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I took this picture a few hours ago.

Back in 2006 I posted about how I was able to get a hold of three original Apple Think Different banners from the local Apple dealer (Digits) and today I finally put them up.

For those of you who don’t know, the slogan “Think Different” was created for Apple back in 1997 (yes they were around before the iPod). The slogan was used in various commercials and print adverts but the most famous ones were the creative innovators tribute ads. I was able to get a hold of 3 banners, a Pablo Piccaso, Martha Graham and the rare Buzz Aldrin one.

Since I just finished redecorating (I now officially live inside my blog), I managed to find space to put up the banners and they look great. It took me two years but they’re finally up. The picture above is of the Buzz Aldrin banner, its 70cm wide and 160cm in height.

Does anyone know who the composer was for the Kuwaiti National Anthem? I just tried finding out with Google but couldn’t find anything.

update: Never mind found this…

The Kuwaiti national anthem is by poet Ahmad Meshari Al-Adwani, Ibrahim Al-Soula composed the music and Ahmad Ali arranged the composition. [Source]

In short, STAY AWAY! I am a huge Wasabi fan but the one in the Avenues sucks big time. I passed by them today for the first time for lunch and out of the three dishes I ordered I had problems with two of them.

First I ordered the salmon and avocado salad for starters, it took what seemed like an eternity to arrive and when it finally did it turned out they had forgotten to add the avocado. After having that mess sorted out turns out the salad dressing is different than the one used in their main city branch or at least tasted different. I also had ordered the exotic roll but it tasted like crap so I didn’t eat it. If all that wasn’t bad enough I had to listen to what had to be the noisiest kitchen door in the world which squeaked like a haunted house every time someone went in our out of the kitchen.

For your Wasabi cravings stick to the main city branch, I know I will.

Picture by iDip

The ultimate Bacon flavored spread. Yummmmy…. not! [Link]

My MacBook finally got delivered today. It got held in customs yesterday but luckily I didn’t have to pay anything just the clearance fee’s which totaled to KD16 and this included the KD5 Aramex charge to clear the packages themselves. So far I am really loving it, it just looks amazing, while taking the picture above no matter what angle I tried to shoot it from the MacBook looked great. Now I will spend the next few days manually transferring files from my old MacBook onto the new and then will put the old one up for sale.

Looks like the G1 phone is starting to trickle into Kuwait. Blasha is getting hers tomorrow and she’ll review it once she does. Personally I am curious to try out the keyboard on it but I highly doubt I would replace my iPhone with the G1. [Link]

I just bought a new plasma over the weekend for a really good deal. LG just reduced their plasma prices a few days ago and they’re the best I have seen. I purchased the 42″ PG20 model (contrast ration 25,000:1) for only KD275 while the 50″ version is selling for KD445. I am not a big fan of LG but my dad purchased one awhile back and when he found a problem with it (used to turn on by itself in the middle of the night) their customer service was extremely good and they swapped the TV for him with a new one no questions asked.

The Acer Aspire One laptop deal is back at Alghanim Electronics. After running out of stock on the low end Aspire One (512MB RAM, 8GB HD) the machines are back in stock and are selling for KD79. I saw two colors on display, white and a blue. Just to give you an idea on how good this deal is, the same laptop with the same specs is going for KD88 on Amazon without tax.

Just to add to this I noticed Alghanim have now started selling Alpine and Rockford Fosgate car sound systems. I wish they had started selling them a few months back when I had to purchase all my items from online.

I just found this incredible book about Kuwait dating back to 1975. It has a ton of great pictures which I will scan every now and then and post over here. The caption under the picture above reads:

Kuwait also enjoys some of the more sophisticated pleasures of the West, and even the Far West. Here, for example, is a drive-in cinema in the open air not far from the city. In order to enable you to watch a film in comfort without moving from your seat, two large “pumps” introduce into your car the sound track of the film being shown and the air-conditioning which is essential at the height of the summer. All you have to do is to watch.

It sucks that no one has invented the time machine yet!

A blog reader that goes by the nickname Komsomol posted the following observation in the forum:

I find it hilarious that there is catch phrase words used by Kuwait newspapers and journalists. The result is usually hilarious hyperbolic headlines.

Any criticism for example is always “slammed”:
MP slams government
Kuwait slams Israel’s inhuman practices
MP Dr Ali Al-Hajri slammed the government’s silence towards the statements made by the Minister of Commerce and Industry Ahmed Baqer
Al-Harbi slams commerce minister
Iranian paper slams MoI’s Farsi language channel plan
Clerics slam German magazine
MP slams govt’s incapability
Officials slammed for frequently traveling on ministry’s expense
MP slams govt over disorganized food distribution for Kuwaitis
MP slams education minister
MP Al-Mulaifi slams premier
MP slams Al-Sabeeh

Anything great is always either “hailed”, “praised” or deemed a ‘success’:
Al-Sabeeh meeting hailed
Kuwait reform process hailed
Eight-digit phone system ‘success‘
WHO praises Kuwait for its efforts to combat smoking
Kuwait praises women’s role

In the cabinet and parliament they only ‘grill’:
Al-Sabeeh may resign if grilled in parliament
Al-Sabeeh grilling proposal
Move to grill premier
Call for grilling
Al-Hajji among ministers expected to be grilled

Any Country ties are always “deep tied” or “deeply rooted”:
Kuwait-Yemen ties ‘deeply rooted,’ says ambassador
Kuwait, Turkey affirm deep ties
Kuwait, Bahrain affirm deep-rooted relations

I think the grilling ones sound hilarious! [Link]

A reader called Camil sent me the pictures below of the new Mercedes F700 in Dubai. The car looks extremely ugly but I have yet to see an environmentally friendly car that didn’t, actually the Tesla is pretty cool but thats like the only one that is. Click continue to check out more pictures or download the hires shots compressed into one zip file from [Here]

I love the new look, always preferred Pepsi over Coke and now I have one more reason why. The video below is what Pepsi sent out to 25 influential people but if you want to simple take a look at the new logo and bottle designs click [Here]

I heard about this earlier in the week and a reader called Aadel just sent me pictures of it. Early Friday morning a Ferrari was involved in a high speed crash on the Gulf Road, I don’t know what caused the crash but judging by the pictures the car got thorn torn up into pieces and then caught fire. You can check out more pictures by clicking on continue below.

According to The Avenue’s website Arby’s is opening there! They have a list of all the restaurants that are open and opening at The Avenue’s and Arby’s is on that list!! Just go to their website, click on restaurants and then on the burger picture. [Link]

I just got an email from a reader called Nawaf saying that The Cheesecake Factory will be opening up at The Avenues phase III. The owners will be both a Kuwaiti and a Saudi, the Saudi being the same owner as The Cheesecake Factory in Saudi Arabia. I hope this turns out to be true although I doubt it since according to The Cheesecake Factory website:

Franchise Information
Thank you for your interest in The Cheesecake Factory. Our full-service restaurants are Company owned and operated. We currently do not offer franchises or joint venture opportunities and have no plans to do so in the future.

Also under locations on the website it doesn’t list Saudi Arabia although. I am guessing because the Saudi branch isn’t a “full-service” restaurant but just an outlet that sells only cheesecakes its not listed on their website? Here is a picture of one of the Saudi Branches. [Picture]

Update: I emailed The Cheesecake Factory asking about their Saudi and Kuwait branch and I got the following generic response:

Thank you for your interest in The Cheesecake Factory.

We are flattered that you feel that our brand would be a success in Kuwait. Our plan at this time however, is to focus on growing our brand within the continental United States and Hawaii, rather than other markets. We wish you the best of luck with your endeavors and hope that you will have an opportunity to dine with us again sometime soon!

Thank you for contacting us and have a wonderful day!