Archive for February, 2012

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A touchy story with minor side effects!

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

i read about this 49-year-old grandmother who died of a heart attack, then brought back to life after 45 minutes by her husband as he whispered in her ear "i love you".

amazing what love can do, but what shocks me is the nurses statement who said that this is a normal side-effect of prolonged emergency treatment!! moreover, when grandma's eyelids flickered and she appeared to squeeze her eldest daughter hand, the nurse again assured the family that 'involuntary movements' were to be expected!!

this makes me wonder how many dead patients could have been saved.. it gives me the chills!! dead man walking! oh that's a normal side effect.. side effect my a**...

i believe grandma was perfectly ok until she heard the nurse speaking of side effects, this is exactly when she had the heart attack and died!

you can read more about this story here.

Posted in Quickies | 7 Comments »

The Iron Lady’s best scene…

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

a couple of days ago, i watched the iron lady - streep was phenomenal as usual, perfect in every scene, every move and every word she spoke - though the story was a bit weak in my opinion, too much stress on her husband and on her decline and not her achievements, one scene blew my mind - margaret was at the clinic for a check up, the doctor asks her how she feels so she replies saying why do people care about feelings and not thoughts & ideas - so the doctor asks her what are you thinking and she goes:

"watch your thoughts for they become words

watch your words for they become actions

watch your actions for they become habits

watch your habits for they become your character

watch your character for it becomes your destiny

what we think we become, and i think i am fine."

what an amazing quote! it was presumably written by a man named frank outlaw (source has not been confirmed), while others attribute it to mahatma gandhi - nevertheless, the quote is still good and makes one think carefully about our thoughts, words, and actions that contribute to our character and determine our destiny.

i'd recommend you watch the iron lady, simply to see streep's performance - the story is a bit slow, and very similar to "j. edgar" - i wonder why the two movies were released the same year, they look-alike in their approach and treatment.

Posted in Movies, News | 2 Comments »

Splendid parking picnic at 360 Mall..

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

we were at the 360 yesterday and as we drove out of the mall, we spotted a group of ladies sitting on the parking lawn, having lunch!! wth?? we couldn't believe our eyes!! we often rant about people who have barbecues on gulf road but this is even worse! why do people picnic just anywhere they find verdure and how civilized is this scene?

people!!! this is a damn parking lot!!! do you know how much carbon dioxide you are inhaling with every bite you take??? are you aware of the harmful particulates stirred up by the passing cars? wake up!!!

thank god this ladies day-out didn't involve kids!!

Posted in 360, Weird | 9 Comments »

When is Boss NOT on Sale??

Monday, February 27th, 2012

something is seriously wrong here... every time i pass by boss i find it on sale! the window sale sticker has been there for like ages... it was there in jan, in december, november, october and if i'm not mistaken in september too - it was there during the summer, and frankly i don't even remember seeing the shop without that window sticker!! what the hell is happening? you can't be on sale all year round?!

Posted in Marina Mall, Sale | 4 Comments »

Putting the Starbucks Card to the test

Sunday, February 26th, 2012

on friday, we decided to put the starbucks card to the test - we went to the shop behind the sheraton, bought a few things and paid with the card - the operation was successful, and to be frank the card saves a lot of time at the cashier - we were given a free internet card as the offer mentions, but to our surprise the connection was so weak it couldn't reach the seating area inside the shop - so my son decided to get closer to the router and see if he can connect, but in vain, all his ipod could get is a lousy one bar connection - to cut a long story short, the sheraton store internet card was a big fail.

in the afternoon, we headed to the avenues and decided to check two locations, the one facing bershka and the one facing h&m - they both had strong connections and we could use the internet card without a glitch.

bottom line, connection is not consistent across all stores - we recommend serious testing in every starbucks shop to make sure the service functions properly.

Posted in Quickies | 12 Comments »

New parking lot at 360 Mall

Saturday, February 25th, 2012

according to bananaq8, 360 mall has created a new parking area nearby the gas station - i wish the avenues takes a similar step as parking a car has become a real nightmare there!

Posted in 360, News | 1 Comment »

Elevator Kamikazes

Saturday, February 25th, 2012

thursday morning, i was driving down the gulf road listening to my jazz collection, the sun was shining and traffic almost nonexistent - "dream a little dream of me" by ella fitzgerald and louis armstrong sounded like heaven and i thought what a beautiful day, i am so blessed!

that serene morning cascaded down the day, but naturally, all good things come to an end and the day quickly turned into a nightmare as we reached the airport to pick up the in-laws at night - we were expecting to fight our way out of the traffic, but catching the parking's elevator felt more like pearl harbor!

the first kamikaze we faced was an egyptian woman, who stopped the elevator and pushed her trolley into the full cabin - the guys inside tried to reason with her as there was no space to fit her in, but in vain - she begged them to let her in as her kids awaited her on the first floor and kept pushing until one of the guys took his suitcase and placed it on her trolley, she squeezed everybody and made it in while we all stood flabbergasted!

the second kamikaze stood by the second elevator - he was a thin guy who tried some acrobatics to squeeze himself in, but couldn't find a place to land a foot, so he backed off - just as the doors closed, a macho man tries to squeeze in, we labeled him kamikaze number 3 evolution, the strongest and most persistent.

number 3 evolution was a tall and chubby guy who never takes no for an answer - he basically believed that he can succeed where the thin guy failed - so he tried to step in but couldn't find space, so he simply stood there waiting for the elevator to close in - but his shoulders and big fat ass were standing in the way and we thought that he would abort mission - abort mission? no, not him.. kamikaze 3 evolution presses the nitro-boost-button, grabs the asian man in front of him from behind, pushes him in by force (though he looked as if he was sodomising him) and steps in!

for a moment we thought we were in a t3 movie, the scene was surreal, but hey... this is the civilized world we live in!

a few days ago, we made a post about elevator etiquette 101 and we ranted about that lady who blocked our way out insisting to walk in first - well, we'd like to apologies from that fine lady, she was an angel compared to those kamikazes.

Posted in Quickies | 10 Comments »

Wicked law!

Friday, February 24th, 2012

i read that in germany, sex criminals are castrated by law! and it seems that this law is quite effective as it generates low re-offending rates among those who had undergone the procedure! as for the surgical castration, it is conducted by an expert, however it comes not as a punishment, but as an option! yes an option, and on average there have been five such castration every year over the past decade!

at first i was shocked by this law, but when i thought about that nepalese woman abducted at a mall and raped for 9 hours in jahra, it suddenly grew on me - i really wish they apply it here in kuwait forcibly and not as an option, maybe then sex criminals would think twice before committing their crimes!

you can read more about this story here.

Posted in Wicked | 10 Comments »

That’s not funny!

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

a lebanese expatriate was caught in act with his housemaid inside his car in salmiya - the police patrol on routine duty arrested the couple and referred them to authorities - but the street-smart lebanese had it all planned and under control so he told police that he was only "having fun" with his housemaid - seriously??? having fun like playing with the gear shift or the air bags smart clown!

my advice to the wife: see picture above and if he tries anything you can always tell him "i was only having fun"!

Posted in Drama, Lol, News | 14 Comments »

How safe are malls?

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

i read this disturbing news in arab times about a nepalese woman abducted from a mall and raped in a desert camp for 9 hours! the suspects allegedly kidnapped the woman from a commercial complex in sharq, drove her to a camp in jahra and kept her there for nine hours during which they had sex with her successively.

i am not sure how could this have happened... if the abduction was carried out by force there should be surveillance cameras recording the crime, or at least security people must have seen or heard the poor woman screaming!

every week there's either a gang fight or a woman harassed in a mall and violence is escalating - the question is, what are the malls doing about security? if you look at the officers across the malls, they are not even wearing security uniforms, they wander the mall in their dishdashas carrying a walky-talky, and this does not command respect - these guys are probably in-house security staff and their low visibility does not help deter illegal and inappropriate actions.

mall security should be reinforced, or replaced with security men on contract, well-trained, wearing proper uniforms and carrying self-defense weapons like police batons.

i hope the nepalese lady gets over this horrible experience, i know it's not easy, but god be with her.

Posted in Drama, News | 21 Comments »

We must visit Guatemala!

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

while attending the exclusive starbucks card launch premiere, an awesome guy called daou taught us some interesting coffee tasting techniques and personally, i believe he was the star of the event, dynamic,  charismatic and engaging.

the coffee we were tasting was guatemala casi cielo which means almost heaven, and the techniques as follows:

1- the smelling technique taught us to use the palm of our hand as a lid over the coffee cup to hold the aromas in, then remove it slowly so you can smell the subtle nuances that are derived from the brewed coffee - casi cielo coffee has a unique floral aroma, deep, dark & smooth.

2- technique number 2 was about the tasting & slurping - though mom says not to slurp, this technique is essential as it aerates across your whole palette so you start pick up where all these different aromas are, where it hits your tong - the other reason for slurping in my opinion is cooling the hot liquid... when hot coffee burns your tong, nothing taste right anymore! so we did a very loud group slurping to taste the coffee and discern the body and acidity of casi cielo - it turned out to be light, with a lemony acidity and a hint of cocoa, perfect for morning and night consumption.

3- knowing where the coffee comes from is the last part of the puzzle - coffee is a living breathing plant and it absorbs all these different flavor profiles around it, so where the coffee is grown, what the climate and the atmosphere conditions are have a direct effect on the aromas.

this brings me to one conclusion: we must visit guatemala!

 

Posted in Events | 4 Comments »

Starbucks launches “the 4th place”

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

there's a saying that goes “better late than never”, and it holds true for starbucks as they finally decided to join the digital bandwagon, launching a website, a facebook page and a twitter account next month - all this, along with the launch of the starbucks card today, fall under the strategy of the 4th place engagement.

starbucks is all about the third place, which means the place between home and work and by going digital, the brand hopes to extend the experience to the fourth place, which is the online world and the starbucks card comes as a first step towards achieving this goal.

the starbucks card is basically a stored value card that offers free wi-fi to its users - it is a way to make purchases in store, by topping it up to the value of your choice, then using at the cashier - the card can also be gifted to friends, or you can personalize it by calling the customer care department on 1821212.

however, the card is not part of a loyalty program like the starbucks rewards card in the us market and that's quite unfortunate - for me carrying any branded card means loyalty points, otherwise it becomes a charge card, and we don't need any redundant cards in our wallets!

but the good news is, and as mentioned in the press kit, more benefits will be added later for frequent customers (which is me) - so i guess this is a step in the right direction as i see great potential behind the starbucks card where the possibilities are endless - imagine for instance a partnership with virgin, music master or rotana whereby starbucks card holders can download free songs while sipping their coffee at the store! that will be awesome!

we’d like to thank:

  • rawan farhat (sr account executive at bates pan gulf) for the invitation
  • rana shaheen (starbucks communication manager) for hosting the event
  • elissa for the starbucks card presentation
  • daou for teaching us the coffee tasting process
  • starbucks marketing & operations teams who answered our every question and rant
  • the starbucks partners who attended to our orders and served us a delicious coffee called guatemala casi cielo

wishing starbucks every success, and looking forward to discover the 4th place engagement as it comes to life.

Posted in Events | 4 Comments »

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