Did you Major in Marketing? Are you working in a Marketing department? Ok, do you think you’re job requires skills and sometimes you find it hard to get the potential customer to memorize your brand?
Then click on the article circled above (dated April 16 1912) and try to put yourselves in this Man’s shoes! He is begging the readers, ALL readers, to pay attention to the brand name, ANY brand name! I mean this guy must have had a very tough job trying to shove the concept of branding down America’s throat.
So yeah, marketing people, you should think twice before asking for a raise again
OT: Don’t you think it’s weird to include that article on the front page next to Titanic’s news? It looks too unimportant an article to be on that particular front page, doesn’t it?
If you want to read the full page (huge and will take time to load) Click Here
1001Nights is a Kuwait blogger. She’s one of the first and best authors in the Kuwaiti blogosphere. She has written a new piece and she’s gonna share it for the first time ever with you guys on our blog!
So here is it and make sure to leave your comments and feedback.
Grief, Beauty, and Samri
She said she was in the mood for samri, and that it was strange for someone in her circumstance to be in the mood for samri. I sighed and, as I did, I took in her smell; she had clearly been exposed to some bukhoor before coming. The café, right before the asr prayer, was deserted; the waiters looked uninterested, the food on display near the counter looked like it had been sitting there for a long while, and it was dim and getting dimmer as the sun was no longer in its full glory. Her black veil and black abat, the eye liner that leaked down her cheek right by her nose, her voice, the tone of it, everything in that café, everything in our meeting was so full of gloom. And she said she was full of gloom too and that it was very strange. I asked her what was strange. She said it was strange that she was in the mood for samri. I asked her if she wanted to dance. I told her to cover her face with the abat as if it were a thob, I told her to disregard the waiters, they wouldn’t mind, I told her I’d sing for her and use the table as my ‘taar if only she wanted to dance. She chuckled and said that dancing samri wears her out when no one was watching. She said that she would tire dancing with few viewers and thrive when dancing in front of masses – dancing samri as well as she did was not just about dancing; it was an art, it was the epitome of womanliness, it was the pride of her country, it was a performance. I was just glad she chuckled. But soon after I was a little sad. I didn’t want to ask her if I weren’t enough, if my watching her wasn’t enough. But I did ask her, impulsively. The question rolled off my tongue before I had a chance to remind myself that this meeting wasn’t about me. But the words left my mouth and hung still in the air while she looked at me blankly. She smiled and said nothing. So I said I was just joking. And she stayed quiet. So I thought this would be her exit. She would leave soon if I didn’t say anything. So I told her she smelled great. I told her that despite the heaviness in the air and the sadness in this deserted place and despite the grief that she was feeling, her smelling so great made me feel like I was sitting at a wedding. I told her I could relish in this smell forever and never bore of it. And she said she was wearing her mother’s abat. Since she had died the day before yesterday she hadn’t taken it off. She wore it all day around the house and during the a’aza and when she went to bed she bunched it up near her pillow and hugged it and smelled it and wrapped herself in it until she was too weary to weep anymore and finally slept with her face in it. And after she told me this she sighed. She sighed and if I could I would have lifted her mother out of her grave and rested my own head there instead. Because she sighed. And because I knew that the dimple nestled in the middle of her chin didn’t quiver because she was about to burst into laughter. And because I knew that the red in her cheeks wasn’t there because she was blushing. And I knew that her eyes weren’t glistening because I had paid her a complement. I knew all of this and the weight of it struck me. And I knew too that men don’t cry. And I knew men definitely shouldn’t cry when their women need them. But I heard the quiver in her voice, the leftover dread beneath the soft tone, the hurried breathing, and I wanted to cry too. I wanted to weep like a child. But men don’t cry, I told myself and I could sense my eyes start to burn and instinctively I tried, really tried, to remember something funny like my friends on the playstation, or my nephew’s mispronunciation of the word soup in Arabic – “shairuba”- or even something she usually says with a lisp. She doesn’t have a lisp but there’s that one word she always says with a lisp. I never once corrected her. It was too amusing – not because I wanted to poke fun at her but because, for some reason, I found those little idiosyncrasies of hers so entrancing, so endearing, so incredibly captivating, that I wouldn’t dare try to change them. I got up and headed for the counter before she could notice my eyes welling up. I walked away from her as I asked her if she wanted anything. She said her stomach hurt all the time and that she hadn’t eaten because of the nausea, the nausea, she said, it wouldn’t go away. I bought myself a bottle of water and bought her a cheesecake. Chocolate. She liked everything chocolate. I cut a bite’s worth with my fork and took it to her mouth and she backed into her seat and refused to take it. I asked her how she would be so unkind as to refuse me like that. But I had lost her already. She was now gazing at something at the corner of that coffin-café without really looking at anything. Glassy eyes thinking of somewhere else, someone else, a memory of her mother that she wouldn’t share with me, a loss I couldn’t undo, a pain I couldn’t alleviate. She started shuffling her abat around her and I panicked again because I thought she was going to leave. I thought of something to say to keep her a little longer. I couldn’t think of anything so I just said gi’day. She said salat il asr was coming up soon and she wanted to be home before the athan sounded off so she could get down to the a’aza on time. I looked at my shoes and felt like I did when I was six years old and my mom said she was traveling and leaving us with my grandma. She turned away from me and headed towards the door, silky blackness trailing behind her, the cape of a disheartened queen, her natural sway, unexaggerated and full of both humble subtlety and unmistakable femininity. And more than anything I just wished I could watch her dancing samri.
My friend was at harrods yesterday and he took the picture above. It is of apples with heart shaped birthmarks on them for Valentines.
Harrods have commissioned farmers in france to grow these specially customized apples to bear heart shaped imprints on them. The apples will be sold for ₤3 each, and all the proceeds will be donated to a children hospital.
Are you wondering how did they do it? Are you thinking genetic studies and huge amount of money spent? I was thinking the same thing, but I was way off, coz all they did was, the french farmers that is, they placed a heart shaped sticker on the apples during cultivation.
It was announced that Avatar is now the top grossing movie of all time, right? Well it isn’t.
The above list is of the real top grossing movies of all time. Why is it different? Because it takes the inflation factor into account and re-stacks the the movies according to that. [interesting link]
Although Avatar is not updated into the list yet, it was reported that it just passed Titanic, and you can clearly see where Titanic rank on the list above. So yeah, it’s got a long way to go before it topples Gone with the Wind; the real top grossing movie of all time.
There is this guy who is so obsessed with Nicolas Cage to the point that he started a blog and is photoshopping Cage’s face onto everyone else’s. The blogger is committed to his project and he believes that his blog is “Founded on the belief that everything in life would be better with a little more Nic Cage, the most unique and versatile actor of his generation.”
The blogger explained his love for Nicolas Cage: “It began when it was brought to my attention that I was ‘obsessed’ with Nic Cage, meaning that I brought him up in conversation nearly everyday in our carpool. I think he’s a fascinating and unique actor, even when he’s in big budget films that people don’t necessarily deem ‘good.’ The great thing about Nic Cage is that, like in his films, no matter ‘who he is,’ he’s still essentially Nic Cage.”
Nicolas Cage was told about this blogger and the project. Cage’s comment: “I think it’s genius and I am deeply honored.”
I just read this interesting story about potato chips. Now, let’s see… Back in 1853, a chef named George Crum was working at a resort in New York and He served french fries on that restaurant. The french fries were somewhat new to the scene then, it was popular in France since the early 1700’s but was brought to America by Thomas Jefferson in the late 1700’s coz he was appointed as an ambassador to France then. Anyway.
The chef on one of those nights had a customer ordering french fries only to return them once they arrived to his table, claiming the fries were too thick for his taste. The chef did another batch of fries, thinner this time, but then again the customer wasn’t satisfied with the second batch either. The chef was furious and wanted to teach that customer a lesson, so he made a special super thin and crispy fries so the customer won’t be able to handle them with a fork. The chef’s revenge plan did not work the way he intended, the customer was extremely happy with the crispy paper-thin fries. Other customers who saw that dish started ordering the new kind of potato chips too. The new thin potato chips soon appeared on the restaurant’s menu as house specialty.
While we all were celebrating new year (I wouldn’t call me and 5 other friends watching tv a celebration.. but whatever) my cousin was in Makkah for Omrah. He happened to be in the right place at the right time to witness this twice a year ritual of cleaning the Kaabah.
He said the place was swarming with guards and all kind of people turned up for the event. Look at all the people with their cameras and mobiles up!
When I first heard about the idea of a modern Kuwaiti cafe I remember thinking “why would I go to a starbucks wannabe and have Kuwaiti milk at an outing?” That was harsh, I know, but that was how I felt. But then after trying their Cardamom & Saffron Milk at work, that thought evaporated. Having that Kuwaiti milk in a paper cup at work cozied up the place. I totally changed my mind about the place! I think it’s an amazing idea and I wish them the best of luck.
The current branch is located right behind Gulf Bank’s head office. And I was just told that Haleeb w Hail, the new modern “Kuwaiti” cafe is opening up another branch at the Avenues.
This was released by the NBK a few weeks ago. Whoever was behind this idea must’ve felt quite nostalgic for the good old days. I took pictures of every page, english and arabic, and all the pictures are clickable for a bigger view. Have fun going back in time Read the rest of this entry »
I didn’t know there was a puzzling history behind this island other than those stone faces. To tell you the truth, before reading about it, I thought it was near scotland (don’t ask. Click to know it’s location.) Well Let me tell you about this one mystery.
Easter Island have been puzzling historians and scientists. It is said that it used to have a large population and lots plenty palm trees, but today nothing can be found there, the island is deserted, and there is not a single palm tree on the entire island.
Scientists have been looking for answers for the disappearance of forests and palm trees in particular. They have developed many theories. I’m gonna share 3 of them with you:
Theory #1:
A thick layer of ashes was found in deeper layer in the ground, and it is wide spread, which led a group of scientists to believe that there was a huge fire that burned the entire island. The fire was caused, according to this theory, by a war. This theory went on to specify that it was an invasion not just a war, and this invasion caused the extinction of the entire population and the palm trees.
Theory #2:
Rodents took over the island. Rats found their way to island through ships that used to frequent the island. Dozens of palm nuts were found hidden in caves in the island. It appeared that even those palm nuts were not saved from the rats, and that chewed marks were found on the palm nuts, and that they were no longer could be used for regeneration purpose. Which ultimetely led to the extinction of the palm trees on this island. And this was the reason that led people to abandon the island in search of food and wood resources.
Theory #3: (I like this one the most)
People over used the palm trees as a source of wood until total deforestation. They used the wood to build shelters and roofs for their homes, and to help them as sledges to build those statuses you see on top of this post. One author posed a funny question, He said: “What were they thinking when they cut down the last palm tree?”
Side talk: This guy is asking what were they thinking? Isn’t the answer obvious? This is happening on a larger scale right now, in Kuwait, in the middle east, and in the world as a whole. What are we thinking right now is exactly what those islanders were thinking when they cut off the last tree!
I like theory #3 the most and think it could be the real reason behind the deforestation and the extinction of the entire population.
I got this in an email and I just find this so interesting and want to share it with you guys. For those who can’t read arabic, I’m so sorry, I can’t translate the poem, and without the poem this post is meaningless to you guys.
You know the famous saying “ely yabeena 3ayat ilnafs tab’3eeh, wily nabeeh 3ayah albakhat layejeebah” ? I always thought it was just that, a famous saying, that has been used in songs, I didn’t know it was a verse in a poem, and that there was a story behind the poem. Here is the story:
There was a woman named Nora AlHoshan, who was married to Abod bin Suwalim. Nora and Abod had children together, but things went wrong and they ended up divorced. It was said that even after the divorce she still loved him dearly and longed for him, and that was the reason why she kept refusing the many suitors that came afterwards and did not accept any of the proposals.
One day, as she was walking with her kids near her Ex Husband’s farm, she saw him, and let her children go to their father to greet and talk to him while she stood far away waitingn. The kids came back shortly afterwards and they all walked away from the farm. Thats when she wrote her masterpiece of a poem.
I entered a toilet in Singapore’s airport and couldn’t help but notice how clean the toilet is and that the smell was pleasant. Then, and as I was washing my hands I noticed this screen on the wall where it featured 4 faces, the faces of employees responsible of cleaning the toilets, and the guy who was handling the cleaning that day was highlighted. The screen lets you evaluate the toilet’s condition and put in your feedback and the person with the best feedback results gets something.
Back in 1982 the usage of online bulletin boards were common and they used to communicate and discuss all sort of stuff on those boards. They used to have a problem understanding some of the posts. Some of the posts were intended as a joke, or someone was being sarcastic, but then some wouldn’t get it and start a whole fight and rally up against what was supposed to be taken as a joke.
Then, on September of 1982, a bunch of guys were at their computers typing away suggestions to help solve this problem. They came up with the idea of labeling a comment or mark it with something that would make it clear that the comment is a joke and isn’t intended to be taken seriously. Some of the guys suggested:
“I think that the joke character should be the sequence {#} because it looks like two lips with teeth showing between them.”
“No, no, no! Surely everyone will agree that “&” is the funniest character on the keyboard. It looks funny”
But then came along this one guy, who typed a message that would leave a lasting impact on computer users all over the world. And this is what he had to say:
“19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman
From: Scott E Fahlman
I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:
: – )
Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark
things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use
: – (“
And just like that, it snowballed, and the computer smiley was created!
If you want a song in an mp3 format and it happens to be available on Youtube, all you have to do is copy the song’s url from Youtube, paste it in this site and it’ll instantly generate a link with the MP3 for you to download. Very useful!
If you haven’t set plans for tonight yet, you might wannna consider this:
“You are warmly invited to this public program which will be held at J.W. Marriott on “How To Empower Yourself” on Thur. 19 Nov. Mike George will be leading the evening. He is an International speaker, author of many books in self development. He is also a teacher of Meditation & motivator of the human spirit. The program will start at 7.30 pm and end at 9.30 pm. This is an open invitation. Please pass it on. The program is free of charge as a community service. Looking forward to a powerful evening.”
I received a message on my blackberry earlier in the day, it was about King Faisal and how great a king He was. It had this little piece of conversation between King Faisal & Henry Kissinger that went something like this:
When Henry Kissinger met King faisal to talk about the oil embargo issue, and in an attempt to go into the subject lighten up the mood, Kissinger said something about his plane sitting on the runway and can’t move because of the lack of fuel, and that he wished the King would be generous enough to sell him enough fuel to get the plane off the runway. The King didn’t smile, but instead replied with: “And I’m an old man who wishes to pray at Al Aqsa mosque before he dies, can you make that wish come true?”
I loved this story, and I tried looking around the net to read more about it, and maybe confirm that it happened, but couldn’t find anything.
While looking for a source, I came across these paragraphs that I liked:
And this:
“Prince Turki said King Faisal, who was in Jeddah at the time, received a telegram from Kissinger warning that if the Kingdom did not lift the embargo, the US would take all measures to protect its interests.
“The message was not specific about the measures they were going to take, but it appeared that they would use force. A CIA representative gave me the unsigned message, telling me it was from Kissinger… I went to the king and conveyed its contents. He received the message, read it and said: ‘Kheir insha Allah (Good, God willing).’
“It was very clear that it had come from the American government… The king was very relaxed, cheerful, humorous and was in good spirits despite the threat… This reflected his high quality and determination. He was giving the message that the Kingdom would not bow down to a threat, as a result of a decision it had taken with other Arab countries. It was a great reply,” said Prince Turki.”
I find King Faisal very strong, wise, down to earth, blatant and honest.. an interesting mix that led straight to his assassination.
Five One Eight is one of my favorite destinations on the Kuwaiti blogosphere, and Ansam is for sure one of my favorite bloggers.
Q8 Black Market is managed by 2 guys, Mohammed & Salem, and they’ve both proved that they have what it takes to keep you entertained and up to date. Keep it up guys!
Frankom’s blog is diverse. He writes about everything, from politics to gadgets to the latest happenings in Kuwait.
If you haven’t set plans for tonight yet, you might wannna consider this:
