#1 Entry: NWB – Great Kuwait Liberation Day Challenge
OK, OK, the rest of you might as well just give up. It will be really, really hard to find more adorable children than these celebrating Independence and liberation! Thank you, NWB!
Just kidding – the children are adorable AND I want more entries!
La! La! La! (No! No! No!)
Re: Don’t Trash My Kuwait, NBQ found this adorable video from the Keep Kuwait Clean Campaign – looks like maybe 2003? (update: Oops, no, nbq says the ’80s!) Oh! These children are so cute! This song is so good!
Just in time for the trash-filled holidays coming up! La! La! La!
Camel Racing Championship – Who Knew?
From today’s Al Watan:
Camel racing championship kicks off
Camels ridden by robot jockeys take off at the beginning of a race that was held on the martyr Fahad AlÙ€Ahmad AlÙ€Sabah track in Kabad on Sunday. The competition marked the start of the Kuwait Ninth Camel Racing Championship which is being held from Feb. 15Ù€19. (Al Watan)
Last updated on Monday 16/2/2009
My whine: This is the kind of event that thrills our little western souls. We love your cultural events, and camel racing – like how exotic does it get? Robot riders? oh WOW. We would have gone in a heartbeat, but you all kept it a SECRET! (whining whining whining) We only find out the day AFTER it happens!
African Heads and Art
From this morning’s e-mails – I think this is a sincere one. If anyone wants to contact this artist, his e-mail is:
africanhead_art@yahoo.com
Good day sir\ma
it is a great pleasure of getting across to your wed site. Am Mr KOLA OWOLAWI JUNAID am muslim an artist am the founded of african heads art and cultural gallery african heads art gallery was base in lagos and osogbo osun state in nigeria
i participated in my first art exhibition at GENEVE COMITE INTERNATION committee of the red cross ICRC am one of the winner in the art competition i also exhibit at US Embassy in lagos ,IITA ibaban German cultural Center , British High Commission ,american international school,Britsih high school, National art council in Accra Ghana i received an award for up coming artist an many more
i will like to make an inquiry on if i could join the Qurain cultural festival or organizering a cultural art exhibition on Qurain words, painting adire ,batick ,tye and dye and other local fabric art work for up coming this year.i will ilke to know if it could be organizes and what was the general registration or inquiry is needed for the exhibition thanks you.
please if you ilke to see the samples of the art works i will be glad to show it
Chris Rock: Hard to Make Fun of Obama
On this historic inaugural day – you’ve gotta keep a sense of humor. But making jokes about this President is not so easy, according to Chris Rock, a comedian I truly enjoy. Here is an excerpt from his interview with CNN, which you can read in whole by clicking on this blue type.
By Jacque Wilson
CNN
(CNN) — Chris Rock is best known for two things: being funny and being crass.
“If you’re the president you only have two jobs: peace and money,” Chris Rock said.
“This is what people come to see. I’m just doing my show,” the comedian said with a laugh.
He’s also known for his political commentary, but there’s one person he’s having a lot of trouble making fun of — president-elect Barack Obama.
This is apparent in his new DVD “Kill the Messenger,” which combines three shows from his international tour: New York; London, England; and Johannesburg, South Africa.
“It was a tour nobody wanted to do… because the general perception is that comedy doesn’t translate,” Rock said.
But thanks to the Internet, the world is a lot smaller than it was even 10 years ago. And people are digging the same jokes, he said, including ones about John McCain and Sarah Palin.
As the DVD readies for release on January 20, CNN talked with Rock about his lack of Obama jokes, Inauguration Day and why racism will never die. The following is an edited version of that interview:
CNN: I watched the special last night, and I noticed that you did a lot of jokes about John McCain — his age, his war hero story — but not so many about Barack Obama. Is it harder to make fun of Obama?
Chris Rock: He’s just one of those guys, you know, like Will Smith. There’s no Will Smith jokes. There’s no Brad Pitt jokes. You know, what are you going to say? “Ooh, you used to have sex with Jennifer Anniston. Now you have sex with Angelina Jolie. You’re such a loser.” What do you say? “Ooh, your movies are big. You make $20 million.” There’s nothing to say about Brad Pitt.
CNN: Why is Obama like that?
Rock: It’s like “Ooh, you’re young and virile and you’ve got a beautiful wife and kids. You’re the first African-American president.” You know, what do you say?
Chris Rock is irreverent and very very funny.
Year of the Ox Starts 26 January!
(The US Postal Service has issued a Year of the Ox postal stamp, above)
To our great surprise, there are several very good Chinese restaurants in Kuwait – if you don’t think so, check out the number of Chinese people eating in a place, and eat what they eat. Several Chinese restaurants in Kuwait even have honest-to-God Chinese cooks!
Chinese New Year’s is a great excuse for a party, and wearing your favorite red dress. 🙂 It’s almost here – January 26th.
Chinese New Year
The Year of the Ox
by Holly Hartman
from InfoPlease website on Chinese New Year
4707 (or 2009) is the year of the ox
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4707 begins on Jan. 26, 2009.
Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.
An Obstinate Year
Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal’s year would have some of that animal’s personality. Those born in ox years tend to be painters, engineers, and architects. They are stable, fearless, obstinate, hard-working and friendly. Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, Walt Disney, and Anthony Hopkins were all born in the year of the ox.
Fireworks and Family Feasts
At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children “lucky money” in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits.
The Lantern Festival
In China, the New Year is a time of family reunion. Family members gather at each other’s homes for visits and shared meals, most significantly a feast on New Year’s Eve. In the United States, however, many early Chinese immigrants arrived without their families, and found a sense of community through neighborhood associations instead. Today, many Chinese-American neighborhood associations host banquets and other New Year events.
The lantern festival is held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Some of the lanterns may be works of art, painted with birds, animals, flowers, zodiac signs, and scenes from legend and history. People hang glowing lanterns in temples, and carry lanterns to an evening parade under the light of the full moon.
In many areas the highlight of the lantern festival is the dragon dance. The dragon—which might stretch a hundred feet long—is typically made of silk, paper, and bamboo. Traditionally the dragon is held aloft by young men who dance as they guide the colorful beast through the streets. In the United States, where the New Year is celebrated with a shortened schedule, the dragon dance always takes place on a weekend. In addition, many Chinese-American communities have added American parade elements such as marching bands and floats.
We heard in church a couple weeks ago that the Chinese labor force is the fastest growing segment of the expat labor force in Kuwait, did you know that? The come in, they focus, they work hard, they produce what they have promised and then – they go back to China. They bid competitively on the contracts, they speak English fairly well, and they get the job done, with none of this human rights baggage that many of the Western countries carry around. Nope. No problem, says the Chinese embassy.
Qurain Cultural Festival Events Postponed
From today’s Kuwait Times:
KUWAIT: Secretary-General of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters Bader Al-Refai announced yesterday the postponement of concerts of the 15th Al-Qurain cultural festival in solidarity with the people of Gaza who are subjected to brutal Israeli aggression.
Al-Rifai, who heads the Higher Organizing Committee of the festival said in a press statement that the festival celebrated here few days ago the Palestinian Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture for 2009.
He added that the tragic situation faced by the Palestinian people in Gaza is the reason for the postponement of activities including the final musical concert that was scheduled to be held on January 14 which would honor artist Abdel Mohsen al-Muhanna. He said the postponement was a common desire of the Council, al-Muhanna and the Kuwait National Music Band. – KUNA
Qurain Cultural Festival – AARRGH
Doesn’t this look like fun? This Qurain Cultural Festival Event was held at the Souk Sharq, so accessible, for shoppers. I would have been there in a heartbeat – had I known.
Qurain Cultural Festival highlights national heritage: Official
Kuwaiti Writers Association celebrates poet AlÙ€Fayez”s legacy
Compiled by
Al Watan Daily
KUWAIT: As part of the 15th AlÙ€Qurain Cultural Festival, the Kuwaiti artistic group Mayouf AlÙ€Majli for folklore art performed at Souk Sharq before shoppers.
Qurain Cultural Festival Vice Chairman Mohammed AlÙ€Asousi in comments to AlÙ€Watan stated that the inclusion of such items into the festivals was of particular importance and highlighted the significance of local art and folklore. He added that such folklore was also represented outside the country as the Qurain Cultural Festival organizers were keen on having such national folklore represented in regional festival activities.
Meanwhile, the Kuwait Writers Association recalled the poetic artistry of late poet Mohammed AlÙ€Fayez, as a part of activities of the Qurain Cultural Festival, in an evening organized by The National Council of Culture, Arts, and Letters (NCCAL).
Writer Abdullah AlÙ€Khalaf noted the late poet, 1938Ù€1991, was a remarkable example of Kuwaiti poets, known for his high quality and rich writings. He noted the many writings and poems and diwans of the poet, including the one published posthumously by his daughter.
He added that AlÙ€Fayez started by writing short stories, under the nickname of “Zeseif,” which featured later in his writings of “The memories of a sailor,” which was a an epic story, written in a poetic form and narrating a standard example of Kuwaiti life in the days of pearl diving.
AlÙ€Khalaf said that AlÙ€Fayez was a pioneer in writing on that topic of hardships of older days in the Arab World, saying that he published this work in the newspapers in the year 1964, and it was printed later as one diwan.
Last updated on Tuesday 6/1/2009
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