So as I mentioned in a previous post, the events in the first episodes of “Homeland” take place in Beirut, but its producers decided to shoot these scenes in Tel Aviv and make it look like Beirut as shown in the above photo. Still, the result didn’t seem pretty convincing to Karl from Karl reMarks blog, and so he offered the below alternatives!
Fatima Ali, the first wife of a Hezbollah district commander, has information about an attack on the United States. Fatima refuses to speak to anyone but Carrie, who knows another secret from having recruited her eight years ago: She loves Julia Roberts movies. (What did she think of her in “Charlie Wilson’s War”?) This leads CIA counterterrorism director David Estes (David Harewood) and avuncular CIA vet Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) to pull Carrie back into the business for a three-day, one-off mission to Beirut, Lebanon. (The Beirut scenes, however, were filmed in Israel.) Source
Funnily enough, the scenes in Beirut were all filmed in Tel Aviv.
We all know the electricity situation here is very miserable, but I really find it hard to believe that three power plants, Jiyyeh, Zouk, and Deir Amar, went off the grid in the afternoon because it BARELY rained around the country today! Electricity consequently went off in the Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and the North.
This winter is definitely promising to be a fantastic season for all generators owners!
Update:
Even worse, check these two videos showing what the rain did to some regions. And don’t blame the rainfall amounts, it’s actually all because of the poor infrastructure we’ve got thanks to our dear government!
“Fetih 1453” is a new Turkish movie that started showing yesterday in Lebanon about the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans led by Sultan Mohammad II. And I’ve heard several times on the news that some people are finding it insulting because of how the Romans were shown in the movie.
With a budget exceeding 18 million dollars, “Fetih 1453” is a Turkish action film and one of the most important movies showing the conquest of Constantinople from the Turkish point of view.
However, the Byzantine Church in Lebanon seems not to agree with the Turkish analysis, and considers that the film insults Christian sanctities and symbols.In the past few days, a number of activists on Facebook have been protesting against the reformulation of the history of Constantinople in the film “Fetih 1453”, which, according to them, contains false historical facts.
These activists will be holding a sit-in on Saturday September 29 at 4 pm at Sassine Square in protest of what they consider “an offense to the Christian civilization”. They will also protest outside the movie theaters that will be showing the film expected to be released on September 27. Source
The movie is showing at City Mall and Empire theaters by the way, and I just found it available online here on Vimeo.
Looks like he’s pretty good at what he does!
According to this article in Al-Akhbar, Ziad Rahbani is making an appearance on Al Mayadeen TV tomorrow night with Ghassan Ben Jeddo to express his opinion about the Arab Spring, talk about Assi El Rahbani and Fayrouz, and finally announce a surprise to his fans.
I personally don’t care about his political opinion, I just hope he’ll be announcing a concert/play anytime soon!
Anyway, if you’re a fan of Ziad, make sure to mark your calendar tomorrow at 9:30PM.
You can of course follow the Pope in Lebanon on all Lebanese TV station during his 3 days visit here, but when you’re on the move you can download this iPhone application called “LB PAPAL Visit” developed by Born Interactive to get the latest news.
Pope Benedict XVI is due to visit Lebanon for the first time ever during his 7 year pontificate.
On the occasion of His apostolic Visit to Lebanon, lbpapalvisit was created! It is an app that provides you with an inside look into the historic visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Lebanon on the 14th, 15th and the 16th of September 2012.
This app is a must-have if you wish to receive an updated schedule of the Papal visit, as well as news updates and notifications regarding his visit sent directly to your phone.
lbpapalvisit also allows you to:
– Gain access to Pope Benedict XVI’s biography
– Read the latest news regarding the Papal visit
– Browse through the picture gallery
– Read the memorable speeches
The visit’s program is also available here.
As for the road that will be closed during these 3 days, you can download this Internal Security Forces communiqué in relation with closed roads, or simply check Abir’s post about that matter.
You probably have heard about Angelina Jolie’s visit to Jordan yesterday to meet with the Syrian refugees who are currently living on Jordan-Syria border in order to help focus international attention on them and possibly attract more funding to help them (more here). It turned out that her plans also include visiting the refugees in Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq during the rest of her trip to the region.
Unfortunately no photos/videos have yet surfaced of her visit to the refugees here. The below 2 photos however are of Jolie at the Grand Serail in Beirut as she was addressing the journalists.
Thanks to both of @maytham11 & @ivysblog
Update:
At the Grand Serail.
Looks like someone who’s disgusted of the armed clashes around the country (just like the majority of us) is putting up “No fire arms” signs around Dekweneh, but it seems like the municipal police there is unsurprisingly taking them down.
I believe there should be more of these signs nowadays in Tripoli and Al-Mikdad street in Dahyeh!
via Beirut with funk
