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Lebanese TV Stations and Copyright Basics

By Rami on September 27, 2016 in Television

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Most Lebanese TV stations have been uploading their content to YouTube for a while now, and I’m personally glad they do because I rarely manage to watch programs on time. My wife and I usually put my little kid to sleep and then start watching our favorite shows starting 8:30 or 9:00PM, including anything interesting we might have missed on a Lebanese station thanks to YouTube.

However, I’ve been lately noticing that those in charge or maintaining the YouTube channels are sometimes uploading every show the stations are airing regardless whether it was produced by them or not. For instance while it is normal for LBCI to upload their news reports or Nharkom Saiid for example, I don’t think it’s ok for them to upload a series they bought from some production company because they don’t have the right to redistribute it.

Yesterday for example I was going through MTV Lebanon videos and noticed that they have every single episode of “Metel El Amar” series on their YouTube channel even though it was produced by Marwa Group (link). On the other hand, LBCI have episodes of “Shaware’ Al Zell” (produced by Phoenix International) on their channel.

I know there’s no way to compare but imagine some European TV channel uploading Game of Thrones episodes the minutes they finish airing them, that would piss HBO off big time… And in case you’re wondering, I personally don’t respect copyright laws as I get most of my movies and series from torrent websites, but I was just thinking that TV stations should be more responsible about such things.

11 Lebanese in The Top 100 Arab Business Women for 2016

By Rami on September 22, 2016 in Business

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Forbes Middle East recently released their list of the 100 most powerful businesswomen in the Arab world for 2016 and the below 11 Lebanese women made it to the list this year, with Lubna Olayan from Saudi Arabia topping it. (link)

#55 Sana Khater, CFO – Waha Capital

#57 Randa El Assaad, CEO – Arif & Bintoak Consulting Architects and Engineers

#58 Mona Bawarshi, CRO – Gezairi Transport

#60 Hala Fadel, Partner – Leap Ventures

#61 Nour Sweid, Partner – Leap Ventures

#66 Ingie Chalhoub, President – Etoile Group

#69 Christine Sfeir, CEO – Treats Holding

#82 Nadia Cheaib, Founder, CEO – ClinServ International

#83 Caroline Fattal Khoury, Senior VP; Board Member – Fattal Group

#92 Myrna Soufan, COO – Banque Bemo

#97 Jinan Zoya, General Manager – Gulf Family Business Council

I’m personally mostly familiar with Christine Sfeir as I follow her on a couple of social media platforms and she seems very down to earth.

On the other hand, Forbes Middle East also released a list of the world’s top 10 most powerful Arab women and 5 Lebanese women were mentioned in it with number 1 being Nemat Shafik from Egypt. (link)

#2 Amal Clooney, Lawyer – Doughty Street Chambers

#3 Nayla Hayek, Chair Swatch; CEO – Harry Winston

#6 Rula Ghani, Afghanistan’s First Lady

#7 Reem Accra, Fashion Designer

#8 Aya Bdeir, Founder, CEO – Little Bits

Things to Do This Week in Lebanon – September 21st 2016

By Rami on September 21, 2016 in Events

Here are my picks from Lebtivity for this week. I’m mostly interested in attending Meen’s new album launching tonight as I love their funny and sarcastic songs!

Make sure to check Lebtivity.com for much more options.

5 Songs That Brought Music in Lebanon to an All Time Low This Summer

By Rami on September 16, 2016 in What the fuck!

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If we’re gonna remember this summer for something other than the garbage scattered everywhere around the country, then it’s definitely for the low quality music that was produced for celebrity wannabes to get their 5 minutes of fame.

Here’s a quick list I compiled from what I have lately seen on YouTube. I’m pretty sure there’s more but I think 5 are enough to avoid any damage for your eyes and ears.

1- Tarek Al-Atrash – Merzabbi

What does Merzabbi mean? And why did somebody feel the urge to write a song about it?

2. Rola Yamout – Ana Rola

I honestly never paid attention to the music. This is actually the kind of videos that help you identify whether you are an ass or boobs man.

3. Rima Dib – Ya Wad Ya T2il

Nothing. Zero. Cero. Null.

4. Myriam Klink – Baddi Walle3 Albak Nar

Falls in the same category as #2. It can also be used during self loving time as well… you know self loving… w heik.

5. Hadi Azrak – Jenno Notto

Tirachrach is so 2011! No wedding was complete this season without this one playing at least once during the party.

Things to Do This Week in Lebanon – September 14th 2016

By Rami on September 14, 2016 in Events

Here are my picks from Lebtivity for this week. I’m personally excited to attend Maskoon film festival at Metropolis cinema, and the walk in Horsh Beirut with Nahnoo NGO.

Make sure to check Lebtivity.com for much more options.

Tag Heuer’s First Arabic Digital Watch Face by Lebanese Artist Yazan Halwani

By Rami on September 9, 2016 in Creative, Design

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For the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, Tag Heuer is releasing the first Arabic watch face for their Connected smart watch and commissioned Lebanese artist Yazan Halwani to create the design (link).

The design is made of abstract Arabic calligraphy formations of the statement “Time does not wait” (Al waqt la yantazer) and it won’t be hard for you to associate the design with Yazan since he’s pretty famous for using such patterns in his murals around Beirut.

I’m not gonna lie and claim that I fell in love with with the watch face because I personally prefer the watch dial to be darker, but I still liked Yazan’s design and definitely found it cool that Tag Heuer picked a Lebanese artist to do this job.

On another note, Yazan’s choice of the statement “Time does not wait” is spot on. Arabs in general and specifically us Lebanese can be better off being punctual on things like electing a president and parliament on time, and effectively managing a garbage crisis well before it happens!

Things to Do This Week in Lebanon – September 7th 2016

By Rami on September 7, 2016 in Events

Here are my picks from Lebtivity for this week. Aside from Verekai which is a definitely not to be missed show, I recommend you check the Kayak tours at Wadi Chamsine in Bekaa which are quite fun.

Make sure to check Lebtivity.com for much more options.

Film Ameriki Tawil is Coming Out in October

By Rami on September 5, 2016 in Cinema, Theater

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When Bennesbe Labokra Shou started showing earlier this year, M Media promised that Film Ameriki Tawil will hit the theater next, and they just released their trailer for it both on their website and on Facebook announcing that it is coming out in October.

Judging from the trailer and the footage they released earlier, the image quality seems to be significantly better and more stable than that of Bennesbe Labokra Shou.

I personally never get bored of listening to Film Ameriki Tawil on the radio and can’t wait for the release date. Let’s hope Shi Feshil is next on the list for M Media as I guess we are all eager to know how tiny was that gypsum waterfall in the play!

The trailer is available here and here.

Lebanon Ranked 3rd Worldwide in Pollution Index

By Rami on September 5, 2016 in Environment, What the fuck!

It’s good to know that all the effort we have been putting over the past year in piling up the garbage on our streets and then disposing them in the most unhealthy landfills has finally paid off! According to Numbeo Lebanon is now ranked 3rd worldwide in their pollution index right behind Afghanistan and Ghana.

And it isn’t like we have been trailing way back in the previous years, back in 2013 we were ranked just 13th but we eventually did some serious work and almost made our way to the top.

photo via Al Jazeera

Update:

I didn’t notice this when I first shared the chart, but it’s worth noting that the figures are based on the perception of Numbeo website visitors and therefore the ranking is unreliable. Mustapha wrote about the whole thing on his blog and I recommend you check it out.

13 Year Old Boy Defeats Security Controls at Beirut Airport

By Rami on September 2, 2016 in Random

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This is definitely one of the weirdest news stories lately. Walid Shabti, A 13 year old Palestinian refugee from Bourj Al-Barajneh, was apparently fed up with his living conditions here and simply decided to escape the country. He somehow managed to get on board an airplane going to Istanbul after bypassing all security checkpoints at Beirut airport, but was later busted and departed back to Beirut.

Knowing that airport security is supposed to be tightened these days, this boy must have been either extremely smart or extra lucky to bypass all the controls. I mean there are around 4 checkpoints where you will be asked to show your passport/ticket before you are allowed on board and he still made it.

Out of all this though, I guess the best thing is that he has one hell of an adventure to tell his friends about now!

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