Celebrating Cultures – Kuwait!
From today’s Al Watan:
This photo is so gorgeous, it almost makes me weep! Woo HOOO on you, Christopher Sanan; you showed the beautiful face of Kuwait to the world!
Canon Middle East announces Kuwaiti one of the 13 winners of ”Celebrating Cultures”
KUWAIT: Canon Middle East, the worldـleading innovator and provider of imaging products and solutions, has announced the winners of its regional photography competition titled “Celebrating Cultures ـ How Do You See Your World?” With more than 42 entries from Kuwait, Christopher Sanan was announced as one of the 13 winners for his photograph titled ”Drought”.
The Canon photography competition encouraged photographers of all ability to submit a cultural, historical or heritageـinspired photograph of their country for a chance to win a state of the art DSLR Canon camera ـ the EOS 1000 D.
“We were impressed with the overall high standard of photography across the region, especially Kuwait, and were amazed at the depth of talent that exists. The inaugural Canon “Celebrating Cultures ـ How Do You See Your World?” competition was very well received and has created a platform for the region”s talented photographers to showcase their work. Many of the images captured the diversity, beauty and spirit of the region. Winning entries are currently being exhibited at GPP 2009, for all photography enthusiasts to see,” said Hendrik Verbrugghe, CCI Marketing Manager, Canon Middle East.
The quality of entries from across the region made the judging process difficult for the independent onـline panel of experts which consisted of well known photo editors, photographers and a representative from Canon Middle East.
“Canon Middle East is committed to supporting photography in the region and making it accessible to all. The Canon Photography Competition is an ideal platform to nurture and recognise local talent. The tremendous response to the Canon Celebrating Cultures ـ photo competition is a testament to the region”s exceptional photographic talent,” concluded Hendrik Verbrugghe.
To view the winning entries visit the Canon stand at GPP or visit the Canon micro site on http://www.gulfphotoplus.com/canoncompetition/winners.php
Canon is a worldـleading innovator and provider of imaging and information technology solutions for individuals and businesses. Canon provides both individual products and complete networked technology solutions for information input, management and output. Its product range is divided between Business Solutions (developing IT products, solutions and services for both the office and professional print environments) and Consumer Imaging (photography, video and digital camera, Laser and Inkjet printers). Canon Middle East is the operational headquarters for Canon in this region, and is based in Dubai, UAE. Further information about Canon Middle East is available at: http://www.canonـme.com
Last updated on Thursday 9/4/2009
“I Look Deep Inside . . .”
We were at one of those official dinners, and, as is my habit, I found someone even more shy than I am and started asking questions. It’s an old trick; it gets me through the most endless affair. She turned out to be very smart, very witty and entertaining, this Nigerian woman, so elegant, so well-mannered. We were having a great conversation.
“So what do you do in Kuwait?” I asked, almost yawning, I was so ashamed of myself for asking such a boring, common question.
She paused, looking at me like she was measuring me.
“I look deep within people, and I tell them things about themselves they never knew,” she responded.
“Oh no!” I thought to myself, “is she some kind of fortune-teller?” (Fortune tellers are strictly forbidden in my religion.) I’m usually pretty good with the old poker-face, but my eyes probably shifted, looking quickly for a polite exit.
She watched me, her eyes twinkling, grinning like a fisherman with a live one on the hook.
“I’m a radiologist,” she added, and we both cracked up. She really had me: baited me, caught me, hooked me good, and then did the old catch-and-release.
Gigantic Sunrise
It’s not photoshopped, or any kind of shopped – it’s the “light haze” that makes this rising sun appear so gigantic. I can’t even focus as I try to shoot it, there is so much refracted light. I just have to trust, as I snap the shutter, that the camera can figure out how to manage it. Once again, I focused on the reflection; it was the only line the camera could focus on; the rest is just a blur. I am using my smaller Lumix, it doesn’t have a viewfinder, so it is much harder to see what you are shooting.
It’s going to be HOT today. For me, anyway, anything above 22°C / 72°F is getting a little heated up. 😉
Have a great day, Kuwait.
Through the Eyes of AdventureMan
I’ve had some really smart friends in my life, and sometimes, those who are really really smart get confused about normal everyday things.
We had a wonderful friend, Bill. His wife was a high school teacher, and when he saw the sign “Aim High – Air Force!” on Ramstein Air Force Base, he said “Look, sweetie, there’s the high school!”
Another time, on Mother’s Day, we were sitting in church with Bill and his wife and my husband said to Bill “I really like your new Land’s End jacket!” and Bill said “How did you know it was from Land’s End?” and my husband said “Because you still have the label on the cuff.” We were all still crying from laughing so hard when the priest glared at the four of us (troublemakers!) as he processed down the aisle.
AdventureMan is a lot like that. He thinks differently. Driving along the Gulf Road the other day, he said “You wouldn’t think there was enough demand for models here that they would have a special school.”
Then he said “what’s up with that?”
We both started laughing, because to us, it looks like something called an “entrenchment tool” or shovel, and we use them when camping to make a temporary toilet, so it’s not exactly something we would mount on the back of our truck, all gleaming and shiny. But we may be thinking differently, and there may be a really good reason this is done that we don’t know about, so if any of you know why it would be a good idea to mount a shiny shovel, please share!
The other night AdventureMan couldn’t get his at-home wireless connection to work, he’d been trying for several nights and couldn’t get a signal. I moved the stack of books and papers directly behind his laptop, between him and the router, and voila! instant wireless connection. He is a really really really smart man, but just has a little problem with the small things. 😉
(He always looks to see if I have mentioned him in the blog)
Diwaniyya Where No Candidates are Welcome
LOL, he is making his point in such a gentle and delightful way!
Staff Writer
From today’s Al Watan
KUWAIT: Kuwait”s newspapers have been covering the opinions of various former MPs and candidates about the elections and their programs, but the real news and discussions are available in one Kuwait”s oldest traditions, the diwaniya.
Diwaniyas are frequently targeted by political hopefuls to discuss various issues of concern. However, not Bu Hamad”s diwaniya, a retired Kuwaiti customs official who worked at the Salmi and Abdali ports.
Bu Hamid says that that politics is no longer a concern of his after so much disappointment, so it is little wonder that in his own diwaniya in Bayan, Bu Hamid has a large poster clearly saying” “Welcome honorable guests and apologies for not receiving any candidates. May God bless Kuwait. Bu Hamid”s Diwaniya.”
One cannot ignore the sign and equally not be intrigued by its curious message.
Asked about the reasons behind his ban of candidates, Bu Hamid said that in the previous election he discussed an issue of traffic safety near his home, which many candidates promised to sort out.
“I had previously asked candidates who became MPs later to set up speed bumps and traffic lights in front of my diwaniya which overlooks the highway in Bayan, which is notorious for traffic accidents.
“None had carried out their promise after they became MPs. They were only seeking their own interests and the interests of their close circle,” he explained.
“They are good for nothing. They are good for nothing,” he declared.
Bu Hamid expressed his amazement at the MPs whom he has voted for since the 1960’s that continually failed to meet the public’s demands. He is now “fed up with them and their tactics,” adding that when candidates need the voters they are available, “but the minute they become MPs they hardly recognize voters or even bother to meet them, as if they don”t remember them.”
He therefore decided to keep away from candidates and their campaigns.
“I will not cast my vote. I will never vote for any candidate. I have been casting my vote since 1960 and I have seen nothing from them.”
Last updated on Monday 6/4/2009
Cursing Around the Neighborhood
Staff writer Al Watan Law and Order:
KUWAIT: A police patrol car is reported to have been badly damaged in Shuwaikh’s residential area while security forces were chasing an unidentified man believed to be a drug addict. It has been gathered that the chase was prompted by a tipـoff received by police that an unruly person was cursing around the area.
Reportedly, as police officers approached the man’s vehicle he was asked to pull over, but he failed to comply. The security forces accordingly engaged him in a chase which caused the patrol car to crash. The chase is reported to have ended in Jiwan area where the suspect was eventually arrested. He has been since referred to the concerned authorities for further action.
This is Kuwait. I honestly have no idea whether this man was believed to be a drug addict because he was “cursing” around the neighborhood, or “cruising” around the neighborhood. This is Kuwait – it could be either!
Brilliant Sunrise, 5 Apr 09
Goooooooooooood Morning, Kuwait! 🙂
It is going to be another gorgeous day in Kuwait. Don’t let this “heavy fog” deter you. When I got up, the sunrise was so bright, I couldn’t see the sun, it was refracted all over the sky. I was only able to get the shot by focusing on the reflection of the sun on the water.
It is going to be a fantastic week – sweet warm days and cooling off evenings, perfect for sitting outside and drinking coffee, visiting with friends – and a little later in the week, a chance of more rain:
AdventureMan and I saw Journey to Mecca yesterday, along with about 500 others living in Kuwait. The movie is still packing people in! The audience was about 3/4 full with children, and I thought “oh this is going to be great, crying children and people talking on their cell phones.” I was SO wrong. Although the movie theater was full, I did not hear a single phone, I did not hear a single crying child – the movie held us all spellbound. We loved the movie, and we loved seeing it in the IMAX theatre.
(There are special headsets for non-Arabic speakers, with the dialogue in English. We didn’t know; they just spotted us as probably-non-Arabic and handed us the headsets.)
Sometimes, I am just slow. My niece, Little Diamond, had recommended a book called Travels with a Tangerine: From Morocco to Turkey in the Footsteps of Islam’s Greatest Traveller, but it was not until yesterday that I got it – that Ibn Batuta was from Tangiers! Sometimes, I am just slow . . . sometimes I can grasp subtleties but the obvious escapes me totally.
You can buy this book from Amazon.com for a mere $10.17 plus shipping. Yes, I own stock in amazon.com.
You can also probably find it at the Kuwait Bookstore, that amazing store in the bottom of the Al Muthanna Mall, near the Sheraton Circle downtown.
Coming Straight Down
While you are still snuggled safe in your beds, we are having a steady downpour in Kuwait. I didn’t get up until almost 0630 this morning, it was coming down then. It is still coming down steadily more than an hour later. It is not sheets of rain, there is none of the drama we had earlier in the week, but it is steady, and it is exactly what Kuwait needs, a good, soaking rain.
Wooo HOOOOO, Kuwait!
Honestly, there is nothing to photograph. It is just varying shades of grey, melting into one another. Nothing even for the camera to focus on.
The roads are slick with accumulated grease. If you don’t have to drive, just cuddle up, stay home, stay safe.
Clever Solution: When Men Refuse to Salute Women
That gives me a huge grin – for every subordinate who refuses to salute a female superior officer, she gets an extra KD50 in her paycheck! This is a very clever solution.
Kuwaiti policemen refusing to salute female officers
Published Date: April 02, 2009
KUWAIT: Only shortly after the graduation of the first batch of female police officers, a large number of their male colleagues have put the Ministry of Interior (MoI) in an awkward position by insisting that they will refuse to salute any female officer, no matter how superior her rank to their own. The male officers cited local social values, cultural norms and traditions to justify their stance, reported Al-Jarida.
The ministry must now decide whether to strictly implement the law and force these officers to perform their duties in a professional manner or to take the policemen’s concerns into account and accept their refusal. A recent fatwa issued by Dr Ajil Al-Nashmi which stated that saluting a woman is contrary to local and tribal traditions, is believed to have aggravated the situation, making the male officers’ determination to accept no compromise on the issue even stronger.
One MoI official said that the ministry is considering the options of paying female officers an additional KD 50 on top of their wages for every salute which male colleagues refuse to give them or imposing administrative penalties on the male police officers in question.
56,660 Kuwait Car Accidents: 2008
This is a totally breathtaking statistic. Kuwait just isn’t that big. That is more than one thousand car accidents, every week, in Kuwait.
We had three accidents in front of my house this morning. One included a school bus. Thank God, there were no children on board.
I would love to see a statistical breakdown on age groups, nationality, whether speed was involved, and whether the person was using a mobilephone while driving when the accident occurred.
One of my readers reported she had been in a car accident shortly after her arrival in country. A car going too fast rear-ended them. In almost every country in the world, if someone hits you from behind, they are charged, immediately, with following too closely and inattentive driving. You are supposed to be driving carefully enough to anticipate the car in front of you slowing down. Here, after six months, and several trips to the police station, it was determined that her husband was at fault. Unbelievable.
She adds that thanks be to God, no harm came to the infant traveling in the front seat of the car that hit them, on his mother’s lap, or they would have been liable for that, too. Unbelievable.
56,660 car accidents in 2008 alone
Staff Writer Al Watan
KUWAIT: Head of the Traffic Safety Department Bader AlـMatar has warned that the number of annual traffic accidents is on the rise. An estimated 56,660 car accidents and 410 cases of accident related fatalities occurred in 2008. AlـMatar added that the United Nations reports that car accidents claim more than 1,300,000 fatalities around the world each year, most of whom are young men.
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