Tag Archives | Beirut

The Lebanese parliament “love” stories

You really have to check this article published yesterday in Al-Akhbar about the way some of our MPs sexually harass female reporters at the parliament and even chase them to their apartments at midnight!

هناك في المجلس النيابي نواب يؤدّون دور كازانوفا. واحد من كتلة المستقبل العكارية. ثانٍ من الكتلة نفسها. ثالث مستقبليّ كوراني. مازح الأخير إحدى الزميلات مرة حين علم أن موعد زواجها قريب قائلاً إن لديه «مكتباً خاصاً للاستشارة والتدريب»، وضرب على صدره مردداً: «أنا بعجبك بها القصص». رابع جبيليّ عونيّ؛ يحرص عند استقباله امرأة «على تزليطها» بعينيه كما كان يقول مرة في مجلس خاص. خامس زغرتاوي، هو زميل الرابع في الكتلة نفسها، أدلى بدلوه في الموضوع نفسه خلال الجلسة الحميمية نفسها، فرأى أن «الرجل الذي تمر أمامه امرأة ولا يطارد مؤخرتها بعينيه، ليس رجلاً». وتروي إحدى الصحافيات أن هذا النائب كان قبل سنوات ضمن وفد سياسي يزور إحدى الدول القريبة، وكانت المرأة الوحيدة على متن الطائرة، فتهامس مع زملائه خمس دقائق ثم اقترب منها بقميص غالبية أزراره مفتوحة، ليسألها عما تنوي فعله برفقتهم، ملامساً ركبتها بركبته. السادس في الفرقة بيروتي قح، قال لأحد الصحافيين المشكوك في هويتهم الجنسية مرة: «إن كنت لا تريدني، فاترك لي المصور أو مسؤول الإضاءة». السابع في الفريق بيروتي أرمني أسدل ستائر مكتبه قبيل وصول الصحافية وخفف الضوء، قائلاً «جهزت الغرفة لتكون أكثر رومانسية». فنصحته بالذهاب عند زوجته وغادرت. ثامن الكازانوفات، من إقليم الخروب. التاسع من صور. والعاشر من بنت جبيل. أما البقاع الغربي، فينافس البقاع الأوسط، لكل منهما «جَغَلان» على الأقل. «القانون صورتكم» تقول حملة «كفى عنف واستغلال». وكان يجب أن تضيف: «ما بتِشبعوا!؟».

What is really remarkable though, is that some of the mentioned MPs are actually members of the parliamentary committee responsible for drafting new laws addressing domestic violence!

The article mentions at the end that sometimes it’s not all the MP’s fault, as some reporters also work hard to seduce some MPs, and one of them succeeded to seduce two members of the same parliamentary bloc at a time! Which of course called for the head of the bloc to intervene.

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The ice skating rink at Beirut Souks

I was at Beirut Souks last night and thought of passing by the new ice skating rink to check it out but was disappointed by how small it is. It’s like 20 x 20 meters and looked a bit crowded to me with like 20 people on it. Not to mention the overpriced tickets at 20,000 L.L.

The rink is lasting till the end of February, and opens from 12PM till midnight.

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Roadster Diner’s new menu

Roadster just launched its new menu containig some new items like the Texas Steak sandwich, Rd. Cheese-At-Heart burger, and Rd Double Diner burger. Make sure to check it out here.

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend a tasting session I’ve been invited to at their branch in Le Mall tonight, but trying out some of the new items is definitely on my to do list in the coming few days because of all the good feedback I’m reading on their Facebook page!

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Power generators making a comeback in Beirut

Beirut is currently experiencing 3 hours of power rationing a day, and even though setting up big private power generators and offering subscriptions to the people is illegal in the city (unlike other areas), I started seeing these flyers in Tarik El-Jadida since last week.

And I expect to see more of these now that Gibran Bassil is calling to increase the rationing in Beirut and stating earlier that whoever bares 3 hours of power cut a day can actually handle 3 additional hours, totally disregarding that he’s actually talking about the business center of the country!

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Best way to end the weekend

Is it just me or does anyone else get bummed out on Sunday night? I mean who really looks forward for Mondays?

Anyway, I guess I’ve discovered one of the best ways to end you’re weekend in Beirut. Go to Balthazar in Beirut Souks on a Sunday night, and order the Pain Perdu for two with a cup of hot chocolate. They’re both heavenly good, the Pain Perdu is seriously one of the best in town and comes with caramel sauce, while the hot chocolate is thick and creamy.

Many thanks to A. & S. for the recommendation!

Photo via Ayman Itani

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Metel Ma Shelta

I just came across a cool anti littering campaign called “Metel Ma Shelta” via Elie’s blog.

Knowing beforehand that people would definitely pick a 10,000L.L off the street, a group of graphic designers threw small pieces of paper on the streets with a the forged look of a 10,000L.L bill on one side, while the other side had “As you picked this up, you can pick up the litter of the streets as well” written on it.

I’m sure this wont make the people who might fall for this trick actually start picking up litter off the streets, but it may at least make them stop littering or stop the people around them from doing it.

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7assesneh Inne Rkheesa

WARNING: RATED R

An “unserious parody”? WTF! That’s like getting naked in the street to take a stand against nudity!

7assesneh Inne Rkheesa is a lebanese unserious parody song written by Moe & Shonda and recorded vocally by the legendary lebanese diva, Shonda during the first week of November 2011 To the melody of the instrumental version of Katy Perry’s ET (extra terrestrial).

It was written to highlight the wide spread of the unethical and illegal social phenomena that has been the reason behind the broadcasting visual images of moving objects with exposed flesh, voices that sound like hairballs stuck in a cat’s throat, and music that unfortunately slows down the functioning of the human brain cells. The song was introduced with the melody of the song Extra terrestrial (ET) by katy perry due to its catchy beat and rythm. It was recorded two days after it was written. Ever since, it has been among the playlists of DJs in pubs, ipods, and phones around the city. a Crowd of communication arts students offered to shoot a music video staring the vocalist herself, for the priceless charisma she acquires and the powerful effect she projects within the song .

One of the Saint Joseph University (beirut) students was impressed with the piece and contacted the New Tv broadcasting company who offered Shonda an interview on its comedy show “chi nn” to discuss the art of “7assesneh enne rkheesa” and spread the message of Rokhos to all generations. But she had to turn down the interview due to severe circumstances.

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Bringing Central Park to the roofs of Beirut

I was complaining to a friend of mine a while ago that wherever you plan to buy an apartment in Beirut, and no matter how good your view over the sea or the mountains might be, it will always be ruined with the ugly rooftops all around you! They’re all crowded with rusty water tanks, satellite dishes, and even pigeon houses sometimes!

And today I came across this cool idea by Wassim Melki who is proposing to start growing trees on the rooftops of Beirut’s building to compensate for the lack of green spaces in the city.

It definitely needs lot of work to be implemented, and most importantly needs commitment and support from the municipality of Beirut which is as efficient as any governmental institution in Lebanon. That unfortunately leads us to the ugly conclusion that this project will never be destined to become a reality.

You can stay up to date with the project’s news via their Facebook page.

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Happy New Year!

That’s how the new year’s eve looked like in downtown Beirut, if you’re curious about the rest of the world you can check this nice collection here.

Wishing you all the best of life in 2012!

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