Tag Archives | image

Why Are These Car-Mounted Laser Cameras Roaming Beirut?

By Rami on March 3, 2017 in Beirut, Cars

Over the past 3 weeks, I have encountered cars with roof-mounted cameras like the one above three times around Beirut, twice in Bachoura and once in Tarik El Jadida.

At first I thought they were some new radar guns used by the ISF but then I got a closer look and noticed their brand (Yaan), so I googled it and figured they’re in fact laser high speed cameras.

I have absolutely no idea why these cars are roaming the streets of Beirut, and I’m honestly quite surprised no one made a fuss about it yet especially that it is forbidden to take photos around certain areas in the city. A friend suggested they might be collecting images for Google Street Views, but I doubt it since Google usually uses 360° camera like this one.

If you have any information about these cameras please do share it in the comments.

Miss met3a

By Rami on September 7, 2012 in Funny

Did this image make way to your Facebook news feed too?

Al-Jadeed news anchor’s jacket covered the wrong part of her t-shirt yesterday making it look like she had “Miss met3a” written on it, whereas the t-shirt originally had “Miss Tamet3a” written.

Cool choice nevertheless!

Should we preserve every single Phoenician ruin in Beirut?

By Rami on June 27, 2012 in Lebanon

The news about the sudden destruction of the ancient Phoenician port in Beirut has flooded the news and the Lebanese blogosphere over the last couple of days. Everybody seems to be against move and some are even asking the minister of culture Gaby Layoun to resign over it.

But let’s be real for a second, downtown Beirut all lay over Phoenician ruins and much more! At the end, it was destroyed and rebuilt 7 times over its 5,000 year history, so the least you can find is ruins WHEREVER you dig around the city! Should we preserve everything we find and halt all construction works for ever? And let’s assume that we’ve succeeded in actually preserving them and turning these site into touristic places, will Khaleeji people be interested in visiting them? In fact, I see them enjoying places like Zaitounay Bay much more than the ancient ruins near the Grand Serail!

Still, don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling to erase our history, but why can’t we be more practical? I know the developers at the Phoenician port did wrong by suddenly demolishing that Phoenician port, but why for instance didn’t we give them the option to maybe move that port to another place instead of totally halting their plans?

Paint Up – Making Beirut brighter!

By Rami on June 19, 2012 in Lebanon

I’m really loving what this group of artists and designers are doing to Beirut. Equipped with colors and skills, these guys are painting staircases around the city with cool designs.

Bliss Street

Mar Mkhayel

Sakiet El Janzir

I hope their work won’t be limited to painting up staircases only, and maybe push it further to make walls brighter even.

Anyway, you can check their Facebook page here.

Beirut then and now

By Rami on June 18, 2012 in Photography

via Facebook

Lebanese cleverness ( حربقة )

By Rami on June 12, 2012 in What the fuck!

No wonder everybody despise minivan and bus drivers! This one definitely earns the asshole of the day” title.

via Cheyef 7alak

Supermoon over Lebanon

By Rami on May 6, 2012 in Lebanon

As you may have read around the web in the last couple of days, the world witnessed the biggest and brightest full moon in 2012, also known as a Supermoon, which is the name used when referring to a full moon that occurs when the moon is at its closest distance to earth, and usually happens once every 412 days.

Below is a cool shot taken by Beirut Drive-By of the Supermoon over the Lebanese mountains last night.

The NY Times on Chateau Musar

By Rami on April 4, 2012 in Lebanon

The Lebanese wine seems to be gaining a good popularity in the world because of its fine and unique taste. I recall reading several articles in world newspapers and magazines about the numerous vineyards we have in the north and Bekaa, and here’s one of the latest articles published in The New York Times about Chateau Musar.

The one consistent thing about the wines is how inconsistent they are, as Mr. Hochar might say. Each vintage is profoundly individual, partly, no doubt, because wine from Lebanon, one of the oldest wine regions in the world, is so unusual, and partly because Mr. Hochar makes so little use of modern winemaking techniques, which might serve to file away Musar’s distinctive edges.

“The dimension of taste in Lebanon is different than anywhere else,” he said. “Not better, but different. Better has no meaning.”

In a world full of wines trying to be the best, many people find it refreshing to see a wine simply trying to be itself. Source

MEA pilots ended their strike

By Rami on December 4, 2011 in Lebanon

Looks like Middle East Airlines resumed all their flights as of last night after the pilots ended their 5 days strike.

Captain Fadi Khalil, head of the pilots’ union, announced the strike had ended at midnight on Saturday. Normal scheduling resumed on Sunday.

“Out of concern for our company and Lebanon’s tourism sector, and out of respect for our passengers, we announce the suspension of our strike,” Khalil said at a news conference, adding that the strike was “in principle over.” Source.

It’s irritating how problems are being handled over the last few days. The Lebanese Pilots Association initially had a problem with the MEA management over firing a pilot diagnosed with cancer, and next thing we knew is flights are all suspended via MEA.

Two days ago, some problem/dispute (whatever it is) happened at the Zahrani power plant, and the employees ended up halting all power generation!

And who gets caught in the middle of everything? Us.

The Burger Bar – Sodeco

By Rami on November 29, 2011 in Reviews

Burger Bar is a relatively new burger joint located in Sodeco, across the street from Classic Burger Joint. Before getting to how good their burgers are, it’s worth mentioning that The Burger Bar logo is nothing but a copy of the one Johnny Rockets’ has.

So I’ve tried their Mushroom Swiss Burger a while ago, and unfortunately it turned out delivering almost nothing new or special, and I said almost because the bun was fresh and tasty. The patty on the other hand was quite average, while the sauce had too much mayo in it. It isn’t like you’ll hate it, but there’s definitely much improvement that can be done.

For the time being, CBJ seems like a better option if you’re craving a burger in the area. Though I personally would prefer going all the way to Hamra for Burger Nation!

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