Electric Sundown is exactly what you need on a Friday night, far away from the hectic city life, but still just a short drive away. Electric Sundown happens at Iris Beach Club, and starts just after work hours end at 5:00PM and go late into the night (depending on how long y’all last dancing!)
The venue is awesome, right next to the beach and with an infinity pool over which the stage is built. Get your swimsuits for a dip when you come early, or lounge on one of the sun beds.
They’re opening next Friday May 12, 2017. The lineup is absolutely insane, with Nu, Stavroz and YokoO on the ticket! Nu needs no introduction, but I’m personally super excited about Stavroz after seeing them a couple of times and being blown away! RSVP here
(stay tuned for more opening dates and events for the summer!)
This is a story which I’ve been following, but didn’t wanna write a blog post about before actually going down to the location.
Context
L’Orient Le Jour broke the story on April 28, 2017. They shared a couple of tight-frame shots and didn’t specify the exact location, just stating “near BIEL” on the Waterfront. It was quickly picked up a few days later by others and soon enough, MP Samy Gemayel found out too and that made the Ministry of Culture get off its ass and pause OK-ing destruction of Beirut Heritage, to try and fix this situation.
As of Today
I went down twice this week to BIEL, but with the preparations of the LED 2017 conference of Lebanese expats with all the VIPs and their motorcades, it’s been hell going around the Waterfront. Twice a fat guy on a “mobilette” came saying I needed “permission” to look at the ruins from the private company that runs the lot.
Regardless though, I finally found out where the columns were being kept (which are public property, owned by people like you and me, not the private companies that bury the artefacts and ruins they can’t sell off with cement overnight when no one is watching). These are the photos I could take, given there was a high security presence for the LED event (helicopters flying low above, Navy vessels offshore, road closures, etc.) And I’d already been hounded by the private company mobilette-warriors, so that’s all you’re getting for now (unless you have a wasta and can help :P)
Here are the pics, clearly showing the columns still there.
The Exact Location
Right after the Yacht Club near Zaitunay Bay, on that road everyone is jogging on and taking their dogs for a walk on.
The Weird Comments by the Minister
📹 الجزء الثاني: وزير الثقافة #غطاس_خوري خلال جولته لتفقد عملية نقل الاعمدة الاثرية الموجودة منذ العام ١٩٩٠ في محيط منطقة البيال pic.twitter.com/CzqRHWKfBw
For some reason, the minster ridicules the “protests” agains the horrible handling of the garbage crisis. I’m not sure why, but it seems he got mad the lot was referred to “Normandy Landfill” (which it was before it became the high-priced lot of exclusive real estate it is today). Not sure why he attacked the legitimate demands of a people drowning in garbage by an incompetent and criminally corrupt government, but hey, it’s the same minister who has no problem removing protections keeping what’s left of Beirut’s old traditional houses standing.
As for the ISIS comparison, I’m not sure who made that comparison, but is it really that far-fetched? ISIS destroys and sells off ruins and artefacts in Syria and Iraq. Isn’t that what the government and the private companies in Downtown Beirut do? Don’t they assault reporters for just looking and taking photos of ruins being “collected” for god knows what before they pour cement over it? So, what’s different exactly? These guys shave their beards?
Good All in All
According to the minister, this was going to be done anyway (right…) but that it was “sped up” after this “campaign” against it. So, it’s a win all in all. A journalist went down and uncovered this scandal, people got pissed, an MP went live on Facebook about it, and suddenly, the ministry remembers to remove the “precious” carved columns to the ministry’s warehouse (I was expecting them to appear in the private villa gardens like you see with ruins from Baalbek and Byblos). So, that’s great news, they removed them from the shore and hopefully they will not be scavenged by archeological artefact smugglers.
So, all in all, this was great. Shedding light on an issue led to action by our government, busy OK-ing skyscrapers and figuring out how to extend their term in parliament.
Let’s hope we see these ruins soon, and they stop being taken hostage for decades by private corporations…
of Lebanon’s political class which is scheming to extend for their illegitimate selves a third time…
“Social Shows” on Lebanese TV
They’re basically making fun of people’s unfortunate circumstances
4- Trying to get reception in Lebanon
These illustrations are how I discovered “The Art of Boo”, but digging in deeper into his website and social media accounts, I discovered a treasure trove of really funny, awesome, beautifully executed content such as those below (You can read this cool interview with him on How I Take My Coffee here, to get a feel of who he really is and what inspires his work)
I also found out that Bernard Hage (Boo) is crowdfunding a book and album, with more than half of what he needs already pledged! Here’s the hilarious pitch video:
I love it when I stumble upon local talent that truly manages to impress, make you laugh out loud and shake your head at relating to the jokes and puns. I also love when someone comes up with something fresh and new, instead of just copy the rest of the creative industry in this tiny country.
I hope you guys enjoy his work as much as I did, and if you want to help get his book and CD funded, here’s the crowdfunding link.
Can you believe we haven’t been to a Decks on the Beach party since SEPTEMBER?!
Decks on the Beach is my absolute favorite summer party. The crowd is always Beirut’s finest, and the music selection is a much-needed breath of fresh air right next to the sea. Fridays in Beirut from May till September mean all Friday night, or part of a Friday night, will be spent dancing at Sporting Club Beach on the colorful dancefloor (sometimes I even tinker with the dance floor’s controller if Yousef and Olivier aren’t paying attention *halo appears*).
So, next Friday, Decks will be back! Book your calendars in advance and make sure you pose for your polaroid shots!
On May 18, 2017, The Spot Choueifat will open its doors. It’s the newest branch of “The Spot” malls, and also its biggest. The photo above is what it should look like on the 18th of May, and below are some pics taken over the past month.
It definitely looks nice, I especially love the sunny central part with the glass roof. Below are some numbers about the upcoming mall:
123 stores
10 movie theaters (Circuit Empire)
1500 new jobs
1200 parking spots
Amusement Park
The opening of this The Spot mall comes just weeks ahead of the ABC Verdun opening. The increase in mega-malls across Lebanon and especially in and around Beirut is something many people love, but many people also hate. Increased traffic, tough competition for small-time retailers and lack of cultural and social added value are just some of many of the reasons people give.
Personally, I think the convenience a mall offers is great. I can hop down to shop at stores I’m familiar with, I can watch a movie then have some dinner (or vice versa). If I was living in the Choueifat area or anywhere south of Beirut before Saida, I’d have to go to ABC Ashrafieh or a mall in Saida to be able to watch a movie and get some socks for H&M, so, despite you guys who would rather see a museum or hospital being built, I don’t think anyone minds living within a 10-minute drive of a fully-equipped mall.
So, stay tuned for May 18, 2017 when it’s open, and I’ll try to get shots and tell you how the experience was when it opens!
There’s been a lot of buzz about Glow Pub in the past few days. Glow is a nightclub for minors aged 12–18. The club doesn’t allow the parents to tag along. Alcohol and cigarettes are strictly forbidden. There’s heightened security and chaperones as well.
Here’s why I think this is a good idea, and one I’ve come across in places like Brooklyn and Berlin before.
Fostering Clubbing Culture
No matter how much people dismiss clubbing, it is a very important part of the social fabric of any major city. Beirut is no different, and the clubbing in our beloved city only seems to be getting better month after month.
Often though, the problem with nocturnal ventures is some of the crowd attending. No one teaches people how to properly behave at a club. Whether it’s something as simple as navigating through a crowd, to respecting other revellers, the club staff or themselves.
No one explains and shows you that you go to a club to enjoy the music and party, not just get wasted. That’s why stuff like Glow are awesome. It removes the alcohol and smoking from the clubbing equation, letting kids know that the point is mingle, dance, celebrate, not just get shitfaced and drunk-drive home.
So, introducing young people to clubbing before they can drink, I think will help them be better clubbers when they grow up. They’ll go for the music and the company, the fun and the escapism, not just the alcohol.
No Alcohol or Cigs
The excuse is usually that alcohol and cigarettes ruin the experience for many people, especially kids still developing physically and mentally. So, removing those things from the equation means that there is less threat to the kids health than for example a family wedding dinner party, or other functions parents take their kids to and expose them to alcohol, cigarettes and arguileh smoke.
Keep Your Conservative Impulses To Yourself
No one complains when you send your kids to Sunday school or other religious stuff to brainwash them from a young age. You do that by choice, unhindered by more free-thinking folks. So, why do you want to stop others from letting their kids experience something you personally don’t approve of of for reasons that don’t make sense? No one wants to stop you from making your kids pray X number of times a day or week, or do ballet lessons or other things kids don’t choose that you force them onto, why do you want to stop kids from going to a party if there’s supervision, no alcohol and no cigarettes?
Better than Fake IDs at Real Clubs
You were stupid kids. Kids today are much smarter, and I’d be surprised if many if not most have fake IDs or borrow the IDs of their friends or siblings to pass into clubs for 18+ and 21+ clubbers (thanks makeup!). That’s when these underage persons can be taken advantage of for not knowing better, or drink too much to risk their lives and safety. Why not have a club that helps them become more aware clubbers later, and makes sure that older, inebriated clubbers don’t put them at risk at a club for adults?
War Child Holland released the video above this month, and before you continue reading this post, please watch it till the end.
I love War Child and all the amazing work they do. I’ve been with them to the field several times, and the work they do with Syrian refugee children is honestly above and beyond what one would expect from them.
The video starts with a young refugee hauling a big water gallon through an informal settlement in the Lebanese Bekaa, one of over 1500 such settlements across Lebanon.
Then, Batman carries the water gallon for him, and stays with him, plays with him, serenades him and his friends with a Oud. Then, we see Batman carrying the child, and a Chinook military transport helicopter flies by in the distance, with a city burning on the horizon. When the camera pans out, we see that Batman is actually the refugee’s father, carrying his son with the rest of his family as they walk away towards safety and refuge from their war-torn homes.
It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. It’s a human reminder of the plight of so many refugees around the world and in Lebanon. At a time when the refugee crisis is being used by politicians for petty reasons, it’s often easy to forget how real the pain is, and how most of the time, the only solace for refugee children is their own imagination, and how their parents are their superheroes…
Make sure you follow War Child Holland on Facebook, to see what they do and how you can help ❤
I remember the first rehearsals a few months ago in Hamra. The volunteer actors and actresses would hang out in cliques based on their area of residence during lunch and break times. The areas include Tarik Jdideh, Khandak El Ghamiq, Basta, Madine Riyadiyeh, Dahieh, Burj Abou Haidar, Sabra and other neighborhoods.
Who?
MARCH is a Lebanese NGO founded in 2011. MARCH is one of the fiercest defenders and fighters for freedom of speech and expression in Lebanon. MARCH’s scope of work has branched out to include conflict resolution, peace building and countering violent extremism all over Lebanon.
MARCH’s conflict resolution work began in Tripoli’s Beb El Tebbeneh and Jabal Mohsen in 2014. Today, several plays and performing arts initiatives have been launched that include youth that participated or were directly affected by the years of clashes and violence in the area.
“Kahwetna” is MARCH’s cultural cafe right on the former frontline of Syria Street. It employs 6 former fighters full-time, and several more part-time. It also acts as a hub for MARCH’s many development and peace building projects in the city, such as Beb El Dahab, and the upcoming Souk Beb El Dahab festival.
Hona Beirut is MARCH’s plan to implement the successful projects executed in Tripoli, in the capital’s most marginalized communities.
Why?
Even though the sectarian tensions did not culminate into dozens of rounds of armed clashes like in Tripoli, the scars of the Lebanese Civil War are still fresh in Beirut. These wounds have been exacerbated by the rise in sectarian sentiment, especially between Sunni and Shiite residents of Beirut’s most neglected neighborhoods.
That’s why MARCH felt it was time to start its project in Beirut, with “Hona Beirut” as a start to a long-term plan for Beirut, similar to that of Tripoli’s, but tailor-made for Beirut.
How?
MARCH partnered up with renowned director and playwright, Yehia Jaber and assistant director Nehme Nehme, and over a gruelling four months, turned volunteers who mistrusted each other, into hilarious stage actors fit for a series of bold performances, and more importantly, very close friends.
The stereotypes melted away, and young men and women from Tarik Jdideh and Khandak El Ghamiq, who have been taught to avoid each other like the plague, became an amazing team that have made us at MARCH, as well as everyone who came to the performances so far, laugh their socks off while they shake their heads when they get the references being satirized and mocked on stage.
The Play
It’s a dark comedy play, with reference after reference the audience laughed out loud to time after time. Seeing several minutes of standing ovations was quite a surreal feeling for us, so I can’t even begin to imagine what our volunteer actors and actresses must have been feeling.
There are so many “jokes” and stereotypes in Lebanon that never get shared in public. Under Yehia Jaber’s direction, these extreme misconceptions based on sectarian lines were addressed, head-on with a heavy-handed approach that served as comedic relief for the dark circumstances many parts of Lebanon are in. But, it was also a sophisticated critique on the socioeconomic situation the young actors and actresses grew up in.
“Eat a Druze’s, but sleep at a Christian’s” “Sunnis are all terrorists” “Shiites are all ‘shalamastiyyeh’” “Roum are the Muslims of Christians” “Maronites are a bad species” and many, many, many other references we’ve all heard at least once or twice in our lifetimes were addressed, in a hilarious format that anyone could relate to. What was refreshing, is the directness and bluntness of the jokes and bits, for something that is usually reserved for the privacy of our living rooms and dining tables.
What’s Next?
I don’t want to reveal too much too early, but what I can say is that we will most probably have more performances soon, across different parts of Beirut and the country. MARCH hopes to turn this bold, brave first step into something more permanent and sustainable, and something that can generate income for young men and women in Beirut like our volunteers while they act as catalysts for positive change in their communities, despite many of the social, economic and political situation circumstances remain unchanged.
If there’s one thing you should take away from Hona Beirut, it’s how much potential young Lebanese people have if just given the chance. Given the opportunity and dedication, the hidden talent, passion and wit can easily come out and create something beautiful that helps pull entire communities out of the static hopelessness many of us fall prey to.
Follow MARCH Lebanon to stay up to date with everything related to Hona Beirut and all the other projects we are doing in Beirut, Tripoli, Akkar and soon in Saida.
I love Hearbeat, and I’m sure you all do too. Heartbeat’s mission is to make sure no child dies because of congenital heart disease. I’ll post some numbers to help illustrate how vital the work they do actually is:
1 out of 100 babies is born with heart diseases
50% will need surgery to survive, 35% of which need it in their first month
600 kids per year in Lebanon are born with heart diseases
95% is the success rate if detected and treated early on
2000 children’s lives have been saved by Heartbeat so far
The Heartbeat performances are all volunteers, many of whom are physicians who work with these kids.
This Year’s Event
The focus of this year’s fundraiser are 7 big artists we all love and listen to: Elvis, Beyonce, Coldplay, Dalida, Bob Bylan, Jean-Jacques Goldman and Zaki Nassif classics and hits will be performed live. To sweeten the deal, songs by Queen, Justin Bieber, Sia, Maitre Gims and Hozier will also be performed live on stage!
Friday April 21: Gala Dinner + Show at 8:00PM Saturday: Concert at 8:00PM Sunday: Concert at 5:30PM
Since it’s disrespectful to party in public suddenly in some parts of the country tonight, I’m sure many of you will be doing or going to nice house parties to enjoy the long weekend with friends and loved ones.
If you‘re hardcore, you’ll probably have a lineup ready for those parties. But, sometimes it’s just a spontaneous aux-cord kinda thing, so, here are some nice, fresh tracks I’ve wasted most of my Friday finding.
I was fortunate enough to meet Ruede Hagelstein last time he was at The Grand Factory in Beirut. He was honestly one of the nicest people to have an informed discussion about current affairs and world politics with. When it’s time to dance though, that stops and a track like the one below drops. I loved this remix of Anton Dhouran’s Osmekha. Goosebump-inducing moments throughout, with a velvety warm melancholic sound throughout. Loved.
You probably guessed most of my suggestions will be on the Techno spectrum. This is a fresh Lucy original, and the dubby yumminess in this track was a pleasure to listen to.
3- Max Cooper ladies and gents…
What I love most about Max Cooper is how many layers he can beautifully build up and constantly transform. The dreaminess and progginess of this track is perfect, with just enough percussions when you absolutely need them. Always a blast discovering new Max Cooper stuff!
4- Konchord and Traumwelt
This Berlin-Munich collab just sounds beautiful. Solid track.
5- Luca Bacchetti Claps
It’s hard to get the clap just right. Harder still to make it the most interesting element in a track, but Luca Bacchetti always seems to get it right. Loved this stripped-down dub version of Playa Sunrise.
6- Patrice Baumel Remixes Max Cooper. Yes Please.
I just drooled over Max Cooper tracks above, now imagine that being remixed by Patrice Baumel.
7- Some Scuba
This isn’t exactly fresh, but not sure why I’ve been listening to it again a lot this week. Enjoy!
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