A Little TSA Humor
Thank you, KitKat π
Kuwait Ministries Ban Photography?
I am in total shock.
Thank you, Bit Jockey, for sending this to me, an article from the Kuwait Times.
We had so much fun! We had photo challenges, Kuwait sunsets, National Day Celebration photos, so much fun. And now, you can get arrested for taking photos? Not of military or political or sensitive buildings, not for reasons of national security, but . . . just because?
Most photographers in Kuwait are careful not to photograph women, or any citizens without their permission. Why on earth was this ban created?
How on earth will they enforce it? What are the penalties?
KUWAIT: After the ban three ministries placed on photography, most Kuwaiti youth are a bit confused about what to do with their cameras if they can’t use them in public and why such laws were implemented in the first place. The Ministry of Information, Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Finance recently came to the conclusion that photography should be used for journalism purposes only. This has resulted in the ban of Digital Single Lens Reflex Cameras (DSLRs) in public, on the streets and in malls
.
What most Kuwaiti photographers have come to wonder is how such a decision could be reached by authorities, especially considering that digital cameras and cell phone cameras have the same abilities. What most people think of photography as a hobby has become a bit misguided due to the fact that the country has so little exposure to art. While using a DSLR, passersby may wonder if the camera is being used for the wrong reasons.
Mohammed Al-Eisa, who picked up photography as a hobby more than 10 years ago, said that he has decided to take photos of animals or still life due to the fact that these subjects don’t mind having their picture taken and don’t make a scene. “I started facing problems the very first day I bought my camera,” Mohammed added.
What often happens is that a big black camera tends to worry people. Taking a picture of a stranger would seem like much less of an issue if you were using a more discreet camera or even a cell phone. Mariam Al-Fodiry said that she has faced similar problems with her hobby and that being a girl doesn’t help at all. She said that in some cases it makes the problem even worse. “Switching to abstract and landscape photography was one the options I considered after getting into enough trouble,” Mariam said.
Majed Al-Saqer said that sometimes people stop him while he is in his car with his camera, as if he were planning to kill someone with it. He said that he isn’t sure what the real problem is, whether it is people taking photos of each other or the size of the camera.
Insh’allah
When a western-world thinker first goes to live in an Islamic country, the words we love to hate are “bukra” (tomorrow) “badeen” (later) and “insh’allah (God willing), because in the world we are coming from, when you say “tomorrow,” it means that the plumber will be coming tomorrow. In Islamic countries, “tomorrow” or “later” might mean that they don’t want to upset you by telling you that it is unlikely that the plumber will be able to come within the next two weeks.
“Will you have this dress back to me by November 10th?” you ask, because you intend to wear it to the Marine Ball.
“Insh’allah,” they might answer, God willing. They have never seen a dress come back that fast, but God is mighty, and in his power anything is possible.
In today’s Lectionary, James reminds us that “insh’allah” should be our own response to every commitment, and I always find it humbling. We in the West are always so sure, so confident, and as we plan, God just laughs. Or weeps.
James 4:13-5:6
13 Come now, you who say, βToday or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.β 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, βIf the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.β 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.
5 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure* for the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
Sweet Prospect: Music At Christ Church
I remember when I lived in Qatar, and Kuwait, and then Qatar again, how I would read about something in the paper – the day after it happened. The things I did go to – and there were some spectacular events in Qatar – were mostly word of mouth, a personal invitation, very few cultural events were well advertised.
Not so in Pensacola. There is a wonderful Symphony, truly wonderful. There is an Opera, and several theatres, and even a Pensacola Ballet. And there is Music at Christ Church.
Yes, I am partial. We attend Christ Church, and I always love a concert where the surrounding is so beautiful. Tonight’s concert was irresistible – hammered dulcimers. Hammered dulcimers! Some of the earliest music in our country was hammered dulcimer. Lucky for me, AdventureMan loves music, and was as eager as I was to go to this concert.
So off to church in the morning, then meet up with our son and his wife – who ran the half marathon today, HOOOO-AHH! And of course, our darling little grandson, who wants nothing to do with me these days, not when there is AdventureMan, the original fun-guy. Famous Dave’s Barbeque, a wonderful meal with a truly great waiter, patient, kind, didn’t mind a baby and four dawdling adults – good fun, good conversation, good food, and then off to the concert.
The sun started setting around 3:30, and the concert began in the dimmed church around 4. It was sheer magic. The group, Sweet Prospect, is so talented, and their music is so lovingly performed. Melissa Allured plays the recorder as well as most of the melodies in the selections they played today, Sheryl Bragwell plays the hammered dulcimer and a bowed psaltery, and Gary Diamond backs them up with guitar. They played a wide variety of tunes; Scottish, Irish, early American, even a very Wyndham Hill sounding piece from a Lopez Island (Washington State) artist Gary Haggerty, called Coffee American, which was lively and quick.
(angel playing Psaltery)
I have a complaint. The concert was only an hour long. I could have listened longer. But oh, what a wonderful hour it was! I love the Music at Christ Church program. There is a suggested donation for the concert, but if you can’t afford the $10 donation, no one is standing there scowling if you want to come into the church and hear some great music. There is a bowl out for collecting the donation, people toss their donation in and sit down. The concerts are also sponsored by several levels of music lovers at Christ Church who are patrons of the arts, and contribute generously so that these opportunities are available to the Pensacola community. How cool is that?
The good news is that on the Sweet Prospects website you can also listen to some of their recordings, and you can buy their CD’s. THIS IS IMPORTANT, ADVENTUREMAN! The one I really really want is called Cold Frosty Morn. If you go to their website, it tells you how to order it, or you can find one of the bookstores in Pensacola that sells it. (hint hint) It is Christmas music. If you want to go listen to a tune or two by Sweet Prospects, click on the blue type above, and listen away. π If you live in Pensacola, and you want to learn to play the dulcimer – or several other early musical instruments – there is a group that welcomes you and will teach you how. Learn to play hammered dulcimer – in Pensacola. I am blown away.
It’s just been such a great day, full of church, family and culture. We are so glad to be in Pensacola.
I just wish Sweet Prospects would be picked up to be sent on a cultural tour to our embassies in the Middle East. I wish our friends there, who love music, and who know the early musical instruments of the Middle East, could hear this music, and see these instruments, which are so similar. As I enjoyed every minute of this concert, I was wishing my Arab Gulf friends could be hearing it, too. This music is so American, and yet, you can hear the early strains of the Irish, the Scottish, and yes, even the sounds of the Holy Lands, brought back to Europe by the early crusaders.
Welcome to Ed’s Seafood Shed, Mobile, Alabama
“Oh my Mom is going to love this place!” I told AdventureMan as we entered Ed’s, a Mobile favorite.
He looked at me sideways.
“She can’t climb all those stairs,” he said, “But I will help you push the wheelchair up the ramp.”
LOL, it is a long way up. But it is worth the push. π
When you get there, they bring you a bowl of cole slaw, and no wonder, it is really good, not too sweet, not too much mayonnaise, and just a little bit of bite. It quells those stomach rumbles while you look at the menu:
We always have to try the onion rings. We look for real onion rings, not processed pieces of onion reformed into identical rings, and we look for a light batter. These were wonderful:
And no. No, we are not supposed to be eating deep fried onion rings. You’ll notice there aren’t a lot, and each one was delicious. π
AdventureMan had the Scallop Platter, and I had shrimp and scallops. We both had turnip greens. You’d think that would be healthy, wouldn’t you? They were SO delicious, but I am guessing it is because they were full of ham, and salt:
We always have to test the hush puppies, rate them on a scale. These were pretty good!
This is the condiment of the South, pepper vinegar:
And now, what you have been waiting for, what Ed’s Seafood Shack looks like:
It’s just like Kuwait and Qatar; once the heat eases up, we all want to eat outside. π
The food is so delicious, we can’t go too often. We’re too tempted by those onion rings and those hushpuppies. But the prices are reasonable, the outside deck is comfortable, the view is great and it is close to the Battleship Museum in Mobile. We saw many people having desserts, huge desserts full of chocolate and whipped cream and by the grace of God, we were able to pass those up. Bon appetit!
Update 14 Nov: I got the nicest note from the people at Ed’s Seafood Shed, and I want to share it with you:
Hi! This is Barbara Bridges, owner of Ed’s Seafood Shed. I just read your post about your visit to Ed’s. Thank you very much for the nice comments! I am so happy you enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. If you bring your Mom just call the front desk and my Manager will push her up the ramp for you.
(number for manager taken out by Intlxpatr in case they don’t want everyone calling them, LOL!)
Again thanks and hope to see you soon.
Barbara Bridges
Ed’s Seafood Shed
I Miss St. Martin of Tours
Today is Veteran’s Day in America, and in Europe, it is the patron saint day of St. Martin of Tours (patron saint of France) who, on a cold winter’s night, saw a beggar freezing and took his own warm red cape and split it in half with his sword and gave the begger half.
(I’ve always wondered why he didn’t give the beggar the whole cloak?)
All over Germany, a rider portrays St. Martin in towns and villages, and little children with lanterns on sticks greet him with songs.
Here, you can spend six minutes in a German village, experiencing the St. Martin’s Day parade and the arrival of St. Martin on his horse:
Today is also the beginning of the St. Martin’s goose season, one I used to wait for avidly while living in Germany. Oh Yummmmm.
Happy Veteran’s Day, to all those who have proudly served or are proudly serving our country.
Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus at Macys in Philadelphia
What a great way to start my day! Thank you, Momcat, for this wonderful new cultural random happening, this time at a large Macy’s in Philadelphia. Of course, this music is one I put on if I am feeling down; it lifts me right back up. π
Halloween Warning 2
(Thanks again to my Kuwaiti friend who gets all the good things and passes them to me. π Β )
Cabbie picks up a Nun.Β She gets into the cab, and notices that the VERY handsome cab driver won’t stop staring at her.
She asks him why he is staring.
He replies: “I have a question to ask, but I don’t want to offend you”
She answers, “My son, you cannot offend me. When you’re as old as I am and have been a nun as long as I have, you get a chance to see and hear just about everything.Β I’m sure that there’s nothing you could say or ask that I would find offensive.”
“Well, I’ve always had a fantasy to have a nun kiss me.”
She responds, “Well, let’s see what we can do about that:Β #1, you have to be single andΒ #2, you must be Catholic.”
The cab driver is very excited and says, “Yes, I’m single and Catholic!
“OK” the nun says. “Pull into the next alley.”
The nun fulfills his fantasy with a kiss that would make a hooker blush.
But when they get back on the road, the cab driver starts crying.
“My dear child,” said the nun, “Why are you crying?”
“Forgive me but I’ve sinned.Β I lied and I must confess; I’m married and I’m Jewish.”
The nun says, “That’s OK.Β My name is Kevin and I’m going to a Halloween party.”
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!
Getting it Wrong
With all my years of living abroad, with all the experience I’ve had keeping my head down, observing, and trying to look and act like the locals, you’d think I’d get it right in my own country, right?
Wrong.
Well, most of the time I get it close enough. Sometimes I am overdressed at the Target or Home Depot. Rarely am I underdressed, but today I was. I looked around the church and I was one of very very few women in short sleeves. Almost every woman was wearing a jacket with either full length sleeves or 3/4 sleeves. Oops, I thought. When you are new, you especially need to try to look like those around you. It must be a calendar thing, not a temperature thing, because the temperatures today are back up in the 80’s; that is not long sleeve weather in my book, but it is in the Southern Lady Book.
One week I wore purple shoes – I love my purple shoes. I realized, too late, that they might go a lot of places, but probably not to our church. Oops.
Florida is particularly hard because there are the long-time Floridians and then those who are more newly arrived. I learned this the last time I lived in Florida, when, thanks be to God, I had an old Florida friend who told me all the inside scoop to help me pass. That was about 20 years ago, though, and some of the information has gotten a little outdated. The first rule, though, is not to look like a tourist. No little sundresses – and if you get a sunburn, you should have T-shirt marks on your arms so people will know you’ve been out fishing or working in the garden. No T-shirts with beachy sayings; T-shirts from the Breast Cancer Run or the Junior League Marketplace are OK.
My big dilemma right now has to do with legwear. I overheard some of the younger women in the locker room at aqua aerobics laughing about ‘old lady’ stockings, and I realized they meant nylon stockings. I haven’t worn them for a long time, except for once or twice in Seattle when I was back in the winter and had to go to funerals, but I don’t know what ladies are wearing in the place of nylon stockings. Nylon stockings in Qatar and Kuwait were pretty much irrelevant; when the temperatures are in the 120’s F, you simply don’t bother, wearing nylons is unthinkable.
You almost can’t even find nylon stockings in Florida, and a lot of the women seem to finesse the matter entirely by wearing pants, or not wearing stockings at all, which you can do in the summer, and of course you can wear pants in the winter, but what do you wear in the winter if you want to wear a skirt? It does get cold in Pensacola, and my legs are going to need some protection. Β I have a good supply of colored tights, which I have seen some younger women wearing, but this is one of those times when I feel like I have been gone from my own culture for too long and I am out of touch.
As I looked around the women at church today, I also had the funny idea that almost every woman in that church would do just fine in Qatar or Kuwait, they are covered to the elbow – and beyond – and they are covered to the knee, at the very least, with clothing that is mostly not too tight. Just as wearing long sleeves seems to be more cultural than weather-driven, covering your hair in the Islamic countries is more cultural than religious. Mohammed, the Prophet, told the women to ‘cover their adornments;’ it was the men who decided that hair is an adornment. My Saudi women friends told me that it originally meant ‘cover your breasts’. It’s cultural, not religious.
Still working out what works – and what doesn’t – in Pensacola. Praying that all my ‘oops’ are little ones.
Onion Soup of the Pfalz region of Germany
I am printing this just as I found it. The thrill to me is that I can read it and follow it! It is from a blog called ‘Grandmother’s Best Recipes in the Pfalz’ and today I am making Pfalzerzuppe! (It is a onion soup made with creme and a little caraway seed; I often used to eat it atΒ Neuleiningen Castle, in the Bergschanke restaurant.Zwiebelsuppe
“Zwiwwelsupp”
Zwiebelsuppe ist nicht gleich Zwiebelsuppe. Oder auf pfΓ€lzisch: Zwiwwelsupp is net wie Zwiwwelsupp. Die nach diesem Rezept ist jedenfalls sehr delikat und wΓΌrzig.
Zutaten:
- 10 mittlere Zwiebeln Β (onions, middle sized)
- 500 ml Sahne Β (cream)
- 1 l HΓΌhnerbrΓΌhe Β (chicken stock)
- Pfeffer, Salz, KΓΌmmel Β (pepper, salt, caraway seed)
- Butter
- 2-3 EL Mehl Β (flour)
- 1/5 l WeiΓwein (aber bitte PfΓ€lzer Wein!) Β (white wine, Pfalzer white wine, PLEASE!)
Zubereitung:
GeschΓ€lte Zwiebeln kleinschneiden und in Butter nur ganz leicht anbrΓ€unen. Mit dem WeiΓwein ablΓΆschen und zur HΓ€lfte einkochen lassen. Das Mehl darΓΌber streuen. Die BrΓΌhe und die Sahne hinzugeben und ca. 20 Minuten kΓΆcheln lassen, dann abschmecken.
Tipp:
Am Ende des Kochens noch drei Eigelbe mit etwas Sahne verrΓΌhren und unter die Suppe ziehen, dann aber nicht mehr aufkochen, sondern gleich servieren.
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Early Voting in Florida
