Archive for September, 2011

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Abu Dhabi Film Festival: schedule’s out

Friday, September 30th, 2011

very late night - great news - schedule is out - a very good selection - envy - jealousy - if you can make it during the weekend, some of the best are by then.

diamonds:

  • we need to talk about kevin (uk) >> lynne ramsay (ratchatcher)
  • elena (russia) >> andrey zvyagintsev (the return, the banishment)
  • chicken with plums (france) >> marjan satrapi (persepolis)
  • a dangerous method (uk) >> david cronenberg (the list is long)
  • a seperation (iran) >> asghar farhadi (about elly)
  • troll hunter (sweden) >>andre ovredal
  • the yellow sea (south korea) >> na hong-jin
  • i wish (japan) >> hirokazu kore-eda (nobody knows)

swarovski:

  • dark horse (usa) >> todd solondz (happiness)
  • habemus papam (italy) >> nanni moretti (the son’s room)
  • the ides of march (usa) >> georges clooney (soon in cinemas anyway)
  • the source (morocco/france) >> radu mihaileanu
  • albert nobbs (ireland) >> rodrigo garcia (nine lives, mother & child)
  • and so many more

the greatest news is: the newly restored versions of ingmar bergmann’s "fanny" & "alexander", "wild strawberries", "smiles of a summer night" are showing!

finally, commemorating the centennial of naguib mahfouz and satyajit ray.

download the schedule on www.adff.ae

Posted in Michael Habre - Cineclopedia | 3 Comments »

New McDonald’s campaign: what do you think?

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

a friend of mine sent me the new mcdonald's "family time forever" campaign - the tvc tells the story of a group of kids stealing their parents away from their work in order to spend time with them, reminding us all to spend more time with our children or families.

i personally love the campaign and as a parent it really touched me - i often stay back at the office especially over the weekends putting work ahead of family and this is quite a strong reminder of what really matters - so what do you think of this campaign?

thanks rasha.

Posted in Your Opinion | 13 Comments »

About Kuwait from the CIA website

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

i came across this CIA world fact-book website that basically covers everything about countries so i was interested to know what was there on kuwait - though the  information is a bit outdated as most of the data is from 2009, the "trafficking in persons" report was a shame - this is what it says:

trafficking in persons:

current situation: Kuwait is a destination country for men and women who are subjected to forced labor and, to a lesser degree, forced prostitution; men and women migrate from India, Egypt, Bangladesh, Syria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Iran, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Iraq to work in Kuwait, most of them in the domestic service, construction, and sanitation sectors; although most of these migrants enter Kuwait voluntarily, upon arrival some are subjected to conditions of forced labor by their sponsors and labor agents, including nonpayment of wages, long working hours without rest, deprivation of food, threats, physical or sexual abuse, and restrictions on movement, such as the withholding of passports or confinement to the workplace.

i love kuwait and it saddens me to read such reports - i hope that one day this country takes the right steps towards fixing these issues.

Posted in Did You Know | 5 Comments »

How did this happen?

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

two days ago i spotted this car accident at the khalijiya intersection in sharq, right at the beginning of road 30 - what i didn't get is how did this truck flip over so easily? it was obviously knocked off by this tiny japanese vehicle, a corolla or something similar, but the chevy is quite a robust truck how could it flip over like that?

it is not the first time i hear of a trailblazer flipping over, do they have a stability problem?

Posted in Drama, News | 7 Comments »

Beauty never fades, it only goes vintage

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

here’s an interesting website by a kuwaiti mother & daughter, who have turned their love for the vintage life into a website.

NotYetVintage.com is a community for vintage lovers where you can buy or sell your own products, whether new or a bit used.

if you have products which have prospects of being vintagy, (having that classic flair), contact NYV through their help page or info@notyetvintage.com, and within 48-72 hours your products will be available on the website for the whole world to see!

the process is so very easy:

1. you price your product/s and send them to their office.

2. they determine their condition.

3. if they think they are NYV, you're in!

NYV will photograph your products, market, and ship them off! if your product/s isn’t sold, you have the option of getting it back - though the prices are set in us dollars, i noticed that they have introduced a currency converter, which means this website is probably set to go global.

we wish NotYetVintage.com every success, i think it is a wonderful idea - way to go ladies.

Posted in Quickies | 3 Comments »

M-Café, the most elegant hospital café in town!

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

i was consulting a doctor at the mowasat hospital and there were 2 patients before me so i decided to grab a cup of coffee at the "M" café situated on ground level - i was really surprised how neat & chic this café is, the cutlery was all from villeroy & boch and the plates missoni home!! i was really shocked, what kind of hospital café is that? usually hospital cafés really suck!

in addition, "M" café has a very classy and elegant seating area, i enjoyed it so much it didn't feel like i was in a hospital.

may be that's the whole point behind the concept?

Posted in Quickies | 6 Comments »

Meet the impossible brief project

Monday, September 26th, 2011

what is the impossible brief? on june 20, 2010, at the world’s most prestigious advertising festival “the cannes lions”, saatchi & saatchi adverting agency launched “the impossible brief project”, an open invitation for all creative minds to find an innovative solution and bridge the hearts of israelis & palestinians.

from the hundreds of ideas, one idea was selected and brought to life, “the blood relations project” - the idea was launched on september 14 as part of the international peace day and revolves around exchanging blood donations between israelis & palestinians, thus forging blood relationships between future recipients.

check out the website: http://www.bloodrelations.org/ and perhaps donate some virtual blood?

awesome idea! thank you tala for this post.

Posted in Wicked | 4 Comments »

3 stabbed in a gang fight at The Avenues

Monday, September 26th, 2011

according to alqabas newspaper, 3 teenagers ended-up being stabbed following a vicious fight that broke out at the mall between a gang of 10 teens - 4 teenagers were arrested and taken for investigation.

the video is appalling, i don't get it.. why the violence and most importantly where is mall security? every now and then we witness similar gang fights, isn't time for malls to do something to prevent such incidents?

Posted in Drama, The Avenues | 8 Comments »

Reminder: Ammar Al Fouzan underwater photography exhibition

Sunday, September 25th, 2011

a few weeks back, we posted news on ammar al fouzan's underwater photography exhibition - this is just a reminder as today is the official opening for the general public so don't miss out.

when: september 25-29

where: tilal complex

time: 10 am to 2 pm & 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Posted in Events, Tilal Complex | No Comments »

Cool Remington Spin Curl hairdryer at 360 Mall

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

i was wandering around the 360 mall and spotted this cool remington hairdryer - though this product is a couple of years old, it still fascinates me.

the simple yet innovative spin curl creates fashionable ringlets and curls through a tube-like attachment to the hairdryer - the hair is placed into the tube and whipped about by hot air from the dryer, and swirls around itself, creating ringlets that can then be tousled into natural-looking waves.

remington spin curl hairdryer is sold at kd 19.750.

Posted in 360 | 5 Comments »

Joe’s Jeans official opening at 360 Mall

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

yesterday evening was joe's jeans official opening at the 360 - joe's jeans is the second biggest denim brands in the us and very popular amongst celebrities like carmen electra, justin timberlake, katie holmes, rihanna, fergie, jessica alba, emma watson, kate beckinsale and many more.

the launch was neat and cozy, the coolest thing was the 20% discount for that occasion - we bought our kid a pair of jeans and it was discounted from kd 60 down to kd 48! still expensive for a pair of jeans, but hey, it's joe's!

the store has a section for women, a corner for kids & another for men - i also noticed and appreciated their beautiful branded bags :)

we wish joe's jeans a successful future at the 360 mall.

related posts:

joe's jeans opens in dubai and soon in kuwait

Posted in 360, Events | 6 Comments »

Deported, not reported, for putting poison in food

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

i learned from kuwait times that a kuwaiti man, who saw his Asian housemaid putting pesticide in his food, is said to have immediately cancelled her residence permit, booked her ticket and sent her back to her country.

first how shocking is that and why would she do such a horrible thing? but what raises questions is why did the guy deport her and not report her? i would have reported the maid to the police and let her rot in prison for the rest of her life! that’s attempting to murder my family and she should pay the price for her actions!

what’s also funny is that this whole story happened by pure coincidence - the man suspected the maid of stealing things from the house hence he installed a CCTV in his home without the knowledge of the maid and when he checked the film he discovered something far more dangerous than a few missing dinars...

morale of the story:

1- it's always a good idea to install CCTVs at home

2- keep your man's hands off your maid :)

Posted in Drama, News | 3 Comments »

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