piano in bubble wrap and then the four guys proceeded to carry the piano over to my place with short rest breaks along the way. They had to move some of my furniture a bit but when they were done they returned everything back to the way it was and disappeared leaving just the sales manager and the tuner over at my place. The sales manager stayed over for awhile to make sure the tuner didn’t run into any issues before leaving. Finally when the tuner was done two hours later he left as well.

The quality of service was beyond anything I expected. It’s difficult to put into words because they were mostly little actions, for example they needed to go back into the second apartment and pick up their tools and the piano chair but the door was closed and even when I opened it and walked in, they waited until I told them to come in. Then when I picked up the piano chair because it’s really light and I could carry it myself, they insisted they take it from me and move it themselves. Or the fact how they were all dressed in uniform and had the white gloves on not to dirty anything or leave finger prints on the shiny piano. Or how the sales manager who was very friendly and was there to overlook the whole process. It felt like I was getting special treatment because of my blog, but I wasn’t since I never told them about my blog or gave them my full name or anything of the sort. But that’s how good they were, they made me feel like I was getting special treatment. I felt like I was getting more than what I paid for.

So if you’re ever looking to tune or move a piano, you can contact the sales manager on 24720631 ext 219 or call him on his mobile on 96688301, his name is Ammar.

Remal Sand Sculpting Festival
Teddy Bear Hospital
Visual Art Exhibition
KRC International Show Jumping Championship 2014
Shakshooka Nomadic Farmers Market
Cinemagic: Man Push Cart
Al Nibras Bazaar
Dance Gala: Diamond Decades
AIS Senior Bazaar ’14
Kids Storytelling at Q8Books
Cinemagic: Dry Summer
FIA Middle East Rally Championship – Kuwait

Make sure you don’t miss the show jumping championship, the venue is great and you won’t believe you’re in Kuwait.

Update: Just added the Rally Championship to the list