The blindness of some Lebanese people

It's impressive how much would a person who likes a certain political party blind himself or come up with excuses and explanations just to justify their wrongfully executed actions or speeches.

People being upset of what happened with Gad Elmaleh, and not mentioning the poor women who died on her balcony in last week's clashes in Aisha Bakkar in Beirut doesn't make those people insensitive bastards and doesn't diminish demanding democracy or not impacting the image of Lebanon.

Those two acts are completely different things. Some people take things a bit too far sometimes, say Facebook and the silly groups thinking that things like that would make a difference.

But the truth remains the same, the media "Al Manar" allowed false information to be broadcasted influencing people negatively and leading for the artist to cancel. For every action there is a reaction, and for every consequence there is a cause.

On another note, if Gad Elmaleh was in IDF or a sympathizer with IDF and Israel, I would be the first to call to kick him out of here. The dude is just a comedian.

P.S. Freedom of speech is not "spreading false information that hurt other parties".

It's important to be open minded and smart, and not a sheep (in both ways, following a good or a bad example) , thinking before you act.

Are we vindictive? Why isn't Gad El Maleh coming anymore?

Another absurd action takes place in this country, apparently Al Manar TV ran a footage about Gal El Maleh spreading several rumors about the guy and stating a couple of facts that in their opinion count as an obstacle or as an eliminator for someone to come to Lebanon, such as his religion. We have Jews in Lebanon, so what if he's a Jew? And the guy was not enrolled in the Israeli army at any point in his life. Anyway check http://www.beiteddine.org/ to see his manager's statement and Beiteddine's declaration.

For now, Gad El Maleh no longer wants to come to Lebanon for security and his personal safety reasons, but I believe it is not completely canceled, perhaps they will reach a certain deal. 3 sold-out shows in mid-July, fingers crossed. Because if it doesn't work out, this is another black point in Lebanon's history.

How can we ever become a respectful country if we will keep having a group who is so vindictive that they would also hurt themselves along the way.

Mashrou' Leila in Sour on 25 and 26 July

Start Time: Friday, June 26, 2009 at 7:30pm
End Time: Sunday, June 28, 2009 at 12:30am
Location: Tyre Corniche - Facing the Sea Tents - كورنيش صور - الخيم البحري

In collaboration with the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, Tyre & South Lebanon Festivals, Municipality of Tyre, and "NABAD" Organization

Zalghoutet el Corniche (Street Festival)

Fire, Light and Water Acrobatic Shows, Mystery Box, Cultural Heritage Highlights, Theatre, Music

From FRANCE: La Salamandre (the Fire Spectacle), Motus-Modules (Aerial Dance), and AeroSculpture (Aerial Spectacle)

From LEBANON: Lebanese Singer: Elie Rizkallah, Mashrou3 Layla (Lebanese Band), Abou Rita, Comedians, Rita Zbib (Sandouk el Firjeh)

Free Entrance!

Taking place on June 26, 27, 28 at Tyre Corniche - Facing the Sea Tents

From 7:30pm until midnight!

So here you go, in case anyone wants to attend, I advice you to go spend the whole day in Sour, the coast is amazing there, have a swim, sleep in a tent and attend a concert which will include at least one great band, "Mashrou' Leila"

Fete de la musique - After glow

La Fête de la musique 2009 was everything I expected and more. I got there a little bit late, but there was nothing that could stop me from going. It is a one time a year event and I wouldn't miss it at all. I have been to previous Fête de la musique events, and they were always amazing and extremely fun.

First I stopped by Saint Nicholas stairs at Gemmayze, in addition to having a stage at the bottom of the stairs on the street, some chairs facing the stage, there was a sort of an art exhibition. All the way from down to the top, artwork was showcased on both sides of the strairs.

As you can see in the above photo, an artist "Charles Nassar" made some artistic arrangements with shrapnels that were collected from the July 2006 war of Israel and Hezbollah. A nice way of taking something ugly and making beautiful things of it.

Someone overheard me say that I needed a program to decide where to go next, and the nice gentleman gave me the flyer that had the program on it. So I looked at it and saw that there was Mashrou' Leila in the Thermes Romains. I couldn't recall who had told me to check them out, but nonetheless I grabbed my enthusiasm and went to the roman ruins in Downtown Beirut.

When I arrived, a band called "The New Government" was playing, and as I looked up at the what sort of appears as a Colosseum, it was filled with people, so were the sides of the stage, and all the way up there on the upper street.

After they were done, came the infamous band Mashrou' Leila. Everyone was cheering, more people came closer to the stage, I was able to see the obvious fan base. In my early twenties I used to keep up with the music scene, local emerging rock and metal bands, attend their concerts, etc... But this was a unique and a first time experience, seeing so much positive energy and enthousiasm from the fans. I still didn't know what the hype was all about. When the music started, everything came clear. This is definitely a promising band that will go international, or so I predict. Unfortunately by the time Mashrou' Leila came on, my camera's battery was dead, but I still insisted on a souvenir and took a photo with my modest cellphone. You can check Mashrou' Leila in their myspace page or check their facebook group. They will be playing in Sour (Tyr) on Sunday July 26th.

Looking forward till next year's.

Poker Championship in Lebanon

As always we grab every opportunity to hold our heads high and be
proud of one of our sons, of Lebanon's sons that is. Joe Hachem is
Lebanese living in Australia since he was a child. He won the 2005
Poker championship, and now he's the guest star of the local poker
championship that will take place on 23, 24 and 25 July 2009 in Casino
du Liban (wherelese?).

Check www.cdl.com.lb for more info on the event, and go try your like,
maybe you will win over Joe Hachem and win yourself the grand prize.

Date: July 23, 24, 25
Buy-In: $10,000 Freeze-out, with a guaranteed pool prize of $1,000,000
Casino Share: 7%
Venue: Salle des Ambassadeurs
Nb of seats: 200

Ziad Baroud at La fete de la musique

I didn't recognize him at first, he just appeared like the average
Salim, an ordinary guy, dressed casually. And finally I hear:
"Liliane, your friend is here!" I look around and concentrate, and
still I wasn't able to recognize him (I will blame it on night light
and me being tired after a long day kayaking at the Litani), and then
my friend tells me again: "That's Ziad Baroud, your friend!" The
reason why they categorized him as my friend is because I really like
and respect the guy, and always compliment him on his work and defend
him, etc... So yes, I saw him, I was so happy to see him just there in
casual clothes, visiting Saint Nicholas stairs in Gemmayze and
checking the ambiance of fete de la musique, walking amongst us, I saw
him as a very modest person. Perhaps this is how all ministers should
be, but in Lebanon, a minister is always so mysterious, with trillions
of bodyguards and armed vehicles etc..

So Mr. Ziad Baroud, if you see this, I just want to say, GOOD JOB and
I really admire you, I wish all ministers can learn from you. I regret
not having a picture taken with you, but I took your picture anyway
with other fans.

Another awesome event in Lebanon - Ziad Rahbani

Event: Ziad Rahbani in "Snatch" - Jemmayzeh

"Every Sunday night starting June 14th till July 5th"

Host: زياد الرحباني - ما العمل؟
Location: Snatch Gemmayze

Fete de la musique - Program

Fete de la musique will take place this Sunday 21st of June starting 8pm, in Beirut in the following location. Facebook event page here.

PLACE DES MARTYRS:
20h00 Limelight (Rock)
20h40 Khat Ahmar (Arabic Hip Hop)
21h35 Katibe 5 (Arabic Hip Hop)
22h05 Malikah (Arabic Hip Hop)
22h45 Anne (Rock)
23h30 Arcane (Rock)
00h20 The Kordz (Rock)
01h10 DJ Lethal Skillz (Scratch / Hip hop)


JARDIN SAMIR KASSIR:
21h00 The Narcissist (Dubai / Hip hop)
10h45 Sandmoon (Folk)
23h20 Sylvain Nassar (Rock)
23h55 The Incompetents (Folk / Indie)
00h50 I-Voice (Arabic Hip Hop)


THERMES ROMAINS:
20h00 Bayat (Oriental)
20h40 Champlain (Chanson française)
21h15 Elias Diez (Rock français)
21h50 Karimbo Mixity (Rap)
22h25 The New Government (Rock)
23h15 Mashrou’Leila (Pop rock)
00h00 Fareeq el Utrush (Arabic hip hop)


GEMMAYZE (escalier St Nicolas):
20h00 Toni Bayeh (Oriental)
20h35 Cristobal (Indy-folk)
21h15 Youmna Saba (Lebanese Folk)
21h50 ShaBa wa l Kaylou tafaha (Comic critic)
22h05 Omarz & Grandsunn (Hip hop)
22h35 J-Electric (Funk / Jazz)
23h30 Meen (Lebanese rock)
00h20 Arnab (Live Drum n’bass)

DOME:
21h - TRIX - DJ SET - DEEP HOUSE
22h - CHARLY SHAWLLPORN - LIVE - MINIMAL
22h30 - STEPHANIE MERCHAK - LIVE - ELECTRO TECHNO
23h - TRASH INC. - LIVE - ELECTRO BREAKS
23h30 - ASPRO (FRANCE) - LIVE - DEEP HOUSE
00h - JADE & DIAMOND SETTER - DJ SET – MINIMAL / TECH-HOUSE
01h - AAA - DJ SET - TECH-HOUSE / DUBSTEP
02h - JAY K - DJ SET - TECHNO
03h - FADY ASWAD - DJ SET - TECHNO
04h – E.L.I & RABI-H - DJ SET - TECHNO

Visuals by KAMA (ITALY) – LA MIRZA – MOSIG – LABO & STRONGSKY

HAMRA (Next to Fransabank):
20h00 Nahna El Nas (oriental)
20h40 L’Fahrass (Arabic hip hop)
21h00 7 Ta2at (Arabic hip hop)
20h20 Bicro-phone (Arabic hip hop)
20h45 Plugged (Alternative rock)
21h25 The Crave (Alternative rock)
22h05 José González (Flamenco)
22h55 Sphere (Rock)
23h35 Vibrations (60’s rock)

Fête De La Musique on Sunday June 21, 2009 at 8:00pm

Event: Fête De La Musique - June 21, 2009 - "MORE THAN 40 ARTISTS/BANDS - LIVE ACTS"
Date & Time: Sunday, June 21 at 8:00pm
Location: DOWN-TOWN, HAMRA, GEMMAYZE

I used to wait for this event every year, I remember I was very sad that in 2006 I wasn't in Lebanon to attend, but since the July war it was stopped (as far as I know) for the next years, but now it's back.

It's a wonderful atmosphere, amazing energy, I advise everyone who will be in Lebanon to go attend, there will me a variety or artists and various kinds of music, so you will definitely find something you will like. As soon as you get to either Downtown Beirut, or Hamra or Gemmayze, make sure you grab a brochure or flyer as it will have the program and the names of artists and bands that will be playing, when and where.

I will try to find a link to the event and update this post later with it.

Swine flu - coming soon to a theater near you

Swine flu goes global, it is now spread in 2 regions of the world, spread in 74 countries so far, with a bit less than 28,000 cases recorded and 141 deaths.

WHO declares swine flu pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global flu pandemic after holding an emergency meeting, according to reports

The measures for declaring a virus as pandemic are a bit inapplicable in the swine flu case, as 98 to 99% of cases recover without any need of hospitalization.

Cases of swine flu has been reported in Lebanon beginning of June, with 3 cases caught at the airport. More cases have been reported earlier this week. I will check more to know the exact number and what the ministry of health is doing about it.

Montreal for the 2009 Dabke record in Guinness Book on June 20th 2009

Take part in making history! Come help Tollab - the Lebanese students' federation in Montreal - in one of the biggest record breaking events of 2009!
 
It is within the framework of the annual Lebanese festival in Montreal (held on June 19th, 20th and 21st 2009) that Tollab, in collaboration with MAESTRO travel, aims at setting up a new record for the longest dabke chain ever assembled; an accomplishment that will enter the famous Guinness book of records after being approved by its official representative.
 
The Federation's goal is to gather 3500 people at the Marcelin-Wilson Park on the 20th of June, and invite them to dance the Dabke for at least 5 minutes. This event will provide Montreal an international exposure that will highlight its multicultural face, hence uniting all Lebanese and Montrealers of all colors, religions, names or cultures.
 
The event will take place at 7:30 pm on June 20th 2009 at the Marcelin-Wilson Park, which is located on 11301 boul. de l`Acadie in Montreal, Quebec.

If you would like to participate, there's no registration beforehand, so you only need show up for the event.
For more information, you can visit the event's official facebook page here, or contact Tollab at communication@tollab.ca. 

Ode to Democracy and Respect of the other person's life

We can proudly talk about democracy in this country. Every where in
the world, after the elections, the winners win, and the losers
acknowledge the winners win. But not in Lebanon, they keep analyzing,
they keep bringing up numbers, they keep saying they won.

This was the parliament elections, members of the parliament were
elected. The Lebanese people voted for them. Khalas, we stop at this
point and continue from the next? These members of the parliament
which the Lebanese people elected now represent them, so now move your
demands and inquiries and requests to those members so they can talk
about them in the parliament.

But the best part of these elections are, how the individuals deal
with certain cases. On the elections day, June 7, 2009, Maya Keyrouz
(http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/621318/Le_calvaire_de_Maya_Keyrouz%2C_agresse_sur_la_route_de_Fidar.html)
was attacked by 2 cars having Hezbollah flags displayed from their
windows. Her car was tailed by one and put in siege by another, they
shot at her, and apparently the hood of her car was on fire, leading
her body and face to burn. Maya Keyrouz is in her 20, who had a
picture of leader (from 14 March) in her car. Her car was found thrown
on the side of the highway, between trees. She risks having her leg
removed because of the severity of her burn wounds.

Political party leaders, as you sow, so you shall reap. You build
hatred, disrespect and xenophobia in your followers heart, look what
they did, look what happened to them.

Pre-Election time is getting disgusting

Even though I am on the other end of the earth from Lebanon, I still feel like the elections and their prior period are haunting me. You would think that being thousands of miles away would heal you from the Lebanese elections fever, but that is only possible if you do not stay in contact with any Lebanese person.

Everywhere I go, they ask me how long are you staying in the US and when are you going be in Lebanon, and as soon as I say June 3rd, I get the: "Oh so you will be there in time to vote!", my immediate response is: "No, I will not vote!", "But why?" they ask in a curious manner, "because I do not want to.", some agree and then say "yeah you're right, less headache", as we say in Lebanese "bala waj3et ras", and some actually take the time to give me a sermon, and the cutest thing is when they tell me, "put a white paper", and this is when I take the time to tell them:

-"It is not because there are no candidates I like that I am not voting, I am not voting because I do not approve of the whole system, and when I do not approve of the whole system, by voting with a white paper, it means I am saying I like your system and I just don't like any of your candidates. see the difference?"

Whatever their response I have set my mind, I do wonder though, right now it's 14 March who is ruling, what if the government falls in the hands of the opposition. I personally think 14 March could've or should've done things better, but we all know that we are afraid of what we don't know, they call it change. But change for what exactly? What can they guarantee?

The way I see it, when 14 March were ruling, we had a war with Israel, we had a violent demonstration which included beating each other up, shooting at some, burning tires, creating a polluted day etc.., we had a mini war in Beirut for 3 days that brought back the memory of another civil war in May 2008 (can you tell me not one Lebanese sat on TV and watched it like it was a game of counter strike?), we had no president for almost 6 months, in summer 2007 the Army was in war in Nahr el Bared and we lost a lot of soldiers...

I mean, could it be worse? 14 March did a lot of mistakes and boy do we need new leaders, but seriously, would you want to be ruled by a group that their sole purpose in life is to vanquish Israel, their "zionist" ennemy? Hezbollah believes in a cause, no one denies this, but would you want to be ruled by such a group? Nasrallah said on so many occasions that Hezbollah is something and the resistance is something else, he said if they go in power, they will use this power to bring more weapons to the Lebanese Army.

We all want to see our Army stronger and more powerful, but honestly I do not want to see it in action. So sometimes I wonder, should I vote? Should I be pretty and go vote? I don't know. It's only a 1% whisper in my ear that I tend to ignore.

Funny thing I heard Jumblat a couple of days ago say he's pro optional civil marriage now. I don't know if he backed Hrawi up in the nineties or not. But it's the first time I hear Jumblat being pro secular activities.

What change do I want to see? I do not want to see one party win and another lose, I do not want to see hatred towards another party which most probably you might end up being in alliance with after a year. Think before you offend another party or sect, because you never know when your leader might join them.

I am a sunni/armenian orthodox/maronite person. And I don't mind being ruled by red monkeys if those red monkeys care enough to end corruption, help create more jobs, improve our education even more and more, work on enhancing tourism, ending violence, raising our children not to hate the other because the granpa of the granpa of his granpa killed the granpa of the granpa of his granpa! I would like them to find a solution for traffic, and not just build bridges that take 5 years that don't make a difference. I would like to see them clean this country, have optional civil marriage, have 2 or 3 days per week that is non-smoking, educate people on how to drive and respect the other la2anno ktir bala zo2 sayrin bil swe2a. But I won't vote.

New Evidence Points to Hezbollah in Hariri Murder

The deeper the investigators in Beirut penetrated into the case, the clearer the picture became, according to the SPIEGEL source. They have apparently discovered which Hezbollah member obtained the small Mitsubishi truck used in the attack. They have also been able to trace the origins of the explosives, more than 1,000 kilograms of TNT, C4 and hexogen.

Click here to read more

Byblos Festival

What I like about the festivals in Lebanon are their locations. Byblos Festival has a wonderful location, they build a stage on top of the sea, the weather in June and July at night is the best, you will sense a light breeze, see the Old Castle in front of you, and all the mountains of Keserwan, just amazing.

Check out the program of Byblos Festival here.

We are insecure

I think most of our problems in Lebanon are because most Lebanese people are insecure. Standing in line degrades us, following rules and stopping at traffic lights degrades us, saying "excuse me" degrades us, greeting people we don't know degrades us, so many things degrade us... don't they?

Beiteddine announces their Festival Program

Ladies and gentlemen, I am thrilled to inform you about Beiteddine's Festival, if you live in a country nearby, take a road trip and come visit Lebanon, spend a day at the beach, and come attend one of the many very supreme events. I personally have my eyes on 4, we'll see what the budget permits.

Charles Aznavour
Jad El Maleh
Madeline Peyroux
Marcel Khalife
Kazem El Saher
Haninae y son Cubano
Guy Manoukian
and others...

Check the website here.

Laws for Mobilette?!?!?!

I would vote if the candidate decides to include the following point
in his/her electoral program:

Apply traffic and driving laws on Mobilettes* just like any other vehicles.

To people who drive mobilettes:
1- you are neither invisible nor above the law
2- you drive the wrong way in one way streets
3- you suddenly decide to jump from right to left
4- you suddenly appear on our right or left (we cannot see you in our mirrors)
5- you drive so close to the cars and decide to double us on a 10 cm
distance...
6- Stop at the traffic lights

I almost hit a Mobilette the last day, while he suddenly decided to go
all the way from the right to the left and not diagonally, but instead
he made a 90 degrees turn... It was either hitting him and killing
him, or hitting a car coming towards me, but luckily I dodged both!

And the funny thing would've been him probably dead, me crazy because
I would feel horrible for killing a person, and probably in jail
(making female buddies), losing my job, losing integrity to ever find
another job (that is if I remained sane)

So candidates, can you please start working on including points in
your electoral problems that really have to do with REAL problems in
Lebanon such as this one? If you like, I have many others to tell you
about.

*Mobilette is what we refer to Scooters in Lebanon.

Swine flu or Fine flu?

I have been reading about this fine flu for quite some time, trying to stay updated and see if it's going pandemic or not. Make sure that my visit to the US in 2 weeks won't get me sick, and when I return I won't be contagious and end up infecting all of my colleagues at work, my family and friends!
Yes! I am exagerating. Anyway, I was reading some people's comments, and some of them are just funny, and pretty logical. Here are some quotes below, and this is the link to the page.

I think they should change "swine flu" to just "flu", it seems no worse than seasonal flu.
Dale, Swansea

Don't avoid it. Catch it. It is a weak flu (all flu's kill, but this one not many) and it might give you immunity to a deadlier H1N1 that is yet to come.
Glen, Seattle/United States 

...and yet again the WHO and media outlets try to create massive profits for the pharmaceutical industries by adding fuel to a minute out break of flu. Please get this in perspective and desist from creating unnecessary panic.
Mike Cook, Vancouver Canada 

So, instead of criticising the media and the governments for informing the public and taking preventive measures against such a potential threat to human lives, maybe we should be glad that there is enough transparency in the media and that politicians are willing to take action for our health first - not always for the health of the economy.
Raphie, London, UK 

What do you think? Are they blowing things out of proportion, are the steps that WHO is taking necessary and preventive, and is the media talking about it more than it deserves?

Even diners are now in it!

Well, they might as well take advantage of the whole elections fiesta! So Bob's diner advices everyone, don't go vote on an empty stomach!