I’ve been to Faraya on Saturday afternoon and noticed that you could see snow around you shortly after you cross Achkout roundabout and before you even reach Mayrouba or Hrajel. That’s a sight we’ve missed for the last two years I guess, which held little snow compared to what we’re used for.
Did we kiss global warming goodbye?
I bet you’ve experienced waiting in line at the popular movies theaters in Beirut especially Grand Cinemas ABC and Cinemacity City Mall. The waiting time is basically due to the fact that shows for blockbuster movie get fully booked very quickly, and so when one’s turn arrives at the box office and get surprised that there’s no more seats for M:I-4 let’s say, he’ll take at least half a minute to decide on an alternative movie to watch. And that applies for the next 10 people waiting in front of you…
Wouldn’t be better if these theaters display a small counter next to showtime listings telling the number of remaining seats for each show? It would definitely help people decide beforehand which movie to watch, and reduce the long queues at the box office.
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.
The Prophet, one of the best selling books of all time by Gibran Khalil Gibran will soon turn into an animated movie to be produced by Salma Hayek, and directed by Roger Allers who previously directed The Lion King. The movie is set to begin pre-production by the end of this month.
The Lion King director Roger Allers has signed on to adapt and direct The Prophet, an animated film Salma Hayek’s Ventanarosa Productions will produce with Clark Peterson and Ron Senkowski. Source
That’s definitely an animated movie to look forward for!
Energy and Water Minister Jibran Bassil said the country would witness more electricity cuts, adding that he had submitted several emergency plans to Cabinet in a bid to temporarily resolve the crisis but to no avail.
Several areas in Lebanon have been suffering from increased electricity cuts due to the rainy season. This is especially true in south Lebanon, where many have complained that electricity only comes for four hours on a daily basis. Source
Some areas are currently merely getting 4 hours of electricity a day, and I imagine they wont be getting any if the situation gets really worse as Bassil is claiming! Needless to say, that’s great news to the generators mafia.
Update:
The Daily Star has another article related to the electricity in Lebanon, telling about one of the Ministry of Finance buildings in Bechara El-Khoury hosting the revenue department, being forced to stop operations and turning down people during the 3 hours power cuts in Beirut because it doesn’t have any backup source of electricity. Unbelievable!
I stumbled upon this cool kiosk by Bank Audi on Saturday night at City Mall. Aside from the ATM on the right, there are two large screens that, among many options, allow you to do a video call with one of the bank’s representatives and inquire them about their services. A room offering privacy is also available in the back, which I assume can be used to sign confidential papers and send them directly to the bank from within that kiosk.
The purpose of this project is apparently to let people get most of their banking needs done at a kiosk like this one instead of having to physically be present at one of the bank’s branches, which is pretty nice for people whose time is not flexible enough in the morning.
I just hope they’re putting similar efforts into enhancing their e-banking application as well!
The Daily Star posted some very nice photos showing the aftermath of the recent snowstorm across many villages in Lebanon. Make sure you check them out here and here.
Baalbeck
Sawfar
Jabal El-Sheikh
All these white scenes make you crave lunch by the chimney at one of the restaurants in the mountains. Montagnou? Erzel? Any recommendations?
Reading all these articles in the Lebanese media slamming Saad Hariri for replying by mistake to a “good morning” tweet by the Israeli ministry of defense spokesperson Avichay Adraee was quite normal. It just proved that some Lebanese journalists have really nothing to do sometimes other than “philosophizing” a two words tweet!
But has anyone found it weird how it’s very acceptable in Israel for a high ranking official to initiate a conversation with a Lebanese person? Don’t they consider us their enemies? I just tried searching for an article in Israel criticizing Avichay Adraee for his tweet to Saad Hariri and failed to find any!
Even if you check his twitter account now, you’ll see that Adraee went on and simply apologized to Saad Hariri for disturbing him!
Oh and did you notice how whoever took the screenshot above, supposedly to criticize Hariri for that tweet, is following Avichay Adraee? Hypocricy much?
Below is a comparison of how the Jonction domain at Faraya looked like on the same day (January 13th) over three years. With the current storm we’re witnessing, and another one coming on Sunday, this season seems quite promising for both skiers and ski resorts! If only the price of lift passes can be decreased though…
Remember “Beirut Hotel” that was banned a while ago from cinemas in Lebanon? It’s going to be aired on arte next Friday (20th January) at 9:35PM Beirut time. Click here for more details.
via Patrick Semaan.