Archive | Events

Maya Zankoul’s Book Signing at Ceramic Lounge

By Rami on October 26, 2009 in Events

Here’s your second chance in case you missed the first book signing of Maya’s Amalgam! This Wednesday October 28th at 6PM, Maya Zankoul will be signing her book at the Ceramic Lounge in Saifi Village Beirut. In addition, you can also get special edition comics that Maya has illustrated exclusively for Ceramic Lounge on ceramic items.

And while you’re their, you can get to enjoy homemade cookies by the COOKI3MAN who has been creating a buzz around the Lebanese twitterverse with his delicious choc chip, M&M, and Kinder cookies!

Hommos & Tabbouleh are us!

By Rami on October 20, 2009 in Events

After breaking the world records for the longest Dabke chain and the largest Kebbe plate, the Lebanese people decided it is time to set a new world record, making the biggest Hommos and Tabbouleh! And this time the event IS for a purpose, it will be a part of the campaign to reclaim ownership of the 2 traditional dishes after Israel started to export them as Israeli.

The event is going to take place at Saifi Market in Downtown Beirut on October 24 and 25 and will also include various other entertaining activities. The dishes are expected to spread over an area exceeding 5,000 square meters, I wonder where are they going to get THAT MUCH parsley and hommos from!!

Last but not least, and while talking about world records, the people of Arnaoun (A northern Lebanese village) thought it would be cool to break to world record for the longest bridal scarf! Check this article for more details. It seems that we have nothing to worry about nowadays other than breaking world records… w habal.

P.S: I bet some Israeli is going to read this post and laugh really hard at it. At the end they’re still exporting their goods, and we’re still busy thinking of a way to reclaim ownership of a couple of dishes…

Nike human race – Beirut

By Rami on October 16, 2009 in Events

Nike human race beirut

Nike Human Race is a worldwide sport event that is going to take place in 35 cities around the globe, including Beirut, on October 24th 2009. It’s basically a multi-city event for celebrating the report of running by giving runners everywhere the opportunity to run together.

In Beirut it is going to take the form of a fund raising event. Those who sign up and upon paying the registration fees ($10) will have to mention under which association name are they going to race, and at the end of the event Nike will be donating registration fees to the Association which will gather the biggest number of runners.

It’s just a 10K fun run event with no ranking or winners, however all participants who will reach the finish line will get their Nike Human Race Beirut Medal souvenir.

Registration forms are available at all Nike stores – ABC Ahrafieh, ABC Dbayeh, Verdun, Kaslik, Tripoli and Downtown Beiru. Don’t forget to write the name of the Association you will be running for.

Click here for more details on Facebook.

Blog Action Day 2009 – Climate Change

By Rami on October 15, 2009 in Events

In case you’re wondering, the blog action day is the day when the blogsphere unite to talk about a subject that relates to all of us, and this year’s subject is the climate change.

Today I won’t be writing about what the climate change is and its bad effects on our planet, I’m pretty sure you lately came across several articles about that (just in case you didn’t, here’s something for you). This post will be more about what we as individuals can do in our not-so-ecofriendly country, also known as Lebanon.

Zouk Power Plant
Photo by Antoine Kater

Carpooling on a daily basis is hard I know, and our transportation sucks big time that’s for sure, but I know that I can leave my car home at least twice or more each month and reach my destination either with a friend or in a bus. And so can you!
Do turn off lights when you don’t need them! That’s the least you can do to help the environment. (and to reduce your electricity bill of course!)
Recycling! If you do work then let your boss know that Sukleen CAN collect recyclable materials upon request. So contact them as soon as possible and let them collect your paper trash for recycling.
Think twice before you print, do you really need that document in hard copy?
Plant a tree if you can, the environment will love you for that.
… and the list goes on…

I know my post alone might not convince you to make a slight change in your lifestyle to help reducing the effects of the climate change, but just wait until the end of the day and see how much blogs will be talking about the same matter! Then you’ll know how serious it is! Oh and make sure to also check this shocking post from Travel Blog Magazine.

Francophone Games – Beirut 2009

By Rami on September 28, 2009 in Events

50 Francophone countries are participating in the sixth Francophone Games, which will take place in Beirut from September 27 to October 6 2009!

50 pays francophones se regroupent à Beyrouth pour les 6eme Jeux de la Francophonie du 27 Septembre au 6 Octobre 2009!

Website: www.jeux2009.org

Transnational Tides and the Future of the Arab City – October 2-3, 2009

By Rami on September 19, 2009 in Events

Under the Patronage of His Excellency
Mr. Ziad Baroud, Minister of Interior and Municipalities

The Yale Arab Alumni Association with the support of the Yale University Council on Middle East Studies and the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy at the
American University of Beirut invites you to attend

Transnational Tides and the Future of the Arab City
A conference on urban sustainability

October 2-3, 2009
American University of Beirut

Keynote address by Mr. Talal Shair
Chairman and CEO, Dar Al-Handasah

Special video address by Dr. Rajendra Pachauri
Director, Yale Climate and Energy Institute
Chairman, Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The Purpose of the Conference:

Our aim in organizing this conference is simple: to harness the potential of the Arab metropolitan network to build a sustainable, integrated regional future. “Transnational Tides and the Future of the Arab City” seeks to identify best practices and innovative strategies which globalizing Arab cities, governments, and institutions need to consider in order to improve urban welfare and sustainability. It features experts and decision-makers from the fields of urban planning and development, energy and communications infrastructure, environmental sustainability, higher education, sociology, culture, public policy, and public health. The conference program thus uniquely pairs academics and intellectuals with urban development stakeholders and practitioners, with the aim of yielding intelligent, implementable results.

About the Yale Arab Alumni Association:

The Yale Arab Alumni Association is a special-interest group for Yale alumni and affiliates with an active interest in the Arab World. It was established with the vision of connecting and engaging its global membership to advance Yale-Arab relations and stimulate dialogue on issues of importance to the Arab Middle East. A six-person Executive Board, under the guidance of an eleven-member Advisory Board, administers the organization. The Yale Arab Alumni Association is a not-for-profit incorporation registered in the state of Connecticut (USA) and is in the process of obtaining 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit organization.

You can check this link for the official website of the event, and you may click here for the registration details.

Exhibition – Surveying Brummana

By Rami on September 5, 2009 in Events

The Department of Architecture and Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut & the Municipality of Brummana cordially invite you to an exhibition of students’ works:

SURVEYING BRUMMANA

Monday September 7, 2009 at 15h00

At the Meeting House
Main Entrance, Brummana High School

Program:

Day 1: Monday 07/09/09
15h00: Welcoming note
Dr. Walid Khoury, Brummana High School principal
15h15-15h40: Overview of Brummana’s evolution
Naji Assi and Walid Bakhos (ARCH241 instructors – AUB)
15h40-16h15: Presentation of case studies
ARCH241 students
16h15-16h35: Typologies of surveyed houses
Antoine Fischfisch (ARCH241 instructor – AUB)
16h35-16h50: Open debate (Q&A)
16h50-18h00: Exhibition

Day 2: Tuesday 08/09/09
10h00-18h00: Open exhibition
16h00-18h00: Walking tour of the surveyed neighbourhood

Day 3: Wednesday 09/09/09
10h00-18h00: Open exhibition

Save Kfardebian natural bridge

By Rami on August 7, 2009 in Events

I admit I’m very late on posting this! Il 2ossa w ma fiya, someone is planning to build a cafe on our natural bridge of Kfardebian, which will result in “ruining” this naturally made landmark. What we can do is to show the media that we oppose this project and want to preserve that landmark by gathering tomorrow 9:00AM at the natural bridge.

Below is more details from Blogging Beirut about the schedule.

Our Natural Bridge of Kfardebian-Faqra is in extreme danger. The danger is that of urbanization, of a human kind.

The owner of the land close to the bridge has decided to build an amphitheater and cafe starting from the very edge of the bridge!

LAW 434 – Lists Lebanon’s Natural bridge of Kfardebiene-Faqra as the 8th great natural site and wealth of the Republic of Lebanon.

The law also states that this site is protected under a radius of 100m from any type of building or land adjustment. The center of the radius stems from the center of the bridge.

The law also states that for an additional 50 m, no building or activity of any type can take place, that will harm the identity and character of the site.

The land owner already built 9 steps and a concrete wall several meters wide within the first protected radius and has illegally bought the road that connects the main road to the bridge from the municipality of Kfardebien.

On August 8th 2009, a rally to voice our concerns to the media and protect our heritage from destruction.

We will conduct a hike from the Roman Ruins of Kfardebiene-Faqra to the Natural Bridge starting at 9am.

Join us at the ruins at 9am and hike with us to the bridge.

At 10:30 AM the media will cover our event with a press release to help communicate to the Lebanese public the dangers of these circumstances.

We will afterward s enjoy a picnic at the site and listen to a great Musician playing the Oud.

Please help support and protect our national heritage.

Contact Info:

E-mail: savethebridge [at) bloggingbeirut (dot] com

Maya Zankoul’s Amalgam Book Signing

By Rami on August 3, 2009 in Events

maya-zankoul

Earlier in May I introduced to you Maya’s Amalgam blog authored by Maya Zankoul, a very interesting blog that got exposure from the Future TV and Al-Horra, in addition to getting an interview with NOW Lebanon.

Over the past few weeks we were following the news of Maya preparing a book combining her posts, so it’s going to be her blog on papers! And last week she announced that the book signing will be on August 12 and will take at the Art Lounge. It’s a unique blogging experience I think, and I wish her all the best!

This Amalgam consists in sketches written and illustrated by the Lebanese graphic designer Maya Zankoul (DOB 30/06/1986). Those sketches represent many situations that everyone of us might face in their daily lives, addressing many critics to some of the society’s ugly habits. Everyone of you can actually find himself or recognize a situation that he or she might have encountered in their daily routines.

From the book signing page on the Art Lounge website.

For more details on the event you may visit any of the following links:

“Book signing – Maya Zankoul’s Amalgam” Facebook event

Book signing page on the Art Lounge website.

Congratulations Maya! 🙂