+961

A Lebanese Blog

Tag: Lebanon

  • Lebanese movie HELP banned

    help

    Yet another movie ban, this time it is Marc Abi Rashed’s turn to have his movie “HELP” banned in Lebanon.

    In brief, “Help” is the story of a teenager named Ali who lives in a van in Lebanon. His life suddenly turns upside down when he meets Thuraya, a prostitute living with a gay man. The movie has nudity and an excessive use of inappropriate words.

    The reason of the ban is still not clear, at least to me. The movie was initially given the license to be shown in the Lebanese theaters on contdition that it will be restricted to viewers above 18 years old, later on he head of the censoring body was replaced and his successor withdrew the authorization! Some claim it is because the movie is too much for the Lebanese audience to accept, while others say that it is because the lead actress “Thuraya” who has appeared naked in the movie, and happens to be Joanna Andraos the daughter of the Lebanese MP Antoine Andraos, which might negatively affect his campaign in the upcoming election in June 2009.

    In case authorities gace the license back to “HELP”, I believe it will make double the profits it was supposed to make before, becuase people will be eager to watch it after the fuss that the ban issue has created!

    I leave you now with the movie trailer I found on YouTube.

  • From Hamra to New York

    hamra-street

    Is it only me? Or do others also feel that Hamra resembles to New York? (Tsu2, I’m not out of my mind yet).

    I used to rarely go to Hamra until recently when I got bored of all the other places like Downtown Beirut and Achrafiyeh, which are currently being heavily invaded by “wozziyyeh” teenage boys and girls especially on weekends!

    Few weeks ago I went there in a hopeless attempt to find some new nice spot, and I was surprised by how beautiful Hamra is! Although I live in west Beirut, but since ever Hamra meant “traffic jam” to me, so I have always avoided passing by there. It isn’t like I have NEVER passed by Hamra before! But I’ve never passed and noticed the nice places I’m observing today.

    The numerous neighboring shops, the cozy restaurants and cafés and the cozy streets, they all remind me of New York. I know that for some people there is no way to compare, but I have almost re-experience the same feeling I once had in New York everytime I go to Hamra for a walk.

    I can call the Hamra area as “Little New York”… and no, once again I tell you that I’m not out of my mind yet!

  • Live webcams from Lebanon

    tabaris

    Did you notice what I recently added on the right under “Eyes of Lebanon”?

    It’s a drop down list containing various locations in Beirut and the surroundings, when you choose location and click “Check Area” a new window will open containing a snapshot taken by a webcam positioned at that location, and the snapshots will auto refresh every 30 seconds, even if you kept the window open.

    It’s not a new idea, the service is actually available via the LBC Group website through a service called “Eyes of Lebanon“. There you will find the very same webcam locations, except that the location links are spread on a dedicated webpage. So I thought of using my scripting skills and gather all these links into one drop down list that would fit in my sidebar, and let the readers check them out!

    The webcams can be very beneficial sometimes when you need to check if there’s traffic congestion at one of the available areas. (Actually that’s their main purpose!)

    P.S: If you would like to publish them on your website as well, I will  be glad to provide you with the script I wrote. Just contact me on rami[at]plus961[dot]com

  • Cedar Island

    It all started in Dubai with the Palm islands, followed by the Pearl island in Qatar, and soon we might have the Cedar Island here in Lebanon at the cost of Damour!

    Covering an area of 3.311.731.60 squared meters in the touristic coastal area of Lebanon, the Cedar Island lends itself as a luxurious residential, commercial, and touristic project. Its geographical location along the Lebanese coast allows it to play a vital role in attracting tourists and VIP residents looking for an exotic lifestyle or escaping from the city.

    I’ve read about this project in different new sources and to my knowledge there are still some doubts about realizing it. However, if you check the project’s website, you notice like the project is on its way to be started.

    An interesting project indeed, but the question is: What is the enviromental cost for this artificial Cedar Island??

    Updates:

    1. There are a couple of groups on Facebook, one supporting the project, and the other is opposing it.
      Via Nihil Declaro.
    2. I tend to agree with this guy, who wrote a post titled “The island of Dr. Moron“.
    3. Check this interesting article about the environmental cost of the artificial islands in Dubai, the article is followed by a response by an environmental scientist from the Nakheel project of Dubai.

  • Download Waltz With Bashir

    Just in case you still have not heard of this Israeli movie which has been banned in Lebanon.

    In 1982, Ari Folman was a 19-year-old infantry soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. In 2006, he meets with a friend from the army service period, who tells him of the nightmares connected to his experiences from the 1982 Lebanon War. Folman is surprised to find out that he does not remember a thing from the same period. Later that night he has a vision from the night of the Sabra and Shatila massacre the reality of which he is unable to tell. In his memory he and his soldier friends are bathing at night by the seaside in Beirut to the light of flares descending over the city. Folman rushes off to meet another friend from his army service, who advises him to discuss it with other people who were in Beirut at the same time to understand what happened there and to relive his own memory. The film follows Folman in his conversations with friends, a psychologist and the reporter Ron Ben-Yishai who was in Beirut at the same time.

    The film takes its title from a scene in which one of the interviewees, the commander of Folman’s infantry unit at the time of the film’s events, grabs a light machine gun and “dances an insane waltz” amid heavy enemy fire, on a street festooned with huge posters of Bashir Gemayel.

    When the movie was banned, Dr. Tarek Mitri (Minister of Information) said the ban is silly because people can get anything from the internet. And he was right, the movie is widely available on the internet now.

    So how to download it?

    1. It is available through torrent sites. You first have to install a torrent client, I recommend BitTorrent wich you can download from here.
    2. Get the torrent file that will let you download the movie. I already uploaded the torrent file to +961, and you can click here to get it.
    3. Assuming you have installed the BitTorrent client by now, double click on the torrent file and wait for the movie to completely download.

    Update:

    Download the english subtitles for Waltz With Bashir by clicking here.

    Note that you should place the subtitles file in the same directory as the movie file, the subtitles will then appear automatically when you play the movie in your media player.

  • Orascom & Zain: Welcome to Lebanon!

    I assume you all know it by now, the 2 new mobile operators to replace Alfa and MTC Touch will be Orascom and Zain (formerly MTC).

    We have been promised since Gibran Bassil became the minister of telecommunication that a third operator might be introduced to the market and hopefully impose competition, which will result in lowering prices (happy us!). I was surprised though that this didn’t happen…

    Anyway, while checking the Tayyar.org website today I came across this flash new:

    “The contracts between the new operators and the government are different now, the two companies will be profiting from the working phone lines, which will help in lowering prices and providing a better service” (It seems like Alfa and MTC Touch were previously getting management fees only).

    Well, let me tell you something Mr. Bassil, what we have in the mobile telephony sector right now is a duopoly, it’s actually a monopoly since the two operators are controlled by the government, but let’s assume it’s a duopoly. Do you know what kind of pricing strategies are followed in such cases? ANYTHING but price wars!

    Seriously, come to think of it! They both have almost the same prices, and they’re sharing the market almost equally. Why would they want to go into price wars and risk lowering their profits? In case there will be a price decrease, they will BOTH agree on it. No marketer will ever work against the good of their firm. I doubt there will be a significant decrease in price by the way, we will never reach what’s set in Egypt and other Arab countries for example.

    So, Mr. Bassil, you seem to be just like all the previous ministers (until time proves me wrong), you promised us the stars and delivered nothing until now. We’re being robbed and we will always be robbed!

    Ya3neh we’re getting raped and might as well like it! Otherwise we get no phone line!

  • 961 Beer

    Check what I found in the supermarket yesterday!

    I don’t know for how long it has been around, but I like it, 961 Beer! Here’s their website www.961beer.com,  it looks like theyre related to the “961 Beer” bar in Gemmayze which I don’t know if it is still open or not…

    Drink Lebanon, but drive safely!

  • I saw Ziad Baroud!

    I was driving near Concord (Verdun) around midnight on the second day of Eid when I was surprised to see the minister Ziad Baroud helping the internal security forces at one of their checkpoints! I quickly grabbed the camera and took this photo.

    It’s good to know there are still some humble people out there…

  • Gas price in Lebanon

    As per this article, gas price in Lebanon should drop by 1,500 L.L on Wednesday morning! That means we will be paying 22,800 L.L (~$15) for 20 liters.

    Pretty good no?

    I wonder though if the price of goods will decrease as well now that the gas price is decreasing worldwide.

  • Saida’s Palaces

    Although it is the third largest city in Lebanon, but I’ve never went to Saida and made a tour in the city until a few weeks ago. It might not be the best place in Lebanon but WOW, I was impressed!

    Call me an ignorant, but I really didn’t even know there was a gorgeous old city there with people living in it! The streets are so tight and cozy, at some places they’re barely 2 meters wide.

    http://plus961.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/OldSouk_small.jpg
    Click to enlarge

    I was also surprised to know that the Audi family (yes those of Bank Audi) were involved in manufacturing soap bars in the old city of Saida, and they have actually established a soap museum in what used to be their soap factory.

    http://plus961.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/SoapMuseum_small.jpg
    Click to enlarge

    The museum is maintained by “Fondation Audi“. If you get to visit it, you will be able to also the Audi’s palace since the museum is located on the ground floor of it, and they’re both open to the public.

    Oh and not only the Audi’s are famous there, but also the Debbane family! They have a great palace in Saida, which is nearly 300 years old, and it is also open to the public. Check its entrance in the photo below.

    http://plus961.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/DebbanePalace_small.jpg
    Click to enlarge

    It’s awesome from the inside but unfortunately I was not able to take good photos there. However, you can always refer to the Debbane Foundation’s website and preview the available photos there, although I believe they do NO justice to the palace.

    I do recommend that you visit Saida in case you still have not done it yet, and make sure to go through the old souk. But, if you’re looking for luxurious places to have lunch and stuff, then Saida is SO NOT for you.

    http://plus961.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Street_small.jpg
    Click to enlarge