Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Summer Time!

It's summer ya'll :) It's time to be make something of it...beating the intense summer heat in Kuwait. Time to take advantage of the beach. Go to Kempinski, the Hilton, a boat trip to Kubbar (yeah!), head to your chalet...whatever....just make the best out of the sun...swimming, sun tanning and drinking a tall ice cold pepsi (hehehe) while listening to your ipod. Hot summer sun..with a warm summer breeze...can you resist? I can't! So who's with me?

And with that...I dedicate this song to you. So this weekend...listen it to it in the car on your way to the beach with the top down :) (God knows I wanna do that...but my car is a jeep :S)


"Soak Up The Sun" by Sheryl Crow
Album: C'mon C'mon (2002)

See you at the beach! I plan to roast under the sun and get the mother of all tans! :)

Sunday, May 28, 2006

The People Are Speaking...



The documentary called
"When The People Spoke"
by Kuwaiti Director
Amer Al-Zuhair

will be screened again :)


Date: Monday 29-May-2006
Time: 7:30 pm
Place: The American University of Kuwait (Salmiya)

Monday, May 22, 2006

Bohemia in Kuwait...

A question....

A Common Definition:

Bohemia: [bo·he·mi·ya] noun - A community of people with artistic or literary tastes who adopt manners conspicuously different from those expected or approved of by the majority of society.

Do you believe that bohemianism exsist in Kuwait?

Many people in Kuwait are comfortable with an alternative lifesyle...not necessarily defying the tradional culture of Kuwait, but rather not fully follow what is considered the cultural and social norm of Kuwait. Many of them artists, and respect the arts in gerneral. They do respect their culture, their roots, their customs, but tend to live outside the box and live a lifestyle that many people consider "taboo"...or 7aram. They travelled and seen the world, lived and been well-educated in other countries for many years, they've experienced different cultures, which then makes them used to live a different social lifestyle. So when they come back to Kuwait, they can't seem to settle to what the social norm is.

There are many examples and many extremes to this issue of Bohemia in Kuwait. Minor examples such as partying, drinking, smoking (including females), hanging out with mixed crowds in public are all evident around Kuwait. Many been criticized for living such an alternative lifestyle and defying the culture of Kuwait and religion.

Are they really defying or making a mockery of their own culture or roots? Or are they just expressing themselves (and not to others) what they are comfortable with and used to. Art shows, galleries, independent films, plays international music shows (not arabic) are popping up here and there. From piants on a canvas to transcripts for a personal novel to film for a documentary...they are finding various means to express themselves.

So what do you think? Wandering minds wanna know :)

Monday, May 15, 2006

Home Sweet Home...Kuwait

I got this as an e-mail, and I thought I might share....it's so true...well I think so:

"Most people I know here came back to Kuwait after college...to the Promised Land, for maximum two years, or "to make enough money" and hopefully go back and pursue a masters. Countless Falafel and Shawarma sandwich years later, they are all still here, grayed quite a bit, but very much here.

Kuwait is like that. One starts off earnestly in a job, wants to work hard (and hopefully continues to do so). As time passes, you begin to get comfortable with the non-iron bedsheets and jam3iyas overloaded with easy to serve yogurt and long life milk.

By then your status has risen because you work in this oil-rich, highest per capita income Wonderland. Your mother beckons that they have found a "nice, homely" girl for you. You like your so-called "single" life...so you resfectfully decline. So you rent your own one bedroom apartment, put out few cheap "Banta" chairs, and blend in some Ikea "As Is" furniture just for it to not look so cheap. Few Friday market visits later, your house and heart are ready...life goes on with Paramount Channel, Cartoon Network, BBC News, and Kuwait TV masalsalat! Ramadan and Eid comes and goes and your MBA you well intended is long forgotten with the stress of how to ask the boss for a raise, and you can't cope with the installments for your new car...and used car in some cases. The raise never comes, yet you still here.

The luckier ones find fresh opportunities and move up the economic ladder, but never out of Kuwait. You upgrade your car and home, and generally grow to be a part of Kuwait, or rather Kuwait like a sandy desert spirit becomes ingrained into you, and fourth and fifth ring roads become your best weekend hangouts. Just because it seems the in thing to do, you apply for migration to a western country, knowing full well in your heart that you may never be able to start a new life in another strange land. The taxation everywhere else hurts. So do the residence fees here, but can you leave Kuwait?

Leave Kuwait, and miss the Houmos, Mutabel and Machboos and all the nteworking you built up, are you kidding? Life goes on, with bodies and souls flirting in and out of The Sultan Center, Souk Sharq, restaurants, all the new new malls that have sprung up like mushrooms. Soon one Thursday blends into another (another weekend, so quickly?) and next thing you know,time has flown, and you and your friends of yesteryears still meet occasionally, and discuss who has grayed more, and who's cholesterol is threatening.

The whole point of who "made more money" but never returned home is never brought up. Endless weekend dinners, get togethers, beach picnics, potlucks and problems, growing up pains, career ups and downs, friends who are like family, birthdays and anniversaries...Kuwait is home!


Source Unknown

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Creepy Crawlies in the car!

PICTURE THIS....

While driving and on the phone with my mother. So one hand on the steering wheel and the other phone holding the mobile phone on my ear and my eyes on the road...naturally. While speaking on the phone...i noticed something moving quickly about on my legs. I thought it was a shadow or the sun's glare. I looked down....just to check...and there it was....A HUGE frickin' cockroach running all around my legs!!!! And I do mean huge!!!!! All I remember was just yelling to my mom that I'll call her back and jumping on my chair hoping that roach will fall off my legs! I just drove up to someone's driveway and jumped out the car...wondering how will I get rid of it since its still somewhere hiding in my car! I kneeled down to check under my seat to see it's there...when I saw it coming from behind my brake pedals and heading towards the door. It fell off my car and then...fluttered away....literally flew away. THAT ROACH WAS THE FLYING KIND!!! I was still in shock and wondered how it got in my car. Thank god I did not swerve and had an accident. The thing is, I'm not scared of roaches. Usually if I see one, I just walk stright up it and stomp on those bastards. But when you have a HUGE ONE running all over your legs....thats i different story.

And thats how my Thursday weekend began!

And oh...i did call my mom back and realized I almost gave her a heart attack with all my yelling and shutting the phone on her face. Poor mom...she's been going through alot and I added to her misery. But we laughed it off :)

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

ONE YEAR!


Can't believe it's been a year since I started blogging! I think this is the first time I committed to something for a whole year. Usually when I start a personal project, I always end up stopping after six months or so, due to boredom, or other reasons. So it's a good thing!

Here's to another year of rants and raves for Jazz Central!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

"Have You Ever??"...What u wanna know about me...

The question is: "Have you ever???" I Say: "Yes I did!" Some of the stuff I did are all in good fun...but some are just...well let's just say...Fathayi7 Central!!

(x) Smoked a cigarette
(x) Crashed a friend's car
(x) Stolen a car
(x) Been in love
(x) Been dumped
(x) Shoplifted
( ) Been fired
(x) Been in a fist fight
(x) Snuck out of your parent's house
(x) Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
( ) Been arrested
(x) Gone on a blind date
(x) Lied to a friend
(x) Skipped school
( ) Seen someone die
( ) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Purposely set a part of yourself on fire
(x) Eaten sushi
( ) Been skiing
(x) Met someone from the Internet
(x) Been to a concert
(x) Taken painkillers
(x) Love someone or miss someone right now
(x) Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
(x) Made a snow angel
(x) Had a tea party
(x) Flown a kite
(x) Built a sand castle
(x) Gone puddle jumping
(x) Played dress up
(x) Jumped into a pile of leaves
(x) Gone sledging
(x) Cheated while playing a game
(x) Been lonely
(x) Fallen asleep at work/school
(x) Used a fake ID
(x) Watched the sun set
( ) felt an earthquake
(x) Slept beneath the stars
(x) Been tickled
(x) Been robbed
(x) Been misunderstood
(x) Petted a reindeer/goat/kangaroo
(x) Won a contest
(x) Run a red light/stop sign
(x) Been suspended from school
(x) Been in a car crash
( ) Had braces
(x) Felt like an outcast/third person
( ) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
(x) Had a dejà vu
(x) Danced in the moonlight
(x) Witnessed a crime
(x) Questioned your heart
(x) Been obsessed with post-it notes
(x) Squished mud through your bare feet
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Been on the opposite side of the world, or close
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Felt like dying
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
(x) Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with only coins
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the rain
( ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sun rise with someone you care about
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Made a bonfire on the beach
(x) Crashed a party
(x) Gone roller-skating
(x) Had a wish come true
( ) jumped off a bridge

If you wanna know juicy details...just let me know. We can converse over a cup of coffee or SUSHI at EDO!

Fathayi7 central...Case closed!

Check out my new NOW PLAYING section. "In A Sentimental Mood" is an all-time smooth jazz classic by the legendary Duke Ellington. Hope you enjoy it :)