Buzberry

Apple’s music event just ended. For the first time in history years, Apple streamed their event live on Apple.com. Steve Jobs just unveiled a new line of iPods. They have refreshed all iPod models. The most significant change was in the iPod nano which now has a multi-touch screen and just like the iPhone 4, the new iPod touch ships with 2 cameras and a retina display. In addition, Steve announced iTunes 10 that has a new feature called Ping which is a social network for music. It’s something like facebook and twitter but for music. He also gave a sneak peek of the iPad’s new 4.2 software which will include multi-tasking and many other features like air play where you can stream music, movies, and photos wirelessly to your Apple TV. Finally, A new tiny Apple TV. The new Apple TV is all about Rental. You can rent HD TV shows for as low as $0.99 and by this way, storage shouldn’t be an issue since you don’t have to store any content. You can also stream your content from Netflix and that’s only if you are a Netflix subscriber. I was actually hoping for apps on the Apple TV. For more info checkout Apple.com.

Photo taken from engadget.

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FAH

Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Ronaldinho, Pato… I think AC Milan will be an interesting team to watch this season! I was shocked to see them sign 2 BIG names in the same week. They have managed to borrow Zlatan from Barcelona and sign Robinho from Man City for a fee of € 18 million. I’m a supporter of Real Madrid so I will definitely keep an eye on AC Milan since they will be competing in the same group stage in the UEFA Champions League.

Posted By:

FAH

The last ten days of the Holy month of Ramadhan are very crucial to every Muslim. Many stay up late at night in order to pray qiyam al-lail prayer. During this time, many of us face exhaustion- we are all simply tired and fatigued throughout the day.

1. Take a power-nap between Asr prayer and Maghreb prayer. A power-nap is between 45 to 60 minutes.

2. Drink of plenty of water- being dehydrated can cause extreme fatigue. Lessen the amount of fatigue your body is enduring by drinking a lot of water.

3. Have a light fetoor- start with a hearty vegetable soup, which will fill you up and will still not be as heavy on your stomach causing fatigue. Have more of the healthy whole grains like the ones found in yareesh, hares, or tashreeba which are also not heavy on your stomach.

4. Completely avoid all the fried food during these last 10 days. Fried food and foods high in fat are going to make drowsy and tired- it will decrease your chances of being more focused and energized during the prayers.

5. Please avoid consuming foods high in sugar- sugar will give you a limited amount of energy (known as the sugar rush) and then a big crash, you wouldn’t want that in the middle of your prayers.

6. Be kind to people and be patient. Drive safely. You may encounter a couple of intolerant drivers. Just let them pass.

تقبل الله طاعتكم

Dana & Hyatt

The most talked about Ramadan Show this year is Saher il Lail! Everyone loves it. It takes place in Kuwait during the 1960’s and 1970’s and portrays society’s problems in an elegant and classy way (*read* no drama and nasty make up/costume designs). Although it’s timing @ 8 pm Al Watan TV isn’t prime, you can always watch it online. Abdilhaleem’s songs are integral to the show and give the entire love story a romantic touch.

Not to mention, all the girls are head over heals for the two brothers, Nasser and Nawaf, and their acting is superb mashallah. Nawaf’s addiction to Crush and his famous way of drinking it at one go reminds us of the good old days with the glass bottles delivered to your doorstep in a crate. Yummy.

Ah the old days, how I would love to live back then.

What did you think of Saher il Lail?

Posted By:

dg

They’re called in Kuwait ‘Al Gaymat’, others call it ‘Lugmat Al Qadhi’ (The Judge’s Bite). Whatever these sweets are called, I love them to death!

Saud surprises me yet again. A Greek restaurant in Chicago serves what turns out to be Al Gayamt, dubbed as Loukoumades on the menu!

Alvaro

Seriously, I hate seeing such stuff at home. I simply can’t resist cupcakes. I found a box full of cupcakes from a place called glaze. My niece told me that they were homemade cupcakes and the best one was the oreo cupcake. Obviously, the brown cupcake is the oreo one since oreo is brown, but I guess I was wrong! The yellow cupcake had an oreo hidden in it and therefore it’s the oreo cupcake; whereas the brown one was simply a chocolate cupcake. See what I am talking about? There is a hidden oreo at the bottom.

The cupcakes were fresh and soft, but the science was in the frosting. Although my 12 year old niece believes that the oreo cupcake is the best, I’m afraid that I’ll have to disagree with her! I think the chocolate cupcake is better! There was a red velvet cupcake which I haven’t tried. Overall, the cupcakes were great and so was the packaging. Unfortunately, I don’t have their contact info.

Posted By:

FAH

While I was sitting in the diwaniya and bored to bits, a friend approached me and asked whether or not my previous post regarding Steve Jobs’s Syrian biological dad was true? I agreed, and added that the post was over 2 years old!!! Steve was born to Abdulfatah Jandali and Joanne Simpson, a pair of 23-year old unwed University of Wisconsin graduate students(CNN). My friend became even more eager to fish for information around this topic, and so he used the most efficient research method in the 21 century: he GOOGLED it.. And this is what he got:

In 1955, the unmarried couple decided to give up their baby(Steve) for adoption, but what’s weird was that months later the couple got married and had another baby girl which they decided to keep!! So.. the couple decided to give up poor Steve for adoption and keep their new baby girl! They called their baby Mona. Four years later, Jandali abandoned his wife and 4 year old baby and started moving from job to job as a political science professor. His wife got married to another man and Mona then took her mother’s new married name, ‘Simpson’. Note that Steve Jobs still didn’t know that he had a biological sister yet. Years later, Steve hired a detective to find out who his true parents were and he found out that his real mother is called Joanne Simpson and that he has a sister called Mona. Mona is smart as well. She is a professor at UCLA and a highly acclaimed novelist and believe it or not, the Simpsons show was named after her!

Posted By:

FAH

Which telecommunications company’s advertisement did you enjoy the most during Ramadan? Click here to watch the ads: Wataniya , VIVA , Zain

Photo taken from Qortuba

Posted By:

Ht

We got an email from one of our readers asking us to help them find a better home for their dog. Here is a description of the dog.

“Bella is a 2 month old puppy (half Yorkshire, half Pekingese) for sale. She was born on June 11th, 2010 and she’s been vaccinated and micro chipped. I would like for her to find a happy home, because unfortunately, it turns out that our house keeper is allergic :(

Please let me know if you are interested :)“

Whoever is interested in buying Bella can contact the owner directly.

Posted By:

FAH

A ghabga is a get-together that usually takes place from around 10:30 pm to midnight or even later and there is ALWAYS food at a ghabga. Many people replace the meal consumed in a ghabga as suhoor.

This is a time where at least once a week some of us are invited to a ghabga here or there. As much fun as the ghabga is for socializing and getting together, it is also a great time to indulge in food- some good and some not that great. Due to the timing of ghabgas (10:30 pm to midnight) there are quite a number of foods we should try to avoid or not make if you’re hosting a ghbaga.

Here are some foods you might want to try the next time you’re hosting a ghabga to make it a healthy one:

• Hummus- chickpeas are high in fiber and will fill you up longer.

• Mini sandwiches- with spreads inside of them.

• Pasta dish with tomato sauce (cream sauces have a lot of fat)

• Salads with fiber- lentils, chickpeas, etc.

• Roasted vegetables with dips.

• Fruit Salad- with fresh orange juice instead of cocktail or mango juice that are packaged as they contain a lot of sugar.

• If you’re making sweets with syrup on them- try to avoid the syrup and dust powdered sugar instead.

• Have fresh juices or water- try flavoring the water with lemon or rose water for a different taste.

When you’re making food at home even if it contains some form of fat (butter, oil, margarine) or sweet (sugar, simple syrup, honey) try to limit it or lessen it a bit. At that time try to avoid rice dishes and super sweet dishes- they will make you hungrier during the day- we promise! And of course, we prefer that you don’t have any form of caffeine (tea, coffee, soda).

Enjoy your ghabgas!!

Dana & Hyatt

We are not holding a campaign against Al Watan TV, but I agreed with FAH to post both topics together since they’re related.

I got a phone call last week from a friend, telling me that Al Watan TV owners/script writers/producers have their eyes on Proud to be Kuwaiti (P2bk) owner (Dhari Al Wazzan) and are planning to hit him hard through their blockbuster TV show: Bu Nabeel & Bu Qatadah. Then comes the 13th day of Ramadan, and the 13th episode (watch it here if you missed it).

It does not require a genius to find out that the whole episode was directed towards P2Bk and it’s “founder”. True, many of us (and I am one of them) have stated in the past (through a post click here to read it) that most of the local exhibitions in Kuwait are just hideous and are anything but Kuwaiti. However, the producers of the above mentioned show decided it was not only okay to name out one of the exhibitions (which happens to be the most successful one) but also call the owner a thief. Give me a break!

People don’t care if the owner is losing or making millions from P2Bk. After all, thousands are showing up every year to that event and many people are percieved as pinchers in Kuwait!

Note: I’m not fond of nor a friend of P2Bk’s owner.

Stick around to see what I think is happening.

Who owns 52degrees? and What is 52 degrees? I have no idea who the shareholders exactly are, but I’m pretty sure that some of the directors work at Al Watan, and i’m pretty sure that 52 Degrees has the blessings of Al Watan TV and Newspapers.

In plain English, 52 Degrees is an upscale P2Bk event which is held everyday, instead of once every year. By everyday I mean: It’s a department store-like place (if I’m correct) with retailers/entrepenuers being local, small, home, Kuwaiti, call it whatever you want businesses. “52 Degrees is an original melting pot for the limitless imagination and creativity of the Kuwaiti entrepreneur. The first of its kind concept store mothering the top notch Kuwaiti talents under one roof” … as the owners describe it. So they decide to smash P2BK, make fun of the business and the participants, then create in the background the same business line.

What world do we live in?

Alvaro and all the frustrated people in the world!

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Disclaimer

This post was not written to defend p2bk as I clearly stated that I am definaelty NOT a fan of the event, nor the organizers. The post was not constructed to point fingers, and is not trying to claim that what was aired on TV is a lie; in fact we are not here to say whether fraud exists. The general theme is very clear I beleive: Scandal / “look who is talking” (which does not cancel out any truth about p2bk nor al watan and only the people behind the episode).